#they're both going through it man can we cut the kids a little slack

[tetrakarn]

pulling myself briefly out of the depression pit to say i don't think it's fair to say ivan is outright violent towards till or shows his affection through violence bc in every piece of media that shows them fighting ( that i can find at least ) till always turns things physical first

not that ivan doesn't instigate by doing or saying things that might provoke him ( intentionally or otherwise ) but aside from touching till's injury in one of the r6 flashbacks he doesn't seem to be physically hurting him for attention. i think the fight scene in r6 is also the only time we've even seen him retaliate

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #1220: A Jamboree Court (Super Smash Bros Ultimate X Mother 3)

12:10 p.m. at the Smash Mansion's Living Room........

Kumatora: (Laying the Back of her Head Onto her Boyfriend, Ludwig's, Lap While Playing Video Games on her Switch) Hey, Luddy, whatcha reading up there?

Ludwig: (Reading a Book) The Diary of an Enraged Koopa. A very old folktales of a story, but gets more intriguing once you find a good amount of twists and turns the more you get invested. What game are you playing down there?

Kumatora: Thie first Fatal Fury game. The controls are as stiff as any other old fighting game in that Era, but it's still a pretty fun experience until you've reached-

Terry, the character she's playing, scream is suddenly heard on Kuma's Switch right before the announcer screams out the words "K.O."

Kuma: ('Groans in Annoyance') Geese. (Turns her Switch off on Sleep Mode Before Setting it on the Coffee Table Beside Her)

Ludwig: You're taking a break already?

Kumatora: For now. I've been trying to beat that guy since last night and my ass keeps getting handed to me in a platter with those DUMB counterattacks of his! ('Sigh') It's annoying......

Ludwig: I bet. But try not to give up hope just yet. (Gives Kuma a Reassuring Smile on his Face) I'm sure you'll finally be able to claim your victory in due time.

Kumatora: Oh, trust me, It'll happen. And I will DEFINITELY rub it on his pixeled face the whole way through. (Stretch her Arms and Back Out a Little Bit) But right now, I just wanna sit back, relax, and watch my prince of a boyfriend read his book from down below.

Ludwig: You sure that's you want to do? It could get you bored within seconds.

Kumatora: (Shrugs) Fine by me. I can handle the boredom. (Forms a Seductive Smirk on her Face) So long as I could get a nice glimpse of that good looking face of yours~ (Makes a Small Kissing Sound Towards her Boyfriend)

Ludwig: ('Heh') (Closes his Book and Place it to the Side) Tell you what, as token of your bravery and flattery- (Looks Down and Smirks Back at his Girlfriend) How about I put my reading time on hold and just kiss you instead?~

Kumatora: (Giggles a Bit) Yes please~

The young couple slowly lean their heads over to one another for a kiss until a loud sound of crying and sorrow suddenly rings both their eardrums.

'WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHAAAH'

Kumatora: The hell!? (Turns to the Source of the Crying Along with Ludwig)

Ludwig: Father?

Bowser: (Looks Up to See the Young Couple While He's Down on his Knees, Wiping the Tears Away From his Eyes) Oh. ('Sniff') Hey, kids. ('Sniff') Wassup.

Kumatora: Is.....everything okay over there, Mr. K?

Ludwig: (Sighs While Pinching the Bridge of his Nose) Please don't tell us you got rejected by mother for the umpteenth time.........

Bowser: (Glares at Ludwig) No!....Well. I mean, I did, but.....('Ugh')Just take a look at this!!! (Shows Kuma and Ludwig a Flyer He's Holding in his Hand)

Kumatora: (Leans Over to Read the Flyer) Super Mario Party Jamboree 🎉 🎉

Ludwig: Ah so they're planning to host another party later this year?

Bowser: Yeah, and they just banned ME from ever participating!! EVER! (Starts Whimpering) ('Sniff') I'm not even allow to get any slice of cake.......

Kumatora: (Turns Away While Rubbing the Back of her Head Back and Forth) Well, to be fair, you have been terrorizing those parties since the very beginning, so......(Turns Back to Bowser) Wait, haven't you gotten invited to one at some point?

Ludwig: Yes, he has. (Rolls his Eyes) And for SOME idiotic reason, he managed to botched up any chances of ever coming back in the party after.

Bowser: Will cut your old man some slack already!?(Crosses his Arms Together) You sound just as bad as your mother and her stupid plumber-knight boy toy! Besides, my reason for doong it wasn't that stupid at the time.....

Ludwig: (Gives Bowser a Deadpinned Look on his Face) Father, you willingly chose to go back to your old, scheming antics just because you got bored. How else are we supposed to react to that?

Kumatora: Yeah, that was pretty stupid on your part, sir.

Bowser: (Slouches his Arms Down in Pure Sadness) I KNOOW!!! That was practically my golden ticket to finally get invited to every new party set up and I just BURNED it all down to ashes! (Covers his Face While Crying Some More) What the hell is wrong with meeheeheeheeheeheeeee!?~

Ludwig: Sometimes I wonder......

Kumatora: (Gently Slaps Her Boyfriend's Arm While Lightly Pouting at Him) Luddy. (Gives Bowser a Small, Reassuring Smile) You've really been missing that Mario Party life these days, huh?

Bowser: (Wiping More Tears Off his Face) Yeah. I mean.....('Sniff') I know it was never the most normal, safest party out there, but it was still a fun time all around. For the most part. ('Groans') I gotta get back on that invite list damnit!!

Ludwig: Well, if all else fails, you could try and take this to Smash Bros Court.

Kumatora: (Turns Back to Ludwig) You guys have a court sessions here?

Ludwig: Only mock ones. It's mostly use to settle simpler, more trivial disputes like: who stole and ate all the cookies from the cookie jar, who's more worthy of using the remote controller to the living room's TV for the next few days, and so on. Mother Peach and Mario are the judges, so it'll might be harder to convince them otherwise......

Bowser: (Happily Wraps his Arm Around Ludwig's Shoulders) Which is all the more reason why I'm appointing you and your girlfriend as my two lawyers.

Ludwig: (Puts on an Unsure Look) I don't know, father....Don't you already have lawyers of your own? Surely they have the time to fill in.

Bowser: Who? Ted and Phil? Nah, they've already quit a long time ago. (Place his Finger on his Chin) I think one of them already got sued or something?

Kumatora: (Casually Salutes to Bowser) Well, you can already count me in, sir.

Ludwig: (Turns Back to his Girlfriend) Kuma? You sure you want to get involved in this?

Kumatora: (Happily Nodded) Yeah, the whole thing a mock trial, right? It could be fun for the both of us.

Ludwig: Pretty certain you'll have more enjoyment out it than I will....

Kumatora: Come on, give it a chance, babe~

Kumatora/Bowser: PLEEEEEEEEEEASE?~

The princess and king then proceeds to wobble their lips up and down as they present Ludwig two sad puppy dog eyes. There hasn't been a single person brave enough to turn down such a adorably cheap tactic yet, let alone someone as intelligent and mature as the oldest of the Koopaling Family.

Ludwig: ('Sighs in Defeat') Okay, fine. I'll represent as another lawyer.

Bowser: (Happily Hugs His Son on One Side) Thanks, son!~

Kumatora: (Happily Hugs her Boyfriend om the Other Side) We promise you won't regret it, babe!~

Ludwig then receives kisses on both sides of his cheeks from both his love ones.

Ludwig: (Rolls his Eyes a Bit While Blushing a Bit) Yes, yes, I'll take your word for it or what have you....(Turns to Bowser With a Raised Eyebrow) I sure hope you're ready to take this case more seriously, father.

Bowser: ('Heh') Please. Your old man's the most serious man alive! I got this.

Few Minutes Later at the Smash Bros Courtroom.......

Bowser: (Drops Down on his Knee, Begging and Crying his Eyes Out in Front of the Judges and Everyone Else Present in the Courtroom) Please, Please PLEAHEESEE get me back on the party list! I promise with all my heart, soul, and MIGHT that I'll be on my best behavior, from start to finish!

Mario: (Raises an Eyebrow While Sitting Next to Peach on the Conjoint Judges Desk) Really? Give us one good reason why we should.

Peach: (Glares at Bowser) And it better not be because you're bore!

Bowser: That's definitely not the reason at all, i swear! The second to last party you invited me to was most fun I've ever had in long time! I can't let it all go to waste now!!

Ludwig: (Walks Over to Bowser's Side While Wearing a Laywer Suit with his Hair Tied Up in the Back) It's true. The day you invited our client to the party for the very first time in years has been one of if not the most happiest days of his abnormal life. His very own words, not ours.

Kumatora: (Walks Over to the Other Side While Wearing a Light Blue Colored Suit of her Own) His actions so far today only shows how deeply regretful and apologetic he truly feels for returning old, more devious habits in the party after.

Bowser: IT'S KILLING ME INSIDEE!!

Kumatora: (Gently Pats the Top of Bowser's Shoulder) It is killing the poor man slowly inside, folks. Have mercy.

Ludwig: (Shows the Judges Kamek, Sitting in the Spectator Chairs, Happily Waving Hello to Him and Bowser) Our client's father/my grandfather is more than willing to return his role as the host of the Unlucky Spaces in his place. And we can assure you all that he will do anything you request him to do going forward, so long as it's legal.

Mario/Peach: (Slowly Raises Eyebrows at the Trio) Anything?

Bowser: Well, I wouldn't really go that far-(Suddenly Felt Ludwig Kicking him in the Thigh Before Ultimately Giving In) ('Agh') Okay, okay, fine! I promise. I'll do anything you asked, no charge necessary! Starting with the chores! (Grimaces at the Thought) Just.....please don't make wear that dumb maid outfit again......

Bayonetta: (In the Spectator Seats) Awww but you absolutely wonderful in that gown, darling!~

Bowser: (Comically Glares at Bayonetta in Particular) I look like someone's great grandma!!

Palutena: (In the Spectator Seats with Bayonetta) Better than looking like a lazy slob!~

Bowser: DON'T EVEN START OVER THERE, WOMAN!

Peach: (Sees Bowser Now Arguing With the Goddess and Witch From the Back) I dunno, dear.(Turns to Matio) You really think he'll go through anything we ask him to?

Mario: (Turns to Peach) It's possible. He has surprised us a good amount of times in the past. (Grimaces at the Thought of Bowser's Countless Antics in the Past) Besides, I REALLY don't wanna go back to dealing with his events anymore. Just thinking about give me nightmares.....

Peach: Yeah, I-(Eyes Suddenly Begins to Widened While Gasping at Mario) You had nightmares!? When!?

Mario: (Nervously Rubs the Back of his Head) Uhh.....Just recently.....Albeit a week or so. (Quickly Puts his Hands Out in Front of Him in Defense) B-But I swear, it wasn't that big of deal! And it's definitely not anything for you to worry about eithe-

Peach: Too late!~ (Pulls Mario into a Tight, Loving Hug) You got me worried sick right now!~

Mario: (Sighs in Defeat as He Lays the Side of his Head onto his Princess' Chest) I know. I promise I'll tell you more about it after this trial is over.

Peach: (Starts Pouting a Bit) ('Hmph') You better. Or I'm gonna keep smothering you and kiss you all over your dumb, cute face!~ (Starts Kissing Mario's Cheek)

Mario: (Chuckles Ticklishly by Peach's Kisses) You're going to do that no matter what I do regardless!~ (Smirks a Bit) And I won't mind that one bit~

Peach: I know you won't. It's the only that makes you feel better. (Smirks Back at her Teddy Bear) And I am more than happy to provide~ (Gives Mario One Last Kiss on the Lips) Now, come. Let's get this put whole thing to rest already.

Mario: (Simply Nodded in Agreement) Let's. (Picks the Gravel Up From the Desk Before Beating it Down On the Sound Block)

'BANG' 'BANG' 'BANG'

Mario: Order! Order in the court!

Mario looks around to see Bowser, who is now being hold back by both Ludwig and Kumatora, still arguing with the witch and goddess and everyone else in the room talking among themselves, completely unaware of the attention he tried to give him.

Mario: Uhh. Guys?-

Peach: QUIIIIEEEEEEEEEET!

The loud, booming voice of an angry princess was more than enough to stop everyone from what they were doing, shut 'em up, and give her and Mario their much needed attention.

Mario: (A Bit Startled by his Princess' Scream) Mama Mi- ('Clears Throat') (Smiles a Bit Sheepishly at Peach) T-Thank you, dear.

Peach: (Gives Mario the Sweetest Smile She Can Muster)

Mario: (Turns Back to Everyone) Now, after giving it a lot of consideration, Peach and I decided to give you another shot.

Bowser: Ah come on! I JUST- Wait. You serious? (Eyes Starts Widen at the Consideration in Question) I-I'm not banned anymore?

Mario: (Happily Nodded) Yep. You're back on the invite list.

Bowser: I'm back on the list. I'm back on the-(Starts Smiling Brightly) Kids, we did it! I'm back on this list!! (Pumps his Fists Up on the Air) WO-

Peach: HAAANG ON JUST A SECOND, MISTER!

Bowser immediately stops cheering in rejoice, right on cue.

Bowser: Y-Yes?

Peach: Before you start going around celebrating, we have a few conditions for you we need to discuss.

Mario: Starting with the chores you promised to do.

Peach: No maid dress needed.

Bowser: (Pumps his Fists and Elbows Up and Down) Yes! (Turns Back to Bayonetta and Palutena with a Snarky Smirk) Suck it!

Bayonetta snaps her finger in disappointment while Palutena sighs and rolls her eyes in annoyance..

Bowser: (Turns Back to Judges With a Huge Smile on his Facs) I'll have those chores done right before know it.

Peach: (Smiles Back) That's great!~ And we'll have Bayo and Paulie monitoring you the whole way through.

Bowser: (Chuckles Lightly) Yeah, I- (Eyes Widened Up Once Again) Wait, what?

Bayonetta: (Starts Smirking at Bowser Along with her Goddess Next to Her) You heard the lady judge, dear~ We'll keep watch of you fulfilling your chore-ly duties and make VERY good sure you have everything nice and spotless.

Palutena: (Starts Snapping her Finger Around to Every Word That Comes Out Of her Mouth) ('Snap') Suck. ('Snap') On. ('Snap') That.

The couple starts a small, smug filled high five woth one another, pissing Bowser off effortlessly.

Bowser: ('Growls') Motherfu- (Balled and Squeezes his Fist Up Tight Before Slowly Turning his Growl into Deep Breath) Alright, fine. I'll accept these terms.

Peach: Good. Now, second, you have to swear in this courtroom that you won't do anything scheming behind the scenes.

Mario: if we catch or any one of your crew doing anything diabolical, you're off the list for good, got it?

Bowser: (Place One Hand on the Book Hat Kid is Holding Up For Him While Holding Up Another Right Beside Him his Face) I, Bowser S. Koopa, solemnly swear not to cause any trouble from in and out the scenes amd behave myself like the adult I am.

Ludwig: (Gives Bowser a Proud Smile) Very mature of you, father.

Mario: (Nodded in Approval) Good, good. Very good indeed. Now, for the final condition.....

Bowser: (Puts on a More Confident Grin on his Face) Lay it on me, judge. I'll definitely get that one in the bag too!

Mario: I sure hope, cause the last and final thing you have to do is not to hit on Peach for at least three months.

Bowser: You can count on- (Eyes Widens Up Yet Again) I beg your pardon?

Peach: You heard my man! You need to stop hitting on me for three whole months, right up until the day the Jamboree Party starts. (Raises an Eyebrow at Bowser) Surely you can handle that just fine, right?

Ludwig: (Simply Nodded) No need to worry, your honor. We are more than certain that our client is up for the task.

Bowser is at a lost for thought before Ludwig kick in the chins again immediately taking him back to reality.

Bowser: Ah! Uh- Huh? What?

Kumatora: (Raises an Eyebrow at Bowser) Mr. B, do you have what it takes to make it through three months without trying to hit on the princess?

Bowser: ('Scoffs') Y-Yeah! (Crosses his Arms Together While Huffing and Puffing) Of course I can!......But...uh....

Ludwig: (Sighs While Pinching the Bridge of his Nose) Oh my God, what now?

Bowser: Hey, n-not that I'm complaining or thing, but......Does it HAVE to be three months? (Slowly Shrugs in an Awkward Fashion) Couldn't it last for two or.....one in a half months instea-

Crowd: ('Groans Loudly')

Kumatora: (Glares at Bowser) Dude!

Ludwig: Dear lord...............

Kamek: ('Sigh') That child of mine.........

Palutena: He's doomed......

Hat Kid: (Shakes her Head at Bowser With a Disapproving Look on her Face) Mm-mm.

Bowser: What? I was just wondering is all!....If it's a teensy bit possi-

Peach: (Angrily Slams her Palms on the Desk) ('SLAM') NO! We are NOT shortening this up for you, Bowser! You have only three months and that's absolutely, positively FINAL!

Mario: Anything else you want to dare add?

Bowser: (Shaking in his Knees, Scared Shitless) .....No.

Ludwig,: ('Sigh') Can't believe I'm doing this, but I will make sure my father....client or what have you, make it through that task till the third month rolls by.

Peach: (Frowns a Bit at Ludwig) That's very sweet of you, Luddy, but you don't have to help fight your father's battles for him.

Ludwig: I know, but I can tell that he adores and misses going to one of your annual parties. (Shrugs) It's a decent enough reason for me to make sure he succeeds. And also because I love him.

Crowd: Awwwww~

Bowser: (Heart Begins to Melt as He Pulls Ludwig into a Loving Hug) I love you too, son~ Thank you~

Ludwig: ('Sigh') Yes, yes. It's no problem at all. Just don't screw this up.

Bowser: Have more faith in me than that, kid. Your old man got this!

Ludwig: We'll see.

Kumatora: I'll help you out too, Mr. K!

Bowser: (Turns to Kuma With a Genuine Surprise Look om his Face) You will?

Ludwig: Kuma, are you sure?

Kumatora: (Happily Nodded) Yeah, man. (Hugs her Boyfriend) No way I'm gonna let my sweetheart of a boyfriend do this alone. (Turns Back to Bowser) We'll make sure you won't botch this one up, sir. (Slowly Starts to Crack Both of her Knuckles One by One While Giving Bowser The Most Intimidating Looking Smile She Could Muster) By any means.....('Crack') Necessary.

Bowser: ('Gulp') (Turns Back to Ludwig, Whispering to Him in Even More Fear) Your girlfriend is terrifying......

Ludwig: She is a highly trained PsI-User. Fear comes to the territory in some areas. She fought an actual tiger once growing up.

Bowser: With her or bare hands?

Ludwig: Yes.

Biwser: Oh.....(Takes a Very Deep Breath) Well, crippling fear aside.....(Gently Pats The Top of Ludwig's Shoulder) She's a real keeper, son.

Ludwig: (Forms a Proud Smirk on his Face) Indeed she is.

Peach: Alright, pardon my rudeness, is there anything else we need to discuss here?

Everyone in the Spectator's seat whispers among themselves for a few seconds before turning back to judges and one of them screams out.....

Palutena: Nope! We're good!

Peach: (Smiles Brightly) Good! I have a teddy bear sitting next to me right now, that needs to be loved and taken care of by yours truly~

Crowd: ('Chuckles Lightly')

Mario: (Pouts at Peach While Making Cute Angry Sounding Noises)

Peach: (Turns to Mario) Oh don't gimme that look! Everyone knows I call you that at this point. No use in hiding. Anyways, Case Dismissed!! (Picks the Gravel Up From the Desk Before Beating it Down On the Sound Block)

'Bang'

@bestpony666

@caleb13frede

@ma-lemons

@decibelcoatl

[invadernurse]

Catching Flies (Revised) Ch. 16

Chapter 16: Reality is Subjective

Overall rating: Teen

Summary: You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. That’s what they say anyway.

Teacher!Reader makes the mistake of trying to help the two most troubled kids in your class. This leads to forming a science club, learning some childhood psychology, adopting an alien older than you, and somehow catching Professor Membrane’s interest.

Afab Non-binary Reader;

The reader does have a last name: Nemo– which means no-name.

Chapter One |Master post |Ao3

**Several minutes earlier**

"Are we going to talk about the fact you called my dad and Mx. Nemo 'my tallest?'" Dib asked, an impish grin on his face as he followed Zim, who had long let go of his hand. 

"No!" Zim hissed. "As far as I'm concerned, it never happened!" 

"But you did." 

"I did not!"

"I was right there, Zim. You totally called them your Tallest." 

"The mighty Zim makes no mistakes!" Zim suddenly stopped and spun to face Dib, his eyes narrowed at Dib's delighted expression. "Foolish Dib-stink! You think I, the mighty Zim, would lower himself to call those two meat-bags my Tallest? That I would find them intelligent and honorable enough to think of them that highly?!" 

Dib didn't even waiver for a second. "You must, because that is definitely what you called them."

Zim snarled, and Dib quickly realized he might have pushed the alien a little too far. Before he could act, Zim pounced at him, tackling the boy to the ground. 

"Zim! No! Get off!"

"Not until you admit defeat, Dib-stink!" 

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing!" Dib defended, both verbally and physically as they wrestled each other, completely ignorant of the looks they were drawing. "My dad is the smartest human on Earth right now! And Mx Nemo's the first adult to treat us like actual people!" 

"Your paternal unit doesn't even acknowledge that alien life exists, and Mx Nemo can hardly understand your primitive computer system!" 

"I'm not saying they're perfect! I'm just saying I can understand why you see them as higher authorities! They treat you a lot better than your old Tallest did!" 

Zim went still, sliding off of Dib and sitting despondently on the ground. Dib took the opportunity to sit up, brushing the dust off his black coat as he warily watched Zim for a few moments. 

"I-I don't really mean to make fun of it," Dib admitted after a moment. "I mean, I have nothing but respect for both of them, obviously. And I guess I'm kind of…happy? Excited? That you feel the same. Because it means we aren't enemies anymore. We're friends now, right?" 

"Irkens don't have friends," Zim responded, more out of reflex than anything. The despondency in expression faded, replaced with something akin to embarrassment. "But…we are partners. Allies." 

Dib figured it was as close as he was going to get, and a lot more than he ever believed possible. Hell, if someone told him he was going to be friends with Zim just a few months ago, he would have called them crazy. 

"Ah ha, you two must be the students from inter-city middle skool!"

Zim and Dib looked up at a…person. Both Zim and Dib narrowed their eyes at the man that looked like something far too large stuffed inside a suit made to look vaguely humanesque. 

"I think that's actually worse than your human suit on peace day."

"Hey, cut me some slack! I had less than twelve of your earth hours to plan that!"

***

No. No no no. You couldn't be stuck. 

"Mx Nemo?" You could hear the professor, but couldn't respond. Not as the anxiety and panic gripped at you. You weren't usually claustrophobic but the bright blinding whiteness and cramped space as you tucked in closely to Professor Membrane's large frame, and your fears jumped at the chance to consume you. 

"Mx Nemo." Large, firm hands gripped your shoulders, grounding you somewhat. You stared up at him, able to see his eyes clearly through his goggles, dark eyebrows knitted in concern. "I am sincerely sorry, I realize now that was a very bad joke."

Joke. It was a joke. You slumped against him in relief, not thinking as you punched him half heartedly in the chest--his shoulder too far for your to reach. "You had me for a moment there," you admitted.

His hands still gripped your shoulder, though not quite as tightly. "Humor is not exactly one of my stronger skills," he explained rathwr weakly, which was odd coming from him.  

"I'm going to get you a book of dad jokes," you joked weakly in return, still leaning against him as your heart slowly returning to normal. "Or-or science jokes. Something." 

"I really am sorry." 

You shook your head, looking up at him. "It's okay. But let's focus on finding the boys." 

He tightened his grip for a moment before letting go. He turned, focusing on the blank wall, confusing you as he held his hand against the wall, but looking intently at his phone's display. But instead of asking, you kept silent and watched as he moved his hand along the seamless wall slowly. 

Did he have some kind of tech in his glove? Considering who he was, your guess was that it was far more advanced than the shoulder-length rubber glove it looked like. It probably was able to scan all sorts of things.

"There's too much interference," Professor Membrane growled to himself, stuffing his phone away. You despaired for a moment, maybe he hadn't been joking after all, when he pulled the glove off his arm. 

Oh. Oh. 

Your silence becamed stunned at his prosthetic arm. The intricate finger joints moved silently and fluidly as he searched the panel. There was a small blip of green light against the white, and the panels slid apart the reveal an electrical panel. 

"Well aren't you a beauty. Look at this work, Mx Nemo. Someone put a lot of time and care into wiring this. But…" The Professor's tone shifted for awe into dubious. "These flux capacitors are overkill for a simple elevator. The energy transmitting through these rival that of Membrane Labs. Why would a convention center need this kind of energy?" 

"What did our boys get into this time?" You swore softly. This was not what you had imagined when you realized the pair had wandered off. Unfortunately, it was right up their alley nevertheless. 

You missed Professor Membrane's glance at your (unintentional) choice of words. "They'll be fine," he tried to assure. "Between their intelligence and tenacity, I estimate that the chances of them being grievously harmed is less than twenty-five percent."

Those were good odds, right? You tried to convince yourself it was, but that fear and worry continued to gnaw at your stomach. 

Thankfully, before you could worry to much, the doors opened, revealing another long hallway, the same bright white walls lining the hallway. Professor Membrane led the way, his phone still blinking with Dib's location. 

The place was a maze, with the hallways twisting and turning, each one looking the same. You would have been lost a thousand times over. 

After a few twists and turns, you could hear someone speaking in a forign language, only for Zim's unmistakable laughter to abruptly interrupt. 

"You idiots! You dare try to intimidate the mighty Zim?! Ha! I'm Irken's greatest invader! Bow and tremble in fear! Tremble!"

There was more chattering as you and Professor Membrane tried to hurry. He was quickly outpacing you with those long legs of his, virtually forcing you into a run.

Whatever you expected, it wasn't Professor Membrane suddenly stopping and subsequently crashing into his back. "Well, that is...quite unexpected." 

You peeked around him and paled at the aight. 

Were those...koalas? Six feet tall, fuzzy grey and white with large eyes that stared directly back at you. You numbly noted the futuristic armour protecting their chest and limbs as they briefly raised on their back legs and bared their teeth in a snarl. 

Koalas...did not have sharp spiky teeth.  Nor were they as tall as you were.  Or decked out with weapons.

"Dad! Mx. Nemo!" Dib's voice cut through your astonishment. Relief swept briefly through you as you affrimed that both boys seemed unharmed. 

Then the not-koalas roared something that sounded like a foreign language towards Dib and Zim. The not-Koalas pointed weapons at both the children as well as you and Professor Membrane. 

"You dare call the might Zim a liar?!" Zim spat back while Dib paled slightly. Mechanical spider-like appendages unfolded from Zim's backpack, two supporting the boy into the air while the points of the other two sizzled with red electricity. "You dare threaten the mighty Zim's Tallest?!" 

"Boys!" You shouted, moving towards them only to have the Professor shove you behind him, his gloves virtually disintegrating, revealing both arms were robotic prosthetics, and vibrating with white energy. 

"Children, get behind me." Membrane commanded firmly. 

Zim hissed, "Invaders do not hide! We destroy those before us!"

"You're not an invader anymore!" Dib argued. "You're one of us now!" Zim's response was just a sibilant hiss.

"I am so confused," you admitted from behind Membrane, peering behind him. Space Koalas. Robotic arms and spider limbs. 

"I think we must be having a relapsing hallucination from memebraclets." Membrane admitted, though he sounded really doubtful. 

"Yeah, I still doubt that was the real story," you said distractedly. "I never had one or was around it, and I still remember everything too clearly."

"Well, with the only other explanation would be that were actually intelligent life, and we went through multiple wormholes and possibly even a blackhole. Which is scientifically impossible." 

"Aliens are real, dad!" Dib interjected loudly, gesturing to the non-koalas. "This is real! Not a crazy dream! They are here to abduct the smartest, most imaginative children to use as computers!"

"Their disgusting habits are known through the galaxy," Zim spat. "They deserve to be obliterated from exsistance."

"We were trying to convince them to leave peacefully." Dib stressed. 

You were so confused. You had started looking for them expecting they had wandered off exploring or getting into trouble. 

But. Aliens. So absolutely alien. The implications that this summer was real. The red sky with planets hanging heavy in the sky. The alien ships. The endless void of a black hole. 

Feeling like you were being ripped apart atom by atom and compressed into an infinitely small point at the same time. 

"It was real?" You whispered.  

"No. No, it couldn't be real," Professor Membrane stated firmly, shaking his head. "This can't be real. It's scientifically impossible. We would have seen signs, discovered radio signals, something." There was a desperate denial in his tone as Membrane clenched his fists. 

The alien-koalas made a noise that sounded like a laugh, interspersed with guttural clicks and growls. Zim snickered while Dib protested. "What?! Are you serious? All of that was a joke? You've been purposely avoiding humans?!"

"Well, to the intelligent beings of this quadrant, you aren't exactly that sharp. Playing with lesser beings is quite amusing," Zim chimed with a snicker, only adding to the confusion. 

Dib had accused him at first of being an alien… but surelt not. Surely not. "No. No way." You hadn't befriended and taught an alien for that several months. 

Yet it was making so much sense. The advanced knowledge, being abandoned. The technology. Dib was the son of the world's most intelligent man, but Zim…

Or was this actually a dream and that's why it was making sense? It felt so real, but didn't all dreams? You were so confused and torn, and you had the feeling Membrane next to you was just as lost judging by his stiff posture and heavy silence. 

Just...just focus on what was important, and leave all those questions for later. Whether it was a dream or not, you had to focus on the here and now and worry about the implications afterwards. 

"Leave them alone," you commanded with more bravery than you felt as you stepped forward, away from the protective form of Professor Membrane. You heard him whisper your name, quiet enough you were sure that it was an unintentional slip. You squared your shoulders and glared with as much authority as you could muster. "You leave those boys alone and leave this planet." 

The alien-koalas growled, clicking their teeth. 

"You dare threaten my Tallest!" Zim hissed, the energy at the end of his mech-spider legs flaring and threatening to fire. "You dare threaten the mighty Mx. Nemo?" 

"Hallucination or not, I cannot allow harm to come to my son, his friend, or Mx. Nemo." 

There was something encouraging about being flanked by a tall, broad-shouldered scientist with two mechanical arms whirring as they powered up, and a possible alien with lasers. Dib seemed to feel the same as he stepped between you and his father, looking rather stern faced as well. 

Except, instead of being threatened, the alien-koalas just chittered, a mocking kind of chittering that set your nerves on edge. 

The place erupted into laser fire. There was no time to think, only react. You grabbed Dib and pulled him behind the sturdy frame of his father, protecting him as best as you could. Sparks and fires erupted as energy blasts landed all around the control room. 

"Get out of here!" Professor Membrane shouted. The way you came was clear, so you dragged Dib with you towards the corridor. 

"Zim! Come on!" You and Dib shouted once you reached to safety of the corridor. 

"Invaders don't run away!" He snarled back, zapping the control panel which burst with a shower of sparks. 

"You're not an Invader, you're my student!" 

That made Zim pause, and it was all the Professor needed. He fired a shot rather reminiscent of an anime character before grabbing one of Zim's robotic legs and yanked the boy off balance and towards the corridor. He tumbled, the legs retreating into his pak, and before he recovered, you plucked him off the ground, holding him as if he was half his (assumed???) age as you ran down the hall, barely aware of where you were going. All you cared about was getting away from the cacophony of explosions and making sure Dib was keeping up beside you. 

Shortly, however, he too was scooped up as Professor Membrane caught up with you. "This way!" He commanded, turning a corner. "Their systems are more volatile than anticipated."

"It's possible we may have activated the self-destruct," Zim said, holding on to you while looking behind. "Or that they did, realizing they had been defeated by the mighty Zim!" 

"Not sure we won this one," Dib chimed. You were inclined to agree with him, but it was taking all you have to keep with the Professor's pace while carrying Zim. Your legs and lungs burned, but you kept pushing yourself harder. 

Thankfully, there was another corner and the elevator appeared. Or at least an elevator. You all but collapsed against the wall while Membrane jammed the call button. 

Except the doors opened to reveal a void instead of the blinding white elevator from before. "Where's the elevator?"

"Not above us," was Professor's answer as he peered into the darkness. "And neither can I detect it below us. I'm not sure if I possess enough power to carry all of us out…"

"Get the boys out," was your automatic response. Especially as you could both hear and feel explosions and fire creeping closer. You tried not to think of what was going to happen to you, and focused on the students safety. The innocent people above.  "Just--get them out. Evacuate the building." 

 Professor Membrane looked back at you, managing to convey his concern. "I find myself wanting to reject that idea despite the fact it's logical." 

"We are not leaving you," Dib agreed with his father. 

"You humans are disgustingly stupid sometimes," Zim growled as he extended his spiderlegs once more and grabbed Dib. "I trust you can at least carry Mx. Nemo?" 

"I-I'm not sure about this," Dib panicked, but Zim neither gave him nor Professor Membrane time to say anything before jumping into the void, the spindly robotic legs quivering as they caught both his and Dib's weight before skittering upwards like a true spider. 

"This hallucination is stranger than the last."

"God, I hope this is a crazy dream," you agreed before another explosion drew closer. This felt so real that you didn't have the courage to test out that theory. 

Yet, at the same time, you weren't sure what Professor Membrane's plan was, and you were too nervous to ask. 

"Right  dream or not," Professor turned towards you, arms open. "Shall we?"

"Er…" was your very eloquent response as you stepped closer. 

"I haven't carried anyone besides my children, so I do apologize in advance," was his response before suddenly lifting you up, one hand bracing your back and the other beneath your knees as he held you close. 

Your squeak turned into a scream as he stepped into the elevator shaft, dropping sharply. There was a click and suddenly you were shooting upwards. All you could do was clutch to Professor Membrane's neck and bury your head into his shoulder, barely aware of him gripping you a little tighter in response. 

After what felt like forever, the ascent slowed. You looked up and saw the faint light shining from the elevator doors that had been forcibly pried open. Emergency lights strobed, the sirens overwhelmed as by yelling and screaming in the Expo building as people hurried for the exits. 

Professor Membrane set you down, though his hand quickly grasped yours as you both made your way towards where the boys were. They were hard to miss, considering Zim’s mad cackle and the Rover drove circles around them, fire erupting from one of his robotic arms. 

“Really?” you panted as you reached the pair, gasping for breath. Rover stopped, the fire cutting off quickly. You weren’t even sure who your exclamation was pointed at, but Dib only gave a half hearted shrug as patted the Rover on its head. 

“We didn’t know how else to evacuate everyone. They were all standing around even after we pulled the fire alarm.”

“Now they run in fear of the mighty Zim! And Dib!” Zim was quick to tack on as soon as the other boy glanced at him. 

“I think this conversation would best be continued outside,” Professor Membrane interrupted before Dib could respond. The phone that had tracked Dib was now emitting a shrill alarm of its own. “This structure is highly likely to collapse from the impending seismic activity.” 

The ground rumbled beneath your feet, faint at first but quickly growing until you were having to hold on to Professor Membrange to keep from falling over. 

“Run!”

Dust and debris rained down as you tried to navigate your way out of the expo center, through the maze of long abandoned science projects. IF it wasn;t for the fact Professor hadn’t let go of your hand as he more or less dragged you behind him, you were sure you would have gotten lost. Though, you could faintly make out the light flashing off Zim’s robotic spider legs as he raced over the displays, and the Rover, carrying Dib, weaving through the tables like it was nothing. 

The doors opened to a sunny afternoon, yet the chaos had spread outside. People were scattering everywhere, panicked screams and crying  filling the air.  The tremors were becoming noticible further and further away from the building, to the points cracks were forming in the pavement under your feet.

A large one in particular formed that Professor Membrane just easily strided over with his long legs, but instinct quickly stopped you in your tracks as it screamed you wouldn't make it. Your hand slipped from his and you slid to a stop, harshly landing on you butt. 

The crack just kept growing larger and larger, steam, or maybe it was smoke, escaping with a hiss.

"Mx. Nemo!" All three boys called out, having quickly noted your absence. They were moments away from taking the leap themselves. That was all the encouragement you needed. You backed up a few steps before rushing forward and jumping over the gap. 

And, as you feared, you didn't make it. You felt yourself fall before you could reach the other edge, just shy of brushing the jagged rock. Below you could feel heat rise from whatever was exploding below to cause the mock-earthquake. 

Several somethings grabbed you from mid air, yanking you up and slamming you against the concrete on the other side before you could scream. 

You blinked as Zim's spider legs retreated  and the three looked down at you. "Ow." 

[aggressive-positivity-network]

Tf2 headcanons? Aw yeah! So let's say a new merc joins the team. They're a total asshole: Cocky, sarcastic, overconfident, refuse help. But both Spy and Scout see right through that, it's a defense mechanism. How do they go about making this person comfortable enough to not be an asshole?

*chanting* HURT COMFORT HURT COMFORT HURT COMFORT HURT COMFORT HURT COMFORT HURT COMF

Okay, jokes aside, this is one of my favorite tropes. Maybe I’m too naïve to believe that some people are just mean to be mean, or maybe it’s a sort of comfort to know that even the worst people can be understood, but either way, WOOOOOOOOO!

*****************

An Ass For An Ass

Headcanons

Scout:

To be honest, Scout’s threshold for asshole-ery is pretty high. Growing up with eight brothers will do that to you.

But when the new recruit came around, something immediately rubbed him the wrong way.

Recruit always stole his thunder with the crass jokes and over-the-top displays. Every battle turned into a competition, which messed with Scout’s system of fighting. He never had to focus much on his own team before, and now he had to worry about keeping his own reputation upheld while trying not to get stabbed, shot, or blown up.

Recruit also kept hitting on Miss Pauling - even after reminding them again and again that she was lesbian, and was not and never will be into dudes.

“Come on…you just haven’t been with a real man yet…”

“No, no, I’ve been with a lot of men. Real men. I just wasn’t into any of them. After a while, it was kind of obvious.”

But what really pissed a lot of people off was Recruit’s fighting style.

They were an absolute monster on the field - that’s why they were chosen - but every interaction was treated as some sort of survival scenario.

One would think that would be a good thing, but Recruit was ridiculous.

No matter what the situation was, he was fine, he was okay, he could take it, he could fix it.

He could be killed only inches away from a Medic because he would never yell for one. Sometimes Recruit would even show visible anger at being healed. It got to the point where Medic didn’t heal him at all, and just allowed him to die as to not waste time he could give too more grateful patients.

Missions were even worse.

He followed orders to a T, but Pauling had to beg him to leave a failed mission, or to leave without completely destroying the site.

Everyone just took it as Recruit showing off, or having something to prove as a rookie.

It was annoying, but ultimately harmless in most circumstances.

However, it all came to a head when Recruit tried disengage a sentry by himself and was severely injured.

Both Engineer and Medic, who had had to fix most of Recruit’s past and current recklessness, ripped him a new one, one chewing out after the other.

“What we’re you thinkin’, son?! One crossed wire and you woulda blown the whole base!”

“Zhe only reason you are allowed in my lab at all is because it’s in my contract. Personally, I vould have rather left nature to it…”

Since then, Recruit did exactly as he was told, and nothing else. And most of the team liked it that way.

But Scout recognized some warning signs immediately. Fatigue, near silence except for missions, self-isolation, snapping when people got too close…it all paved the way for a pretty nasty (and, for Scout, very familiar) result.

One night, Recruit was sitting on the balcony, and Scout came out with two bottles - a beer for Recruit and a root beer for himself.

(Scout can only drink on the weekends because one, unlike most, he can’t go to work hung over because his job requires a lot of movement, and two, he has no restraint and can’t stop once he starts.)

“What do you want?”

Scout shrugged. “Depends.”

“On what?!”

“What are ya willin’ to tell me?”

Recruit just looked at the beer and sneered.

“Can’t we just skip this?” Scout said. “Maybe get to the part where you tell me what kinda Sally Sob Story we’re dealin’ with here?”

Recruit looked away.

“Aw, c’mon, don’t tell me you don’t got one. ‘Cause you do. I can see it a mile away. So what happened? Pop leave? Somebody died? Lotta brothers and sisters? Ma had a few too many and smacked ya around?”

Recruit didn’t turn around, but Scout could tell he was crying. He had hit a sore spot. Hard.

“Hey, pal, listen…”

Scout trailed off, then slowly began again.

“…the only reason I know is ‘cause I’ve been through it, ‘kay? Outta everybody I knew, I only trusted me. And that was great when I did a good job, ‘cause I knew I put me there.”

Scout opened his bottle of root beer and took a long swig.

“But when I screwed somethin’ up, it’s like everybody I ever knew just let me down. The one thing I could count on was gone.”

Recruit looked at Scout with tears in his eyes.

“But ya can’t do everything by yourself,” Scout continued. “Believe me. I learned that the hard way.”

Scout laughed, but it was mostly to clear the air. He didn’t get serious very often.

Recruit hadn’t touched his beer, but was leaned over the balcony with his head in his hands.

Scout sighed and looked up at the stars.

“But here’s somethin’ that nobody told me - it gets easier, y’know that? You just gotta relax and cut yourself some slack.”

Recruit shifted uncomfortably. “But the Administrator said…”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I know what she said. Gave ya that whole speech about how bein’ part of the team means discipline and focus and whatever. It’s all bull crap. She don’t know the first thing about bein’ on the field. If she did, why��d she hire us?”

“Sh-she said my perseverance was an asset to the team.”

“Perseverance, my ass. You know what would be an asset to the team? Stayin’ alive for more than fifteen minutes!”

Recruit looked at his feet. He had blinked away his tears, but he still looked on the verge of falling apart.

Scout put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it a little.

“You’re a great fighter, Recruit. You’re one of the best…that’s why you’re here. You got nothin’ to prove to nobody. Not to me, not to the team, not to the Administrator…not even to yourself. You’ve made it, kid. You’ve made it.”

Scout slid his hand off Recruit and started to walk away.

“Hey.”

Scout turned to see Recruit in the process of opening his beer.

“Thanks.”

Scout smiled. “No problem, pal. Plenty more under Demo’s mattress.”

“No, I mean…for that. I needed that tonight.”

“Oh…yeah! Sure. Don’t worry about it.”

Scout went back inside and to his room - but not before checking the cameras on the balcony a few times. Just in case.

Over the next few months, Scout kept helping Recruit break some old bad habits.

Recruit learned to take criticism without getting angry, to leave tanked missions, and to take care of himself.

He still occasionally flirted with Miss Pauling, but it was now more of an inside joke than anything.

Recruit still isn’t perfect - he still cringes a little when he’s healed, and falls back into survival mode when times are stressful - but he is now a much happier, much healthier person.

Spy:

Spy’s asshole wasn’t a merc, per se.

They were more of an informant, usually giving out important facts about locations, missions, and a target’s history.

Sometimes they would even use the Administrator’s PA system to announce new rules and reminders.

This would be perfectly fine - after all, you get kind of tired of hearing the Administrator all the time - except for the fact that Informant was the most sarcastic, most nasally, most apathetic, most matter-of-fact person on earth.

Even outside of a work setting, which was rare because they stayed in their office most of the time, Informant would go out of their way to be as condescending as possible.

Especially to whoever they considered to be in the “less intelligent” category: Heavy, Pyro, Scout, Demo, and Soldier.

To all the “others,” he turned every briefing into a contest to see who knew more at any given time…which, of course, usually meant he won.

“Now, does anyone know where his address is? Come on, any takers? Yeah, I thought so.”

Unlike Recruit, which would only warrant a few grumbles here and there from the team, Informant was the subject of a lot of hissed complaints and terrible rants from even the calmest of members.

Informant was the only one who could get under Heavy’s skin - a personal pet peeve of his was being considered less intelligent or less of a human being because English wasn’t his first language, which Informant chose to remind him of constantly.

It began with a few simple jabs at his grammar or word structure, but once Informant figured out that Heavy wouldn’t hurt a fly outside of battle, the taunts grew more and more daring.

Heavy would usually ignore Informant, which would only exacerbate their need to be noticed. This led to some pretty nasty interactions - from spouting the statistics of Russia’s average intelligence to even saying Heavy was a disgrace to his country by being a literature major.

“How’s that Russian literature major treating you? You know - in America.”

Sniper and Medic had tried to set Informant straight, but Heavy refused to accept any help. This was something that was his to bear, and his alone. He knew that they both took their own helping of harassment.

But one day, Informant went a little to far.

He did the one thing you should never do: insult Heavy’s family.

“You mother and sisters can’t do anything more than wait for you. No wonder you’re the only source of income.”

Before he knew it, Informant was against a wall, struggling to breathe, blood running into his eyes.

Heavy walked away after the incident, and told Medic about it, but he refused to heal him. Informant had called Medic a Nazi on more than one occasion.

This, finally, is where Spy comes in.

Spy was walking by Informant’s office, when he heard a strange sound - barely suppressed hiccups and sobs.

Despite his aversion to displays of emotion, the promise of seeing one of his greatest enemies as their lowest was too amusing to resist.

He knocked lightly on the door, then slowly opened it - always the master of drama.

Informant was under their desk, bloodied and bruised, sobbing into their knees.

Spy entered noiselessly, sitting in Informant’s office chair and lighting a cigarette.

It was only when Spy made a dramatic exhale of the smoke that Informant looked up, tears streaking their face.

They stared at each other for a moment, and then Spy finally spoke.

“Oh, how the mighty fall. Flown too close to the sun, have we?”

Informant couldn’t do much more than snivel and retreat farther below the desk.

“Who did it?” Spy asked. “I want to give them my regards…and maybe a bottle of wine.”

“H-Heavy…”

“Oh? Well, if anyone can bring him to blows, it’s you.”

Spy put his feet on the desk and continued to blow smoke out of his nose, thinking.

“It’s strange,” he said. “Most offices have at least a few pictures of family. A trip to the beach, perhaps the zoo…?”

He took a quick glance around.

“No children. No army mates. No graduation photos or a large catch at a local lake. The only personal item you have is this…”

Spy picked up a Rubik’s Cube. The plastic still around it crinkled.

“Unused.”

Informant looked at the floor.

“I like to keep my personal and professional life separate.”

Spy pursed his lips and squinted.

“How noble of you. But I don’t think that’s the case. You know what I think, Informant?”

Spy took his feet of the desk and bent down, looking Informant in the eyes.

“I don’t think you have a life.”

Informant’s eyes went wide for a moment, then his face immediately crumpled. Bullseye.

Spy smirked and got up from the chair, starting to leave.

Informant’s sniffling turned into sobbing, and before Spy could put his hand on the doorknob, muffled wailing filled the office.

Spy closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. He was trying not to remember something. But the imagery was too strong.

He remembered hiding under a table, like Informant was. People screaming and cursing at each other in French. His knees all scarred and his nose runny from a cold that should have resolved weeks ago. Waltz music coming from next door, trying to drown out the fighting. Glass breaking. Biting his knuckles so he wouldn’t whimper or cry.

Spy’s hand closed into fist. He took a deep breath, and turned to face Informant again.

“But to be fair…”

He walked towards the desk, putting his hand in his suit pocket. He got on his knees and pulled out a pink handkerchief.

“…I don’t have one either.”

He offered the handkerchief to Informant, who put it to his face, still staring at Spy through red eyes.

The pair were silent for a moment, with Spy putting out his cigarette and lighting a new one while Informant cleaned themselves up.

“But the difference between you and I,” Spy said, his voice wavering a bit, “is that I am a Spy. If my information got into the wrong hands, it could be the end of me and my team.”

He tapped his cigarette on a nearby trash can, letting the ashes fall into it.

“But what are you hiding from?”

Informant took a shaky inhale, the handkerchief still covering his nose and mouth.

“W-what?”

“Why do you feel the need to be, as Scout puts it, a tier five jerkazoid?”

Informant sniffled. “I…I didn’t think I took it that far.”

“Took what that far?”

“I just…snrk…I thought that’s what I had to do to get them to take me seriously.”

Informant laughed, but their heart wasn’t in it.

“I’m five foot four with red hair and freckles. I look more like someone’s Andy doll than a contract killer. I thought maybe if I knew everything…I’d be worth it.”

They shrugged.

“At best, they’d be impressed. At worst, they would never get close enough to me to know the truth: the only reason why I’m here is because I can rattle off a few names and that I had good grades in school because I had nothing better to do.”

Spy’s chest ached. He didn’t know why, but it was a strange feeling to him.

“Mon ami…”

He cleared his throat.

“If half of the team is any indication, you don’t need to be Nikola Tesla to be hired. Hell, the fact you can read is an anomaly in itself. But there is something you must understand…”

Spy cleared his throat again. His voice had gotten quite unstable all of a sudden.

“Intelligence is measured in different ways. Scout could never read even the simplest of children’s books, but his physical intelligence - reflexes, spatial awareness, aim - is phenomenal. Medic would have to put my spine back together if I even attempted to do what he does on the field.”

Informant snickered at the joke, or perhaps the image it conjured.

“And me,” Spy continued. “I can speak almost any language, adjust to any social setting, charm anyone, fool anyone…kill anyone. Just like you, I can remember, and I use the information I absorb mostly to show how superior I am to all my lowly colleagues.”

Spy furrowed his brow and looked away.

“But I know less about myself than even my enemies. I have hidden it so deep within my mind that I can hardly remember…or perhaps would rather not remember…who I was before this mask of mine.”

Informant hesitated. “I…I’m sorry, Spy.”

Spy sneered and puffed a few smoke rings.

“I don’t want your sympathy. I want you to have some self-respect - and respect for my teammates. Because next time you are beaten within an inch of your life, you might catch me in a less generous mood.”

With that, Spy got up, reached into his suit pocket and presented a small MediKit, which he tossed to Informant.

“I’d suggest freshening up before going to any more briefings.”

Informant nodded, and set to work healing himself.

Spy started to leave, then stuck his head back in.

“And hang a few posters, would you? Your office looks like a prison cell.”

Finally, the Frenchman took his leave, adjusting his suit and nodding solemnly to the team members he happened to pass - or scowling at them, depending.

He glanced over the security feed, and once he was satisfied, made his way to his smoking room.

Spy closed the heavy oak door, poured himself a small glass of scotch, and sat down in his chair next to the fireplace.

He put a magazine on his knee and began to flip through the pages, but his gaze soon started to wander.

He closed the magazine, tossed it into the fire, leaned into his hand, and wept.

…So what became of Informant?

Well, after a reluctant heal from Medic and a few well-deserved apologies, Informant began to try and break the cycle of self-sabotage.

The process took a lot longer than Recruit’s did - especially since Informant’s transgressions were a lot more egregious - but, little by little, they began to heal.

A lot of the time, the other mercs would have to tell them to tone it down a bit, or to cut him off completely if necessary.

Informant still almost has a panic attack if he doesn’t have the right papers, and his office is still pretty bare, but he took Spy’s advice - a few AC/DC posters hang on the leftmost wall.

As for Spy, well…he needs to have a talk with Medic.

******************

I am so sorry…this is all so messy and weird. One is so much longer than the other, and I’m not even sure half the dialogue sounds right.

The two headcanons were just typed out at different times, the first where I had less motivation and the second when I had more motivation. This wasn’t on purpose, it just happened.

I hope you still like it, though!

[voiceless-terror]

Hey, I hope I'm not bothering you, but I wanted to know if you're still taking requests? My friend cinnamoniic's birthday is coming up (around the seccond week of march) and I know they're a fan! If you have time, could you fit is a short Jontim or Jonmartim? That would be really cool!!! (As a surprise, please only publish this ask if you're able to take the request)

hello, not bothering at all! I don’t know if this is early or late but happy birthday @cinnamoniic !! a silly little jonmartim for my favorite artist!!

Tim is very, very happy to have his boyfriends over for the night.

It’s their first overnight and he’s looking forward to falling asleep in Martin’s arms and cuddling up close to Jon, whatever happens first. And that’s why he’s placed himself right between the two, Jon lying on the side of the bed against the wall and Martin insisting on the edge ‘in case I get up in the night, don’t want to wake anyone up, you need your rest.’ Ever the gentleman.

But it’s been three hours and not once has Martin made any motion to get up. In fact, he’d fallen asleep almost two minutes after they got situated, sprawled on his back and dead to the world. Tim’s glad Martin can sleep so deeply, he deserves it with the hours he’s pulling. But he’s not very happy about the sounds he makes while doing it.

Martin snores. Tim does too, as he’s been told by previous partners, but Martin’s like a goddamn motorboat. It’s deafening. He refuses to wake him and inform him of this fact, though he wishes Martin had warned him ahead of time. Tim doesn’t want to make him feel bad, but it’s getting to be a bit of a problem. It’s not steady enough to be a comforting white noise, as it occasionally turns into whistles or crescendos into loud roars. Martin’s got range.

And if Martin sleeps like the dead, Jon's the exact opposite. It’s not that he’s woken up at all, no, but he’s constantly rolling around, climbing on top of them at strange and uncomfortable angles. Tim wouldn’t mind the clinging so much if he didn’t change position every fifteen minutes with a jab of his pointy elbows.

He also talks.

It’s all nonsense, of course. Snarky little noises, as if he can’t stop being a little shit even as he sleeps. Sometimes it's a steady stream of enthusiastic mumbling, like his sleepy equivalent of an info-dump. Tim hopes he’s got a captive audience in his dreams.

He murmurs something directly in Tim’s ear, having burrowed himself in the crook of Tim’s neck five minutes prior. After imparting this wisdom, he rolls back over to face the wall. 

“You’ve got a point, buddy. He is loud.” Tim sighs, staring up at the ceiling, when a thought occurs to him.

Maybe if Jon’s got a Martin to distract him, he won’t be so bothersome. Martin seems to be a heavy sleeper, and won’t be woken by Jon’s nocturnal gymnastics. With this in mind, he very carefully scoots to the bottom of the bed and reaches for Jon, half dragging, half carrying him closer to Tim’s previous position. Jon immediately clings on to Martin, throwing himself diagonally over his chest with a happy little noise. Martin doesn’t wake. Perfect. Tim shimmies over to Jon’s spot, his back to the wall as he closes his eyes to finally get some rest.

Until Jon’s leg kicks back and hits Tim directly in the stomach. He yelps and struggles to catch his breath, glaring at his two blissfully unaware companions. Jon snuggles into Martin’s arms and the snores reach a new crescendo. This is hell.

Tim tries, he really does. He spends the next thirty minutes curled as far into the corner as he can manage, he puts the pillow over his head. But nothing drowns out the noise and Jon still intermittently kicks at his back, albeit gentler than before.

He truly loves the two of them, more than he ever thought possible. Tim reminds himself of this as Martin attempts to break the sound barrier and Jon puts on a one-man show of Riverdance against his back. But he’s got to get some fucking sleep. 

He considers waking the two of them and voicing his complaints. It’s not unreasonable; hell, Tim would want to know if he were the offending party. But he can’t bear the thought of Martin’s guilty little face, and he knows Jon will use it as an excuse to stay up the rest of the night. He could just slip into the living room, but that’ll just cause a fuss come morning. No, it’s time to do some strategic maneuvering. It’ll be difficult, but Tim thinks he can pull it off without waking the two. And he’s never been one to back down from a challenge.

Tim squirms down to the edge of the bed, flipping Jon’s pliant body back to its previous position. He almost falls out of bed when Jon surprises him with an emphatic “Recording ends!” but he quiets after that, curling into a ball.

“Good job, bossman.” A nickname he can only use when Jon can’t hear. He’s not too fond of it, now that they’re dating. Tim still thinks it’s cute. 

Now for the hard part. For this one, he’ll have to get out of bed entirely.

As he looms over Martin, Tim tries to figure out the best way to go about this. He gives him a gentle, experimental shove but Martin’s dead weight and does not want to move, stubborn even in sleep and now snoring louder in what seems like protest. Tim pushes back the sleeves of his sleep shirt, shakes out his arms. This is why you lift, Stoker. You can do this. A second push: the man budges a few inches, but there’s still not enough room for Tim to slip in. Martin’s always been stronger than him, much to his chagrin, and he’s never beaten him in arm wrestling. He’s built like a brick house, albeit much comfier. But Tim will not let him win in his sleep. That’s just ridiculous, not to mention embarrassing. So he lets out a grunt and gives it his best shot, the push finally managing to get Martin completely on his side.

And directly on top of Jon.

“Shit!” Tim swears, immediately jumping on the bed at Jon’s muffled squeak, his hands starting to pull Martin back when what little he sees of Jon suddenly relaxes, his face going slack. Tim briefly worries he’s killed him but Jon is in fact breathing, an utterly content look on his face as if all he needed to settle was the pressure of Martin’s arm and half of his body. Tim laughs in disbelief, running a hand through his hair when he notices the sudden quiet.

Martin’s stopped snoring. Not entirely, no, but after a minute of hovering over the man, he hears only the lightest of occasional wheezes. God, I’m a fucking genius. He almost wishes someone had been around to see it. He’s debating taking a picture and sending it to Sasha when he glances at the clock- two am. If he wants to wake up slightly rested, and in time to try Martin’s much-lauded pancakes, he’s going to have to cut his celebrations short.

So he climbs back into bed, attaching himself to the large, warm expanse of Martin’s back and burying his face in the softness of his worn sleep shirt. This is how it’s supposed to be, cozy and comfortable and quiet. Just took a bit of trial and error. 

Now to see if it’ll last til morning.

At eight, Martin wakes everyone with a shriek upon finding Jon buried underneath him and takes both Tim and himself off the bed with the force of his backpedaling. They land with a painful thump, Tim swearing as his abused back takes the brunt of the fall. Jon peers sleepily over the edge of the bed and gives the two of them a pleased smile, stretching like a cat basking in sunlight.

“Don’t think I’ve slept better in my life,” he yawns, blinking slowly. “What are you two doing down there?”

“A-are you serious?” Martin stutters, still tangled in the sheets and making no move to get up. Tim can’t help his snicker. “I-I was completely on top of you-”

“We should do that more often,” Jon agrees. “I like having you on top of me.”

It takes Martin about an hour to recover from that statement and around the same time for Jon to realize what he said. And Tim, well, Tim’s just happy to finally get some sleep.

And Martin’s pancakes. He really wasn’t kidding about those.

ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29931783

[aros001]

Going in blind: Watching season 4 for the first time. Random thoughts.

I never said anything about it before but I love Shadow Weaver's DCAU Batman eyes. They're so expressive.

Episode 1: Okay...I wasn't expecting Catra to do that. I mean, it makes sense. If she has leverage over Hordak then she's basically in charge of the Horde and that's what she's wanted (or at least believes she wants) since episode 1. It's an aspect that made her a good antagonist, that she's not blind to the evil of the Horde, she just doesn't care as long as she herself is secure. Which naturally begs the question, when the rebellion and the princesses are crushed, when the Horde is on top, when Adora is dead, when Catra finally has everything she's ever wanted...will she actually finally be happy? Somehow, I have my doubts.

I definitely feel for Glimmer in this. When you go through as big a loss as she did you need to be able to feel and vent if you're ever going to get through it. It doesn't have to be right away but everyone doing everything in their power to avoid the topic entirely can make you feel like you're going crazy. It'a especially bad for her since it unintentionally makes it feel like everyone is acting like it doesn't matter that Angela is gone when it clearly means everything to Glimmer.

Episode 2: I actually had a potted cactus plant once. Accidentally forgot about it and left it outside for an entire winter. Once the snow was gone the cactus looked like it had melted.

I kind of want to see what an interaction between Double Trouble and Clayface from the Harley Quinn animated series would look like. I'm guess Catra was just testing how good Double Trouble was as a doppelganger because it doesn't seem like she did anything while Adora was being distracted, though I suppose that could be a reveal in a later episode.

Not much to say except that I love how buff Huntara is while still clearly being a woman. Like, women can have a variety of different body types, as this series and Steven Universe show, and Huntara's build isn't just, like, Bow's body with lipstick and ponytail and the animators calling it a day. No, she looks like a freakin' jacked adult woman.

Episode 3: I didn't figure out the Flutterina = Double Trouble twist until a minute before it was revealed, so good job there. Before that I was wondering if Flutterina was some fan's original character where they won some contest where their OC got to be in the show for an episode. She was giving off some weird self-insert vibes. That twist made it all work though. It's honestly not a bad plan. Shapeshifters haven't really been a thing in the series before now so there's no reason to suspect it. Even if they did they'd probably be expecting it by way of magic or technology, while Double Trouble's seems to be a natural ability.

I like that even though Bow is definitely the goofier one of the trio he is still consistently shown as competent. That's never in question. He was very heroic and reassuring to the villagers this episode. I get why those kids idolize him so much.

Catra's having guilt over what she did with the portal and to Entrapta and her response is basically to just double-down. She doesn't know any other way to be. Not going to lie, I am kind of hoping we get another moment in the show where Adora just completely overwhelms Catra with the sheer power of She-Ra. I'm not saying like brutalize her or anything but just something where Catra is made to realize just how powerful Adora is and that she could just destroy Catra if she had a mind to do so.

Episode 4: Well, I was saying I wanted Adora to do it but I guess I don't mind Glimmer being the one to get some good shots in on Catra. Like I predicted, Shadow Weaver's moving in to become her teacher like she was with her father. Honestly I like that that was more Adora's problem than Glimmer using her as bait, which she seemed to get over pretty quick. Yeah, it was kind of a heartless thing to do but it was an understandable tactic and she clearly outright told Adora that she did it and why afterwards, which at least means she's still being honest.

It occurs to me that Glimmer and Catra may be the ones running parallel right now. Both are basically leading their respective sides of the war. They both have lost someone very important to them. And both are trusting someone they probably shouldn't. Both even have outfits that've been updated in the intro. The difference is Glimmer's just trying to deal with a bad situation while Catra's is entirely self-inflicted.

Minor thing but I like Glimmer's new outfit this season. I'm sure this is the intention but it makes her look older and more mature. A little more muscular in some shots too.

Episode 5: Heart of Etheria project. No idea what that is but assumedly whoever's a part of it doesn't like Light Hope and Mara being friends. Sounds like it's very much interested in She-Ra being just a warrior, and perhaps a tool, for the greater good. It does make me wonder though how much Light Hope remember from when she was rebooting. Even if she deleted the Mara memory she could potentially still have the memory of her and Adora watching the Mara memory, as well as Adora asking to be her friend.

Episode 6: Yep. Scorpia; definitely favorite supporting character. There is something kind of funny about her whole "Scorpions are loyal" line when you remember the story about the Frog and the Scorpion, where it stings the frog despite it meaning death for itself as well simply because that is its nature. But finally we're having someone go save Entrapta, and I can only assume at some point Scorpia's going to access the power of the Black Garnet.

The parallels between Catra and Hordak are definitely at their max here with that speech of hers to him. She's basically trying to convince herself that she doesn't need anyone, the timing of which is appropriate since she just drove away Scorpia and now truly doesn't have anyone. Not that I blame Scorpia, obviously. Like Adora before her, however good you believe someone can be and that you can help them, at some point you just have to cut the toxic people out of your life. You have the right to be happy too.

And man, Bow is just the best. He saw something was wrong between Adora and Glimmer and defused the situation like (snap) that, pushing them to talk like any sane person would.

Episode 7: I'm sure it is just because I've seen way too many TV shows and movies (both animated and live action) that don't do it but it is just such a relief to have a show where the characters just TALK and LISTEN to each other. It doesn't solve all their issues but they're at least not being stupid and freakin' petty. It helps the drama feel a lot less forced and contrived.

Episode 8: A little bit of amusement in Bow thinking at first that Glimmer and Adora didn't even notice he was gone despite them coming to his rescue very shortly afterwards, given Catra is only now realizing Scorpia has left and assumedly she did so a while ago. Bow and Sea Hawk hadn't been gone for that long so it's not unreasonable Glimmer and Adora wouldn't be worried about their absence (Bow was literally talking about "me time" when they last saw him), while Catra is only noticing Scorpia's absence now and it was because she wanted something. Like Scorpia said, she's a bad friend.

Kind of ironic given that a lot of Catra's issues are the direct result of Shadow Weaver giving her very little love growing up but it does seem this tough love is probably what'll get through to Catra the best. She might finally stop making bad decisions and lashing out if she's forced to live with the consequences of them, like Adora told her last season.

Glimmer gets a bit of slack from me since she suffered through a huge loss, that being her mother, and then was immediately thrown into being queen right after. It'd be hard for anyone to be 100% on their game and well-adjusted in a situation like that, and I buy that she was on some level resentful of Adora for coming back instead of her mother, even if unintentionally so. What definitely helps is that Glimmer very clearly and immediately regretted what she said to Adora. Like Catra she's lashing out but unlike Catra Glimmer recognizes some of the damage she's doing and knows, at least in this case, that she went too far.

Episode 9: Now that I can see the design in color I definitely prefer Mara's She-Ra with pants to Adora's She-Ra with shorts. Honestly, while the differences are pretty minor, I do think Mara's She-Ra design is overall a lot better than Adora's. Sharper shoulder guards. Bigger cape (especially the cape, I love capes). I don't know, there's just a lot that clicks with it and I wouldn't mind Adora getting a similar outfit later.

Madam Razz definitely had a Yoda feel this episode. I was very much expecting her to start wacking Mara with a stick over the sugar like Yoda did with R2. Though while that was Yoda acting crazy, for Razz it's because she experiences time out of order, and I don't think I've ever seen that concept taken to this extent, or at least done this way before. There are characters like River Song from Doctor Who, Professor Paradox from Ben 10, or even the Reverse-Flash who interact with other characters in time out of order but those characters are still on a linear path from their own perspective, even when travelling through time. Razz is just bouncing around her own timeline, seemingly not even any real reason or cause to it like Subaru from Re:Zero. Clearly she's not just remembering things oddly because her talk about things of the present are heard by people in the past and have an effect. I wonder if maybe the reason why is because Razz was at ground zero of Mara's actions and this is a side-effect of pulling Etheria away from the rest of the universe.

Bringing more Star Wars into this, it basically sounds like the Heart of Etheria project has turned Etheria into a magic Starkiller Base; storing power that'll be unleashed to destroy whole planets. And jeez, I think this was the first time I really felt creeped out by Light Hope when she was talking to Mara.

I'm looking forward to seeing what it means that the First Ones only made the sword and that Etheria made She-Ra. If that's the case, why is only the sword able to bring out the She-Ra form? Is it like MCU Thor's hammer and the weapon was just meant to help him control the power he already had? Or is what we think is She-Ra not actually She-Ra and that form that Adora and Mara take is just a stand-in for the real thing?

Episode 10: It didn't even occur to me until now but Double Trouble's capture is another blow to Catra's circle of "friends" too. They were at least able to make her laugh. One less person for her to talk to and just...really just distract her from her thoughts.

It's a good dilemma this episode presents about what to do with the Heart of Etheria. The safest and probably best option is to just dismantle it, like Adora and Bow want, since it could easily lead to the destruction of the entire planet if it goes off. Not the mention there's so little they know about it and what it was intended for and the one person who can potentially tell them, Light Hope, they were warned not to trust. But it's not hard to understand where Glimmer is coming from in wanting to use that power to fight the Horde. They're already losing the war and now she knows Hordak Prime and his FAR more powerful forces are on the way. Tapping into the Heart is a huge risk but she's not seeing any other paths for the rebels to win. It's a really good dilemma, with good arguments presented from both sides, and I buy this widening the schism between Adora and Glimmer.

Episode 11: I have mixed feelings on King Micah still being alive. On the one hand there's a lot of good potential interactions we can now have with him, primarily between Glimmer and Shadow Weaver, and he is a fun character. But on the other I can't help but wonder if this kind of lessens the impact of what Angela gave up to overcome the false reality. Part of what made it so emotional was that she had to accept the person she loved was dead and not coming back...except now we see that he wasn't dead and now he is coming back. Yeah, their family lost out on years together and that does still carry some emotional weight but I was already also half-expecting Angela to come back later in the series because she's stuck between dimensions, meaning there's a chance she could still be alive. If both Glimmer's parents come back then that really feels like it takes a lot of weight out of her story. But I guess we'll see what happens.

Also, why did the Horde exile him to Beast Island? Why not just kill him?!

Episode 12: So the Horde exiles Micah to Beast Island instead of killing him. The First Ones protect their secrets by sending their bad tech to Beast Island. Does no one know how to just destroy things in this world?

Ohhh, I am so looking forward to next episode. While it's debatable whether Glimmer should be going through with her plan she is at least being smart with how she's going about it. Double Trouble was being paid by Catra to work for the Horde, not out of any sense of loyalty. Glimmer has the resources of Bright Moon at her disposal so it's reasonable she could pay them more to switch sides. Double Trouble was very good at sabotaging even a group as tight-nit as the heroes, so Hordak and Catra are probably easy pickings with all their issues.

Episode 13: ....WELL THAT AIN'T GOOD!

I'll admit, I had a little bit of an unintended laugh. After all we've heard about Horde Prime, like this shadowy all-powerful monster, I wasn't expecting the fabulous flowing dreadlocks and smoothness. Credit where it's due, man has charisma and charm, which goes a long way in helping your big evil world conqueror not be a very flat character, because it's doubtful he's going to have the same kind of sympathetic motivation as Hordak or complexity as Catra to keep him elevated.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Double Trouble kicking at Catra while she's down. Adora and Scorpia were honest but they never wanted to hurt Catra. Not so much with Double Trouble and they just shove reality into her face. Everyone leaves Catra because of Catra. She's the common factor. It's her fault and no one else's. Again, I don't know for certain if Adora and Catra get together at the end (Catra would have a LOT to make amends for regardless) but Double Trouble was definitely implying Catra had feelings for her with the way they put Catra's hand on "Adora's" cheek while talking about how she left her.

I like that we see Glimmer's plan actually working at first. The princesses get a massive power boost and decimate the Horde forces. But the minute it starts going wrong she immediately admits Adora was right and she tries to stop the energy flow. I imagine having her there with Catra was intentional by the writers. Despite some parallels, Glimmer can actually accept her failures and work to try and fix things. Unlike Catra, she didn't blame Adora for things going wrong.

So the sword allows the First Ones to control She-Ra and the energy she'd be absorbing from the planet. Assumedly that means there are at least some parts to She-Ra that have nothing to do with the First Ones and thus maybe Adora can still use some of those powers without the sword.

Season 4 verdict: Yeah, the show keeps getting better, though I will admit last season's finale had me more emotional, but that's a bit of an unfair comparison given everything that happened in that finale vs. this one. This is definitely the series hitting its darkest hour, where it feels like EVERYONE lost. Not just the rebels but the Horde as well. The sword and Light Hope are gone and She-Ra (for now) along with them. Glimmer and Catra are basically prisoners. Hordak's probably going to have his personality stripped away. The Fright Zone is in ruins. The only one who's gained anything is Prime.

Really looking forward to what the final season has in store, especially since there seems to be the implication that Catra just saved Glimmer's life.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/o1j5gk/going_in_blind_watching_season_4_for_the_first/

[ambivalent-anarchy]

Star Wars 101 (Ch. 2) Episode IV - A New Hope

Masterlist

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Wow, I didn't realize how much I'd written until I hit the tumblr limit. Hope you like it! Comment your thoughts!

Chapter Summary: Steve just wants to do his job, the avengers are the best wingmen, Scott doesn't like porn, and [y/n] thinks all nerds are freaky

~~~

sci-fi boi: okay which cartoon rivalry was better?? Popeye the sailor man and Bluto or Tom and Jerry?

crackhead [y/n]: dude.

crackhead [y/n]: how is that even a question??? Obviously Tom and Jerry lol

sci-fi boi: explanation pls

crackhead [y/n]: popeye and bluto were always fighting over that girl olive and some other stupid crap but with my two furry buddies it was no talk pete no discussions just murder attempts ON SIGHT. Tell me they don't go harder than any other rivalry

sci-fi boi: haha truuuu

~~~

"Are we boring you, Queens?"

Peter's head snapped up quickly, discreetly turning his phone off underneath the meeting table. "Um-huh? No no no, Mr. Rogers I'm listening. Sorry."

Steve shook his head and continued to speak as he pointed to the pictures on the screen at the end of the room. All of the Avengers of Earth were there, some half asleep, while the others either joked or listened intently.

In two short days, they were going to be taking back powerful tech that Martin Li(aka: Mr. Negative)'s "demons" had stolen from Stark Industries. A simple "get in and get out".

They'd known this plan for some days now, yet Steve insisted on calling meetings to go over it again and again.

Feeling a quick vibration go off in his hand, Peter instinctively looked back down at his phone to see a snapchat text notification from you.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible🐝...

~~~

Peter shook his head slightly as he chuckled, a smile shamelessly creeping onto his face.

~~~

sci-fi boi: did you really just quote the bee movie at me???😂😂

~~~

"Hey spidey-boy, would you mind sharing to the class what's so hilarious?" Rhodey's voice rang out loud and clear from across the table.

Quick as lightning, Peter turned his phone off and buried it in between his thighs, realizing that he hadn't been as quiet as he'd thought. To his luck, everyone’s eyes were trained on him now.

“It's n-nothing!” Peter squeaked, his voice breaking embarassingly. He shoved his phone into his pocket in fear of someone snatching it from him.

Natasha rolled her eyes and smirked. "So what're you looking at down there?"

"I-i, uh, I was just um, w-watching a funny- very funny video actually-"

"C'mon guys!," Sam laughed, clapping his hands together. "Don't tease the kid. We all know what he was smiling at down there!"

At that, Peter practically choked. "WHAT?!"

Tony snickered. "Personally, I don't think two inches is something to be proud of, but alright."

Peter's eyes widen, nearly falling out of his skull by the looks of it. "I-it's not two inches a-and I wasn't looking at-!"

"Jesus christ, guys..." Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He was obviously just doing something on his phone. Leave the poor guy alone."

Peter coughed as he saw Steve glare at him with that infamous 'Im Captain America and Im judging you' glare. Phones weren't allowed in the meeting room. Well, they weren't supposed to be. No one ever really followed that rule except Peter. But he'd already been so deep in his conversation with you that he just couldn't put his phone down. "No no, um, I wasn't.. I was just zoning out, y'know, and I just happened to be looking-"

"-at your phone?," Steve cut in to ask.

"-at your dick," Rhodey stated at the same time.

"-at porn," Tony said with an all-knowing smile, causing everyone at the table to turn towards either him or Peter, whose face was beet red with embarrassment.

"Peter please tell us you weren't watching porn," Scott begged, his jaw completely dropped. "I mean, no judgment but-"

"Full judgement, actually," Clint corrected, an extremely disturbed look on his face. "Seriously, what were you doing, kid? You gotta tell us now with all these assumptions being thrown around."

"Curious," Thor stated, leaning back in his chair. "What is porn?"

"Something that I definitely WAS NOT watching!," Peter responded as he practically slammed his face into the table and slapped his hands over his eyes. "Does it even matter what I was doing anyway?," he mumbled into the table.

Natasha raised an eyebrow, blowing the smoke off of her coffee. "People usually aren't this defensive when they're telling the truth, Peter."

Peter shrunk into his seat with a loud groan. Can I die. Can I please just die. Like why am I seriously even alive right now??? Some bad guy please just burst through the door and maim me please.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. pull up Parker's phone," Tony commanded once the commotion in the room died down.

Peter quickly lifted his head. "Wait, what?!"

"Accessing Peter Parker's mobile device, sir," F.R.I.D.A.Y. responded. "Would you like for me to transfer the screen to the meeting board?"

Tony looked back with a laugh to see a frozen, slack-jawed Peter. He turned back around. "Yeah sure, F.R.I.D.A.Y., what the heck let's have fun."

"No wait- are you seriously hacking into my phone right now?!"

"Well why're you so tense, Parker?," Sam asked teasingly. "Thought you had nothing to hide?"

"I-i don't!," he stammered. "I-it's just..." he trailed off, looking for the right words to say. "..that's my private property," he said lamely while staring at the wall.

Tony stared back at him. "Well that's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard." He pointed towards the board. "Alright it's coming up."

Scott closed his eyes. "Oh God, please don't be porn.."

Peter rolled his eyes. Everyone else looked to the large board, fully expecting to see either porn or just some stupid game the boy had been playing.

But none of them expected him to be texting a girl.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: hey u still there?

~~~

"Who's crackhead [Y/N]?," Natasha asked.

Scott turned to Rhodes who was sitting on the side of him. "Is that some trashy porn star?," he whispered.

"Why're you asking me like I know?"

"It's this girl from school.." Peter answered, blushing profusely.

"And you like her," Natasha noted, watching his body language intently.

The boy's eyes widened. "N-no I don't!"

"Why crackhead though?," Rhodey asked, crinkling his nose.

Peter shrugged. "That's what she wanted her name to be," here responded. "Thought it was funny."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Just like you thought 'sci-fi boi' was funny?" Shaking his head, he changed focused. "Guys, are we gonna get back to work or not?"

"Not," Tony answered as he scrolled up all the way to the beginning of the messages from early that morning. "So, you've been texting this girl today off and on since..." He checked the time. "Five in the morning?"

Clint chuckled. "Oh yeah, huge crush."

“No!” Peter protested, his voice an octave too high. Realizing that it isn’t working, he decided to try a different technique. Clearing his throat, he tried to sound and act as nonchalant as possible. “She’s just a friend from school.”

"She's first on your best friends list, even over that computer kid you practically live with. And you and her practically snap each other nonstop."

Peter scratched his nose. "W-well that's only cuz Ned doesn't like to text much."

Bruce took his glasses off and sighed, realizing there was no way this meeting was getting back on topic. "Look Pete," he said. "Friends don't do that. I've seen it all before. If you and this girl are talking on a daily basis all throughout the day starting at five in the morning?" He titled his head in a suggestive way, though Peter stared back at him blankly.

"What?," Peter asked.

"Oh my God, kid," Bruce sighed.

Tony held his head back and laughed. "It means either she likes you and your just too dense, you like her but won't admit it and she's just concerningly nice, or you both like each other and just won't make your moves!"

Sam, who hadn't lifted his eyes from the board the entire time, spoke up. "And judging by these texts, you already got her, it's just not official yet."

Tony kept scrolling. "You two went to winter formal together?"

"Yeah... but as friends," Peter said with a shrug.

Steve cleared his throat loudly, gaining the attention of everyone in the room at once. He looked at Peter who was doing everything here could not to look him in the eye. "Look, as much as I would love to talk about Peter's sad love life, we have a mission-"

"-that will still be there tomorrow, Cap," Bucky finished for him. "C'mon we've been going over this stuff for hours. Let us have this distraction."

Everyone looked to him, Tony feigning a puppy dog expression. Crossing his arms, he left the room. "Fine, but when someone gets hurt because they didn't know where they were supposed to go, don't blame me."

"...literally no one's ever blaming you, man," Sam said.

Suddenly, the screen lit up and F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke. "Sir, Peter Parker has a new message."

Everyone looked to the board. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Scroll down, Mr. Stark. Scroll down!," Peter yelled frantically. "What's she saying?"

Natasha smirked. "And you're sure you don't like her, Peter?"

His face flushed. "Okay fine...I might have a tiny crush-"

"I'm sorry I can't hear you," Tony cut in. "Can you say that agai-"

"-I SAID YEAH I REALLY LIKE THIS GIRL!," Peter finally yelled with his eyes squeezed shut. He kept them closed for about twenty seconds afterwards, afraid of the judging faces he would see if he opened them.

He carefully opened his eyes to see all of the avengers (minus Cap) staring back at him with stupid smiles and smirks on their faces.

"Well, that's all I needed to hear," Tony said. He clapped his hands together. "Okay everybody, first order of business, checking the text. Sam, you're our reader."

"Got it."

"What?," Peter yelled, reaching for his phone. Tony dodged him and gave it to Sam. "Mr. Stark, I can text a girl on my own. I don't need help."

"Nat, you're our timer. Make sure none of the responses take longer than a minute. We don't want the girl to get bored and go on to something else."

"Check."

"Mr. Stark, c'mon-"

"Sam, you explain stuff to lightning head over here if he doesn't understand it. This could be learning moment for ole Shakespeare. Thor, you listen to Sam."

"Right."

"On it."

"Everyone else, you're with me. We gotta find the perfect thing to say to this girl. I've got a feeling this is probably the only chance he's gonna have to get a girl in a long time."

Rhodes, Scott, Clint, Bruce, and Wanda looked to each other and nodded.

"And Pete?"

Peter raised his head. "Yes sir?"

"You know this girl more than anybody here does, so you tell us if what we say is appropriate for her or not."

Peter rolled his eyes and nodded. After all, what's the worst that can happen?

Tony pointed to Sam. "Okay, read it."

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: u going to flash's party on saturday??

~~~

"She wants to know if the kid's going to some party Saturday."

Tony turned to the boy. "You're going," her demanded.

Flash was the most popular douchebag in school. Totally rich and totally rude and totally determined to use his every breath to spite Peter. "I wasn't even invited," Peter mumbled, shooting a glare towards Sam when he heard him laughing.

"Well get invited," Tony ordered. "A party is the perfect place to make a move. Send yes."

~~~

sci-fi boi: yes

~~~

"Mr. Stark, how am I supposed to get into this party? Flash hates me! And if I crash it and Flash sees me, he's gonna make sure everyone thinks I'm a loser!"

Tony rolled his eyes and sighed. "Peter we're trying to help you here. Figure that part out on your own."

Peter sighed, leaning forward in his chair. The last thing he wanted was another assignment, even if it wasn't actually an assignment. On the plus side, he'd get to see you, and maybe have some fun if he actually tried to enjoy himself.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: cool so i guess ill go too

~~~

Rhodey chuckled while shaking his head. "Kid, if you don't ask this chick out the second you see her again, I'm gonna bodyslam you."

Peter frowned. "What do you mean?"

Bruce smiled. "Whether or not she went to the party was depending on if you were going," he pointed out.

"This girl used to be like that with me back in college," Scott said with a shrug. "Thought she liked me. Turned out she just had social anxiety..."

"Yeah you're really not helping this, bugman," Tony said.

"Wait, you guys think [Y/N] actually likes me back?," Peter asked, getting groans and laughs in return.

"Where have you been the last few minutes?," Natasha said.

"We've literally been saying that this entire time," Sam deadpanned.

Peter stared at his feet below the table. If the team was right, and you did actually like him back, then the movie marathon he was planning was the perfect excuse to hang out with you. "I-i think I might have a plan!," he rushed out, his head flying up. He pointed to Sam. "Ask her if she's free tonight!"

"Yes!," Thor yelled, his fists pumped into the air. "The spider child has grown his man balls!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Sam nodded approvingly as he texted.

~~~

sci-fi: r u free tonight??😉

~~~

"Wait hold on," Peter said, suddenly rushing towards the phone in a frantic manner. "Why is there a winking emoji?! I didn't say anything about a winking emoji!"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were flirti-"

Peter groaned. "Delete it, man. Delete it before her bitmoji pops up!"

"Okay okay, dang kid," Sam chuckled, quickly deleting the text and replacing it with one without a winking emoji. "There. And ya girl didn't even see it."

"Hey guys," Scott said. "I know we're all freaking out and stuff. But honestly, I'm just glad he wasn't watching porn." He shrugged. "So no matter what happens with this girl, today's still an absolute win."

It went on like this for a solid thirty minutes.

~~~

crackhead [y/n]: yeah wassup

sci-fi boi: wanna come over and watch movies?

crackhead [y/n]: sure what're we watching

sci-fi boi: we can decide that when u get here. how about 4??

crackhead [y/n]: alright sure

~~~

"Okay, last thing," Tony said. "We need a sly compliment. Something not that special about her, but enough to show her that you're tuned in. Gets them every time, trust me."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Wow, lady-killer."

Tony pointed towards her and shrugged. "She said it, not me."

Thor looked to Peter. "So, young spider. What have you observed about your darling love?"

Peter blushed, almost wanting to comment on the Thor's word choice but ultimately deciding not to. "Well, um, her eyes light up a lot when she gets excited and it's really dorky in a cute kind of way I guess," he mumbled, scratching his head.

"Alright I got it," Sam said, typing the words in. He lifted his shoulders into a shrug. "Who knows, kid? There be some hope for you."

~~~

sci-fi boi: btw how do you get ur eyes to sparkle so bright when u get happy about stuff? Just thinking about it lol its cute

~~~

-

Peter blew out a shaky breath as he looked back over the set-up he'd made in the living room.

He'd cleared out space to build a super huge homemade blanket fort and inside it at the end was his tv. Towards the middle were all of pillows he could find inside the house and at the other end were snacks. All around the inside were fairy lights because he knew you liked them, though personally he found them cliche.

He spent about an hour on the whole set and an additional thirty minutes stressing over and making sure everything was safe (with all three fairy lights and tv cords). The last thing he needed was for the both of you to catch on fire while watching the movie.

The two of you were going to be watching Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (or as normal 'not-nerds' like to call it, "the first one"). Of course, he hadn't told the team that. If they'd known what movie he'd planned on showing her, high chances are they wouldn't have even let him out of Avengers tower. But if Peter was gonna be forced to hang out with someone (not that he was really complaining), he would at least pick the film.

Finally checking all the boxes in his head for the night, Peter went to go check the DVD before he heard your knock at the door.

"Coming!," he yelled, quickly chucking the disc into the DVD player. He ran to the door and opened it with an awkward smile. "Uh, hey [Y/N]."

"Hey," you said back, already sort of blushing. "How's it going?"

Peter stared. Are your eyebrows done or are they just naturally that nice? He found his voice after abruptly noticing that he was staring. "Uh-well. It's been going great! How's it going for y-you also as well?" He frowned. "I-i mean, what's been going on with your life lately? No, that's dumb. I meant-"

"Peter, Peter! Calm down, dude," you giggled. "I've been fine."

"Oh," he chuckled. "That's good... d-do you wanna come in?"

"Question. What're we watching, Peter?," you asked, a smile playing on your face. Considering what you remembered from the last time you were at his house, and the fort you could get a peek of from the doorframe, you figured it was special for the nerdy boy. Plus his shirt had Yoda on it.

Freakin' Star Wars.

Immediately, a wide grin spread across his face. "Remember what you promised me we'd watch?"

You rolled your eyes, stepping past him into his living room. "Yeah yeah, whatever. Time to get nerdy I guess."

"Come on, you'll love it,"Peter said, quickly closing the door behind them and then briskly running towards the fort to hold up the side blankets for you. "So, snacks and drinks are beside us. We'll chill on these blankets here. And...um, yeah. That's about it." After stepping outside for a bit to go turn off the lights(for the full "movie theater" experience), Peter laid down on his belly, reaching for the DVD player to press play.

You watched as he fumbled with the wires, making sure the DVD player was plugged in before turning it on. Has your jawline always been that sharp?

You couldn't quite place it, but his texts from before seemed.. weird. But not a bad weird at all. A good, intriguing weird.

And that compliment was pretty nice, but odd for Peter. Sure, he complimented you often, but it just felt different this time. Usually it'd be something like, "new dress?" or "nice shoes". But never "you're eyes sparkle when you get excited." Heck, you didn't even know that about you. Was he paying attention? Did that mean he-

You remember how he acted about Liz Allen and Michelle Jones. Always staring. Never able to even say a full sentence in front of them without stuttering up a storm.

But he was so comfortable about you for the most part. You were just a friend.

"Okay got it," Peter said, laughing excitedly as the screen in front of him lit up. He scooted back to where you were sat. "Prepare to have your mind blown."

The Fort quickly became dark as the Lucasfilm logo shined on the screen.

"I seriously dou-"

"Shhh!," he cut you off. "Wait for it..."

You gave him a look but joined him in his silence to see what he was waiting for.

BUMMMMM buh buh bummmm

Practically jumping on top of him, you flinched at the loud and sudden music. "Crap dude! Turn it down!"

Peter shook his head, reaching for a soda. "You have to get the full effect, [Y/N]!," he laughed. "Just embrace it." He began to sing with the music and mime crazy gestures as if he were directing an orchestra.

Duh duh duh DUH DUHHHHHHHH

Halfway through he stopped and recited the opening crawl, his eyes glued to the screen with a sort of focus that made you sure that not only was this not foreign to him, he probably did this every other week.

"It is a period of civil war," he mumbled, throwing some popcorn into his mouth. "Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic- [Y/N] you have to watch the words, I swear it'll make the whole experience better." It went on for a little while longer until he paused the movie and looked over at you, cowering a bit. "D-do I have something on my face?"

"Huh? Nah you're good," you said, realizing he'd noticed you staring. "It's just-" you remembered his text from earlier. "-you got really excited... It-um..it was cute."

Because of the darkness(the only lighting being from the tv), you couldn't see if Peter blushed or not, but you could clearly see the stupid grin plastered on his face that he was trying to hide from you with his hand. Repeatedly licking his lips as a desperate attempt to stop smiling as he pressed play on the remote control. "A-ah, um, thanks [Y/N]."

The opening crawl was over and soon the movie actually began, showing a huge spaceship.

"That's the imperial star destroyer," Peter whispered, never taking his eyes off the screen. "They belong to the empire." He saw your blank expression, wide eyes as he realized that meant nothing to you. "Uh, the bad guys."

You squinted your eyes at the screen, silently judging the graphics of the energy blasts- space bullets?- or whatever they were supposed to be. "Pete, when was this movie made?"

"1977."

"Oh okay," you said, deciding to give it some leeway for the trash designs.

You scooted a little closer to your friend, figuring you'd get a little bit more comfortable.

Oh how he wished you hadn't done that.

Nothing like actual, physical contact with a girl that you like and you think she might like you back to actually manage to distract you from one of your favorite movies ever.

He froze, not wanting to pull away and offend you, but definitely not wanting to stay because just being this close to you was making his mind run wild.

Does she actually like me back? What if Mr. Stark and the team only said that to get me to make a fool of myself? She's too comfortable with me. She just sees me as a friend. Or maybe she likes me and she's just really chill about it? Ooh my gosh and she's leaning on me right now. What am I 'sposed to do?? I don't know I don't know I don't know!!!!!!!!!

Deciding for a quick compromise, he got up completely to reach for another soda, though his sprite was still half finished. When he sat back down, he wasn't as close. Hopefully, you'd just see it as natural human behaviour and not him wanting to be away from you.

Course you would see it that way, wouldn't you?

"Oh my gosh I recognize someone! That's R2D2, right?!" You pointed wildly, glad to not be completely clueless for once with this nerd crap.

"Yeah that's R2," Peter responded, letting out a secret sigh of relief, thankful for the distraction.

"A-and that's that gold dude!"

"Yeah, C-3PO."

"And oh crap that's Princess Leia!," you shouted. "Fucking feminist icon!"

Peter tilted his head. "Wait, how would you know that if you've never watched this?"

You laughed. "I still have access to the internet, doofus! Scroll down the nerdy feminist side of tumblr and Leia is literally everywhere."

Peter chuckled as he finally finished his sprite. "Okay. Valid."

Since that, you stopped talking for a bit. Part of you actually did figure that since you're here, you might as well actually try to enjoy the movie and maybe find out what the fans actually see in it that makes them like it so much. The other part just really didn't want to annoy Peter while he was watching his favorite movie series.

But sometimes you just have to say something.

"Hold up, wait. Isn't that his sister? Oh my God, Pete I swear somebody told me before that Leia was Luke's twin!"

Peter shrugged while nodding. "Well, that's a bit of a spoiler, but yeah. What about it?"

"Oh my gosh, Pete- what about it?! Dude, he's literally making 'fuck me' eyes at his own sister! He's all like, 'ooh you're so sexy I'm gonna bone you all over the galaxy'. That's freaky!"

You grabbed the remote and began to rewind it.

"C'mon now [Y/N]," he explained. "He didn't call her sexy. He said she was beautiful. Sexy is wayyy different from beautiful. You can think your family members are beautiful can't you?"

You paused it once you got to where you wanted.

"Okay Parker, look at that. Look at that and tell me Lukes's not totally undressing her with his eyes!" You pointed at Peter's face with a goofy smile on yours. "Oh wow, I've finally figured you people out now."

Peter's head cocked to the side. "Figured out what?"

"Star Wars nerds are a bunch of horny kids that like that step-sibling porn stuff but can't watch that in front of their parents so they have to use an alternative!"

Peter fell on his back with laughter, practically rolling around like a pig. "[Y/N], what?!"

You gave him an incredulous look. "Who else likes to see two siblings bang each other, Peter?!"

At that he pointed back at you while picking up his other soda. "To be fair, they never do that with each other. They only kiss, like twice and that's it. And one of them is only to make Han Solo mad."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about the Han Solo guy. Where is he anyway?"

Peter smiled. "Well, we're only twenty mintues in. He'll come soon."

To tell the truth, Peter really didn't even know what part you were at. His eyes were watching the screen but nothing was being comprehended. The only thing he could manage to think about was all the tiny things that were going on over on your side of the fort. Did you notice him staring? Was Tony right and you were just concerningly nice?

"I love how everybody at this bar is so chill south everything that's happening. It's like oh wow this guy just shot this green dude at table 8 and nope we totally don't care," you joked, pulling Peter out of his trance. He reminded himself that he should probably try to pay more attention. He didn't want to ruin the movie for you in case you had any questions.

But eventually, like all things do, the movie came to an end.

"So, how'd you like it?," Peter said while neither one of you made a move to leave the dark fort. You were laid out in practically a starfish-type position while he was sitting Indian-style.

You smirked. "I'll admit, it was pretty nice for a movie made in 1977. Still a bit lame though," you teased, pinching your fingers together with a giggle. Suddenly, you gasped. "Ooh, Vader was pretty lit though! Just straight force-choking people who disagree with you is such a power move."

Peter rolled his eyes and scoffed lightly. "Typical..."

"Excuse me?"

He bit back a quick smile. "Look, I'm not saying that Darth Vader isn't awesome. Because he is! Totally and completely but [Y/N], you do realize that in literally every movie we watch you like the villains?," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Because the villains are awesome!," you defended.

"Just saying. I'm sensing a bit of a pattern...," he teased.

You scoffed. "This coming from the guy who actually feels bad about some the people crashing into things when we're watching Ridiculousness," you said, reminding in how Peter was forever the relentless sap. "Well, while you're so busy judging me, whose your favorite character?"

At that, he gave a small sincere smile. "Ben. He's really cool."

"Ben Kenobi? The old guy that literally let himself die? But why?"

He shrugged, the small grin still present on his face. "Eh, sentimental reasons..."

He watched you return his sweet smile and it was then and there when Peter really felt content with the night. Though, you hadn't even known the weight his words carried, he did. Ned was the only other person who knew about it. But Peter knew right then and there that if you had asked, he'd tell you. And he knew you'd understand. Maybe you were just nice. Or maybe you did like him back. But in that moment, Peter didn't care. He just wanted to be here with you. Lost in the warm smell of popcorn and your vanilla perfume, watching a Star Wars movie with Uncle Ben surely smiling down from Heaven. And it gave Peter hope that maybe, just maybe, this was a step in the right direction.

2 hours (and five minutes) down. 22 hours (and forty seven mintues) to go...

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

Taglist: @underoosjae @spn-assemble-seven @of-your-eyes-begonia-skies @parkerpeter24 , @audreylovespidey706

[whattodowithace]

Roommates Code: How it Began (Seyoon’s Story)

Title: Roommates Code: How it Began

Pairing: Liju x Seyoon & Donghun (But can be reader x Seyoon & Donghun)

Genre: Humor, slight spice

Word count: 2187

Writer: Kpopmadness (Ju)

"Would you stop playing that video?" I groan, ready to throw my textbook at my schoolmate who sat on my head watching a music video for the hundredth time.

"I have to watch it closely. It's for science." She answers me, her eyes staying glued to the screen in front of her.

"You could help me with our homework project due in a few days. For science." I mimic her wording, making her narrow her eyes at me before shutting her laptop down to get her books.

This is how our relationship was. And how it probably always would be. My relationship with my classmate was fairly new. Both of us meeting one day at a study group in the library at our school. We continued to see each other for the next four weeks. The group we were with ignoring us most times, leaving us with just each other to talk to. Now we had moved our study sessions to my house. Us studying for school together becoming a weekly habit on top of sitting next to each other during lunch break at school as a excuse to hang out.

The room is silent for five minutes before she pipes up again; "You know, with the amount of times we talk to each other and see each other, we could move in together as roommates once we graduate." She tells me.

I look up from my book to meet her eyes, surprised to see she was actually being serious. I lean back in my chair as i say, "We would probably kill each other."

She shrugs, her long hair falling over her shoulder as she does so. "We might." She says, "Or we might not. We've been hanging out with each other for five months now and haven't manged to argue yet. And we don't seem to stress each other. And i don't see you or i getting boyfriends means how we like being alone so much."

I laugh,  the idea amusing and sounding fun. But it seemed a little outlandish means how we still had another nine months of high school left.

"We'll see where we are when we finish school. We might hate each other by then." I say before turning back to my book.

``````

The problem with us, however, is when we kid about something, it often times happens somehow. Two months after graduating high school we found good paying jobs and a available apartment.

"I'll let you two look around a bit more." The landlord of our new apartment said as she walked down the stairs, "Congratulations on getting the place."

We both thanked her with smiles on our faces before shutting the door and letting out an excited scream. Our place small but roomy enough for us, making it feel like a palace compared to our small bedrooms at home. And the biggest difference was this was our place.

"Which room do you want?" She asks me as we make our way down the hall.

"You can have the bigger room. You have more things than i do." I tell her, stepping into what would be her bedroom.

"You've never had a big bedroom before though." She says, sounding guilty.

I laugh, "Please, my room has a bathroom. That's a luxury by itself."

We both laugh as we continue walking around our rooms. At one point I stand in my room trying to think of how to arrange things when i hear her call,

"If we shut our bedroom doors can we still hear each other?" She asks, poking her head into my room.

Our bedrooms were stationed right next to each other, the thought of being able to talk even from our rooms making me giggle.

"Lets see." I say through a laugh. Shutting my bedroom door, hearing her do the same a moment later.

She taps on the wall next to my room, the sound echoing through my empty room. "We could learn mores code!"   I hear her say as she starts randomly taping the wall with her hand.

I laugh and lean my back against the wall, "If our walls are this thin that means our neighbors can hear us. Which means they're going to wonder why your using mores code to summon Satan."

I hear her laugh as she walks out of her room and into mine, "But if we ever get boyfriends it might be an issue. We'll hear more of each other than is wanted."

``````

Four years later:

I sit at the kitchen table one afternoon scrolling through my Ipad when the front door unlocks and my roommate steps inside. I open my mouth to greet her but quickly shut it when i see the man standing behind her.

"Thank you again for walking me home, Seyoon." She says, smiling at him as she leans her body weight against the door.

"It was no problem." He says sweetly, smiling back at her.

I bite my lip and slowly move off my chair to try to sneak away to my bedroom to give them some privacy. I had just stood up when she turns her head and looks at me,

"Where are you going?" She asks, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

I straighten and force a smile on my face, silently cursing her for drawing attention to me.

"Nowhere." I answer  in a sweet voice, my eyes narrowing at her.

"Hey Seyoon." I wave at him.

Seyoon waves back at me, "Hey, good to see you."  His smile widens as he looks back at my roommate before saying, "I should get going. But it was really good to see you all. Thank you for letting me walk you home." He says. I don't miss the way his hand slightly reaches for hers that rests on the doorknob or how he lingers at the door though. All of this making me smirk.

She thanks him again before shutting the door completely and whirling around to throw her bag at me. I let out a cry when it hits me on the shin.

"What the heck do you keep in there? Bricks?" I grumble as i rub my leg.

"I keep them in there for when i need to beat you to death." She fires  back. "I told you to stay in the same room as me if we ever see him. Then you try to wonder off!"

"He looked like he wanted to be alone with you!" I shout, a smirk on my lips.

She narrows her eyes at me before running up and kicking my feet out from under me, making me land on my back, air leaving my lungs.

She kicks me in the butt, making me scream.

"He walked you home! That's a clear sign he wants a relationship with you!"  I scream at her. Her face going red.

"I don't care, because i don't want a relationship with him." She mumbles quietly.

I stand up from the ground and brush myself off, "Are you sure about that?" I ask, making her hesitate but still narrow her eyes at me.

This had been an ongoing conversation between us for the past month. Kim Seyoon was her workmate, he also only lived a block away from our apartment. For the past month, he had been making it very clear he liked her. Making lunch for her, sending her texts to check on her when she didn't show up at work. He even brought over some soup once for me when i was sick and she had stayed home to make sure  i didn't die. Clearly trying to get on my good side as well.

Needless to say, i liked him for her. But her being the stubborn person she is, refused to admit she liked him or wanted a date with him. So for the past month we had talked, argued, and screamed at each other about the matter. Even though she denied it, i could see her walls cracking slightly. She was growing more of a weak spot for him than she wanted to admit.

"I'm going to go. I ordered a Pizza for dinner for us." I tell her as i pick up my car keys.

A smile grows on my roommates face at the mention of her favorite food. "This doesn't change anything. I still don't like you."

I laugh and roll my eyes, "I know." I sigh out as i walk out the door.

```````

"This one?"

"No." I answer after observing the dress briefly that she had pulled from her closet.

"I don't know what to wear!" She groans in frustration. Raking her fingers through her hair.

After three months of bucking liking Seyoon, she finally caved in to him. Tonight being their first official date that he was going to pick her up for in an hour.

"I still say this dress," I tell her, holding up a red low cut dress with a thick black belt around l the waist.

"But i don't want to wear it." She whines, stomping her foot slightly.

I sigh and put the dress down on her bed. "You look good in it and you know he would like it. You just are too scared to wear it."

My roommate glares at me, mumbling words under her breath as she goes to put the dress i picked out on.

For the remaining hour we walk around our apartment finding things she needed to complete her look. Which included her borrowing one of my necklaces, me doing her hair while she worked on her makeup, and us arguing back and forth like always.

The doorbell rain as she was putting her shoes on, the noise making her jump and look at me panicked. I smirk at her as i wonder down the hall to my door so he couldn't see me when she opened the door. She gave me a passing glare as she went to open the door, Seyoon greeting her warmly in a white button down shirt and black slacks. His blonde hair falling over his eyes in fluffy locks. His eyes widening slightly and his voice going nervous when he saw her.

I smile to myself as i watch the pair walk out the door. I retreat into my bedroom for a night to myself while she was gone.

```````

I stumble into the kitchen sleepily the next morning. My eyes refusing to stay open. I go to the fridge and pour some cold coffee into a cup when my roommate comes out of her room, her eyes sparkling.

"Good morning." She say brightly, going to the fridge to pour herself a glass of milk. Her long hair doing little to hide several of the dark patches that cover her neck and collarbone

I stand by the counter with a glare on my face as she does so. My gaze on her making her meet my eyes.

“Why are you looking at me like that? And why do you look so tired?"

"Maybe it's because certain people wouldn't stop moaning and panting last night." I snap. Making her almost spit her mouthful of milk all over the floor.

"You heard us?" She coughs.

"Our walls are paper thin!" I say, "Your bed is close to the wall so i could hear everything. Until 3AM i heard many many things."

"No.. you... you didn't,  did you?" She asks, her voice cracking and her eyes wide from shock.

"That's a good boy." I mimic, using one of her choice words that night.

She gasps loudly, her face and neck going red. "I thought you would be asleep!"  

"I was. But all the noise definitely woke me up." I tell her, finishing off my coffee to put the cup in the sink.

"We need a code of some sort if he's going to be coming over here a lot for your make outs." I tell her.

She gives me a nervous look, her face still red. "What kind of code?" She asks.

"Something. An agreement that we will leave when the other one wants to spend time alone with their boyfriend or something."

"You don't have a boyfriend." She jabs, a smirk tugging at her lips.

"Shut up." I snap, making her laugh.

For the next hour we sit on the couch going back and forth on the rules of this code. The code being simple enough, but holding a measure of  trust that the other one would respect the others privacy when asked. We had just finished setting special text tones for each other as part of the Roommates Code when Seyoon walked out into the living room. His blonde hair sticking up in funny places and several dark marks littering his neck.

“Do you guys always laugh so loud?" Seyoon teases, a smile tugging at his lips as he rubs his eyes.

"I know someone else who's loud."   I mumble under my breath, making my roommate stand up quickly and chase me to my room, screaming at me the entire time. Leaving a chuckling Seyoon to stand in the living room alone.

[thewinsisterchronicles]

Hey, could you do a winchester x sister christmas fic, where they're in their teens or something and John hasn't given her a present even though the boys get some? Idk, something along those lines maybe. You're writings amazing, btw Xxx

Word Count: 2879

Warnings: not really anything unless you count being forgotten by santa

A/N: so i made her the middle child because it made the most sense if she was going to be forgotten but anywaysssss HAPPY HOLIDAYS/MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!! Srry it took so long and i know i said it would be out later but there was a party i had to attend and yeahsh

It wasn’t like she really expected anything. Every year was the same old repeat of the last- give or take the monster her family was hunting- but it didn’t stop the little pang of hope in her chest from saying that maybe this year will be different, maybe this year he’ll care.

Y/N doesn’t know why she does it. John never cared. He never does.

Y/N had her own motel room (John didn’t want to take part of her “shark week” when he was in a good mood, but at least she got her own place) across the hall from the boy’s. Dean tried to stay with her the first night- damn his brotherly instincts- but John insisted that “Y/N would be alright,” and that Dean “was needed on more important matters.”

But it was Christmas, and there was no way in hell that Y/N would sit by while her brothers got first dibs on whatever meal was left over from the previous night. She would at least take some of their food.

The hall wasn’t very big. A window to her right displayed the parking lot, vacant of any classic cars. An inch of relief fell upon her. She crossed the hall.

It took her less than ten seconds to pick the lock. Sam was always trying to catch up to her, but they all knew the youngest Winchester couldn’t match her skill set. Y/N smirked. The door clicked and swung open.

The room was empty, except for a few discarded beer bottles and half-eaten Chinese food containers. The fridge was barely open- Dean’s habit would eventually spoil all the food they had- and Y/N had to hold back a sigh as she made her way across the room.

Everything had to remain exactly where it was so when they came back, they wouldn’t know she was there. Y/N wasn’t too concerned; she was the “Expert Stealther,” as Sam and Dean called her. She had a couple videos of standing behind Dean without being noticed, capturing the exact moment he started squealing like a pig when he noticed her. He demanded she delete those videos, but she never would.

Her shoes were slung over her shoulder, like they always were when she turned into the “Expert Stealther,” as to not leave any mud or imprints on the floor. She was careful to not step in any dirt or clothes piles, making a few leaps; boys are disgusting. Eventually she made her way into the kitchen area, covering her hand with her shirt to leave no fingerprints as she opened the fridge door. A shift caught her eyes.

Y/N froze for half a second before relaxing, acting as though she wasn’t aware of whatever was there. She pretended to lower herself into the fridge as she reached for the gun behind the milk jug. Sam insisted that it was a good idea, and never until that moment had anyone truly considered otherwise.

She listened for any sounds from the room, picking up only the low hum of the generator and a few footfalls out in the hall as the maid rolled their cart. She lifted her head an inch, looking towards the curtain where she saw the movement. There was a space between the fabric and the window sill that was scarcely big enough for a small child, let alone an adult. Honestly, Y/N doubted that even a rat could fit in there without disturbing the curtain-

Oh.

Ew.

Y/N recoiled. She could handle zombies, ghouls, wendigo and rugaru, but a rat?

Hell no.

Grabbing the empty garbage can that stood beside the fridge, Y/N creeped up to where the supposed vermin rested. Taking a deep breath, she swung back the curtain and slammed the can down. Something bumped against the sides. Y/N shuddered in disgust. Motels.

The garbage can was heavy enough on its own. She left it where it was and made her way back to the fridge when something else caught her eye. A brown package poked one of its corners out from under the pillow. Frowning, she started to pull the package from under the pillow. Footsteps walked past the door. Y/N froze.

After a minute, she relaxed. The brown paper still stood out against the dirty white pillow. She swallowed, stealing a glance at the door.

It’s not mine. I shouldn’t take it.

But what exactly is it?

Before giving herself a chance to mull it over again, Y/N snatched it from its spot. A crumpled piece of brown wrapping paper came with her hand. Her eyes bulged out of her head before she realized that the package containing whatever had been in there had already been opened. She relaxed for a second before confusion overtook her once again. It didn’t quite click until she saw Sam, from Dad on the bottom of the page.

Oh.

Oh.

John Winchester wasn’t notorious for his gift-giving capabilities. None of them could even remember the last time he gave them anything other than an order. And it wasn’t like he suddenly became “Dad of the Year” just because he gave a couple presents to her siblings.

But it hurt a bit, knowing that he remembered them and not her.

Y/N wasn’t quite sure what she expected. It wasn’t like she was waiting for a new car or a private island, but remembering her brothers and not his only daughter….

John had really hit a new low.

A familiar rumble echoed into the room through the thin walls from the parking lot. Y/N whipped her head around, quickly but carefully placing the paper back under the pillow from whence it came. She quickly glanced around the room for anything that might give away her presence, but the sound of car doors slamming sent a jolt up her spine. If John found out that she had been snooping around in his room, the forgotten present would be the very least of her worries.

Retracing her steps quickly, she made sure to lock the door as she jumped from their room to hers. She quickly settled on her bed, making sure to even out her breathing. The sound of her brothers and John chattering drifted its way into her room. Her jaw clenched at the sound of laughter between them. Y/N couldn’t remember the last time John laughed, let alone with her brothers. He couldn’t really play favourites, could he?

The sound of their closing door answered her question before she could even finish asking it.

“Say,” Sam asked through a mouthful of chips, “what d’you think dad means with all this?” He was laying sprawled on the bed he shared with Dean, snacking on some Frito Lays John had bought him from the vending machine outside. It truly was an unusual experience, but John had just smiled at him and clapped him on the back. Now, he was in the shower, blasting out loudly, as the boys conversed in hushed tones.

“Huh?” Dean’s mouth, filled with fries, muffled most of his voice. Sam threw a chip at him.

“It’s just not like him,” Sam continued, dodging a fry. “You know, to be all…”Dean raised an eyebrow.

“You know,” Sam trailed, giving Dean a knowing look. Dean shrugged.

“Fatherly,” Sam said lowly. Dean stopped his hand, halfway to his mouth with a bunch of fries.

“Dad…” he faltered. “He works hard. It isn’t exactly easy raising three kids on your own. Especially when you work in this life.”

“Doesn’t seem much like raising us as kids,” Sam mumbled. “More like soldiers.”

“Hey,” Dean snapped. “Now I know it isn’t all fun and games, but the man works hard. Cut him some slack.”

They both fell silent, watching the TV they both forgot they had turned on. After a minute, Dean got up, grumbling something about grabbing a drink that Sam didn’t quite catch. He made his way to the fridge, which was closed. Huh.

“Did you go into the fridge before we left?” Dean turned around to his younger brother, watching as he dropped more chips into his mouth. He shook his head, keeping his eyes glued to the screen. He frowned slightly in confusion. He never fully shut the door. It was an old habit, from when John was in their motel room, sleeping, and Dean had to find a way to get food to his siblings without causing any commotion. Y/N though he was just lazy.

Whatever she had to think. As long as she could eat.

Without giving it much more thought, he reached for the fridge handle when a small thump sound caught his attention.

Thump. Thump.

He reached for the TV remote, shushing Sam’s whines when he turned it off. He listened intently, Sam following suit. He tracked the noise to an upturned trash bin, moving a few millimeters every couple seconds. Dean looked at his brother in confusion. He shrugged back at him. Taking out his knife (he ignored Sam’s sigh of annoyance in the background) and keeping a steady eye on the black can, he tipped it over slightly.

A grey blur rushed out, scaring Dean. He fell onto the bed beside him, clambering on as the rodent streaked across the room into a hole beside the fridge he hadn’t noticed. Sam laughed at Dean’s panicked hustle onto the mattress. Glaring at him, Dean crumpled up the brown wrapping paper he landed on into a ball and threw it at Sam, who just laughed more when it hit him weakly in the chest. Casting a quick glance at the floor, he rolled off the cot and straightened himself out, as much as he could. He caught Sam looking thoughtfully at the packaging.

“What,” Dean smirked, “scared a mouse’ll pop out at you too? I would be; they’re vicious.” Sam rolled his eyes, giving Dean an apathetic look.

“No.” He sat up a bit straighter. “Hey… what do you think dad got for Y/N?”

Dean froze. He looked back at the upturned garbage bin. Slowly, it clicked together slowly. The fridge. The basket. The mouse.

Oh.

Oh.

Y/N was trying to sleep. It was hard, seeing as it was the middle of the afternoon and cars blared their horns on the road. Sighing, she rolled over, shoving a pillow over her head. It didn’t muffled much.

There wasn’t really any reason for her to be upset. Her father wasn’t great- hell, he wasn’t even good- but somehow managed always to keep Y/N’s hopes up just enough to keep her vying for his approval. It really irritated her; she knew he wasn’t deserving of her loyalty, yet somehow he kept receiving it without much demand. She really wanted this time to be different; she wanted to turn away from him, become independent from his rules.

It was nice to fantasize, but she knew it couldn’t happen. She flopped onto her back.

She hadn’t left her room since the day before, when she found the gifts. Y/N didn’t quite know how she should’ve felt, but some mixture of jealousy and anger and disappointment reeked from her blanket. Maybe that was just her. She couldn’t be bothered to check, seeing as she hardly moved at all. Nobody came in to check on her, to ask how she was doing, to give her Christmas presents a day late.

A few knocks rattled her door. She recognized the pattern immediately: Dean.

“Go away,” she grumbled loudly, shoving her face into her pillow once again. Y/N heard her brother sigh on the other side of the door.

“Y/N/N,” Dean called out in a huff, “I know you’re in there. Let us in.”

So Sam’s with him. “Shark week,” she called out to him, grunting out the monosyllables. Another sigh from Dean. She heard the low murmur of the boys talking outside her door. A minute later, her lock jostled and, after twenty seconds, clicked open.

Her brothers bustled in, carrying bags of something that Y/N couldn’t quite make out. She could see their shit-eating grins, though.

“What’re you-” she started, stopping when Sam threw a chocolate bar at her. “What the hell, Sammy?”

“Merry Christmas, Y/N.” He smiled so widely at her that she couldn’t resist letting herself slip up from her grumpy disposition for a moment.

“What the hell are you two doing?” She asked, sitting upright. “Don’t you have a hunt to be on?”

“Dad’s interviewing suspects,” Dean said. He shifted through the contents of one bag, picking up a package wrapped in newspaper and tossing onto Y/N’s bed. “So, since we didn’t get to celebrate a late Christmas. Or an early one, depending on how you look at things.”

“Why?” she asked, opening up the candy bar. “Since when have we ever celebrated Christmas?”

“Since now,” Sam chimed. He smiled at his older sister. She noticed the sympathy his eyes held for a moment before turning cheery again.

“So you just want to have a nice Christmas get-together,” she said slowly, shifting her gaze from one nodding sibling to another, “and this has nothing to do with the fact that John forgot about me?”

The boys froze. Sam flicked his eyes towards Dean, who bit the inside of his cheek. Y/N met his gaze head on, daring him to deny it.

“Okay, okay,” he conceded. “You’re right. I-we, realized that dad had only gotten us presents. So, we decided that you’d be a total bitch for the next couple days if-” Sam kicked him. Dean glared and rolled his eyes.

“We wanted you to have a nice Christmas,” her younger brother explained. “Well, not that this is great or anything, but it probably beats watching your brothers get presents while you… don’t.”

“True enough.” Y/N shifted closer to the bags, eyeing them greedily. Dean smirked when he followed her line of sight.

“Yeah,” he laughed, “thought you’d throw a hissy-fit if you were left out.” Y/N bit her cheek and lowered her gaze for half a moment.

“Not that- not that we’d let it happen,” rushed Dean. “We just, uh-”

“Chill,” she laughed. “It’s cool. Now,” she made grabby hands at the bags once again, “gimme.”

Sam laughed as he threw the first present her way. She smiled back at him.There were only a couple presents, and they weren’t entirely the best she could’ve gotten (“Really, Dean? Tampons?”), but it was good. Hell, it was great. Sam was laughing, Dean was there- all of his blood and bones where they should be, no bruises forming at the base of his temple from a hunt or other… unknown source- and Y/N was sitting on her bed, enjoying their presence in a moment that held no danger.

She often imagined this was what heaven is like.

“So,” Y/N tossed some popcorn into her mouth, “what did you guys get?” The boys froze, glancing at each other. “It’s alright,” she assured them. “There’s no hard feelings against you for it.”

“I got a book,” Sam said after a minute. “Well, a textbook, really. I wasn’t really expecting it.”

“Really?” Y/N’s eyebrows flew into her hairline. Her father rarely acknowledged their need for education; the very concept of buying them school supplies would’ve laughed them out of the room. And maybe a little bit of “tough love,” as he called it. “What for?”

“It’s a history book,” he said plainly. “So not much. But it was pretty cool.”He shrugged it off, but Y/N knew what it meant to him. He wanted out of this life. This gift maybe meant that dad wanted it at one point, too.

“What about you, Dean?” She turned her attention to the eldest Winchester, who was observing the scenes displayed before him with a content smile on his face. He wiped it off the moment he as Y/N looking at him.

“New gun.” He said it nonchalantly, though his face broke out into a shit-eating grin. “Ivory grip, smooth finish.”

“Damn,” she huffed. “Got your own gun, huh?” She couldn’t deny it: she was almost jealous.

“Watch your mouth,” Dean said, half joking, half serious. “and yeah. Guess I’m just that responsible.”

Y/N and Sam exchanged a glance before busting out laughing. Dean glared at them, throwing a bag of popcorn at Y/N. He reached for the TV remote, turning the volume way up to drown out their chuckles.

“Move,” he said, practically sitting on top of his sister. “Friends is on.”

“Don’t be such a Ross,” she grumbled lightheartedly. Dean scoffed at her as she pried herself out from under his dead weight. Sam plopped down on the foot of the bed, propping himself up on his elbows. Pretty soon, he had dozed off, and Y/N wasn’t too far behind.

“Thanks for doing this,” she murmured. Dean looked down at her, raising an eyebrow.

“You really think I’d let you be forgotten?” He smiled sincerely at her, something Y/N didn’t see often.

“Hmm,” she yawned, shrinking further into the blankets. “I don’t know. Maybe.”Dean rolled his eyes, making sure not to disturb Y/N from her slumber. Slowly, he sank into the mattress, trying to match his sister’s level.

“I’d never forget you,” he murmured into her hair. Dean didn’t have the heart to pull away when she unconsciously moved closer towards the sound of his voice.