#though he did admit that he really skimmed part of the chapter and he totally missed a major theme

[lovesodeepandwideandwell]

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[back2bluesidex]

Broken Glock 03 - JHS (M)

Pairing: Mafia King!Hoseok X Assistant!Reader (ft. other members)

Summary: 

Hoseok is cold hearted, that's what everyone says. He is made of stone, no emotion runs through his veins, everyone believes it. Everyone but you. Because you have seen concern in his eyes and felt warmth in his touches. You have seen the real him, someone he doesn't acknowledge to be. And that's what has made you fall for him even though you believe you are nothing but a paid employee to him. But the reality is different. You're the only one that makes Hoseok a sane human being, he loves you with all of his heart, so much so that now he has started pushing you away from him to keep you protected from any harm. But will you two survive without each other? What if you can't? And what if you won't? 

Theme: Angst, mutual pining, fluff and eventual smut. 

Word count: 3,958

Warnings: Strong language, mentions of alcohol consumption, mentions of blood and violence, 18+ content (minors DNI) 

Series Masterlist

Previous chapter

A/N: This chapter majorly contains the past of the mc and Hoseok. Then back to the present with a little confrontation.

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

Currently you are laying down on your bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Your eyes sting so bad from all the crying that you have been initiating for a good 6 hours now. It's past midnight and you suddenly started to contemplate your entire existence, questioning it again and again. You have never been lucky when it came to love, and by love I mean from every aspect.

Your father was a drug addict, he was intoxicated 24X7, too out of his head to "love" his children. Your mother couldn't take him anymore. She indeed loved you but she loved herself even more and as a result, she ran off with someone you don't even know. You and Whojoon were left alone, totally alone. You couldn't give up your studies but you compromised it as much as possible. You wanted to be a doctor but your fate wanted otherwise. You ended up studying to be an HR and finally got a job. But did your miseries end? No. Your father died leaving you under a pile of debt. You had Whojoon to take care of as well. The job was your only anchor so you didn't think about yourself twice before working overtime. You managed it somehow, but you barely breathed.

However, the man called god enjoys your miseries much more than he should. One day during your overtime, your manager grabbed your ass calling it way too sexy, especially when you wear those pencil skirts (this is actually why you hate pencil skirts). You somehow managed to live through the sexual abusive behaviours, fighting against it wisely, but at a point water went above your head. You complained to the higher authority and lost your job (which was very natural for an easily replaceable employee like you). For several months you were unemployed. You had no money to pay the loan sharks, rent, water bills, electricity bills, Whojoon's academy fees and every other goddamn bill that exists.

Taking up random part-time jobs didn't help much. You kept on trying for jobs but nothing worked out as you already tainted your resume by being kicked out from the previous one. You were depressed to the point that you even considered committing suicide but Whojoon became the biggest and only obstacle. Your landlady was a nice person, who couldn't really see your misery anymore. She said his son faced similar issues since he was a convict of a burglary and nobody gives a job to an ex-prisoner but his current boss is a kind person. She promised you that she would be talking to her son if there's any opening at their organisation. And just like this you landed in the astonishingly scary yet beautiful office of Hoseok.

He skimmed through your documents and locked his gaze on you. You felt small under his eyes but you couldn't help admitting his good looks. Only if your situation was normal would you already have a huge crush on him just with the first glance. He only asked one question, "So Ms. Y/N, why are you unemployed right now and why are you so desperate for this job?" You told him everything, not leaving anything out. As much as you needed the job, you needed someone to share your story with as well. You were astonished to see him listening to you without any interruption without any sign of irritation. After you were done, he started, "let me tell you one thing very clearly. This is not an average organization. I am a mafia leader and this is a mafia empire. We do all sorts of illegal activities here. Starting from illegal transportation to taking lives if necessary, I do everything. Now you tell me, will you still be wanting to fill up the position for my assistant?" He already had your respect and after he told you everything without hiding any bit as if you were someone important even when he hardly knew anything other than your name, your heart was warmed. You said yes without thinking twice.

Within these two years you have seen him in his every shade. You have seen him angry, happy, vulnerable, hurt. He didn't show those emotions openly but then again who understands him better than you? No one. You were very easily successful to see what's underneath that cold hard exterior of him, and once you witnessed it, you fell in love with him. His subtle care towards his members, his anonymous donations to the orphanages along with a threat note to the wardens for treating the kids right, his not-so-apparent affection, kindness and affection towards you, made it hard for you to hold back. You were happy finally for the first time in your life, everything started to get into tracks but then Hoseok sent you an excel shit full of numbers of girls. And again, you were in misery but this time it was from a broken heart.

You can read him and his actions but you could never understand what he feels for you. You swear at times you felt your feelings are mutual. When his gaze rested on you longer than it should, when his shoulders brushed with yours unexpectedly, when he scolded his men for staring at you, when he would always offer to drop you when he wasn't busy, you felt like he had this mutual thing. But then again he never made a move so you were not sure. Moreover, his whores only increased with time. Then he reassigned you. So you buried all of your hope deep in your heart. But today, today he kissed you back with the same urgency and in the next moment he rejected you. It clearly tells you of his disgust for you.

You understand that kissing you back was the decision of his hormones not his but then again what were there in those eyes? Wasn't it longing and yearning? You know it well because your eyes had the same thing pouring out way too much. But whatever it is, you decide to belive the clear cut-throat words that came out of his mouth rather than the abstract feelings that you have witnessed in his eyes. You try to push the thoughts away and silently vow to try to cross paths with him as little as possible.

—-----------------

Hoseok stares at nothing particular. His big office seems bigger than ever. His eyes get stuck at the doorway, from when you exited a few hours back. He takes a sip of his whisky as he recalls the moment you two shared just right here. Only if he was a normal guy doing a 9 to 5 job, he would have been the happiest person on earth right now. You, the only woman to win his stone cold heart, has just confessed to him in her own way. You are so brave, unlike him. Only if he was a normal guy, he would be braver and he would claim you in front of the world.

But fate has always been so cruel to Hoseok. Fate had been cruel when he saw his parents die in front of his eyes. The house burnt to ashes and eleven years old Hoseok couldn't do anything other than crying. Fate had been cruel to him when none of his so-called relatives took his responsibility and he had to settle for an orphanage. The orphanage was a nightmare itself, so as soon as he graduated, he moved out. Fate was cruel when he struggled with his house rents as the part-time payment wasn't enough. Fate was cruel when he couldn't find a job with his seemingly low grades. Fate was cruel when he sat at the police station not knowing what to do when police arrested him and his roommate for selling drugs, which was discovered from their shared apartment.

Fate only seemed to shine when Mr. Bang walked into the police station and everyone seemed to get stiffened with his arrival. At once, Hoseok knew he wanted to be like Mr. Bang. The man had an aura that scared everyone and the same fear got Hoseok and his roommate out of the police station with just a small talk.

He tailed the man in order to thank him for helping them out. However the man replied in a way Hoseok didn't expect, "if you want to thank me, join your roommate and don't get caught." That night Hoseok got to know who Mr. Bang is, and what Bangtan is. It's not that his conscience didn't knock him twice but he was too aimless at that time. His life had no meaning, no direction, nowhere to head. He was just existing, somehow managing to live. Living a life of thrill didn't seem to be a bad idea. Moreover, if power comes free with it then he could step over those who have disregarded him in the past, his so-called uncles and aunts who never thought twice before receiving expensive gifts from his parents.

He rose to power soon enough. His loyalty towards Mr. Bang and his exceptional fighting and leadership skills made him the second in command and eventually the king. Mr. Bang had no successors and Hoseok had all of his faith. When the man died, he asked Hoseok to promise him that he will lead Bangtan even better than Bang himself, that he will never entertain any weakness, that he would be invincible. Hoseok made sure to act upon each and every promise.

But then you stepped into his life. He still remembers the day you walked into his office. A pale, discoloured blue blouse paired with some formal dress pants, you looked too depressed for your own good. The eye bags under your eyes and the desperation dancing inside them didn't skip Hoseok's observation. He took pity on you, he took pity until you started talking. While you were sharing your story, he couldn't help but to associate himself with you. You two shared the same ill fate, the same kind of misery. The only thing that was different was the desperation. Hoseok was desperate for power but you were desperate for your brother. At that moment, he envied you. You had something to hold onto but he had none.

When he told you everything about the organisation and you lifted your face looking directly in his eyes saying "yes" without any hesitation, something in his heart shifted. And that happened for the first time in a while since Mr. Bang's death. The rest is history.

It was impossible for Hoseok not to fall for a woman like you. You are so strong, but not extravagant. You are so soft but not delicate. You are so determined but not desperate. You are so beautiful but not artificial. And the way you have treated him, it's something his human side has always craved. You didn't even hesitate to make scolding eyes for him when it was needed, that warmed him every time. For the first time in his life he wanted to spend his entire life with a woman and not just a single night.

And now that want is stronger than ever but now the situation is worse than ever as well.

Hoseok's mind reels back to the earlier events for one more time, his eyes shot open when he realises the way he behaved with you. "Ugh" he grones. He doesn't know what to do next but the first thing he decides to do is to apologise to you. No matter whatever the reason behind pushing you away is, his behaviour is not justified. A woman like you, who has never tried to throw herself at him, doesn't deserve to be treated so harshly. He promises himself and he will apologise to you tomorrow.

—-------------

You didn't sleep a blink for the entire night and as a result you feel so tired, so worn out. Moreover, you need some time to prepare yourself mentally. So, you dial Jimin's number, he receives the call after two rings. You tell him that you are not fit for working today and you would like to take the day off. Jimin asks you to take care of yourself and it's okay if you would like to drop tomorrow as well but you say it will be alright within a day. You decide to spend the rest of the day eating to your heart's content, crying till your eyes run dry, occasionally watching Hoseok's photos that you took at last year's party, and then crying again.

—-----------------

The elevator dinged, signalling that it is the 11th floor, the door opens and Hoseok feels like nausea just hit him hard. Fuck, had he ever been this nervous before? How the hell is he going to face you after the way he screamed at you yesterday. What words should he use for crafting a perfect apology? No, he doesn't expect you to forgive him. Neither does he want it. But it's his responsibility to apologise, also, it's a chance to see you again, talking to you again, maybe for the last time before you cut him out of your life totally.

He enters the lobby and his heart drops to his stomach. Your desk is right outside of Jimin's personal office but it's empty today. It's 11 am already, so there's no chance that you are running 1.5 hours late. He stares at your desk for any sign of you, what if you are probably in Jimin's office or in the washroom but everything is neatly placed, way too neat to assure your presence.

He knocks on Jimin's office door and Jimin permits for enter.

"Ah hyung?" Jimin says being a bit surprised.

"Hmm. Where's Y/N?" Hoseok asks, stepping towards Jimin's table. He doesn't sit down but stands right opposite of Jimin.

"She called in sick. She sounded really sick actually. I'm quite worried for her." Jimin answers, a small sigh escapes his lips.

"She's sick?" Hoseok's eyes go wide. Did you somehow manage to let you migraine win over your body again? He knows very well how your migraine troubles you from time to time. And he also knows this time, it's him who triggered it.

Jimin nods his head as an answer. Hoseok looks at the younger and then leaves in a haste without wasting any extra second.

Hoseok is now contemplating whether to tap the call button on your contact or not. However, before he could decide anything his phone's screen changes and now he's getting a call. Thanks to heaven, it's not from you. "Kim Seokjin" that's what the caller ID says. He sighs heavily and then takes the call.

"Yes?" Hoseok says.

"I need to meet you now." Seokjin replies.

"Why? Is it urgent?" A frown takes over Hoseok's pretty forehead.

"If your money isn't dear to you then it's not urgent. You can go back to doing whatever the fuck you were doing." Seokjin raps on the other line and Hoseok has to pull his ears away from the phone as an impact.

Seokjin is the treasury head of Bangtan. He manages and monitors every single property that the organisation owns. He was in the organisation even before Hoseok came. Hoseok respects him a ton and almost never skips any of his advices.

"You see? This is what I am talking about." Seokjin says pointing at the paperwork.

"But I never received any letter or mail or any fucking news about the land being taken over." Hoseok says with a frown.

"You should have. The land is in your name! All the preparations for the construction have already started and now when I'm reviewing it, it's not even Bangtan's land anymore!" Seokjin sighs, "we need to do something. Within today. Ask Y/N about letters and mails. She is your assistant. She should know."

"She's not in the office today. And…" Hoseok pauses for a while, "she's not my assistant anymore." Hoseok replies.

"What? What are you saying? You fired her?" Seokjin asks, surprised.

"Well no. I did not. I kinda promoted her and now she's Jimin's assistant."

"What? What kind of promotion removes you from the leader's side and makes you the lawyer's assistant?" Seokjin chuckles in pure amusement.

"It's complicated. I don't owe you an explanation hyung, it's my decision." Hoseok rolls his eyes.

"What's complicated? Your feelings for her? Then yes, I already know that much." Seokjin counter attacks, "and about the explanation part, yes you do owe me an explanation. You can be the leader here but I am your senior, don't forget that. How can you just remove her from the position when she already knows too much about you? Did you make her sign any bond on privacy? Are you keeping tabs on her? I know you are doing none of this. How can you be so careless? What if she actually didn't deliver you the property related mails? What if she's just like Siwon?"

"Hyung! Enough!" Hoseok seethes in anger. "She is nothing like Siwon. She's the one that I trust the most after you six. I agree and apologize for everything related to Siwon. But Y/N is harmless. I'll go and ask her myself." And with that Hoseok takes long strides out of Jin's office. Jin sits there with a smirk on his plump lips.

—-----------------

You put another gummy worm on your mouth while staring at the devil's photo. The tv is playing some news you aren't even interested in. Just staring at the photo brings back the taste of his lips on yours. You sigh and close your eyes while leaning your head on the headrest of the couch. It's almost lunch time but your appetite is nowhere to be found just like the peace of your mind. The sudden ring of the doorbell startles you. You stare at the door blankly. No one visits you during this hour on a weekday, unless it's a delivery guy. But you are certain you don't have any deliveries left to receive. The doorbell rings again, pushing yourself out of your thoughts.

You take careful steps towards the door. Placing your eye in the peephole doesn't help, whoever is outside is blocking the view. You get a bit tense but decide to open it anyway. Your breath gets caught in your throat when the visitor comes to your view. It's him. You stare at Hoseok while he stares back at you. The eye contact feels so damn intimate that it sends shivers down your spine. He doesn't say anything, just stares back at you with those intense almond eyes.

You were on the verge of believing that you're seeing things but then he speaks, "Can I come in?"

You blink at him at first but then you realise that Hoseok is actually here, at your house, that too, not wearing his expensive suits but a pair of ripped jeans and a white shirt, sleeves rolled up. You nod slowly, tearing your eyes away from him. You step away from the door frame providing him enough space to enter your apartment.

Hoseok has been here before but only to the door, he never stepped inside. Your apartment is small but very well managed, just like you. You click the door shut behind him and he turns to face you. Fuck, did you have to wear such a thin tank top with those shorts that are really short? He's distracted already. However, he somehow manages his composure and tries to say something but you cut him off.

"Are you here to fire me?" You ask him, eyes piercing through him.

"Do bosses pay personal visits to their employees to fire them? I don't think it is how it works." He replies.

You scoff, "not all bosses and employees end up kissing each other as well. I thought I was a special case."

Hoseok clears his throat before speaking, "I was informed that you were not well. So, I thought of paying you a visit. Is it a migraine again?"

"No. It's something else" you reply very curtly and it hurts Hoseok, he's not accustomed to you being rude or harsh on him. He misses your warm smiles already but then again he hasn't done anything to deserve one.

"What is it, Y/N?" He asks.

"As if you don't know." You look at him with glassy eyes, "may I ask you why are you actually here?"

He sighs, "I wanted to apologise for the way I behaved last night. I…. I am really sorry, Y/N. I got worked up. I was shocked with everything that happened and I couldn't keep my thoughts straight."

"You don't have to apologise. I was the one to kiss you first even though I don't know what's the point of responding at first but pushing away later on, but I guess I deserve that for kissing my employer." You reply with a sad smile, a fake one obviously.

"No. Please. You deserve none of it. I am just. I am really sorry." He says staring down in your eyes and you get lost in him yet again but you are not gonna commit the same mistake again so you look away.

"Is that all you are here for?" You ask.

"Actually, no." Hoseok shuts his eyes. Opening them again, he asks, "have you received any paperwork or letter or mail related to the land in Gwangju earlier this month?"

You let out a dry chuckle in disbelief. "Okay so this is why you are here." You shake your head a little, "No. I did not. If I did you would know it anyway. I understand it's big enough to bring you here to my house but I hope you trust me enough. Even if you don't, you have enough manpower to keep tabs on me as well as a strong intelligence department to skim through my phone and the laptop I used while I was your assistant."

Hoseok sighs in relief even though your words cut him deep. "I do trust you Y/N. I just needed confirmation. That's all." He says, and you nod.

"And this is not the only reason why I am here. I was genuinely worried for you and wanted to apologise to you."

"Mr. Jung, there's no need to be worried." You say in a low voice, "but since you're already here, I wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead" he says.

"Why did you kiss me back?" You ask, looking directly at him.

Hoseok falls short of words, "I…. I don't know. Maybe because Dahyun riled me up already." He lies and his own words disgust him but he doesn't have any other option.

"O-oh okay" that's all you say but Hoseok searches for more. He searches for disgust in your eyes but he finds none. Now he's searching for something else.

"And what about you Y/N? Why did you kiss me?" He asks, he's being brave with you for the very first time.

"Because I am in love with you." You reply so simply as if you are letting out some universal truth.

Hoseok's eyes go wide. The truth hits him like a truck. He doesn't know if he should be happy or sad, "Y/N…. I" he whispers.

"But I know it's not mutual. So it's okay Mr. Jung." You cut him off, "I'll try my best to stay away from you. I won't bother you anymore. But... but I won't say sorry for kissing you, because I don't regret my actions. However, I actually am sorry for making you uncomfortable." You say with another sad smile, one that breaks Hoseok's heart in a thousand pieces. You saying you will stay away from him somehow terrifies the shit outta him, even though that is what he wanted.

Next Chapter

Taglist:-

@billy-jeans23 @scuzmunkie @madinainspire @seokjinkismet @eternalhope7 @effielumiere @butterymin @hiii-priestess

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 308: VIBE: CHECKED

Previously on BnHA: Lots and lots of Shindou idk what else to tell you.

Today on BnHA: Tired Nomad Deku rescues Shindou from Muscular, and us from Shindou. Muscular is all “OH BOY I SURE CAN’T WAIT TO FIGHT DEKU AGAIN AFTER HE TOTALLY KICKED MY ASS THE LAST TIME!! I’M SURE THIS TIME WILL GO DIFFERENTLY SEEING AS HE’S HAD ALMOST AN ENTIRE YEAR’S WORTH OF ADDITIONAL TRAINING, AND ALSO HAS SIX FOURQUIRKS NOW, IN ADDITION TO THE CONFIDENCE THAT COMES WITH HAVING EIGHT OTHER PEOPLE’S SOULS CHILLING OUT INSIDE HIM OFFERING MORAL SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT.” Deku is all, “[kicks Muscular’s ass effortlessly].” Muscular is all, “[gets his ass totally kicked].” I for one am very satisfied with this, and with respect to all, I would like to hereby declare this post a discourse-free zone. I’m just happy to see my son out here making good use of his FOURQUIRKS, and more importantly beating Muscular in less than seventeen pages so we can all go on with our lives lol.

damn Deku since when were you allowed to look this cool

from this perspective and with the smoke, cape, backpack, and mask more or less obscuring his actual profile, he looks less like a sixteen-year-old boy and more like a grownass man

OH SNAP

we got a glimpse of this in the cleaned-up scan of 307, but seeing both of his eyes looking so distinctively All Might-esque here is... whoa. I mean we know that his face still looks pretty normal underneath the mask and he doesn’t actually have the black sclera, but still, this is an awesome look. mini-Might

lol Muscular

you and me both. I mean no offense, but yeah

so Deku is just standing there silently

typical Deku. tight-lipped and expressionless. mum’s the word. quiet as a mouse. silent as a grave

okay no but seriously this is so weird and creepy though you guys. Deku please say something or else I’m just gonna mindlessly say whatever stupid things come into my head in an effort to make things less awkward

so Muscular is all “I should probably make a cool speech about revenge but Horikoshi couldn’t think of anything good so I’m just going to stand here clenching my fist real slowly”

“I’m not here to go on a monologue” he says, as he monologues about not monologuing

okay you guys I confess I have only read through/watched the Deku VS Muscular fight once because the arm-breaking is just way too uncomfortable for me to revisit. and so as a result, I have completely forgotten Whatever The Deal Is with Muscular’s eye lmao so let me go look it up real quick

okay so it’s a prosthetic, obviously, and he changes it out according to his mood. that part does sound familiar. I just can’t remember which eye is supposed to indicate which mood. don’t tell me I actually have to go back and reread this shit

lol I’m skimming through chapter 75 now and remembering/realizing that I hardly paid any attention to this the first time around because as soon as I found out the villains were after Kacchan my brain was like “TIME TO FOCUS ON THIS AND ONLY THIS NOW AND FOREVER” and yeah. ah memories

anyway so he started out with the flower-looking eye, and then later on he was all

which begs the question, how on earth could I have ever forgotten the most ridiculous panel I’ve ever read lmao

anyway, but so after all of that, I'm only just now realizing that this isn't one of his previous eye prosthetics in the current chapter; this is an ACTUAL FUCKING ROCK that he's just randomly shoved into his eye socket fkdsjlk

so basically (1) I did all of that painstaking research for nothing, five whole minutes of my life wasted THANKS A LOT, and (2) what, and I have never meant this more emphatically, THE FUCK

anyway so now he's leaping at the building that Deku is standing on top of. but he’s not aiming anywhere near Deku though, wtf

(ETA: HAHA YOU BROKE ALL YOUR MUSCLES YOU LOSER.)

...huh

lmao okay then. I hope those annoying citizens in the building next door are watching this go down and rethinking their life choices

dlkdkljk

just keep standing there pressed right up against the window, why don’t you. “WHAT’S GOING ON THIS SUPER CLOSE COLLAPSING BUILDING IS BLOCKING OUR VIEW.” well, folks, we’ve long since known there’s a critical shortage of hero and villain brain cells, but what we’re learning now is that civilian brain cells are also in short supply

OH THANK GOD DEKU IS FINALLY TALKING THAT WAS ACTUALLY UNSETTLING AS FUCK

SO HE’S STILL OUR GOOD, POLITE, WORRIED, CONSIDERATE DEKU UNDERNEATH THAT COOL AND MYSTERIOUS VENEER. for real, thank fuck, because I swear to god if he suddenly started acting like the Dekus in all of the vigilante AUs my interest in this series would have dropped something like 50% lol. just because he dropped out of school and ran away from home and is currently dressed like the physical manifestation of a Linkin Park playlist doesn’t mean he’s not still the WORLD’S BIGGEST DORK okay

I MEAN, THIS RIGHT HERE. THIS IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT. HE’S APOLOGIZING FOR THE DELAY

PLEASE FIND THE ATTACHED SHINDOU YOU REQUESTED. BEST REGARDS!!!

OH MY GOD WHY IS HE SUCH A BADASS

something about making bold, confident statements while obscured in smoke?? idk but damn it fucking works

ffjkkl

more importantly, should you tell him you actually need your copy of Shindou in excel format and not pdf?? on the one hand you don’t want to sound ungrateful, but on the other hand what are you even supposed to do with this

this chapter so far consists of like 50% smoke, but on the other hand Deku VS Kacchan 2 had a lot of cinematic smoke too so who am I to complain

OMG IS IT HIS ARMS

IDK DID YOU?! TELL ME YOUR SECRETS. PLEASE, AT SOME POINT THIS FIGHT HAS GOT TO ACTUALLY ADVANCE THE PLOT

OHHHHHHH

IT’S EN’S QUIRK!! OH MY GOD OKAY THAT’S ACTUALLY AWESOME

I CAN HEAR THE SOUND OF DISCOURSE RUMBLING IN THE BACKGROUND BUT I DON’T CARE LOL. WON’T CATCH ME EVER SAYING NO TO ANOTHER SIXQUIRK. GO AHEAD, BRING THEM ON, I WANT TO SEE THEM ALL but take it easy though Deku. don’t want to give yourself lung cancer or anything

also it’s good to see that in a very real sense he’s not fighting alone. the Vestiges really did mean it when they said they could appear more easily now. this is on a whole other level

so is this whole next page still En talking, or someone else? because whoever it is sure is chatty

okay, several things

pretty sure it is En, because he keeps saying “I suppose.” for someone who never said two words until one page ago, this guy sure never shuts up. we can’t all follow Muscular’s lead I suppose. oh my god now I’m doing it too

really like the suggestion of Deku using the SIXQUIRKS like tools in an arsenal, because that’s what he’s good at! it’s almost like he’s been training for this his entire life. “you value quirks too much” LOOK HE JUST THINKS THEY’RE COOL OKAY IS THAT A CRIME

where the fuck did all this rope come from

not gonna ask what the fuck that thing is sticking out from the back of his utility belt. Horikoshi will surely explain this

is that a fucking jetpack. I’m sorry Deku were six fucking quirks not enough for you. you can fucking float??? but JUST TO BE SAFE, LET’S STRAP A PAIR OF ROCKETS TO OUR SHOULDERS IDK

-- or wait, is this all supposed to be like a visual representation of En’s metaphor?? OH MY GOD AM I JUST STUPID LOL, DON’T ANSWER THAT. NEVER MIND. NEW LIST!!

rope = blackwhip

jetpack = float

radio = danger sense

and so I’m guessing that this ridiculously phallic thing is supposed to be a flare or something?? and that = the new quirk, smokescreen. well that was a fucking ride lmao we now return you to our regularly scheduled chapter

so now Deku is floating to his heart’s content and thinking that he’ll just sneak up on Muscular and vibe check his ass or whatever

WOOOOOOOO DANGER SENSE YESSSS I LOVE THIS FOR HIM

okay guys, I'm gonna press pause here for a sec to make a serious note, because I am loving the shit out of this, but tbh I'm having trouble enjoying it as much as I want to because I keep getting anxious thinking about the discourse. I know that a lot of the fandom has very strong opinions on Deku's character development one way or the other, and I want to respect that. but I also really have no spoons to debate this topic at all beyond what I’ve already weighed in on. so if it’s all the same to everyone, I plan on staying out of this discussion, at least this week

anyway! that said, YEAH BOI GET HIS ASS

VIBE: CHECKED. CURB: STOMPED. HOTEL: TRIVAGO

-- OF COURSE HE’S STILL FUCKING FINE LOL HE CRASHES INTO BUILDINGS FOR FUN IDK WHAT I WAS EXPECTING

dammit Muscular. how many fucking quirks does it take to beat you?! the annoying thing is that even with all of his cool new powers, Deku is still something of a mismatch against him. anyway r.i.p. to all these poor buildings

OOOOOHHHHH

you guys have no idea how intrigued I am at the prospect of watching Deku try to play both good cop and bad cop here lmao

anyway so Muscular says he doesn’t know, go figure

“I’m not here to make small talk or anything” he says as he small talks about not small talking

OH MY GOD DEKU

are you really gonna talk no jutsu all of these villains from now on?? that last battle really did have a profound impact on you, huh! interesting

you guys he’s really doing it omg

Deku this guy tried to murder a five-year-old literally just for fun. I mean more power to you, but holy shit you’re really gonna try to defeat Muscular with anger management therapy huh

I MEAN

WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THAT RESPONSE COMING dlkjslkjk

FUCK’S SAKE DEKU, I KNOW YOU MEAN WELL BUT THEY CAN’T ALL HAVE TRAGIC PASTS KIDDO

but. I have to admit, I do still like that he tried. probably knew just as well as we did what the end result was going to be, but still. he made the effort in good faith and I respect that

uh oh

why do I get the feeling Muscular just got a whole lot deader

oh my god oh my god he’s doing the “powering up” stance ffff don’t fucking tell me you can still use your fucking arms here, Deku

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY WHAT’S THIS??

okay so basically he’s saying that whatever it was he sensed in Tomura, he doesn’t sense from Muscular. which, yeah, that sounds exactly right. good judge of character here lol

AHHHHAHAHA YESS

WHOOPS, GET FUCKED I GUESS

WOOOOHOOOOOOOO

lmao so apparently this is the belated result of Shindou’s attack from chapter 307?? I’ll be damned. good for you Shindou!! I always liked you buddy. please just take my word on that and don’t fact check that statement

okay lol the one tiny bit of discourse I will allow is that it’s bullshit that he just did that with his right arm. like, I’ll fully acknowledge that. that makes no fucking sense, and I demand an explanation from the Great Plot Hole Filler himself. he’s never let us down before when it comes to continuity so I’m trusting him not to suddenly start now

that said, we love to see a rematch against a boring guy settled quickly and decisively within the span of a single chapter. THANK YOU

I like that Deku implies that his power is being a smart nerd who battles villains using the power of ANALYTICS. he basically didn’t do anything except restrain Muscular and wait for Shindou’s attack to take effect while halfheartedly checking to see if he regretted any of that murder and stuff

(ETA: and almost forgot to mention, he made excellent use of all four of his active SIXQUIRKS. it’s like the chapter title said; this is basically him fighting all-out, and it’s a sight to see.)

also, as cool as the mask was, this just feels right. like, we had our fun, now let us see his face, yes good

anyway, I think this was a good start towards establishing What’s Up With Deku Right Now! so if it’s all the same to Horikoshi, I would next like to take some time to explore Why’s Up With Deku. that, and What’s Up With Everyone Else, Especially Kacchan. por favor

[saintobio]

Unpopular opinion-

I usually skim through Sera's parts bc though she's a good character, her attitude reminds me too much of someone I used to know.

But seeing her interact with her siblings rly touched me with how she genuinely cares for them 🥺 It added so much depth to her character and I can't help but think that if she and Satoru would've never gotten together (she'd still be rly annoying jk-), her attitude wouldn't have gotten worse.

I might even root for her going after Toji if she gets over Satoru and decides to work hard to earn money for herself without relying on rich people to help her bc honestly? she ain't blind. Who wouldn't want Toji's hot dilf ass 🥵

But who knows, I might reread the whole series again and find myself hating her once more. Then again, that part in ch 14 where she dotes over her siblings might make me rethink everything all over again.

Tldr; Sera redemption arc(????)

Anonymous said

as much as i don't want to admit it, i think it's very sweet how much sera cares for ber siblings. yes, sera is the main villain of sn, but i think she's trying her best just so her siblings won't go through what she went through back then. and honestly, reading her interaction with her younger brother made me cry because it just shows how she loves him and wants the best for them </3

Anonymous said

I’m so scared this is gonna take a direction towards wastelands where Mc or Gojo dies like wtf 😭….both of them have been through so much and deserve so much better then what they have right now.

Okay but I was rooting for sister gen to throw some damn hands at sera 😣 but it’s okay revenge takes it’s time

Tw: S*ra slander and love at the same time

Sera in this chapter showing a different side where she isn’t putting up a horrible front is actually kind of relieving in a sense , like atleast she kinda cares about her family and isn’t treating them like total fucking shit. (I can’t get over the fish thing.. 💀) I also started feeling more for sera since at the same time as causing a ripple with Mc’s and Gojo’s relationship I think people fail to realize yes she has issues and crosses the line on so many accounts but the girl out here heartbroken we can’t expect her to just get over Gojo in a minute then walk out of there. Still hate her though <3

Anonymous said

This chapter hurt me man. And I really like how you put the part of Sera and her family. I know at this point we all hate Sera but it’s nice to see her like that because it shows that she’s human like the rest of us and while she’s cruel she can also be compassionate and kind. Maybe if she wasn’t so obsessed with wealth she would’ve been a better person. Also I love the character the development of Gojo. Only you can make me start falling in love with a character I hated so much.

Also why was Naoya shocked by seeing Sera at the funeral? Didn’t he give her advice on going to Gojo and all that?

@wishingforanother said

SAAAIIIINNNTTTT, YOU ARE HEAVEN SENT.

First things first, I enjoyed reading Sera’s side of the story once again. For me, I understand why she’s projecting her anger towards her family. I love that she acknowledges why this is wrong and tries her best to apologise, as well as still being thoughtful and reminding her sibling that she’s still a reliable older sister. To be honest, I did shed a tear for her.

Also, the lovey-dovey interactions between Y/N x Satoru, my heart fluttered so much 🥺. I am so excited to see what your plans are for them in the upcoming chapters, since now they’re going to be parents.

Thank you again for this amazingly written chapter. I hope you enjoy your break and remember to take care of yourself. Know that no matter how many breaks you take, we will wait; it’s okay. 🤍

yesss aaaaah ik sera’s doing a pretty great job as an antagonist rn but i also really wanna show that she’s not entirely evil like eula lol she’s at least human in a sense that she does care deeply for her siblings. i’m so glad you guys loved how another side of her was shown from the last chapter <33 as for third anon, naoya isn’t shocked he’s just a good actor lol

[blitzturtles]

Title: Goldie

Rating: Teen and Up

Fandom: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (Future Fic)

Pairing(s): JotaKak

Summary: “I was going to replace him if that ever happened. Shit.”

“You-- what?”

“Well, I didn’t actually expect it to happen,” Jotaro pointed out. He carefully removes his hands from Kakyoin’s midsection and hesitates a moment before moving away entirely. He makes his way over to the aquarium and winces.

Notes: Vent fic after losing one of our dogs this weekend. Fic features minor animal death, so please be careful.

-

“Goldie isn’t moving!” Jolyne announces from the doorway of the kitchen while Kakyoin is busy brewing coffee. It’s early, too early for Kakyoin to be awake, and certainly too early for Jolyne to be having a crisis, but Kakyoin nods as he allows himself to be dragged along. Surely Goldie is merely sleeping. Too still for an energetic child like Jolyne. Only he sees it the moment he rounds the corner. Where Goldie is indeed unmoving. Worse, Goldie is on his back, floating rather than swimming.

“Oh,” Kakyoin breathes before he can stop himself, and Jolyne must see it in his eyes because she breaks into a loud sob that strikes Kakyoin to the core, where panic is already building. In all the time he’s spent desperately consuming books on parenting--an attempt on his part to catch up on missed time--none of those books had ever once mentioned how to deal with a child’s first death. Much less one that surrounds their beloved pet fish.

“He’s dead!” Jolyne all but wails, and Kakyoin can’t exactly argue with that, though he wishes he could think of something to say.

“Jolyne--” He starts, and it’s a very strong start if he does say so himself. His voice is relatively steady, and he gets her attention focused on him rather than on the upside down fish. But then he falters at seeing her eyes filled with tears and tracks already down her cheeks. There’s a thickness in his own throat now. One that makes swallowing difficult, but he does his best to clear his throat, so he can make another attempt. “Goldie might be asleep. We just--” He cuts himself off with a near howl as her little foot stomps no less than three of his toes.

“He’s dead!” Jolyne shouts it this time. More anger now than overwhelming grief, though her eyes shine in the reflection of the aquarium’s light.

Kakyoin opens his mouth to say something, but she’s really got the unfortunate aim of her father. What would be nothing to anyone else is a shot of pain up frayed nerves, and it travels from the tips of his toes to the base of his spine so quickly that it nearly drops him to his knees. He tries again to speak, but she’s gone in a blink. Off around the corner and disappearing passed the doorway of her bedroom before he can form a single word. Jotaro’s sliding to a halt outside of their bedroom door at the same time, apparently jolted awake after all the ruckus.

“What the fuck?” Jotaro asks, making his way to Kakyoin quickly. He rests one hand on his stomach, for Kakyoin to lean into, and the other on the small of his back, ready to catch his husband should his knees buckle entirely.

“Goldie,” Kakyoin says, waving a hand vaguely toward the offending animal.

Jotaro looks confused at first, but he’s perceptive enough to at least look in the aquarium’s direction when he hears the name of Jolyne’s beloved pet fish. “Oh shit,” he breathes, and oh shit, indeed, Kakyoin thinks. “I was going to replace him if that ever happened. Shit.”

“You-- what?” Kakyoin demands, breathless still and utterly in disbelief.

“Well, I didn’t actually expect it to happen,” Jotaro pointed out. He carefully removes his hands from Kakyoin’s midsection and hesitates a moment before moving away entirely. He makes his way over to the aquarium and winces. “He’s not that old. I wonder-- anyway. I was just going to replace him. She’s too young to deal with this shit.”

“You can’t just lie to her about death,” or maybe he can. Kakyoin’s the step-parent here, and, again, none of the books said anything about how to deal with a definitely dead fish (even the Marine Biologist agrees with his initial assessment, which means there’s no getting out of this.)

“She’s six, Nori,” Jotaro scrubs a hand over his face. Then both. His fingers rake through his hair after that, and he pulls at the ends. All of it is an attempt to clear the last of sleep from his mind and allow his brain to think past the fog. None of it works.

“I know,” Kakyoin sighs. He doesn’t like this either. He remembers his own childhood and growing up relatively sheltered from at least that one aspect of the brutality that is life. “What do we do now?”

“I have no idea,” Jotaro admits after a moment, and that makes Kakyoin slump. Both in defeat and in relief. At least he isn’t alone in this. There’s no chapter he skipped over or paragraph that he skimmed. Neither one of them knows what to do, and suddenly that’s worse than the idea that Kakyoin’s gone and fucked all of this up on his own. If neither one of them knows what to do, then they’re both screwed.

“We should talk to her?” Kakyoin offers, more questioning than suggesting.

Jotaro nods after a moment. “Yeah, yeah, I guess so. Did she--”

“It’s not a big deal,” Kakyoin says quickly, waving a hand in Jotaro’s direction and dismissing the question before it can be asked. Jolyne’s upset. Overwhelmed and struggling to process her grief. It doesn’t totally excuse the behavior, but Kakyoin doesn’t think she meant to actually stomp on him so much as whatever happened to be in her way. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than the malicious alternative.

“Still,” Jotaro says after a moment, like he isn’t sure that he should be getting onto her, despite his own words. “I guess we should address the fish thing first.”

“Fish thing first,” Kakyoin agrees.

Jotaro makes his way to Jolyne’s bedroom. The door’s wide open, and there’s a distinctly child-shaped pile in the middle of the bed, hidden under a mountain of blankets and pillows. The effort would be more effective if not for the obvious trembling and the equally distinct sobs. His heart aches in his chest, and he sincerely regrets letting Kakyoin get up before him. If he had only caught sight of the damned fish before Jolyne…

“JoJo,” Jotaro calls in a soft voice. It’s enough for her to stop moving, but not enough for her to poke her head out. If anything, it’s almost like she’s trying even harder to hide from him, despite clearly being spotted. “Jo, we need to talk.”

“I’m sorry,” Jolyne says immediately. She scoots sideways, closer to the wall and further from Jotaro, but the man is quick to grab her before she makes contact with her skull. She lets out a startled yelp and instantly pops her head out from under the blankets on instinct. It all but breaks Jotaro’s heart to see the tears and snot smeared across her face, and her hair is somehow more of a mess than it usually is in the morning.

“It’s okay,” Jotaro starts before pausing and rethinking his words, “Well, it’s not, but we’ll talk about that later, alright? You’re already forgiven.” He won’t let that hang over her head. Not when she’s already in her own little hell. Struggling to deal with the loss of her favorite fish. Jolyne loves all the fish in the aquarium. Has given them all names, but Goldie is--was--her’s. Picked by her hand and bought with her own money.

Carefully, Jotaro pulls his daughter into his lap. He fixes the blankets so that they remain bundled around her. She’s like Noriaki in that she likes the constricting sensation of something being wrapped around her. Something about the weight of it seems to soothe their nerves. Jotaro’s never been one to question it. With Noriaki, it just makes sense. What with his Stand. For Jolyne, he figures it’s related to her age.

“I know this is a lot for you to deal with right now,” Jotaro says, barely refraining from wincing at his own words. He sounds too impersonal, but she’s quiet against him, aside from the sniffling and hiccups, which means she’s at least listening.

The rest of the conversation goes about as well as he expects. There’s a lot more tears and snot--most of which ends up on his nightshirt. Then there’s the questions. Plentiful as per usual with his daughter, but also painful in a way that he hadn’t been prepared for upon waking up. Then, of course, there’s the guilt of her taking her anger out on Noriaki. (“I really didn’t mean to,” she swears, and Jotaro reminds her that it’s her duty to explain that to Kakyoin herself.)

Overall, Jotaro thinks it’s not his worst moment as a parent. (That honor still goes to the day he explained that he and Marina would no longer be living together.)

They decide to go find Noriaki together, and they make it as far as the fish tank before Jolyne bursts into another round of tears and turns toward Jotaro with her arms raised. He doesn’t think twice about scooping her up and carrying her past the aquarium. Her head buries against his neck, and there’s a fresh wetness that makes his heart ache duly in his chest. Maybe replacing the fish would have been as much for his benefit as it would have been for her’s.

“Oh, JoJo,” Kakyoin says with a voice that sounds like he’s hurting for her as much as Jotaro.

Jolyne reaches out for him without fully letting go of Jotaro. She knows better than to put too much weight on Kakyoin, but the three stay like that for a while. With the two men pressed close and their daughter held between them.

[draco-kasai]

Hero Collaboration Program

Summery: High School Hero Collaboration Program! Helping Sophomore hero students connect with others around the world! Come join us for a two-week-long trip to one of our schools for an amazing once in a lifetime experience with students of Yuuei! Only a lucky 40 students will be selected for this program. They will be split into two groups of 20 and sent to different schools to have completely unique experiences! 

 A/N: AKA, A very ambitious fanfic I started because even though I have another fanfic in progress my brain decided to give me an idea and I just had to do it. These are all characters I adore and I even did lots of reasurch on them to hopefuly get them down right. I also too many backstories and threw them into a meat grinder to remold them in a way that would make them fit into this universe.

 I love Class 1-A, but like they need to be taken down a peg or two, and I want to see them get their asses handed to them.  

Ch. 1 part 1 of 3 Program sign-ups.  -->

Chapter 1 Part 2 

High School Hero Collaboration Program

Helping first year hero students connect with others around the world!

What is the HSHC Program?

Our program has had a partnership with Yuuei High School for 15 long years! Their first-year students would come to our schools to interact, learn and study with other sophomore students for two weeks! - For those who don’t know, first year high school students in Japan would be considered sophomores here in the states! - A select few students nationwide as well as worldwide are selected to participate. All services and activities are offered and provided at no cost to participants or their families. This program is geared to help young heroes become (1) more informed of the educational, social, and cultural aspects available, (2) learn how to work with others they are unfamiliar with, (3) gain a better understanding of hero agencies and laws around the world, (4) assist students in successfully gaining connections with other aspiring heroes around the world their own age.

 Student Participants

A total of 40 lucky students are hand selected to take part in this 16 day long program. 28 slots are open for Nationwide applications. The remaining 12 slots are open for applicants across the world! Students are to go through a long application process and in person interview. Once admitted, students will be staying within the dorms that are provided. All plane tickets will be paid for by our program. This program will take place in two schools; Marina High School located in California and Chandler High School located in Arizona.

All partners who wish to apply together must submit a joint application and answer an extra essay question. Only accepting duo teams. Bigger teams are asked to either pair off and sign up as duos, or sign up individually. The whole purpose of this program is for young aspiring heroes to meet others and form connections.

 Application

All applicants are required to turn in two essays (unless a team). There is no page or word limit, 12 size text, font New Times Roman, single space. Along with your essays, please send in two teacher recommendation letters. A checklist will be provided at the end of this packet. Make sure to use it to assist you in keeping organized. Everything can be either faxed to (951-262-3062), given to school office faculty to hand to us or through mailed to 1640 Riverside Drive, Hill Valley, California.

Applicants that make it past the first stage of the application process will be scheduled for an in-person interview. A letter will be sent out within two weeks after the interview confirming whether or not you have been accepted.

 Essay 1.

When you become a hero, what do you hope to accomplish?

 Essay 2.

What major event in your life has led you to where you are now and your decision to become a hero?

Essay question for hero teams.

How did you meet, and when did you decide to work together as a team?

Emerald eyes narrowed as they skimmed over the packet that had been handed to them. With one last look over, they turned to face the person who had given them the packet. Bright blue eyes stared back with a large smile plastered on their lips. “What is this, Grayson?”

“It’s the Hero Collaboration Program!” Richard Grayson – Part-time Gotham Police officer and Underground Hero: Nightwing - responded enthusiastically.

Green eyes rolled skyward at the older boy’s words, “I can see that. All my teachers at school had even taken the liberty to constantly remind us about it. What I mean is, why did you give this to me?”

“Awe common, Kiddo, I thought you were smart.” Jason Todd – Vigilante: Red Hood – joked as he ruffled the younger boy’s black hair. With an annoyed grunt, his hand was swatted away, “We want you to apply for the program.”

With a huff, the youngest fixed his hair, “And why would I do such a thing?” 

The oldest boy grinned wider, “It’ll be fun!”

“No.” The youngest replied with a deadpan expression as he tossed the thin packet on the coffee table in front of him.

With a click of his tongue, Jason crossed his arms over his chest. Leaning back on the loveseat, he responded, “Just apply you brat, it’s not even that bad.”

“What’s ‘not that bad’?” Another voice asked as they walked into the living room, laptop in one hand, a cup of coffee in another.

“The Hero Collaboration Program.” Jason responded as he glanced over at the sleep-deprived man as he flopped down next to him.

“Oh! They started accepting applicants already?!” Timothy Drake – CEO of Wayne Enterprises and Underground Hero: Red Robin - sat up enthusiastically.  

“Yeah, but Damian doesn’t want to apply!” Dick pouts

“I’m not going to apply to a program that does not benefit me in any way shape or form.” Damian rolled his eyes.

“Wha- but it teaches you so much! Your teachers must have told you about the benefits!” Tim frowned, taking a sip of his coffee.

“They did, but I don’t have any need for socializing.”

“Are you kidding me? You’ve been six years and your only friends are Jon and Maya, and honestly, I don’t think it counts. Maya is in her last year of high school and Jon is a year below you. You need friends your own age.” Jason responded, then waved his hand about, “Even if they're scattered across the continent.”

“I thought he made friends when he was sent to that boarding school in San Francisco for two years when he was eleven?” Dick raises an eyebrow.

"Oh, Titan middle school, right?" Tim hums, "I mean, they helped him become better, I guess?"

"Honestly, I feel like that was the work of the school itself, not them. Besides, Damian doesn't even text or call them like he does Maya and Jon." Jason huffs

“You've been snooping through my phone.” Damian glares as he pulls a knife from nowhere like magic.

"In that case, how will this help him if he isn't even close to people he went to school with for two years?" Tim thought out loud. 

"Well, back then it was regular school and classes. Schools don't offer more hero electives till sophomore year in high school. The program does lots of team building and training. What better way to make friends than when your life's in their hands?"

"That's a good point," Tim nods in agreement. 

“Didn’t you, like, date Raven while you were over there?” Dick teased, elbowing his brother

“No. I did NOT date Raven.”

“Wha- really? You seemed so close.” Dick blinks in surprise.

"Dude, she's dating Garfield."

"What?! Really?"

"How the hell do you know that?"

"Kori." 

"Oh… right, I forgot she mentioned that."

"Dude, she's your wife. If she knows you block out her rants, she's going to kill you."

"... I don't…  block out her rants."

“We’re straying off-topic.” Tim hums, hiding his smirk with his drink as Damian, who proceeded to slowly stand, shoots him a glare before a hand grabs the back of his color and pulled him back down. 

“Oh! Right, the Hero Collaboration Program!” Dick grins

“I think Damian taking part in the program is a good idea.” Everyone's eyes flickered over to the entrance where Bruce Wayne – Owner of Wayne Enterprises and Underground Hero: Batman – stood with Alfred Pennyworth, besides him. “This program will benefit you and help you make friends with people your own age, maybe even teach you something new.”

“Your brothers all attended the program, master Damian.” Alfred gave the boy an encouraging smile as he handed out drinks for everyone in the room, “In a way you could consider it a tradition at this point.” The younger boy took his drink silently as he pondered the words the older man had given him.

“Oh yeah, I guess it kind of is tradition at this point, huh…” Tim hummed, finishing his coffee and graciously handing the empty cup to Alfred, who shoved a cup of water in his hands.

“I joined during… what? During their third year of existence?” Dick wondered out loud as he leaned back on the couch.

“That’s correct, master Dick.”

“Haa~ I was Bruce’s test dummy to make sure the program was actually useful.” Dick chuckled softly.

“Pft seriously? Thanks for your sacrifice.” Jason smirked, making Tim let out a soft laugh.

“I suppose.” Everyone fell silent to look at the youngest Wayne, “If it’s a tradition at this point, I suppose I have no other choice but to partake in it as well.”

“That’s the spirit, Lil D!” Jason grinned.

“You’ll have fun. You’ll learn a lot, too.” Tim smiled, taking the smallest of sip of his water. With a glare from Alfred, he took a bigger gulp.

“Yes! Oh, man! I can’t wait for you to tell us about it when you get back! Maybe we should tell him stories of our experience!?” Dick energetically exclaimed as he practically bounced in his seat.

Bruce gave the boys a soft appeasing smile as they all cheered, making Damian scrunch up his face at the loud sound. With a soft sigh, he walked across the room to his office. Along the way, he gave his youngest a soft hair ruffle, making him groan.

Damian Wayne. Age 16. Seat 11. Student Rank 1. Hero Name: Red Bird. Quirk: Quirkless

Martial arts, hand-to-hand, sword, expert detective, hacker, stealth.

___

“Alright, class, make sure to think about signing up for that program! It’s a very good opportunity! You’re dismissed for lunch!” Mr. Barkin, a big man with an obvious werewolf mutation, dismissed his class.

A slim girl with long bright brown hair walked next to a beautiful dark-skinned girl with wavy black locks. The ginger hummed as she stared down at the packet that had been handed to them near the end of class, “I don’t know, what do you think Monique?”

 “I think it sounds like a lot of fun! Kim, girl, this is an O.I.A.L.T. E; Once In A Life Time Experience!” Monique paused and frowned.

“That was a long one.” Kim smirks at her friend.

“Ugh, I know. Never gonna use that one again.” The girl waved her hand in the air. Both girls stopped in front of a locker, “But It still stands! You should totally do it!”

“But what about you? And – and Ron?” Kim leans against the lockers, watching as her friend opens hers to put away her books.

“Psssh~ Pu-lease, I’ll be fine! I’ve got work at Club Banana and a bunch of homework to keep me company!” The brown eyed girl closed her locker, and they began their trip to Kim’s locker, “As for Ron, well-“

“K.P!!” Both girls turn to see a blond rushing over, “Did you hear about the exchange program!? Are you signing up? Please tell me you’re not leaving me! We’re supposed to be a team!!” He cried out as he hugged his friend.

The redhead huffed softly before prying her friend off her, “Ron, so not cool.”

“Yeah I – sorry K.P I just – I heard about the program and assumed you’d sign up and leave without me.” Ron sniffled dramatically. From his pocket, a small pink rodent climbed up to his shoulder and nodded in agreement, making small squeaking noises. “See! Rufus and I would miss you…” 

Monique rolled her eyes with a smirked as she gently pushed the two forward to keep walking, “You know, the program is accepting team sign ups~”

“Wait really!?” Ron gasped as he brought the packet back up to read. “Oh my god, they are!”

Kim frowns, “I don’t know, then you’d really be alone, Monique.” They stop at her locker.

“Oh common Kim. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity! You have to S. I; seize it! You’re not going to be a sophomore forever, girl.” Monique leaned on the lockers with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Yeah! It’s a good opportunity to learn about other school systems! Did you see who they're partnered with K. P? It’s Yuuei High school! Yuuei! They're, like, the best in Japan! At least that's what the rest of this thing says and what Yori told me when I did that whole” Ron waves his hand in a circle as he shrugs, “seven day long Japan exchange thing during First Semester.”  

“You still have yet to tell us much about that.” Kim smirks as she opens her locker, “Japan is one of those places that have schools that specialize in training hero’s, right?”

“That’s right!” Everyone looked up to the projection of a boy their age sitting at a desk, “Hey girls! Hi Ron, Rufus, Whatcha guys talkin’ bout?”

“Hey Wade. We’re just talking about Some program that’s partnered with Yuuei.” Kim smiled at the screen as she put her things in the locker.

“Oh! The Hero Collaboration Program?” Wade’s smile widens.

Kim rolls her eyes half-heartedly at her friends' excitement. “Of course you’ve heard of it.”

“Yeah! Tell Kim that She’s GOT to GO!” Monique gave her friend a glare.

“Wade! Tell us about Yuuei High School!” Ron practically begged, shoving past Kim before standing behind her again. His best friend shot him an annoyed glare.

With a sigh, Kim finally nods, “Tell us about the school.”

Wade grins and begins quickly typing away on his laptop. A few images began appearing next to him, “As you know, Yuuei High School is known as a hero school. They’re known for ranking number 1 in hero schools across Japan. Their competitor, coming in second by just a bit, is Shiketsu High School. If you ask me though, Shiketsu is obviously better, I mean, look at those uniforms! So wicked! Look at those hats and blazers!”

“Right, about Yuuei.” Kim gently reprimands when she notices her friend is straying off-topic.

“Oh, right! So, from what I’m seeing so far, I think Yuuei has an unfair entrance exam.”

“They have Entrance Exams?” Monique asked with a raised brow.  

Wade nods, “Yeah. In Japan, to get into high schools, students are required to take an entrance exam.” 

“Right, so, why do you think it’s unfair?” Kim raised a brow

“Well, looking at their sports festival, Just about everyone in the hero program has a “flashy” quirk. When you compare it to other hero school’s and their graduating classes, their quirks are more balanced. Um, one sec” Wade’s eyes narrowed, his pointer finger stretches out like a wire, and he connects to his computer. A moment later, his eyes turn blue and data begins to quickly rush through.

“Is it just me or is he… taking longer than usual?” Ron raises an eyebrow after four minutes pass. 

“Mm, another reason to be glad our school has an hour-long lunch…” Monique hums as she leans on a leg, a hand on her hip. They watched in silence as Wade frowned and bit his lower lip. After three more minutes, the boy smirks, disconnecting himself, making his eyes turn back to normal. “Got it.” he grins as he leans back in his seat.

“Uuuuh, got what?” Ron tilts his head in confusion.

“I hacked into their system. It was pretty tricky considering it was made by the smartest being in the world, but nothing compared to me and my quirk. They had a bunch of firewalls and backups too, I think it was a lot of fun to get through.” Wade smirks as he shows them different class schedules for different courses, “I redacted all the important information, but it seems like this school also separates all of their courses. Hero course students, General Education, business, and support. They all learn different things, never interacting unless necessary.”

“That’s… different.” Kim raises an eyebrow. “Um, should you really be hacking into the system of the ‘world's smartest being’ Wade?” 

“Ah, don’t worry about it, Kim. Hack helps make sure I’m untraceable and if Nedzu did get an alert, which I worked my way around, and somehow traces a location it’ll just lead him to random computers in a random location of Japan.”

“Wow, The support course students don’t have any combat classes.” Ron frowned, obviously preferring to look at the schedules to listening to the conversation. 

“Hold up - Why does General Education have a Quirk Positivity class? This is high school? Shouldn't they have that class in elementary school?” Monique crossed her arms over her chest. Face filled with confusion.

“Right? Not just that, but the school conducts a sports festival, that they compare to the Olympics every year, that puts all the courses against one another.” Wade closes and erases the schedules, replacing them with a video reel of fights and highlights. 

“Wha - why even call it a sports festival!? All they're doing is fighting?” Ron frowns before grinning as he watches one of the students punch another, “Booya! Look at that right hook!”

“Oh snap! He flipped him like a pancake!” Monique grinned as they watched the highlight reels. 

“Why would they do that? Isn’t that practically advertising your quirk to all the villains in the area?” Kim rose an eyebrow

“It says that it’s done to ‘promote their students to other heroes for field studies.’ The kids receive internship requests by heroes that want to take them on. It’s dumb though because, according to this, only fifteen students from both hero classes combined got internship requests! And one of them got 4,123 requests!” 

“They're promoting their students like they're the newest fashion trend.” Monique frowns, looking away from the video. 

“That’s… only fifteen kids? Seriously? What about the others? Do they just… not do anything? Why can’t they all just apply like we do? I - My brain can’t process...” Rufus squeaks in sympathy as he pats Ron’s cheek with his paw. 

Monique frowns in thought,  “Hey, wait a minute… you said that the sports festival includes all the students, right?”

“Yeah, Three day’s worth of sports festival, one for each grade.” 

The girl scoffed, “They're using the other courses to make the hero course look better, aren’t they?” 

“What do you mean, Monique?” Kim frowns

“Think about it, girl, you saw the schedules. The hero course is the only course with combat training.” Kim’s eyes widened in realization. 

“Duuuude, not cool! If they all had at least the same level of experience, it would be a lot better.” Ron frowns as he crosses his arms. 

“Exactly! Personally, I prefer the way our school system is set up. Anyone who wants to take hero classes can take them, and if you don’t finish the credits, you’re in the academy longer. Not to mention, anyone who wants field experience could just apply and do the internships.” Wade crossed his hands over his chest.

“Wade, you're taking support course electives.” Kim smiled softly, “but you have a point.”

“Of course I do! I’m doing field study with the space center! You and Ron go every other weekend to work with the hero agency, and when vacation comes along you’ll be allowed to do more than just patrol. I just… this is just... “Wade signs, “At least I know how to fight and defend myself if anything were to occur.”

“A little worked up there huh, Wade...” Ron gave him a sympathetic smile

“Sorry.” He smiles sheepishly, “Anyway, will you and Kim be applying guys? They accept duo teams.” Kim thinks about it for a moment before letting out a soft sigh and smile.

“You know what? What the heck, let’s do it, Ron.” Kim smiles, “I think it’ll be really cool to get in and talk to other people not from around here. Make some new friends, and possible future partners.”

“Boo-ya! We’re so getting in!” Ron held up a finger for Rufus to high five.

Kim and Monique smile at one another, thanking Wade, the redhead closes her locker, “We can celebrate with Bueno Nacho AFTER we get accepted. For now, let's go get lunch before the break ends.”

“You think they’d let Rufus in?”

“Ron, I don’t know if they’d let your pet in the program.” Monique smiled

“Gasp! Pet? Rufus is NOT a pet! He is our partner!” the little rodent nods in agreement as he squeaks in response. 

“Maybe we could ask when we get past the interview process. We’ll have to see, don’t get your hopes up, though, Ron.” Kim smiles softly, patting the boy's shoulder.

Kim Possible. Age 16. Seat 2. Student Rank 2. Hero Name: Possible. Quirk: Quirkless.

Kung fu, acrobatics and gymnastics, cheerleading skills, martial arts, hand to hand

Ron Stoppable. Age 16. Seat 9. Student Rank 11. Hero Name: Koi. Quirk: Karmic Luck.

His good luck fixes his bad luck. His natural bad luck places him in bad situations, however thanks to his quirk they always turn in his favor. For example, He once tripped over a rock, which caused him to dodge bird poop coming at him. 

Basic Hand to hand, Ninjutsu

____

A young teen with black hair sat in a chair in their room, the red sleeves of his sweater pulled up to his elbows as he tinkered with a few things. The door to the room slowly opened to show a scrawny man with his blond hair in a beanie. Seeing his younger friend working, he walked in and waved the others in. Walking in, everyone made themselves comfortable in the room. A buff, burly man, walked closer to the teen. With a good slap on the back, making the boy shout in surprise, he greeted him.

“Hey there, little man!” He grinned widely, crossing his arms over his chest. Brown eyes blinked in surprise as he spun around on his chair to face the four adults. 

“Oh! Hey guys! What brings you four here?” The younger boy asked with a smile as he adjusts himself in his seat. The adults all glanced at each other for a moment. A girl with purple streaks in her hair held out a packet to him, a small smile on her lips.

“We wanted you to apply for the Hero Collaboration Program.” Honey Lemon began as the boy began to read it.

“You’re a really smart kid, Hiro. Graduated from high school early, taking hero and support classes at the same time at the institute.” Gogo smiles.

“You’ve made awesome support weapons and during battle training you’re, like, wicked smart.” Fred praises. 

“Buuuut you’re also a kid. A kid that’s friends with a bunch of adults, we want you to make some friends your own age.” Wasabi grinned sheepishly, everyone nodded in agreement.

“Do… you guys not like being my friends?” Hiro frowns, looking back up at them, dejection clear on his face. 

“No!” They all shouted at once.

“It’s not like that!” 

“We love being your friend, little dude!” 

“You’re an awesome dude!”

“We don’t hate you!”

“We’re not trying to make you feel like we hate you!” Wasabi sighed as he ran a hand down his face, “We just want you to make friends your own age.”

“Yeah, you graduated from high school pretty early on general studies, and are now taking both hero and support classes at the institute, but you never really got a chance to make friends your age.” Honey Lemon explained.

“We already called to ask if you’d be able to apply.” Gogo smiled.

“Yeah! They said that they understand the circumstances considering your quirk and will make an exception! Of course, they said that just because they’re letting you apply doesn’t mean you will be accepted! That’s all on you, my dude!” Fred grinned as he shot the young teen finger guns.

Hiro stared down at the packet in his hands for a moment. They're not wrong. Because of his quirk, he had practically breezed through school and graduated at 11. He’s never been interested in heroics or any of that stuff, but even if he wanted to, no hero school would have accepted him because of his young age. Finding boredom in just staying home, he began to tinker with things and began to build small robots for fun - and maybe to con a few people out of their money - but he’s never pursued anything specific. 

He hadn’t even thought about going into support until his older brother had brought it up when he was thirteen. After lots of hard work, he had gotten into the biggest hero school in the Tokyo prefecture, Institute for Heroics and Technology. He thought about applying to UA in shizuoka but he decided that the school was too over rated and stayed in Tokyo. He had stuck to the technical side of things, at least till his brother was killed in an explosion. It had taken a lot of convincing, but he was able to get his friends to help him take down the villain that caused it. He and his friends had become vigilantes and once they had captured the culprit he was reluctant to stop. It wasn’t long till he found himself in the heroics courses as well. 

Now that he’s reflecting on it, they're right. He doesn’t have any friends his own age. Taking a deep breath, he nods, “Alright, sure. I’ll apply.”

“Really!?” Honey Lemon practically squeals in excitement.

“Yeah, besides, it says that the kids at Yuuei are participating. They’ve been through a bunch of villain attacks already, It’ll be interesting to see how they compare to other heroes in training.” Hiro leaned back in his seat, a leg crossing to rest on the other. 

“Oh… Oh, no, that’s his ‘I have plans’ smirk, guys.” Fred stage whispered to the others.

“Should I be feeling bad for the Yuuei kids or the exchange kids he’ll be with if he’s accepted?” Wasabi asked, making Hiro burst into a fit of laughter.

“... Both.” Honey Lemon squeaked.

“He’s going to have fun.” Gogo smirked.

Hiro Hamada. Age: 15. Seat 13. Student rank 3. Hero Name: Zero. Quirk: Prodigy 

His brain functions at a faster rate than possible, making it easy for him to process and retain information, giving him genius level intelligence. 

Hand to hand, Martial Arts, builds his own support items.

_____

“No way man.” A dark skinned boy groaned as he tossed his backpack on the ground and sat himself on his desk chair, the wheels sending him back a bit. 

“What? Miles, dude common. This event is for sophomores ONLY. You’re never getting this opportunity, ever again!” Another male walked into the shared room and closed the door behind him. 

“Ganke I just got the hang of swinging around, the school year is going to end in a few months meaning finals are coming up, I don’t need to stress myself out more with this program.” Miles huffed in response, riffling through his backpack he pulled out his textbooks. 

Sitting himself at his own desk, the boy responded as he grabbed his own things, “That was three months ago dude. The school year doesn’t even end until June, we’re barely getting into November, and this program is supposed to be fun. Did you even read that packet? You’ve been stressing yourself too much by adding so much training on top of your school work.” 

“...... I can’t rest Ganke, you know that. I have to hurry up and graduate, so I can take over what Peter had left for me.” Miles let out a tired sigh as he slumped back on his chair and stared at the ceiling. “I know what happened to him wasn’t my fault, I get that, but… I just… I could have done more, you know? Like, I know he took me in for field studies because we have similar quirks, but I’ve looked up to him for so long and to be acknowledged only for it to be torn away all of a sudden… We became so close… He wanted me to take over the mantle of Spider-man and I just… I can’t let him down…”

Ganke sat in silence for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts before speaking, “I get that you want to take over the mantle of your mentor, but common man. Take a breather. We’re teenagers and you're burning yourself out. Peter wouldn’t want you to burn yourself out like this. You need this break.” 

Silence fell in the dorm room once again as both boys started their homework. It wasn’t long for Miles to find himself tapping his pencil against his desk. Ganke’s words floating about in his mind. With a weary sigh, Miles re-read the packet that he pulled out from where he had stuffed it in a text book. “Your right… I do need a break.” 

Ganke grinned widely and kicked off to roll over to his friend, “That a boy!” he cheered, slapping his friend’s shoulder, “Now then, let's talk support items! I've had this idea on making little nubs for your gloves that can discharge electricity for like a week now! I bet you’d like it! The trip is supposed to be in Late February, right? We have so much time! We can test them after school! You can even put them to use on the field when you do actual combat during Christmas break’s field studies!” Miles snorted at his friend's enthusiasm. 

Miles Morales. Age 15. Seat 9. Student Rank 4. Hero Name: Spider-man. Quirk: Dolophanes Conifera.

Has characteristics of a wrap around spider. He can camouflage with his surroundings and shoot spiderwebs from a small hole from his wrists. He can effortlessly cling and climb walls thanks to the settles on his hands and feet. Is most active during the night. If he bites anyone, a venom is injected to temporarily stun his victim.

Hand to hand, fast reflexes, flexible

____

A raven haired boy with bright blue eyes groaned in frustration as he slammed his face on the kitchen table. His older sister with red hair frowned with worry, “What’s wrong, Danny?”

“Mr. Lancer handed out some packet for heroes and, like it sounds like fun, but it doesn’t allow trio teams.” Danny responded as he rested his chin on the table.

“Hero? I thought Tucker is in for support, while Sam handles the business aspect when you guys started your own agency?” The older sibling frowned in confusion.

Danny sticks his lower lip out in a pout, “Well, yeah but…” He sits up right, “Sam and Tucker are encouraging me to sign up, and It’s cool and all, but… I just…” The boy paused, turning over the words in his head in an attempt to organize them. His sister waited patiently for him to speak again, “I’ve never felt so… lonely I guess. Like… Tucker and, surprisingly enough, Kyle are going to be handling the Support items and any other tech-savvy stuff. Sam has Wes for business stuff, even if they do argue a lot, but I… have nobody.” The boy buries his face in his hands, “It’s stupid, I know…”

“W - what about Valery? She wants to be a hero too, right? You two were pretty close…?” His sister tries to reassure.

“Yeah, but she hates my guts now, Jazz. Remember the whole incident I told you about with quirk training?”

His older sister frowns at this. Her blue eyes looked over to the packet her brother had set aside. Taking it, she read it over silently before smiling softly, “Well, I definitely agree with Sam and Tucker that you should apply.” 

Danny looks up with a frown, “But I’d be all alone…” 

“Danny, the whole point of the program is to meet young aspiring heroes your own age. I'm sure you’ll make a friend or two while you’re out there.” Handing her brother the packet, she watched as his eyes roamed over the words again. 

“I… I guess you’re right.”

Jazz smiles reassuringly at her brother, “Of course I’m right. Now then, let me help you fill that thing out.” 

Daniel James Fenton. Age 16. Seat 8. Student Rank 5. Hero Name: Phantom, Quirk: - REDACTED - Ghost.

After turning four, his quirk, cryokinesis, had manifested. When he was 11 he was involved in a lab accident that -REDACTED- mutated his quirk. He can now turn invisible at will, walk through solid objects, fly, minor telekinesis, ghost wail, cryokinesis. He has no need to breathe, can last a week without food. 

Hand to hand, night vision, stealth, enhanced hearing. 

Chapter 1 Part 2

[hawkland]

Destiel fic recs #3 - the (mostly) longfic edition!

It’s been a while since my last rec post - mostly because I’ve been wallowing in a number of longer fics (50-350k!) so it’s taken me a while to have enough to talk about in one post (and boy do I talk a lot, here!)

With these longer fics, I do sometimes have some caveats with my recs - or at least reasons why they might not appeal to every Dean/Cas reader. But note that if I didn’t overall strongly recommend reading the fic I wouldn’t include it in my recs here at all, so any quibbles I bring up are minor compared to my overall enjoyment of the stories. Just, I don’t want someone to commit to a long read without knowing what they’re getting into and why it might not be their thing.

I’m still not into reading complete setting AUs at this time, but a lot/most of these are canon-divergence AUs, often written/set at the end of a season and giving an alternative take on what happened next. I love those kind of stories, as it’s often so interesting to see how fans thought of what might happen in the next season (especially when it’s better than what we actually got.)

Onto the recs & discussion behind the cut!

The Sinking Ship by UnfortunatelyObsessed (114k). This is a story that ripped my heart to pieces (in a good way!). I stayed up all night to finish reading because I simply couldn’t stop once I started on it and it gave me a massive fic hanger from all my emotions. Season 14 divergence, imagine if Dean did go into the Ma’lak box to trap Michael under the ocean with him forever...and once there, he discovers that Cas has stowed away with him. Because of course Cas would never leave Dean to such a fate on his own.

I loved literally. Every. Damn. Thing. About this fic. Cas telling Dean stories to pass the (endless) time. Their small intimate moments while realizing they can never consummate physically while trapped in the box but finding every other way to express their love. The absolute heartbreak that had me SOBBING when Michael fights for control of Dean and destroys everything they’ve built together and Cas thinks he’s lost Dean forever. Sam & Gabriel & Rowena & Claire & Jack doing everything they can to devise a plan back home to try to save them both while keeping Michael trapped. Also even just the wonderfully sensitive portrayal of aroace Jack still closely bonded with Claire and Maggie and just. And just. This is a story I’ve already re-read just to savor how much I loved it and its portrayal of everyone in TFW 2.0 and their extended family, it just hit my id in all the most incredible ways and I have nothing but absolute love for this one.

Beautiful Chaos by anyrei, mugglerock (141k). Season 9 canon-divergence, in which Dean doesn’t simply abandon Cas to fend for himself post 09x03. Instead he sets Cas up in a kind of squatter’s nest in an abandoned building near the bunker so he can keep tabs on him and help him out. 

This fic definitely gets the award for FILTHIEST, HOTTEST, SMUTTIEST Dean/Cas (and Cas/other) I’ve read in, like, ever, for human!Cas turns out to be a rather insatiable sex fiend/cock slut and Dean is too up his own repressed ass to easily give Cas what he wants/needs. It is dark at times, Cas ends up in some very unsavory/non-con situations, and the authors do mention that they tried to hone in on endverse!Cas’s characterization more than what we saw in Season 9...so you might roll with it, you might not. I adored their original character Jerry the tattoo artist in this, and like I said it was seriously hot (if you are good with total bottom!Cas and Cas with others, I know those are not everyone’s cuppa). I did have a few minor issues. For one, the last chapter felt a bit rushed and hand-wavey, but clearly the authors weren’t fond of the canon conflicts of season 9 & 10 (Abbadon, Mark of Cain) and just wanted to be done with them. Can’t say I really blame them. And I did have to laugh a bit at Lebanon, Kansas apparently having such a bustling gay bar/tattoo artist/etc scene being someone from a butt-fuck nowhere American small town myself. But, SPN was never all that realistic in how Lebanon was shown (and yes I’ve spent too much time roaming around it on Google maps), so if you can suspend some disbelief this is an awesome hot/angsty/occasionally heartbreaking read.

These Forsaken Lands by destielpasta (53k). I came upon this story when looking for fics that dealt in some way with the aftermath of Godstiel. This is a wonderfully atmospheric late Season 9 “fill-in” case fic (post Meta-fiction) where Cas ends up in a small town that had been visited by Godstiel...and while initially residents have reaped much good fortune, there has suddenly been a wave of deaths/bad events and he is determined to find out what happened and set things right. He calls upon Dean for help, but Dean is fighting the Mark of Cain and it’s going to take a lot to get past its control and find a way out for both of them. Together they work on repairing an old church while trying to repair each other and their damaged relationship.

I loved this story for how well written it was, really invoking a gothic small-town/Americana atmosphere. The original characters blend in very well with the case-fic at the center of it, and the author deals really well with Cas at a very fragile point when he’s running on borrowed grace and trying to navigate Dean’s MoC-enhanced anger. It’s Dean/Cas but actually much more of a Cas character study, so I highly recommend it to my fellow/compatriot Cas-girls who love a good wallow in his head.

Mixed Emotions by Tierra469 (50k). Canon 12 “parallel” fic that then goes canon-divergent with the season finale. I actually stumbled on this while in the mood to read some Cas/ or & Mary fic after enjoying their interactions in Season 12 (don’t hate me). This is sort of two fics in one. The first half focuses mostly on filling in the gaps with some critical S12 Cas episodes, especially Cas & Mary’s developing friendship (and one night of something more). But of course Cas’s feelings for Dean (and vice-versa) are always there, and when Cas figures out a way to get his powers fully back, the question is if Dean can open himself up to be vulnerable - and express love - the way Cas needs for this to work.

This was an interesting fic in a lot of ways. I loved the author’s take on angels’ connections to their vessels and grace, it was very consistent in a way the show sometimes/often wasn’t. Cas is very Cas in not understanding privacy and personal boundaries (so he does some questionable things, admittedly, which might squick some readers). The smut is fucking HOT - though I will caution at one point it involves Cas temporarily in a younger (NOT underage) female vessel (and the story does point out Dean’s discomfort with this and some of the consent issues involved, I don’t want to spoil too much). I wanted the Mary plot resolved more than it was, but I still recommend this story strongly for the quality of the writing and unique/well-developed take on angel lore and mechanics that was quite different from what I’m used to reading.

We Are Either Here Or Not Here by petramacneary (54k) A post-season 12 fic that goes on a different tangent to how Cas returns, and what happens in the meantime. Particularly, it offers a different take on what apocalypseverse!Cas would be like—as Mary makes her own way back from that world with AU!Cas as her prisoner.

What I loved about this story: first off, BAMF!Mary is awesome here. Dean is so heartbreaking, not quite knowing what the fuck to do with this different Cas who at times is just a painful reminder of who/what Dean’s lost...but then becomes a chance for Dean to say and express some of the things he always was afraid to in the past. And when (real/our) Cas finally returns, there’s some very interesting stuff that happens with both Cas & AU!Cas and Cas & Dean that I don’t want to spoil. (And let’s also just say that when real!Cas and Dean finally get together it’s AMAZINGLY awesome. Like, hot Impala!sex. So is the artwork that goes with this story.)

You Can Keep Holding On by NorthernSparrow (353k) The longest fic I read this time around and probably the one I have the most mixed feelings about, but a while on I do keep thinking about parts of it so I do rec it with some caveats. This is a canon-divergence after the end of Season 11. Dean & Sam find Cas after he’s been blasted out of the bunker...to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Mary isn’t in this one except for a brief appearance/visit, which Dean thinks is Amara’s gift to him. Life seems good for a while, they’re enjoying dealing with mundane problems for a change, but then Cas seems to be pulling away from the brothers, spending less and less time with them at the bunker, taking a mundane job at another Gas ‘n Sip, and clearly preoccupied by something else. Or is it someone else? Dean is worried yet finally ready to accept that Cas maybe has a girlfriend, or a boyfried, but then it turns out that is not at all what Cas has going on. It’s something far more serious than that.

Honestly I almost stopped reading when the reveal happened - it’s a subject that’s very sensitive to me from personal/family experience and not something I usually like reading in fic (especially if there is a sad ending.) So I admit I jumped ahead to read how it would end first before committing to finishing it. And I am glad I did, because the author handles the subject matter with a realism and obvious knowledge of experience as well, not how I often see it in fanfic. There are a lot of emotional ups and downs but it’s nice seeing Dean in his momma-hen/mode, and Sam is so so good in this one! I think I enjoyed Sam’s characterization here most of all! And the author has a really cool/well developed angel/wing lore that hit my wing-kink pretty hard. I do think it could have all been edited down a bit - I found myself skimming parts, especially in the last third, just to get on with things. But it’s definitely a story you can disappear into for a good long time and I’ve bookmarked the author’s other works to read later, so again, I do rec it even with a few caveats.

A few shorter fics, too, just because I don’t want to forget about them...

Eleven Erogenous Zones of a Fallen Angel by almaasi (15k) Pure gratuitous wing!kink for me :) Cas uses the last of his grace to manifest his wings...but then is stuck with them in his human form and not even able to use them to fly as he used to. This presents a lot of awkward problems to deal with but also the excuse for Dean to help him keep them clean :) I did say wing kink, right? :D :D I loved how Cas seemed confused about the pleasure signals he got from bathing vs. sex vs. grooming and all of that. It’s sweet and hot and has my favorite kind of caretaking Dean in it.

Fossil Tracks by SegaBarrett  (3k). Dean & Sam & Cas and dinosaurs. How can you go wrong with that? One of the SPN stories from the Id Pro Quo collection I really enjoyed reading (and didn’t write myself, lol).

[kurokoros]

some like it hot (4/4) | todoroki x reader x bakugou

Rated: M (smut)

Words: 10.4K

Pairing: shouto todoroki x fem!reader x katsuki bakugou

Summary: A Charity Fundraiser leads to you going home with not one, but two of the most popular Pro Heroes of your generation. They say some like it hot, and you certainly aren’t complaining.

AKA: a totally not self-indulgent threesome fic

Chapters: One | Two | Three | Four | AO3

AN: Ayy, last chapter folks! Huge thanks to everyone that gave this fic a read!

Warnings: smut, temperature play, anal sex, double penetration

Taglist: @kiaoizz​, @sarahs-castle-of-clouds​

Sneaking away from the fundraiser you were in charge of planning may be the stupidest thing you’ve ever done, and it’s definitely the most irresponsible, but the likelihood of anyone missing you is slim to none. Plenty of Pros had already come and gone by the time you ran into Shouto, so if anyone asks, the three of you can probably bullshit an excuse for leaving early. And even if your presence is missed, you really don’t have it in you to care considering you have two incredibly attractive, incredibly disheveled men stumbling into your apartment behind you.

Regardless, you’re certainly not complaining about the way tonight is going.

Katsuki kicks your apartment door shut behind the three of you, but before you can complain about the noise, the hothead scoops you off the ground and tosses you over his shoulder. “Katsuki!” you yelp, your hands fisting in his jacket for balance. His grip tightens around your hips, and you trust him enough to know he’d never let you fall. “Put me—” The protest cuts off with a gasp as he gives your ass a playful smack.

“Stop squirmin’, angel,” Katsuki warns you, pinching your thigh. “Ya want me to drop you on that cute little ass?”

Eyes narrowed, you glare at the back of his head. “You wouldn’t dare.”

A snort draws your attention, and Shouto shakes his head at Katsuki’s display as he locks the door behind you. Fond amusement flickers in his eyes when they meet yours, and a smirk pulls at his lips as he follows Katsuki into your bedroom. They both walk in like they’re coming home, and your heart squeezes in your chest at the thought.

Katsuki plops you back onto the floor in the middle of your bedroom and spins you around to look at him. The curtains over your window are pulled back just enough to have moonlight spilling into the room. It casts shadows over his face, makes his eyes look brighter in the darkness of your quiet room. The moonlight must be doing something to you, too, because he’s looking at you like you’re the most breathtaking thing he’s ever seen.

You expect him to rush towards you, grab you, kiss you, do something, but he stands rooted in place, just taking in the sight of you for a little longer.

The lights snap on. The door is shut and locked. And strong arms wrap around you from behind, pulling you back against a broad chest as Shouto leans down to press a kiss against your cheek. You lean against him, gripping his arms and giggling as his hair tickles the side of your face.

None of you move for what seems like hours, and it’s so quiet that you can hear Shouto breathing behind you, you can feel the steady beat of his heart against your back. For some reason, that makes your grip tighten around the arm he has banded around your shoulders. By the window, Katsuki looks torn between watching the two of you and stepping forward to join the embrace as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other.

His tongue darts out across his lips as drinks in the sight of you. Then, his ruby gaze snaps to Shouto, who seems content just holding you. “Well, are ya gonna fucking move, Icy Hot?” Katsuki asks, crossing his arms over his chest in a show of clear annoyance. “Or do I have to do everything myself?”

Shouto sighs against your ear, his eyes rolling. “So impatient,” he says, just loud enough for Katsuki to hear him.

You bite your lip to hide the smile threatening to overtake you.

Bristling, Katsuki glares harder at Shouto, who ignores the other man in favor of dropping his head into the crook of your neck and pressing a series of soft butterfly kisses against any skin within reach of his greedy mouth. 

“Like you can talk, bastard.” The scowl on Katsuki’s face isn’t enough to hide what’s clearly a pout, though he’d never admit it. “Did you already forget about starting without me?”

Heat crawls up your side as Shouto drags his hand from your hip to your ribcage. His thumb swipes across the underside of your breast, and a breathy sound escapes you as he nips at your naked shoulder. “If you don’t like it, you should learn to be on time,” he tells Katsuki.

Irritation flashes across Katsuki’s eyes, and his mouth opens to unleash what’s bound to be a barrage of swear words and variations of the same three insults he always uses on Shouto. But before the tirade can slip out, you huff. Loudly. Both men turn to look at you. “Are you two done arguing?” you ask them. “Because I can think of a better use for those mouths.” 

The blunt statement gets you your desired result.

Shouto’s grip on you tightens a fraction, and the smirk Katsuki sends you is positively lewd. “Oh?” he croons, dragging out the sound and quirking an eyebrow. “And what’s that, sweetcheeks?”

“Take off your clothes and come find out,” you tell him.

Surprised at your teasing, Katsuki blinks at you, then mutters “fuck” as he practically rips his jacket off and tosses it onto the floor in the corner of your room. The sleeves of his white shirt are rolled up to his elbows, and he kicks off his shoes and socks. Your thighs rub together as his dexterous fingers make quick work of his belt, the metal clanking as it drops to the floor beside his jacket.

Meanwhile, Shouto squeezes your waist, his hand still stroking your side from your hip to your ribs. “You seem a bit overdressed yourself.” The arm around your shoulders shifts, and two fingers sneak beneath the straps of your dress, teasingly brushing it aside until it’s barely clinging to you.

Tilting your head just enough to meet his eyes, you offer a coy smile. “Think you can fix that for me, Shouto?” you ask, subtly grinding back against him. He grunts, both hands grabbing your hips to hold you in place and keep you from squirming against him like you want to.

“As you wish,” he mutters against your hair. And then, he lets you go. So hyper-aware of him behind you, it’s easy to hear the slight rustle of clothing as he strips himself of his jacket and shoes much like Katsuki did.

You can honestly say this wasn’t what you were expecting to happen tonight.

Chilled fingers follow the curve of your spine, starting at the base of your neck and trailing downward achingly slow. The hitch in your breathing is loud, and Shouto’s lips curve into a barely-there smile against the back of your head. Deftly, he slips a finger between your shoulder and the pretty dress you’re wearing, teasing the soft skin there before you let him brush the fabric aside.

The straps of your dress slide down your arms teasingly, and a pair of narrowed, ruby red eyes immediately drag down your body, appraising you as more of your soft skin is revealed. Katsuki licks his lips as the silky fabric pools around your feet, expression nothing short of greedy as he watches the two of you, though he doesn’t move. Not yet. You shiver under his gaze and the icy kiss that Shouto presses against the side of your neck. Hands drag down your sides to grasp your hips, the difference in temperature between the two making you gasp and squirm, but Shouto holds you firmly against his chest.

The boys lock eyes over your shoulder. A silent agreement.

“All right, angel.” Katsuki’s voice is deeper than usual, and startlingly calm. “Be a good girl and moan for me an’ Icy Hot.”

Shouto huffs at the old insult, but then his teeth drag down the column of your throat and you do exactly as Katsuki demands, much to their amusement.

Chuckling to himself, Katsuki’s eyes rake over you again, taking in the lacy lingerie previously hidden beneath your dress, and the strappy high-heels that do little to keep you from being dwarfed by their heights. You swear his fingers spark as he grasps the front of his dress shirt, popping the buttons one by one. Patiently, Shouto’s left hand draws small circles against your hip, his right skimming the smooth skin of your stomach, trailing higher and higher until he’s grasping your chin between cold and calloused fingers.

They look at you like they want to devour you.

And you plan on letting them.

It’s a combination of the look in Katsuki’s eyes and the sudden chill that curls around your nearly naked body that has you practically squirming already. Your skin is flushed, and everything is sensitive all the way down to your toes.

The last button of Katsuki’s shirt finally comes undone, and your eyes roam over the hard planes of his chest and stomach, wandering over firm muscle from years of training. Your fingers are just itching to touch him, to trace a path from his collarbones to the top of his pants and watch him squirm. More than that, you kind of want to lick him. Katsuki is pretty damn delicious to look at, and the cocky look in those red eyes tells you that he knows exactly what you want to do with your hands and tongue.

But that’ll have to wait. Shouto’s thumb rubs against your bottom lip, and your lips part to nip at the pad of his finger. Groaning quietly, Shouto gives your jaw a brief warning squeeze. His breath is hot against your ear as he dips his chin to whisper in your ear. “You like to tease him, right, love?” he asks, too quietly for Katsuki to hear him. Your thighs rub together at the low tone he’s using, and by now your panties are practically soaked through. “Good,” Shouto muses when you give him a nearly imperceptible nod, “we’re going to play a game.”

Across the room, Katsuki’s fingers hover over the button of his slacks, his eyes narrowing when he sees Shouto whispering in your ear. “Oi!” he barks at the two of you, abandoning his pants to place his hands on his hips. “What the hell are you two talkin’ about?”

You hold your breath as Shouto’s gaze slides to Katsuki slowly, waiting to hear what he has in mind.

And it certainly doesn’t disappoint. “You seem to like watching, Katsuki,” Shouto says slowly, looking the other man up and down. Katsuki’s throat bobs at the sound of his name. Behind you,  Shouto shifts, his gaze flicking to the chair nestled in the corner of your room. “So, why don’t you just sit there and shut your mouth?”

Katsuki opens his mouth, glaring at Shouto over your shoulder, but the quiet sound of your sharp inhale makes their gazes snap to you.

Shit, if you weren’t wet before, you certainly are now. The thought of Katsuki watching you while Shouto touches you—or while you touch yourself—is enough to make your legs quiver beneath you as arousal pools low in your stomach. There are so many things you want these men to do to you, so many ways you want them to absolutely ruin you, and whatever game Shouto wants to play is sure to do that.

Two sets of eyes take in the way your breathing hitches and your legs press together in search of even a little bit of friction. Whatever protest Katsuki was going to make seems to die on his lips as he takes in the sight of your pupils blown wide with arousal.

Shouto grins against the side of your neck and presses a soft kiss over your pulse point, feeling it beat rapidly under his mouth. “You like that idea?” Shouto’s lips move to your jaw, and he releases your chin in favor of sliding his cold hand down to your naked breast, palming you. “You want him to watch me fuck you?”

These two are going to be the death of you. “Yes,” you choke out as his thumb rolls over your nipple. Frost prickles at your skin, the chill making you whine as Shouto’s hips rock forward against your ass.

A low groan and a muttered “fuck” come from Katsuki. His hands fall back to his sides, his eyes glued to you and Shouto. There’s a subtle twitch in his fingers, like he doesn’t know what he wants to do, but then his eyes darken with lust. A shiver curls down your back like a cold finger on your spine.

Heat crawls up your side as Shouto’s left hand slides from your hip to your ribs beneath your breast. “I bet you can’t stay still until I make her cum,” he goads Katsuki. You may not be able to see it, but you can clearly picture the smirk he’s hiding against your jaw. This devious streak wasn’t what you were expecting from him, but you certainly aren’t complaining, especially with the way Katsuki reacts to the challenge.

“Oh, yeah?” Katsuki growls. “Fuck you!” 

Surprise flits across your face as Katsuki immediately takes a step back and drops down onto the chair in the corner of your room, so close, but still painfully far away. As he shifts against the cushion, his pants slide further down to reveal an enticing strip of skin that has you wanting to bite his hip bones. There’s an almost smug look on his face as he glares at Shouto, but it doesn’t last long.

It happens too fast for you to process at first. 

Shouto grabs you by the waist and whirls you around. His hands hook under your thighs and yank. Gasping, you grab at him to hold yourself steady as your feet leave the floor, your shoes slipping off and clattering to the floor. Hungry lips find yours, stealing your breath and silencing a breathy moan. Shouto’s dress shirt gives under your hands as you yank him closer. Buttons scatter across the floor. The temperature drops drastically, and Shouto drops onto the bed with you beneath him at the same time the familiar sound of his quirk splits the silence.

“What the fuck, Todoroki?” Katsuki snaps.

As Katsuki’s yelp and the cold register, your mouth tears from Shouto’s, your head twisting to the side to investigate. He doesn’t seem to mind, lips immediately latching onto your jaw instead. Cold air is breathed against your neck, leaving a thin sheen of frost behind that melts just as quickly. You’ve been perfectly positioned to look at Katsuki from your spot on the bed, and your eyes widen when they lock on him. 

Ice is wrapped around his wrists, pinning him to the chair. Bewilderment and irritation flash in his eyes, and his lips are pulled back away from his teeth. Yanking at the icy restraints, Katsuki sneers when they don’t break into pieces like he wants them to. 

“Shouto,” you gasp.

His lips press against your cheek and start to trail down. “Relax,” he mumbles against the underside of your jaw. Warmth licks across your skin as his left hand grabs your thigh and begins to rub circles against your tense leg. His bare chest presses against yours, and there’s no denying how good it feels to have him pressed against you like this. “I’ll clean it up later.”

“You think this is funny, Icy Hot?”

“That’s not—oh!” A breathy sigh cuts you off as he starts nibbling at your neck. “That’s not what I’m worried about,” you tell him, still looking at Katsuki struggling silently against his bonds. It’s hard to think with Shouto’s hands and mouth on you, and the only other thing you manage to choke out is, “Frostbite!”

Unconcerned, Shouto leans down to kiss you again, ignoring Katsuki’s half-hearted grumbling in favor of tasting you. The way his mouth moves against yours is quickly becoming intoxicating. The pressure is just enough to make your head spin, and the heat that surrounds you is as comforting as it is electric. Your nerves are set on fire.

Shouto grabs both of your hands in his larger ones and laces your fingers together, careful not to crush you beneath his weight. Your hands are pinned to the mattress above your head, and you sigh against Shouto’s mouth as he angles your head to kiss you harder. The fingers linked through yours squeeze.

A small sound of protest slips from you as Shouto’s lips leave yours, and a breathy sound of amusement escapes the man hovering above you. One final kiss is pressed to your pouting lips, and then Shouto’s grip on you shifts. Both of your wrists are gathered in one of his hands.

“Katsuki will be fine.” Shouto leans back far enough to meet your eyes, his own gaze leaving yours to trail down your naked torso, appraising you. A low sound leaves the back of his throat as he drinks in the sight of you beneath him, panting and flushed. “It’s not that cold, and he can melt it himself if he really needs to.” With his shirt ripped open and his hair falling over his face, Shouto looks positively disheveled. There’s a devilish look in those blue-grey eyes that has your heart threatening to beat right out of your chest. His head cocks to the side. The palm around your wrists squeezes slightly, and with his free hand, Shouto is quick to yank the already loose tie from around his neck. “But if you’re really that worried, I suppose you’ll just have to be a good girl and cum for me in the next fifteen minutes.”

Your breath catches when you realize what he plans to do, but there’s no protest from you as the smooth and silky fabric is wrapped around your wrists. Even Katsuki has stopped grumbling about being tied down, just as turned on as you are. Shouto moves slowly as he loops the fabric around your wrists, watching every subtle expression that crosses your face, searching for discomfort or unease, but all he finds is open affection and trust. 

The silk tie keeps your hands stuck firmly in place as he uses more ice to freeze it to your headboard, and you lean into his hand when he trails his knuckles across your cheek. The ghost of a smile tugs at his lips.

“Beautiful,” he murmurs. He stares at you in awe for a moment longer, one hand holding him above you as the other begins to spider walk down your side, barely touching you. He leans in to press a chaste kiss to your lips.

Shouto’s breath tickles the shell of your ear, hot and stifling, and a smug grin curls on his lips as you shiver beneath him. A small pout forms on your face as you tug half-heartedly at the tie holding your wrists to the headboard. God, you want to touch him again already. Across the room, Katsuki’s fingers clench around the arm of the chair, the ice around his wrists already starting to melt into a puddle on the floor thanks to his higher than normal temperature. His throat bobs with a harsh swallow, crimson eyes locked on you. Cold fingers drag along the inside of your thigh, making you gasp and arch off the bed. Your hips jerk against Shouto’s, searching for friction you won’t get.

A pleased hum and warm lips against the corner of your mouth make your eyes slip shut. Shouto’s lips wander across your cheek, butterfly kisses left in his wake, and he whispers low for only you to hear, “Give him a show, love.” When you nod, Shouto leans down to press a gentle kiss to your lips.

The icy fingers on your thigh trace a path from your knee to your core before Shouto suddenly hooks your thigh around his hip, spreading your legs wider as his heated left hand slides from the side of your face down past your collarbone, and those skilled fingers of his close around your breast and squeeze, gently kneading your skin before his thumb rolls over your nipple. His mouth follows the path of his hand, and you shudder as he drags his teeth against the hickey he left earlier, darkening the bruise with a harsh suck. A series of hot kisses trail down your collarbone to your heaving chest, and Shouto makes a low sound of approval as his lips follow the curve of your breast.

When his teeth dig into the soft swell of flesh, your head falls back with a breathy moan. Your back bows off the bed, pressing your soft skin even closer to his hungry mouth. Keening, your eyes flutter shut as the tip of his tongue swirls around your nipple before flicking over the peaked bud. His mouth is wet and hot enough to make your toes curl against his lower back.

The heat of his breath fans across your chest, and your mind blanks when he takes your nipple into his mouth and sucks, flicking his tongue over the peaked flesh.

Katsuki shifts against his chair. “This is fucking stupid,” he complains, his eyes narrowed in irritation despite the way he’s utterly transfixed by the quiet gasps and coos that Shouto keeps pulling from your pretty mouth with every calculated swipe of his fingers and tongue against your sensitive skin.

Shouto’s mouth leaves your breast with a wet sound, and you shiver as he breathes cold air over your nipple to watch you squirm beneath him. “Scared to lose?” he asks Katsuki, not even sparing the other man a glance as he returns to kissing and licking his way down your quivering torso.

A loud scoff is the reply to Shouto’s jab. “Maybe I just don’t want your dirty hands all over her, bastard,” Katsuki grumbles. He shifts in his seat again, and through half-lidded eyes you notice the very prominent bulge forming beneath his slacks.

With his fingers nudging your legs apart farther, a loud squeal escapes you as Shouto’s tongue flicks wetly against your belly button. Katsuki’s eyes snap back to you. His throat bobs with a harsh swallow, and there’s nothing he can do but watch in rapt fascination as your head tips back and you take your bottom lip between your teeth to smother a moan.

“Katsuki,” you whimper, eyes screwing shut as Shouto’s lips follow the hem of your panties with his mouth. His fingers dig into your inner thighs, and a sudden image strikes you right between your legs. “Would you just stay there? For me?” You force your eyes open again in time to see his mouth opening to disagree, and you choke out the words before he can complain. “I want to watch you touch yourself.”

That gets his attention. Even Shouto stops teething at your hip to glance up at you, one eyebrow arched curiously. Primal need flickers in his eyes, and there’s something outrageously sexy about having him stare at you from between your legs.

“Oh?” Amusement is thick in Katsuki’s voice as he leans forward in his chair and sends you a wicked grin. He practically preens at your admission, chest puffed up and eyes alight with mischief. “If that’s what you want, you should have just asked, babe.” There’s a popping sound as he flexes his arms, and it’s accompanied by a small spark before the restraints around his wrists melt enough for the ice to crack and tumble to the floor. His arms are tinged red where the ice was stuck to his skin, but Katsuki either doesn’t mind or doesn't care as he makes himself more comfortable.

You hold your breath when his thumbs slip beneath the waist of his slacks, and then the dark fabric is being shoved down his hips. Katsuki is quick to kick them off as they catch around his ankles, and his smile grows even more smug as your gaze drops to the bulge in his pants. It looks bigger now without his pants in the way, and your thighs squeeze around Shouto’s waist in delight.

“Like what you see?” Katsuki asks you, nothing short of smug as your eyes rake over every inch of his naked skin. Two fingers slip beneath his underwear, flirting with the hem as he drags it down another inch. He doesn’t take it off though, content with teasing you for now.

“Definitely,” you say, licking your lips as Katsuki begins to palm his cock over the thin fabric.

Shouto’s hot breath fans over your covered core as he plays with the lacy edge of your underwear. “Try not to cum too fast,” he murmurs, glancing at Katsuki. Before the other man has a chance to bark back a retort, Shouto loops his fingers around your panties. “I’m taking these off.”

That’s your only warning before the scrap of fabric is yanked down your legs. Automatically, you raise your hips to help him, and Shouto makes an appreciative sound as he pulls your soaked underwear down your legs and tosses it somewhere on the floor. In the next moment, Shouto has your legs tossed over his shoulders, his hands wrapped around your thighs to hold you still. His breath ghosts over your slick folds in a way that has you shuddering with excitement. Anticipation makes your heart leap into your throat, and a breathy moan tumbles from your lips as he presses his mouth against your inner thigh. 

Mismatched eyes flicker up to look at you.

You have your head tossed back against the mattress, your eyes half-lidded with pleasure and your spine arched off the bed as he places a gentle kiss on your sweat-slicked skin, the flat of his tongue flicking out to drag across your leg for a brief taste. Another soft kiss is pressed to the same spot, and then his teeth are on you.

Faint, red marks follow the trail his mouth makes as his lips wander across inches of skin he’s wanted to touch for ages. You’re soft and pliant beneath him, pretty gasps and coos falling from your lips with each kiss and lick. Shouto sighs as he mouths at you, drinking in your sweet scent and committing your taste to memory.

Mewling, you force yourself to look at the man currently nipping at your thigh. Blue and grey swirl together beneath messy red and white bangs that tickle your skin each time he moves, and when your eyes lock with his, Shouto sinks his teeth into your leg hard enough for your breathing to hitch. 

“Shouto,” you whimper, his name barely more than a breath, but it spurs him on anyway. His hands squeeze around your thighs as his thumbs draw soothing circles against you, softening you up.

Shouto is unrelenting in the way he nips and sucks at one spot until you can hardly stand it anymore, maintaining eye-contact with you the entire time, and when he finally pulls away there’s a nice sized bruise on your inner thigh that’ll be there for days. A sharp inhale reaches your ears, and then he blows freezing air against the wet mark he’s left behind just to watch you gasp and squirm.

You’re panting by the time he returns to peppering your thighs with butterfly kisses, staying just shy of where you need him most.

The difference in the temperatures between his palms has you shaking beneath him as he squeezes your thighs or drags the tips of his fingers across your legs. And the light touches make you hiss between your teeth each time he stops short of touching your dripping slit. It’s the sweetest torture you’ve ever experienced. Every teasing touch has you growing wetter as your arousal grows into a white-hot need that makes your core ache. And Shouto knows it, too, judging by the subtle curl of his lips against the inside of your thigh.

Across the room, Katsuki takes in each minute shift in your expression with rapt fascination, enjoying the little show you and Shouto are putting on. He’s perfectly positioned to watch your chest heave and your eyes screw shut every time Shouto does something you like. The tie holding your wrists down is pulled taut, the ice chipping away each time you yank at your bonds in an attempt to grab fistfuls of Shouto’s hair. As much as Katsuki would love to be the one making you positively writhe like that, he’s finding watching to be something he enjoys almost as much.

His cock throbs as another whimper falls from your mouth when Shouto drags his teeth across your thigh, and Katsuki rolls his hips against his hand, palming himself harder and imagining it was your smaller hand stroking him instead.

“If you’re not going to eat her damn pussy, get the fuck out of the way so I can, Icy Hot,” Katsuki snaps, hand slipping beneath the dark fabric of his underwear. His voice is breathier than usual as his fingers wrap around his length and give his cock a slow stroke. Your name comes out as a low groan from between his clenched teeth as his hot hand pumps his shaft, his hips rocking against his fist.

The sound goes straight to your core, and you bite your lip as Shouto drags freezing fingers across the inside of your leg.

“Do you ever stop bitching?” the man between your legs asks Katsuki in that deep, baritone voice that makes it hard for you to think, let alone breathe. Cold air is breathed over your slit this time, and you squirm at the unfamiliar sensation against your sensitive core.

Katsuki growls as he glares at Shouto, though the fire in his eyes is dampened by his flushed face and the raw need on his face as he continues to stroke his cock. “The fuck did you just say to me?”

Eyes rolling, Shouto doesn’t bother to respond. A high, breathy squeal escapes you when Shouto’s tongue suddenly swipes through your slick folds, the freezing tip dipping inside you before catching on your clit. “Shouto,” you gasp, hips bucking against his face. His hands grip your legs tighter, effortlessly holding you down as he finally turns his attention to your needy core.

“I thought you wanted to watch Katsuki?” he reminds you casually. He lets go of you with one hand only to give your leg a quick slap that doesn’t hurt so much as surprise you. Your heels dig into his back in retaliation. “Eyes on him, love,” Shouto demands with a roughness to his voice that has liquid arousal shooting through your veins.

It’s harder than you imagined it would be to force your eyes to stay on Katsuki as Shouto turns his attention to your slick folds, and he certainly doesn’t make it easy for you. One of his hands releases your thigh only to reach around your trembling leg, and another high-pitched, keening sound leaves your mouth as the pad of his thumb traces your wet slit, feeling just how wet you are for the two of them. An approving grunt rumbles in his chest, and Shouto’s tongue begins to pamper your clit with little kitten-licks. The temperature changes with every few strokes, keeping you on edge as he teases you.

Your wrists twist against your bonds as ice water begins to drip down your arms, the ice pinning you down melting slowly. Katsuki’s eyes follow the teasing line of water as it rolls across your skin, and his tongue slips out to wet his lips.

Katsuki shifts his underwear down enough for you to get a good look at the flushed, mushroom head of his cock as he strokes himself. Your eyes jump between his face and the way his hand is slowly working his hard, thick shaft. His head is tipped back against the chair, his stare half-lidded and hot as he drags his gaze over your sweat-slicked torso, watching your chest heave and your breasts bounce every time Shouto switches the temperature of his tongue from near scalding heat to freezing cold.

“Fuck,” Katsuki murmurs. His grip tightens around his cock as he groans your name, and he palms himself with a tight fist, keeping his pace slow and even. The muscles in his abdomen are tense, a thin layer of sweat starting to build on his skin as his hips begin to buck against his hand. Pre-cum is already beading at the head of his cock, and Katsuki mutters a curse as his thumb swipes over the sticky fluid and swirls it over the sensitive tip.

Your mouth waters at the sight, and you watch, transfixed, as Katsuki’s hips rock forward against his hand. His jaw is clenched, and a low groan pushes through his teeth as he adjusts his wrist for a better angle.

The flat of Shouto’s tongue suddenly grinds against your clit in a way that has you seeing stars, and you shudder beneath him, fighting to keep your eyes open as pressure slowly builds between your thighs, the coil in your stomach already winding tight between the mouth working magic on your clit and the show Katsuki is putting on.

Two fingers slip into you easily, you're so wet, and you moan quietly at the stretch. His fingers are longer than your own, bigger and better as they curl inside of you, expertly finding the spot along the top of your walls that has you practically writhing beneath him. And when his lips wrap around your clit and suck, your back arches off the bed, tears forming in the corners of your eyes.

Pleasure coils into a tight little ball between your legs with each flick of his tongue and rough thrust from his fingers, and you bite down on your lip to stifle another loud moan, leaving the only sounds in the room coming from Katsuki’s heavy panting and the slick, wet sound of Shouto’s mouth and fingers toying with you, which would be embarrassing if it didn’t turn you on even more.

The fingers inside of you heat up as Shouto’s hand thrusts against you slowly, alternating between curling and spreading his fingers inside of you to find what gets the best reactions from you. His teeth graze your puffy clit, and his right hand releases your thigh to slide against your stomach. The sweat on your skin freezes beneath his touch. Whimpering, you try to shift away from his teasing fingers, but you’re stuck firm.

The chilled pad of his thumb rolls over your nipple before he palms your breast, kneading you with rough fingers before moving on to squeezing and pinching at your nipple, playing with the sensitive nub. A quiet noise must slip from you, because a moment later he redoubles his efforts.

Your hips buck upwards, grinding against his mouth, and your eyes leave Katsuki to glance at Shouto, only to find him already looking at you. His fingers graze a spot deep inside you that makes your toes curl, and your thighs squeeze around his head to pull him closer.

“Shouto,” you gasp, “stop teasing!” The knot in your stomach is so tight it’s almost painful. He has you teetering just on the edge, so close to tipping over, but before you can give in to the pleasure, he pulls his mouth from your aching clit and stops fucking you with his hand. A whimper tears from your chest at the lack of stimulation. Across the room, Katsuki swears, hips stuttering at the breathy sound you’ve made.

Turning his head to the side, Shouto brushes his mouth against the hickey on your thigh, leaving you desperate and wanting. His lips are slick with your arousal, and the sticky fluid smears across your skin as he presses one last kiss to your leg. “Relax, angel,” he murmurs, using one of Katsuki’s pet names. The tip of his tongue swipes across his bottom lip, tasting you.

You’ve barely come down from the edge he put you on before his fingers are thrusting inside of you again, faster this time, twisting inside of you roughly with every intention of getting you off this time. Your slick walls clench around his digits, your core throbbing as heat curls through your limbs. The hand on your chest gets colder in response, and you gasp at the chill before he lets you go.

When those cold fingers reappear on your clit, you almost scream at the sensation. Your hands yank at the headboard, your breath hitching when he rubs slow circles over your swollen clit. The pressure has you shaking, but it’s not enough. Not quite. And when Shouto pulls his fingers away again, you aren’t sure if you want to curse or cry.

His mouth moves against your thigh. “Cum for me,” he murmurs before he takes your clit between his lips and sucks. 

The demand registers a second later, and your hips roll against his mouth and hand, desperate for more. The coil inside of you is wound painfully tight, and as Shouto pinches your clit between his teeth something inside of you snaps. You come apart beneath him, writhing against the sheets as his fingers continue to curl and twist inside of you, not giving you a second to breathe.

A silent scream lodges in your throat, your entire body going taut as your orgasm rips through you, and a wicked idea comes to mind after Shouto’s teasing. Two can play at that game. As your back arches off the bed and your thighs threaten to clamp around Shouto’s head, you call out, “Katsuki!” before you fall back against the bed, breathless.

There’s a moment of silence as both men freeze, and two pairs of eyes lock onto you. A surprised yet smug look flashes across Katsuki’s face, but Shouto’s gaze narrows, his brows pinched in irritation.

A barely audible “fuck” reaches your ears, and then Katsuki lunges from his chair. Shouto reacts just as quickly. Slick fingers pull from your fluttering walls and slide wetly across your thigh, and you wince as his thumb brushes against your over sensitive clit with a precision that can’t be anything less than intentional. His mouth and chin are wet with your arousal, but neither of you care as his mouth claims yours in a sloppy kiss. The ice pinning you in place melts and evaporates in an instant with a well placed burst of flames that disappear as quickly as they come; Shouto rips at the tie wrapped around your wrists, and suddenly your hands are free.

The urge to touch him comes back to you in full force. You give in. As your hand fists in his hair, Shouto groans against your mouth, and the sound vibrates through your chest as you’re pressed flush against him. He rolls the two of you so that you’re sitting on the bed, Shouto with his legs dangling over the edge, his feet planted firmly on the floor, and you straddling his lap with your knees pressed to the mattress on either side of him.

Heat licks up your spine as Katsuki comes up behind you, his chest pressed against your back and his hands on your hips. The shift in balance has you reeling, and your reactions are slow as the last strings of pleasure start to dissolve back into a needy ache that only intensifies as you feel them pressing against you. Anticipation bursts into a wildfire inside you, growing with unrestrained intensity as they touch you.

A soft sound of protest slips out as Shouto’s mouth leaves yours, but it becomes a breathy sound as Katsuki leans down to press his lips to the side of your neck. The kiss is rough, his teeth scraping across your skin and mouth sucking with every intention of leaving his own mark behind. At the same time, Shouto gently tugs one of your hands away from his hair. Your fingers thread through his, and he guides your wrist to his mouth, placing a kiss so soft against the reddened skin of your wrist that it makes your chest squeeze.

When he lets go again, your arm loops back around his neck, fingers finding purchase in the collar of his ruined shirt. “You’re overdressed,” you murmur as he presses his forehead against yours.

Shouto grunts as your hips grind down against his covered cock, and his fingers squeeze around your upper thigh. “Then do something about it.”

Behind you, Katsuki makes a low, annoyed sound against the side of your neck. “Yeah, yeah, Icy Hot needs to get naked,” he grumbles, rolling his eyes. “Less fucking talking.” He reaches between you to grope you and leans away, spreading your cheeks for a better look at your ass.

You can’t help but tease him. “So impatient,” you say, staring down into Shouto’s eyes. He’s just as amused as you are. However, that amusement disappears in an instant as Katsuki’s hips roll forward, his hard cock grinding up against your ass. The movement knocks you forward, and your hips are pressed flush against Shouto’s, causing you both to groan.

Smug, self-satisfaction makes Katsuki practically preen as you squirm against Shouto’s lap. The two of you are flushed from the contact, and Katsuki smirks at Shouto over your shoulder, silently proud of himself for getting a reaction out of the more stoic man. “Gonna tell me where the lube is so I can fuck that pretty little ass?” His breath is hot against your skin as his teeth brush against the shell of your ear. His voice turns mocking as he ruts against you. “Or were you all talk earlier?”

Flushed, you manage to choke out, “Dresser. Bottom drawer on the left.”

Katsuki grins against the side of your neck. “Good girl.” You yelp as he slaps your ass, his hands squeezing your hips one last time before he releases you in favor of hunting down the aforementioned lube.

With his weight gone from your back, you shift on Shouto’s lap and grab either side of his shirt, staring down at his bare chest with a wicked look in your eyes. “You look good like this,” you murmur, gesturing to his rumpled state. His hair is a mess, red and white stands bleeding together, and you brush your fingers through his hair, pushing the damp strands away from his face.

“So do you.” He leans into your hand as your fingers brush against the scar surrounding his eye, your touch soothing.

Your lips curve into a smile. “You’re only saying that because I’m naked.”

But Shouto shakes his head. His hands squeeze around your thighs again before slowly traveling up your back. You lean down to meet him again as his fingers wind through your hair, and he presses a chaste kiss to your lips as you push his shirt past his shoulders. It bunches around his elbows. “You’re beautiful,” he says bluntly, reluctantly releasing you to pull his shirt off the rest of the way. Immediately, his arms wrap around you, and he yanks you back against his chest so there’s no space left between you.

Giggling, you trail the tips of your fingers down his chest and stomach. Shouto grunts and rocks up against you as your fingers drag across the bulge in his pants. His slacks are painfully tight by now, and you lean down to give him a kiss as you work his belt loose. The button snaps open with ease, and you carefully lower the zipper of his pants. You help him out of his slacks, Shouto pressing up against you as he slides them down over his thighs before tossing them aside.

As soon as they’re gone, you’re quick to slip your fingers beneath his underwear, your fingers wrapping around his cock and giving an experimental squeeze. You stroke him slowly, your thumb swirling over the head as he rocks his hips against your hand. Low groans and murmurs of your name are your reward, and you shift on his lap, leaning away just to watch his head tilt back and his eyes fight to stay open. Shouto’s expression is nothing short of erotic, and you drink in the sight of him like this: panting and hot beneath your hands.

You’ve shoved his underwear down and changed the angle of your wrist by the time Katsuki  comes back with a bottle of lube and a pair of condoms. He tosses one to Shouto, who catches it reflexively. The wrapper crinkles in his palm.

Biting your lip, you shudder as Katsuki presses his naked cock against your ass, his underwear gone this time as he ruts against you. Liquid heat pools low in your belly, and you’re so wet and ready for them that you can’t stand it. Shouto grinds against the inside of your thigh. One of his hands snakes up your torso to palm your breast.

“Please,” you breathe, needing them both to start fucking you now before you explode.

Katsuki rips open the condom wrapper with his teeth and a pleased hiss escapes through his teeth as he rolls it onto his cock. “Your ass is mine, angel.” He grunts as he drizzles a decent amount of cold lube onto his fingers. “Think you can handle it?”

You gasp as he spreads you from behind and swirls his fingers around your tight hole. The tip of his finger presses against your ass, and your back arches as he starts to wiggle it into you, the lube making it easy for him to slip in up to his knuckles. “What makes you think you’re the first thing I’ve had in my ass?” you say breathlessly, rocking your hips back against his hand as he starts to thrust and curl his finger inside of you.

“You shouldn’t antagonize him, love,” Shouto tells you, but it’s hard for you to take him seriously when you roll your thumb over the head of his cock to spread the pre-cum beading there and he hisses between his teeth. His fingers bite into your hips, and you stroke him harder in retaliation.

It isn’t long before Katsuki is working a second finger into you, and you moan against Shouto’s mouth as he leans forward to smother your gasps and whimpers of pleasure. His hand bats your fingers away from his cock, and you grasp his shoulders to hold yourself steady as he rips open the condom and rolls it onto his dick. You sigh as his cockhead presses against your slit, rubbing through your wetness.

A loud moan pulls from your throat as your mouth leaves Shouto’s. It’s all you can do to hold yourself upright as the man beneath you guides you over his cock. His thumb brushes against your clit, and you shove yourself back harder against Katsuki’s thick fingers, loving the stretch of him fingering your ass.

“Inside,” you gasp, wriggling against them. “Now.”

They don’t need to be told twice.

Katsuki pulls his fingers from your ass, and for a moment you’re achingly empty inside before the head of his cock takes the place of his hand. You whimper at the stretch, his cock thicker than his fingers were, and your head drops down to rest on Shouto’s shoulder as Katsuki works his dick into your ass inch by inch. Shivers wrack your spine, and Shouto hushes you, his hands running up and down your back. He squeezes your hips, peppers your cheek and jaw with tiny kisses to distract you from the pressure.

When his hips are tight against your ass, Katsuki presses his chest against your back, the sweat on your skin making it easy for him to slide against you. Your fingernails bite into Shouto’s shoulders as you slowly lower yourself onto his cock. He slips inside easily you’re so wet, your walls snug around him. A choked moan bubbles in your chest as you’re filled by their cocks. The fullness has you seeing stars.

The first few thrusts are tentative, slow and shallow as they find a rhythm that makes you moan. You roll your hips to match them, grinding against them whenever they pull out, leaving just the tips in before plunging back inside. Muffled praises and pleas keep spilling from you, begging for them to move faster, to fuck you harder, and all you can do is hold on as they comply.

Katsuki reaches around to grope your breast, and he mutters curses against your ear as you clench around him when he rolls your nipple between his fingers, pinching and squeezing roughly. Each pretty moan that leaves your mouth only spurs him on. His cock is pounding against your ass, and you’re so damn tight and hot inside that he can’t help the grunts and groans slipping from his own mouth.

Shouto isn’t any better off. He has his hands on your hips, his grip tight as he drags you up and down on his cock. Your pussy is squeezed around him tightly, your walls fluttering around him, and the sounds you’re making are breathed against his ear. Your fingers are in his hair again, pulling at the silky stands, and he moans as you roll your hips against his harder, grinding against him.

Their pace is fast and rough, and they have you close to cumming again almost embarrassingly quickly. You’ve already cum once, and everything is sensitive. There’s no teasing this time, no hesitation as they fuck you to their own rhythm, and god do you love it. It’s an intoxicating mess of hands and mouth on your skin, kissing and squeezing and pulling until you can barely think anymore. Pleasure ripples through you in waves, little electric shocks making you twitch and shiver until you almost can’t take it anymore.

Sweat rolls down your back. Katsuki’s teeth find the curve of your shoulder, and his other hand wraps around your front to grab your other breast, giving it the same treatment as the first. Your eyes find Shouto’s through the hazy feeling spreading through your limbs; his gaze is magnetic, pulling you in deeper until you’re practically drowning in him.

Unable to stay quiet for long, Katsuki huffs against the back of your neck. “Shit,” he growls against you, hips slapping against your ass with every harsh thrust. “This is fucking hot.” He pinches your nipples between his fingers, and you keen. “How’s that feel, angel? You like getting fucked with two cocks at once?” 

“Yes,” you gasp, mewling as their cocks slam into you at the same time, stretching you wide until you’re almost unbearably full. “Fuck.” Shouto’s cock is rubbing over your sweet spot with every thrust, and the way his hips are grinding against yours has the fine hairs above his shaft teasing your clit just enough to feed into the growing knot in your stomach. 

“You’re taking us so well, love,” Shouto murmurs, breath fanning over your face. His right hand sneaks between your legs, and your hips jerk against both of their cocks as cold fingers start to play with your clit. The first stroke of his fingers almost has you sobbing as pleasure shoots up your spine and spreads through your limbs.

And then his thumb presses against you and rubs. The coil in your belly tightens unbearably before snapping painfully fast. You tense, the breath knocked out of you in a rush, and all you can do is choke out their names as your muscles clench down around their cocks. Their rhythm stutters, but doesn’t stop.

Heat rips through you all the way to your toes. You’re dizzy with it. Exhaustion settles in your bones, and you sag against Shouto’s chest, panting. All you can do is hold on as they fuck you through your orgasm, drawing out your pleasure until it’s too much.

“Oh, god,” you say, nonsense spilling from your lips. “Oh, fuck. I can’t—”

“One more,” Shouto demands, punctuating the statement with another harsh snap of his hips against yours. His fingers don’t slow, circling over your swollen clit in fast circles. The cold only makes you more sensitive, and you twitch, unable to breathe. “You can give us one more.”

The pounding doesn’t stop, filthy, wet sounds accompanying their thrusts as their own orgasms take hold. Their rhythm from before falls apart, thrusts becoming erratic and rougher. Your thighs are quivering, sweat dripping down your skin. Katsuki pinches your nipples harder, tugging at them before he palms your breasts and squeezes. Between your thighs, Shouto’s fingers get even colder, and your hips jerk wildly, which pleases them both.

The cold fingers on your clit disappear for a split second, only to be replaced by ones that are hot, and you cum on their cocks a second time as Shouto pinches your clit before rolling it between his fingers.

Neither is far behind you. Your tight walls and quivering muscles are too much. Their thrusts stutter again. Katsuki’s cock shoves into your ass as deeply as he can and stays there, and a garbled mess of curses fall from his lips as he spills into the condom. Shouto moans your name as your pussy clenches around him, your slick walls fluttering and pulling him over the edge as well. You can only whimper as he continues to rock against you, cock twitching as he cums.

The three of you are panting, sweaty messes, and it’s not until their cocks start to soften that they pull out of you with slick sounds.

It’s all you can do not to collapse against Shouto’s chest, boneless and exhausted. Katsuki’s heat leaves your back, and you can hear him shuffling behind you, but don’t bother to move, only half-listening as he tosses the used condom in the trash and mumbles something you don’t catch. With your head lolled against his chest, Shouto’s fingers stroke the length of your spine until you finally catch your breath.

Eventually, you’re able to slide from his lap, lingering for a moment longer than necessary. You press a sloppy kiss against his naked shoulder, and Shouto sighs as he gives your hips one last squeeze before letting go. The floor is cold beneath your feet, and your legs almost buckle as you stand, a cramp forming in your thigh, but you’re too blissed out and happy to care.

“Katsuki, I’m taking your shirt,” you murmur, searching the floor for the still intact button-up before grabbing a fresh pair of underwear from your drawer.

“Oi! Angel!” Katsuki barks at you as you’re slipping your panties up your legs. There’s a concerned glare on his face, but it softens as you glance at him over your shoulder. “How ya feelin’?” He’s already dressed in his boxers again, looking unfairly good standing in the middle of your room with his arms crossed and a light sheen of sweat covering his torso.

You hum to yourself as you scoop his shirt off the floor and slip it on, only bothering with a few buttons. Two pairs of eyes follow you. “Good,” you respond after a moment. “Sore, but really good.”

A cocky grin spreads across Katsuki’s face. “Damn right.” There’s nothing subtle about the way his eyes rake over you. You can practically hear the thoughts of a round two floating through his head.

Shouto rolls his eyes at Katsuki and sits back down on your bed, also dressed in nothing but his underwear. “You are so…” He trails off with a shake of his head, and your lips twitch in amusement.

Katsuki glares at the other man. “You wanna finish that, Icy Hot?”

“Not really.” Shouto turns to you as you walk back towards him. A quiet sound leaves his mouth as you crawl back onto his lap and nuzzle against him, looping your arms around his neck lazily. “Need anything?” he asks you, rubbing your back over your stolen shirt.

You shake your head. “No. Just tired.” Warm lips press against your temple, and you stiffen as a sudden thought crosses your mind. The three of you hadn’t really taken the time to talk about whatever this was, aside from making sure all three of you were okay with it. Your stomach flips, content joy beginning to sour. “This…” You bite your lip and trace a scar on Shouto’s shoulder with your fingers. “This wasn’t just a one time thing, was it?”

“The fuck—”

“No,” Shouto cuts Katsuki off before he can start shouting. A strong arm squeezes around your waist, but you don’t lean back to look at either of them. Not yet. “Not unless you want it to be.”

Finally, you pull your head from his chest to look at them both. Katsuki has moved to stand beside the bed, his arms still crossed and his ruby eyes narrowed, but you can tell he’s in agreement with Shouto. Both men are staring down at you, waiting for you to speak.

There’s no complaint from you. “And you’re okay with this? Both of you?” You glance between them seriously. “I don’t want to make things weird for you.” There’s more to it than that, and the three of you are going to have a long talk in the morning about what all of this means, but right now, you’re tired and sore, and you just really want to crawl into bed and cuddle.

Shouto is nothing short of blunt when he says, “Do you really think I would have put up with seeing Bakugou’s naked ass if I wasn’t okay with it?” The dryness of his tone makes you giggle.

Katsuki bares his teeth. “Fuck you, Todoroki! My ass is great!” When your laughter only gets louder, Katsuki glances at you with a barely there smile that makes your heart skip. “Good fucking luck gettin’ rid of us, sweetheart. You’re stuck with us now.”

A sound of agreement comes from Shouto, and he gives your thigh a comforting squeeze. “If we didn’t make it clear enough earlier, we aren’t going anywhere,” he promises. “Katsuki and I discussed some things the other night. So long as you’re okay with this, I think we’re all in agreement here.”

You hum again, exhaustion replacing your worry. “Good,” you murmur as you drop your head back against Shouto’s shoulder, eyes already slipping shut. “That’s good.”

“We tire you out that much, angel?”

“Get in the damn bed, Katsuki.”

He does.

The three of you manage to situate yourselves on your bed, huddled together with barely any space left between you. You’re squished between them, partially lying on Shouto’s chest with your head tucked between his shoulder and neck. Legs are tangled beneath the sheets, and your arm is stretched across his stomach. Nonsensical shapes and patterns are drawn across his side, and your hair tickles his skin each time he exhales. Katsuki is lying with his back to you both, only a hairbreadth of space left between you. You aren’t touching. Not really. But you can feel him there with each breath he takes, can feel the heat rolling from his body in waves.

Despite how tired you are and how comfortable and safe you feel with them surrounding you, sleep doesn’t come easy to you. Thoughts keep whirring through you as silence creeps in around you, the darkness allowing your mind to wander. Katsuki and Shouto are still awake too—you can tell by their breathing.

It’s when you start thinking about telling your friends about this and how things might change that a sudden realization strikes you in the chest and you stiffen, a hitch in your breathing.

The sudden tension in your shoulders makes Shouto frown, and his brows furrow in confusion as he glances down at you. There’s a faraway look in your eyes, your expression troubled, and his stomach churns with ice. “What’s wrong?” he asks softly, gaining your attention as his fingers begin to stroke the back of your neck. “Did we do something?”

The concern in his voice snaps you from your thoughts, and you lift your head from his chest to glance at him, eyes widening. “No! No, it’s not that.” His grip around you tightens, and you sigh. “I was just thinking.”

Blue-grey eyes search yours, his expression carefully blank. “About what?”

Lying back down, you bite this inside of your cheek as you consider how to phrase your worry. “The media would have a field day if they found out about this,” you tell him, lips curving into a frown. Working closely with Heroes the way you do, you’ve seen the way the media latches onto gossip. Especially gossip involving relationships. Pro Heroes are celebrities in their own way, and you can only imagine what would happen if your little rendezvous with not one, but two incredibly popular and attractive young Heroes went public.

The thought makes you just a little bit sick.

A loud scoff comes from the man pressed against your back. You lift your head from Shouto’s chest and glance over your shoulder, only to find one red eye glaring at you through the darkness.

“If you think me an’ Icy Hot would let a bunch of fucking vultures say shit about you, you’re a fucking idiot,” Katsuki grumbles, eloquent as ever. The heavy stare cast your way lasts for a moment longer before he drops his head back onto his pillow and goes back to staring at the wall. He mutters something else under his breath that’s too quiet for you to make out, but then he shifts against the mattress, moving just enough to press his back against yours. One of his legs hooks around yours, joining the tangled mess of limbs.

The gruff comment makes Shouto sigh, exasperation clear in the single puff of air. Even still, he doesn’t disagree. The arm wrapped around your shoulders squeezes you a little tighter, and Shouto’s forearm presses against the back of Katsuki’s shoulder blades in a subtle show of affection. Warm lips press against your temple and linger in a slow, sweet kiss. 

Your heart squeezes in your chest.

“I know.”

[elexica]

Second Chance Christmas {{ December 26 }}  - Last Chapter -

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27832405/chapters/69446895

"I can promise that I am not giving up on us.”

Full chapter under the read more!

Joey had awoken either alone or to the sounds of needy children almost every morning for the last three years.  At first, waking up without Seto there was a relief—he didn’t have to deal with him or any of the intensity that came with Seto Kaiba.

Eventually, he did miss him in that bleary moment.  It was frustrating that the first few minutes of his morning, every morning, were dedicated to a feeling of loss.

Even that had faded away. For a while now, waking up in his own bed didn’t inspire any thoughts of Seto.  Joey had returned to a state where his mornings were not tarnished by Kaiba’s absence.

But his taste of Christmas with the man—the kind one who had so graciously been a part of his family, not the cold one, who left into the snow without a second thought—was enough to leave Joey tormented.

Waking up alone had never seemed as empty than the morning of that day after Christmas.  He opened his phone screen, tapped the world clock app, and saw that it was already late in the evening in Domino.  Kaiba had no doubt already landed and returned to his life, as if nothing had happened.

The entire good experience melted right off of Kaiba.  Back to his old life, his old ways.  Unchanged, unaffected.

It felt like there was broken glass inside Joey's chest.  It was almost nauseating to feel so disconnected after everything that had happened.

But something had happened. Something had changed, Joey was sure of it.  And things could be different.  

He had gone to sleep so troubled with these conflicting thoughts, but sitting in his quiet bed, watching the snow sprinkle down, he had a new sense of clarity.

When he closed his eyes, he could see their future stretch in front of him, days and weeks and years sprawling across the room.

Joey would never get rid of all of those things that Kaiba had left behind.  He was a sentimental bastard, and at least he knew who he was.  Joey’s eyes hit the wedding photo lingering in his room.  If Joey couldn’t even toss out the extra turtlenecks after three years, Joey was not optimistic he’d ever fully clean out the house and wipe all the traces of Kaiba from the home.

And goddamn it, he knew Kaiba too.

That man wasn’t going to move on either.

So, Joey supposed, they might just keep doing this.  Every time they exchanged the kids, would Kaiba tag along for some ill-advised tryst?  Like an addiction, circling back for another self-destructive hit, knowing nothing could really change.

Or would he avoid Joey like the plague, and instead every few years fall into some act of God that would leave them to another excruciatingly loving experience.

How many times would his life be uprooted by falling back in love with that asshole?  How many longing touches would they scatter across decades?  

Playing enemies while secretly pining for each other?  Damn it, hadn’t they already gotten that out of their system?

Joey was so fucking sick of missing him.

Kaiba was too stubborn, and maybe too hurt, to make the move.  Joey hated the emotional responsibility that fell on his shoulders.

But, Joey wondered, had he actually laid it all on the line?  He never once asked Kaiba not to return to Japan.  He blocked the door, but he didn’t actually say it.  He showed up at the airport, but he didn’t actually say it.

His ex-husband had the emotional intelligence of a brick on a good day.  Joey wasn’t just as bad as Kaiba for not just saying it.  But Joey sat in bed, the cold covers pooling around him, and considered that he could be part of the problem.

And maybe, if he wanted them to be back together, he had to do it.  If he didn’t want to live this way forever—he was in a position to change it.  He wasn’t corporation stock, he wasn’t an asset, something without any control over what Kaiba did.

So Joey got up.  He made himself some coffee.  It was seven in the morning, but he was sitting at the kitchen counter, dated laptop jammed open, on the speakerphone with Serenity before the hour was over.

Everyone always admired Kaiba’s force of will.  A personality that could overcome every adversity, defy reality itself, control space and time.  Master the global marketplace, dominate the NASDAQ, and change the fabric of society.

But Joey’s force of will was something else too.  And he wasn’t going to wait for however many years it took for Kaiba to admit that he wanted to stay there, in their home, raising their children together.

If he had to, he’d drag the bastard straight from Japan.  His dumb husband was just waiting there, getting old and sad in some fancy condo.

And so he spent the entire plane ride to Domino city trying to figure out exactly what it was that he wanted to say to set his stupid, stupid man straight.

. . .

“Mokuba?” Joey hoped it was still the right phone number.  The Kaiba brothers were always updating things, changing software, making their communication methods that much trickier to obtain.  It was a real possibility that this phone number now only went to a stranger.

“Jounouchi!  What’s up?  How are you doing?  The kids are growing up so freakin’ cute!”

Joey was disarmed by how warm Mokuba always was.  And it laid bare just how little he’d really thought through the plan.  “Um, well, I’m in Domino.  I’m here to see…” Joey almost said Kaiba. But it was off-putting to refer to their shared last name.  It never bothered him as a teen, but as an adult it sometimes hit Joey that Mokuba probably didn’t love the traces of language that made it clear that he was the secondary Kaiba when it came to these affairs.  Still, Joey wasn’t sure he was allowed to call him Seto anymore.

“Ah, I see.  Nii-sama just got back yesterday.  Seto didn’t tell me any of the details, but…” Mokuba’s tone shifted.  “Everything okay?”

The question was stingingly sincere.

Joey sighed on the other end of the line.  “Yeah, you know your brother.  I mean.  Look.  I’m in Domino and I guess I just need to see him.  It’s dumb—”

“It’s not dumb,” Mokuba interrupted, sounding more adult than Joey had ever heard.  It was like he really was getting an edict from the esteemed Vice President of Kaiba Corporation.

“Yeah.  Can you get me a badge or whatever to visit his office.  We need to talk and…”

“I see.  He can’t be allowed to dodge it, huh?”

Joey laughed, despite himself.  It was a bit mournful, but it wasn’t totally devoid of life.  “Nope.”

“Yeah, I can hook you up.  I’ll get the pass sent to your phone.”

Joey nodded, even though his phone was conventional, and Mokuba couldn’t see him.  “Thanks.  And congrats on getting married.  From what I’ve heard, she sounds like a keeper.”

Joey could hear the glowing smile on the other end of the phone.  “Yeah, I think so too.”

. . .

The lobby of Kaiba Corp. HQ was mostly unchanged since the last time Joey had seen it, though it looked somewhat creepy in the dark.   It was lightly, tastefully, decorated for the season.  Twinkle lights on some of the pillars, echoing in the dark like suspended lightening bugs.

So close to his goal, Joey stalled.  He paced in the empty cavern of the lobby.  Maybe he shouldn’t bother.  Maybe this whole adventure was some twisted flight of fancy, brought on by watching one holiday film too many.  Did he look too closely at the snowflakes trapped in Kaiba’s eyelashes and see something that wasn’t really there?

In the middle of his troubled, nervous walking, Isono appeared.  Put together and just like Joey had seen him when last trading off the kids.  Sunglasses on—even though it was the dead of night in the deepest part of winter.  Stern and silent, Isono directed him to the elevator.

Isono never had much of a relationship with Joey.  The man had watched him at most major life events outside of his house for the fifteen years preceding the divorce.  Joey realized that his presence was somewhat more comfortable than all of the anonymous faces Joey had passed by in the once-familiar city.

The floor indicator increased quickly as the two men rocketed toward the top floor, where Kaiba could properly brood over the entirety of Domino.

In the stilted silence, they arrived at the top floor, and Isono put his arm out to stop the elevator doors.

“It is good you are here,” Isono said.  Something about his voice sounded reflective, and it gave Joey the confidence he wished he did not need.

The city glowed in the background, pulsing like magma.  Kaiba sat at his broad desk, illuminated by the blue light laptop in front of him and the ethereal glow of the city at his back.   Joey was pissed that when he walked in, Kaiba didn’t bat an eye.  It felt as if Kaiba had set the appointment.

Joey wondered to himself whether Mokuba had messaged him, or inadvertently triggered some alarm in procuring the pass.  Even so, Kaiba was where he was supposed to be, sitting in his dark office, typing away at whatever it was he did all day.

Since the grand entrance did not have the desired effect, Joey proceeded to stomp over to Kaiba’s desk, push down the screen of the laptop, and kiss him.

This succeeded in starling Kaiba, his blue eyes wide in surprise.  Almost too shocked to kiss back.  Almost.  Kaiba still reached a hand across, thumb skimming over Joey’s cheek.

“Y’know why I did that?” Joey asked, breaking the kiss.

Kaiba shook his head, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  “No, I—what are you doing here?”

Joey propped himself up on Kaiba’s desk, sweatpants-clad butt shifting a stack of papers.

“I kissed you because I wanted to.  And I’m here because I want to be.  And I didn’t buy a return ticket, Kaiba.  Because I want to fly back with you.”

Kaiba opened his mouth to speak, but Joey silenced him with a hand.

“I’m gonna make it really simple for you, cause apparently this is hard for you.” Joey announced.  “Here’s the situation: I broke up with you because you refused to be part of the family in the way that I needed.  You were acting like a bad partner, and I did not deserve that.  But…  You… you proved that you could be a good partner.  So here’s the deal.”

Joey walked forward, completely enveloped by Kaiba’s heated stare.  “I want you.  I want you to be at the house.  I want to raise our kids together.  I want to go to sleep in the same bed with you, I want to wake up in your arms, I want a lot of other things.”

Kaiba wisely kept his mouth shut, opting to watch Joey with soft, sad eyes.  Joey wasn’t going to let it get to him.

“And I think you want that too.  You were happy this week.  A lot.  And this is sappy but I’m gonna lay it out.”

Kaiba gestured with one hand that Joey should continue.  The darkness didn’t leave much for Joey to see, but the way that the glare of the city glinted off of his eyes… it looked a little like water was pooling.  Joey took that to mean that his evaluation was correct, enough—Kaiba did love to correct people.

“I don’t know how many special moments, or special people we get.  And I don’t know how many days I’ll get to look over and see you.  And what a mess you are and how strangely you hide that and… and you know what?!”

Kaiba opened his lips a little, but didn’t have anything to say.  So Joey dismounted from the desk and continued.

“I came here, cause I’m done wasting my time.  You talk so much about your precious time, how busy you are.  But my time is mine, and I’m sick of watching the kids grow up without you. I’m sick of not seeing the magic parts of you, and the genius and the… we fit together, damn it!  We’re both fucked up, we’ve got no idea how to do any of this.  But I want to figure it out with you.”

Joey realized he hadn’t been breathing as he let it out.  He took a breather, trying to collect his thoughts, wiping at his own face.

“So. Yeah.  I have a proposal for you.  Fly with me back to New York.  Let’s try again.  Like, really try.  You actually be part of this—like my partner.  We’re too old for the on-again off-again bullshit.  I don’t want to have to get over you.  And honestly, I’m worried you’ll never get over me.”  Joey shrugged, “You’re not really the moving on kinda guy.”

Finally, Kaiba stood up behind the desk.  His shadow was so imposing, a terrifying mixture of height and darkness.  “So what?  You want me to be on vacation forever?”

Joey hadn’t anticipated that much vitriol in his voice.  He had been pretty proud of his speech.

“No.  But... you are just as free as you want to be.”

Joey wanted to run, felt the fight or flight instinct lighting up in his gut.  But he was finally done retreating.  Joey walked towards the silhouette.

“I’m going to ask you—just once more—do you want to do this?  Not my way, and definitely not your way.  But some new way that we can find together.”

“I am not a man of compromises, Jounouchi.”  Kaiba turned away.

“When you want something, really want something, nothing can stop you.  That’s what I’m counting on.”  

“When have you known me to do anything by halves, Jounouchi?”

“The last year of our marriage.” The answer had been given almost instantaneously, but it hung in the air for a full minute.  “But you’re right, I don’t think that’s really who you are.  So, come back to New York.  And prove it to me.”

Joey took one more step forward.  He could feel Kaiba’s tense breath, they were so close.  “You can be emotionally constipated on your own time.  I’ll go first: I’m sorry for not being more honest and just telling you what was going on.  Now it’s your turn to apologize.”

“What do you want me to apologize for?”  Kaiba demanded.

“You’re the genius.  Whatever you think will be enough to convince me to let you come back to the house so that we can live our lives together.  The way we were meant to.”

“I don’t—”  Kaiba started.

“Do not call my bluff, Kaiba.  You really don’t feel sorry about any of this?”  Joey waved his arms, gesturing at everything.

“… I…” Kaiba looked out at the vast city below, glowing electric with holograms and New Year’s decorations.

“You don’t have to say it.  The best apology is shaping up.  And I know you get it.  I’ve seen you get it.  So please.  Just… was it that bad?  Just being my husband for a few days?”

“No.”  Kaiba refocused, look drilling into Joey.  “I regret allowing you to labor under the assumption that our relationship was not important to me.  That you were not the brightest light in my life.”

Finally, achingly slow and gentle, Kaiba tilted his head down and pressed a kiss to Joey’s forehead.

“I cannot promise that it will never happen again.  But I can promise that I am not giving up on us.”

Fin.

[mybunnyparadenme]

Truce

Summary: A late night conversation between Mysterion and Professor Chaos. A/N: New Snapshots chapter! This one’s silly, hope you guys enjoy~!

It was a peaceful night, unusual for this part of town given how late it was. There had been some heroic action a few minutes prior, but now two costume-clad teenagers were relaxing on the rooftop, leaning against the back of a billboard and deep in conversation.

"Wait, let me get this straight." Chaos said slowly, attempting to make sense of Mysterion's last sentence. "You're saying we have a... following? Of people who write stories about us?"

"Well, they're not exactly 'straight'..." Mysterion said, a wry smile forming beneath his mask.

Chaos couldn't help the laugh that escaped his mouth. "Okay, I guess that makes sense, since you said it was mostly the asian girls doing it. How'd you find out about it?"

"My sister found this website and showed it to me. I have it bookmarked here, look." Mysterion dug around in his pocket and pulled out his phone.

Chaos scooted closer towards him, peering down at the tiny screen riddled with cracks. "Oh, that's in real bad shape. Do you need a phone case? I've got a really nice one in my evil lair somewhere."

Mysterion raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't think a phone case would help at this point."

Chaos shrugged, his face carefully neutral. "It couldn't hurt though. And besides, it's purple. It would match your whole color scheme perfectly, Mysterion."

He narrowed his eyes at Chaos, though there was a sly smile starting at the corner of his mouth. "It kind of sounds like you're just trying to lure me into your evil lair, Chaos."

Chaos gave him an wide eyed look, way too innocent to be real. "I don't know what you're talking about, mister. We called a truce ten minutes ago."

The best part of a truce was the moment you could go back on it, but Mysterion wasn't about to ruin the fun by admitting what they already knew. Instead he turned his attention back to his phone and nodded. "Alright, I'll take you up on that offer. We can head over there after I show you these. Damn this is taking forever to load."

"This area never has good reception." Chaos said reassuringly.

"Nah, it's probably my shitty service. Ah, here we go." Mysterion moved so that they could both see the screen better. There were a few more stories now from when he'd last checked the page.

"Wow that sure is a lot!" Chaos leaned in closer, his arm pressing against Mysterion's. He didn't seem to notice as his eyebrows came together while he read through the titles. "Super Craig and Wonder Tweek Love Story... Wonderlust... Superficial, oh that one's kinda clever. Looks like a lot of these are about those two, huh?"

"Yeah, but it makes sense when you realize the writers are the same girls who drew all that yaoi fanart of them."

Chaos smiled. "I think it's sweet. It's like a love letter to their relationship. Oh here's one that's not about them. It's called... A World of Chaos?" His eyes widened. "Wait, is this one about me?"

Mysterion scanned the summary underneath the title and bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. "Yeah, it's your villainous backstory! Damn, check out that word count."

Chaos looked like he was fighting back a grin. "I can't believe people are writin' stories about me! I figured they'd want to focus mostly on the good guys, seeing as nobody likes villains."

Mysterion didn't bother hiding his laugh this time. "Dude, are you kidding? People cream themselves over a good villain backstory. Bonus points if the hero has a thing for the bad guy at some point." He gave Chaos a playful nudge and wagged his eyebrows suggestively. "Or the other way around."

Chaos turned pink underneath his silver helmet. "S-So they probably write about you an' me huh?"

"I've seen a few, yeah." Mysterion said, clicking onto the next page. His eyes lit up, a teasing edge lifting the corner of his mouth. "Though Chacoon's way more popular on here."

"Chacoon? What's that?" Chaos asked. He peered down at the screen, his curiosity slowly morphing into quiet despair as he read through the page. "Me and The Coon? Aw, why are they linking the two of us like that? I could do way better than him."

Mysterion grinned, taking just a bit of pleasure in the disappointment on his Chaos' face. "Yeah, I can think of at least three other heroes you'd be better off with. And if it makes you feel any better, I've seen a few stories with me and the Coon as a couple too. There was even one the other day with me and him fighting for Human Kite in a love triangle."

"Well that's just drama for drama's sake." Chaos said. He looked relieved to hear that though, and a small smile brightened his face. "Who ended up winning in the end, you or The Coon?"

"Hell if I know, I only skim the stuff." Okay, that was a lie. He wasn't actually invested in the love triangle! Redheads didn't really do it for him the way cute blondes with twangy accents did, but the writer's style was actually really good. He got caught up in the suspense and well, he was now eagerly awaiting the next update... He cleared his throat loudly, trying to hide the embarrassed flush creeping up his face.

"You okay?" Chaos asked.

"'m fine." He said, slouching lower against the back of the billboard. "Just feeling tired after the workout you put me through earlier."

"We were running around an awful lot, weren't we?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out an energy bar, holding it out to Mysterion with a cheerful smile. "Here ya go, it's not much but maybe it'll help?"

"Oh." Mysterion blinked at the colorfully wrapped offering for a second, then took it gratefully. "Thanks, dude. Hold my phone while I get it open?"

"Of course." Chaos scrolled through the rest of the stories on the page while Mysterion tore open the energy bar, humming a little tune under his breath. He didn't go snooping around like Mysterion had expected him to, and gave it back the second his hand was free again.

"Kinda weird that you didn't take advantage of that moment, Chaos." Mysterion said, scrolling down in between bites of his energy bar.

Chaos tilted his head curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I literally handed you an opportunity to do something chaotic." He said, gesturing to the phone in his hand. "You could've changed some of my contacts or deleted a few photos, or even let it drop into the alleyway."

Chaos frowned, his eyebrows coming together just under the line of his helmet. "But why would I do that?"

Mysterion didn't say anything. The energy bar was starting to taste less like blueberries and more like guilt. "Because that's what bad guys do?"

Chaos shook his head immediately. "Well yeah, but we're still in a truce, Mysterion! And well, doing something permanent like that would just be mean."

Right, the truce. Out of all of the people that still played this game of good and evil, he and Chaos were the only ones who would take breaks like this in between fights. Chaos was the only one he trusted enough not to get in a cheap hit, and here he was assuming things like an asshole. He sighed. "I'm sorry, dude."

"Aw, no need to apologize!" Chaos said, giving him a reassuring smile. "You're just following your heroic instincts, and it's always good to be wary around your enemies, truce or no truce."

Mysterion groaned, though the hints of a smile were starting to form on his face. "God, stop being so nice, Chaos. If you keep this up you're gonna make me look like a total dick."

"To who, the asian girls?" Chaos laughed, a light, contagious sound that quickly got Mysterion going too. Their voices echoed in the still night air, and it was a couple of minutes before it was quiet again.

"Hey, Mysterion?"

"Yeah?"

Chaos stared down at his shiny silver boots, dangling off the edge of the scaffolding. His face was serious now. "You mentioned before when we were looking at the website, how you could think of heroes I'd be good with..." He brought his hands together, tapping his knuckles in an all too familiar gesture. "Just out of curiosity, who were you talking about?"

Mysterion felt his shoulders tense at the pointed question. He cleared his throat, wishing he had some water to wash down the now too dry energy bar. "Ah, nobody in particular, really. I was just letting you know you'd have better options."

Aluminum foil crinkled underneath his hands. "Well, I could've sworn it sounded like you had specific people in mind. You were sayin' that you knew three heroes I'd be good with."

"So... are you asking me to hook you up with someone?" Mysterion asked, a heavy feeling settling into his gut. He'd been wanting to cheer Chaos up when he'd said that, and it wasn't like he was lying or anything. A few of his teammates in the Freedom Pals would sometimes look at Chaos the way Mysterion did when he thought no one was looking.

Chaos was quiet for a long time, a pink blush creeping up his face even as a nervous frown tugged his lips down. "W-Well, I... I kinda-"

He was cut off by a bell sound coming from Mysterion's phone. They both blinked down at the screen, and Mysterion felt a wave of relief go through him at the sudden distraction. He didn't know what Chaos had wanted to say, but right now he wasn't sure he was brave enough to hear it. He cleared his throat. "Hey look, a story's been updated!"

"The website gives notifications?" Chaos asked. He looked interested, but was also clearly relieved at the change in conversation.

"Not exactly." Mysterion said, his shoulders relaxing as he clicked on the story. "I'm actually following this one."

There was a teasing glint in Chaos' gaze, all the tension from earlier disappearing from his face. "I think you're more invested in these stories than you're willing to admit, Mysterion."

He couldn't really deny it at this point, no matter how embarrassing the truth was. "Fine, go ahead and laugh at me but this person's really talented! Check this out, they add illustrations and everything."

"Ooh, really?" Chaos leaned in so close he was practically in Mysterion's lap. His eyes lit up at the pictures that were scattered through the page. "Wow, this person's really good! I like the way they drew your costume, but they got your hair color wrong."

Mysterion grinned. "I think they gave me dark hair to fit that 'tall, dark, and handsome' vibe. Do you think I should dye my hair to match?"

"I think the color's great, you could definitely pull it off." Chaos looked away from the screen for a moment, his eyes settling on Mysterion's hair. "But you look good like this too. Especially now that it's not hidden under a hood."

Mysterion ducked his head, hiding the blush that rose to his cheeks at the compliment. "Too bad my head's always cold, huh?"

"Yeah." Chaos agreed, reaching into his pocket to get an energy bar for himself. His expression froze when he saw that the next picture was of him. "Oh gosh is that supposed to be me? I look like a rockstar!"

"They always draw you looking really cool." Mysterion said, smiling at how shocked Chaos looked. "I think the writer's a big fan of yours."

A huge grin lit up his face. "I'm so flattered! And I think the eyepatch is a great addition to the costume, I kinda want to start wearing one for real. Is there a way to talk to them on this website? I wanna tell them they're awesome!"

"Hang on, you don't want to risk compromising your secret identity." Mysterion said, careful not to scroll to far down to the comments section. He was willing to follow under a pseudonym, but he'd be damned if he was going to start a conversation with yaoi fangirls.

(Well, more damned than he usually was.)

Chaos looked disappointed as he took a bite out of his energy bar, but he nodded. "I guess you're right. But I could still wear the eye patch though, just for fun."

"And hide those big doe eyes?" Mysterion placed a hand dramatically over his heart. "Oh say it ain't so, Buttercup!"

Chaos jolted at the nickname, and suddenly the bite he'd just taken out of his energy bar became lodged in his throat. He started choking and it took Mysterion a few seconds to register what was happening. Of course he then immediately sprang into action, delivering several hard thumps on his back before Chaos finally coughed up the half-chewed mess onto his hands. They both winced at the mess, but Chaos flicked it out into the alleyway next to them and gave Mysterion a shaky smile. "Th-Thanks, you really saved me there."

"There's a plot for a love story if I ever heard one." Mysterion smiled back, but his heart was racing in his chest and his hands were shaking. Holy shit, that had been terrifying.

Chaos laughed, softer than usual after the trauma his throat had gone through it sounded no less genuine. "The hero saves the villain's life. That's not a bad idea at all, Ken."

Mysterion shivered at sound of his real name. They always stuck to their personas while in costume, but he'd gone and slipped up first and now Chaos... Butters was doing the same. He bit his lip nervously, heart hammering in his chest for a different reason. "Hey Butters, about before-"

"There you are Professor Chaos!" A voice called from the opposite rooftop. They both turned to see General Disarray standing on the ledge, waving a hand in their direction. "Are you okay? Do you need me to come over there and help you out?"

"I'm fine General, don't worry!" Chaos said waving back cheerfully. He turned to face Mysterion, revealing a smile that showed way too many teeth to be friendly anymore. "Looks like our truce is over for now, hero. Next time we meet we're enemies again. Oh, and I'll bring you the phone case tomorrow at school, okay?"

"Okay, looking forward to it." Mysterion said, not moving as Chaos stood and joined his sidekick on the other rooftop. He watched as they disappeared into the night, not bothering to follow after them at first. It was only fair to give the two of them a headstart, let them have a chance to actually do something villainous before he swooped in to stop them like always. His feelings could wait until the morning.

After all, tonight they had their roles to play.

[queenofthelanternfish]

Disclaimer: Posting my gf @anesther‘s fic on my account to make sure it shows up in the tags, because this spicy chapter deserves to be seen, dammit!

-

AN: The last smut chapter for this fic, alas. And the story will be complete the day S5 is released. Totally crazy tbh. Well, enjoy the remaining parts!

Title: Interfaces

Characters: Entrapta, Hordak

Pairing: Entrapdak

Rating: M (for sMUT)

Read on AO3 because these chapters deserve it.

                                                      Endurance

Is it alright for her to be so close?

Entrapta chatters away about graphs, percentages, machinery, things that are important. Yet he can’t seem to pay attention to anything she’s saying. He hears and comprehends, but there’s a part of him that wants to change the subject. Mostly to discuss what happened several weeks ago.

When he retires to his personal quarters, he tends to think about it. And his body responds to the memory of hers against him.

“What do you think?”

Hordak looks down at her, eyes flickering over the screens she has in her hands. He says, “It would be more prudent if we conserved that energy source. We aren’t sure yet how it will react with what we have.”

“That’s true. I do need to make sure everything is routed properly before testing a little bit,” Entrapta says.

He nods, walking away from her.

Entrapta’s gaze goes to him, eyes moving from broad shoulders to the slits of his dress. He hasn’t brought up what happened before. Does he even care? Maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal to him. Looping a strand of hair onto a raft above, Entrapta swings over to him, “What do you think about this too?”

Hordak pauses, pretending to mull over the choices. His eyes land on cleavage peeking, shyly, at the gap of her shirt. Her body hovers next to him, an inch of space between their forms. He looks up at her, finding her gaze fixed on him.

“It’s acceptable.”

“Is it?”

Hordak raises a brow, smirking, “I believe so. Do you?”

“Yes, I do, too,” she replies, smiling.

They don’t move. Staring.

“That was a productive day,” Hordak says, breaking the silence. “Are you heading to your room?”

Entrapta follows him in the air, “I would, but I wanted to ask something.”

“Yes?”

“You like me, don’t you?”

Taken aback by the question, the straightforwardness of it, Hordak turns to her, gem glinting. “I—” He begins, stuttering. Clearing his throat, he nods. Finding it surprisingly easy to admit it. “Yes, of course I like you.”

“We’re friends?”

“...I think we are.”

Entrapta breathes a sigh of relief, hand to her chest. A sheepish grin stretches her face, “I’m sorry for asking… but ever since before I feel like you’ve been avoiding me.”

Hordak pivots in place, facing her fully. He shakes his head, “No, that’s— It’s not my intention to be avoidant with you.”

“Okay. I was wondering if things changed between us,” she admits, touching the ends of her forefingers together.

Hordak approaches her. He stops until he’s a foot away, unable to gauge what’s too close or not. He used to have no issue pushing in on her space. He doesn’t do anything, Entrapta closing the rest of the distance, at eye level. Reaching up, he touches her shoulder, “We’re friends but…”

Entrapta furrows her brows, nervous, “But…”

“But things did change between us too, didn’t it?”

She isn’t an idiot. And neither is he. Far from it. Yet the inquiry has to be addressed. These last few weeks have consisted of stolen touches and yearning glances. She would push the boundaries of closeness, leaning on him when it’s unnecessary. He withholds, however, even he gives in when he doesn’t restrain emotions, allowing his hand to caress her shoulder and linger. There was an undeniable attraction between the two of them, one that had been unspoken for months and months and crashed forcibly into them the moment their mouths touched.

Entrapta finds it strange. She adapts to change rather well, always has. But this potential change leaves her anxious. She’s never really been adept at making friends, and he was the closest thing to one she’s had. Yet, in the back of her mind, she wants to expand on this relationship she has with him.

“I think it did,” Entrapta says. “Are you okay with it?” Hordak moves closer, their lips a hairsbreadth apart. His hand reaches up to brush the side of her face, tangling his fingers into long, thick strands of purple. He drags them through, soft against his skin. He meets her gaze again, noticing the flush on brown skin. Unconsciously, her fingers placed themselves on his arms. Strands of hair twined about his frame, sensing them on the bared flesh of his back.

“Yes, I’m okay with it,” he replies. He leans closer, grazing her ear with his teeth. Voice low, he whispers, “I believe I was supposed to make it up to you at a later date..?”

A shaky breath leaves her, goosebumps rising on her skin.

“I take that as a yes,” Entrapta sighs, before kissing him.

Hordak’s left hand wraps behind her head, the right tugging her waist forward, pressing her onto his armor. She moans into his mouth, drawing him nearer as her arms tightly wound about his neck. She tastes sweet from the sugar she consumed earlier, her teeth gentle in comparison to his, scraping sharply across her lower lip. Her breath is hot as she moves back for air, eyes slightly opened.

Despite his outward confidence, he isn’t quite certain how to go forward. He had assumed that her anatomy, and response to his own, would imply she has to be touched between her legs too. Apprehensive, his fingers clench for a moment. Then he draws his knuckles up her inner thigh, sliding up until he rubs the area between them.

Entrapta’s body stiffens, gasping.

“Is that bad?” he asks.

“No… I like that,” Entrapta assures him. She grinds into his palm. “Keep going.”

Obliging, he rubs the tips of his fingers over her clothing. Entrapta’s mouth parts, breathing growing heavy. He keeps his eyes on her features, her skin blushing further. In an easy rhythm, she grinds her pelvis down into his hand. Hordak, speechless, keeps the movements steady in turn. Brows knitting, she bites her lower lip, hands gripping his shoulders.

“Hold on,” Entrapta gasps. Withdrawing, Entrapta kicks off her shoes first, before tugging down her overalls, socks falling with them. Leaving her upper clothes and gloves on, she smiles at him. “There, that should be easier!”

Gawking, Hordak stops. Stops breathing. Stops thinking.

Entrapta lifts a brow, tilting her head at him. She asks, “Is something wrong?”

“You’re beautiful.”

Her heart skips a beat. She’s never been told that before. She grins, “Really?”

“I would never lie to you,” he says, meaning it.

Somehow, she believes it. Entrapta rises to his height. Removing her gloves, she lays them down with the rest of her clothes. Caressing his cheek, forefinger drawing the outline of his jaw, Entrapta lightly kisses his lips. Hordak stares down at her body, swallowing.

Entrapta giggles, “Hey, wanna do something fun?”

“Is this not enjoyable already?”

With a sensuous smirk, Entrapta pulls down her shirt, breasts falling forward. Waggling her eyebrows, she says, “Now you can squeeze them and it won’t be awkward!”

Reaching forward, he marvels at the softness of flesh. Squishy… His thumb moves over her nipples, causing her to gasp. A slow smile spreads on his face, bending to her collarbone. Nipping at the skin, he plants delicate kisses along her chest. Her body shaking, he drags his tongue across to her left breast, circling the nipple. Entrapta emits a delicious moan, and he covers it entirely with his mouth, sucking on it.

Head tilted back, she moans, digits digging into his hair. A hand glides over her spine, squeezing her ass before the nails trail under her thigh.

Mindful of his claws, Hordak rubs his fingers against her clit. A substance coats his fingers, dripping down his knuckles, allowing them to slide with ease.

Moaning, Entrapta catches his mouth with hers, hips rocking back and forth. A strand of hair shifts down, skimming the front of his dress. A bulge has formed there, and her mind reels at thinking about it. That he’s responding like this to what she’s doing, by her mere presence. She strokes it, enamored with the desire in his eyes. Pushing him back onto the desk, Entrapta wraps her legs around him, floating. Hordak stares up at her, scathing her skin with sharp claws, leaving faint red welts in place. Gasping, Entrapta reaches down to her clit with her fingers. Wet with come, she watches him watch her. She knows she doesn’t need to, soaked as she is, yet she can’t help but wonder what his expressions would be if she slips her fingers down onto her clit, rubbing it with smooth strokes. His cock hardens further, she can tell.

She’s never been wanted before.

She always thought people found her ugly. Unlovable. Logically, even though she didn’t find her face too terrible, perceptions can alter that mindset. And the words thrown her way all her life never made her value anything about her physical attributes. Her mind turned people away, and in turn, so did her appearance.

Yet he can’t stop staring at her, near-reverent.

He brushes her cheek, “Entrapta?”

“Yes?” she asks, unaware of a tear running down her face.

“We don’t have to continue,” he says, willing to make her content in any form.

“No. I want to. I want you too,” she replies, sincere.

Surprised by her fervor, Hordak’s mouth is covered with hers again. Her tongue is soft between his teeth. Sighing into her, Hordak’s hands grip her hips. He notices growing heat, as Entrapta lowers herself. Dragging her fingers down his chest, Entrapta’s hand strokes his thigh as she draws back the front of his clothes. He stares down at her, eager, trembling. The tip of his member rubs against her clit, and he gasps.

Grinding onto the length, slick and warm, Entrapta looks directly at Hordak’s face. His eyes narrow, panting hard. His hands clench onto her legs. Voice husky, murmuring her name, he thrusts his hips along with hers. Groaning, Entrapta feels his hand brush her cheek. Kissing the inside of his palm, she glances up at him, half-lidded.

Then, positioning herself, she slips down onto his member. His body tenses, eyes wide in surprise before he closes them tight. Moaning, Entrapta tilts back her head. She might not have ever done this before, but she’s certain she’s doing it right…

A growl leaves his chest, heat pooling further in the center of his abdomen. Hordak inhales deeply, grasping the desk’s ledge. His eyes widen slightly, watching her body gyrate up and down his cock. Her prehensile hair does most of the work, yet her hips move on their own, undulating in hypnotic motions. His cock hardens further inside her walls, and he pumps his hips with hers.

Crying out in pleasure, Entrapta’s fingers splay across cool armor. Her thoughts halt, focused on the heat between her thighs. The exertion creates a patina of sweat that shines on her skin. Gulping down saliva, her breathing is heavy. Chest red from arousal, she stares, blearily, at his hands, molding over her breasts. Teasing erect nipples.

The pressure is unlike anything he’s felt. He’s burning, mind hazy. He hears her beg for more. Hordak increases the tempo of his movements, and she follows suit. The heat is driving him insane. He feels his nerves fraying, aching. There’s a pain shocking his system, and he doesn’t care. His thoughts fixate on the scent and feel of her body, her moans a delightful sound to his ears. He knew his failing body, despite the armor’s sufficient functions, would want to give out. Endurance is always an unknown variable with his cursed being. Mocking him, denying him what he wants.

He doesn’t care. He won’t allow weakness to determine his choices. He grabs her waist, delving further in than he already was.

“Ah—!” Entrapta yells, head bowing forward. Gritting her teeth, she reaches to touch his face without needing to look. Knowing every curve and sharp angle from memory. Her thumb strokes his mouth; his teeth bite it, tenderly. Tongue roving the edge of her forefinger, he draws it into his mouth, playfully trailing his canines along the skin. Sighing, Entrapta thrusts down faster. There’s a tightness in her body, coiling into itself. She feels as if she can’t breathe. She wraps her legs around his frame, arms pulling him toward her. Her lips skim his. Fingers gripping his hair, she is unable to comprehend the sensations in her body. Not the feeling of needing to release, she is aware of orgasms. It’s everything else—his very being is stirring rampant emotions. His voice, his hands on her back, supporting her.

She’s wanted this for so much longer than she wanted to acknowledge, afraid of losing him.

Entrapta kisses him, putting as much passion into it as she is capable. Her gasps tumble from her mouth in staccato, fingers firm on his neck as she comes.

Hordak bites his tongue to keep from screaming, heat leaving him in a sudden rush. His head falls onto hers, shaking. As the aftershocks dissipate, he breathes out her name in a low rumble.

They shift apart, panting.

He brushes away her hair, kissing her cheek. Entrapta hums happily, smiling into his neck.

“I’d say… I repaid you back for before,” Hordak says.

“I agree,” Entrapta replies, resting her cheek on his shoulder.

Tracing her spine with his fingers, feeling her shiver, he whispers, “I’d have done it regardless, and sooner.”

“Really?” Entrapta asks, turning to face him, still on his shoulder.

“Without a doubt,” he replies. He slides to the floor, flinching.

“Oh no! Did you start to hurt—?” Entrapta starts.

Hordak hugs her tight. The embrace is careful, sweet, compared to moments before. He shushes her, a hand stroking her hair. He looks at the ground. Feeling the self-hatred begin to creep again. “I don’t want to talk about that… I’ll be fine.”

“Hordak—”

“Entrapta, please... I… I just want this…”

She brings him close to her, kissing the crook of his neck.

They hold each other, finding bliss in being with another person. Someone who understands who they are.

They hope it doesn’t change.

[desdemonafictional]

2020 Fanfic Year End Summary

Hey ho let’s go

Nev does these every year and I think they’re interesting, so for the first time I’m gonna give it a go too. I feel like this has been the longest fucking year--the Zine feels like it was two years ago and last January feels like it was ten years ago.

I’m gonna answer some questions and do a little reflection on the year 

This year I technically finished Icarus with 2k words of a 36k story, and after that I went on to produce 197k words not even COUNTING the stuff from GPAU which I do not know how to divide up for 2020. 

That’s 23 fics in one year, 8 of which were cowriting projects. This year has been, objectively, insane. By comparison, in 2019 I produced 17 fics and at the time I thought THAT was doing pretty impressive work. Now it’s not my best year by sheer number of titles--2018 was an oil boom while I was into JTHM and I actually put out 25 fics that year, some of which were short oneshots and some of which were two- or three-shots. But in terms of words? 2020 knocked them all out of the park. Which is absolutely something I owe to my amazing friends who let me ride around in their brains like the parasite I am.

In 2018 I started cowriting with Chokopopo, in 2019 I started cowriting with Neveralarch, and in 2020 I just did a fucking ton more of that with no looking back. It’s so incredibly motivating to have someone to show your progress to! And to have someone to hand the project over to when you’re stuck. If I hadn’t had Nev to bounce off of, most of this fic wouldn’t have been thought up at all, let alone finished. And don’t even get me started on GPAU! Choko and Zephyr and me have done such amazing things with “Welcome! Everything is fine”, and I can’t wait to be able to wrap that up and leave it for posterity.

I switched job positions around July of this year, and it’s changed the way I produce fic. Not sure if it’s good yet or not. I was never actually under a stay at home order this year because I work for a state agency, so to a degree I’ve missed out on the ways that quarantine affected other writers. I think I was fortunate?

Best Title 

Ahhh this is tough, I put a lot of effort into my titles this year--I promised myself in 2019 I was going to stop using song lyrics for fic titles because they make songs loop in my brain and it’s self inflicted torment, which is a promise I... mostly kept. “Dress Your Idol in Gold and Ashes” is the one I put most effort into probably, because I kept toying around with it trying to find something that was evocative of the right pagan imagery, and also the idea that got me started on the fic was a passage in a text book about the daily dressing of an idol statue in ancient Egypt.

“Broke My Last Glass Jaw” gets special mention because I named it after an essay that I wrote in undergrad for my African American Lit course, in which I broke down themes of the spoiled american dream via the lens of 90′s rap.

Worst Title

“Take one for the Team” is definitely my laziest title. It’s just super self indulgent kink fic, no character arc or anything, so I couldn’t find a good image or phrase to bring in for the title. Also I remember I really wanted to post it quickly, since it was a response to some art I was looking at, and I wanted the artist to see. I’m sure I could have done better with the title.

I did end up titling “Fear and Delight” after a song but I forgive myself because I literally only wrote the fic because the song existed first.

Best Summary

Some of these summaries I wrote and a some I did not, but of the ones that I wrote I think.... “ I'm All Full Up on Yesterdays, Don't Sing Me No More Blues” is the best one. It launches you directly into the action, while preserving the surprise reveal at the end of chapter 1. I actually wrote chapter one with this summary in mind, so it was baked in there from the start.

Jazz turned in his seat, cube at his lips, just in time to spot the white pursuit vehicle steaming and panting in the doorway. “Jazz of Staniz,” the enforcer shouted, “surrender the matrix and come quietly!”

Jazz knocked back his drink. “Well!” he said to the open-mouthed bartender, “time to split!”

Worst Summary

I mean, summaries are hard for everyone, right? That’s the thing we all universally struggle with, I think? I usually end up liking mine, and this year I was less afraid to just let a section of the story speak for itself. Anyway the worst one is “ Broke My Last Glass Jaw” by virtue of the fact that I had to come back months later and add another line because I wasn’t satisfied with how it was reaching audiences.

After the war, Impactor is at loose ends.

(They were friends once, weren't they? After all this time, Impactor wonders if Megatron hasn't managed to forget.)

I really wanted that one line to say it all, but honestly it requires a lot of trust in me as the author and most of the people who pass by the fic in the archive aren’t gonna know me from adam. The second line clarifies what kind of story it’s going to be in terms of tone and theme.

Best First Line

I’m pretty ambivalent about most of my first lines. Since Nev already pointed out the first line in “ Apotheosis”, I have to admit, it is pretty good. It gets off to a real jaunty start.

“Excuse me,” Starscream said, striding down the steps of the senate chambers with his cape flaring out behind him, “get your cowcatcher out of his face, you tin-plated amateur despot, he’s with me.”

I also like the audacity of a run on sentence that is the opening to “ Desecrate You”

Ratchet clicks the video because it was auto-recommended, and because First Aid is always dropping hopeful hints that he wants her to watch his show when he’s supposed to be grading papers, and because something about the title (“This is Definitely a Hoax! None of this is Real! Short Cut Footage Episode”) makes her wonder why the hell someone who runs a Ghost Hunting youtube channel would bill their own hard work as a hoax right out of the bag.

Worst First Line

Definitely the least interesting is from “Tantric Sex, and Other Mysteries of the Divine”. I guess it’s another fic where I was really eager to get to the meat of the fic, and so I just went back after I was done with the fic and wrote a paragraph of bare bones setting context so we could move on already.

It’s game night at Swerve’s, and Nightbeat is out in the thick of the crew for once, getting the lay of the land.

I have the same problem in a few fics, which probably arises from the fact that when I read a fic, I often skim the first paragraph or so to see if I really want to commit to the read. So I sometimes write like I’m expecting the audience to do that too. I probably need to work on that. Man, I even did it in Sexy Staycation.

Best Last Line

I like endings! I usually have a good gut instinct for where stories should end, and how to pace that, and what image I want to close the fic on. Often times I’ll be writing a story and feeling really lukewarm about it, and then the ending will come to me, and I’ll feel totally won over by it. That happened with my Suicide Squad fic years ago. So this is for the most part me picking the best of the things I already like. “Broke My Last Glass Jaw” has a good pithy one; I like how it isolates this moment as a moment of choice, and how it’s also ambiguous whether he will change because of this or whether he’s doomed to go back to his predetermined pattern.

And despite the unguarded door and the empty inviting streets beyond, where no one wants or expects anything of him but his feterless bitter trog onward into the next waiting prison cell, Impactor lays down, and Impactor does.

Special mention goes to “ The Sky Dark in its Eclipse : Orange Light Remix”, because the ending section is one of the big changes I brought to the remix, and I’m really happy with how it alters the shape of the narrative and also how it changes the focus of Rung’s arc. Most of the actual words in this fic were written by Choko in 2018, so this is like a collab in slow motion--I changed loadstone moments mostly, some of the framing, all of the backstory, and updated the setting for Cybertron. But the ending is all me.

On the morning of Intro to Psych finals, while Hot Rod hums and taps and scrolls back and forth through his test on the front row of the testing hall, Rung will sit behind his desk and brush the dust from the rotors of his fateful archetype, and start the long process of putting the pieces together once and for all.

Worst Last Line

Again, I like my endings, so this is really the worst of the best. The original ending line I wrote for “ All Our Urgent Restless Sighing” was:

Deadlock’s finials twitched. “...I am a reasonable amount of interested,” he said, “in this topic.”

And in the beta process, Nev came back in and added the line about Ratchet and cuddling, which was a big hit with the readers it seems like. So clearly I benefitted from some help there haha!

Looking back, did you write more or less than you thought you would this year?

you know what, I definitely wrote more than I thought I would. I didn’t see “Don’t Sing Me No More Blues” coming at all, and that was once a month for most of the year. I was hoping that I would be able to write a few things outside of Transformers, because I always worry that my long spans of hyperfixation are driving away my longtime readers... and I did manage to get one hxh thing written that was good, and one hxh thing started that is mediocre so far. So I guess I’ll call that good enough.

 What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, just your favorite.

hmm I’m really proud of the Pharma chapter me and Choko put together for GPAU--the body horror, the tragedy, the lotus eater machine plot. But even though that felt like a whole ass story of its own, I guess it’s only a chapter at the end of the day. So my favorite story would be “Apotheosis”. It’s just SO much, and we had SO many things we wanted to do, and somehow we managed to do them ALL. Corpses! Children! God! It’s got everything! The only thing it doesn’t have is the idea that literally started us plotting out the fic. And that was “ritual public sex with Starscream and Rung”. Oh well. Maybe someday. Probably not.

Okay, Now your most popular story

Ha! I tend to view the success of a fic more based on its bookmark ratio than its hit count, but by the numbers, unsurprisingly, “ Don't Sing Me No More Blues” is my most popular fic of the year at a whopping 3k hits and 113 bookmarks. Well, it is jazz/prowl which means it has a built in audience of considerable size, and it also updated seven times this year which increases its net range, so no surprise. But I think people also just really vibed with it--it’s very much a product of the times we are living in, and I don’t think it could have been written in any year except for 2020. 

“Dress Your Idol” has 58 bookmarks, by the way. I’m extremely proud of that fic for having such a high bookmark to view ratio. I guess the people who did read it liked it a lot.

Story most underappreciated in its Time.

Okay nothing is as under-exposed as the stuff I produced in JTHM, so I’m definitely not complaining. It’s hard to think about leaving TF because TF is such an enthusiastic community. That said, “ Neggnog Cozy” did not get eyeballs. I’m not surprised, it’s short and it’s gen, and Thundercracker doesn’t have the built in audience of say Starscream. Still, I thought it was really funny and cute and I would have liked it if more people would have given it a chance.

Story that could have been better

Oh, “ Melusine Among the Tombs” for sure. I went into that with only the first chapter planned and immediately after realized that I had no idea where the fic was going and also I had lost my grip on canon characterization after a couple years going rusty in other fandoms. I plan to finish it eventually, but I need a better plan than “wing it???” first.

Sexiest Story

I wrote SO much weird kink this year. Like. Shout out to past me for writing some pretty spicy JTHM fic, but this year I really leaned into how weird you can plausibly get with an all robot all alien cast. 

“ The Sensual Machine” is the most unabashedly horny because it was written specifically for a weird kink themed zine that I was an editor on. “Desecrate You” is also quite horny but I almost exclusively wrote the frame device for that, so I don’t get sexy credit lmao. “Fear and Delight” was a big hit with all the hxh readers and I think it has an element of sexiness more so than pure horniness--its has a kind of glamour and style to it.

Most fun story

“Starscream's Sexy Staycation” is by far the most unabashedly comic and sexy and silly and low stakes. It has one of my favorite kinks, a beautiful stupid moment of Ratchet suffering, and Rung calling safeword which is something new and fresh and I want a lot more of it in the world.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

“ Lacunae” was given to me as a yule gift prompt with the express intention of explaining who the fuck Carmilla’s mother was, and what the deal is with Carmilla as well. This would have forced me to reevaluate my understanding of the novel except for the TEENSY insignificant fact that I realized I had never finished reading Carmilla, somehow, and ended up reading it for the first time in December in preparation for yule. So uh. Hmm.

I think “ Don't Sing Me No More Blues” made me think about Prowl in a different way. I wasn’t really expecting him to be this hard-edged idealist when I started out on the fic. He was originally going to be much more like the autistic coded Prowl of “The Cop and the Cryptid,” one of my favorite fics ever. Also, I started writing the fic about a month before the riots and police protest kicked off in America this year, and it really caused me to zero in on how Prowl being part of a system like that affects his relationship to the world and other characters.

Hardest Story to Write

“ Elegy for Actaeon of the Hounds” took me a total of six months to write from start to finish. I don’t know why. Well, It’s partly because there are three involved sex scenes and sex scenes are actually very difficult and time consuming for me to write. It’s also partly because I kept wanting it to have a character arc, and I kept getting stumped on how to handle that. Beauty and the Beast plot lift? Have Rodimus be a rabbit? Eventually I settled on the version that kept the cast tightly cinched down around Megatron and Rung, and I’m happy with the result.

Easiest Story to Write

When we were writing “Apotheosis” it felt like we were on FIRE, we were so productive and we started three other projects between us while it was in motion. But “Take One For the Team” was absolutely the most fun to write, it basically wrote itself

Most Overdue Story

“Champagne in the Final Days of Rome” was based off a conversation I had with Nev pretty early on in our friendship--Discord says it was June 2019, so that’s uhhh ten months between discussion to actual writing? And it still didn’t turn out to be the fic we were originally outlining, haha.

Oh god you know what was really the most overdue? The last chapter of “Icarus; or, Look Who's Digging His Own Grave”. It was literally a year, January to January, between chapter 12 and 13. For a while I thought maybe I was just going to have to leave it there, without resolving the time loop problem at all.

Did you take writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

Writing for the zine was a big risk. I remember Nev had to reassure me at least twice that what I was writing wasn’t too weird or off-topic or embarrassing to be part of the project. Now, of course, I’m very happy with it. But my god I was nervous to post something that was like.... straight up actually bimboification applied to one of the most popular toy characters of all time.

What I learned from this is that people love horny shit, are READY to take a chance on a weird fic when its in the right wrapping paper, and when in doubt you CAN sell people on a kink they’re not really into by making the kink actually a reflection of a character arc. Are you writing this down?

Do you have any goals for writing in the new year?

Finish GPAU!!!!!!

I’d like to FINALLY sit down and do some hard work on my original fiction. I’ve been kind of waiting for the tf hyperfixation to wane so I could move forward, and I think that process is in motion now. But who knows. If Rung shows up in the new comics I might get nerfed again.

Other than that I’d like to write at least one fanfic that isn’t TF, and I would like to get this really crunchy Rung/Pharma fic off the ground so I can make some people CRY

[imagine-loki]

Atlas: Space, Sun

TITLE: Atlas: Space

CHAPTER NO./ONE-SHOT: 1/12

AUTHOR: fanfictrashdump

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine narrating episodes of Loki’s life with the Avengers based on the songs from Sleeping At Last’s “Atlas: Space” album. 

RATING: T-M

NOTES/WARNINGS: Welcome to my Sleeping At Last’s Atlas: Space challenge, aka Another writing project I do not have time for, but my brain insisted on doing.

This series will be less like a multichapter fic and more of a one-shot compendium, but that they all interconnect in one way or another. It will revolve around Loki and Becca’s relationship (Taking Turns, Glow, Helmet Heists–don’t worry, more Loki-Charlie stuff will be along) and I will use those one-shots as reference to the timeline. Each chapter will be one song, used as inspiration for the story.

As far as warnings go, some language, terrible writing, and just general awkwardness because I love it. Warnings will be chapter by chapter basis.

Chapter 1: Sun

Summary: Tony begs Rebecca to come with the team on mission and Loki is a surprisingly thoughtful mission companion.

=

“For the sake of all of us, I need you to suit up.”

That was the climax of her morning, she would say. Or, at least, the turning point of her day… her life… and the reason why she, a weapons development technician with bare minimum battle training ended up, smack dab in the middle of a firefight.

With golden string

Our universe was clothed in light

Pulling at the seams

Our once barren world now brims with life

It was a morning same as any other. The weapons lab was calm and quiet, save for the white noise hum of robots moving and instrumentation chugging along without supervision. Crisp, white sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, negating the need for any of the harsh fluorescents overhead to be turned on. This was how she had fallen in love with the lab–in the early hours before anyone turned on the tinting of the windows and blasted Black Sabbath for no reason other than to drown their own thoughts. Essentially, any time before Tony started his insane experiments was wonderful and full of meditative peace.

Despite the fact that it was only seven in the morning, Rebecca Brun had already put in four hours of work. One of the side-effects of working in Stark industries was that she often forgot what hours normal people usually kept. A lot of missions were at night, and she needed to be awake to outfit the team before it was time for wheel’s up on the Quinjet. More recently, her shift in schedule was mostly attributed to Loki’s inability to maintain normal hours, as well. And he dared say he had nothing in common with Tony. You know, besides the fact that the two of them had somehow roped her into friendship (though in Loki’s case, she would admit it was her fault).

Her zen moment of peace was about to be shattered as she watched her boss stride into the lab. Tony looked pensive, which was never a good sign. Their conversation had been a blur–something about needing a technician on hand to sustain any on-field repairs and how that would ensure that they could bring everyone home alive. Another comment about her being the very best, second only to himself. More importantly, there was the voice in her head that spoke of purpose. She always knew her work made a difference, but she would have never dreamed that she could make a difference. She could be a hero in her own right. She could keep them safe.

“Fine. I’m in.”

–

I guess space and time

takes violent things, angry things

and makes them kind.

Loki watched from the shadows as Stark rounded up everyone who was to go on mission that day. There were nearly two dozen, in total, between heroes and agents. And Becca. Who was shaking like a leaf in her tactical gear, matching the rest of the crew. The gear suited her, he thought wryly, gaze skimming the curves of her hips and thighs as she shifted her weight from one leg to another. He then felt a little disappointed in himself, scolding his primitive thoughts when his friend was in clear distress. He hated admitting it, but he was fond of the mortal. She was clever, quiet, and quick-witted–all things he… liked? Admired? Suffice to say, he didn’t wish her dead.

He moved like death, silent and furtive, until he sidled up to her. She didn’t seem surprised when she glanced up and gave him a smile that looked a little closer to a wince. He returned a small one of his own before fidgeting with his armor. Becca made a noise like a whine and with a chuckle, he placed his hand on her shoulder and gave a quick squeeze. He meant to reassure her, but his brain also whispered guiltily that it was giving him an excuse for contact. They were firmly just friends, but every now and then the baser part of his brain longed for a lingering touch or, heavens forbid, a hug.

“We are the dust of dust”

“We are the apple of God’s eye”

“We are infinite as the Universe we hold inside”

“Folks, listen,” Stark started, standing on a box of ammunition to look over the crowd. “This is the big one and I’m sure that your team leaders have driven home the importance of getting in, doing our job, and getting out. I know that for some of you, this is your first mission. Others don’t even want to be here. I appreciate all of you coming aboard, anyway. Because, whether we like it or not, we are the only thing between the world and those who intend to destroy it. You’re all heroes. Let’s go show them who they’re dealing with.”

Becca squeezed her eyes shut, trying to quell the feeling of nausea rising through her. They had gotten into the jet and were flying to some undisclosed location where bullets were already flying, courtesy of the advanced guard. She had fitted everyone in their armor and left instructions on how and when to double back for assistance. One of the agents had then offered her the handle of a gun and more than a handful of cartridges of bullets before exiting the Quinjet and into a very noisy battlefield. It was then that she realized she would be on her own from there on out. That didn’t sit in her stomach very well, either. 

“Hey.” Becca looked up rather anxiously. Loki was stood in full armor, golden horns and all. He looked just south of fidgety and was eager to jump into the fray. The only reason he deigned to stop and check in was the annoying sinking feeling he got when he noticed her take the clip out of her gun and count bullets for a sixth time in as many minutes. “Well, you’ve taken to battle rather well,” he teased, nudging her foot with his.

“Shut it or I’ll throw up on you,” she groused, and the green tinge in her complexion assured him of the truth behind her words.

He laughed boisterously, though there seemed to be no malice in his actions. “Midgardians, scared of a little fight. Precious, really.”

“What part of I’ll throw up on you did you not understand?” Her voice sounded rough, as if she really was fighting the bile from rising up her throat.

“You’re going to be fine.” Loki laughed again, a little less effusively. For a second he hesitated in his movement, before his resolve steeled, reaching up and tugging on a golden horn to slide the helmet from his head. “If I remember correctly, you’re well-acquainted with these. How about you keep them until I circle back, hmm?” They were placed on her head before she had even had time to argue, feeling snug and secure. Long fingers felt cool against her flushed skin as he lifted her chin to look at him. “There. Fit to be a shield maiden.” The heat in her cheeks only intensified. “Stay in the jet. And if you need to barricade the doors, regardless of what side of them we happen to be on, do it.” He stared her down until she nodded.

Before he disappeared out the hold doors, he turned his head and winked at her over his shoulder. Oddly enough, it settled her stomach to see his cocky confidence.

The one thing Becca was not prepared for, ironically, was the wait.

The jet had been empty for several hours and only Bucky had come to get some gravel out of the hydraulic gaps of his metal arm. The rest of the time, she spied outside the one-way glass at the battle ahead. It was a terrible hobby to have when you knew half of the players, but it was like watching a train wreck. You know you shouldn’t watch, but…

A flash of red caught her eye, at once. Peter had just been flung aside by some Hydra agent in a bulky exosuit. In a flash of green, Loki cut in and deliver a blow to protect the kid. Loki would never admit it aloud, but he had a soft spot for the teenager–partly because he was a child, mostly because he would bring Loki chocolate chip cookies every time he went to see him. Regardless of the reason, the maneuver had ended with Loki becoming the new favorite target of all the Hydra personnel around the pair.

Loki yelled something she couldn’t make out, and Peter began to climb upwards to get a better (and safer) vantage point. More agents converged on the Asgardian and Becca found herself chanting no’s under her breath. This was a bad idea.

She shouldn’t have watched the fight.

And she certainly shouldn’t have opened the hold doors and run straight into its center.

Becca had the advantage that she was swift on her feet from years of track and field. She could outrun nearly everyone, except for Steve and sometimes Bucky. And being a hurdler, she could clear obstacles in her path as easily as breathing. Instantly, the sound of gunfire made her regret leaving her safe, warm little workstation on the jet. It certainly was a bad place to contemplate her mortality, and a stranger place still to pray for the very first time.

Let there be light, let there be light, let me be alright.

With shaky hands, she lifted her pistol and took aim. Tony made everyone take basic gun training and get certified at the gun range–this wasn’t a new experience for her. Having buildings shudder and rumble, screams fill the air, and explosions happen less than thirty meters off–that was a new experience. And it made it a hell of a lot harder to aim at areas that were not covered by a bulletproof vest or part of her friend.

Loki started as the body trying to wrestle him down shuddered and slumped to the floor. He turned round in a neat circle and glared. “I told you to stay in the jet!”

“Yeah, well, you should’ve circled back earlier, then!” She screamed back, flinching her eyes closed with every thundering bullet leaving her gun.

“Tell me you’re not closing your eyes every time you shoot!” He had closed the distance between them and had joined his back to hers.

“Fine. I won’t tell you.”

“You could’ve shot me in the head!”

“You should have taken your damn helmet, then!” Her voice was near a shriek, another three bullets ringing through the air before she realized she had to change the clip.

Except she forgot them.

On the jet.

Did she mention she had no real battle experience?

“Loki,” her voice trembled, barely audible over the scuffle even to her own ears, “do you have bullets on you?”

He snorted. “Do I look like I have a gun, Rebecca?” He glanced over his shoulder at her and did a double-take before the information clicked. “You didn’t. Tell me you didn’t!” She didn’t answer, instead drawing a knife sheathed in a strap on her thigh and holding it in front of her. It shuddered in time with the tremors in her hand. She couldn’t stay here and she couldn’t make it back on her own. And for some reason, after over a millenium, his conscience decided this was the day to make an appearance. “Oh, for fuck’s sake!” He growled. “If I die getting you back to safety, I’m going to be so damn cross!”

Before she could offer a retort, he grabbed the back of her suit, pulling her away from incoming threats. Every now and again, they’d stop, fight hand to hand, or rather, Loki fought while constantly pushing her behind him. Becca felt like a ragdoll, though she never thought she was being flung carelessly or without any sort of poise. It was a carefully calculated and perfectly executed dance of which she was a participant with no say on the steps.

The Quinjet doors were just a few meters away. They were almost there. Another three Hydra agents had closed in on them, trying to cut off their escape. The next minute was hazy in her mind. She could remember, as clearly as if she were seeing it right then, as a gun barrel aimed for her head and the rumble of gunpowder deafened her a second later. And then there was darkness.

With golden string

Our universe was brought to life

That we may fall in love

Every time we open up our eyes

“Becca.” The voice was soft, as were the thumbs brushing her cheekbones, though the pounding in her head was certainly not. She blinked her eyes open to find two blue orbs of concern watching her. “Oh, thank the gods. You’re alright.”

“My head is killing me.” She winced at the echo of her own voice. 

“Yeah. A bullet to the skull will do that,” he said, smirking. He had yet to let her head go.

They were on the floor of the jet, and he was on his knees. Beside him, his horns sat with a splotch of blood marring the very edge of the face opening and the metal bent slightly out of shape.

“You’re lucky I left you my helm. Not so much for the man who shot you. The ricochet was nasty.”

“The ricochet killed him?” She frowned, trying to think of the physics that would make such a thing possible.

“No, I killed him. The ricochet left him blind in the left eye, though,” he retorted matter-of-factly, smiling. He finally let go and sat back on his heels, his fingers came away red, but a cursory check with her own showed the blood was not hers. The thought did not reassure her. “I should go back, keep the Spiderboy out of trouble.” He stood and cracked his neck, squaring his shoulders to prepare himself for more gore. “Are you OK?”

She nodded. “I’m OK. I’ll just stay put.”

He snorted. “I doubt that. At least I already stuffed all the bullets I could find into your pockets. Don’t need a repeat of this fiasco.” He stepped lightly to the hold doors, as he had done earlier. This time, he turned around completely, walking backwards out of the open doors. “Maybe keep the helmet on, for now, and try not to get shot in the head again." 

For a long moment she looked between the cushioned seats and the hold doors, deciding the best course of action–back to her work table, safe, or…

Just beyond the doors, Loki sunk a dagger into the stomach of a HYDRA agent and kicked them back. As if sensing her gaze, he glanced back at jet and smirked, turning away only to dodge a punch. Becca took a swig of water, grabbed her gun, and ran back into the fire just as the horns settled onto her skull. Loki gave her a knowing smile before pressing his back to hers and finishing their mission.

CHAPTER NO./ONE-SHOT: 1/12

AUTHOR: fanfictrashdump

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine narrating episodes of Loki’s life with the Avengers based on the songs from Sleeping At Last’s “Atlas: Space” album. https://imagine-loki.tumblr.com/post/623647803992899584/imagine-narrating-episodes-of-lokis-life-with-the

RATING: T-M

NOTES/WARNINGS: Welcome to my Sleeping At Last’s Atlas: Space challenge, aka Another writing project I do not have time for but my brain insists.

This series will be less like a multichapter fic and more of a one-shot compendium, but that they all interconnect in one way or another. It will revolve around Loki and Becca’s relationship (Taking Turns, Glow, Helmet Heists–don’t worry, more Loki-Charlie stuff will be along) and I will use those one-shots as reference to the timeline. Each chapter will be one song, used as inspiration for the story.

As far as warnings go, some language, terrible writing, and just general awkwardness because I love it. Warnings will be chapter by chapter basis.

Chapter 1: Sun

Summary: Tony begs Rebecca to come with the team on mission and Loki is a surprisingly thoughtful mission companion.

=

"For the sake of all of us, I need you to suit up.”

That was the climax of her morning, she would say. Or, at least, the turning point of her day… her life… and the reason why she, a weapons development technician with bare minimum battle training ended up, smack dab in the middle of a firefight.

With golden string

Our universe was clothed in light

Pulling at the seams

Our once barren world now brims with life

It was a morning same as any other. The weapons lab was calm and quiet, save for the white noise hum of robots moving and instrumentation chugging along without supervision. Crisp, white sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, negating the need for any of the harsh fluorescents overhead to be turned on. This was how she had fallen in love with the lab–in the early hours before anyone turned on the tinting of the windows and blasted Black Sabbath for no reason other than to drown their own thoughts. Essentially, any time before Tony started his insane experiments was wonderful and full of meditative peace.

Despite the fact that it was only seven in the morning, Rebecca Brun had already put in four hours of work. One of the side-effects of working in Stark industries was that she often forgot what hours normal people usually kept. A lot of missions were at night, and she needed to be awake to outfit the team before it was time for wheel’s up on the Quinjet. More recently, her shift in schedule was mostly attributed to Loki’s inability to maintain normal hours, as well. And he dared say he had nothing in common with Tony. You know, besides the fact that the two of them had somehow roped her into friendship (though in Loki’s case, she would admit it was her fault).

Her zen moment of peace was about to be shattered as she watched her boss stride into the lab. Tony looked pensive, which was never a good sign. Their conversation had been a blur–something about needing a technician on hand to sustain any on-field repairs and how that would ensure that they could bring everyone home alive. Another comment about her being the very best, second only to himself. More importantly, there was the voice in her head that spoke of purpose. She always knew her work made a difference, but she would have never dreamed that she could make a difference. She could be a hero in her own right. She could keep them safe.

“Fine. I’m in.”

–

I guess space and time

takes violent things, angry things

and makes them kind.

Loki watched from the shadows as Stark rounded up everyone who was to go on mission that day. There were nearly two dozen, in total, between heroes and agents. And Becca. Who was shaking like a leaf in her tactical gear, matching the rest of the crew. The gear suited her, he thought wryly, gaze skimming the curves of her hips and thighs as she shifted her weight from one leg to another. He then felt a little disappointed in himself, scolding his primitive thoughts when his friend was in clear distress. He hated admitting it, but he was fond of the mortal. She was clever, quiet, and quick-witted–all things he… liked? Admired? Suffice to say, he didn’t wish her dead.

He moved like death, silent and furtive, until he sidled up to her. She didn’t seem surprised when she glanced up and gave him a smile that looked a little closer to a wince. He returned a small one of his own before fidgeting with his armor. Becca made a noise like a whine and with a chuckle, he placed his hand on her shoulder and gave a quick squeeze. He meant to reassure her, but his brain also whispered guiltily that it was giving him an excuse for contact. They were firmly just friends, but every now and then the baser part of his brain longed for a lingering touch or, heavens forbid, a hug.

“We are the dust of dust”

“We are the apple of God’s eye”

“We are infinite as the Universe we hold inside”

“Folks, listen,” Stark started, standing on a box of ammunition to look over the crowd. “This is the big one and I’m sure that your team leaders have driven home the importance of getting in, doing our job, and getting out. I know that for some of you, this is your first mission. Others don’t even want to be here. I appreciate all of you coming aboard. Because, whether we like it or not, we are the only thing between the world and those who intend to destroy it. Let’s go show them who they’re dealing with.”

Becca squeezed her eyes shut, trying to quell the feeling of nausea rising through her. They had gotten into the jet and were flying to some undisclosed location. She had fitted everyone in their armor and left instructions on how and when to double back for assistance. One of the agents had then offered her the handle of a gun and more than a handful of cartridges of bullets before exiting the Quinjet and into a very noisy battlefield. It was then that she realized she would be on her own from there on out.

“Hey.” Becca looked up rather anxiously. Loki was stood in full armor, golden horns and all. He looked just south of fidgety and was eager to jump into the fray. Still, he made it a point to stop and check in when he noticed her take the clip out of her gun and count bullets for a sixth time. “Well, you’ve taken to battle rather well,” he teased, nudging her foot with his.

“Shut it or I’ll throw up on you,” she groused, and the green tinge in her complexion assured him of the truth behind her words.

He laughed boisterously, though there seemed to be no malice in his actions. “Midgardians, scared of a little fight. Precious, really.”

“What part of I’ll throw up on you did you not understand?” Her voice sounded rough, as if she really was fighting the bile from rising up her throat.

“You’re going to be fine.” Loki laughed again, a little less effusively. For a second he hesitated in his movement, before his resolve steeled, reaching up and tugging on a golden horn to slide the helmet from his head. “If I remember correctly, you’re well-acquainted with these. How about you keep them until I circle back, hmm?” They were placed on her head before she had even had time to argue, feeling snug and secure. Long fingers felt cool against her flushed skin as he lifted her chin to look at him. “There. Fit to battle the enemy.” The heat in her cheeks only intensified. “Stay in the jet. And if you need to barricade the doors, regardless of what side of them we happen to be on, do it.” He stared her down until she nodded.

Before he disappeared out the hold doors, he turned his head and winked at her over his shoulder. Oddly enough, it settled her stomach to see his cocky confidence.

The one thing Becca was not prepared for, ironically, was the wait. The jet had been empty for several hours and only Bucky had come to get some gravel out of the hydraulic gaps of his metal arm. The rest of the time, she spied outside the one-way glass at the battle ahead. It was a terrible hobby to have when you knew half of the players, but it was like watching a train wreck. You know you shouldn’t watch, but…

A flash of red caught her eye, at once. Peter had just been flung aside by some Hydra agent in a bulky exosuit. In a flash of green, Loki cut in and deliver a blow to protect the kid. Loki would never admit it aloud, but he had a soft spot for the teenager–partly because he was a child, mostly because he would bring Loki chocolate chip cookies every time he went to see him. Regardless of the reason, the maneuver had ended with Loki becoming a favorite target of all the Hydra personnel around the pair.

Loki yelled something she couldn’t make out, and Peter began to climb upwards to get a better (and safer) vantage point. More agents converged on the Asgardian and Becca found herself chanting no’s under her breath. This was a bad idea. She shouldn’t have watched the fight. And she certainly shouldn’t have opened the hold doors and run straight into its center.

Becca had the advantage that she was swift on her feet from years of track and field. She could outrun nearly everyone, except for Steve and sometimes Bucky. And being a hurdler, she could clear obstacles in her path as easily as breathing. Instantly, the sound of gunfire made her regret leaving her safe, warm little workstation on the jet. It certainly was a bad place to contemplate her mortality, and a stranger place still to pray for the very first time.

Let there be light, let there be light, let me be alright.

With shaky hands, she lifted her pistol and took aim. Tony made everyone take basic gun training and get certified at the gun range. This wasn’t a new experience for her. Having buildings shudder and rumble, screams fill the air, and explosions happen less than thirty meters off–that was a new experience. And it made it a hell of a lot harder to aim at areas that were not covered by a bulletproof vest or part of her friend.

Loki started as the body trying to wrestle him down shuddered and slumped to the floor. He turned round in a neat circle and glared. “I told you to stay in the jet!”

“Yeah, well, you should’ve circled back earlier, then!” She screamed back, flinching her eyes closed with every thundering bullet leaving her gun.

“Tell me you’re not closing your eyes every time you shoot!” He had closed the distance between them and had joined his back to hers.

“Fine. I won’t tell you.”

“You could’ve shot me in the head!”

“You should have taken your damn helmet, then!” Her voice was near a shriek, another three bullets ringing through the air before she realized she had to change the clip.

Except she forgot them.

On the jet.

Did she mention she had no real battle experience?

“Loki,” her voice trembled, barely audible over the scuffle even to her own ears, “do you have bullets on you?”

He snorted. “Do I look like I have a gun, Rebecca?” He glanced over his shoulder at her and did a double-take before the information clicked. “You didn’t. Tell me you didn’t!” She didn’t answer, instead drawing a knife sheathed in a strap on her thigh and holding it in front of her. It shuddered in time with the tremors in her hand. She couldn’t stay here and she couldn’t make it back on her own. “Oh, for fuck’s sake!” He growled. “If I die getting you back to safety, I’m going to be so damn cross!”

Before she could offer a retort, he grabbed the back of her suit, pulling her away from incoming threats. Every now and again, they’d stop, fight hand to hand, or rather, Loki fought while constantly pushing her behind him. Becca felt like a ragdoll, though she never thought she was being flung carelessly or without any sort of poise. It was a carefully calculated and perfectly executed dance of which she was a participant with no say on the steps.

The Quinjet doors were just a few meters away. They were almost there. Another three Hydra agents had closed in on them, trying to cut off their escape. The next minute was hazy in her mind. She could remember, as clearly as if she were seeing it right then, as a gun barrel aimed for her head and the rumble of gunpowder deafened her a second later. And then there was darkness.

With golden string

Our universe was brought to life

That we may fall in love

Every time we open up our eyes

“Becca.” The voice was soft, as were the thumbs brushing her cheekbones, though the pounding in her head was certainly not. She blinked her eyes open to find two blue orbs of concern watching her. “Oh, thank the gods. You’re alright.”

“My head is killing me.”

“Yeah. A bullet to the skull will do that,” he said, smirking. He had yet to let her head go.

They were on the floor of the jet, and he was on his knees. Beside him, his horns sat with a splotch of blood marring the very edge of the face opening and the metal bent slightly out of shape.

“You’re lucky I left you my helm. Not so much for the man who shot you. The ricochet was nasty.”

“The ricochet killed him?” She frowned, trying to think of the physics that would make such a thing possible.

“No, I killed him. The ricochet left him blind in the left eye, though,” he retorted matter-of-factly, smiling. He finally let go and sat back on his heels, his fingers came away red, but a cursory check with her own showed the blood was not hers. The thought did not reassure her. “I should go back, keep the Spiderboy out of trouble.” He stood and cracked his neck, squaring his shoulders to prepare himself for more gore. “Are you OK?”

She nodded. “I’m OK. I’ll just stay put.”

He snorted. “I doubt that. At least I already stuffed all the bullets I could find into your pockets. Don’t need a repeat of this fiasco.” He stepped lightly to the hold doors, as he had done earlier. This time, he turned around completely, walking backwards out of the open doors. “Maybe keep the helmet on, for now, and try not to get shot in the head again.”

For a long moment she looked between the cushioned seats and the hold doors, deciding the best course of action–back to her table, safe, or… Just beyond the doors, Loki sunk a dagger into the stomach of a HYDRA agent and kicked them back. As if sensing her gaze, he glanced back at jet and smirked, turning away only to dodge a punch. Becca took a swig of water, grabbed her gun, and ran back into the fire just as the horns settled onto her skull.

[miacutie]

Fanfiction or Reality?

AO3 LINK

Wei Wuxian discovers a fanfiction site about him and his best friend/classmate Lan Wangji.

 As much as it horrifies him, one of the stories catches his attention.

READ MORE 

They're whispering again.

 Wei Wuxian's eyes narrow as he sees Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng talking against the lockers in hushed tones. They’d been doing this a lot recently, and it was starting to get suspicious. Actually now that he thinks about it, a lot of people at school have been doing this around him as well. 

Honestly he just wanted to go home already after gym, but he may as well get to the bottom of this once and for all.

 'No way, that's my brother!'

'Crazy right? Check out how many views there are.'

'Gross, I don't want to see Lan Wangji and my brother shacking it up in any form!'

 ‘Excuse me, what?’ Wei Wuxian says loudly. They jump at the sudden interruption, and Nie Huaisang quickly hides his phone behind his back. 

 ‘Nothing.’ 

‘Nothing.’

 ‘Nothing my ass, what’s this about me and Lan Zhan?’ He moves over to his friends craning his neck to have a look. 

 ‘I don’t know! Really!’ Nie Huaisang babbles, still moving his phone out of reach every time Wei Wuxian tries to swipe at it. 

 ‘Ugh, just show him.’ Jiang Cheng groans, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. ‘Then maybe they’ll stop denying it and cut out the obnoxious pining.’ 

 Wei Wuxian finally manages to grab the phone, only to be greeted by a website. A fan site…?

He scrolls through it and regrets it immediately. There’s dozens, no multiple pages worth of short stories. Short stories of him and Lan Zhan. Him and his best friend doing unspeakable things to each other.

 ‘W-what…’ Wei Wuxian says weakly. The site even has a gallery, full of photos taken from different perspectives of him and Lan Zhan hanging out together. 

A photo of him leaning on Lan Wangji’s desk, chatting. Another picture of him clinging onto Lan Wangji’s sleeve. Lan Zhan helping him tie up his hair with his custom red scrunchie. A photo of him getting piggybacked when he got a twisted ankle at the school carnival.  Even a photo of him fast asleep on Lan Zhan’s shoulder. 

 ‘What is this!?’ He chokes, thrusting the screen in Jiang Cheng’s face. ‘Why are people writing things and taking photos of me and Lan Zhan?’ He’s totally dumbstruck. ‘I mean I can understand if people made a site for Lan Zhan, but why am I in it too?’ 

 ‘Calm down.’ His brother gingerly pushes the phone back at him. ‘Looks like the girls in your class started it, and things got a little out of hand.’ 

 ‘A little? Why did no one tell me this earlier?!’

 ‘We were afraid of your reaction.’ Nie Huaisang admits. ‘Can I have my phone back now?’ 

 Wei Wuxian hands the phone back to him, feeling betrayed. How could his friends do this to him?

 ‘You guys can NOT show this to Lan Zhan! He’ll 1000% stop being friends with me if he knows this is how everyone thinks of us!’ He whines, distraught. ‘You guys KNOW how long it took just for him to stop seeing me as his enemy!’

 ‘Chill out, we won’t endanger your relationship with your precious ‘Lan Zhan.’ Jiang Cheng drones, deadpan. 

 ‘Hey, only I get to call him that! You don’t have the privilege!’ 

 ‘It’s because you talk like that is why there’s a website.’ Nie Huaisang supplies unhelpfully. 

 ‘Hey!’

 ---

 When he gets home that night, he types the url into his laptop and goes straight to the fan website. 

Wei Wuxian scrolls through the page, stopping to read a story here and there. Some were terribly out of character, like having Lan Zhan date girls to make him jealous, or Wei Ying throwing Lan Zhan aside after a stuttered love confession. However some are quite cute, like coffee dates or movie nights that he could see them doing on a usual weekend. 

The top fic there had a shocking 10,000 views. Wei Wuxian knew there weren't even half of that many students in the school, let alone reading a story about him and Lan Wangji!

'Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.' He reads aloud. It was by some author called WangXian. They even had ship names now?

Skimming through the story, it seemed to be set in ancient China, with them being something called ‘cultivators.’ It even had his friends featured in it, from differing clans and sects all coming to study in a place called the Cloud Recesses. 

It was pretty well written, he had to give them that. He even laughed when the Wei Wuxian in the story pranks Lan Wangji with porn, as it definitely sounded like something he had done when they were kids. 

But as he kept reading he felt himself get steadily more invested in the plot, and the rich detail the author had put into creating that world. It was actually really good, he could totally picture it becoming a live action drama or movie. 

Wei Wuxian had almost forgotten that it was supposed to be a romantic fanfic about him and his best friend until the kiss.

 He freezes reading it, all of fictional Lan Wangji's romantic feelings and lust as he forces the fictional version of him against a tree. It starts to get hot and heavy, getting into detail about-

Slam!

He slams the laptop lid shut, embarrassed.

 No way! No way. This wasn't a thing. Him and Lan Zhan, they were bros, homies if you will.

 Wei Wuxian could picture the distaste if Lan Zhan ever caught him reading this. His delicate features would furrow and his eyes would go icy and the curve of his soft lips would-

 Nope.

 He flops himself sideways and pulls the covers over his head. The laptop charging light blinks back at him, almost teasingly.

 Squeezing his eyes shut, he wills sleep to come.

 --

 He is greeted the next day by Lan Wangji, waiting for him at his garden gate as always. Lan Zhan frowns slightly, cocking an eyebrow at his dark eye bags and dishevelled hair.

 'Oh this? I didn't get much sleep last night, ahah..'

 Of course he couldn't. Wei Wuxian had given into temptation and continued reading after ten minutes of rolling around in anguish.

Just one more chapter he had reasoned, and before he knew it he had marathoned the entire fic until it was 3am. Haggard, he had clicked the next chapter only to find out that he was up to date. That couldn’t be it! Where was the rest of it? He needed to know what happened next. 

Checking the date, it had been updated last Thursday, meaning there probably won’t be a chapter out anytime soon. 

 After a loud frustrated groan and Jiang Cheng banging on the wall for him to shut up, he had created an account and written a very enthusiastic review.

  fluterave420_6969

 This fic was BRILLIANT!!! You should be a famous author!!! Now of course Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are friends and NOTHING more but  the rest of it was great!!! You wrote their interaction really well 

ヽ( ´ ▽ ` ) ﾉ

Plz plz update soon!!!

 Well of course he couldn't tell Lan Zhan about all that.

 'Don’t worry, I'll just grab a coffee and I'll be fine and dandy.' Wei Wuxian chirps, flattening his hair down as they walk side by side to school.

Lan Wangji is silent as usual on their morning walks. Wei Wuxian chances a side glance at his elegant profile.

He's pretty, he thinks vaguely. Well obviously he's always known, but like, in a platonic way. Like how one would find a lotus flower beautiful, or a sunset.

The people in school definitely knew. They would always talk about Lan Zhan being as beautiful as a sculpted piece of jade, but if you looked at him his gaze would turn you into stone. Didn’t stop the girls from pursuing him though. He had once borrowed Lan Zhan’s phone to make a call, and that man’s conversation history was filled top to bottom with thirsty girls in his DMs. All the messages were ignored of course, the only messages being replied to being his brother, Lan Qiren and of course Wei Ying.

 He had been thrilled, bragging about it to Jiang Cheng (‘I don’t care.’) and Wen Ning (‘Oh good for you!’) before adding a bunch of heart kaomojis next to his name in Lan Zhan’s phone. Surprisingly Lan Zhan hadn’t changed it since then. 

 Soon it was lunchtime and as usual they would eat lunch together under the sycamore tree outside. It was always their spot, since this tree had the exact right amount of shade and sometimes this wild rabbit would come into the garden. Lan Zhan would leave behind bits of carrot, trying hard to win its trust. Wei Ying thought it was cute, so they had been sitting out there everyday for the past 6 months hoping to catch a glimpse of the furry black rabbit. 

 Today he didn’t feel hungry, deciding to save the lunch Jiang Yanli made for him for another time. Yawning, he wants to ask Lan Zhan to borrow his lap, but after what he read last night it might be too weird.

 Suddenly he hears a giggle behind him. 

 There was a group of girls nearby, who after making eye contact with him quickly whipped their heads back pretending to eat their lunch. 

Usually he would assume they were part of Lan Zhan’s fan club, but now he suspects they had different intentions. 

‘Eat.' Lan Wangji interrupts his thoughts, holding a lotus piece out of his own meal with his chopsticks.

Tearing his eyes away from the girls, he shakes his head. 'No no!' Wei Wuxian flaunters. He can hear the girls muffled squeals, and was that a camera shutter?  'You really don't have to! I'm not that hungry anyway.' 

'Wei Ying.' He fixes him with a disapproving stare, pinning him down with it. Wei Wuxian really doesn’t want to make more fodder for these girls fantasies. He always wanted to be popular with the girls, but not like this.

Reluctantly, he gingerly takes the lotus piece in his mouth from Lan Zhans chopsticks. He’s halfway through chewing before he hears a whisper that on a usual day he wouldn’t have noticed. 

'He's feeding him!! That's so domestic!'

Wei Wuxian chokes on his lotus piece, coughing loudly to Lan Wangji’s alarm. He hits him on the back a few times, until his face returns to its usual colour. 

'Lan Zhan, you really shouldn’t encourage them...' He says weakly. 

‘Hmn?’

‘Never mind…’ 

--

 So, here he was in after school detention again. He had forgotten to submit his homework after being distracted last night and Lan Qiren had given him a verbal beating for it. Luckily the teacher had refused to give up his afterschool hours to supervise and trusted Lan Zhan who had volunteered to watch over him instead.

Lan Zhan had silently joined him at his desk, quietly reading some novel as Wei Wuxian mulled over a math problem. To be honest, he couldn't concentrate; his mind was always drifting to the fan website. As much as he was disturbed by its existence, he couldn’t deny how much he had enjoyed that one story he had read. Was there an update yet? Chancing it, he brings out his phone behind his textbook to refresh the page.

To his shock, the fic's view count had increased by a few hundred from last night. There were a couple of new comments too and he scrolls down to read them. 

 Swordbois172

 This update was so good!! I can really feel the love between them <3333 Such burning passion!

 3000rules

 Actually I saw hanguang-jun and wei wuxian having lunch together today :O they were feeding each other! So domestic.

 BewareofIncenseBurners

 Dude, respect their privacy. Do you really want to get perma banned?

 3000rules

 Shut up, you were there too!! srsly who died and made you mod

 Rabbitsalesperson

 Lol get real if we respected their privacy we wouldn't even be here lol  X___x let's hope they never discover this dumpster fire.

 >Comment Removed<

 >Comment Removed<

  WenNing

 What a great chapter!

 Wait. Wen Ning?! What was Wen Ning doing in the comment section? Also, who uses their real name on the internet?

 'Wei Ying. Pay attention.'

 He jumps in his seat, guilty that he had been caught reading about them in front of the person himself.

 'Aww but it's so boring! I can't concentrate.'

 'You were on your phone.'

 'I, well, started reading something recently. A novel.' He says, settling for a half lie. I mean fanfiction counts as a novel, right?

 Lan Wangji's eyebrow raises, and he tilts his head to look at Wei Wuxian's phone.

 'No!'

 He  almost throws the phone out the window in his rush to turn it off. Lan Zhan looks at him, bewildered.

 'Sorry! I was lying, it was porn.'

 Lan Wangji blinks at him before settling into a deadpan expression. Rolling his eyes, he  goes back to his book.

This scene felt familiar.

 'Lan Zhan. Lan Zhaan. I'm sorry, I'll work diligently.' He whines, genuinely apologetic. 'I know you waited here for me to keep me company when you could've just gone home.' 

 His best friend's golden eyes soften just a tad.

 'If you understand, finish your work quickly.'

 'Okay!'

 ---

 They’re having another one of their movie nights, watching some drama at Wei Wuxian’s place. He had his head on Lan Zhan’s shoulder, trying to fight sleep that was overcoming him. 

His mind was drifting over to that cave scene in the story, and he tries to picture his best friend in white robes and an elegant headband playing the guqin. Lan Zhan was pretty enough so it would probably work. The one thing he couldn’t picture though was what the song he sang to the Wei Ying in the fanfiction sounded like. 

Actually he wasn’t sure what Lan Zhan’s singing voice sounded like at all. He had always shot down his invitations for karaoke, but that was most likely because his other friends were there too. 

 ‘Hey, Lan Zhan. I’ve never heard you sing.’ He really wanted to hear it now. 

 ‘...’

 ‘C’mon singgg for meeeeeee~ Your voice probably sounds like one of an angel, and I would have never known! We could make your c-pop idol debut!’

 ‘No.’

 He pouts, ‘Okay fine, you probably sound like a dying rat anyway.’ 

 ‘...’

 ‘Hmmn then again Lan Zhan is so perfect at everything, I bet you’d sound good even as a rat.’ Wei Wuxian murmurs sleepily. He slips off his shoulder to lean into Lan Zhan’s lap. Lan Wangji adjusts himself so they were in a more comfortable position. 

‘Don’t forget me when you’re famous okay? I could even be your backing instrumental. We could go to the same university, join the same company, live in the same apartment....’

 He thinks he can see Lan Zhan nod slightly from his shuttering vision. 

 ‘Even buried together in the same grave!’ Wei Wuxian jokes, a smile stretched across his face. He could imagine the field day those girls would have if they could hear him now.

But he’s glad that it was just the two of them, in Wei Ying’s little room with no one to take photos or question his relationship with Lan Zhan. I mean he’s seen k-pop compilations of the members doing way more affectionate stuff than what he was doing right now. Jiang Cheng totally had it all wrong, since he hadn’t experienced the magic of true friendship. 

 ‘We’ll stay together forever, yeah?’ 

 ‘Mn.’ Lan Wangji responds, carding his fingers through Wei Wuxian’s hair. 

 He laughs a little, grateful at having someone like him in his life. Yawning, he falls asleep on Lan Zhan’s lap, just like that. 

[ddaengyoonmin]

Chapter one

Pairing: Jungkook x reader, eventual Ot7 x reader in later chapters

Genre: Angst, fluff, uhh maybe smut eventually??

Theme: Based kinda on sword art online a lot of similar ideas and themes kinda combining the idea of them trapped in the game, but the world is closer to ALFheim online

Word count: 2.1k+

Warnings: Swearing?..I swear a lot it can’t be contained. Giant Bees?? Not too much to warn about for this chapter but future chapters might get crazy

*check my master list for the prologue, I suggest reading it first*

Next -> Chapter 2

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

A bright light shone in from a missing blind.  One of your bothersome, but too cute to be mad at cats must’ve broken it, you made a mental note to fix that later. It woke you up earlier than usual for a Friday, probably not a bad thing, you had a big day ahead of you.  Working from home had its advantages such as being able to create your own schedule.

You had set the day aside to mentally prepare for and then try out your dreaded birthday gift you had received just the day before.

The clock read 8:00 am. You sighed as you pulled yourself out of bed, startling the young calico cat who had been sleeping on your stomach throughout the night. “Sorry velvet” you mumble sleepily.  Though she should be used to the rude awakenings by now, given that you on the other hand had not gotten used to having a cuddly cat and always seemed to accidentally throw her off your lap in the mornings.   Your other cat Tiger always kept to herself and usually slept on the top of her cat tree or on a top shelf in one of your closets.

Last year when you bought your new apartment you had marveled at the spaciousness of the classy two bedroom layout.  You debated on turning that second bedroom into a room for Tiger to have all to herself, but decided that would only feed into your family’s idea you were becoming a crazy cat lady hermit. Instead it became your office, and today it was the room you decided you would try out the full dive gaming experience headset in.  You had a comfortable black leather office chair that you usually spent most of your days in while you worked on your designs.  You figured that would be fine to recline in while you went into the game.

After getting yourself a filling breakfast you fed Velvet and Tiger a little extra, not knowing how long you’d be in the game.  Part of you hoped that your mom would be satisfied if you just tried it for 30 minutes or so, then you could get back to the practical reality you preferred to live in. But you still wanted to be prepared in case the impossible happened and you actually enjoyed yourself.

You picked up the sleek looking packaging that held the headset and the game you had been given. You let out a sigh and looked over to your pets, “lets give this a shot huh?” you said, looking at them as if they could understand you.

When you arrived to your office you plopped down into your comfy chair and finally opened the packaging.  The headset was shiny and heavy, looking similar to a motorcycle helmet.  In the back by the base of the neck there was a long wire the same shade of silver as the rest of the headset.  You pulled out the instructions from the box and skimmed it over.  

“Internal battery, internal memory to store data, in game items, and achievements”

“Pre-programmed with Faerie Realm installed, no updates or installation required”

“To enter the game is simple, put on the headset and click the large button on the side of the headset and say the command ‘LINK START’”

You felt skeptical of this whole thing, but you reasoned that they wouldn’t sell it to the public if it was unsafe.

With one last see ya later to Tiger and Velvet you plugged in the headset and carefully placed it over your head.  It was a snug fit and there were straps to secure it underneath your chin.

A small wave of nervousness ran over you, you took a few deep breaths and put your pointer finger to the side of the headset and held the button. Loud and enunciated so as not to mess this up somehow, you said the command…

“LINK START”

Almost instantly, like falling asleep suddenly, everything went dark.  It only lasted a few seconds until you were standing in a bright, white, empty room with no doors or windows.  You looked to your left and right in a slight panic, you felt like you could hear some music start to play.

Then, catching you off guard a giant holographic screen projected onto the wall in front of you.

“Welcome new player!” A chipper voice rang out from the direction of the screen “It’s time to chose your fairy race, and dive into the world of Faerie Realm! Point your hand straight out fingers spread out to the screen and swipe to the right to scroll through the choices, make a fist for 10 seconds at the screen on the page of the Fairy race you choose and you will move on to the next step!”

On the screen an example character popped and you giggled at it.  It was an image of you, but not totally you.  Your hair was longer than in real life and it was dyed a turquoise shade of blue, you were wearing a tight royal blue and white dress that was much shorter than anything you’d ever worn before.

 You had to admit from a designers point of view, that it was pretty interesting how they’d managed to do that.  The thing that really caught your eye was that coming from behind your back was a pair of beautiful shimmering turquoise wings matching the hair, they were slightly transparent and had a light blue glow coming off of them. The title under this character “Water Fairy”

You scrolled over the other choices shortly, five options of fairy races each with different styles, perks and nerdy sounding stats you didn’t even bother to read. You were mostly focused on the look, and none stood out as much as the first you had seen and you settle on the Water Fairy, holding out a fist to the screen as it instructed.  

The next step you were prompted to complete was to choose a username.  You decide on “Velvet Tiger” in honor of your bestfriends at home. Once you held out your fist again to declare that you were sure of your name, the room turned dark again.  Next you felt like you were falling, falling falling, and the perky voice echoed around you “Have fun in Faerie Realm!!”

With a loud thud you felt yourself hit grass, strangely you felt no sort of pain from your fall, odd.

You picked yourself up from the ground and brushed the dirt off of what you now realized was the same blue dress from the screen.  You pull your now extremely long hair in front of your face to see it was indeed also the hair you had seen on yourself in the preview.  “Color me impressed” You chuckled aloud.

You started to look around to get a bearing on your surroundings.  “Umm...what exactly am I supposed to do?” You spoke aloud again, not sure if you were hoping someone would answer or that some sort of screen would pop up at your question.  But nothing happened.  

You were alone in the middle of the most perfect flowering field you’d ever seen in your life, it was beautiful, cream colored daisies scattered all around you.  It was sunny and bright and the temperature was perfect. You could feel a light breeze press on your cheek, you brought your hand up to your face.  “Woah…” you muttered.  It was crazy to think none of this was real.  

A noise suddenly snapped you out of your state of awe.  You cocked your head to the side slightly.  It was a humming noise getting louder and louder by the second.  

To your surprise and horror the objects in question made themselves visible.  “What the fuck!!!” You scream, and immediately start to book it in the opposite direction.

BEES? But not just regular bees, a swarm of GIANT bees about the size of your cats were headed straight towards you.  You found yourself screaming out a series of fucks and holy shits as you tried to outrun the swarm, they were catching up faster than you could run.  ‘Thanks mom, this is real fun’, you thought.  

You were about to get to a treeline that was up ahead when you tripped and fell flat on your face, you winced, not because it hurt, (you realized this game must not let you feel pain, which is nice), but because you were just embracing the fact that giant bees were about to be your ‘game over’ only 5 minutes into the game.

A loud POW sounded out right behind you and you covered your ears and buried your head into the ground.  A crackling noise like fireworks followed. And then...a beautiful sound.

“You okay miss?” A silvery voice spoke from above you.

You uncovered your ears and lifted your head up from your embarrassing position you had assumed when you thought your demise in this game was upon you.

What you saw when your eyes met the figure standing over you took your breath away.  You had to try and keep a straight face and contain your awe so as not to further embarrass yourself.  

The man standing over you looked like an angel covered in black.  He had on a tight fitting black shirt with a gray jacket that was styled fitting to the theme of this game draped over top, and tight black skinny jeans to go with.  From behind his back you could see a pair of shimmering translucent wings similar in design to yours but the color was a charcoal black.  

He extended a strong looking hand towards you, but you were still frozen in a combination of awe and embarrassment.  He retracted his hand, chuckled, and ran his fingers through his pitch black hair. You scurried to get up on your own  snapping out of your daze and standing eye to eye with the man you asume must’ve just saved your ass from the killer bees.

“Um, thank you” You nervously mumbled his way.  His eyes were kind as he met your gaze with a smile.  You had to force yourself to keep your eyes on his as they seemed compelled to trail over all of his body.  “You’re welcome” His smile grew bigger than it previously was.  “You’re lucky I got here when I did! They were gearing up for some power stings that definitely would’ve sent you to a black screen at your level”

“At….my level?” You said with confusion.  “Yeah, I can see your level right there” he pointed just to the left of your face.  You for the first time notice a small screen was there that had your username, level, health and an option for ‘menu’ listed.  “Oh..” you managed an awkward smile.  You realized you could see his too, ‘Kookie, level 10, full health’ listed on the screen hovering next to him.  

“I’ve been here since 12am when it opened” he said sheepishly running his hand through his hair again.  “Games are kinda my thing and when I heard this was coming out I wanted to get ahead right away...did you just get here or something?” He questioned.

“Yeah, literally just a few minutes ago” you laughed “That was about to be a real short run” you winced at the not too distant memory. “I...uh..games aren’t really my thing”

He smirked at your comment “You don’t say?” he teased.  You stuck your tongue out at him, then immediately felt embarrassed.  Not totally sure what came over you to do that to a total stranger, but hey, it is just a game and he started it right? So you shook off the awkward feeling and decided to just go with it.  He laughed a full belly laugh at your action and shook his head “Ok, I like your style ma’m, so I’m gonna take pity on your and show you the ropes here” He spoke cockily.

“Oh? And what makes you think I need your help?” You tried to come back with, only eliciting further laughter from him. “You’re right,” he put his hands up in fake defeat “those bees were completely defenseless to your ‘duck and cover in the middle of a field’ fighting methods”

You pouted slightly at the mention of that embarrassing part of the incident that had just occurred you are hoping to just pretend didn’t happen.

“Fiiine” you sighed “I really don’t know what I’m doing here, but don't take me for some damsel in distress that's going to worship you as her hero now or anything like that”  His eyebrows raised high taken aback by your bluntness.  “Of course. I have no doubt you take care of yourself well in the real world, on first impressions you seem to be a strong, independent woman…I admire that in a lady” he assured in an honest and serious tone, but then He stopped and took a few steps closer to you standing so close it sent a shiver up your spine.  

He leaned in to your ear, tone changing from his previous statement into a more smooth and sultry whisper  “But this isn’t the real world...you’ve stepped into my world now.” He pulled away, a smirk on his face.

Your eyes widened.  What have you gotten yourself into…

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[fanfictrashdump]

Queening a Pawn, 10

[I’m stressed and stuck on several of my projects, so guess who’s writing throwaway chapters? (Hint: it me)]

Summary: During the Time Heist, Loki stole the Tesseract and escaped. He did not expect, however, to be pulled through a Time Loop that delivered him to a Midgard more than a decade older, wiser, and bitterer. Having just lived through his unsuccessful attack in New York, Loki must learn to live in Midgard after the defeat of Thanos (post-Endgame). The question is, who is Loki without a quest for a throne or total domination?

Pairings: Loki x OC

=

Delilah had been talking to Strange for the past half hour, the sorcerer assuring her that the attack on the institute had been short-lived and there was no danger– he even mentioned having Wong Skype them if need be. She had to admit that though she was relieved Stephen and Wong were fine, she was more distracted with the cocoon that Loki had locked himself inside. He had trailed her around the living room as she paced, trying to make plans to increase security at all locations. When she had finally stopped, he had placed his hands on either side of her waist distractedly going over the tattered bits of her sweatshirt, lost in thought.

"I wish I knew what was going on with you, Lo," she whispered, and it was enough to break him out of his reverie and retrieve his hands.

There was something in his eyes that spoke of being lost at sea and entirely without purpose. After all, whatever ambitions he ever had seemed impossible or fickle now. He had sought to rule Asgard in all its glory. It was now a small struggling country in Midgard. He wanted to rule Midgard. That was… not as appealing, anymore. Who was Loki without his bloodlust for power? And why was it so terrifying to think about?

He turned, suddenly, on a dime, wanting to make distance between them. "Chess?"

"Hey."

"Yes?" He turned back around to find her staring so intently he swore she could spy his soul.

Loki was confused when she took hold of his wrists. The usual warmth that came with her palms was replaced by the cold bite of steel, a pair of manacles the same as the ones that dampened his powers, were clasped just above them. He watched with bated breath as her fingers slipped down and something clicked beneath them. With a flick of her hands, she had removed the original bracelets, and Loki felt the tingle of his magic trickling through his limbs and cooling him from the inside out.

"This is foolish. Put those back on," he ordered, his voice quivering.

Delilah challenged him, holding the original bracelets away from his reach. "Or, what?"

"Do you not understand how dangerous this is? Do you think I wouldn't snap your neck out of sentiment?" He struggled to reach for the bracelets, genuinely confused as to how someone so small could manage to so effectively play keep-away.

A prod at his ribs had him jumping backwards with a yelp. "We both know I can kick your ass if I ever wanted to."

Loki rubbed at his tender ribs, ignoring the static-y itch at his palms from his seidr. "Delilah…"

"Loki."

He held his arms out, wrists together, waiting for handcuffs. "Put them back. Please. Put them back on."

"Why?"

"I don't want to lose control!" He had raised his voice. "I played with magic one-too-many times. Like a child. It's done me no favors. If I don't… If I don't have it, it can't turn against me." There was something broken in those sea glass eyes. "It's too much."

"You don't have to be scared."

"I don't know who I am, who I'm meant to be or what I'm meant to be doing. This curse will only complicate things further and what if I… Thor would die and you…"

"And I would…?"

His response came in the form if his lips on hers, forcing her back until she was flush against the marble countertop. One of the two whimpered, neither was sure which one had done it, but rather that it had echoed in their mouths as they forced each other closer. Loki pulled his fingers through the loops of her jeans, drawing her hips against his, chest heaving. There was something primal and possessive tearing through him, instructing him on how to properly mark her as his– a voice he promptly shoved to the back of his mind as he delicately trailed kisses down her jawline to her neck. He navigated every raised line with expert delicacy, taking the metallic taste as a reminder of his deeds and the fact she was still alive.

"This is the part where you tell me that you think I'm pretty," she breathed in a joke, arching her neck to allow him better access.

"You're beautiful," he murmured, grazing his teeth against her pulse, feeling it tremble beneath his lips with an unexpected thrill. "And terrifying. This magic… it pulls to you and I'm not sure if that's OK or not. Like it's known you for all eternity but forgot to inform me."

"To be honest," she began pushing him just far enough away to see his eyes, "I don't think anyone knows me better than you." Delilah kissed him. This time she knew the whimper had come from him. "But I'll admit I am very scary." The reluctant chuckle earned him another peck. "I'll keep you safe."

"W-what did you say?" There was a hairline fracture in the veneer over his emotions, spidering uncontrollably and on the verge of cracking. When had anyone ever promised him something similar? He couldn't even recall of an instance when he was a child–everyone just assumed he'd be fine.

Her fingers traced his cheeks and a dark flush followed her path. "I'll keep you safe."

He dropped his head onto her shoulder, groaning. Delilah meant it, he could tell. The sincerity hurt in the best way. "You don't know what you're promising." His heart sputtered a little harder and his mind hazed.

"Maybe not, but I'm promising it." Her breath caught when his lips met her neck, again. His teeth sank into the delicate flesh, putting just enough pressure to make her shiver. "Loki."

"We shouldn't," he whispered, the only logical thought to break through the fog. Still, he tilted his head to give the other side of her neck the same attention. He had her taut as a bowstring and just as dangerous. He pulled the shoulder of her glacier-blue top down, his lips skimming the thin scar left by his blade.

"Then you should stop," she husked, arching her back as he found her collarbone. He cut his eyes at her, dark and half-lidded. "I'm certainly not doing it for you."

"I won't regret it in the morning," he murmured, distractedly tracing his fingers over the swell of her hips before he was forced to look up with a nudge of her hand.

"You really believe that?" Something akin to hurt was brewing under her skin and Loki grappled with the desire to turn back time and swallow his words. He didn't think that, but it was easier to think she would so that when she eventually bored of him he could say 'she was never all that interested, anyway'. "I kissed you in that corridor. I find stupid excuses to hang around with you. It was me who was terrified of losing you to that stone, back there. How could you be so damn stupid–" 

Her tirade was cut short with another kiss, but was nothing like the shy, languid encounters they had just shared. There was no doubt between either of them about where they stood in respect to each other. Nor was there any doubt of where they were headed as a pair as Loki's hands pulled her legs out from under her, pinning them around his hips as he kicked open the door to his bedroom.

--

Loki held Delilah's face in his hands and peppered kisses on her cheeks, forehead, lips and neck, making her giggle. "Precious. You're so damn precious, my Queen."

Delilah smiled against the crook of his neck where she decided to rest, surrounded by his expensive and luxurious silken bedsheets, halfway between waking and dreaming. "That's the endorphins talking."

He laughed more genuinely than she had ever heard him, pressing his form closer to hers as if it would physically hurt him to put space between them. His lips pressed at the curls on her crown with a contented sigh. "You're a fool." He pressed another kiss to her neck. "You should put them back on, Delilah," he whispered, hugging her frame to him.

She hummed against his neck, her mind beginning to drift in her exhaustion. "Nah, I don't think I will. I don't want half of you."

"Lilah…"

Groaning, she pulled back and blinked slowly up at his concerned expression. "Other than this incident, is there any reason you would be hesitant to have your magic? Any reason you wouldn't trust yourself? Truthfully."

"No." The world seemed reluctant to tumble from his lips.

"Then, no. End of story."