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bbrandy2002 · 4 years ago

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Fool’s Rush In

Part 15

Book: The Royal Romance

Pairing: Liam x MC

Warnings: mild violence

Series Premise: With two weeks until Liam is to marry Madeleine – his pick during the social season – the guys throw him a bachelor party in Vegas. After a drunken night, he finds himself with more than he bargained for.

Thanks @burnsoslow for the beta read.

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Supposedly, the more a person suffered in the name of love, the more it showed they really cared.

At least, that's what Riley thought.

After nightfall of this particular evening -- when she least expected it -- she never realized how much truth that belief held.

Or how much it would hurt to sacrifice the one person who made her believe she was worthy of love and saw who she really was on the inside.

Her dainty arm -- a delicate bronze in color, sleek, with a glittering red strap across one shoulder -- linked through the arm of the man she had grown to love more than life itself as they entered the palace ballroom. Working tirelessly over the last week to ensure everything went off without a hitch had taken its toll on her. All she could think about, as she shook hands and charmed dignitaries with a sparkle in those twinkling brown eyes, was how much sleep she planned to make up for after the ball ended.

This ball was to introduce the King and his new bride to the Cordonian court for the first time. A show of solidarity and, hopefully, strength. A way to establish that what happened in a tiny chapel 10,000 miles away weeks ago between two strangers wasn't a careless mistake, and that she could handle the duties bestowed on her as a common American woman.

Or at least pretend she could for now.

However, for the King and the "Jewel of His Heart" whom he escorted through the curious crowd of pretentious naysayers in extravagant gowns and tuxes, with their fake smiles and tedious posturing ...

It was nothing less than fate.

Riley was the key that unlocked that safe space deep inside Liam's heart that had been sheltered for so long, waiting for the perfect person to come along and open it. This was the place where he kept his most sacred feelings: a genuine love, never-ending laughter, joy, romance, ecstasy, and every dream he ever held for the future -- one he presumed would never exist in any form he longed for.

But she didn't just unlock it. Riley shattered it wide open, where everything came flooding out at once and consumed him like a raging wildfire.

And it was the most remarkable, intoxicating experience of his life.

Liam showed her off all evening as they mingled during their rounds, danced, and conversed with the variance of nobility. She was the sexiest woman in that room, and he'd dare say the looks of envy shot in his direction from high-class men as he proudly cavorted her around didn't bother him in the least. Not that that was her only quality -- far from it. There were so many things about Riley that were special. But he couldn't help feeling a sense of pride that she was all his.

And without question, he was all hers.

Seated at the head table, Riley swallowed a morsel of the veal medallion she wanted to be served for this occasion. When given a choice between fish and lamb, the fish never stood a chance. The memory of that smelly, god-awful lunch with Regina three weeks ago was not something her palate had forgiven her for yet. As wonderful and savory as this extravagant meal, covered in a light brown mushroom sauce and served with a side of broccoli rabe, was, it couldn't hold a candle to what she craved the most: a slice of white pizza from Carmine's back in Brooklyn.

Or a slab or two of the New Yorker.

With maybe some cheesecake.

Covered in chocolate.

And a sausage rice ball. A Frito pie smothered with sour cream. Definitely a rainbow bagel from The Bagel Store. Barbecue ribs and beans from the mom-and-pop diner hidden just off the strip in Vegas.

Of course, her grandma’s country fried steak with white gravy sounded delicious too.

For sure, a fried Twinkie like the one she ate at the New York State Fair in 2013.

"You've outdone yourself, sweetheart," Liam marveled while wiping at the corner of his mouth with a napkin. "The meal was delicious, and our guests appear to be enjoying themselves." The others seated at the table looked up, adding their compliments.

Still dreaming about a fat slice of New York-style pizza, Riley smiled graciously back at him, until she noticed the server refilling Liam’s glass with merlot, causing her to do a double-take.

Hot tears pooled in her eyes, and a heavy feeling of sadness swelled in her chest as she panicked. "I asked for the Pinot Noir. Not the merlot,” she rasped meekly. “You don't like merlot, Liam. And the Pinot Noir was from the 'C' place where Duke Hakim lives. He'll be so disappointed and think I'm slighting his duchy. They’ll all hate me forever and ... wait a minute." She trailed off as a realization hit her, and Riley quickly glanced down at her plate before scanning each of the dishes from those seated around her.

The anxiety intensified; she could no longer suppress the heartbroken sob that wailed out of her. "Where are all the potatoes? We were supposed to have the potatoes, Liam. They didn’t serve the potatoes. Now the whole night is completely ruined, and it’s all my fault. I'm such a failure as a queen, and you should just send me to the dungeon now and throw away the key. I apologize to all of you for my incompetence and the lack of potatoes with your meal." Riley’s red-hot face, full of tears, plunged into the palms of her hands, then quickly sprung back up as Liam hesitantly tried to place a hand on her shoulder. A strong urge to use the restroom ended her crying spell as if it never happened. “Oh, oh. I gotta pee so bad. I’ll be right back.” She gave a warm smile and excused herself as she pushed her chair back and scurried merrily toward the nearest restroom.

Liam, Regina, Leo, Maxwell, and Olivia watched with confusion as she happily took off, not knowing what to say or what to make of the sudden shift in her moods.

“What the hell was that?” Olivia scowled, her eyes fixed on Liam.

“Is she all right, dear?” a concerned Regina asked.

Liam scratched the back of his head, nearly at a loss for words. “I ... I don’t know. I’ve never seen her that upset … especially over potatoes.” He paused in thought. “She was a little on edge this morning. Still, she’s been working a lot on the preparations and everything else going on. It must have gotten to her.”

Maxwell shrugged. “Maybe she just finally snapped.”

Leo shook his head, swallowing a forkful of beef. “Or maybe she has the premenstrual syndrome.”

“Leo!” The group admonished.

“What?” Leo bit back, taking in each of their disappointed glares. “Don’t act like it’s not true. Trust me, when I have cramps and bloating, I can go from a happy little Leo to a Bertrand, just like that.” He snapped his fingers, following it up with a frown. “It ain’t pretty, you all.”

Maxwell looked across the table at Liam and agreed, “He has a point.”

Wanting to shed his skin and slither away, Liam pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can we not discuss something so personal and private, especially while several hundred people are dining around us?”

“I’m just saying, little brother, that you need to be understanding and gentle during this special time of your wife’s 'lady business.' You should speak softly and slowly to her because Shark Week messes with a girl's mind, man. Their brains short-circuit, and there’s nothing left up there but a couple of crickets and man-eating rattlesnakes. One second, you think she’s fine, but if you’re not careful, in the next second, you’ll find yourself with two venomous fangs rattling from your nut sack, dude. She will tear you apart and spit you out like a rabid dog. You can make it through these next few days, but only if you take my advice.”

“That is the single dumbest thing I’ve ever heard you say,” Olivia spat, boring her eyes into him. “And you’ve said a lot.” She turned to Liam, whose face was slightly pale and void of expression. “Don’t listen to his sexist drivel. Why you haven’t declared him insane yet is beyond me. You should have sent him away with that filthy hairball to Valtoria you had caged earlier.”

“IT WAS MONGO!” Leo erupted, causing the dishes on the table to clatter as he jumped to his feet and hovered over the redhead. Every head in the ballroom whipped around to see what was happening, and a deafening silence filled throughout. Even the orchestra stopped playing their classical tune.

A wide-eyed Regina smiled sheepishly as she glanced out at the quiet audience who were waiting to see what all the fuss was about. She thought fast before calling out, “We were just playing a little game of … 'It was Mongo.'” The former queen snatched Maxwell’s Sunset Rum punch from his hand, thrusting the drink up at her stepson, towering beside her, and instructed in a grandmotherly tone, “Be a good lad, Leo. You lost this round. It's time to chug-a-lug, my boy.” With his face burning, Liam slid down in his seat.

“Ooooo, I wanna go next.” Maxwell bounced excitedly while the guests resumed the festivities. "How do we play?"

“I think I want to go, too,” Liam replied, straightening back up before hurling his napkin on the table. “I’m going to go find Riley.”

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Riley exited the ladies' room, clutch in hand and a fresh dab of clear gloss gleaming on her pink lips. She stopped walking just as the door closed behind her and smiled with a look of surprise at seeing Liam leaning against the opposite wall. "What are you doing out here?"

He pushed himself off the wall, closing the distance between them and meeting her in the middle of the empty corridor. They wrapped their arms around each other, indulging in the warmth of their lovers' embrace. "Would you believe me if I told you I just missed you?" he answered, placing a tender kiss on her lips that skimmed lower to her jawline.

"I missed you, too," she moaned with each gentle pressure of his seductive lips, suckling and nibbling along the spot that trailed behind her ear that he knew drove her crazy. "But something tells me that's not the only reason you left the ballroom."

Their gazes met simultaneously. "Leo."

Riley chuckled softly. "Do I even want to know?"

Liam sighed, smoothing back a loose hair behind her ear. "You know my brother and his wonderful words of wisdom." There was no way in hell he would tell her what they really discussed after she left; he could only imagine her embarrassment. "Everyone was just a little worried about you, that's all."

"I didn't mean to scare everyone. I just wanted tonight to be perfect. Instead, so many things went wrong. I can only assume what the court thinks about me now." She lowered her gaze to the red carpeting where they stood. "I let you down."

"I don't want to ever hear you say that again. Riley, sweetheart, you can never let me down. Do you understand that?" Liam lifted her chin; her tentative eyes stared back at him for a moment before nodding. "Good. And just so you know, our guest are used to bombings, stabbings, kidnappings, shootings, and terror plots at most of my palace events --"

"Wait. What?"

" -- I assure you, just the fact alone, that none of that took place tonight, and they're all going to leave here soon -- alive -- will be huge for them. Not having potatoes with the meal or the right wine was the least of their worries. They will consider this night a success. And a testament to their new queen. You should, too. I'm so very proud of you."

"I have so many questions about everything you just said."

Liam smiled, caressing Riley's petal-soft cheeks and lowering his head to kiss her again. "All in due time, my love.”

Riley let out a deep, drawn-out yawn she lightly covered with her palm before stretching and rolling her neck. A couple of weeks' worth of planning and endless decisions had left heavy tension in her shoulders and overwhelming exhaustion like nothing she'd felt before. None of it went unnoticed by Liam, who placed his hands on her shoulders and gingerly kneaded the taut muscles.

"What do you say about heading back to our quarters, taking off all of your clothes, and I'll be up soon to massage this gorgeous body from head to toe? And hopefully, when I'm through, you'll massage parts of me, too … with any part of your body that you'd like." His lips curved into an inviting smile.

"Mmm, that's tempting," she purred, rubbing her hands over his ample chest. "But I can't just leave. It's the Queen's Ball. Without me, it's just ... The Ball." She chuckled, despite herself.

“Don’t you worry your pretty little panties over the ball. Just go upstairs and take them off. I’ll handle everything down here. Then … “ He squatted down to her eye level. “ … I’ll handle you.”

Her heart fluttered every time Liam spoke to her that way. The way he desired only her. She bit the corner of her lip teasingly. “I love you so much.”

Liam smiled. “You better. You’ve got one hell of a husband. I’d even venture to say you’re the luckiest woman on the whole damn planet right now.” Before Riley could respond to his jest, he put both of his hands on her cheeks to hold her head still and began placing playful, wet smooches all over her face, causing her to laugh riotously. After a few seconds of her squirming around and cackling at his antics, he paused to look at her. “You know I love you, too. Now go on up. I’ll be right behind you soon.”

With a pat to her backside, they went their separate ways.

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Liam returned to the ballroom, having offered to finish what little time was left without her. He would offer his apologies for her absence, but in reality, the King couldn’t have cared less what anyone there thought. Since his bachelor party weeks ago, he had grown from a man who had no choices to one who made his own. His marriage and relationship with Riley came first. Her wellbeing was the main priority -- to hell with anyone who had a problem with that.

As Riley placed a hand on the elegant wooden handrail of the grand staircase and took the first step up, her thoughts meandered to where she had been in her life one month ago and how vastly it had changed in such a short time. For the first time in years, she was happy, and it felt so good to be in that place where she could finally let go of the past and move on. Liam was a game-changer, and she was thoroughly convinced he was the only person on the planet who could have gotten her out of her own head and to this level of blissful existence.

Rounding the corner at the top of the stairs, she reached into her clutch to pull out the key card to her quarters, exhaustion slowing her strides. Shuffling past a row of closed office doors and framed artwork, she made her way to the residential wing.

The squeak of a door behind her and the click of heels drew her attention, causing her to stop and turn to see who was there.

The color drained from her face as Madeleine casually stepped out, her hands behind her back and a devious, unsettling grin cemented on her face.

It wasn't the fear that made Riley's heart pound with a sickening thud, but more shock than anything. No one had seen or spoken to the Countess since the confrontation in Las Vegas when she showed up unexpectedly after finding out Liam had married Riley the night prior.

Now, suddenly, there she was, as if out of nowhere, a gleam in her eye, looking all too pleased to have this run-in with Riley.

"A little dramatic, don't you think?" Riley scoffed, taking one step back the closer Madeleine approached. "What are you even doing here?"

"I'm not going to hurt you, if that's what you're worried about," she answered contemptuously. Her green eyes drifted to one of the cameras mantled at each end of the hallway. Riley placed a shaky hand over her stomach, letting out a low, relieved breath, hoping that was the truth. "Not physically, anyway."

"Well, that sounds promising," Riley replied sardonically. "Now, if you don't mind ..." She turned away, wanting nothing more than to escape this conversation and make it back to her quarters.

Madeleine reached out and grabbed the Queen by her elbow, pulling her back and harshly twisting her around so they were now face-to-face. "You're not going anywhere until I'm through with you," she hissed with an icy glare. "I told you I would make you regret what you've done."

Riley jerked her arm, trying to free herself. "Let go of my arm, Madeleine!"

"Not until you hear what I have to say."

"I'm not interested in anything you have to say! Now LET ME GO!" Riley hoped someone heard her yell or at least witnessed what was happening on the camera. Where the hell is security?

While continuing to struggle to free herself, she reached up with her free hand in an attempt to pry off Madeleine's bony fingers that were squeezing tight grooves around her elbow, her manicured nails digging deeper into Riley's skin. "You're hurting me. I said to let me go."

"Very well, then." The woman, who had twice lost her chance at the crown, released her firm grasp, knowing that the momentum would cause Riley to stumble back as soon as she let go.

Just as predicted, Riley planted a foot behind her for leverage before drawing her arm back as hard as she could, one last time. Her eyes grew wide, and she let out a sharp gasp that sounded well down the corridor. Riley sailed backward, tripping over herself and toppling to the ground. She finally landed with a hard blow on her backside, the rear of her head just inches from slamming to the floor.

A shockwave of pain coursed up Riley's spine from hitting so abruptly. Before she had a chance to respond or process what happened, Madeleine crouched down beside her, holding a DVD up and gaining Riley's attention.

The pain had morphed into a throbbing ache that was soon forgotten as the Queen stared quizzically at the object displayed in front of her like a grand prize.

"What is that?" her voice trembled.

"It's my ace in the hole," Madeleine stated, then wagged a finger. "Someone used to be a very naughty girl."

Furrowing her brows, Riley responded. "I don't know what you mean."

"You know precisely what I mean, but just in case, please allow me to refresh your memory," Madeleine smirked before rising to her feet and prancing around as if she were having the time of her life. "I did a little digging after my brief visit to Las Vegas and came across a man who knew you very, very well at one time. I made some calls. We exchanged e-mails, a transfer of money or two. And he was all too eager to accept my offer of payment for any dirt he could give me on you."

There was no point in asking "who" -- she already knew; the thought made her nauseous. Riley closed her eyes and muttered. "Tyler?"

"Yes," Madeleine beamed, " Your ex-husband. He had a lot to say about you."

"I'm sure he did. Does it even matter to you that he's a liar and a cheat -- not to mention greedy? He would make up anything if he thought he could profit off of it."

"Oh, it matters. Personally, I don't believe a damn thing he had to say. Honestly, Riley ... even someone like you could have done better than that slime."

Riley cringed in pain as she pushed herself off the floor and turned to her oppressor. "Just get to the point, Madeleine. Clearly, he gave you something you thought was valuable enough to use against me, so just spit it already."

Madeleine smiled, "How very astute of you. You're correct. He did." She held up the disc as Riley regarded it suspiciously. "On this disk are several hours of the two of you ... together. Very graphic, if I do say so myself." Riley's jaw dropped upon hearing those words as Madeleine continued, "Now don't worry. I only watched it long enough to make sure the video was legit --"

"Give me that!" Riley reached out to snatch the DVD, but Madeleine pulled it away just out of her grasp. A burning sensation filled inside her chest and spread across her face. "You're lying. I never made videos like that."

"Oh, I think you did," the blonde countered with a mirthful tone. "You just didn't know about it. Your ex admitted as much to me ... an asshole move, for sure. But nonetheless, I purchased the copy from him for a hefty sum. And ... well ... here we are now. You're more than welcome to take this disc and see for yourself; I have it downloaded as a backup, knowing you'd want proof."

At that moment, all Riley wanted was for Liam to walk down that corridor where she now stood, pick her up in his arms, whisk her away to safety, and tell her it was all a bad dream. Not that she did anything wrong -- she was married at one time to the man, presumably on the video, and would have been a consenting adult.

No, it was the fact that Tyler Brooks had taken intimate videos with her during their marriage, without her knowledge. Now Madeleine had possession of them.

God only knew what she planned to do with them, but Riley had a pretty good idea. "What do you want?" she whispered in defeat, afraid to hear the answer.

Madeleine grinned from ear-to-ear. "For you to leave Cordonia tonight and never return, or I release everything to the press."

Riley shook her head. "No. As much as I don't want anyone to see that video, I did nothing wrong, and I won't be blackmailed or intimidated by you so that you can get your grubby little paws on the crown."

"Is that so?" It wasn't a question so much as a remark meant to convey who was in control.

Maintaining her position, Riley raised a brow, refusing to give in.

Madeleine was far from giving up, though; she had manipulation in her blood. "Very well, then. I'll release the video in the morning. It should be interesting to see how the world reacts to yet another scandal by this monarchy. Their Queen plastered all over the internet again, except this time, uploaded on every porn site on the web.

"The news will run the story with your blurred-out silhouette in the background. Your father will see it, and his business will become a target.: Your friends. Family. Students. They'll all be inundated with your sexual proclivities. But the worst part will be the tribunal. The council will have no choice but to question Liam's decision-making abilities after not only squandering his pick of queen on some American nobody, but now one whose ass will be featured on the desktops of teenage boys across the world. It's a shame that he'll lose his reign, all because of you. Would you really do that to Liam? Do you genuinely believe you're worth all the trouble it will cause him?"

Riley froze. She knew Madeleine was taunting her with the people she cared about the most. The last thing she wanted was to embarrass each of them. But to possibly cause Liam to lose his legacy, his birthright, and the rulership of a country he loved so much? It was something she couldn't shake.

Staring blankly, twisting the bands of gold that belonged to Liam's mother, she couldn't get the question Madeleine just asked out of her mind: Did Riley believe she was worth the trouble it would cost him?

Nothing was damning on that video, aside from the fact that she never knew it existed. But she already had so much to prove; another video in the press' hand would tarnish Liam. Maybe the Countess of Fydelia was right: He would lose it all.

"Time is ticking," Madeleine reminded Riley as she tapped her watch. "What's it going to be?"

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@burnsoslow @dcbbw @ao719 @hopefulmoonobject @jessiembruno @texaskitten30 @janezillow @merridithsmiscellany-blog @mskaneko @callmeellabella @queenjilian @sirbeepsalot @drakexwillow @caroldxnvxrs @jovialyouthmusic @forthebrokenheartedthings @bebepac @kingliam2019 @lovablegranny @cordoniaqueensworld @amandablink @liamxs-world @choiceskatie @iaminlovewithtrr @hopelessromanticmonie @charlotteg234 @annekebbphotography @txemrn @thecordoniandiaries @alyssalauren @cordonianroyalty @monsoonbloom12 @mom2000aggie @theroyalheirshadowhunter @princessleac1 @kimmiedoo5 @graceful-leah @iam-the-kind-and-thoughtful @thegreentwin @gkittylove99 @cinnamonspongecake @lifeaskim @neotericthemis @pink-diamond13 @walker7519 @natureblooms24 @yourmajesty09 @gabesmommie1130 @sweatyrysconnoisour @kat-tia801 @debmcg1106

Liam x MC: Cordonia-gothqueen

FRI Series Tags: @narrytheworld @queenwalton @cordonianprincess @zaffrenotes @zilch3 @drrookie @sfb123

#liam x mc #liam x riley #prince liam #king liam #the royal romance #trr #choices liam x mc #Fools Rush In #bbrandy2002

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florenceandthemachine · 4 years ago

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hear your heartbeat

happy birthday to the incomparable @elisela!!! just for you, please enjoy a good fake-dating au with plenty of idiotic and family members abound.

12.5k - on Ao3

—————

“I’m telling you, Scotty. New York has been good to me. Maybe we should just renounce California and stay here for the summer.”

“Don’t joke about that, dude.”

Stiles laughed as he shouldered his phone, taking in the city air as he strolled along the streets of Manhattan.

Needless to say, Manhattan was far from home—while the city certainly was his vibe, Stiles was no stranger to tamping down the champagne tastes that clashed with his tapwater budget. The little shitbox apartment he got through NYU’s housing program was almost a thirty minute train ride from school, but Stiles figured that when he was more or less trapped on campus for nearly fifty hours a week, he could justify spending his breaks wandering the streets of Manhattan and really taking in the city.

On today’s agenda, Stiles was looking forward to wandering around a farmers market that literally stretched on for city blocks. There were fruits and vegetables literally as far as the eye could see, spices and roots and mysterious tubers of all shapes and size, but Stiles didn’t give a flying fuck about the food—his real interest were the vendors and the shoppers.

He had learned early on that open air markets like this were perfect meeting grounds for mythical beasts of all shapes and sizes, so, what better palace for him to do some… field work, so to speak?

There were nymphs who had full bouquets of beautiful flowers that lived suspiciously long in their vases as long as you complimented the blooms on a regular basis. Dryads who sold the most delicious fruit he had ever tasted, even if they charged six bucks for a pear.

Stiles had learned early on to avoid the fae—basically, any stand that sold crystal or metalcraft. His first time at the market, he had somehow wound up spending nearly four hundred dollars on quartz; the moment the money had left his hand, the stall had all but vanished in front of him.

“The people are good here. They’re fast. Blunt. Sarcastic. My kind of people.”

“Uh huh.”

Scott liked to call their whole situation lucky.

When Stiles applied to NYU’s doctorate program, he expected rounds and rounds of interviews, lists of deadlines he needed to memorize, and some less-than-subtle digs at his proposed field of study (which was fair, honestly—he knew that criminology and mythology rarely mixed).

What he didn’t expect was Scott, though, the bro of all bros. When Stiles told him he was applying to NYU, Scott had cheered him on, helped him prepare, and then immediately applied to different veterinary positions through the state.

(Scott was golden, obviously—he had years of training, letters of recommendation from everyone he had ever met, and him being a werewolf basically made him the animal whisperer.)

At the end of the day, Stiles got to pursue his passion thanks to a hodgepodge of grants at NYU, and Scott was awarded a fellowship in veterinary medicine through the Bronx Zoo. What kind of weird twist of luck would let the best friends wind up together across the country like that?

So, yeah, Scott called it luck.

Stiles called it karmic retribution for their supremely fucked-up years at Beacon Hills High, but even he could admit that ‘luck’ sounded nicer... and if Stiles was being honest, ‘luck’ was definitely the best way to classify his meeting Derek Hale.

Derek Hale was smart, he was sarcastic, and he could go toe-to-toe with Stiles over completely obscure things for literal hours. He was a first-year professor at NYU, who had the tiny office right next to the broom closet Stiles had managed to shove PHD desk into, and he was probably the only other person in the program that took mythology seriously (meaning he was the only person who didn’t make Stiles want to put his head through the wall).

He was also hot as fuck, but that was beside the point. Stiles had a little bit of a massive crush, but that was also beside the point.

They had built up a fast friendship based on a series of arguments about the Necronomicon, of all things, and Stiles loved the thought of being friends with someone who didn’t know him as the weird kid in high school who knew way too much about ritual sacrifice and circumcision.

He had evened out a lot through undergrad. He was still awkward, sure, but he was awkward with a refillable prescription for Adderall and some sort of brain-to-mouth filter.

(Honestly, the fact that Stiles had managed to avoid making a single joke about the werewolf who was stuck teaching Mythology 101 really did speak volumes to his newfound maturity.)

Speaking of Derek, though…

“Stiles! Hey, Stiles!”

Stiles almost jumped a foot in the air as he heard his name called, doing a spectacular near-drop-mid-air-catch of his phone as he regained his footing, turning on the spot to see a taller woman with jet black hair waving him over.

She was… okay, she was gorgeous—dark hair, smooth skin, someone who looked like she just stepped out of one of the windows on Fifth Avenue—but Stiles was decently distracted, because standing beside her was Derek Hale, the object of his extremely private affection for the past few months. Who, for whatever reason, was standing there looking like he wanted the sidewalk to open up and swallow him whole.

“Scotty, I’ll see you tonight, yeah? I gotta go.”

Stiles pocketed his phone as he cautiously made his way over to the pair—trio, he corrected, because there was another woman with them, looking incredibly more invested in the conversation now that another party was joining them.

He hiked his canvas a bit higher up as he smiled, trying to remember where he had seen the two before… students, maybe, but if that were the case, they would know Derek, not Stiles. They weren’t faculty members, he was sure of that. Donors to the program, maybe?

Well, if they were donors, Stiles sincerely hoped that Derek would have tried harder to wear literally any expression other than his current ‘bitter and miserable’.

And if they were donors, why were they so fucking happy to see him?

“I’m Laura. This is Cora.”

The taller of the two women extended her hand confidently as Stiles got within arms reach, and he instinctively reached out to take it, Cora following suit. “Derek has told us all about you. I have to say, I figured there was at least a ten percent chance you were made up, but… here you are!”

“Here I am!” Stiles was officially lost, but he kept his smile up, cheeks pinking up a little bit as he turned back to Derek. “You’ve been talking about me?” he asked, his voice on the line between flattered and teasing, nudging Derek playfully as he tilted his head.

“Stiles, I—“

“Of course he has! Derek’s a private guy, sure, but you can’t be surprised he told us about his new—“

“Laura—”

“Lord, Derek, calm down. You already had your big bisexual awakening, I’m allowed to be excited to meet your first boyfriend.” Laura shot back, her glare rivaling Derek’s absolute best ‘listen to teacher’ look, and Stiles could see the muscle in his jaw start to twitch. He probably would have done something, but… he was basically short circuiting, brain trying to keep up with whatever the fuck Laura had said, because Derek now had his arm around Stiles’ waist.

Derek had a big bisexual awakening?

And a boyfriend, apparently?

How had Stiles missed that??

“Stiles, these are my sisters, Laura and Cora Hale.”

Okay, great, they were Derek’s sisters. Stiles didn’t even know that Derek had sisters, which was a little sad if he thought about it.

Thankfully, he didn’t have long to think about it, because Derek—

“This is Stiles, my… my boyfriend. Now stop bombarding him. Give him half a fucking second before you go a thousand miles an hour.”

Oh—oh God. Stiles was the boyfriend.

He had seriously missed something, then—he didn’t think he had confessed his feelings for Derek anytime recently, or he probably would have died from embarrassment. Scott was really good at hiding his phone when he was drinking, which ruled that entire scenario out. Stiles could be forgetful at times, sure, but he thought he would remember if he had managed to score himself a boyfriend.

He looked up at Derek, trying to ignore the sudden burn of contact where their bodies were pressed together, but his brain was extremely focused the moment that he caught the look on Derek’s face, there and gone in a flash. He felt the hand squeeze at his waist, and the message was clear enough.

Please.

Ah, well. Stiles was always good at bullshitting, and this was no exception.

“No, no, Der, it’s fine! It’s good to meet you both, sorry, I wasn’t even expecting to see Derek until… uh, later, let alone meet anyone new,” Stiles said, his voice 100% betraying his nerves as it picked up an octave.

Laura’s voice was much more evenly toned, even if it was a little teasing. “Oh? You two have big plans tonight? We aren’t interrupting anything, are we?” she said with a grin, giving the distinct impression that even if they were interrupting, she and her sister wouldn’t be leaving until they were good and ready. Stiles felt his mind kick into overdrive, waving the question aside.

“Oh, nothing like that. We were going to meet up with my friend Scott for dinner, introducing the boyfriend to the best friend, you know how it is,” he continued, hoping his little chuckle wasn’t too terribly fake as he reached up to pat the lapels of Derek’s jacket, letting his fingers linger a little too long on Derek’s chest as he nodded.

He hoped that she knew how it was. Hell, Stiles didn’t even know how it was. He hadn’t exactly been rolling in romance since moving across the country.

“Well, if you say so,” Laura mused, raising a perfect brow, head tilted to the side. “You look like you’re about to pass out, Stiles. You alright?”

And, okay, Stiles knew enough to know what that meant. It meant that her super-sonic ears could hear his heart trying to break through his ribs with a staccato beat, typically a tell-tale sign that someone was lying, but… maybe he could work that to his advantage. He swallowed, voice a little tight as he laughed, waving the concern away.

“Sorry, I just wasn't… planning on meeting the family today,” Stiles said, probably the most truthful thing he had ever said. “Usually I’d try to prepare a little more, you know, make sure I’m wearing something nice and avoid putting my entire foot in my mouth. Maybe just a toe or two,” he said, relaxing minutely as Cora snorted from her position near Laura’s elbow.

Okay, so self depreciation was a good way to avoid suspicion with all the Hales. Got it.

“Well, if you both have plans, I’ll make this quick,” Laura said, her voice deceptively charming as she sidled up next to Stiles, though he certainly wasn’t going to complain about the way Derek’s hand tightened around his waist. “The semester is up soon, what are your plans this summer? Never mind, move them back. We’re having a family reunion the week after finals, and everyone is dying to meet baby brother Derek’s new boo after all the stories he’s told.”

…stories?

He looked up to Derek again, who was now blushing up to the tips of his ears, which—okay, cute—but which told him absolutely nothing and offered him exactly zero defense.

“Actually, I already have a flight booked as soon as my spring contract is up. Heading back to Beacon Hills for a few days, and—“

“Wait, did Derek already invite you?” Laura asked, her expression pleasantly surprised, and Stiles was speechless for a half second before Derek stepped in.

“No, I didn’t invite him because I’m not even going, Laura. Besides, he has his own plans with his own family,” he said, and Stiles blinked as he tried to keep up. “And what do you mean, they’re excited to meet him? I was very clear that the further I can keep him away from you and Mom, the better.”

Laura only rose a brow as she turned back to Cora, who took a beat before looking up from her phone, her expression halfway guilty as she clutched the device. “I uh—I may have just sent a picture of you two to the family group chat.”

Stiles choked on a laugh as Derek gasped—actually gasped—and pulled his phone from his pocket, making the mistake of releasing Stiles’ shoulder to unlock the device, looking absolutely scandalized as he glared at Cora.

It wasn’t long before Stiles had a similar look on his face, though, as Laura took advantage of his free arm, linking her own with his as she started to walk. “Alright, Stiles, here’s the deal.”

“Cora, you little—hey! Laura, get back here with my boyfriend!”

“Calm down little brother, the adults are talking.”

“He’s younger than I am!”

“So, Stiles, like I was saying,” Laura started, oblivious or ignorant to the way Stiles' mind had absolutely reeled when Derek had called him his boyfriend for the second time. “Derek hasn’t been home for more than a day visit since he moved out to this dump, and no one has raised a stink about it in years. This year, though, is… important,” she started, and Stiles nodded idly as he mentally ran through the calendar in his head.

The semester was over in just over a week, with finals crammed into three days after that, and then—oh, the full moon.

No, Stiles corrected himself, the blue moon. The first blue moon in May in probably… thirty years, if he had to guess. He nodded up to Laura as that clicked into place, a flicker of curiosity crossing over her face as she continued talking.

“We won’t take up that much of your time—it’s only like two events, I promise, and I also promise Derek will personally take care of whatever flight changes you have to make so you can still get some time with your family. After all, it’s not your fault my bonehead brother tried to exclude you until now.”

“I’m not a bonehead!” Derek said, his tone of voice just exasperated enough that Stiles sighed, carefully extracting himself from Laura’s grasp as they slowed to a stop near the curb of Fifth Avenue, the noise from the farmers market blending in with the sound of traffic as he turned back to Derek.

“Alright, hang on, hold up,” Stiles started, his tone firm enough to stop the three wolves in their tracks, Derek and Laura wearing matching expressions of surprise as they stopped in their tracks—even Cora was peeking over her phone, clearly interested, and Stiles couldn’t blame them. It had probably been a long time since either of them had been stopped by a human.

“Laura, Derek is not a bonehead. He’s smart, and he’s sweet, and he’s very kind, and it’s okay that he’s a little more private. Yeah, he’s also a stubborn asshole, but… well, that’s one of the reasons I like him so much,” Stiles said, the first genuine smile in the entire conversation gracing his face as he looked at Derek again. “But you know your brother. Did you really think that catching him off guard across the country in person was going to be the best way to convince him to visit?”

He was fine taking their silence as an answer, honestly.

“Now, Derek, that being said, I… if you are comfortable with it, I can rearrange my plans and come down with you. If you’re not comfortable with that, that’s okay too. Meeting the family—at least, the rest of the family—is a very big step,” he continued, his words very pointed.

(Yes, Derek, meeting the family would be a very big step for someone you weren’t even dating, please pick up on the subliminal messaging here.)

“But even if you’re not comfortable with me being there, I think you should still go down. I’ll get to spend plenty of time with my dad, you shouldn’t have to be all alone up here while I’m gone.”

Moving to smooth over the lapels on Derek’s jacket again, Stiles only barely tampered down a noise of surprise as Derek intercepted his hands, pleasantly shocked by how easily Derek’s warm, smooth fingers slipped between his own lanky digits.

Stiles felt his cheeks pinks up as he cleared his throat, doing his best to act normal, because he was… well, he wasn’t lying. He had absolutely thought about Derek being alone here in New York while Stiles was gone, but that was more in the sense that Stiles would miss him.

He just didn’t know that Derek might be missing some family, too.

Besides, he may not have known that much about the intricacies of a normal, family pack, but Stiles knew enough to know that a big event like this would probably be good for Derek, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

Even if Derek was going to reject his offer and go down alone.

…because Derek was going to reject him.

Derek was going to reject him, right?

Stiles had been fairly sure of that when he offered, but judging by the way Derek couldn’t meet his eyes after something as simple as holding hands, Stiles might have just fucked himself over. Derek opened and closed his mouth twice before he finally let out a huff of air and looked up, doing a remarkably good impression of a guilty animal as he looked at Stiles.

“…you’re sure you don’t mind?”

Fuck.

“Derek, I wouldn’t have offered if I minded,” Stiles said, and that much was at least true—but before he could say anything else, Laura was squealing in his ear, wrapping both of them up in a hug so tight Stiles almost had to remind her that he was human, but he was able to breathe again as the car next to the curb chirped.

“Thank God, Stiles, thank you for getting through to him! Oh, Nana is gonna flip out when she hears who’s coming—Derek, you know you’ve always been her favorite—Stiles, do you have any dietary restrictions? Derek, send me his number, and—no, Cora, you are not driving us back to the airport, move your ass—“

Stiles looked up to Derek, his expression somewhere between bemused and fearful as Laura rambled on, but… well, the apologetic look that Derek had on his face wasn’t much reassurance.

“—and Stiles, you’re going to love Beacon Hills. Bye boys! See you in two weeks!”

Stiles was left, partially shellshocked as Derek’s hand slipped from his own, the need for the facade no longer essential as the shiny silver rental car pulled into traffic.

“… Derek, since when the fuck are you from Beacon Hills?”

—————

“Scotty, stop laughing, this isn’t funny.”

“Dude, are you kidding me? This is hilarious.”

Stiles groaned as he shoved another slice of pizza into his mouth, ignoring the burning sensation that spread across his tongue as he tried to pack as much melted cheese as he could into one bite.

Scott’s apartment had been their go-to for the entire time he and Stiles had been in the city—not because it was huge and glamorous, not by any means, but Scott’s shoebox had a door between the bathroom and the living room, and therefore it was the best place for bro-time by default.

Stiles had loudly complained about the entire situation when he and Derek showed up on Scott’s stoop, firmly planting himself in his favorite of Scott’s chairs—the ‘old man’ recliner next to Scott’s little television, the game on screen forgotten as he recalled their harrowed tale.

“Stiles, if you weren’t comfortable with it, why even… okay, no, don’t you dare answer me until you swallow,” Derek snapped, and Stiles rolled his eyes as he swallowed a few times, sticking his tongue out at Derek once his mouth was empty.

“Good. Thank you for pretending to be an adult. Now, why did you even offer if it wasn’t something you were comfortable with.”

Because it was supposed to just be a gesture, Derek. Because I didn’t realize you would take it as a serious offer, Derek. Because you were supposed to say no, Derek.

… because I didn’t want you to be alone, Derek.

Honestly, as surprised as Stiles was that Derek took him up on his poorly-timed moment of goodness, he was even more surprised that after Laura drove off, when he numbly asked if Derek wanted to come over to Scott’s for some pizza, Derek actually said yes.

Derek Hale was being social. Alert the media.

(Well… maybe ‘social’ was stretching it a bit—Stiles didn’t know if it was a territory thing or what, but Derek had turned hilariously, awkwardly stiff the moment he stepped inside Scott’s apartment.)

“I offered because I’m nice, dick, but don’t even think that you can turn this on me. Derek, they knew my name. They knew what I looked like. And yeah, I mean, I’m a complete catch and all—oh fuck off, Scotty—but what in the actual, literal fuck?”

Stiles didn’t think it was possible, but somehow Derek got even more tense, shoulders tightening up toward his ears as he looked down. It took a moment before he answered, but Stiles knew by then that Derek usually had to… wind himself up to talk about some things.

“My mother lives on the opposite end of the country, and even then, she still managed to set up twenty four blind dates for me last year. Twenty four, Stiles. That’s basically one every other week. Do you have any idea how much small talk that is? And how much I hate small talk?”

Yes, Stiles thought, to both of those questions. He would never admit this out loud, of course, but thinking about one of the most intensely private people that he knew stuck at some shitty little coffee shop trying to chat with some random female on behalf of his mother was hilarious to a degree he couldn’t fathom.

It definitely wasn’t a redirection of his own… personal feelings that may or may not be directed at Derek. Not at all. Nope.

“So, around the time the spring semester started, when my mother let slide that she had passed along my number to yet another perfectly eligible barista, or something, I panicked and told her I had a boyfriend. And then she asked for a photo, and the most recent one on my phone was that selfie you sent miming your own death in the stacks, so…”

“Oh fuck, Derek,” Stiles started, downing the last of his beer. “Your big bisexual awakening wasn’t just you trying to get out of your mom setting you up on dates, right?”

“Don’t flatter yourself, ass,” Derek said, rolling his eyes as he shook his head. “The two events were completely separate.”

Stiles laughed at the thought, but even then, his mind was reeling. If this wasn’t a recent discovery, how in the fuck did Stiles miss that for so long?

“Well, you’re lucky Scotty and I had a flight booked anyway. I won’t let you face them alone, not when you have a picture perfect boyfriend to show off now—what role should I take on? Doting, love struck fool? Rebel without a care? Some sad forlorn loser who… okay, no, that one is too close to home.”

Scott stood up and laughed as Derek glared at Stiles again, but it didn’t take a genius to see the tiny smile on his face, or the way his shoulders eased as he leaned back into the couch.

“Alright, this is getting too intense a conversation while the game is on. Want another beer, Stiles? You, Derek?”

Stiles made a vaguely affirming noise as he wove his hand in Scott’s direction, eyes drawn back to Derek yet again as the other wolf politely declined, his own attention affixed to the television as the game picked back up.

Derek was… not a particularly expressive person, Stiles knew, and part of that was because Derek had what Stiles affectionately called ‘resting grumpy face’; at least, he did privately, because the one time he said it out loud Derek had thrown the Encyclopaedia of Demomorgons at his head.

So, to the outsider looking in, Derek might have just seemed uninterested in the game; but Stiles had been watching Derek work for the better part of a semester, and he knew perfectly well how to tell when Derek’s resting grumpy face formed an actual frown. Which it did. Because apparently, the Mets had personally offended him.

“I’m sorry, are you seriously glaring at the Mets? While they’re winning?”

Derek leveled Stiles with the most unimpressed glare he could as Scott laughed from his kitchen, walking back into the living room with two beers. “God, I hope he was. It would be nice to have someone with taste in the apartment for once.”

“Scotty!” Stiles gasped, clutching his heart as Scott handed him a beer, extending the claw on his thumb to pop the top off before he handed the bottle over. “The Mets are a treasure, okay? If God lived in New York, she’d be a Mets fan. I have suffered much for my Mets in my lifetime, and they—woah, Derek, you okay?”

Stiles’ charming cliches would have to wait, because when he looked over to Derek, his humor dropped immediately. Derek had gone white as a sheet, jaw slack as he stared at the beer in Stiles’ hand.

He stared back and forth between Scott and Derek, trying to figure what the hell had just happened; it wasn’t until he watched Scott pop the top off of his own beer, looking between the two of them, did Stiles put two and two together.

“Derek, you… you had to know that Scott was a were, right? Like, you had to. He—Scotty doesn’t do subtle.”

“Me?! Stiles, you called me a wet dog for like a month after I fell into the Hudson.”

Derek let out a sort of choked noise as he shut his mouth, coming back into himself as a bit of pink dusted his pale cheeks, hands moving in front of his face. “Of—of course I knew, but—you knew?!”

“Dude, I’m studying mythical lore and criminology. I’m the one who taught this furry fucker how to control himself. Of course I knew, I... oh my god. You didn’t know that I knew—uh, that I know.”

Matching looks of realization dawned on Scott and Stiles’ face as Stiles stood up, putting the beer down on the coffee table. He moved next to Derek as he sat down on the couch, keeping his movement slow, reaching out to pat Derek’s leg like he was a frail old lady.

“Derek, I know.”

After what felt like an age and a half, Derek melted into the couch, a huge sigh leaving his lips as all the tension in his body bled out like a string had been cut, burying his head in his hands.

“We’ve had arguments about wolves in pop culture. I’ve offered to help you out with your coursework every full moon for, like, the entire semester. Dude, you had to know that I knew, there’s no way I didn’t—Derek!” Stiles felt his giddy laughter bubble over as Derek shot him a red-eyed glare through his fingers, his scowl somehow less intimidating now that everything was out in the open.

Okay, Derek wasn’t just a wolf, he was an alpha. That was… interesting.

“God, you two really are perfect fake boyfriends. Two halves of a whole idiot. Derek, are you sure you don’t want a beer? Or maybe something stronger, if you have to deal with Stiles?” Scott said easily, laughing as Stiles immediately protested, though the way Stiles eased himself next to Derek wasn’t exactly subtle, either.

—————

Scott may have been joking, but by the time finals had come and gone, Stiles had accepted the fact that he would have to forgo booze and opt for a mainline of caffeine to keep up with Derek. How one person remained so meticulously organized, Stiles would never know—but in the amount of time it took for Stiles to wrap up his grant work for the semester, Derek had given four exams, proctored three more, cleaned out his office, and shared the updated flight itinerary with Stiles.

“Wait, wait, hang on,” Stiles had said, tripping over an empty box in his tiny office as Derek handed him his updated boarding pass. “Why do we have to change our flights? Scott and I are already booked, you can probably just join us, right?”

Derek rose a perfectly sculpted brow as he tapped the ticket again, shaking his head. “Hey, I promised you’d spend as few days as possible with my family, and I intend to keep that promise. The sooner we get in, the sooner we start that clock, the sooner you get to spend the rest your time with your dad.”

Stiles blinked as he looked down to the itinerary, eyes scanning over the earlier time—and it was non-stop too. That would be a bit killer on the legs, but Stiles could handle that, maybe he could take some time to sleep or pester Derek for...

“Uh, Derek... this ticket is for first class.”

“I know, Stiles, I booked it.”

“Dude, there’s a reason Scott and I booked an economy ticket with a layover in Bismarck. There’s no way I can pay you back for this.”

If looks could kill, Stiles would be... maybe not dead, but at least set on fire. Derek sighed, as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders as he rolled his eyes.

“You’re not paying me back, dumbass. You’re already doing a ton for me with this little... charade, the least I can do is make sure your frail human body—“

“Hey!”

”—is comfortable in a lie flat seat.”

“Look, I appreciate that, but I’m not leaving Scott alone on his flight in coach just because of our... fake... whatever.”

Stiles’ voice trailed off in curiosity as Derek sighed, his cheeks pink as he pulled the paper out of Stiles’ hand, pointing to the second half of the sheet—where MCCALL, SCOTT had been printed in big, bold letters, that Stiles had completely ignored.

“... you got Scott a ticket too?”

“Of course I did. He’s your best friend, I wasn’t going to ask you to leave him behind just for me. Besides, who do you think I got your information from to book the flight?” Derek said dryly, as though his deadpan delivery could cancel out the ruddy color to his cheeks, or the way that Stiles’ stomach flip flopped when the reality of that sunk in.

It was nice that Derek acknowledged the importance of their friendship, in the way that tugged at the little space right beneath his sternum, but something about the way Derek so quickly dismissed himself was... concerning.

Stiles couldn’t help but play that little bit of their conversation over in his head as he packed, as he hopped on the train, as he met up with Scott and Derek in security.

Scott, bless his heart, was absolutely elated—his excitement was almost tangible as they dropped off luggage, walked through security, and stood around at the boarding gate. Derek had to smack the both of them to get them to stand up when first class was called to board, and Stiles idly wondered if Derek regretted associating himself with them when he and Scott managed to trip in sync as they went down the jetway.

Derek and Stiles were seated together, of course, and once Stiles got over the novelty of not having a middle seat on a plane, he liked to imagine he fit right in—easing back into the seat, enjoying the comfort of the little blanket he had been given, grinning at the flight attendant as she checked in with them.

(Scott was one row ahead and across the aisle, close enough that Stiles could lean forward and smack him if he wanted to... but the moment Stiles saw his seat mate, a pretty woman with dark hair and impeccable eyeliner, he knew his best bro would be on a different planet for the entirety of the flight.)

His grin slipped a little bit, though, as he thought back to the conversation surrounding the tickets, and he looked up to Derek as he settled in a bit further.

“So, we never went over what role I should be taking on.”

“Stiles, just be yourself. You’re funny enough, and you generally mean well, they’ll love who you are.”

Yeah… who he was. Well, who he was was someone who was going to be dangerously invested in a fake relationship that would probably end terribly for him, so that was fun. He sighed as he settled into the seat, opening and closing his mouth a few times as he debated on where to go from here.

No time like a non stop plane ride to have a potentially awkward conversation, right?

“Dude, we’re friends, right?”

“We’re fake boyfriends, don’t call me dude.”

Derek’s tone was teasing as he flipped through his SkyMall, a small smile on his face, and Stiles felt a little bit of the tension ease out of his shoulders as he buckled in.

“First of all, I have called many boyfriends ‘dude’ before,” Stiles started, ignoring Derek’s snort of laughter, “and I’m being serious. We... we are friends, right?”

Be it his words or his awkward energy, Derek looked up, surprise on his face as he closed the magazine and stowed it away as the plane bumped down the taxiway.

“Of course we are, Stiles. You’re like... the only person I talk to at work outside of teaching, that’s light years ahead of most of New York as a whole.”

“I mean, I’m glad to hear, I just...” Stiles chewed on his lip as he turned in his seat, weirdly soothed by the roar of the engines as the takeoff roll started. “You know about my dad, and about my school, and about Scott, and those are basically the three important things in my life,” he started, letting out a sigh as Derek just stared at him blankly.

“It’s fine that you’re a private person, I can respect that... seriously, I may not understand it, but I can respect it,” Stiles said, grinning as Derek shot him a look, lowering his voice again as he leaned over the divider between them. “But I didn’t know that you were from my hometown, too. Or that you had sisters, let alone other family. I should have asked, I guess, but... you know you can talk to me about things, yeah? Even after all this is over, you’ll always be Derek to me. Not just another Hale.”

Stiles’ was smiling as he gently bumped Derek’s shoulder with his own, watching the way different emotions warred over his face, biting back on the urge to babble on so he could give Derek the time he needed to respond.

“We’re... we are friends, Stiles. We are.” Derek insisted, looking down to his linked hands as the plane continued to rise. “Sometimes, I just... I’m not great about talking about myself.”

For a while, Stiles thought that was all he was going to get, and honestly, he was fine with it—it wasn’t until the fasten seatbelt sign chimed off and the flight attendants passed out little bottles of water that Derek spoke again, his voice low as he cleared his throat.

“My family is huge. Like, big enough that we need spreadsheets and flowcharts to organize family events like this. I know they love me, and I love them too, of course I do, but I made some really, really stupid decisions when I was younger… I know they forgave me for it, but...”

Derek sighed, taking a deep breath as he ran his hands through his hair.

“Sometimes it’s hard to be around them and still be okay with myself, you know?”

No, Stiles didn’t know. He only had his dad and Scott growing up, but he nodded his head encouragingly as he took a sip of his water.

“I actually have four siblings. Mark is the oldest, and then Taylor, and I’m right between Laura and Cora. They’re betas, like my dad; my mom and I are both alphas, her mom, too…” Derek continued, and Stiles smiled as he settled into his seat.

By the time the flight landed, Stiles’ head was full to the brim with Hale family trivia, names, faces, teasing stories, and the warmth that had danced across Stiles’ chest for the past year or so had bloomed into a full-on fire.

Would it lead to his downfall? Probably.

But when he saw how Derek smiled when he remembered Mark’s graduating medical school, or heard the pride in his voice when he talked about Laura’s charity work, and the genuine joy he got to see when he heard another story about Derek’s childhood… well, that was all more than worth it.

—————

“I think you should kiss me.”

Stiles had to stop himself from laughing at the look that Derek shot him, doing his best to keep his body language casual as he leaned against the gas pump at a tiny station outside of Beacon Hills, though he knew his heart was going at about a million miles a minute.

“I—you—what?”

“Derek, I’m an affectionate dude, in case you couldn’t tell from all the hand holding. And if you’re going to freak out if I kiss your cheek, then you should freak out now, not when we’re in front of your family.”

Stiles knew full well his heart betrayed his confidence, but seeing Derek’s ears go pink as he dumped the armful of snacks Stiles had asked for into the back seat was a welcome sight—it was always nice to know that Derek’s cool and controlled exterior could be ruffled up once in a while.

Somewhere between the rental kiosk and the gas station, Stiles had decided that he was going to go all in on this. His little crush was already stuck right in the back of his throat and would be unlikely to dislodge any time soon, so he figured that indulging himself in the fake relationship Derek had set up for him… well, it wouldn’t do any good, but it was unlikely to make things worse for him than it already was.

It was a little weird being alone with Derek—Stiles didn’t realize it until now, but between meeting Derek’s sisters and meeting the rest of their family, this was the first time they had been alone together. They had other staff members at school, or strangers around the city, or Scott (who had politely declined a ride back to Beacon Hills with Derek and Stiles, choosing instead to split an Uber with his pretty new friend, Kira).

“You know, as far as first kisses go, usually they’re a little more romantic than just a demand. You’re supposed to woo me, Stiles,” Derek said, his sarcastic tone betrayed by his shy little smile as he pulled the nozzle out of his tank, closing the gas cap as Stiles gasped in mock offense.

“Hey, I said you should kiss me, not the other way around. Why should I have to be the one to woo?” Stiles started, sliding into the passenger’s seat as Derek followed suit. “After all, this relationship wouldn’t have even happened without your instigation, so why should I… uh… Der?”

Stiles’ voice trailed off as Derek’s hand sunk into the soft crook at the juncture of his neck, effectively cutting off his entire train of thought as Derek’s thumb pressed against the hollow of his jaw.

“Stiles.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

“O-Okay.”

For a minute, all Stiles could think of were those cheesy old rom-coms, where fireworks would go off, or bells would chime, but kissing Derek was nothing like that. It was the comfort of wrapping yourself in an electric blanket, instead of the shock of jumping into a frozen pond; the familiar buzz of goosebumps over his skin over a bolt of lightning. He felt a surprised little noise leave his chest as Derek’s tilted his head to deepen the kiss, his tongue flicking out instinctively to drag along Derek’s bottom lip, hands coming up to rest against the wolves chest.

Stiles could feel his heart beating through every inch of his skin as the kiss broke, struggling to remind himself how to breathe as he opened his eyes again, his nose brushing against Derek’s as he let out a little huff of a laugh.

“Was that enough woo for you?” Derek asked, his voice barely more than a whisper, and Stiles smiled as he nodded his head, savoring the way that neither of them moved back. Derek’s hand was warm against the crook of his jaw, his own palm flat against Derek's chest, and it was natural, it was so nice, it was—

Fake. It was all fake.

Stiles sighed, closing his eyes as he gently leaned in and pressed their foreheads together, that mantra playing through his head as he pulled himself back. He buckled himself in easily as he took in a deep breath, his goofy grin still in place as he looked back up to Derek.

“See? Now you can honestly tell your mom we had our first kiss at a gas station and that it was magical and I totally rocked your world.”

“Is that what happened, though? I mean, if you wanted me to kiss you so badly, you should have just asked,” Derek said, the sarcasm thick in his voice as he started the car, and Stiles laughed as they pulled out of the lot, his hand finding Derek’s easily once again.

Their silence remained comfortable as they left the city skyline behind and basically blew through Beacon Hills, the trees inching closer to the road as they wound through the preserve.

Finishing off a bag of M&M’s, Stiles cleared his throat as he crumpled up the wrapper and chucked it in the back seat, sucking a little bit of melted chocolate off of his thumb. “So. Is this regular introducing-the-boyfriend-to-the-family nerves I’m looking at here, or is this introducing-the-fake-boyfriend-to-the-family nerves? You don’t have any weirdos in your family, do you? An ex-felon auntie? A cousin who doesn’t quite get personal space?”

Stiles grinned as Derek laughed, oddly comforted by the sound as Derek shook his head. “Nothing exciting. A weird uncle, I guess. Lots of cousins, you should basically abandon any idea of personal space as soon as we walk in, and plenty of human family, too—so you won’t be alone in that. As far as felons go, well… none of us have been caught?”

“Hey, game recognizes game, it doesn’t count if you don’t get caught. And I can work with a weird uncle.” Stiles laughed at the sheepish look that Derek shot his way, his fingers still happily wrapped up in Derek’s warm hands. He could almost feel it when they crossed over onto the Hale land, the huge, white house as much of a giveaway as the shrieks of joy that even Stiles could hear from the property.

“They’re gonna love you, you know?” Derek’s voice was soft as he pulled the rental into a long row of cars, nearly lining the road leading up to the house, and Stiles felt the snarky remark die on his tongue as Derek caught his eye, his expression somewhere between grateful and wistful as he turned the car off.

“Maybe, but…” Stiles sighed as he popped his door open, chewing over his next words carefully. “But if they do, it’s because they already love you.”

He took it as a personal victory when Derek turned away, his ears pink again, and Stiles couldn’t help but grin as he followed the werewolf up the path to his family home.

The Hale House was probably as huge and impressive as the Hale family itself from the outside, and Stiles did his best not to gape like a fool as Derek opened the door for him, his hand finding the small of Stiles’ back as they stepped into the house. Polished floors, huge, high windows, a grand staircase that was the definition of grand, and—

“Derek!”

—and another unfairly attractive Hale moving forward to greet them. Tall, broad, dark hair with just a splash of salt around the temples and the goatee, shining a million watt smile on Derek and Stiles as he wiped his hands on his probably-uncomfortably-tight jeans.

Jesus, was everyone in this family gorgeous? Stiles was going to get a complex.

He looked up as the stranger and Derek briefly hugged, watching the halfway-subtle way they scented one another, Mark’s head buried in Derek’s neck for a half moment before they pulled away. If Stiles strained his ear, he could have heard something along the lines of ‘be nice’ as Derek pulled back; if the situation weren’t so funny, Stiles probably would have blushed.

“Don’t listen to him, I’m always nice. I’m Mark, and you…” Mark started, his million watt smile back in place as his eyes dragged over Stiles’ body, “... you must be Stiles.” Stiles snorted as Mark pulled him into an easy hug, catching Stiles just a little off-guard as he was wrapped in another pair of arms.

Apparently Derek’s family was an affectionate bunch. Stiles didn’t know if it was a wolf thing or a Hale thing, but either way, it was good to know.

“Mark, uh, Seattle, right? You’re the surgeon?” Stiles asked, clearing his throat as the hug carried on just a bit too long, regaining some footing in the introduction as he pulled back. “Derek’s told me a lot about you.”

That was… mostly true, Derek had told him enough about Mark to thoroughly embarrass the older male, and Mark looked like he expected nothing less as he laughed, holding Stiles’ shoulders as he stood at arms length. “Yeah, I’m sure he did, but it’s probably all garbage. After all, how can you really describe a wonder like me in words, huh?”

He actually winked, and Stiles honestly couldn’t believe that this dude was for real.

“Der, nice job with this one. He’s cute. Kid, is my brother treating you well? Cause, you know, if Hale is your taste, you can do much better than—”

”Mark—“

“Oh, lighten up Der-bear, there isn’t enough Botox in the world to get rid of those scowl lines. It was a joke. Now come on, everyone’s out back.”

Stiles laughed again as Mark put Derek in an easy headlock, ruffling up his hair as he led them outside, immediately filing ‘Der-bear’ away for future use as they stepped out into the backyard.

The backyard, which was absolutely filled with Hales.

He felt his heart do a funny little lurch as he was hit with the sheer family of it all—all dark haired, all gorgeous, and for just a moment, he wanted to smack Derek upside the head. There were probably generations of Hales here; Derek had all this family, this built in support group, and he was just going to spend the summer holed up in New York?

“Alright, Siles, we’re gonna keep you in with the main family and keep you away from the cousins,” Mark started, artfully ignoring the way Derek was swatting at him. “Uncle Peter all but insisted that Mom come pick him up, so you’ll get to avoid them until later tonight, but who you really want to watch out for is—“

“Is that my grandbaby?!”

Mark stiffened as Derek perked up, and Stiles couldn’t help but snicker as a bony hand shot up, grabbing Mark by the scruff of his neck, pulling him off of Derek with a flourish that would probably seem overly dramatic if Stiles didn’t know just how much werewolf strength was packed behind it.

“Derek!”

“Hi, Nana.”

Stiles couldn’t keep the smile off of his face as Derek leaned in to wrap his arms around the older woman—she was a good foot shorter than he was, her movements loud, with light skinned with the same tell-tale black hair that the rest of the family had. What caught Stiles’ eye, though, was the way Derek scented her—it was the same way Mark scented him, a familial nudge that Stiles read easily as a sign of deference.

Whoever this Nana was, she was clearly the woman in charge here.

“You know, we’re all technically her grandbabies,” Mark started as he reappeared at Stiles’ shoulder, rubbing the back of his neck, his childish pout painfully obvious as he pointed his words. “But you wouldn’t know it with the blatant favoritism she shows for Derek!”

“Mark, don’t be such a baby,” Nana Hale said as she pulled back from Derek’s hug, patting his cheek affectionately. She raised a brow in a spectacularly unimpressed fashion as she turned to look at her eldest grandson, sighing in mock disappointment. “Not that I thought a career based off of liposuction and face lifts would have brought you some maturity.”

“That’s—I don’t just do—Nana!”

“Now, who do we have here? Derek, are you going to introduce me to your special friend?”

Ignoring Mark’s protests easily as she turned her attention, Stiles felt his heart pick up again, his eyes flicking to Derek as he beamed; Stiles wasn’t sure if he was happy to see Mark get smacked down, or if he was happy to introduce Stiles, but Stiles would have literally killed a man to see Derek smile that brightly on a regular basis.

“Nana, this is my boyfriend, Stiles Stilinski. Stiles, this is my grandmother, Ger—“

“Nana Hale will do just fine, thank you very much,” she interrupted, pulling a face that made Stiles grin—he could absolutely relate to someone who would rather set their birth name on fire than own up to it. “Now, come here, let me get a look at you.”

Stiles stepped forward and hesitated a half moment, not sure if he should try one last time for a handshake or wait for her to initiate a hug, but before he could make up his mind she had her hands clasped on his elbows, a grip like iron stopping him in his tracks.

“Scrawny little thing, aren’t you? We’ll take care of that, don’t you worry. It’s good to meet you, sweetheart, let’s get you some food.”

“It’s good to meet you too—and some food sounds great,” Stiles said with a laugh, ignoring the fact that he was still full of junk food as Nana Hale all but preened beside him. Her grip was gentle but unyielding as she dragged him to a table that was piled with food, giving a half wave to Laura and Cora, who were stationed beside a punch bowl the size of a fish tank as he kept himself a half step behind Nana.

Stiles wasn’t dumb, okay? He knew how to make nice with wolves, and more importantly, he knew how to be subtle.

(He didn’t like it, but he knew how to do it.)

“Uncle Derek! Get Uncle Derek!!”

Thankfully, the moment was over in a flash as Stiles heard a familiar name called out in a high pitched squeal, looking back out to the yard where a hoard of kids had just caught sight (or scent?) of Derek, immediately abandoning the rough-and-tumble games they seemed to be wrapped up in to run toward Derek as fast as their little legs could carry them.

Derek immediately tensed, a manic grin on his face as he prepared to run, body twitching as he caught himself before taking off. He sent a look Stiles’ way that was somehow both apologetic and asking remission, and Stiles sighed as he smiled.

“You better run, Uncle Derek. They’re gonna get you,” Stiles said mock-seriously, only barely keeping a straight face as Derek instead ran straight to the kids, making all sorts of comedic noises as they mobbed his legs.

Fuck, he was cute.

Stiles’ attention was pulled off of Derek as he felt eyes on him, subtly scanning the yard before he made eye contact with another adult in the family, who was very shirtless, and very sweaty, and very much walking toward them with a bright smile on his face.

Okay, Stiles was definitely getting a complex.

“You must be Stiles!” he exclaimed once he was closer to their little group, and Stiles had never been as thankful for a child as he was for the tiny body perched on top of the other males shoulders, because he was just about at his ‘hugging gorgeous people’ limit. He was still sweating, for fucks sake, but Stiles supposed that even a wolf got tired out when they had eight kids hanging from their body until Uncle Derek stepped in.

“I am, and…” Stiles was about to assume this was the firefighter sibling, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the kid on top of his shoulders smiled, and Stiles was absolutely smitten. “And who is this little guy?”

The distraction was apparently a welcome one, because shirtless dude’s smile grew even wider, reaching up to pat the kid on a mop of curly hair before he lifted him up and over, holding him at chest level. “This is Isaac. Isaac, can you say hi to Stiles? He’s your uncle Derek’s special friend.”

Stiles literally felt his heart melt as Isaac gave a shy little wave, looking up at him with big blue eyes. He couldn’t have been older than three or four, and Stiles smiled and waved back as Isaac was set down on the ground.

“You wanna go play with Uncle D?” Any hint of shyness was forgotten the moment the question was asked, taking off toward Derek as fast as his little legs could carry him, which… wasn’t very fast, but was very, very cute.

“They all yours?” Stiles asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked over to Derek, who now had at least six kids hanging off of him. He smiled as the other male shivered, shaking his head quickly.

“God no, just the three. Erica and Boyd, and Isaac too, now that the adoption has been finalized. Those kids basically run the joint, Derek included—as long as you don’t mind the occasional toddler mobbing, you’ll fit in just fine.”

“Thanks, random shirtless man, I really hope so.”

Stiles grinned as Laura choked on a mouthful of punch, the weirdness of the situation apparently just now visible to her as she sputtered, punching her brother in the arm. “Oh god, Taylor, what is wrong with you! Go put on a shirt, you can’t just—you didn’t even introduce yourself, I swear—Stiles is a guest, you weirdo!”

They kept bickering back and forth as Taylor pulled an undershirt on over his head, the whining turning into background noise as he poured himself a glass of punch. He knew perfectly well what Laura was trying to say—Stiles is a human—and he was pretty sure he was mostly flattered by everyone trying so hard, but any coherent thought left his head as he took a bite of the ribs, watching Nana Hale grin out of the corner of his eyes as he groaned in delight.

“God, they really do have Derek wrapped around their pudgy fingers,” Cora mused, and Stiles nodded his head, swallowing. It was honestly hilarious to watch Derek try to manage all those kids by himself; they seemed determined to pile themselves onto his head and shoulders, and he could almost see Derek sweat, trying to make sure he didn’t drop anyone as Isaac managed to wriggle his way into Derek’s grip.

He tilted his head in consideration, taking a sip of his drink before he spoke up.

“Yeah, he always did strike me as that kind of Alpha.”

He couldn’t help but savor the way the conversation ground to a halt around him, Laura and Taylor both sucking in a deep breath as Mark shattered the glass he was holding. There probably was a better way to acknowledge that he was in on the secret, but as funny as it was watching Derek’s siblings tiptoe around the fact, he figured it was best to rip the bandaid off in one go.

Even if it meant he had the attention of the Hales closest to him in one second, flat, Nana’s burning red from where she stood with a plate piled high with food.

He probably should have been nervous, but as he looked back at Derek, he could tell it was the right choice—Derek was all smiles, waiting only a beat before he popped his fangs and playfully snapped at one of his little nieces, the air soon full of squealing laughter once again.

Keeping his gaze even, Stiles smiled in thanks as he took the plate of food Nana offered to him, watching as her eyes melted back into their darker, human color. She was staring at him like he was a particularly complex puzzle, and she wasn’t alone—Cora looked hilariously outraged that she didn’t realize sooner, and even Mark was looking over him with renewed interest as his hand healed.

“I knew you were a smart boy. He told you?”

Nana’s question was accusing, but not unkind, and Stiles shrugged it off easily as he popped a chip into his mouth.

“He didn’t have to. My best friend was bitten when we were both fifteen. He didn’t have… anything, no alpha, no pack, just me and my mad Googling skills, and we’ve had plenty of supernatural run-ins over the years. Derek didn’t tell me because he didn’t have to tell me—I’m not anything special, but I’d like to think I can spot a non-human from at least fifty feet. Maybe more on a good day.”

“Well, that’s where you’re wrong.”

Stiles jumped as he heard Derek’s voice from behind him, and it truly was a credit to his poise and sophistication that he only blushed a little as Derek’s arm snaked around his waist. His body was warm, far warmer than it had been ten minutes ago, and Derek’s breath came a little heavy as he kissed the back of Stiles’ head.

“You are definitely something special.”

“You—you absolute cheeseball, what is wrong with you—” Stiles managed to get out as he shoved at Derek’s shoulder, his entire face burning red as Laura and Cora both gagged. Any residual awkwardness melted away as Nana’s sharp laugh cut through the air, the sound putting him back at ease as he leaned back into Derek’s warmth.

Somewhere between the fortieth round of storytelling and the gathering moving back into the house, Stiles needed a breather. Derek’s family was huge, and loud, and honestly, Stiles loved it—but it wasn’t long before he felt an itch beneath his skin, his fingers buzzing against his thigh, the muscles in his jaw a little too tight.

Stiles had expected Derek to be pretty popular in the family—what he didn’t expect, though, was that he would be anything more than an introduction and the same polite questions that everyone gave the new boyfriend.

“Wait, no fucking way did the two of you take down a Kanima, Stiles, I’m calling bullshit right now—“

Derek’s siblings were great, but they were also the worst; the minute they found out that Stiles had his own supernatural background, they were pestering him for stories, demanding his opinion of things, getting more and more exasperated with his entire life the more he shared.

Stiles knew that his life was crazy, okay? He didn’t need the constant reminders or the slack-jawed shocked expressions to reinforce that fact.

“Jesus, we didn’t even know that there were any wendigos in the state, and you knew an entire family of them?”

The only stories he flat out refused to talk about were the… issues he had had with hunters through high school—this was a party, after all, and he didn’t want to be the one to bring the vibe down by talking about the one time an assassin held a gun to his head to try and draw Scott out.

Fun times.

“What do you mean, you just know a banshee? And set her up with a hellhound? Dude, who are you?!”

Kissing Derek had, oddly enough, only exasperated the situation. In less than a day, they had gotten better at trading little affections back and forth; but instead of helping Stiles calm down, they only increased that thrumming nerves that bounced around at the base of his skull.

Which sucked, honestly, because kissing Derek was… really, really nice.

Stiles waited until another cousin who’s name he would never remember caught Derek up in a conversation about another tradition he couldn’t follow before he squeezed Derek’s hand, taking the opportunity to stand up from his spot on the couch and slip away.

The Hale House was huge, and outside was no exception; Stiles soon found himself on the porch, a huge wraparound wooden structure with built-in benches that let you enjoy the kind of view that made Stiles remember why he loved home so much. He treated himself to a few pictures of the sunset over Beacon Canyon before he flopped himself down on a bench, rubbing at his neck.

“Stiles? Everything alright?”

He had half expected Derek to follow him out after a few moments—but to his surprise, it was Nana Hale that sat beside him, her cheeks still pink with laughter as she tucked a jet black flyaway behind an ear.

“Is—oh, no, it’s great! Just wanted to, uh, snap a few pictures of the view.”

Another half truth—he was full to bursting with those lately.

“I know that our family can be… a little overwhelming,” she said, her tone even as she rose a brow, keeping her gaze forward as her fingers drummed a pattern into her knee.

Stiles hummed in agreement, his own smile a touch more genuine as he looked over to her. “Maybe, but that’s not a bad thing. When I was growing up, I spent so much time wondering what it would be like, to have siblings, and cousins, and… well, it might be a lot, but it’s a lot of love, too. I’m really glad Derek has that kind of support.”

Nana’s fingers stilled against her knee as she turned to face Stiles, and for the first time, Stiles was really able to get a good look at her properly. He could understand why she was the matriarch of the family, and how she had kept that title so long; even if he hadn’t witnessed her taking Mark down less than four hours ago, there was a whole other kind of strength that she was showing here, radiating off of her in waves.

“He does. But he doesn’t just have us for love and support... or was I reading the way you look at him wrong?” Her tone was teasing as she rose her brow, and Stiles felt his cheeks pink up spectacularly as he coughed, his eyes flashing back to the window for only a moment before Nana patted his knee.

“Don’t worry, the house is completely soundproof. Those nosy little pups can’t hear a word we say. Now tell me, how long have you been in love with my grandson?”

Now fully, beautifully red, Stiles groaned as he hid his face in his hands, Nana’s laughter ringing strong and clear as she stood up and walked toward the railing. “Oh don’t be so dramatic, I have no intention of spoiling that surprise until you’re ready to really woo him with it. And you’d better woo him! You know as well as I do that he deserves the romancing.”

Her tone softened as she chuckled, trailing off with a sigh and a sort of wistful smile as she shook her head. “New York has been good to him. You have, too, I think. California was… a rough part in his life.”

Something in the way she phrased it got the investigative side of his brain thrumming, his curiosity piqued as he remembered what Derek said on the plane.

‘I know they forgave me, but… sometimes it’s hard to be around them and still be okay with myself, you know?’

The nosy part of him wanted to pry, to dig a little more, but his eyes flicked back to the window again, where Derek and all four of his siblings were doing a terrible job at acting like they weren't trying to stare him down.

“Whatever it is, I’m sure he’ll tell me when he’s ready.”

Apparently, that was the right answer—Nana’s face softened again as she smiled, nodding her head, beckoning Stiles into standing up. She put her hand in the crook of his elbow easily, steering them back toward the house in a way that allowed no room for compromise.

“You are going to be good for my Der-bear, I know it.”

“Oh, I mean, I hope so. Derek deserves that, and I definitely—“

“Just let him be good for you, too.”

She reached up and patted Stiles cheek as he stared at her, dumbfounded, automatically opening the door for her as she walked back into the house. His expression was mirrored in the matching expressions of slack-jawed shock from all five Hale siblings, all staring at Stiles as Nana started in on another family story that would be sure to embarrass Mark, or Laura, or anyone who wasn’t Derek.

He meant what he said, of course. Derek deserved someone who would be good for him.

Somehow, that was the problem here.

—————

“Stiles, you reek of nerves. All I can smell is nerves and bell peppers. It’s not a good smell. Are you going to tell me what you’re freaking out about, or what?”

Stiles jolted as Derek called him out so effortlessly, pulled out of the trance he had fallen into as he watched Derek work, pushing around some of the barbecue from the night prior with some fresh chopped veggies into a delightful spur of the moment stir fry.

Derek was also as dressed down as Stiles had ever seen him, in a light grey henley and a dark pair of jeans, and that was even more delightful than the stir fry.

“Wait, you—that’s just something you can do? Oh god, your entire family must have known how nervous I was yesterday, did they—“

“Stiles. Breathe.”

Right. Breathing. He could do that.

…. maybe.

The truth was, Stiles could honestly say that he was having a great time back in Beacon Hills.

Derek and his family were great, no lie, and fake relationship aside, the researcher in him was absolutely thriving seeing how a huge, well-established pack worked with one another. They were literally a well oiled machine, the personification of the old ‘it takes a village’ metaphor, and the only thing that amazed Stiles more than how well they worked together was how well they adapted to Stiles being there.

Of course, he thought a big part of that came from having the Alphas on his side—not just Derek, but Nana too.

(“I can’t believe she hugged you,” Laura had hissed after yet another glass of infused punch. “When she met my last boyfriend, she threw him off the porch.”

“Well, Stiles is a fragile little human,” Taylor had snorted, ignoring the way Stiles smacked his arm, “and Hank was a major, prolapsed asshole.”

“Well yeah, but that’s not the point!”)

As great as Derek and his family was though, getting to come home and surprise his dad early… well, there was no place on the planet he would rather be than wrapped in a signature Stilinski hug, the kind of hug where you held on just a little longer than you needed to so you can pretend you definitely weren’t crying.

He got to watch a game with his dad, he got to sleep in his old, lumpy-ass childhood bed, he got to make breakfast in his mom’s kitchen.

So yeah. Great time.

Or at least, it had been, until a text rolled through after he kissed his dad goodbye that morning.

der-bear: Do you want to come over for lunch? Nana has everyone out of the house, Mom and Uncle Peter showed up this morning and he’s already driving everyone crazy.

sent: sure man. want me to bring anything? :)

der-bear: Don’t worry about it. Besides, I figure we should talk before the bonfire anyway.

And just like that, something brought around a cloud to rain on Stiles’ parade.

“Is it about tonight?” Derek asked, and if Stiles’ hadn’t been so laser focused on his cooking technique (his arms, okay, he was staring at Derek’s arms) he probably would have missed the way Derek hesitated when he asked, like he was afraid of the answer.

He picked himself up off of the barstool at the island in their gigantic kitchen, leaning against the counter closer to Derek, reaching in to pluck a chunk of onion out of the pan, skillfully avoiding the swat from Derek’s wooden spoon. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you… You know we’re looking forward to having you with us, right?” Derek asked, spooning some of the food onto two separate plates, using his claws to rip two fresh chunks of bread off of a loaf. “But if you don’t… I mean, I just don’t want you to feel like you have to be there if you don’t want to.”

Stiles frowned as he accepted one of the plates, pulling the smaller chunk of bread off of one of Derek’s claws, mulling his next words over. “As long as you want me there I’ll be there,” Stiles said slowly, because there really was no way to politely say that Stiles would rather throw himself into the sun before his mythical lore studying ass missed out on observing pack activity on a blue moon.

“Why would you think I didn’t want you there?” Derek asked, looking like he was offended at the very notion, sliding a fork to Stiles as he sat down at the countertop, that offended look only growing as Stiles snorted.

“I dunno, I thought you might have changed your mind about it. Dude, you sent me a ‘we should talk’ text. I’m no expert, but I know that nothing good follows a ‘we should talk’ text,” Stiles said around a mouth full of bread, but any degree of playful levity he had gone for was sapped out of his voice the moment he saw Derek look back down at his plate.

“That, uh. I do think we should talk, but not about that. Stiles, I...”

Ah, fuck. Derek’s ears were pink again, and for once, Stiles thought that was a bad thing.

Stiles did his best not to panic as he thought through things, wondering what he had fucked up, because he just knew he had fucked up a little something. Maybe he had come on a little too strong last night, maybe he had gotten too comfortable with his crush, maybe—

“I was thinking that maybe… we shouldn’t be faking this anymore.”

—or maybe, he had fucked up a whole lot of everything.

Stiles felt his heart sink through his shoes as he swallowed his bread, his appetite suddenly gone. He brushed his hands on his jeans, giving a few short nods, swallowing again as he pushed back from the table a little bit. He thought for a moment that he should argue against it, but Derek had a sad puppy expression splashed across his face, and Stiles wasn’t strong against that on a good day.

“Oh.”

He could feel Derek’s eyes tracking him as he started to move, standing up and starting an easy track around the kitchen, flexing his fingers before he rubbed his palm with his thumbs, an old habit he had thought he had kicked back when he graduated from Berkeley.

“I think, uh, maybe you should wait until you’re back in New York to tell your family?” Stiles started, missing the tiny smile on Derek’s face before it melted into a look of confusion. “You should tell them I broke up with you, not the other way around, I don’t mind being the bad guy,” he added, staring down at his hands.

“Wait, Stiles—“

“No, seriously, it’s fine,” Stiles interrupted, putting a smile back on his face, because he knew this was going to be coming at some point. Derek had made up their entire relationship, and Stiles had worked hard to remember that the reality of it was… that it wasn’t reality. He was the one with the inconvenient crush, he was the one who had gotten stupid. This was all on him, and taking the high road to bow out gracefully would be too.

Or, at least, it should have been. But Derek had abandoned his seat as well, halfway following Stiles in his trail around the kitchen, putting his arm out against a countertop to stop Stiles at a turn.

“I said I wanted to stop faking, Stiles.”

Hell, when had Derek gotten so close to him? Stiles blinked as he backed up against the counter, Derek’s arms closing him in, and suddenly he was getting an up close and personal look at Derek’s lips, and his eyes, and the way the blush was going back up his ears, and—

...why was Derek blushing?

“I never said anything about wanting you to leave.”

But why would Stiles be staying if… oh. Oh.

Realization dawned on Stiles’ face as Derek blushed and looked down, moving his hands a little bit closer against the counter, and Stiles felt a shiver run down his spine as he felt Derek’s thumb settle right along his hip. He had to clear his throat before he could speak, swallowing down the hope that was threatening to bubble over, chewing on his lip as he put one hand on Derek’s chest, the other gently tipping his head back to look him in the eye.

“Dude, if you’re saying what I think you’re saying, you gotta spell it out, I’ve had a crush on you for like forever and if I’m mis-reading this—”

“I told you. I’m your boyfriend, don’t call me dude.”

Stiles laughed again, elation making him feel light and giddy, finally breaking eye contact with Derek as he felt his own blush burn through the back of his neck.

“Stay, Stiles. You belong here. With me.”

Rather than even try to form a coherent response, Stiles dropped one of his hands, cheeks still a ruddy color as he looped a finger into one of the belt loops on Derek’s designer jeans, pulling him just that much closer.

“Derek?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Oh, thank God—"

—————

Yeah, Stiles thought hours later, still feeling the warmth of Derek’s smile against his lips as howls sounded off around the Hale House, moonlight swirling around him from the vantage point he had on the porch.

This was exactly where he belonged.

#teen wolf #sterek #stiles stilinski #derek hale #hale family #teen wolf fic #fake dating #everyone lives #two halves of a whole idiot #this is actually my first sterek fic ever lmao HOW WILD

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scp-10000 · 4 years ago

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Coal Fighting Hermits

(Keep in mind this is all just personas. Myself and The Hermits aren’t fighting in real life. Also, my minesona’s a half dragon, half eldritch horror who solves most of her problems by bitting, scratching, and slapping them with her bone tail.) I’m joining this quick trend started by @shadeswift99. Let’s go. Time for a bored and combative lizard to fight some Hermits.

Bdubs: Yeah he’s a feral man like two seconds from snapping, and he has 3 knives and a machete under his shirt. I’ve made worse decisions. 10/10 Would fight. 5/10 I’m sure it’d be even enough for it to be fun.

Cubfan: You see, I wouldn’t be able to fight him. I’d lunge at him, and using his Vex Magic, he’d rob me, and teleport far away before I even lay a claw on him; doesn’t even matter if I only have 5 cool bones and 50 shiny rocks, bastard’d steal’um to spite me and bail. 10/10 Would fight to get all my stuff back. 1/10 I’m not getting my stuff back.

DocM: Draconic Eldritch Abomination vs Buff Creeper Cyborg Man with a Rocket Launcher Arm. That sounds like a dumb action movie, and I live for it. I’d only fight Doc if someone was recording it, cause even if I lose, it’d be entertaining as all hell. 10/10 Would fight. 1/10 I sure as hell ain’t winning, lets be real.

Etho: Cryptid who likes dropping anvils. Sounds like a fun fight. 8/10 Would fight if bored. 2/10 Probably would only win if Etho got bored mid fight and just left.

False: The Queen of Hearts, Heads, and Body Parts. I’d definitely fight her if I wanna die, but knowing my luck, the univers’ll have her spare me as punishment for all my sins. 10/10 Would totally die. 6/10 I’d be disappointed if I live.

Grian: Now, half the fandom’s like “gRiAn HaS sHoRt FeRaL eNeRgY,” which I’ll admit he probably does; problem is I’m 5′7, so that ain’t gonna help him. Now Grian is also a good ambusher, which probably would help him because I’m shite at finding targets I’ve lost track of. If I lose track of Grian in this fight, he’d totally be able to ambush me. 6/10 It’s not one I really think’d be fun. 4/10 Eh.

Hypno: No, I will not fight the vibing man. 1/10 Not unless I need this for the main quest or something. 5/10 I’m guessing it’d probably be even.

Impusle: No, I’m not going after the vibing totem man either. 1/10 Dude probably has a hotbar full of totems. 6/10 Again, totems.

Iskall: For some odd reason, I get the feeling if I attack Iskall, it’d eventually turn into him seeing how bad a fighter I truly am, and he’ll end up trying to teach me. 10/10 I’m not passing up an opportunity to be taught. 4/10 Even at my best, I’d still have a lot to learn.

Jevin: Bitting, scratching and tail slapping’d probably split him into an army of smaller, angry Jevins, and I’m not dealing with that. 1/10 No. 1/10 No.

Joe: I wouldn’t fight this man, but I would bring him to Cleo in case she wanted to take his knee caps. 10/10 What if Cleo needs his kneecaps? 10/10 I’mm’a get Cleo those kneecaps.

Keralis: My claws are too curved to just poke him in the eyes. Besides, it’d probably be more fun to watch him struggle and squirm like he did when Etho tried to kill him. 8/10 Would fight. 5/10 Losing would probably be me getting bored and leaving Papa K alone.

Mumbo: Unlike half the fandom, I don’t see Mumbo as a lanky boy. He also does Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and I don’t, so that’s gonna be a fight. Granted, Mumbo’s a giant, non-confrontational dork, so that makes my choice harder. 5/10 Would I even fight him? 5/10 I’d probably stand a chance.

Rendog: Yeah, my brain doesn’t short circuit when I run into horny. At best it’s acknowledged when I’m not set on murder. 7/10 I might ask him to square up if I’m bored. 5/10 Might be an even fight.

Scar: Same situation as Cub, but not at the same time? Let me explain. There’s a chance he’ll cast the same spell as Cub, but there’s also a chance he’ll forget to, and I can get a swipe on him before...well have yall seen that video where a dog attacks a kid on a bike, and then the cat comes out to mess up the dog? Imagine I’m the dog, Scar’s the kid, and Jellie’s the cat, and you’ll know how well that fight’ll go. 0/10 No. 0/10 No.

Stress: This girl can carry massive pumpkins halfway across the server on one strength potion. I’d fight her just to see how far she can yeet me. 10/10 For the yeet. 4/10 If she doesn’t yeet me, it might not go well.

Tango: This man builds massive minigames, and wrangles ravagers. I more feel like I’d get trapped in a moving maze to fight ravagers for like half an hour before he gets bored watching me struggle. 9/10 It’d be a fun way to spend an afternoon. 4/10 Doesn’t mean I’m good at fighting ravagers without full iron armor.

TFC: I respect the man of the earth too much to fight him. 1/10 No. 1/10 No.

Vintage Beef: The blood on his apron does not override his vibing man vibe. 1/10 No. 5/10 If I must, I feel like I’d have a fair shot.

Wels: He’d probaby come up with some sick diss track lyrics on the fly... and then have to teach me how to rap battle after I say “I don’t get it.” 1/10 I don’t think this’d even qualify as a fight. 3/10 I feel like my poetry skills are lacking.

xB: Another vibe man. No, I shall not fight him. 1/10 No. 5/10 I probably could do decent if I had to.

Xisuma: I’d attack him thinking since he’s a bee, one sting and he’s done, only for him to use his formal Doom Guy Training:tm: to body slam me so hard I’m banned from the server. 10/10 For the meme. 1/10 I’m not avoiding that body slam.

Zedaph: You all are thinking “Funny contraption man can’t fight,” when from what I remember of @lyraeon and I talking about the subject once is in PvP, Zed’ll run at you swinging and screaming. To me, this is a more fair assessment of Zed’s abilities, and is what I’m going off of when thinking about if I’d fight him. Thought, I probably won’t attack if he’s working on something. 5/10 Right now, he’s the only vibing man I might actually consider fighting? 5/10 Might be an even fight.

Zombie Cleo: She won’t fight me. Instead she’ll convince me to let her set up an army of living armor stands to fight. I would not attack her cause she’d give me more stuff to fight when I’m bored and combative. 1/10 No, I’m not fighting my supplyer. 1/10 If she decided to sick an army of armor stands on me, I’d probably lose.

#hermitcraft

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harringrovetrashrat · 4 years ago

Text

Brother, Can You Spare Some Bells?

“Okay,” Steve said, standing in Billy’s doorway. Billy looked up from his switch, raising a brow at his roommate. His insanely cute, sexy, and sweet roommate he totally did not have a crush on, thanks. “I have a proposition for you.”

“Hurry it up,” Billy grunted, looking back at his switch. “I have a Smash battle starting in a second against Max and if she gets the upper hand--”

“If I give you a blow job will you give me 1,000,000 bells in Animal Crossing?” Steve said it in a rush, a light flush on his cheeks. Billy’s brain short circuited. He gaped at Steve, mouth hanging open, eyes wide. For a split second, Billy’s conscience and self preservation were the loudest in his brain, screaming This is a bad idea! Don’t let your crush suck your dick, you live together! Luckily, they were easily silenced by the horny side of his brain, as well as the side that made him sabotage himself.

“Seriously?” Billy asked, because this had to be a joke. Like, Steve was bi, he knew that, but Billy was pretty sure he wasn’t Steve’s type. He’d seen him go out with petite brunettes and some stockier ones, but cut blondes? Steve just didn’t date guys who looked like Billy. Which was fine. Really. “Like, I’m not on Pranked or something?”

“Why would Pranked ask someone to give a blow job? They couldn’t air that--” Steve shook his head. “No, that’s not the point.” He bit his lip and looked Billy in the eye again. “I’m serious. I’m trying to get a full theme and I just don’t have the bells, and no one is buying my radishes--”

“Okay, okay,” Billy chuckled, turning off his switch before texting Max that something came up and he’d be on to play later. He got an immediate response but chucked his phone to the side, focusing on Steve. “If you’re serious, I mean like, I’m not gonna say no.” He gave a sleazy grin, masking the fact that his heart was beating incredibly fast. It wasn’t like Billy’d dreamed of this since he’d met Steve. Wasn’t like he’d imagined all the different kinds of things he’d do to Steve, or have Steve do to him. Wasn’t like he’d imagined them on dates and building a life together. Billy definitely didn’t lie awake at night wondering if there was a way to get Steve to live with him forever, no siree.

“Really?” Steve asked, perking up a little. “You don’t think it’s--”

“Harrington,” Billy said, sucking a breath. “If you don’t wanna do this, you can just like, buy me a fucking pizza--” But before Billy could finish his sentence, Steve was climbing onto his bed. Billy’s mouth went dry and he shoved his excitement down as best he could. He was already getting a little hard, just watching Steve settle between his legs. Billy propped himself up against the headboard, swallowing thickly. He had to play it cool. Steve gently pulled Billy’s sweats down with his pointer fingers, smirking a little when he saw that Billy was already chubbing up.

“Excited?” He teased.

“I haven’t gotten action in a while, Harrington, don’t flatter yourself.” It wasn’t a total lie. Billy did what he needed with random hook ups, but in the past week he’d been without. Especially after he moaned Steve’s name with the last guy that he’d fucked around with. Seemed like asking for trouble.

“Sure,” Steve said with a roll of his eyes. He was smiling though and when he looked back down at Billy’s half hard dick, he licked his lips. Billy had to bite his lip.

Steve’s tongue was wet, warm, and gentle as he licked a stripe up Billy’s shaft, cradling Billy’s dick in one hand. The other moved to grab Billy’s balls, groping them firmly. Billy let out a shuddery breath, unable to tear his eyes away from where Steve was giving the head kitten licks. He stroked Billy, playing with his foreskin, running his tongue along the inside of the skin around the head.

“Shit,” Billy hissed, gripping the sheets in his fists. Steve looked up and smirked before doing the same thing again. He pulled his hand up, bunching the foreskin around the head so he could tongue underneath, pulling the skin back to take the head into his mouth. Billy watched, breath coming in short as his dick steadily filled out. This was… Billy knew a blow job done to get the job done. Knew the urgency and near disinterest that came with it. Steve was enjoying himself. He was taking his time, eyes closed as he bobbed on Billy’s cock. He slurped around the shaft, pulling off to kiss along the vein on the underside, gently scraping his teeth along the velvety skin.

It took all of Billy’s strength not to grab Steve by the hair.

Steve panted against Billy’s groin, breath hot and wet as he kissed at the base. He slowly kissed his way up, pulling Billy’s foreskin down to kiss the edge of the head, making Billy’s toes curl and his fists pull at the sheets. Billy let out a breathy moan, torn between squeezing his eyes shut and keeping them open so he could burn this image into his brain. The way Steve’s mouth looked, slick with spit, red and so soft. Fuck-- The way his fingers looked, gripping Billy’s wet and throbbing cock, pulling down the skin so he could makeout with the head of Billy’s dick. His breath came in shorter as Steve tongued the slit, pulling back to spit into his hand a few times before stroking Billy’s cock in time with his kitten licks. His eyes were closed, cheeks flushed, and Billy let himself pretend for just a moment that this was more than it was.

Steve chose that moment to look up, brown eyes blown with lust. He pressed the flat of his tongue against the head, slowly dragging Billy’s dick down. It was too much.

Billy gasped, breath hitching on a quiet moan as he came, shooting onto Steve’s tongue and upper lip, some hitting his cheek. Steve’s eyes fluttered shut and he let out a quiet moan, sucking the tip to get every last drop he could.

“Fuck, dude, sorry,” Billy panted, trying to catch his breath. “Shit, I didn’t--” Steve just pinched his hip, making Billy swat at his hand.

“It’s fine,” Steve said, voice rough. He smiled, swiping the jizz on his face off with his thumb. He brought it to his mouth, sucking it off with a pop. “Seriously fine.” Billy pulled his sweats back up, glad he was sitting down or his knees might have been too shaky.

“1,000,000 you said?” Billy asked, breathless and trying not to panic. Steve got up, tying his sweater around his waist.

“I think that’s fair,” Steve said with a grin. Billy looked up at him with a blank look, making Steve chuckle as he ducked out of Billy’s room. “I’ll let you know when you can visit my island and see what your sugar daddy money did!” He shouted.

Billy ignored how hot his face was and sent Steve 2,000,000 bells before pulling his blankets around him and calling Heather.

“Billy, this is a horrible idea.” Heather was focused on painting her toenails, but her words were sharp and hit Billy right in his guilt.

“I know,” he groaned, leaning his head against the back of the couch. He held the bottle of polish out for her, so she could lean forward and dip into it without spilling. The couch had enough stains already. “But we both know I have absolutely no self control. There was no way I wasn’t gonna say yes to that.”

“If he asks again you have to say no.” Heather looked up when Billy didn’t reply. “No, Billy.”

“But I always luck out and I have like, so many bells and some kinda cool stuff maybe he’d want--”

“Then just gift it?” Heather said, going back to her toes. “I don’t see why you can’t just give it to him.”

“He’s got some complex, Heaths, you know that,” Billy sighed. “I once tried to give him a slice of pizza that I didn’t want, and he literally did the math to pay for the slice. Says his parents bailed him out enough he wanted to pay for his stuff on his own. Didn’t wanna flaunt his privilege.” Billy ran his free hand over his face. “I bet I made it awkward,” he grumbled. “I’m never gonna be able to look him in the eye again. It’ll just remind me--” He cut himself off, groaning. “Why am I an idiot?”

“‘Cause you think with your dick,” Heather replied with no hesitation. “It won’t be weird if you don’t let it happen again.”

It happened again. And again. And again.

Any time Steve wanted something in Animal Crossing that Billy had, he’d offer a blow job. Always a blow job. And Billy, like the sad sack he was, always said yes. It became a weekly occurrence. Happened enough that Billy didn’t even question it when Steve moved up after sucking him off, kissing Billy and sharing the taste of his cum. That also turned into a regular thing.

It was dangerous, this game they were playing. Billy thought maybe he’d be able to put his feelings aside and just let this happen. Just enjoy the feeling of getting to have Steve. Even if he didn’t. Not really. He just needed to remember that.

It was about a month later when the shit hit the fan.

“Steve, have you seen my red button up?” Billy called from his closet. Billy had really thought maybe he could separate his feelings from the blow jobs if he tried really hard, but once again, he’d been lying to himself. So, he’d gone on Grindr and gotten himself a date. A date that was gonna end, hopefully, in sex good enough for Billy to finally deny Steve. That maybe he’d be fucked out enough to not jump at the chance to see those red lips stretched around his dick.

Yeah, right.

“Yeah, it’s in the laundry room, hung up,” Steve replied. He was leaning against the kitchen counter as Billy went by, slurping some sweet milk from his bowl of cereal. “Why? You only wear it for fancy occasions.”

“I got a date,” Billy said, slipping his arms into the shirt. There was a clink and a smash from the kitchen, and Billy poked his head out of the laundry room. Steve had his back to him, shoulders tense, as he picked up the bowl shards. “Butter fingers much?” Billy teased. Steve just grunted, ignoring him as he angrily threw the shards away, grabbing a rag. “Jesus,” Billy grumbled, coming out of the laundry room as he buttoned his shirt. “What crawled up your ass.”

“Nothing,” Steve replied, curt and definitely pissed off about something. “Absolutely nothing.”

“That’s a fucking lie,” Billy scoffed, putting his hands on his hips with a frown. Steve just squeezed out the milk into the sink before going back to wipe up the rest. “Seriously, dude. You were fine like two seconds ago--”

“Oh my god!” Steve exclaimed, chucking the rag onto the linoleum with a wet slap. He whipped around, eyes all fire and fury. “Just go on your fucking date already! I’m fine.” And Billy didn’t have time for this. If Steve wanted to be a passive aggressive little bitch, Billy wasn’t gonna stick around for the tantrum.

“Don’t come crying to me later, Harrington,” Billy snapped, stomping back to his room. He swiped up his keys and shoved his wallet into his back pocket, slipping his phone into the other. After slipping on his jacket, Billy made his way to the front door, resolutely not looking in the kitchen. He could see Steve out of the corner of his eye, but ignored the weird stone settling in his stomach. Normally, Billy said something to the effect of see you later, because he had to. Didn’t wanna leave without the promise of coming back. But he was feeling hurt. Feeling petty. So he didn’t.

The date was horrible. The guy was way more boring than his profile, a huge dick, and so far up a pyramid scheme’s ass that he spent the whole date trying to convince Billy to take some exercise supplement or oil. He didn’t remember because he didn’t fucking care. The whole date the only thing he could think about was Steve. He hated leaving angry. They’d done that whole song and dance when they’d moved in together, butting heads immediately. They’d been mean to each other, rude and snarky, often having fights that lasted days.

But they’d moved past that. They’d sat down and talked it out and that had been the start of Billy moving past lusting for Harrington to actually wanting him. And Billy might have fucked it all up. Not that Harrington was making it easy, but Billy had once again been thinking with his dick.

The apartment was dark when he got back, which wasn’t weird necessarily, but it put Billy on edge. Steve was a night owl, lost track of time, but sometimes he’d crawl into bed early. Maybe today was one of those days. Billy checked his phone. It was barely past 9. It made something like worry clench around his lungs. Maybe Steve wasn’t here. His car had been in the lot, but maybe he’d gone on a walk.

The floorboards creaked as Billy made his way towards the back hall. Everything was quiet and heavy. Billy hated it. He knocked on Steve’s door.

“Harrington?” He asked. There was no response. Billy considered knocking again, but instead went into his room and shut the door. He sat on the edge of his bed and pulled off his boots. He sighed, heavy and hard, resting his head in his hands. “Shit.” Billy stood and took off his jeans and shirt, pulling on a pair of gym shorts. Maybe he’d wait up and see if Steve was out and about to come home. He wasn’t super tired anyway.

Billy was halfway through a bowl when Steve came home. He was stumbling, definitely drunk, and he squinted at Billy before scoffing. He kicked his shoes off, pushing the front door shut with a click.

“Thought-- Thought you woulda been out,” he slurred. He swayed a little on his feet sending an angry look Billy’s way. He really didn’t fucking get why.

“Guy was a total loser,” Billy grumbled, taking another hit. “Wouldn’t shut up about some bullshit pyramid scheme. Like I give a shit about that.” Steve snorted, pausing only a moment before making his way to the couch. He collapsed next to Billy, who held the pipe out to him. Steve took it and took a large hit, staring up at the ceiling.

“So why’d you even go?” His voice was small, sad. Billy looked at him, brow furrowed.

“What?”

“If he was a loser. Why’d you even go?” Steve was still staring at the ceiling, eyes sad. He sagged into the couch, all anger gone. Which wasn’t a great sign. Billy furrowed his brow.

“Are you okay?” Steve let out a bark of laughter, cold and mean.

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Fucking cut that out!” Billy snapped. Steve jumped a little, head lolling to look at Billy with wide eyes. “Your shit matters, Harrington. Stop pretending like it doesn’t. We’re friends, man.” Steve’s eyes clenched shut and he let out a shaky breath. Billy felt something a little cold grip his heart at how sad Steve looked about that.

“Yeah,” he murmured. “Friends.” Billy thought it might be the weed that made him say what he did.

“Do you… Not wanna be my friend?” He asked, tense. Steve furrowed his brow, giving Billy a weird look.

“What? Of course I wanna be your friend.”

“So why do you seem so upset about it?” Billy asked. He was confused. He was stoned. He was in love with a boy who didn’t love him back, and he just… He wanted the truth. Even if it was gonna hurt. Steve was quiet, eyes wide and vulnerable. They darted to Billy’s lips then back to his eyes.

“Because I wanna be more.” Billy sucked in a shocked breath, eyes going wide. Everything clicked into place. “I know… I know you don’t like… do relationships,” Steve grumbled, rubbing at his eye. “And this is my own fucking fault. I was the one who started this whole thing -- my island looks dope by the way, you still haven’t come to see it -- ‘cause I thought it’d help me like, get over you if I got it out of my system but--”

“--it just made it worse,” Billy finished for him, quiet. Steve nodded, swallowing and closing his eyes. Billy was trying to keep his heart from bursting out of his chest. Because he was so stupid. Because Steve had a lot of love languages, and Billy had been waiting for the words when he should have been paying attention.

“We should, uh, probably stop,” Steve forced out. His voice was still slurred, he was still incredibly drunk, and Billy wished he was sober so they could really have this conversation. “I can stay with Robin for a bit too, let you have some space, and we can make boundaries--”

“Steve,” Billy said. Steve’s voice dried up and he looked at Billy, scared and open and so fucking beautiful. “I only went out with that guy because I’ve been trying to get over you for months.” Steve’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “I’ve liked you since we met, and it only got worse. And then you asked to suck me off and I just--” Billy sighed, blushing. “You know I think with my dick.” Steve snorted, but flung an arm out, slapping around until he found Billy’s hand to hold.

“You do,” he replied.

“I’m so gone on you, Steve Harrington,” Billy sighed with a smile. “You don’t don’t even know, man.” Steve smiled back, shy and sweet.

“Aww,” he whispered. There was a pause before Steve pursed his lips and gave a nod. “Hey, you wanna grab the trash can, ‘cause I’m not gonna make it to the bathroom--” Billy grabbed the trash can from beside the couch, dumping its contents out and getting it under Steve’s head right before he puked. As Steve heaved, Billy rubbed his back, wondering how even this made his heart race.

“Let’s talk in the morning, yeah?”

All Steve could do was nod.

A week later, Billy was playing on his switch, battling Max, when Steve moved from beside him. He settled himself between Billy’s legs, licking his lips as he massaged at Billy’s dick. Billy grunted, eyes flicking away from the screen for only a moment.

“What do you want this time?” He asked. “It’ll have to wait till after this game.”

“Can’t I just suck my boyfriend off?” Steve teased. Billy snorted, but couldn’t hide his blush.

“You sure? I just got that couch thing you were talking about…”

“How about,” Steve said, stroking Billy’s hardening cock through his shorts, “We play a little game? I’ll hold your dick in my mouth, just a nice, light suck, and if you can be a good boy, as well as win the game,” Steve paused for effect with a smile. “Maybe I’ll let you cum.” Billy’s breath hitched and his dick kicked under Steve’s palm, making his smile grow.

“Yeah, okay, shit,” Billy breathed out.

And while Steve pulled down his shorts and slowly took Billy into his mouth, just holding him there, tongue moving on occasion and making Billy’s breath come in short, he thought about how far they’d come. Thought about how happy he was. About how Steve sucked his dick for fun now, not just the shit Billy would gift him in Animal Crossing (his island really was coming together nicely).

But then Steve sucked, and he didn’t think much at all.

#Billy Hargrove #steve harrington #harringrove #heather halloway #mutual pining #lemon #zesty #the succ #dumb boys #miscommunication #fluffy with a lil angst at the end #quick resolve tho

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deniigi · 4 years ago

Text

@pomegranate-belle and @puffins-studio have kindly convinced me to share with you all this little bit.

It’s of Electric Sheep but if Android Matt had a Mike who’s been looking for him since they were separated as youths (right before Matt started to become an android)

Title: Seventeen years

Summary: bounty hunter Mike has been taking jobs in nyc, searching for his lost twin. A chance encounter with a blonde woman who steals his heart helps him find him.

---------------

Seventeen years, ten months, 18 days.

Mike had lived out of the city longer than in it. Rochester was as close as he’d gotten in foster care, but work had dragged him through occasionally, and frankly he was grateful for it.

He’d told himself seventeen years ago that he’d get back.

So here he was, reflecting on life outside the cell of a guy screaming bloody murder.

Dude was a bot-trafficker.

The shit made some serious dough, Mike had seen it himself. But you know what else made some serious dough? Bounty hunting. I.e. Catching the people who got pissed off about other people makin’ some serious dough.

These days, they were all bot-traffickers. Mike could barely remember a time when he was chasing jewel thieves and counterfeiters down alleys anymore. It was all bot-this and bot-that—which, to be fair, was kind of the same thing as a jewel thief.

Property was where the real money was at. And bots? Hoo boy, the best kind could cost a penthouse.

Mike thought it was good for them that they had no idea how much they were worth. He found it kinda sweet if he was honest. This screamin’ bot dude’s collection of androids were all tucked up against each other in the other room, performing ‘maintenance’ on each other like a pile of cats. They were community-minded, bless ‘em. It made Mike smile a little bit.

Of course, so did the paycheck.

Yeah, the paycheck helped, too.

He got a job for the city. He took it without asking too many questions.

It didn’t matter how much city jobs paid, Mike always went ready for a double-shift there.

The last time he’d seen Matt had been when their social workers had untangled their hands at St. Agnes. Both of them had been wailing like toddlers, like they had been in front of Dad’s casket.

Up until that point, everyone had assured them that they’d be kept together—that no one was going to try to separate them. They were twins. People would understand that you couldn’t just take the one and leave the other. They had an unbreakable and psychic bond, clearly.

But then one day the social worker hadn’t answered Matt’s question when he’d asked about it again, seeking reassurance.

Mike’s stomach had dropped then. And sure enough, the next thing they knew, people were throwing around words like ‘specialty care’ and ‘high-risk’ and ‘better in the long-run.’

Mike had gone to a foster home screaming and fighting in the back of a sedan. Matty stayed behind, allegedly to be placed in some kind of group home with more ‘supportive’ care.

That was seventeen years ago--almost eighteen years ago.

Mike only knew what Matt looked like these days because he shaved every morning in the bathroom mirror. But, he told himself, not for much longer.

He hadn’t become a bounty hunter for the looks. He’d done it for the money and the job experience. Could he track a criminal? Hell yeah. He’d been one. He knew how they thought. More importantly: could he track a brother?

He could, actually. He was a Murdock; he knew how they thought.

The job in the city was whatever. Took half an hour and a big smile to corner the gal like a rat. She went to the highest bidder; Mike went back out on the prowl.

Chances were that Matt would be drawn to Hell’s Kitchen. And chances were that he would be searching for Mike as Mike was for him. He was an idealist like that. Like Mike.

Awwww. Old habits die hard.

Hell’s Kitchen had changed over the years, but it still felt like home when Mike put a foot in the boundaries. He knew these stoops and all these torn posters. He knew that skyline and that raggedy flag pole.

The names on the businesses changed—some got new lights, some got new windows, but all in all, the feel was still there.

He set out to find Matt in the old, old haunts. Stopped by the church. The old kids’ home. They still hadn’t seen him, no, Mike. Sorry, my son.

He took a waltz down memory lane by the docks.

He found the greasiest looking coffee shop he could and sat at a sticky table, people-watching through the huge half-wall windows for about an hour.

Nothin’ yet.

His coffee was cold when he left.

He ran into a girl at a bar that night under green and red neon lights. They danced close. She told him he reminded her of someone she knew, and Mike thought that that was just a lovely coincidence, sugar, wasn’t it?

He invited her to his hotel room. She accepted.

He woke up to waves of amber grain strewn across this pillow, sticking to his lips, and the smell of something powdery and floral in the endless line of this lady’s neck.

God, she was like a swan. Mike ought to buy her breakfast.

He did because he was a gentleman. He left to go grab a sandwich from the bodega outside but came back to find the bed and the room empty. There was a little note on the pad next to the bed that said ‘thanks, handsome’ with a smile face next to it and a number.

He eased himself down on to the bed and stuffed a sandwich in his mouth to grin around.

Her name was Karen.

It wasn’t their last night. Mike saw her when she was in the city and they had a well-worn routine after a few months.

Every time, a new bar, a new club, a new drink. But the same dance and then the same chase and collapse.

She told him nothing about herself, and he loved that about her. She passed fingers through his hair. She trailed them across his jaw, bristly stubble or no.

And then the next morning, she was gone, and Mike was sighin’ like a blue bird in spring.

Valentine’s Day found Mike in the city. He didn’t delude himself with thinking that Karen was available—he wasn’t that full of it.

But he did think that even a lady as lovely and possibly taken as Karen deserved a bouquet of flowers from a ‘friend.’ So he took a meander down to a wholesaler and chatted up one of the makers until a collection of spring tulips graced by baby’s breath found their way into his hands.

Karen, he suspected, worked somewhere in an office. Her ever-present, practical pencil skirt said so, and the way that she frequented Josie’s told him that she lived in the area around 9th and 52nd.

It wasn’t hard to snoop. It wasn’t hard to trawl through the local business websites in that area, peeking at staff pages until low and behold, the golden grail herself appeared smiling on try number 7.

He smiled back at her photo and went back to get the name of the place and the address only to pause in his tracks.

Nelson & Murdock.

Karen worked at a law firm called Nelson & Murdock.

Huh.

Well. Good for that Murdock. Mike hoped he was out when he brought these flowers in.

The firm was dinky and crammed up two flights of stairs across from an orthodontist’s office. Mike pitied Karen for having to spend her days watching droves of traumatized middle schoolers leave that place with wires crammed in their faces. The flowers even looked like they were wilting in the hallway.

Mike gave them a pep talk on his way to the door.

He knocked but no one answered, so he turned the knob and a handful of people where sat looking nervous in the waiting area. The front desk was empty. Abandoned.

Oh, Karen.

Ever at work like you are at play.

Mike made his way over the desk and caught sight of a familiar fluffy little ball on a keychain at the edge of the desk.

It was adorable.

He found a scrap of paper by the phone, reached over and snagged it and a pen to leave a little love note when he felt a tug at his elbow.

He forced down the irritation and turned back with a smile. An older lady with huge bifocals squinted at him.

“Mr. Murdock,” she said. “I’ve got to go move my car. Don’t you give up my place, you hear?”

Mike forced himself to hold his smile.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I think you’ve got the wrong guy, madam.”

Murdock must have looked smooth as hell for Mike to have been mistaken for him.

The lady squinted left, right, and center, then scoffed and pinched his arm.

“Cheeky boy,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

She left.

Mike’s brain short-circuited for another few seconds before declaring that whole situation unresolvable, bizarre, and emphatically not his problem. Sorry Nana. Go to the back of the line like everyone else.

He went back to writing his card.

“Matt?”

He didn’t mean to look up. It was a reflex, man. It came with the twin-territory, and this time it brought a moment of panic as Karen’s brow dropped stormily and her fists found her hips.

“Where the hell have you been? We’ve been calling you all morning?” she demanded.

Mike’s palms started sweating.

Did Karen? Not? Recognize him?

Had he misread this whole love affair? Or maybe it was the daylight that was confusing her?

It had to be the daylight, right?

“Matt,” Karen said, irate as could be in that pretty blue and white top. “Don’t just stand there. Say something.”

Ahahahahahaha.

Too close. Too much.

“MATT.”

Out we go, back to the hovel from which we came.

---

He breathed out hard in the street below and turned back to look up at the window of Nelson & Murdock. It was flung open and he didn’t give Karen the opportunity to get her nose out of it. He hurried off into the crowd, ducking and squirming until he was sure that he was good and gone from sight.

Then he found an alley to clutch at his heart in.

It had been years since someone had called him Matt. Sometimes he took the name on as a false one, when working for especially shitty shit-heads. But Karen??

Mike was positive he’d introduced himself as Mike. ‘Michael’ but more like Costello than Abbott, he’d said. Karen had laughed.

What the fuck, man? What the fuck?

He looked at the flowers in his hand.

A waste.

Hhhng. Alright, well. There was for sure to be someone needing cheering up at a bar somewhere. Might as well spare them for the Singles Awareness Gigs sure to be happening soon.

---

He ended up at Josie’s because he always ended up at Josie’s, but this time with barely anyone in the place at 3pm on Valentine’s Day, she actually noticed him and gave him an eyebrow. He chose to ignore it in order to wallow in self-pity and raised his glass to his lips.

It didn’t make it.

He stared in stunned silence at the hand suddenly covering his glass.

“I don’t think that’s a wise idea, pal,” Josie said.

Mike gaped at her in shock.

“I? Paid for this?” he said.

There was a long moment of awkward silence.

“Jesus, I’m so sorry,” Josie said. “My bad. I thought you were someone else.”

Someone else?

Someone—

WAIT.

“Someone else? Does someone who looks like me come here?” Mike blurted out with zero grace before he could stop himself. “Does he—do you know his name? Is he—does he—”

Josie frowned hard at him.

“You’re not Matt,” she said after a long moment. “I always thought you were Matt.”

Matt!!

Matty!! MATT. You little shit. You perfect, darling, little shit. Out here, comin’ to Josie’s like a chump—possible alcoholic Matt!

Okay, wait, roll that one back—one problem at a time.

“He’s my brother. I’ve been looking for him for eighteen years, we were separated in foster care—do you know where he lives?” Mike asked with no filter to be seen for miles.

Was it professional of him?

No.

But were hugs at airports ever professional? Exactly. Get off his case.

He beamed wide at Josie, but her face did not reciprocate the gesture. Actually, it seemed to be doing the opposite and that made this little squirming feeling start up in Mike’s gut.

“Christ,” Josie said. “I’m so sorry, man.”

Wh-what?

“You’re gonna need a double.”

What did that mean?

“Take this.”

No. No, what did that mean?

“Take the shot, kid. Trust me. You’re gonna need it.”

---

No.

Just.

No. No, no, no, no, no.

Josie rubbed her fingernails against her cheek and sighed.

“His owner brings him along,” she said. “Lets him work at their law firm with him—he’s made the papers, sure, but you know. It’s all kind of colored by the fact that he can’t really do shit without permission.”

Mike rolled the tumbler in his hand around.

Nelson, eh? So called ‘owner’ of the android called Matthew Michael Murdock.

Ahahahaha.

Get ready to die, motherfucker.

“But he tries to drink—Matt does,” Mike felt himself say.

Josie didn’t want to look at him.

“Sometimes, it’s like he forgets he’s a droid,” she said. “Usually, he’s got someone with him to keep him out of trouble.”

Fuck.

“I’m sorry, Mike,” Josie said. “It’s a load of bull.”

FUCK.

He set the tumbler down.

“How much do I owe you?” he asked.

“It’s on the house,” Josie said. “Best of luck.”

Yeah.

Thanks.

---

Matty was—

Mike made it back to his hotel room before sinking to his knees by the bed. God had never heeded his prayers before, but things were different now.

Matty couldn’t pray for the both of them anymore. He was—He was--

Mike had to—

God, please.

Please. Give him back. What once was lost had to be found.

What once was lost, God.

Mike had lost him.

He’d lost him forever.

Give him back.

---

He typed Matt’s name into the search engine on his phone and made it through one whole article before he was kneeling before a much harder, much more porcelain altar.

He tried again in the bathroom this time, sat on the floor with his back against the tub.

The bot that someone had made out of Matty looked so sweet. Like Mike, but softer in the cheeks. Younger. Forever 22 or something close to it.

He was still blind, despite all his other modifications and he was a little famous in the field of robotics. Not that the bot appeared to care. The articles claimed that the bot had recovered and retained memories prior to what they kept calling his ‘transition.’

What they meant was when he’d been transformed into a human weapon. An inhuman weapon.

Matty, I’m so sorry.

---

There was only so much self-pity a man could wallow in before his ass started to fall asleep. But more than that, Mike was a Murdock. The tingling in his limbs was lost to the ever-increasing roar of fire in his ears.

That bastard. That bastard lawyer.

Taking Matt after everything he’d been through and turning him into some prop to be used as a showpiece in a grand legal theatre.

Fuck no. Fuck that.

Mike wasn’t fucking this up twice.

---

Nelson & Murdock was closed by the time Mike once again found himself outside its doors. He stared at the sign’s heavy black letters and gave in to the devil raging, hot, underneath the skin of his chest.

He left the shattered doorglass on the ground as he made his way to the opposite stairwell.

---

Karen.

---

She lived nearby 9th and 52nd. She was probably going home to her handsome hubby, who’d shower her in chocolate and wine and flowers. But on the way, she’d make a stop. She was a working gal. She wouldn’t have had time to pick up a gift in return before her shift started.

Mike found her at Walgreens, talking on the phone to someone while she petted every teddy bear on the rack in front of her.

He didn’t feel sorry.

She didn’t scream when his hand found her face. He didn’t give her the chance.

---

He ditched the hat in the back storeroom of Walgreens and took Karen right through to the loading dock. She thrashed hard.

Mike could barely feel the movement. He was on the lookout for eyes.

An elbow found his ribs and a foot his toes before he got them far enough from view that he could let her go to readjust his grip, and when he did, he got her against a wall, panting.

This lady was tough. But in a flash, she mouth dropped open and her wrists went limp in his grip.

“Mike?” she asked after a second. “Is that you? What are you doing here? Why are you—”

“Where. Is. My brother?” Mike cut her off.

Karen recoiled until her head hit the bricks behind her.

“Your—”

“My brother Matthew,” Mike snapped.

The rush of traffic settled into the silence.

“Oh my god,” Karen whispered. “He’s your brother?”

“Yes. He is, as a matter of fact, and whatever you think you’re doing to him, I will do to you and that fucking lawyer ten times worse,” Mike said. “So you’re going to help me or I’m going to—”

“I knew I knew you.”

He felt himself go stiff.

“Matt talks like you,” Karen said softly. “Just like you.”

Wh—he did?

Karen’s fingers brushed the tops of Mike’s hands. They were cold.

“Mike,” she whispered, sounding for all the world like she was on the verge of tears, “He’s going to be so happy to see you.”

Wh—she’d—she’d take him to Matt?

“Of course,” Karen said. “He’s one of my best friends.”

They were friends? How were they friends? Was this a sick joke?

“No. It’s not. I met him years ago it’s just—I didn’t realize you were—okay, there’s just one problem,” Karen said.

---

Uh?

“Sensory input! Greater than! Processing—PROCESSING—processing—”

“Matty,” Franklin Nelson said with both of his hands out in front of him. “I see that we are very excited.”

“SENSORY INPUT—”

“And I love your enthusiasm, and I know you love your enthusiasm,” Nelson continued. “But if you don’t settle down the tiniest fraction of an inch, you’re going to blow a fuse and—”

“SEN—sen-S-S-SEN—”

Uh?

“This is excited,” Karen explained while Nelson wrestled Matt into sitting for the second time since Mike had arrived at the door.

This was excited?

“He’s normally much more in tune with himself,” Karen said. “But I think you’ve jumpstarted some shit that even his additional processing power isn’t enough for.”

Additional what now?

“It’s a long story,” Karen said over the saddest sound that Mike had ever heard.

They both looked over to where Nelson had successfully gotten Matt back to sitting and was now coaching him through whatever the bot-equivalent of breathing exercises were.

“How long?” Mike asked.

Karen’s blue eyes pitied him.

---

Okay, okay, okay. So. Nelson? Not a threat. Definitely a boon.

Matty?

Hng.

Heavy.

“I’ve literally never seen him this excited,” Nelson said. “And I’ve known him for seven years.”

No shit?

“No shit, we met at Columbia,” Nelson sighed. “I’m sorry about this.”

It was fine. Mike deserved this. Probably.

Jesus, what the fuck had they replaced Matt’s muscle’s with? How was he this warm and this heavy and not human all at the same time.

He’d seemed to have decided that Mike needed a full-body hug and while the first ten seconds had been cry-worthy, the last minute or so was getting a little suffocating.

“Matt, let him go,” Nelson pleaded. “He can’t breathe, bud. He’s gotta breathe, he’s not like you—”

“Subject: Mike. Michael Murdock,” Matt said brightly, scrambling off Mike out of no-fucking-where and getting way too far into Nelson’s face.

“Mike, yeah, you said,” Nelson said.

“Mike. Born October 21—”

“I get it. He’s your twin.”

“—at Metropolitan General Hospital at 11:32pm—”

“Matt, you’re info-dumping friend, we don’t need this. We believe you. Don’t give me his social. Don’t—”

“—Social Security number 6—”

“MATT. End request. End search term. Exit page.”

Uh?

“He did this with the DA last week when he got too riled up,” Karen said sympathetically. “We have no clue where he finds it or better yet, where he even stores it.”

“—my brother, FOGGY.”

“Yeah, I fuckin’ see it, man. It’s before mine very own eyes. Y’all are identical. It’s weird.”

“I missed him.”

“Tell that to him then. Stop touching me, ew. No. Go douse him with your weird fuckin’ eye fluid—atta boy, good job—NO. NO CLIMBING.”

Mike…was not prepared for the care and keeping of Bot-Matt. He had to admit that now. All those plans of snatching Matt out of the hands of these evil, evil people were breaking up into little fragments of puzzle pieces and he’d never felt more like shit because god.

He was supposed to look after his brother, wasn’t he?

Wasn’t he?

“I’m so sorry about this,” Franklin Nelson said with Matt leaning almost completely out of his grip and making that horrible sad noise again. “But I think I’m gonna need to cool him down a bit.”

---

Mike couldn’t stop rubbing at his face.

Matt was sprawled out across Nelson’s bed like he was sleeping in the sunlight. The wires plugged into the back of his neck slipped off the edge of the bed and led all the way to a laptop that was just about sweating with how hard it was working.

From the side, it looked like he was human. Absolutely, unequivocally human.

Younger than Mike now, though. Permanently halted at 24 years old. No wonder Karen hadn’t recognized Mike early on. Matty’s jaw was still slim where Mike’s had hardened square like Dad’s. The only facial hair he had was in his eyebrows and eyelashes—there was no reason to add stubble to a bot. It was just more maintenance. Just another aesthetic modification.

“I’m sorry, Mike.”

Mike turned to Nelson.

He didn’t look or talk like a single one of the bot traffickers than Mike had dragged in from the cold—and he’d done the full range of them, from the cackling madhatters to the cooing, babytalkers to the silent so-called geniuses. Nelson exhibited only exasperation.

The story that Karen told about his and her early encounters with Matt made it seem like Nelson honestly considered Matt to be human, like him. Like all of them.

“You helped him,” Mike said quietly.

“If I’d have known that he had you, then I would have helped him find you sooner,” Nelson said. “But I thought he was on his own. He never mentioned anyone else. I should have asked.”

No. No, that was—That was okay, somehow.

“We got separated a lifetime ago,” Mike said. “People thought that I’d be easier to adopt. And clearly he had other things going on.”

Nelson winced.

“That’s shit,” he said.

“And wrong,” Mike sighed. “I don’t even know what to do now. I can’t take care of him like this. I don’t know the first thing about droid maintenance or computers.”

Nelson considered him.

“Well, the good news is that you don’t have to—take care of him, I mean,” he said. “Matt takes care of himself. He’s actually really good at it when he’s not blowin’ his top about some damn thing. You’ll see when he wakes up. And on top of that, he’s already got a mechanic, so when something goes wrong that he can’t fix, we take him to Parker and he does the heavy lifting there.”

Mike swallowed.

“You guys really have it worked out,” he realized.

Nelson sighed.

“Like I said. I’ve known him for seven years. We’ve lived together ever since.”

Woah. Wait. What now?

Nelson turned exhausted eyes onto him.

“I co-signed for his loft, but he just comes and spends all his time here when he’s not out smashing faces. Claims my bed. Steals all the sun spots. Makes me only shit coffee in return.”

He—Matt—Matt had his own apartment? He could do that?

“Sure? Why not? He owns half the firm, too,” Nelson said. “I mean, they wouldn’t let me put it in his name, technically. So it’s through a wildly complicated, uh—let’s call it a ‘thing’ for simplicity’s sake. But yeah. If anything happens to me, full ownership goes to him. But as far as we’re concerned, it’s half and half. The only thing Matt can’t do is practice law on his own, so we have to double-team pretty much every case.”

Mike needed to sit down.

“Oh, for sure. Just not there. I’d recommend out of range, here. Sit here,” Nelson said.

---

Matt woke up when Karen snuck around the bed to remove the wires from his neck. He scrambled up and fell right over the side of the bed onto Karen’s feet.

She swore. He groaned. Nelson pointedly did not come back into the room.

This time, though, when Matt got back up, Karen pulled him in the direction of Mike and took his wrist. She held out a hand for Mike.

Mike’s heart fluttered.

He gave it to her and Karen put his hand directly in Matt’s palm.

There was silence.

“Mikey,” Matt said after a long moment.

Mike’s eyes started burning.

“You came for me,” Matt said.

Mike couldn’t make his throat work. It took two goes to find his voice.

“Yeah,” he croaked. “I sure did.”

“You ain’t singin’, though,” Matt pointed out. “Why aren’t you singin’?”

Because he was cryin’, man. God, give a guy a break.

“Matty, what did they do to you?” he asked.

Matt made a strange sound as he mulled over the question. A kind of whirring noise.

“Made me into a droid, dumbass,” he said.

Mike laughed before he could stop himself.

“Can I have a non-lethal hug?” he asked.

Matt whirred.

“No promises,” he said.

----

#mike murdock #matt murdock #electric sheep #don't mind me just making myself sad #blame Maddie for this one #fic #ficlet

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nicostolemybones · 5 years ago

Text

The Battle of Area 51

“This is not a game,” Nico lectured sternly, and Percy snickered. “This is no laughing matter, Jackson! Okay, let’s run through the plan one last time! Ares cabin, Clarisse, you’ll lead the charge, take down the guards, lay down cover fire for the Naruto runners! Poseidon Cabin, Zeus cabin, you guys whip up a storm to help the Ares cabin! Apollo cabin and Hunters of Artemis, you’re the snipers, I want you on high ground firing arrows at them! Aphrodite cabin, charmspeak those guards to let us past and to give us access codes to all the rooms and spill all the secrets! Hecate cabin, use the mist to make decoys! Nemesis cabin, remember, this is vengeance for all the imprisoned aliens and that’s why you’re here! Demeter cabin, slow the guards down with thick vines and poisonous plants! Athena cabin, you’re working on infiltrating and hacking all the computers! Hephaestus cabin, burn down gun stations, jam missiles, Festus can burn down doorways, I want to see you guys working on all the technology we steal and I want you all to figure out all the machines inside and use them for our advantage! Dionysus cabin, get them drunk, make them temporarily mad, weaken their defences! Iris cabin, use your abilities to disorientate and distract the guards! Hypnos cabin- CLOVIS WAKE UP- send the guards to sleep when you can! Hermes cabin, you’re stealing and sneaking in whilst the guards are distracted! Hades cabin- well Hazel- summon obstacles and summon weapons, shadow travel aliens to safety. The rest of you, just fuck shit up with your abilities! Romans; same rules apply, and follow the orders of your Praetors, do not go against orders unless necessary!”

“LET’S CLAP SOME ALIEN CHEEKS!” Connor yelled. Nico glared at him, whilst the younger campers plus Percy erupted into giggles.

“There will be no clapping alien cheeks,” Nico sighed in exasperation, “no alien cheeks will be clapped by anybody, by Olympus what the Hades is wrong with straight people?”

“Wait you’re gay?!”

“Yes but that’s not the point, just- go blend in with the mortals! Solace- you’re with me, we’ll go in with the Naruto runners and you need to make sure we don’t infect the aliens and they don’t infect us, and treat the wounded.” Percy wolf-whistled, so Nico summoned a skeleton to smack him round the back of the head. The group of demigods dispersed amongst the mortal army- which wasn’t much, but between the Kyles, weeaboos, tumblr trash, and Naruto runners, there was a fair few, and some cosplayers, DnD players, and medieval recreation nerds seemed to have a fair amount of weapons and armour- even if most of it was plastic light sabers, Klingon Bat’leths, and various other fantasy weapons.

Everything was quiet for a while, and the battle was more a staring down contest between the guards and the civilian raiders. Phones were beginning to live stream, and that’s when the Stoll brothers yelled the immortal battle cry “DO IT FOR THE VINE!!!” and the mortal crowd roared and cheered, repeating the battle cry.

“PEANUT BUTTER!!!” Tyson yelled as the crowd surged forwards. Nico screamed, Naruto running as fast as he could towards the guards, summoning skeleton armies of Naruto runners to back them up, but as soon as the guards opened fire, many Naruto runners gave up and turned away running back, or decided it best to run “normally”. One dedicated man had turned his electric wheelchair into some kind of turbo charged mini tank shaped like a Dalek. Fortnite dancers fortnite danced as they charged, Harry Potter fans desperately yelled out Unforgiveable Curses. Stargate fans dressed as Jaffa and Goa’uld warriors charged with staff weapons and pellet guns, some wearing “Free Thor” t-shirts- but not Marvel’s Thor or the Norse God thor- but rather the tiny alien guy Nico recognised from when Will made him watch Stargate. The Stargate Atlantis fans came dressed as Wraith instead. Marvel fans were clad in full superhero gear, although some fights had broken out between them and the DC fans. Star Wars fans dressed in Jedi robes. Clad in armour, the demigods didn’t look out of place. Nico was pleased to see the Egyptian magicians being lead by Sadie and Carter Kane, Magnus Chase and Samirah al-Abbass leading the Valkyries, Alex Fierro next to Frank Zhang shapeshifting into whatever they could. Alex stopped occasionally so she could spray mace into the eyes of Terfs.

Nico shadow travelled at the last minute, grabbing hold of Will and pulling him through the shadows. Will didn’t slow down when they emerged, and the image of Will Naruto running headfirst into a wall was going to be a source of laughter in Nico’s mind for many years to come. Thankfully, he didn’t do a Jason and knock himself out. “Ah fuck, I can’t believe you’ve done this!” Will gasped, and Nico raised his eyebrow. In the distance, they heard Grover cause a Panic- although it didn’t affect the guards about to shoot Will in the face, so Will let out a shrill whistle and Naruto ran for it.

“Dork,” Nico jibed, pulling Will into the shadows again. Nico meant for them to land inside an aircraft hangar- but it soon became clear that they were inside some kind of alien spaceship.

“Holy Hera,” Will gasped, “Nico THIS SHIP HAS A STARGATE! NICO LOOK THAT IS A STARGATE, IMMA DIAL ABYDOS-”

“Focus, Solace,” Nico warned, “we can do that once we get this back to camp. I wasn’t allowed to drive the sun chariot so I’ll drive this time.”

“I get the feeling I’m gonna die if I let you drive,” Will replied, and Nico huffed.

“That’s if I don’t kill your stupid face first,” he retorted proudly, and Will snickered, looking around the ship.

“OH MY GODS NICO THERE’S A LIGHT SABER HERE!”

“DIBS THE RED ONE,” Nico yelled, rushing over and grabbing one, almost decapitating Will in his excitement.

“We should summon up a certain ghost,” Will grinned.

“Are you suggesting we prank call Castellan?”

“Nico, dude. You have to, for humanity. Do it for our children.”

Several runs to McDonald’s later and Luke Castellan’s ghost was confronted by Nico in pitch black armour and a light saber to speak the immortal words: “Luke, I am your father.” Luke’s ghost laughed. The gods applauded from Olympus. Will was unable to get up off the floor through his raucous laughter.

After several minutes of exploring the craft, the two demigods were armed with phasers and now possessed the infinity gauntlet- although they both agreed not to let Percy near it in case he dabbed rather than Thanos snapped at monsters. Nico shadow travelled a fair amount of the loot back to camp, where Chiron stood facepalming and shaking his head. This is when Nico learned that the Party Ponies had joined the raid and found out that Monster Donut were sponsoring Area 51. Nico returned to find Will making a flower crown for a baby alien he’d found hidden in the glove compartment. “Is that what I think it is,” Nico questioned, and Will smiled.

“An alien? Well yeah.”

“No, I meant a baby. Are you seriously holding a baby?”

“Yeah, a cute little alien baby, I made them a flower crown and put a bow in their hair! Well I hope it’s a baby otherwise I just told a whole-ass adult I’m their daddy now.” Nico choked- Will didn’t appear to realise the innuendo his words would have turned into if the alien was an adult. Will appeared to have adopted an alien child and that somehow melted Nico completely. Stupid son of Apollo being a perfect dad to an abandoned alien baby found in the glove compartment of a space ship.

“You can’t just raise a child, Will, the parents won’t pay child support and you’re like- fifteen and you look- you look twelve, okay, you look like a foetus!”

“Nico I’m only two months older than you,” Will laughed, “I’m still fourteen like you are, idiot. Although technically you’re ninety, you can be the grandpa.”

“I’m not going to be your daddy, Solace,” Nico replied, forgetting how it may have sounded like an innuendo, and Will choked and spluttered.

“That word is officially banned,” Will squeaked, and Nico quickly nodded in agreement. Thankfully before it could get any more awkward, the alien child started to cry. “Oh my gods Nico what do I do with it?”

“Does it have an off switch or batteries you can take out like the babies they give you in school?”

“Um- I can’t see any off switch, Nico, what do I do?!”

“You’re the doctor! Sing to it! Just don’t do a Hera and yeet it off a mountain or out of a window, I don’t need you Percying this into a worse situation than it already is!”

“Oh my gods I’m a single parent before I’ve had the talk,” Will whined, trying to hum a lullaby to the alien baby, which screeched, turned into a bug, and ran. Will shrieked and Nico accidentally summoned a pile of alien skulls. “Hey! My singing isn’t that bad,” Will protested, and the alien bug screeched again and shot some kind of web at Will’s face. Will squealed, trying clumsily to wipe the webbing off his face. Once Nico stopped laughing, he helped to pull the webbing out of Will’s hair, although once he managed to detangle the last of the webbing, he found himself enthralled by the soft bouncy texture of Will’s hair. It was curly like Nico’s, but dryer to the touch, probably a testament to the hours of sunbathing Nico figured Will had to do in order to stay tanned all year round. He didn’t realise he was obsessively caressing his best friend’s hair until he felt Will’s hand on his shoulder. Nico gasped, snapping his hand back and muttering an apology, but Will merely smiled and gods that smile melted Nico. “Fellas, is it gay to kiss your homie at Area 51,” Will asked to nobody in particular, and Nico found himself turning puce as Will leaned in, placing a gentle but certainly not platonic kiss on Nico’s lips. Nico’s brain seemed to short circuit, skeletal butterflies resurrecting down his spine and in his stomach.

When Nico’s brain finally managed a coherent thought, all he could manage to say was “that’s gay.”

Will snorted, resting his head on Nico’s shoulder as he laughed silently. “You’re gay,” he finally replied through giggles.

“Well you kissed me, you’re gay,” Nico retorted with a huff.

“Yeah, but is it gay if it’s your homie and you’re in Area 51,” Will asked with an impish grin, lifting his head and giving Nico a mishievous grin.

“We are gay, you dumbass,” Nico replied, lightly shoving Will’s shoulder.

“I guess we are,” Will replied with feigned thoughtfulness lacing his voice, “maybe we should make out just to be sure.”

“Don’t push your luck, Solace,” Nico said sternly, and Will pouted comically. Nico stood on his toes and leaned up, but he was too short to reach, so Will leaned down and Nico was finally able to place a rough kiss on Will’s lips.

And of course, that just had to be the exact moment to hear a chorus of “two bros, chillin’ in a space ship, five feet apart ‘cause they’re not gay!” They broke apart immediately, startled by the presence of an Iris message showing Percy, Jason, Leo and Piper all grinning stupidly at them and Annabeth rolling her eyes.

“I’ll kill you all if you dare tell anyone,” Nico warned, raising skeletons to chase after them- although the skeletons were certainly not human. Leo and Percy screamed and ran, whilst Piper and Will laughed loudly. Jason merely raised his eyebrow, and Nico shrugged in response.

“So, that’s your type, huh,” Percy grinned, “I never thought we’d share a type!”

“What,” Nico snapped.

“Bossy blondes,” Percy replied, and Jason and Annabeth glared daggers.

“I agree,” Piper chimed in, “bossy blondes are worth the trouble.” This time, Jason and Annabeth both blushed.

Nico shrugged, looking back to Will, who seemed to be pre-occupied with the Stargate behind them. “Well, this one’s my bossy blond,” Nico replied fondly.

“Troublemakers are my type,” Annabeth replied, and Percy and Piper bowed proudly, “and Jason’s.”

“My type is pouty emo kids with long hair and sexy accents,” Will replied, and Nico blushed darkly.

“Your type is troublemakers,” Piper replied, “the ideal OTP formula is bossy blonde and troublemaking brunette, you can’t change my mind.”

“Whatever,” Nico protested. The Iris message cut off when a fight broke out between a Star Wars stan and a Trekkie.

“So,” Will began immediately, “can we be boyfriends now?”

“Only if you keep PDA to a minimum,” Nico replied, and Will beamed, glowing a warm amber light. Before they could do much more, however, a loud explosion ripped their attention away from each other. They both ran out to find the source of the explosion, and that is where they found Clarisse refereeing a battle between Shaggy and Thanos. The Stolls were running a betting ring, and Nico was sure they were all gonna die. But hey, it was a room full of Millennials and Gen Z, so nobody seemed particularly bothered by the danger of the situation, because this footage would certainly be legendary. Thanos snapped, and Shaggy disintegrated, only to reform using 1% of his power and steal the gauntlet. Shaggy dabbed, and Thanos was no more. Clarisse blew her whistle and the fight was over- the most epic showdown in human history and it had only taken seconds. Within minutes, lightening struck, and that was the moment Percy groaned loudly in realisation that the gods had been responsible for Area 51 all along.

“FUCK YOU, ZEUS,” Percy yelled, and the lightening would have struck him if it wasn’t for Shaggy eating the lightening bolt and letting out a loud burp.

“Do you have any wisdom, O mighty one,” Kayla asked, bowing at Shaggy’s feet.

“Sometimes you just gotta eat the enemy, man,” Shaggy replied, and the demigods let out a collective awed ‘ooohhh’. It was that moment that Shaggy burped out a heart-shaped arrow, and Nico realised that Shaggy had vored Cupid. Nico felt a smug grin break through his usually stoic expression, and Jason cheered loudly from the sidelines.

“Anyway, Shaggy said gay rights,” Will grinned.

“Actually, young man,” Shaggy said, gently resting his hand on Will’s shoulder, “I say gay and trans rights. And on that note, I think I might assassinate the president! Until next time, guys, gals, and non-binary pals!” And with that, and a wink to Alex Fierro, Shaggy dissipated into the wind, enraging the bigots and empowering the queer kids.

The raid continued into the night, the Stolls helping to take technology back to camp and Clarisse leading the charge against the military. It was only when Nico and Will made their way to the middle of the camp, all of the aliens freed and all technology liberated, that the end of the raid was in sight. Nico opened the final door, the entire raid party behind them, to find Rick Astley tied to a chair, singing Never Gonna Give You Up. It was then that they realised: they had been Rickrolled by the government.

#pjo #pjoverse #pjo/hoo #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #nico di angelo x will solace #solangelo #will solace #nico x will #nicohasahappymeal #nico di angelo #solangelo fanfic #solangelo fic #pjo fanfic #pjo fic #demigods raid area 51

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herocentral · 5 years ago

Text

Possible Hero 6

Afternoon folks sorry for the late update but I’ve been a little busy with uni work but thankfully I’ve had time to update my story. I’ve recently seen the season 2 finale of BH6 the series and I must say its exceeded and all but touching finale just what it needs. Plus it works in conjunction with my future story idea inspired by Spider Man far from Home. Anyhoo heres chapter 3 of Possible Hero 6.

Big hero 6 & Kim Possible (c) Disney,2020

Chapter 3: Ninjas vs Flames.

“I take it your Drakken.?” Asked Yama. “Yes and you must be Mr.Yama.” Drakken replied whilst trying not to look intimidated.

“Oh great I’m working with an overweight man in a track suit can my evil career get any lower.” Shego said to herself moaning.

“Now straight to business.” Drakken said. “I have already acquired some of the components needed for our joint project.”

“Good and your sure you can do what I require.” Yama said standing up. “Because the last person I trusted with an important item double crossed me and paralysed me with sushi!” He then said getting in Drakken’s face.

“Well I assure you we won’t do such a thing, however we have had a little trouble from the local heroes.” Drakken then said.

“Oh please I thought I reached out to big time super villains maybe I should’ve looked up this Dementor guy instead.” Yama said doubting his new partner.

“WHAT YOU DARE COMPARE ME TO THAT LOUDMOUTH!” Drakken said insulted. “I am Dr. Drakken the worlds greatest evils dooer !”

“Yeah who gets beaten by a teen who’s the greatest evil un-dooer.” Yama then pointed out. “I watch the news.”

Drakken just gritted his teeth in frustration, and before he could say anything.

“Okay Dr.D let me handle this.” Shego said stepping forward.

“Listen pal, you reached out to us and we can do what we agreed to, so long as you keep your end of the deal.” Shego said getting in his face.

“Unless you have any problems with our terms.” She then ignited her right hand with energy as she smiled sadistically suggesting to Yama the pain she would inflict.

For once the sweat of fear all but consumed Yama, he had to admit she was more intimidating than a certain other client he once answered to.

“Uh no, just make sure you fulfil your end of the deal.” Yama then said trying to sound less intimidated.

“Oh we will.” Shego said withdrawing.

Soon the villain duo exited Good Luck Alley, dressed back in their trench coats.

“I still can’t believe we’re helping this guy, he never heard of diet and exercise.” Shego groaned.

“Never mind that now Shego, according to Yama the next component we need is on a hard drive at a Krei archive.” Drakken said discussing the information that he handed to them.

“Yeah well you do know that means inviting trouble from those Big Loser what ever they call themselves.” Shego pointed out but little did they know they were being watched by a a small drone device hovering above Good Luck Alley.

Elsewhere

On a monitor someone was watching what was taking place and the discussion between the two partners in crime.

“I doubt they even know where we’re going next and it’s better than getting the attention of a certain teen we know and hate.” Drakken said.

Obake used his console to get a close up of Drakken’s face and looked up his profile.

“Dr. Drakken, Pft amateur.” He scoffed but his attention then turned to his green assistant. “His companion on the other hand, does have a lot of potential.

“Perhaps it's time to test that potential.” He then smirked as the left side of his face glowed neon purple.

The following morning

San Fransokyo awakes to a bright summer morning and the people of this fair city are all at work and wandering the streets. Far side of the city, a cab pulls up to a large mansion inside the cab was Ron Stoppable wearing his normal red and black sports jersey with brown pants and white shoes. Rufus was accompanying him.

Since meeting Fred at SFIT the two really seemed to hit it off and so the comic fanatic decided they should go for a tour of the city and some of Freds favourite sites, and Ron not being one to turn down such an offer agreed.

Ron exits the cab and makes his way to the front door. “Whoa.” Rufus squeaked. “Yeah Gogo wasn’t kidding he is rich.” Ron agreed.

He then proceeded to ring the doorbell, and soon a butler answered the door he had black hair and a moustache, was rather skinny but wore a suit.

“Uh hey, I’m looking for Fred, I’m a friend of his.” Ron said and Rufus nodded in agreement.

“Of course master Fredrick is expecting you.” Heathcliff said politely and stepped aside and let Ron past then escorted him through the mansion. Ron couldn’t believe what he was seeing the mansion was huge and portraits lined the hallways one was a family portrait of Fred, his father and mother.

The door at the end of the hall opens to reveal Freds room it was large and was full to the brim with science fiction items arcade machines a large screen television and above his bed a portrait of him riding a fearsome white tiger creature.

“Whoa!” Ron and Rufus breathed. Fred was playing his arcade machine and didn’t notice the two.

“Master Fredrick.” Heathcliff called “Master Stoppable is here to see you.”

Fred turns round to see his visitors at the door.

“Ron my man you made it!” Fred said as he paused his game and went over to them.

“Dude this is your home!” Ron said amazed. “Yep, technically it belongs to my parents, my dads away in the family jungle seeing to the petting zoo.” Fred explained.

Ron then noticed one of the ornaments at the rear of the room. “Wait, is that an armoured suit from Heroes Duty!” He exclaimed.

“Yep, it is you play it.” Fred asked “Yeah from time to time but I’m more into Zombie Mayhem.” Ron explained. “Zombie Mayhem! Dude that’s like my third favourite game!” Fred said.

Rufus then noticed something on the sofa, he hopped out of Rons pocket and climbed onto the sofa, and he saw what looked like a smaller version of Baymax.

“Greetings!” The small Baymax said and Rufus squeaked in shock. Ron looked to see what it was the Rufus was scared of.

“Wait whats that?” Ron asked “it looks like Baymax.”

“Your not too far off dude.” Fred explained.

“Greetings I am Mini-Max.” Mini Max introduced standing dramatically. “I am programmed to assist and protect my fellow heroes.” Mini max then pulls a combat stance and back flips onto the floor. “To thwart villainy and to be a champion for justice.”

Rufus just blinks and Mini-Max blinked his blue eyes and tilted his head.

“Its something Hiro built to keep me company when him and the others were in class.” Fred explained. “Wow, he’s kinda cool.” Ron said about to touch him until Mini Max grabs his hand and flips him over onto his back.

“Ow!” Ron said and Rufus was shocked and tried to hit Mini-Max but he just catches his small fist. “Whoa whoa! easy buddy they were just admiring you.” Fred said to the small robot.

“Oh, my apologies.” Mini Max said and let go of Rufus’s fist.

Fred then helps Ron up from the ground who rubs his hand. “Man for a little guy he really is strong.” Ron observed.

“I know I found that out the hard way too.” Fred said recalling his first experience when Hiro gave him his small friend.

Meanwhile at Krei Tech:

In Alister Krei’s office Hiro, Gogo and Baymax in their casual appearance were talking with the CEO about the recent break in. Since Yokai’s attack on the main campus Krei was fully aware that Hiro and his compatriots were Big Hero 6 for their sake he keeps their identities a secret.

They were currently watching the security footage from the facility that a certain green thief had tried to rob before their intervention, via the use of Baymax’s chest monitor. They saw that said thief was stealing the cyber circuit.

“Yep, it was a diversion.” Gogo said glaring at the screen. “I don’t suppose you know what that Cyber circuit is would you?” Hiro then asked turning to Alister.

“Well, it was a prototype chip we made for an old robotics project.” Krei explained “But we never put it into production, given how it posed some problems and didn’t have any practical use in military or product applications.”

“Well this green chick stole it for a reason.” Gogo said looking at the footage.

“Best guess she’s building something but what?” Hiro wondered.

“Well why don’t you ask Miss Possible?” Krei suggested.

“What?” Gogo said with a raised eyebrow. “Well she was here yesterday about the robberies at my many facilities seems she and this woman have quite the history.” Krei explained.

Hiro and Gogo looked at each other in surprise they knew how Kim was a sort of super hero like them, but to know she was working the same case. There maybe more going on than meets the eye.

Later in the city as the citizens were going about their business and traveling on cable cars to their next destination. One of the passengers was Kim now wearing a green crop top exposing her midriff blue pants and white shoes. Her family was elsewhere exploring the sites with Hiro’s aunt. As the cable car moved she could see how advanced the city looks and bearing some landscape references to San Fransisco.

(Background music: Watch me rise feat Shari Short)

Just then, she heard a sound it sounded like a jet engine she leaned out the car slightly and noticed a jet stream in the air and as she squinted her eyes she saw it was the red armoured robot she saw yesterday with large wings on his back flying through the city, on his back were two others dressed in yellow, black and purple armour.

It was three members of Big Hero 6 as they flew across the city.

Kim quickly pulled out her iPhone and using the zoom function quickly took a photo of them flying away. She thought this could be of use to Wade as she had a hunch.

(End music)

SFIT

On the robotics campus Hiro was sitting at a desk in his lab, which previously belonged to his brother the very place where he built/rebuilt Baymax. Hiro was looking at the footage from Krei tech and tried to figure out a way to find their new villain.

“Hiro.” A voice said which startled Hiro and he turned to see Baymax standing behind him. “Baymax you nearly gave me a heart attack!” Hiro said Baymax blinked and was about to say something.

“Before you ask it’s an expression.” Hiro explained.

“You are too close to the screen looking too close can result in eye strain and in some cases eczema on the eye lids and face, even potential eye damage.” Baymax then explained showing a diagram on his monitor.

“He’s not wrong you know.” Another voice sounded and Hiro turned to see Kim in the lab entrance way.

“Oh hey what brings you by?” Hiro asked turning off his monitor.

“Well, my family’s busy touring the city with your aunt and I thought I’d come back to look around a bit more.” Kim answered.

“Thinking of enrolling here?” Hiro asked. “I don’t know.” Kim said coming in and looked around his lab.

“So this is your lab.” Kim asked. “Yeah, well technically it’s my brothers old lab.” Hiro explained.

Which got Kims attention and noticed the picture frame on his desk it was of Hiro and another boy who was much older than him about eighteen years of age he wears a black baseball cap with ninja lettering on it, black hair, brown eyes, wears a green jacket with a white shirt underneath.

“So that’s your brother?” She asked pointing to the picture frame. “Yeah, that’s my older brother Tadashi.” Hiro said looking at it with a rather saddened look.

“So what was he like?” Kim then asked. “Well where to start, he practically raised me after our parents died and when we moved in with Aunt Cass.” Hiro explained. “He actually saw the talent I had with robotics as I got older and cultivated my potential.”

“Wow, sounds like he was a good man.” Kim said. “Tadashi is a good man, he had a commitment to help others.” Baymax then said.

“Yeah, when I first started here I looked around and well Professor Granville told me I needed to earn this lab just as he did, but I just couldn’t stay away.” Hiro continued.

Kim could admire Hiro’s persistence and understood why he would be in Tadashi’s lab despite his tutors wishes.

“Eventually after some consideration she decided that working in my brothers lab would be good for me to make my own path just as he found his.”

“You mean when he built Baymax?” Kim asked pointing to said robot. “Yeah.” Hiro then said. “Baymax was going to be his gift to the world, and I was going to be there with him after I showed of my microbots to the student showcase, but it just wasn’t meant to be.” Hiro then said as a lone tear went down his cheek.

“I’m sorry.” Kim said sympathetically, realising how this would have an effect on Hiro’s psyche.

“Tadashi is here.” Baymax then said and Kim wasn’t sure what he meant. However she then notices something out of the corner of her eye. It was a robot gauntlet coloured in red with rockets attached at the back of it.

“Hey what’s that.” She said looking at the gauntlet and Hiro instantly panicked as he knew what it was.

“Oh that thing well its…” Hiro said slightly sweating. “It kinda looks like one of those rocket fists that big red robot fired at the lecture yesterday?” Kim said then looked to Hiro.

“Why is it here?” She then said with some suspicion.

“Oh well its uh a souvenir from the attack at Krei tech.” Hiro said trying to come up with a cover story.

“Souvenir?” Kim asked. “Uh yeah you see, uh Mr. Krei found it in the wreckage and since Professor Callaghan used my Micro bots to attack his campus he felt I needed some compensation.” Hiro explained.

“You mean Alister Krei of Krei tech?” Kim asked “Yeah I met him at the student showcase.” He then said with a wide smile hoping she’d buy it.

After a minutes worth of silence. “Seems reasonable.” Kim then said with a smile. Just then her Kimmunicator sounded off and decided to take her leave.

“Sorry Hiro I’ve got to go.” Kim said “Its a save the world thing.”

Soon she left the campus but still couldn’t help but wonder about the robot gauntlet she saw, and how Hiro had it, she knew he was a robotics major and could potentially produce something of that calibre, could he have some connection somehow.

Noodle Burger Boy:

Meanwhile Ron was having a sitch of his own Fred had taken him to his favourite restaurant but Ron was a little skeptical to begin with. They were sat at Freds reserved spot and the waiter gave them their order of two Noodle Burgers with a side of fries.

“Uh I’m not sure about this man.” Ron said being skeptical. “Dude how can you have doubts of the Noodle Burger.” Fred questioned.

“Well its just I never imagined a combo of noodles with burgers.” Ron said. “A wise man once said don’t knock it until you try it.” Fred said as he pushed the burger towards Ron.

Ron was a little skeptical but decided to just take a leap of faith, so he picked up the burger and in that moment the world was in slow-motion, then Ron took a bite out of the burger as it crunched and cracked under his teeth. He chewed it then swallowed soon after.

After a minute of silence Ron soon developed a wide smile on his face.

“Dude. this. tastes… AMAZING!” He exclaimed. “See what I tell you.” Fred said as Rufus took a bite from the burger and realised how delicious it was.

“Mmm yummy!” Rufus said with a smile.

“The man who made this was a true visionary.” Fred said as he enjoyed his lunch.

“Yeah and I thought Nacos were awesome but this is new.” Ron agreed.

“Nacos?” Fred said with a raised eyebrow and his mouth full.

“Oh it’s a combo between Nachos and Tacos, my own invention.” Ron said

“Tacos and Nachos, dude that’s a genius combo!” Fred agreed.

“You know you should totally come by Middleton some time, but I can’t see why this city doesn’t have a Bueno Nacho.” Ron said. “I mean where do I sign a petition?”

The two shared a laugh together over a common bond.Then as they ate someone passed by them, an eleven year old chubby boy, wearing a black jacket with a Japanese writing with San Fransokyo writing, with a yellow long sleeved shirt underneath, brown hair, green pants and a mole under his left eye, with grey eyes.

“Frederickson.” Richardson said glaring. “Mole.” Fred said glaring. Richardson the walked away.

“Dude who was that kid?” Ron asked. “Richardson Mole, my long time adversary and most hated enemy!” Fred said dramatically.

“His family the moles are the reining rulers of the city’s Snob society.” Fred explained. “Not to mention he owns his own comic book store in the city.”

“Well that sounds cool.” Ron said but saw Freds rather ticked off expression. “Okay arch rival I get it.” Ron said in defence. “And I thought Shego was good at the look.”

“Wait she who?” Fred asked “Shego, she’s basically Kims arch enemy you know us being heroes and all.” Ron explained.

Fred then froze in thought and all kinds of thoughts were running through his head and the word Shego kept coming up almost like he’d heard it before, then it suddenly hit him like a car smashing through a window.

“Dude I gotta go it’s urgent!” Fred said getting up from his seat and ran out of there like a mad man possessed.

“Well that was weird?” Ron said looking at his mole rat companion rather confused.

Back at the Frederickson mansion Fred had just hurried into his room and began looking through his comic book collection for something specific. Soon his face beamed with joy as he found what he was looking for.

Lucky Cat, Hiro’s Garage.

Meanwhile Hiro, Wasabi, Baymax, Gogo, and Honey Lemon were in Hiro’s garage where he had set up a workshop and often served as a headquarters/meeting place for Big Hero 6. They were looking at a holo computer monitor looking over the security footage at Krei tech of Shego stealing the cyber circuit.

“She’s clearly stealing these components for something.” Hiro observed. “So far most of the components are both cyber and mechatronics.”

“Yeah but what is she using them for.” Honey Lemon said.

“Could she be building a bomb?” Wasabi asked “Why would she need a bomb?” Gogo wondered.

“Well we know there’s only two facilities that she hasn’t hit yet, the main campus and the warehouse on the edge of town.” Hiro said looking at a board which had a map of the city pinned to it and several push pins with red yawn attached to them linking them together. It also showed the remaining two sites.

“Well if we knew more of our mystery green lady thief we might have an advantage, there’s no way we can be caught unprepared again.” Gogo then suggested.

Then suddenly. “GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS!” Fred came running into the garage excited and bouncing around like a five year old on too much sugar. He was carrying something in his hand.

“GUYS! GUYS! GUYS! GUY! GUYS!” Fred said faster and Wasabi put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

“Calm down boy what are you trying to tell us?” He said like he was talking to an excited puppy.

Fred could no longer contain his excitement. “I KNOW WHO OUR MYSTERY THIEF IS!” He shouted showing them what he was carrying.

He placed on the table a comic book displaying five super heroes each wearing similar costumes to the one that a certain green thief wore but in different colours the bulky one wore blue, skinny in purple, and the twins in red and each wore masks.

“Team Go?” Gogo said looking at the cover of the comic book.

“Yeah, a group of super heroes who are also a family!” Fred said. “Their origin story is awesome and super hero poetic.” He then said opening the comic book on the first few pages.

“They gained their powers when a rainbow coloured meteorite crashed down from the heavens!” Fred pointed at the illustration.

“So they got powers from a meteorite from, space?” Wasabi said in surprise. “Thats just impossible.”

“Unless the meteorite contained a mutative element.” Honey Lemon surmised.

“Yeah but they gained awesome powers, strength, size, duplication and fire balls!” Fred said pointing to each of the heroes. “Hego, Mego, Twigo and Shego they formed Team Go!” Fred said dramatically.

“So how come she’s stealing things now?” Gogo asked. “Dunno they stopped making the comics for some reason.” Fred shrugged.

“I think I know why.” Hiro said as he directed their attention to his computer monitor where he brought up a newspaper article about Team Go. The article title read. “Shego gone rouge.”

“Seems she went rouge and turned evil.” Hiro said looking at the article but Fred just looked in absolute amazement.

“WHAT! TEAM GO IS REAL!” Fred shouted. “Fred calm down!” Gogo said.

“At this point nothing could surprise me.” Wasabi said. “Well what about the part where she’s Kim Possibles arch rival.”

Fred then said which caused everyone to look at him in surprise. “What?” Fred shrugged.

Later that night.

Soon night had fallen on the city of San Fransokyo, and across the street from from the main campus of Krei tech, on a building rooftop people stood watch. It was Gogo, Baymax and Hiro armoured up and ready for anything. The rest of the team wasn’t with them as they decided since they didn’t know which site Shego would strike next they agreed to split up and watch both sites for any sign of trouble.

Gogo and Baymax stood watch whilst Hiro on the other hand was on the phone to his aunt covering up why he was out late.

“Yes Aunt Cass I know but” Hiro said on his phone as Baymax just watched. “I get that it's late but Gogo’s having trouble with her mag lev suspension project for class, the connections between the magnets and the wheels isn’t working right.” He then explained “If I don’t help her resolve this she’ll miss her deadline”

Hiro then listened to what his aunt said to him before responding.

“Yes, I won’t be out too late, I’ll see you soon, love you bye.” He then hung up the phone. He looked to see Baymax and Gogo looking at him.

“I swear coming up with excuses is, as hard as, fighting crime.” Hiro groaned.

He then went to join Gogo and Baymax watching over the site. “Baymax anything?” He then asked.

Baymax scanned the area for any life signs but her sensor didn’t reveal anything as the facility was empty.

“I do not detect any signs of life in the building.” Baymax relayed.

“Team check in.” Hiro said through his helmets com line as he contacted the rest of the team.

Meanwhile on the far edge of the city, Honey Lemon, Wasabi and Fred armoured up stood watch over the Krei warehouse that was stationed there.

“All quiet so far.” Honey Lemon relayed as Fred with the top half of his suit removed was drinking a soda as they stood watch.

“Yeah but like they say in the comics a little too quiet.” Fred said dramatically.

“I’m still not comfortable with this I mean what if she catches us of guard, I’m not in the mood to get sliced by burning hands.” Wasabi said a little unsure.

“Thats why we’ve split into groups so we’ll still have the numbers.” Hiro explained.

“Still don’t you think we should’ve told that Kim Possible about this I mean she is this Shego’s arch foe?” Honey Lemon then asked.

Across town:

“No, if we told he she’d know we’re Big Hero 6.” Gogo then objected. “Yeah she has her own website and something tells me she won’t be afraid to use it.” Hiro agreed.

Gogo just looked bemused as to how Hiro could’ve known about that while Baymax just blinked.

“What I did research.” Hiro said.

However as they watched, little did they know there was something happening below the building. Below the main campus lied the main servers for Krei tech containing hard drives of data on various secret or government projects.

Soon the rear door opened and it reveals a security guard however he fell to the ground and behind him was Shego with her right hand energised with green energy.

“Thanks for the help.” She smirked and from the guards belt she took the security ID. She then went through to a door on the far right hand side of the room she used the ID to open the door and it revealed Drakken tapping his foot impatiently.

“You took your time Shego.” Drakken said.

“Hey you try sneaking into a secret archive, and by the way you didn’t need to come with I could handle it.” Shego then said rather annoyed.

“Right and you’d be able to find what we’re after.” Drakken said as he walked into the archive and Shego followed him still a little annoyed.

They went through the different server corridors looking for something in particular. Soon they came to the middle section and Drakken soon found what he was looking for in the third server in the row.

“Ah here we go, it should be right…” However when Drakken looked he saw the hard drive he was looking for was missing.

“Here?” Drakken said. “Where is it where’s the hard drive!” He panicked.

“Oh my.” Called a voice from the shadows and walking out came a woman dressed in a black and blue ninja style jump suit with black spiked up hair with blue highlights and a blue eye mask across her face.

“Looking for this?” Momakase held up her left hand holding what looked like a hard drive with the Krei tech logo on it.

“What?!” Drakken said in surprise. “Thats mine to steal!”

“Too late I was here first.” Momakaske smirked dangling the hard drive from her finger.

“Do you know who I am!” Drakken address. Momokase examined Drakken from her vantage point.

“Hmm, don’t tell me your the mad scientist who wants to conquer the world.” Momakase said with a teasing smirk. “But fails every time, oh and your a complete mothers boy.”

Drakken was all but shocked she was good, but he could only scowl in anger.

“No one talks to me like that! especially about my mother!” Drakken exclaimed “SHEGO! GET THAT DRIVE!”

“My pleasure!” Shego said as she pushed Drakken aside to face the ninja. “Okay sweet heart we can do this the easy way…” Shego ignited her plasma balls. “or the hard way!” She then challenged

Momokase drew her Graphene katana in her right hand, she pointed her sword at the green thief.

“Oh I chose the hard way.” She then smirked then made a gesture with her left hand whilst holding the hard drive to ‘bring it on.’

Shego lunged forwards and tried hitting the ninja with her energy blasts but Momaksae was able to avoid the blasts even slice through them. Shego was quick to avoid the slice from Momokases katana and knife, she back flips and hits the ninja in the face as she backed away but quickly recovered.

“Your good, but you lack discipline!” Momakase then performed a round house kick and knocked Shego to the ground.

“I’d be happy to give it to you.” She then smirked as her blade met the thief’s neck.

Suddenly the lights flicked on and everyone turned to see a certain teen in her mission gear standing in the door way.

“They can discipline you both in jail.” Kim said.

“Kim Possible!” Drakken exclaimed. “And don’t forget Ron Stoppable!” Ron stood with Kim in mission ware.

“Oh yes the sidekick!” Drakken said and Ron was a little irked that even after all the years they’ve fought he still couldn’t remember his name.

“How did you know I was here Possible!” Drakken said “Oh that’s easy your predictable.” Kim said

“Well I can see you all know each other and have business to take care of so I’ll take my leave.” Momokaske said jumping onto Shegos shoulders and then exit through the other door.

“OH NO YOU DON’T!” Shego growled as she ran after her, however Kim backflipped across the room to stop her. “Denied!” Kim smirked.

Drakken then pressed the green button on his belt and suddenly the ceiling exploded and his signature hover car arrived as their get away vehicle.

“Shego After her!” The duo hopped into the hover car and exit the building.

“Come on Ron!” Kim said as her backpack produces wings in a grey turquoise colour then placed a helmet on her head and she rockets off after them and Ron quickly follows.

Momokase runs from rooftop to rooftop as she runs from the scene of the crime, suddenly a plasma blast flies by her and she turns her back to see Shego chasing after her. Momokase could only smirk as the chase began.

They ran from rooftop to rooftop performing multiple Parkour moves until Shego decided she had enough and fired a huge plasma ball knocking the ninja off the building and into the street surprising the surrounding citizens.

Momokase was quick to recover before Shego landed.

“You have something that belongs to me!” Shego pointed.

“It doesn’t belong to either of you!” Called a voice.

Their attention was drawn to see the source of the voices was Baymax landing on the ground and jumping from his back were Gogo and Hiro who took up a battle stance.

“You again!” Shego growled. “Yeah see you remember us greenie!” Gogo smirked.

“Momakase!” Hiro exclaimed. “Oh if it isn’t three of Big Hero 6.” Momakase smirked. “Hand over that stolen hard drive.” Hiro demanded.

“I think not.” Momakase said but then noticed the hard drive wasn’t in her hand. She turned round to see Shego now has it.

“Lose something.” She said holding the hard drive. Gogo draws her mag lev discs and trows one at Shego knocking the hard drive out of Shegos hand.

“Gah you just wrecked my manicure!” Shego growled as she readied her plasma blasts and blasted at the three Heroes who were quick to avoid them. Gogo speeded towards Shego avoiding her blasts by jumping then skating across she then threw her discs at Shego which she avoided.

(Music: Side by side by Sofia Wilde)

Meanwhile Momakase moved to get the hard drive however it suddenly moved by itself into Hiro’s hand who used his magnet gloves to grab it.

“No you don’t!” Hiro said Momokase drew her knife and threw it at Hiro who quickly avoided it whilst carrying the hard drive. The two engaged in combat and Hiro was quick to dodge her movements thankfully he had learned a few self defense tricks from Tadashi.

Shego meanwhile kept trying to blast Gogo who skated to avoid her blasts however the green thief saw and opening and fired at Gogo hitting her right in the head tripping her up and sending her flying to the ground knocking her off her mag lev skates.

“GOGO!” Hiro exclaimed only to have Momakase kick him to the ground knocking the hard drive out of his hands.

Shego headed over to Gogo lying on the ground unconscious.

“Your good kid but not as good as me.” Shego said readying a plasma blast however. Suddenly Kim flies in with her jet pack knocking Shego away from Gogo.

“Oh great Kimmie cub has come to play.” Shego smirked at her opponent and engaged in combat with each other. Soon Honey Lemon and the rest of the team arrived and saw Gogo lying on the ground.

“Gogo!” Honey Lemon said kneeling down to her checking her over to see if she was okay. Baymax flew over to his team mates and began scanning Gogo.

“Gogo has sustained no injuries, thanks to her suit, however she has suffered a blow to her head causing a minor concussion.” Baymax diagnosed. “I recommend taking caution and not move her until we can fully stabilise her head.”

“Right you guys help Hiro, I’ll look after her.” Honey lemon said so Wasabi, Fredzilla and Baymax hurry to help Hiro.

Momakase closes in on Hiro with her sword at the ready but suddenly she’s met by a blast of fire which was from Fredzilla.

“Hiro you okay?” Asks Wasabi as he helps him up.

“Yeah I’m good great timing!” Hiro thanked.

Meanwhile Shego is still fighting Kim who is avoiding her onslaught of her plasma blasts. Kim backflips away then performs a round house kick knocking Shego back. She responds by blasting more green energy blasts at Kim who quickly avoids them.

“Whats Drakken up to Shego?!” Kim asked “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Shego smirked “Yeah that’s why I’m asking” Kim replied.

Shego was ready to fire another energy blast, but suddenly screaming and crashing into her was Ron who couldn’t control his jet pack. He rolled on the ground a little dizzy.

“Uhh rough landing.” Ron groaned. Shego then got up glaring at Ron and was ready to attack until Kim tackles her to the ground.

“Ron get the hard drive!” Kim said to her sidekick. Ron could see the Krei tech hard drive lying on the ground and runs over to it whilst Fred and Hiro fight Momakase. Ron grabs it.

“Got it!” Ron said but suddenly Drakken drops in from behind him.

“I’ll take that hard drive side kick!” Drakken said as Ron backed away. Rufus pops out of Rons pocket and could see his friend was in trouble and jumps out.

Ron sees Rufus is waving for him to toss him the hard drive so Ron throws it to his friend who scurries off with it.

“QUICK THE WEASELS GOT IT!” Drakken called to his partner.

However Shego was preoccupied with fighting her teen adversary. Momakae noticed the hairless rodent and jumps from her fight with Fredzilla and Hiro and throws her Graphene knives at Rufus who does his best to avoid them squeaking in terror while avoiding them. One knife hit a lamp post and was close to landing on a passing citizen however a huge pink ball emerged and prevented the post from hitting him, and the person who made it was Honey Lemon whilst she watched over Gogo.

Another knife was close to hitting Rufus when suddenly a speeding force moved Rufus out of the way before it hit. Rufus looked up and saw he was in the hand of a certain red armoured robot who just flew in to save him .

“I have got you.” Baymax said blinking.

Momokase then throws one of her knives at Baymax which hits him in one of his jet boots. They short circuit and send him flying out of control.

“Oh no!” Baymax said and Rufus was screaming and accidentally let go of the hard drive. This landed on the ground near Wasabi who was quick to grab it.

“Got it.” He said.

Shego had then broken off from her fight with Kim as did Momokase with Fred and Hiro. They circled Wasabi who stood in place armed with one plasma blade.

“Okay blades hand over the drive!” Shego demanded. “Not a chance” Wasabi said however Momakaske was ready to strike with a Graphene katana. Suddenly Kim jumps in and stands by Wasabi, who does smile in relief.

The two stand back to back as the two villains engage in combat Kim avoids Shegos punches whilst Wasabi defends with his plasma blade against the ninja. Hiro could see they were in trouble and decided to even the odds.

“Baymax!” Hiro called to Baymax who had just gotten up from the ground near Rufus who was unharmed.

“Overdrive mode!” Hiro then exclaimed and on command Baymax’s eyes glowed a neon purple.

“Overdrive mode engaged” He said and his body began changing his lower stomach panels elevated to reveal a circler core inside, his hands opened to reveal energy turbines in his hands which hummed to life and his shoulder pads and chest panels open to reveal circular turbines generating neon purple energy opening his leg compartments too. Baymax’s head then raised from his shoulders to then drop down and be covered by a red circular face mask and its eyes glowed neon purple. The wings on Baymax’s back then flew off and combined to form a sword which energised with power.

As Shego and Momakase close in they are soon swatted away by Overdrive Baymax’s sword sending them crashing into the ground.

“Whoa.” Kim said rather impressed. “Oh man I love this robot!” Ron said excitedly.

“Oh now things are getting interesting.” Shego said readying herself “Thats my cue to leave.” Momakase said and she flees the scene only to be stopped by Ron.

“Not so fast ninja lady!” Ron said holding a combat stance.

“Cute” Momokase draws her sword and performs several sword slashes but none of them seemed to hit Ron.

“Fancy moves but you missed.” Ron said smugly. “Did I?” Momokase smirked. Then on cue Rons pants were shredded to pieces.

“Oh come on even in San Fransokyo!” Ron groaned. Momokaske jumps over Ron and onto the the rooftops above.

(End music)

Shego rushed forward and fires an energy blast at Baymax who manages to deflect it with his sword, and uses it to attack Shego who avoids the sword slash and slides under Baymax and unleashes a huge energy blast knocking BH6 and Team possible off their feet and she gets the hard drive.

“Shego!” Drakken calls from his hover craft. “Time to fly!” Shego then back flips into the hover craft.

Baymax gets up and flies up to the hover craft ready to attack until Shego blasts him back to the ground.

“This was a memorable first meeting Big Hero 6, I’m sure we’ll meet again!” Drakken said gloating. “Your not getting away with this!” Fredzilla exclaimed. “But dude I gotta know what’s with the blue skin?”

“Oh funny story, well not ha ha funny but it was a Tuesday…” Drakken began

“JUST HIT IT ALREADY!” Shego shouted and Drakken flew his hover craft away leaving Hiro completely annoyed.

“This is so annoying!” Kim frowned. “They got away….y.” Said Baymax who was back in normal mode but had a low battery charge due to his overdrive form.

“What could Drakken want with that hard drive?” Ron asked. “I don’t know whatever was on it must’ve been important especially if a rival thief wanted to steal it.” Kim guessed.

“Now as for you…” She turned to face Big Hero 6 only to find them gone from the scene.

Hiro’s Garage:

After failing to stop Shego let alone Momakase, Hiro and the rest of the team returned to his Garage with Wasabi carrying a power drained Baymax on his back whilst Honey Lemon helped Gogo who was still recovering from her concussion.

“Well that went poorly.” Wasabi said. “Yeah not only did Momokase escape but that green lady got the best of us TWICE!” Gogo said in frustration.

“So what do we do now?” Honey Lemon asked. “I don’t know, we need to find out what was on the drive and work out a way to stop Shego.” Hiro decided

“How, even with Baymax supercharged we couldn’t stop her!” Fred said

“We jumped out a window.” Baymax said in a rather drunk voice. “Sure whatever you say Baymax.” Wasabi said.

Hiro then reached for the garage door and opened it but when he did everyone behind looked in shock and horror.

“What?” Hiro said looking at his team mates Honey Lemon points her finger telling him to turn around.

Hiro turns around and his face turns into shock as standing behind him in his garage were Kim and Ron who some how had beaten them there. Kim had one hand on her hip with a knowing frown.

“Hello Hiro.” She said simply and Hiro’s face was in shock with a million questions going through his head there was no doubt now they were busted!

“WEEEEEEE.” Baymax said as he got off Wasabi and fell to the ground with a thud.

End of Chapter 3

Oh boy BUSTED! So Kims found out BH6′s secret identities, Hiro you got some explaining to do. Some scenes of this chapter were inspired by the Marvel Rising shorts including some of the music which I thought would be good battle music. I know I’m on chapter 3 of this story but I may have an idea for a sequel or mini sequel that I’ve been debating for a while such as including Athena from the KP live action film. I do welcome some advice on that but for the time being its on hold until I finish this story.

Chapter 4 coming soon I’ll try to update next weekend if I have time until then.

To the Power of 6 Booyah!

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inkedmyths · 6 years ago

Text

'Unlikely' is a bit of an understatement at this point

Unlikely Friends you say???

Here comes my favorite boy

And THIS time we have the rest of the LU gang

---

Time rubbed his head tiredly. It was clear the group was starting to get anxious at this point. Which was fair, since they were in completely unfamiliar surroundings. No one so far had recognized where they were. Sky had suggested that perhaps they had stumbled into another new Hyrule, and at this point Time agreed with him.

The group had set up camp under a rocky overhang. Hyrule was getting a fire started while Legend stacked extra logs off to the side. Wind was watching Sky carve what looked like a small bird, and Four and Warriors were clearing out their own respective spaces for the night. Everyone was getting settled in for the evening.

Well, almost everyone. Twilight was pacing around restlessly. His brow was furrowed in thought, and he kept shaking his head slightly.

Time sighed. "You should relax a bit, Pup. You're going to wear a hole in the ground if you keep pacing like that."

Twilight huffed in response. "I'm just on edge. Everyone is. We have no idea what to expect, no idea what could attack, or..." He growled in frustration.

Time considered this. "Would it make you feel better to scout the area?"

"...If that's alright."

"Of course. In fact, it's probably the best course of action. At the very least we'll have a concept of where we are, and a knowledge of the area should we..." his gaze darkened. "Should we get attacked by a certain group of dopplegangers."

Twilight nodded, seeming to relax slightly. "In that case, I'll be back later."

"Stay safe."

Twilight walked off, soon disappearing into the trees. Time turned back to the group. Hyrule looked up from the fire, glancing at where the tall Hylian had gone. "Where's Twi headed?"

"Scouting."

He nodded. "Probably smart. Maybe he'll get an idea of who's place we're in."

Sky's brows furrowed slightly, though he didn't look up from his carving. "Or confirm that is isn't any of ours."

"Do you guys really think there might be another hero?" Wind looked around at the group, Sky and Time in particular. The latter shrugged.

"It's entirely possible. Evidence suggests there are tales of heroes we haven't met yet, and that's ignoring the multitude of possibilities for who may come after us."

"Yeah, but isn't eight Link's already a little ridiculous?" Legend asked, an eyebrow raised.

"The more the merrier," Four said. He chuckled, as though he'd made some sort of inside joke.

"While this is all very interesting, we must move onto a more important topic." Warriors gave them all an emphatic look. "What's for dinner?"

Several groans echoed in response. A debate started up over who's turn it was to cook, while Legend took an inventory of what they had left. Time for the most part only half-listened, keeping an eye on the woods for his protege.

---

Twilight debated over whether or not to shift into wolf form. While it would offer an advantage in terms of detecting people and creatures, he opted for his Hylian form so he could talk to any locals he came across.

If he came across any. As far as he could tell, the surrounding area was completely uncivilized. It was just trees and wildlife.

He once again debated shifting into his other form. The sunlight was fading as evening settled in. With the sun no longer in the sky, the chances of the shadows attacking here much higher.

A cool evening breeze ruffled his hair. Despite the unfamiliarity of the area, he had to admit it was nice. There was a certain tranquility that came with the lack of people, a certain quietness you couldn't get in cities.

A sudden noise made him stiffen. Senses on high alert, he scanned the area carefully. All of his instincts were screaming danger, but he didn't see anything. Unless it was behind him-

An arrow whizzed by his ear. Startled, he whipped out his sword as a wooden club swung down. He squinted at the creature before him, unsure of what it was. His best guess was some variation of a bokoblin, though it was no kind he'd seen before. Looks like they really were in a new Hyrule.

There were two of the creatures, the clubbed one and one with a bow. The latter pulled out another arrow and took aim. Twilight rolled to the side swinging at the one in front of him. It lept over him, screaming wildly. Pivoting, he plunged his blade into its back. He was about to turn and dispatch the other one when it squealed in pain.

When he did turn, he saw it fall to the ground. A Hylian was standing over it, a blade drawn. Twilight was about to thank him when he looked up, and he couldn't hold back a yelp. Red eyes.

"Nice sword," said the shadow. But it wasn't any of the others they'd fought before. This one had long hair, pale as the moon and tied back in a ponytail. A dark cloak hung from his shoulders, over a black tunic with white stitching. Somewhere in the back of his mind Twilight registered that this meant there was another hero, but he was too focused on the new problem in front of him.

Except said problem didn't seem like it wanted a fight. In fact, it was currently acting so nonaggressive that it caught him off guard. Regardless of this, he kept his sword at the ready.

The shadow rolled its eyes and let out what sounded like a long suffering sigh and muttered something under its breath. It then looked back at him, and said in a well rehearsed voice, "I mean you no harm, despite the fact that my mildly unsettling appearance may say otherwise. I just happen to look somewhat terrifying, which does not reflect on my values or intentions."

Twilight was at a complete loss for words, so he only stared open mouthed at the shadow. What did that even mean? Since when did shadows do that?

After a moment of silence, in which Twilight did not let his guard fall for even a moment, the shadow groaned. "Oh for the love of- fine, whatever. I'll let Blondie deal with you." He turned around and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey Link! Get your ass over here and help me with this random guy!"

Wait. What.

A moment later, much to Twilight's utter shock, a full-colored version of the shadow came jogging out of the trees. "What's up?" asked the Hero, looking at him curiously.

"Apparently there are people who still find me threatening."

"I mean, you are kind of a creep."

The shadow made a face. "Still, I thought everyone had at least heard..."

The Hero signed something at his shadow that Twilight didn't catch before turning to him. "Hi. I'm Link. I apologize if my brother here startled you; he has that affect on people."

"Wow, rude."

Twilight was pretty sure his brain had short-circuited. Had this Hero really just called his shadow his brother? "You... I... brother?"

"Uh..." Link, the newest Hero, looked uncomfortable. "Yes?"

Hylia help him. He didn't even know what to say. What could he say? Here was a new hero, and his shadow, whom he just called brother. Brother. Was it possible for a shadow to be friendly? None of this was adding up, and the more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. Maybe he should ask Time- oh goddesses Time. If he heard about this-

"Hey," said Link, interrupting his train of thought. "Are you doing okay?"

"No, because I'm going to get myself erased from existence because when my ancestor learns about this he's going to keel over and die." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"I- hang on, what?" Now it was the new Hero's turn to be absolutely baffled.

"What exactly have you been eating?" The shadow asked. "Mushrooms?"

"Feral!"

"What? It's a legitimate question! I mean, he doesn't exactly seem right in the head-"

"You're making it worse!"

"I'm just saying! He might need medical attention or something. What if he has a concussion?"

Twilight wasn't fully registering the conversation. He'd slid down to a crouching position, head in his hands. He was, however, registering the fact that there was a conversation. That the hero and his shadow were bickering with one another. Brothers. They certainly were acting like it. How had this even happened?

"Okay seriously dude, are you doing alright?" Twilight looked up, realizing he was being talked to. It was the shadow, (Feral was it?) who had spoken.

He took a shakey breath. "I've been better."

"Are you hurt?" asked Link, looking concerned. "Do you need anything."

Twilight managed a forced chuckle. "Maybe something for the headache I have coming on."

"Did you hit your head?"

"No, I-" he paused. "I'm just trying to wrap my head around this whole situation."

"Does this have anything to do with the dead ancestor thing?"

"Feral!"

"I'm just asking, I me- uh." Feral stopped, looking surprised. "Link, your sword is glowing."

"Wait, what?" Sure enough, he drew his sword - which was in fact the Master Sword, go figure - and it's light lit up the surrounding trees.

"Great, is there a Guardian or something? I thought there weren't any around here."

"There aren't, at least not last I checked."

"So wait, what's the deal-"

"Hold on, shut up!" Link waved a hand at him to be quiet, ears perked as though listening intently. Feral went silent, looking on curiously. Twilight guessed that it meant the sword was speaking.

Link's eyes went wide, and he looked up at Twilight. "Holy shit, really?"

"What? What'd she say?" Feral looked slightly frustrated at not understanding what was going on.

"She said he's-" he pointed at Twilight, "-the Hero of Twilight, a hero from the past." Feral's expression copied that of Link's, and they both looked at him.

Well then. He guessed there were perks to having the actual Master Sword with them. "That's me."

"Oh wow. That's incredible." Link seemed to be in awe.

Feral, on the other hand, looked mildly uncomfortable. "Well, that explains why I freaked you out so much."

"Huh?" Link looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"He's another Hero. He did all the same trials. Think about it."

"Huh?" Link paused, then the realization dawned on him. "Oh. Uhh..."

Feral nodded, then glanced back at Twilight. "To reiterate what I said earlier, I'm not going to stab you."

"Right. Okay." Twilight took a deep breath, then stood up. "Why don't we get proper introductions done? I'm Link, the Hero of Twilight. You can just call me Twilight, for simplicity's sake."

Link blinked, surprised that they shared names. "Okay then? Well, I'm Link, the Hero of the Wild."

"I'm Feral, and as I'm sure you can guess I'm his shadow. We usually just say we're brothers, since it's way simpler than explaining the whole shadow thing. Not that far off from the truth, anyway."

Twilight considered this. "Alright then, Feral and Wild- are you alright if I call you that?" When he nodded, Twilight continued. "I guess you're the new Hero in the group. There's several of us traveling, trying to figure out what brought us together in the first place. Since we ended up here, looks like you're included in this."

Wild and Feral exchanged a glance. "Sounds like fun." Feral said.

"I mean, if something's going wrong I should help. But wait, how am I going to explain you?"

"Just tell them the story. Not much to it."

Twilight pinched the bridge of his nose. "As much as I would really love an explanation for this right now, I need to be getting back. I've been away a while."

"Sweet. Operation meet the gang of heroes?" Feral grinned.

"Sounds like a plan."

"Do you think the sight of me is going to make any of them faint?"

"No, but they might stab you," Wild snickered.

"Not if I dodge it."

"Sure you will."

"Watch me."

Twilight groaned internally. This was going to be a long journey, even just back to camp, if these two were always like this.

#legend of zelda #loz #fanfic #feral #link #dark link #feral and wild #linkeduniverse #myth writes #wild #twilight #time #wind #hyrule #warriors #legend #sky #four

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lefaystrent · 6 years ago

Text

So help me, I’m not moving from this spot

Fandom: Thomas Sanders, Sanders Sides

Pairings: queer platonic LAMP

Summary: Virgil has the day off from work and chooses to spend it in true Virgil style.

Notes: I just wanted to write some qpr/qpp stuff. If you don't know, qpr stands for queer platonic relationship, qpp is queer platonic partner. While sharing some qualities, it's not a romantic relationship, but it's more than just being defined as friends.

AO3 Link

Roman came home to find Virgil lying on a pallet in the living room. As far as pallets go, this one was rather excessive. In place of where their coffee table usually sat in front of their couch, it seemed as though Virgil had taken all of the blankets and pillows in the house and made a nest for himself.

“You’re left to your own devices for a few hours and this is what I come home to?” Roman asked, brow raised comically high.

Virgil didn’t show an ounce of embarrassment, remaining in his relaxed position leaned back against a pile of pillows. He was dressed casually in his favorite hoodie and sweatpants. A bag of potato chips laid on his stomach. He lazily pulled a chip out while scrolling on his phone.

“It’s my day off,” Virgil explained.

“Have you been here since we left this morning?” Roman asked, referring to their two other partners they lived with.

“Yuh, and I don’t plan on moving from this spot for the rest of the day.”

Roman stood by the side of the pallet, surveying the pile of snacks Virgil had set nearby. “My, my, you certainly have quite the set up. But whatever will you do when nature comes calling?”

In answer, Virgil picked up and waved an empty water bottle.

“Eugh! What the hell is wrong with you, Virgil?!”

He laughed and tossed the bottle at Roman to thunk harmlessly against his chest. “Relax, Princey, I’m joking. I’ll go to the bathroom like a civilized human being.”

“Your jokes are disgusting. And here I was thinking of joining you in splendid relaxation,” Roman scoffed, stepping over Virgil to go to the kitchen. Virgil immediately abandoned his chips and phone and held up his hands in a plea.

“Wait, no, come back. I’m sorry, come lay with me, babe.”

“I don’t cuddle with heathens.” Roman turned his nose up at him and stayed his course. He could still see Virgil’s top half from the open archway that connected the two rooms. They both knew that Roman would join him in ten minutes tops, but for the moment it was enjoyable to peek at him and see the unabashed longing in those dark eyes.

“Babe,” Virgil tried imploringly. Roman ignored him in favor of making a sandwich. He listened as Virgil continued. “Babe. You just here for your lunch break?”

“No, I suffered valiantly to finish up my work early today.”

“Or you called it quits early and decided to put off the rest until tomorrow, you mean?”

Roman put a hand over his heart, gasping in offense. “Excuse you, Amy Lee-ave me alone. I work hard you know. Procrastination is more your territory.”

“Tell that to all your wips.”

The offended gasping intensified.

The next to arrive home was Patton. It’d only been a couple hours since Roman had gotten home.

“It’s not even four,” Virgil commented. Was everyone getting off work early today? So not fair; Virgil’s job never let him off early. He demanded justice.

But you know, it was kind of worth it, seeing the way Patton’s face brightened at Virgil’s set up.

“Oh my gosh,” he squealed and tossed the plastic store bags he’d been holding onto the nearest armchair so that he could dive onto the pallet, landing horizontally across Virgil.

“Pat!” Virgil grunted. Had it been Roman, he’d just be annoyed, but Patton’s giggle took all the fight in him right out. He wiggled his arms out from under Patton to lay them over his back, patting at him. “Happy to see you too, but give a dude a warning next time.”

“Sorry,” Patton replied, sounding too cheery to be taken seriously. “Oh hey, what’s Roman’s katana doing here?”

Virgil glanced over at the sword casually laying by the pallet. “Oh that? Apparently I said ‘fighting words’, so Roman had to wave that around to make himself feel better or something.”

“So he is home!” he exclaimed. “I saw his car outside, but I didn’t expect anyone else except you to be home yet.”

“Yeah, he got off early.”

“Where is he?”

“In the bathroom, probably taking a massive dump because he’s so full of shit.”

“Virgil!” Patton chided, sitting up enough to throw a disapproving look at him. “Now is that any way to talk about someone you love?”

“Who said I loved him?”

Patton frowned and just stared at him in determination.

Virgil averted his gaze to the side. “I’m a pit of darkness. I don’t feel love.”

“Say you love him.”

“Uh-uh.”

“Say you love him!”

“He’s not even in the room; why does it matter?”

Patton just stared harder into his soul. Virgil rolled his eyes. “I thought this was like, an understood thing or whatever.”

“It still makes me happy to hear you say it,” Patton said and a helpless warmth seeped into his gaze, making his stern face melt into a smile.

Virgil covered his own face with his hands. “God, you’re too powerful. Fine. I love Roman, even if he is a huge dork. I love all my QPPs.”

Satisfied, Patton booped him on the nose.

By the time Logan arrived home, Roman had begun working on dinner. Patton must have been busy upstairs, seeing as Logan didn’t spot him. Virgil on the other hand was sprawled out clear as day on a pallet in the living room floor, earbuds on and listening to music from his phone.

“No one informed me of a slumber party,” Logan commented to Roman. He looked up from his place at the stove and grinned.

“Reminds you of the old days, right?” Roman laughed in memory of their shared childhood. All of them had been inseparable even then, staying over at each other’s houses all the time. “But no, this is just how Virgil chose to spend his off day.”

“Is this because we’ve banned him from sitting on top of the fridge?”

“Heh, perhaps, but all the same he’s refused to move from that spot all day.”

“. . . not even to relieve himself?”

Roman’s eyes took on a deadly serious glint. “I made sure he went to an actual bathroom even if I had to carry him myself.”

“Good man,” Logan pat his shoulder approvingly. Roman caught his hand and brought it to his lips, the affection making the usually stoic man temporarily short circuit. Roman said something, but Logan had to blink and ask for him to repeat himself.

Roman smiled knowingly. “I’ll give you a dollar if you can get Gloom ‘n Doom to move from his sacred spot.”

“Amazing, a whole dollar? Wherever would I spend that much money?”

“Anywhere your heart desires. Possibly a vending machine.”

Logan smiled a little despite himself. “Is dinner almost ready?”

Roman absently brushed his thumb across the hand he still held. “Yes. Patton brought home stuff for pasta. Should only be a few minutes.”

“Very well.” Logan slipped away to go to the living room. He returned to the kitchen not even a minute later, expression pinched.

“Logan?”

“Hm, my first attempt proved unrewarding. I tried to tempt him with dinner, but he asked for his plate to be brought to him.”

“We could deny him, leave him to have to come join us at the table,” Roman suggested.

“Hm,” Logan hummed again, rubbing his chin. Patton popped into the kitchen. Seeing Logan there, he scuttled over and hugged him from behind.

“You’ve got your thinking face on,” Patton noted.

Roman threw an answer over his shoulder while he stirred the noodles. “He’s brainstorming ways to get Virgil to leave his pallet.”

“Yes, Roman bet me a whole dollar as compensation.”

“Just one dollar?” Patton asked. “Well that doesn’t make a lot of cents.”

Logan groaned to cover up the urge to grin. Patton just nuzzled into his neck, tickling him enough to get him to laugh.

“So why are you guys trying to get Virgil to get up?”

“Because he presented us with a challenge,” Roman said. “Plus, I go to the trouble of preparing dinner and he doesn’t even have the decency to want to join us? Rude.”

“He’s not joining us?”

“He requested for his plate to be brought to him,” Logan told him.

“Oh, well we could just all eat in the living room.”

“Seeing as we are eating spaghetti tonight, that would be ill advised. The sauce could make a mess on all of those blankets or the carpet. It would be better to eat at the table.”

“So we bring the table to him!” Patton suggested with a broad grin.

Roman snorted. “Do you think our little emo would get up then, if we set the table over him?”

“If anything, he might bite our ankles in retaliation,” Logan pointed out.

“This is too hilarious. Yes, we’re doing this. Patton, darling, the table.”

“On it!” Patton saluted and hurried over to the table.

“Patton.”

Patton froze, hands on either side of the wooden tabletop. He looked up from behind his glasses at Logan’s strict posture.

“Come on, Specs,” Roman groaned, turning off the stove and moving the noodles to a colander in the sink.

“Patton should not be moving the table like this,” Logan stated before moving over to the other side of the table to place his hands in a ready position. “It’s rather heavy and could cause strain to his back were he to move it alone. I shall assist.”

Patton beamed at him.

Virgil tensed up when a large thing moved over him. He flinched, dropping his phone and ripping out his earbuds.

“What the fuck, you guys?” he demanded as Logan and Patton moved their dining table over his spot on the floor.

“Sorry, not sorry,” Logan said. He made sure the table legs didn’t knock into Virgil as they sat it down with him directly under it. “If you insist on remaining in this particular spot, then we have no choice but to resort to drastic measures.”

“Okay, who’s idea was this?” Virgil asked. He sent an accusing glare at Patton who merely smiled at him.

“Dinner time is family time,” Patton said cheekily and bent down to kiss the top of Virgil’s head.

“I’m running away,” Virgil threatened, voice monotone.

“Falsehood,” Logan denied, bending down as well to place a kiss on his temple. “After all, you’ve sworn to not move from this spot for the rest of today.”

Virgil hated the smirk he wore when he said that.

Roman brought the food in, and Patton and Logan went back for the chairs. They began to eat while Virgil bemoaned their presence. Once he realized they weren’t going to hand him his plate, he gave up and crawled out just enough to sit up on his knees and eat at the table.

Joke was on them though, ‘cause he still didn’t have to move from his pallet.

Tag list: @spectralheartt @a-pastel-pan @notalwaysthevillian @rose-gold-roman @ijustrealizedhowdumbmynamewas @katie-the-noble-fangirl @yourroyalydramaticanxiousness @aroundofapplesauce @merlybird500 @beach-fan @jemthebookworm @whats-going-on-kiddos (let me know if you want to be added or removed from my general tag list)

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chelleaslin · 6 years ago

Text

Lukadrien June 2019 Day 5- Dating Advice

@miraculouschallenges

“Truth or jump.” Alya laughed, even if they all agreed on that rule.

“Truth, obviously,” Adrien muttered as he peered over the edge of the Liberty, Juleka’s family ship. He shuddered as he thought about the icy waters below.

“Do you like anyone?” Alya asked, feigning innocence but he saw the way she smirked at a blushing Marinette. He frowned knowing that this isn’t going to go the way he wanted it too. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that Marinette liked him. It was obvious in the way she blushed and stuttered around him and only. For a while he questioned if she was just shy around new people but after seeing the girl, confidently talk to new students, first hand, he new that it was just him.

He tried to let her down gently, always remindering her what a great friend she was and when Nino and Alya tried to hint, like they were doing now, he would alway remind them that Marinette and him were just friends.

“Yes, I do.” Adrien sighed, here we go. Adrien looked around the group to observe their reactions Juleka had a knowing smile on her face, Rose had the dreamily ‘this is so romantic’ gaze, Nino looked suprised and Alya and Marinette, they looked eager.

“Really?” Alya’s face split into a massive grin as she not so subtly threw a glance at Marinette. The black haired girl blushed heavily at her friends gaze but she looked nervous none the less. “Who is it?”

Blue eyes flashed in his mind that instantly gave him butterflies, soft dark hair that made his hand ache at the thought of not being able to touch it and a soft gentle smile that burned itself into the back of eye lids, something he saw so clearly every time he closed his eyes.

He barely contained a giggle as he realised how someone could easily mistake his discyption for Paris’ Heroine, Ladybug.

A few months ago, if he were in this situation, it would be her he was thinking of. But not now, not after meeting him.

His heart started beat harder just thinking about him, Luka Couffine. They met through Juleka as he was a few years older. Adrien didn’t realised it was a crush right away, because of his obsession with Ladybug he swore he was straight.

After time, his feelings for the boy grew stronger and stronger and his feels for Ladybug felt like they disappeared overnight. It really confused him.

It took him some time to realised it but he did eventually. He was sure that he never really had romantic feelings for Ladybug. He loved her, she was his best friend but that was as far as his feelings went. His infatuation with the girl was simply because he knew she was unattainable. His brain purposefully made him pin over a girl he could never have, so his brain wouldn’t explore for other options. He wouldn’t have to face his own fears of being gay.

Luckily for him, he managed to get through most of that just fine. It was hard, having no one to talk too (he didn’t have the first clue on how to court a boy) but the thought he was managing well.

“Ah, ah, ah!” Adrien tutted with a forced smile, zoning back in. “One question at a time, plus that’s not a yes or no question.”

Alya sighed dramatically but abided to the rules and signaled for him to take his turn. He gave her a big grin as he turned to Juleka.

“Truth or Jump?”

“Truth, obviously.” She smirked, repeating what he said earlier.

“Is Luka home?”

Juleka gave him an even bigger grin before nodding ‘yes’ at him. Alya groaned, throwing her head back.

“That was such a boring question. You could have literally asked her that out of the game.”

Adrien just shrugged as he motioned for Juleka to take her turn. The black haired girl then turned to her girlfriend, Rose.

Adrien sighed as he sat back and tried to tune out the game so he could recollect his thoughts. It was harder to do when he could feel Alya’s gaze boring into the side of his face.

He knew that when it was eventually going to be her turn again, she as going to target him. He knew Marinette was too shy around him and wouldn’t have the courage to directly ask but Alya did. He glanced at Marinette to see the girl already staring at him, she blushed and turned her attention to the floor, playing wit her fingers. She was nervous. She had ever right to be, Alya was too nosy for her own good sometimes. If she asked Adrien if he liked Marinette, he was going to have to say no, he couldn’t lie to her.

“Adrien!” Adrien snapped his head up, looking at Alya but confused to find she hadn’t called him, instead the girl was whispering to Marinette.

“Truth or Jump?” Nino asked, Adrien turned his full attention to his best friend, happy he wasn’t getting called out on this crush business.

“Truth, dude.” He grinned.

“Have you confessed your feelings to your crush?” Adrien’s brain short circuit for a second, he didn’t expect a dating question to come out of Nino’s mouth. He focus d back in just in time to see Alya give him a thumbs up, that traitor!

“No.” Adrien solonmly answered. He didn’t even have to look at Marinette and Alya to see them getting excited. He glanced to his right and saw Juleka worring her bottom lip between her teeth, she knew that this couldn’t end well either.

“Okay, my turn-“ Adrien began but got cut off.

“Why not?” Nino cut in. Adrien paused, turning to his best friend that was frowning.

“I didn’t know how to approach them.” He confessed, he felt a hand squeeze his shoulder, he didn’t have to turn his head to know it was Juleka.

“That’s no fair! Nino got two turns.” Alya fumed as she raised her voice above the others to be heard. Adrien flinched at the volume.

“Forget the game for a second!” Nino hissed at his obnoxious girlfriend before relaxing and turning back to Adrien. “My bro needs dating Advice.”

“Hold on a second, wasn’t it you that came to ee for help with Marinette?” Adrien laughed, playfully glaring at his mate. Marinette peaked up at the sound of Adrien’s name coming from his lips. Nino glared daggers at him, before crossing his arms.

“That was in the past, I’m happh with my sweet girl friend, Alya. Thanks to Ladybug, actually.” He smiled at Alya, the pair both held hands. Adrien smiled at the geasture, hoping to be able to do that one day with the boy that was holding his heart ransom.

“So, what your confirming is that you’ve never succeeded in a relationship without help? And thus, aren’t qualified to help another?” Adrien pretended to sigh. Truth be told, he just didn’t need anyone digging around in his heart right now. Unlike other, he wasn’t fond of people knowing about who his heart desires or they end up like Marinette. He glanced at the girl who too was staring fondly at her friends, evertime Alya spoke out to someone other then her and Nino though, she’d get jumpy.

“Hmm, well I’m sure one of the girls can help.” He grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Believe me when I saw, I’m fine.” Adrien smiled coolly. “I’m happy sorting this out on my own.”

“But what if the girl you like is waiting for you to make a move?” Alya cut in, glaring at Adrien. Marinette’s face was bright red as she elbowed her best friend in the side. Adrien clenched his jaw and adverted his eyes from the two. “I’m just saying, she could be crushing on you too.”

“I doubt it.” Adrien mumbled under his breath.

“Pardon?” She raises an eyebrow at him.

“Nothing.” He smiled cheerily, checking his phone. “Do you guys wanna do something else? My curfew is in another 3 hours and we haven’t done anything but play this silly game.”

“No wait a min-“

“Yeah, let’s go watch a movie!” Juleka suggested, quite loudly for the girl.

“That’s a great idea!” Rose cheer d as she snuggled into Juleka’s side.

“Movie it is.” Adrien Agreste as he stood up from the deck floor and stretched, his didn’t miss the way Marinettes eyes were glued to his mid section, where his shirt did up ever so slightly. He blushed and pulled the material down, staring at her with wide eyes. She shook her head as her ears tinged pink, she hid her face in her hands, trying to hide from his shocked stair.

“Hey, what was that?” Alya whispered to Marinette as they all started to walk inside. Adrien was directly in front of them and could hear them clearly but he was pretty sure they didn’t realise.

“What? Nothing!” Marinette squeaked.

Adrien rolled his eyes, did they serious think he couldn’t hear them? They’ve done this in class for as long as his been in school aswell. He could constantly feel Marinettes eyes burning into the back of his skull and he constantly heard their whispers and gossip about him.

“I saw it with my own eyes. You were totally staring at each other and got all blushy and bashful.” Alya excites explain, her voice raising in volume slightly before she lower s it once again. “He totally likes you!”

“Really?” Marinettes voice was so hopeful it hurt Adrien heart.

“I swear!” That was it Adrien was done. He didn’t want to confront the situation like this but he couldn’t let Alya let her onto him any longer, he liked Marinette, she was an awesome friend and she sure as hell didn’t deserve this false hope.

He suddenly stopped walking. Both girl didn’t realise and walked straight into his back. They all staggered for a second, almost losing their balance before stabilising themselves on the cabin walls.

“Hey! What the heck dude?” Alya snapped, rubbing her forehead.

Adrien ignore her as he turned around and stared her down. She faltered a little under his glare. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. When he opened his eyes both girls were giving him questioning looks, although Alya look slightly more annoyed.

“Alya, you need to stop.” He calmly said, the girl looked startled.

“What?” She asked confused. Adrien sighed turning his attention to Marinette instead.

“Marinette, you’re a sweet girl but I’m sorry, I just don’t like you like that.” He bit his lip, his brow furrowed. He felt extremely guilty but it was a nessicary evil.

Marinette looked like a deer caught in headlights, she fumbled over her words for a second and Adrien could of swore she was going to try to deny her feelings for him. Instead she just clamped her mouth shut, adverted eye contact with him and nodded. Adrien’s grimaced as he saw her shoulders shake, was she crying?

“What the hell?” Alya hissed, stepping into his personal space. “Why did you do that?” She side glanced at Marinette who was obviously trying her hardest not to full on bawl.

“Because YOU keep leading her on. I don’t like her Alya yet you fuel her crush by giving her false hope.” He hissed under his breath, side glancing Marinette.

“Me? You’re the one that lead her on!” Alya snapped back, pointing an acusing finger at him. Adrien was completely baffled, how had he lead her on?

“Excuse me?”

“You’re the one that gave her false hope! You were always flirting with her!” Adrien’s mind was reeling! When did he ever flirt with Marinette? Even when he was in denial about his sexuality, the only women he flirted with was Ladybug.

“When?” He weakly asks, he swore he never lead her on but Alya seemed so sure of herself that he was starting to doubt himself.

“You’re always hanging out with us and being extra nice to her.”

“Wait-“

“And you made her that good luck charm!”

“But that-“

“And you always compliment her fashion and you even called her our every day Ladybug!” Alya yelled,throwing her hands up in frustration. Adrien was thankful that they were the last three to walk inside but after her outburst he was sure everyone on the ship heard.

“I was only being nice, I wasn’t flirting nor did I mean to lead her on if I did!” Adrien finally said, lowly but as firmly.

Alya’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance, she opened her mouth, ready to tear hi, a new one when Marinette finally spoke up.

“He’s right.” She whispered. Adrien and Alya both froze, turning their full attention to Marinette.

Marinette slowly raised her head and her watery eyes meet Alya’s.

“No, no, no! Honey” Alya cried as she reached out to comfort Marinette but the girl flinched away from her. Alya looked really hurt by her action, her own amber eyes watering.

“He never lead me on. He was just doing nice things that you amped up in my mind.” She bit her lip and turned her face from Alya.

“I’m sorry, Mari! I swear I thought he liked you, I still think he does. He has too!” Alya growled.

“Don’t worry about Alya, he loves someone else.” A tear slid down Marinette’d pink cheeks as she whispered that.

Alya’s face broke when she saw the tear and whipped her head back around to Adrien, fury in her eyes!

“Who is it that you like, huh?” She yelled. Adrien heard footsteps approaching, realising it was probably the rest of the group, he choose to ignore them and focus on the problem at hand, Alya.

“That’s none of your business.” He snapped back, thoroughly fed up with her attitude.

“Yeah it is!” She placed her hands on her hips “I think we have the right to know who your choosing over Marinette! So who is the mystery girl that’s apparently so great that you can reduce Marinette to tears over.”

Adrien grind his back teeth together, a growl for,ing in the back of his throat as his anger built with every ridiculous word that came out of Alya’s mouth. Finally he snapped.

“There isn’t a girl!”

“I don’t believe you! You just said outside that you like someone.” Alya screamed, pointing to the door they just walked in from. She took a step closer to Adrien as she stared him down.”Who is she? What does she have that Marinette doesn’t?”

“First of all a dick!” Adrien screamed right back, absolutely losing his shit. Alya took a step back in shock, from his loud out burst of what he actually said, he didn’t know. “I’m gay! I like boys, okay?”

“I-I..what? No, no you don’t.” Alya furrowed her brow in confusion. “You’re straight you have to be!” She still tried to argue.

“Well, pity, because I am.” He spat. “I don’t like girl, I’m 100% Strictly dickly!”

He heard someone snort behind him and he normally would thrive in the presences of someone enjoying his jokes but he was too busy staring Alya down.

“Who do you like then?” She smirked, one eyebrow cocked up like what she just asked was a challenge.

“Why do you care so much?” He groaned, “why can’t I be happy with being who I am and be happy with who I’m attracted too? Do I need to pretend to like girls and force myself to date Marinette for you to leave me alone? Are you that homophobic!” He took a step towards her causing her to take one back.

“I’m not homophobic!” She growled. “You know I’m not! I just don’t believe your gay. I think you’re making this up because you don’t want to tell us who you really have feelings for! Is it Kagami?”

“No.”

“Lila?”

“No!”

“Chloe?”

“No, no, no!” He threw his hands in the air in frustration. “You can guess as many girls as you like but you’ll never be right! because he isn’t a girl!”

Alya opened her mouth again.

“It’s Luka!” He screamed. “I have feelings for Luka!”

Everything was quiet after that. Adrien thought Alya finally believed him, expecially by the shocked expression she was wearing. That was until he realised she was looking behind him, oh god.

Adrien sounds around to see Juleka, Rose and Nino, like he expected but between the, was Luka who had a very shocked expression on his face. Adrien’s face heated up as tears gathered in his eyes.

“Adrien..” Luka softly said but it was too late. Adrien spun around and faced a guilty looking Alya once again.

“Are you happy?” He yelped before shoving past both her and Marinette and running up deck again.

Pathetic cold wind stun his tear stained cheeks as he ran over to the edge of the boat. He growled in frustration as he realised the plank wasn’t set up so he could cross back to land.

He felt movement in his breast pocket, a reminder that Plagg was here and he wasn’t alone. He was about to open his jacket and talk to his Kwami when a voice called out his name, stopping him.

“Adrien!”

His whole body froze as he instantly recognised the voice, it was Luka. He refused to turn around, too embarrassed by the tears that were still falling. At this point in time he didn’t even know why he was crying, he just had too many emotions swirling around inside him and his tears were their only outlet.

“Hey.” Luka whispered above him as he appear right next to him, pulling him towards the older man and wrapping his arms around him. “Shh, let it out.”

Lula rubbed his back and he sobbed into his chest. If he wasn’t feeling so distraught right now, he’d properly feel ashamed of the way he desperate cringed onto the other lad, the way his tears stained his cheek and they way he cried out his name over and over again. But he wasn’t in the right state of mind to question comfort when he needed it, expecially from the person he craved it the most from. All he cared about now was the fact that his friends didn’t accept him. After all the time of worrying about what everyone would think, that his Father would disown him, his friends would hate him and Luka would be disgusted in him, it was finally all coming true.

“I-I’m Sorry.” Adrien hiccuped.

“What are you sorry for?” Luka whispered in his hair.

“For being gay a-and” he sobbed, “sorry for liking you.”

Luka sighed, squeezing his tighter.

“Don’t you dare apologise for that! You never, ever apologise ever again for being who you are darling!” He pulled back from the boy, only slightly, keeping him within arms length. “I have feelings for you too Adrien. This isn’t the way I ever wanted us to admit them to one another but I’m very happy that you return my feelings.” Luka kissed his forehead and Adrien melted into his touch.

“Do you really?” Adrien whispered quietly, almost childlike. Luka smiled down at him, his gaze so soft and for of fondess for the younger boy.

“I really, really do.” He conformed, kissing Adrien’s nose, then his left cheek.

Adrien blushed at the affection Luka was giving him, his past troubles momentarily gone.

“Please let me be yours.” Luka whispered, kissing his right cheek now. Adrien blushed from his neck upwards, his heart beating rapidly and butterflies forming in his stomach.

“Only if I can be yours aswell?” Adrien whsipered back, a surge of confidence taking over his body. His leaned onto the tip of his toes and pressed his lips agaisnt Lukas. The older boy gasped in surprise but soon fell into the rhythm of the kiss. After a few soft and blissful seconds the two boys pulled away.

“Is that a yes?” Luka breathless laughed. Adrien giggled and nodded his head.

“Yes.”

#miraculous tales #miraculous ladybug and chatnoir #marinette dupin cheng #chatnoir #adrien agreste #Luka Couffine #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #Juleka Couffine #rose lavillant #Lukadrien #LukadrienJune2019

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