#to be fair i went from a plus sized shop to a normal sized store

[sobriqvet]

going from being the smallest person at my old job to the biggest at my new one is the worst thing to happen to me actually

[helliontherapscallion]

Warmth (Adrenaline Junkie Part 6)

Part 1     Part 2     Part 3     Part 4     Part 5     Part 7     Part 8     Part 9     Part 10     Part 11     Part 12     Part 13     Part 14     Part 15     Part 16     Part 17

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Warnings: Self harm scars, mentions of panic attacks and hallucinations

Word count: 2,842

(A/N): This takes place about 6 months after the last chapter. Also, I was heavily inspired by Toothless’ prosthetic, I’m really excited to write more about it : )

You hummed to yourself as you walked down the cobblestone street of the village. The village was probably one of your favorite places to visit; it had quaint little shops and stalls decorating the main plaza that you adored, it was always interesting to see what’s being sold today. Though you always wore your cloak to cover your wings (well, wing and a now-feathered nub) whenever you visited to avoid the stares, you still regularly visited the main plaza for the shops. 

The first time you visited after the incident was about a month ago with Wilbur, you two were looking for something to cook for dinner. You were trying to get used to having your wings out again, so you were wearing the jacket with the slits in the back that you always used to wear. 

The feeling of people staring holes into you was a feeling you forgot about. You always got stares whenever you went into the village because of your wings, but now it felt like more and more people were staring at you as you passed them, probably because of your nub. Though some looked at you in pity, most looked at you with disgust.

You could hear children asking their mothers what happened to you. Their mothers would take one look at you and shield their children away from you staring at you with disgust. You even made one kid cry when he saw your wing; you didn’t blame him, you still couldn’t look at your nub without tearing up. An hour hasn’t even passed before you were asked by a police officer to leave because you were causing a disruption and being indecent in public.

Wilbur was pissed. “They’re fully clothed and they didn’t even talk to anybody, so how exactly were they being disruptive or indecent?”

The officer firmly held her ground, looking up to Wilbur’s tall form. “Sir, the people are complaining and it’s my job to make the public feel safe and comfortable. Look,” she sighed, “I really don’t want to have to ask them to leave, they’re not doing anything to directly threaten people. However, they are causing a disturbance with their,” she wrinkled her nose, “their thing, so I’m going to have to ask them to leave.”

“You have absolutely no right to tell them to leave. They-”

“Wilbur, it’s fine. I’ll leave,” turning back to the officer, you calmly stated “I’m sorry for causing a disturbance ma’am. It won’t happen again.”

She curtly nodded and stood watching you, probably making sure that you left the main plaza. Before you could turn to leave, Wilbur stopped you.

“(Y/n)-”

“No, Wilbur. It’s alright, I can wait outside the village for you.”

He sighed, looking through his leather satchel. “No, you won’t have to wait for me. We’ve got enough food for dinner anyways,” shooting one last heated glare at the police officer, he reached down to grab your hand. “Let’s go.”

He drug you quickly through the village with you having a little trouble keeping up with his long strides. Once you were out of the village, he slowed his pace and walked with his hands shoved in his pockets.

“(Y/n), I’m sor-”

“Don’t be Wil. It isn’t your fault. I honestly was expecting to get kicked out earlier.”

“Still, it’s not fair to you. You didn’t ask for this.” 

“I know Wil, I’ll just wear my cloak next time I visit.”

He didn’t say anything to you after that. The rest of the walk home was shrouded in an awkward silence. 

Another part of the village you loved was the library. It had tall shelves filled to the brim with all sorts of books and various cushioned furniture littered randomly amongst the maze of shelves. Whoever would walk into the library would immediately be hit by the strong scent of parchment and wood as soon as they would walk through the twin doors. You would usually browse books about redstone, but you had a different agenda today.

Today, you were looking for a book about leather working. You wanted to make a leather prosthetic wing so you could at least glide through the air. You weren’t sure if it would work though. From what you’ve read, nobody’s attempted to make a prosthetic wing. It made sense, being a hybrid was rare in and of itself, let alone a winged hybrid. 

You missed flying more than anything. You would give anything to be able to be in the air again. You felt jittery and restless without flight. Sure, Philza took you on some flights with him every now and then, but it wasn’t the same. You yearned for the independence and liberation it gave you to fly alone.

After you found a book and checked it out with the librarian, you hastily set out for home. You were walking with a giddy smile on your face and a bounce in your step. Several people gave you strange looks as you passed them, but you were in too good of a mood to care. You finally figured out a way you could possibly fly again. 

When you got home, you headed straight to your workshop to get to work on your prosthetic. Several blueprints were hung up around your desk, some for your TNT launcher (which you finished a few weeks ago) and others contained ideas for an automatic farm. Your pride and joy was hung up in the center of your bulletin board. It made you extremely happy just by looking at the prosthetic sketch.

Your redstone lamp illuminated the space in front of you as you focused on cutting a large strip of leather in front of you with great concentration. You needed to get the measurements exactly right, equal sized wings are integral for stability midair. The prosthetic was going to be about the same size as your left wing with thin iron rods giving the wing structure. You planned on making it identical to a bat’s wing with a few minor changes in shape to match your other wing. Once it actually was structurally sound and working, you would add proper joints so you could wear it around and decorate it. Until then, you’re making adjustments.

When you were done, you moved on to crafting and melding together the iron rods. Putting on your goggles and thick leather gloves, you used a bit of lava your family kept stored in another room in the basement to fuse the thin iron rods together. You carefully dipped one end of two rods into the bucket before pulling it out at a certain time to hold the molten ends together until they cooled. You repeated this process until you were melding the last piece on.

“HEY BITCH, DINNER’S READY. GET IT WHILE IT’S HOT!”

Yelping, you dropped the mold onto your desk. You picked it up in a panic without paying attention to where your arms went. Unknowingly, your sleeved arm was pressing up against the scorching iron of the bucket of lava.

“FUCK YOU YA FILTHY GREMLIN, A LITTLE WARNING WOULD’VE BEEN NICE!”

He started cackling. “FUCK YOU TOO! NOW GET UP HERE BEFORE I EAT YOUR DINNER.”

“YOU BETTER FUCKING NOT. I SWEAR TO- FUCK!”

You felt the nerves on the side of your forearm screaming as you yanked it away, leaving the crisp remains of a part of your sleeve stuck to the iron bucket. Two pairs of footsteps boomed down the steps and got louder as they rapidly approached you. 

Wilbur’s deep voice worriedly called out to you. “Shit, (y/n) are you alright? Let me see.”

Before you could protest, he gently grabbed your wrist and pulled the sleeve of your jacket down. Adjoining the light burn, small horizontal scars and some fresh cuts lined your forearms. Shit, they were never supposed to find out.

Wilbur’s hand froze, gripping your wrist with an iron grip. You hissed at the feeling of some of your cuts reopening, causing him to quickly retract his hand. He now had his hands hovering over your arm unsure of what to do with them.

“(Y/n), wha-” Tommy cut himself off once he saw the panicked look on his older brother’s face. Following his gaze, his wide eyes met with your cuts.

You sighed, prying the goggles off from your face and pulling the gloves off from your hands. You put on a calm exterior, contrary to what you felt on the inside. They were never supposed to know. “Listen, you guys weren’t supposed to find out about this. None of you were. Please don’t tell Dad or Technoblade, I don’t need more people knowing.”

Tommy spoke up with an incredulous look. “(Y/n), what do you mean? We can’t just not tell them.”

“I know. Please, do it for me? Everything’s finally going back to normal and this will just make everything worse again. I promise I’ll stop, I swear.”

The two brothers looked at each other silently contemplating what they should do. On one hand, you were their sibling and you were hurting yourself. They needed to tell their dad that you were cutting. You only had two lives left and you could kill yourself doing that. Philza and Techno could help. On the other hand, they wanted you to feel normal in your own home. You were right in the fact that everything was starting to feel like it did before the incident. Plus, they would gladly help you through it.

They looked back at you with apprehensive expressions, speaking at the same time. 

“(Y/n), we’re not gonna tell Dad or Techno.”

“We’re telling them.”

Tommy whipped his head up to look at his brother angrily. “Wilbur, we need to tell them.”

“Tommy, no-”

“Are you fucking stupid? Of course we have to-”

“Tommy. We don’t because I’ll be taking every sharp object away from them tonight. We’ll watch them and check their wrists to make sure that there’s no new cuts and they stay clean. We’ll help them.”

“But- they,” Tommy gave a frustrated sigh. “Fine. But we at least have to tell Techno about this. He can help us.”

Wilbur glanced at you with apologetic eyes. Before he could speak up, you interrupted him. “...Alright, as long as Dad doesn’t find out. He has enough to stress out about and he doesn’t need to worry about me again. Now, can we go upstairs for dinner? We’ve been down here for long enough already and Dad’s probably wondering why. Tell him that I’m gonna go clean up.”

Without giving them any room to argue, you speeded up the stairs and into your room. Closing the door and leaning your back on it, you let your calm facade drop into a panicked one. Shit, what if Tommy tells Dad? What were you supposed to do then? He’ll take away what little freedom you had left and you’ll be sinking into the depths of your depression again. 

Your thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock and Philza’s voice. You held your breath as you prepared yourself for him to tell you that he knows your secret. “Hey hun, Wilbur and Tommy told me that you burned yourself,” you let out a relieved sigh. “Do you need me to look at it?”

Panic once again flared in your bloodstream. “N-no Dad, it’s just a little burn. I’ll be down in just a second I’m changing.”

“You sure? I can get you a potion.”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“...Alright,” he sounded skeptical. “Just hurry up, dinner’s getting cold.”

The sound of his retreating footsteps sounded like music to your ears. You closed your eyes and took a few deep breaths before you moved to put on a long sleeved shirt. 

Dinner was uncharacteristically quiet without Tommy, you, or Wilbur talking. Philza tried to carry the conversation with you four, but only Technoblade gave full responses. You, Tommy, and Wilbur only supplied a few words to a conversation when prompted. 

Technoblade was suspicious. Sure, you and Wilbur were quiet sometimes, but Tommy? Tommy’s always loud and rambunctious. Something’s wrong, but what? What could’ve happened when Tommy and Wilbur went to go get you for dinner? They weren’t gone for long. He did hear you screaming profanities at Tommy for scaring you and overheard Tommy telling Philza about how you burned yourself, but how is that something that would shut you three up? He was going to confront his siblings after he finished tonight’s dishes. 

Meanwhile, you, Tommy, and Wilbur were in your room. You were giving them your iron dagger.

“Is this all?”

“Yeah, Tommy. That’s all, search my room if you don’t believe me. I wouldn’t mind, I don’t have anything to hide from you anymore.”

They did just that. Looking under your bed, in your drawers, in your closet, and in the chest you kept for your supplies. You watched them propped up on your bed. While you were angry with yourself that you were so careless, you felt warm that they cared about you. They were great brothers.

After they were done turning your room upside down, Wilbur plopped down next to you and Tommy threw himself over your legs. You three laid there for a while just enjoying each other’s presence. It was nice to spend some time with your brothers, you didn’t get much free time to spend with them because you spent most of your time in your workshop.

The silence was broken by Tommy. “...So, how do you wanna go about telling Technoblade?”

“I’m… not exactly sure. Do we even have to tell him?”

Wilbur pursed his lips. “Even if you didn’t want to, I’m pretty sure he knows something’s up. He’s good at picking up on social cues.”

“Well if that’s the case, I might just wait until he comes to me. It’ll be easier.”

Your door swung open to reveal your piglin hybrid brother. He looked at you with a single eyebrow raised as his ear flicked. “What were you planning on telling me?”

Tommy and Wilbur looked at you expectantly. You shifted your body closer to the wall making room on your bed for him. He walked over and stiffly sat on the edge of your mattress. He gestured for you to talk to him. You slowly slid your sleeve down and showed him your arm. Besides his eyebrows slightly crinkling, he was as stoic as ever when he reached out to grab your wrist for a better look.

On the inside, the voices were almost as loud as when you died. They were nearly incoherent as several angry voices mixed together yelling at him for not noticing anything was wrong with you, the kid he vowed to protect when you first stole his crown and replaced it with a homemade paper one. Outside of the voices, he was furious at himself, he was supposed to protect you. He ran his fingers along the raised lines, gently tracing over every scar and scabbed over cut as if memorizing where every single one lays.

His monotone voice was gruff. “How long? Why?”

“About eight months now. I-I didn’t feel anything for a while after I respawned and I realized that pain helped me feel. It helped ground me when I hallucinated or had panic attacks.”

“...Do you feel anything now?”

“Yeah, I’m getting better Tech. I’m hallucinating less and I’m getting better at managing anxiety attacks. At this point, it's just a habit that I can’t drop.” 

“Do you want to drop it?”

You fell silent. You never really considered stopping before. Before, you would do it to give yourself something to focus on when you were overwhelmed, but now you would do it out of habit. It somehow felt wrong when you skipped a session and it usually threw your entire day off. You would feel drained for the entire day if you didn’t do it. It was one of the only consistent things in your life.

“(Y/n), c’mon you don’t want to keep doing this, right?” Tommy asked before Wilbur reached over and slapped him upside his head. 

“I think,” you breathed out, unsure of yourself, “I want to get better.”

Techno looked at his brothers. “Did you two take their blades?”

Tommy held up the iron dagger and wove it around haphazardly in the air. Techno reached over and pocketed the dagger before discarding his golden crown and placing it on your nightstand. He took off his weighted fluffy cloak and neatly draped it over a nearby chest. He maneuvered his body so that he was laying on your other side and wrapped a lazy arm over your chest. 

With Wilbur on your right side with your wing draped over him, Tommy laying on your stomach with Wilbur reaching down to hold him, and Techno pulling you close to his body, you were pleasantly warm. You were slowly drifting off, being lulled to sleep by Techno’s slow heartbeat. You blissfully fell asleep surrounded by your brothers’ love.

Inspo for the cuddle pile (credit goes to og artist, zillychu): https://zillychu.home.blog/tag/heart-squad-cuddle-pile/

Taglist (comment if you want to be added):

@acecarddraws  @goldenstarofthunderclan  @ravennightingaleandavatempus  @dirtydiavolo  @yeiras-world  @immadatmostthings  @hee-hee-haw  @jackalopedoodles  @m1lkmandan  @vanhakirja  @im-a-depressed-gay  @coolleviauchihadreamerlove  @questioning-sanity  @camisascam

@bongwaterflavoredgatorade  @kakamiissad  @jayistrash  @lifestylesleep  @speedymaximoff  @sun-shark-tooth  @appetiteofapeoplepleaser  @starchildnatalya  @kinismanditory  @dragons-lurk-here  @rinzyx05  @the-wandering-pan-ace  @sparkling-gayyyy  @angelic-scent  @shinipii  @dont-hug-me-im-a-fander  @izzydimensional  @used-avocado

[bilgisticallykosher]

Don't Jump To Conclusions

TS g/t one-shots

I'm in a Sanders Sides g/t server, and sometimes we take scenarios and write on them. I've written a fair amount of stuff on there, myself, and I decided to collect my stuff, and clean it up. This was partially written by @borrowedblue and @andtheyreonfire

Happy birthday, Vel!

Masterpost | AO3

My Discord, not to be confused with the above g/t Sanders Sides one.

Word count: 3,300

Warnings: Spiders! Spider, anyway. Sentient beings sold as pets, attempting restriction of said beings, mentions of bites, implied past abuse/bad treatment.

-----

Virgil was out shopping. Not for groceries or clothing; he was at a pet store, shopping for supplies for his, let's say, pets. Okay, technically they weren't pets. They were research at the lab he worked at, but he still liked them, even when they did try to bite and attack and hiss at him. His descriptions of such had led people to believe that he worked with cats, but he didn't. 

He worked with spiders. 

Well, a lot of bugs, but he liked the spiders the best. His lab observed their behaviors both individually and in groups to catalog a variety of information. As part of their observations, they needed to keep the spiders in their ideal environment, which included as close to the exact blend of earth as they could get. Unfortunately, they'd run out of their supply today. Fortunately, that sort of stuff was widely available. Unfortunately, they used a very specific brand. Fortunately, they found some in a pet store pretty locally. Unfortunately, Virgil was the one who lived nearest to it, so he was stuck going in and getting it on his way home. What a drag, he had to actually interact with people. 

When he got there, he could see why this was the store that had it. It was certainly… well-stocked. Which, really, was just another way to say "huge." It was like the Home Depot of pet stores; no employees in sight, and aisles in need of some serious maps. But whatever. He at least knew which sections to go past. When he finally got to the specialty mix of dirt, near the back of the store, he grabbed it with an 'Ah-hah!' Then, after his elation had faded, he took in his surroundings a bit more. He looked to his left, and noticed the rescue. 

It wasn't odd for a pet store to have a rescue in it. And despite his surly exterior, well, Virgil wasn't immune to cute fluffy animals. Maybe he just so happened to need to walk back to the registers while passing it by. And maybe while he was walking that way, he'd take a little look. You know. While he was there. 

So, path decided, nodding to himself, he strolled over, bag of soil in hand, and prepared to look at the puppies and kittens. Then he stopped and blinked. There were certainly puppies and kittens, and even a bird there, but there were also some different manner of pets. 

He saw fairies, tiny mers, and all manner of little magical creatures. He walked through the display of cages and terrariums, when one in particular caught his eye. He stared at the sign plastered on the seemingly empty glass case.

CAUTION: I BITE! 

"What the-" he squinted, leaning closer to see if there was anything actually in there. He thought he saw something moving underneath the front of the fake log, and then all of a sudden-

-there it was right in front of him. 

He flinched and took a half step back on instinct, despite the fact that it's in a freaking terrarium, genius, and he took in the creature. It was partly human, but had multiple eyes, and its back half was an abdomen, black with dark blue bands, and had multiple legs. 

A drider. 

It was reared up on its back legs, and it was bearing its (he squinted closer to be certain, and sure enough its human half had freaking fangs), and was generally acting very aggressive.

He thought it- they were trying to puff themself up, emphasizing their eight (eight!!!) limbs, six on the bottom, plus their arms. Their multiple eyes were narrowed, directly at him. They were snarling. 

And Virgil couldn't possibly help but to walk towards the terrarium, warning sign be damned. He sees the spider-person pause, some of the aggression draining out, before they rear back again, seemingly trying to be more intimidating than before. Virgil smirked, fascinated, and sank down into a crouch. He really took in the shape and look of their eyes, and his own eyes widened in response. 

Jumping spider, he realizes, and then, Well, duh, they jumped at you, moron, of course they're a jumpy. He tilted his head a few times, trying to really see the details of the drider, while he had the chance. 

"Woah," Virgil whispered. "You're so cool looking." He watched as they frowned and clicked their mouthparts (didn't look completely like typical chelicara) idly, running their pedipalps over them. They seemed to hesitate, lowering down, and stared at him in a more placated manner. 

Honestly, they were pretty cute. "How far can you jump?" Virgil asked, taking in the size of the enclosure. The creature was watching his gaze like, well, someone who had plenty of eyes, then finally, they spoke up. 

"Far beneath my limit in this facsimile of a proper environment," they crossed a pair of human arms and one set of spider legs. They seemed distrustful, gaze still not fully on him. As though they were apprehensive about his reaction, like it was going to be negative? 

"I'll bet," Virgil responded instead, and he nodded a little as his smile fell into a grimace. "This thing has gotta really suck, huh?" He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, eyes still flitting over the spider creature's form every so often. They raised an eyebrow. 

"Indeed." Yeah, there was no way they were used to having a normal conversation. They seemed less wary now, but they didn't seem to be holding back their speech at all. Virgil really admired that. He liked that attitude, and that he was the one getting it out of them, and, well, he liked a lot about them. He had...a dangerous thought. 

"What if," Virgil bit his lip, "what if you got out?" The spider huffed, rolling their (well, some of their) eyes. 

"Then I would be able to jump further," they replied, voice clearly dry despite their size difference. 

"No, no," his smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. "I mean. What if you," Virgil hesitated meaningfully, being sure to emphasize the words. "Got, out." The creature's limbs uncrossed. Virgil saw as comprehension dawned. 

"I am," their words were chosen carefully, he noticed. They had been throughout this entire interaction. "Not allowed to leave my enclosure." Their eyes raked over the human's form. 

"What if I got you out?" The spider person chittered, nervousness written on their face. 

"Theft is not an encouraged activity," they eventually settled on. Virgil snorted and muttered 'be gay, do crime' under his breath. "No, I meant like. Maybe, I could, sort of." He paused, breathed in, breathed out, and tried to look as serious as possible. "Take you home? With an adoption fee and everything?"

"I," the drider swallowed visibly, and of course they didn't trust him, they just met him and he doesn't even know their name, or anything, and he didn't introduce himself- "I am unable to survive in the wild on my own," they finished succinctly. 

Virgil hadn't meant that. They might be a drider, but they were clearly still human, especially after the conversation they'd been having, so, was it wrong that he wanted to take them home? He knew that everyone here was raised to live in a home, with a human taking care of them, just like the pets they adopted out beside them. So, maybe they wouldn't mind if he took them home? But, he guessed that their non-answer gave him his answer, then. That kinda sucked. 

"My name's Virgil," he blurted out before he forgot again. "He/him." They stared at each other for a moment. "Uh, what's your name?" He saw them startle, "I mean, y'know, only if you don't mind."

"My name is Logan." They said, voice even, still, but maybe a little less cautious, he thinks? "I… am also male?" And Virgil couldn't help but smirk again at his confused tone. It was sort of adorably endearing. His eyes drifted towards the sign again. 

"So," he smirked a little more. "You actually ever bite anyone before?" Logan rolled (all of) his eyes. 

"Of course," he pointed to the sign. "Otherwise, it would not be stated on my tank." He sounded almost a little proud. He went on, clarifying despite not being asked to. Virgil was not complaining. "Two separate humans, not to mention the time a child opened my tank after wandering away from his parents." His pedipalps whisked over his face, "I jumped just under my potential that day, unfortunately." He didn't sound sorry at all. Virgil's mouth twitched dangerously. "I landed right on his head."

Virgil burst out laughing. Several people in the store turned around to see what the commotion was about. A volunteer in particular hesitated, before starting to come over to the pair. Logan looked smug, Virgil wiped a tear from his eye. 

"Hello, sir, may I help you with anything?" The voice came suddenly from over his shoulder. He just barely suppressed a flinch. 

"Ah!" Couldn't suppress the scream, though.

"You two seem to be getting along!" The volunteer said. "Do you have any questions about him?" The tone of the question was clearly an underlying 'Would you please take him?'

Virgil gave a look towards Logan's direction. He looked back at Virgil. Maybe, Virgil thought, not as hesitant as before.

"Well," Virgil pulled his gaze away, "maybe just a few."

~~~~~

Logan watched the human- Virgil- as the volunteer led him away, and he found himself repressing a pout. He'd been… nice. Pleasant. Tolerable. 

Okay, so Logan had enjoyed his company, and his conversation. It had been quite some time since that had happened with a human. In fact, it had been quite some time since any conversation at all had happened with a human. They never spoke to him directly. Every human he'd ever known had spoken over him, both literally and figuratively. Especially here, where they spoke instead to the volunteers and his general caretakers. 

He exhaled. Perhaps his standards for 'good conversation' had just slipped considerably. As well as his standards for 'acceptable human.' After all, there he was, discussing taking Logan into his home, with someone all-too-anxious to never see him again. Nice or not, he had to be cautious. He seemed like he cared about his opinion, but that was the thing about humans; they were good at seeming. 

He gave up on trying to listen into their conversation. They were far away, and it only seemed to pertain to what supplies he would need if he took him. At the very least, the volunteer was doing their job of explaining his needs. He skittered into the fake log that was in his environment as he considered his future. 

This was not the first time he'd met someone excited to see him, eager to adopt him. It had happened, once before. He'd been much younger then, much more innocent, much happier, much more eager to go into a home with a human family. 

That eagerness and happiness had lasted about a week. 

And, well, that's why he was with a rescue now. 

He considered Virgil. He spoke to him, yes, was interested, but he was still larger; Logan surmised he could easily fit in his hands, probably even only one. He had more legs, and more eyes, and could jump, and had venomous fangs (barely, to a human), but he was still the one with the disadvantage. A severe one. He shuddered from memories he'd considered long in the past. Apparently, they were still with him in the present. 

Likely, he would not get an opinion on who he went home with, anyway. It was why he made it a point to be so aggressive with everyone who came over to him. But Virgil… Well, he supposed he would see, and soon. The two humans were walking towards his enclosure again, this time Virgil had a large bag of items relevant to Logan’s care. 

He poked his head back out, eyes roving over his figure. Virgil smiled at him, one corner of his mouth tugged further up than the other. He turned to the volunteer. 

"Could you, I mean, if there's maybe…" he made a gesture with his empty hand, seemingly unable to finish his thought. "I kinda wanna," he lost his momentum again. He inhaled and exhaled a few times. "Could I just have a minute with him," he rushed out. The volunteer made some sort of face, but nodded, and left. Virgil took a step forward, and Logan met him (as much as he could from within his glass case) halfway, stepping out from his log. He was certainly more willing to be out in the open with only Virgil there. He returned a tiny, if uneasy smile of his own. 

Virgil crouched down again. "Have you really been here for most of your life? Around humans?" Logan blinked. That took some time. 

"Yes," he admitted. "I was abducted too young to learn any survival instincts." He couldn't say why he so willingly told him his past, but Virgil wanted to know, and Logan knew what that thirst for knowledge was like. "How did you know?" He wasn't accusatory, merely curious, undoubtedly as Virgil had been. 

"Volunteer told me," Virgil made a slight face, and Logan wondered what else he'd been told about his past. He was about to ask, but Virgil continued. "Said you'd been waiting here for way too long." There was a look on his face that Logan had only seen on childrens' face moments before a tantrum. 

He believed that Virgil was sad, but he couldn't figure out why. "That you'd been rescued from a bad situation." Ah. "Uh, listen." Virgil brought a hand up, and Logan flinched, but it was only to awkwardly scratch at his cheek. 

He looked at Logan intensely. "I know we've only known each other for a bit, and I totally understand if your answer's no, but." He looked pained. "Um." Virgil coughed into his hand, likely a gesture to fill the silence rather than a violent expulsion of the contents in his throat. "Would you? Like me? To uh? Take you home? Er- fuck." Virgil groaned, clearly frustrated by his own ineloquence. "Would you like to live with me? I could offer you a bigger space than what you've got here, take care of you- that water looks too old to be healthy- and you can decline if you want. I just- yeah," he finished, slumping over with hunched shoulders from the effort. 

Logan considered it. He considered it for a while. He considered the short time that he'd spent with the human, and made his decision. At the very least, Virgil wouldn’t be that cruel compared to his...other options. Logan nodded. The smallest of smiles flitted up onto his mouth, and that was apparently what Virgil was waiting for. He offered him a 'be right back', and went to grab an employee. Logan took in his cage one last time, hope was rapidly raising in him.

Meanwhile, Virgil was paying for his purchases as well as Logan's adoption fee. When he came back, it was with the volunteer, who was carrying a smaller containment box meant for transportation, and something else in the other hand. 

Logan's habitat was opened, and suddenly, the volunteer's hand plunged into his tank, startling Logan out of his thoughts and immediately put him on the opposition, fangs bared and ready. It didn't matter, though. The volunteer was wearing thick rubber gloves, preventing any form of retaliation on the part of the drider, and he was grabbed roughly around the middle. He hated being held, nobody knew how to properly hold him; he wasn't a human infant, why did they insist on holding him that way? Unable to resist, Logan squirmed in the grip of the human, receiving a light squeeze and a pained look from Virgil for his efforts. 

“Now, just to get him all ready for you,” the volunteer chirped, bringing a bundle of rope into view. Logan’s eyes widened, and he started struggling anew.

As if he hadn’t moved a muscle, Logan felt his arms being pinned and bound behind his back, knotted tightly. Logan couldn't move his upper arms. The volunteer had just grabbed a few of his legs between two fingers, Logan was kicking and still trying to bite, when-

“The hell are you doing?” Virgil asked in a tone that was, quite frankly, utterly terrifying. It made Logan shudder, before almost instinctively he stopped his efforts to escape. Was this Virgil's true nature, then? 

"Oh, this is just standard procedure for all dangerous creatures," the volunteer responded. And Logan's head snapped up to the two. His internal organs seemed to quiver, as much as he knew that wasn't possible. Virgil had been upset at the volunteer? "Just for everybody's safety." 

"Well then," his unending glare at purely the volunteer seemed to confirm who his ire was directed at. "I guess you'll have to untie him, because I don't think he's a danger to me at all." The volunteer stared back, and understandably backed down. 

"Well, you're his new owner, so!" And Logan remained untied, minus his upper arms, and placed in the transportation  carrier. Virgil paid the adoption fee, and took Logan by the handle, and he felt a thrill of freedom, combined with an atypical bout of anxiety. 

"Hey," Virgil started, as they were walking out of the store. "There's some more stuff on the shelves that I could get you,"  Virgil rolled his shoulder. "It's not, like, required equipment or anything, but some of it looked like it could be kind of cool?" Logan squinted. 

"Why would cold items be preferable to own?" Virgil smirked and then bit his lip. 

"No, I mean, like." He mulled it over, tilting his head. "Nea- no." He exhaled some air out his nose. "Fun? Awesome?" Ah. 

"I suppose, if you wanted to look, I would not be opposed." Virgil smiled, and for the next half hour, Logan was treated to a trip around some of the aisles. Virgil held up his cage, letting him look at some of the items made for a drider's physical and mental engagement. He let Logan decide entirely what he did and did not want to buy, even though he was sure it was difficult for him to keep lifting the transport box, in addition to being a tedious way to shop. His favorites were a little him-sized version of a 'Rubick's Cube,' as well as a better version of the log cave that he'd grown accustomed to in the store. 

He paid when he got up front, and they made their way to his car, placing his other purchases in the back. He put Logan on the seat next to him, 'passenger seat,' Logan vaguely recalled. He was about to buckle him in. 

"Alright, sit tight," Logan was about to ask what that meant when Virgil gasped. "Holy shit, I forgot about the rope." He dropped to the ground, crouched again, and opened the top of his carrier. He carefully took his fingers and untied the ropes, immediately freeing his arms. Logan rubbed around his wrists on instinct, "I'm sorry! Does it hurt? Are you okay?" Logan looked up at Virgil's earnest, open face, full of concern for Logan, and thought of how he'd treated him this entire time, how hopeful and excited he'd been. 

"Yes," Logan smiled. "I think I will be."

-----

In my mind he kinda looks like this, and check out that cool size comparison chart at the bottom!

My favorite line from the original: I guess there's like normal things there like cats and dogs and birds and like maybe magical-y things like, winged cats and winged dogs and winged birds.

Taglist

@callboxkat @katelynn-a-fan @dwbh888 @royal-stormcloud @thefivecalls @awkwardjester @ollyollyoxinfree @intruxiety @brain-deadx0 @the-grounded-raven @just-your-typical-trans-guy @grouptalekindnesssoul @the-hoely-bleach @anvil527up @fanficloverinthesun @demoniccheese83  @thatgaydemigodnerd @aceawkwardunicorn @lookingforaplacetosleep @mirinda03 @robinwritesshitposts @averykedavra @potatsanderssides @hekking-happy-nonsense @enby-ralsei @star-crossed-shipper  @a-fandom-trashdump @thefluffyotter33 @somehow-i-got-an-account @cottonwoolsocks @idontcareaboutcanon   @starlight-era @kieraelieson  @snowdice @callboxkat @10moonymhrivertam @just-some-gt-trash @evoodo123 @idont-freaking-know

[sebstanseabass]

Afterglow (A Bucky Barnes AU fan fiction) - Chapter 17

Afterglow chapters

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

One of the advantages of being a photographer — or a self-taught photographer in your case — is having the ability to acquire an eidetic memory. You remembered the hat that the little bitch (a four-year old) was wearing when she pushed you off the swings in daycare, or the little stain on your father's doctor's lab coat when your family had to rush him to the hospital, or what Peter was wearing the day you guys first met (some oversized flannel he borrowed from Bucky), or the look on your ex-boyfriend's face when you punched him in the face for cheating on you.

The attention to every pretty little detail is, and always will be, a must, and so not remembering where you had seen Bucky before killed you, or rather, was killing you.

It was a normal morning, well, better than your normal mornings to say the least, with Bucky spending the night in your bed. This time, you woke up first, all wrapped in nothing but sheets and Bucky's arms just like yesterday. You rolled over to his side and admired him in his sleep. Then, sudden flashes of Bucky's face from before flooded your memory. You didn't know when exactly was before. It felt like a kind of a deja vu moment.

While eating Bucky's homemade breakfast, in your mind, you listed all the possible places where you could've seen him before: a café, a bar you once went to in college, a bookstore, a museum, a convivial gathering, a convenience store, and any other places you could've bumped into him.

The morning grew unusually quiet and clouded, eliciting concern from Bucky.

"You seem awfully quiet this morning." He observed. "Are you alright, doll?"

"Y-yes, I am."

"Uh-oh, was the sex not great last night?" He joked, nudging his elbow against yours.

You shook your head, trying to smile a little. Thankful that Bucky was trying to keep everything light. "No, no, it was great. You were great. It's just... I'm just quite anxious for today."

Today, you were going to Sam's office and to his store on Fifth Street, to discuss the details about the project. It wasn't what you had in your mind this morning but as you told Bucky about it, you realized you really were getting a bit nervous about the meeting. It was a big deal, after all.

Sam's business, The Falcons, was getting more recognition than you thought. He was now in near competition with Nike and Adidas, especially with the rumors of him releasing brand-new footwear, that could — and you quote one of the articles you read while on break — “overthrow the big leagues.” That alone, already put you in the spotlight. So, whatever you put out there should only be a success, and not a flop; because if it were a failure, you wouldn't only be humiliating yourself, but Bucky as well.

"You're gonna do great!" He assured you. "Plus, it's just a meeting. You two already seem to have a grasp on the project, anyway."

"Yeah." You sighed. "You're right."

You wanted to ask Bucky if you had ever, ever, met each other before — perhaps during a party where you’ve rescued Peter before? — but you bit your tongue to stop yourself. You already did when you met, anyway. And everything was going great between the two of you — whatever the hell this was; besides, labels are overrated nowadays — and you didn't want to say anything or do anything that could potentially ruin it. You were beyond happy in your little bubble, and you could tell Bucky was, too.

You brushed all those thoughts at the back of your mind as you and Bucky strolled through Sam's building's hallways, ironically telling yourself it was all just in your head, that you were just quite edgy about this damn meeting, that you were just thinking about Bucky all the damn time; and the more you told these things to yourself, the more you believed it, and the more you hoped you would never have these thoughts again.

Today, you wore something a bit different than what you usually wore down at the bar. A blazer and pants set, adorned with black and white stripes, a tube top inside, and a white belt that kept the blazer on your sides. You got the set when you and Bucky were out shopping on Monday, of course, Bucky paid for it no matter how many times you refused. Your hair was let down, all the ends flowing down your shoulders until the bottom of your breasts. Lips painted bright red (which Bucky really, really liked). A bit of shimmer on your eyelids as well.

Today was a huge deal and you wanted to look your best.

Bucky kept his hand on the small of your back the whole time you walked, giving a sense of comfort and familiarity you now learned to be fond of. He told the story of how he met Sam (at a bar, where else?), how he had seen him grow in the industry (all the ups and downs), and also how they've always supported each other — the three of them.

"Wait, the three of you?" You asked. "There's another one?"

Bucky almost wanted to stop in his tracks but decided against it. He avoided your gaze, his eyes straight down the hallway. "Yes, but we've fallen apart." He said. "He has his own thing now. Anyway, let's not talk about it. We have more important things to deal with today."

Before you could even ask what the name of this third friend was, Sam appeared at the end of the hallway, with his arms wide open, like a king opening his arms to his heir. Bucky, without leaving your side, proceeded to hug Sam only using his free arm, "Hey, man," he said, and retreated back afterwards.

On the other hand, you shook Sam's hand and gave him a smile.

"Hi, Sam." You greeted. "Nice to see you again."

"You too... y/n." Sam replied, hiding a smirk you knew he was itching to show, hiding the fact that he wanted to mock Bucky by calling you "babydoll."

"You guys made it in time." He said. "Come with me to the conference hall."

Sam led you to his right where a white long table stood in the middle with a bunch of vacant office chairs around. A projector sat on the center of the table, a series of displays of sports apparel lying around, perfectly organized by color. A blonde woman had her back on you, flipping papers on a clipboard. Once she heard you come in, she swiveled around and put the clipboard on the table.

"Y/n, this is Sharon Carter, my assistant and the project manager assigned for this new release." Sam spoke. "She knows everything there is to know about how my business works, all the ins and outs. And if in any case I won't be around, you can always rely on her."

"Hi, nice to meet you." You said.

Sharon Carter, instead of answering verbally, just offered you a smile and a small nod. Her gaze shifted towards Bucky, and then Sam. "Mr. Wilson, does he need to be here?"

"Always a pleasure to see you, Sharon." Bucky chuckled.

Sharon ignored him and continued to talk to Sam; well, tried to. "All the details in today's meeting are confidential and he — "

"He's good, Sharon." Sam cut her off. "I doubt he'll be interested in this, anyway. He's just here for his... doll." Sam chortled and Bucky winked and clicked his tongue in response. "Besides, he's the one who introduced me to y/n."

Sharon sighed in defeat and tried to smile at her boss. "Very well then."

"Please, take a seat." Sam offered, leading you towards the vacant chairs.

While walking towards the chairs, Bucky bent over on your side and whispered: "Don't worry, she's usually like that" which gave you relief.

"Good," you whispered back, "for a moment there, I thought she hated my guts."

"To be fair, she usually hates everyone's guts. Especially mine." Then, he placed a small kiss on your temple before pulling out a chair for you. "You'll do great, doll."

"Alright," Sharon started, glaring at Bucky, "shall we begin?"

The meeting lasted longer than you had liked it to be, and for a little while, it suddenly became an understanding of the difference between working with small, independent businesses and big businesses such as Sam's. Usually, you had a lot of artistic upper hand when it came to the small ones, seeing as they were still starting — and it was also where your college degree came in handy. You would talk to them about advertising, and marketing strategies through product photography. And that was that. But Sam's business already had something to start with.

Something already big.

In the middle of the presentation, Bucky reached for your hand under the table (which took you by surprise), hooking his pinky into yours.

"Just hold my pinky like this if this is too overwhelming for you." He whispered.

"Why the pinky?"

He just shrugged in response, a smile playing on his lips.

Sharon walked you all the way through it, careful not to miss any kind of detail, small or big: from the moment the business started (Sam working in retail, then reselling clothes, then making streetwear designs of his own until he landed on sporting apparels), and to what made the business grow what it is right now.

"Inclusivity." She continued, clicking on the next slide, "This is what The Falcons is going to be all about. Plus-size workout clothes, a huge array of colors suited for every skin tone — literally any color you can think of. We also have workout clothes and streetwear in one which means new designs and new materials. And of course, the new footwear. Bringing the light in speed, bringing new comfort, a new aesthetic, footwear for all. Again, inclusivity. Right in front of you," she pointed to all the sports apparel lying on the table, "are the new designs. We just received the first batch yesterday and we're expecting the second and last one hopefully this weekend just in time for the photoshoots any day next week."

"Me and the marketing team haven't actually discussed the photoshoot details, but they've had that with Sharon, seeing as she's the project head. All I have to do is approve it," Sam said, looking at you, "with you here, of course."

You nodded in agreement, then looked at Sharon. "Will we discuss, perhaps, half of it today?"

"Oh, I can discuss all of it." Sharon smugly replied. "I have a very promising proposal right here." She clicked the next slide, showing photos of various known models. "Let's start with the models. The new faces of the Falcons — "

"Hi, sorry. Can I weigh in on this one?" You interrupted as you scanned the faces of the models in front.

"I haven't finished yet."

You looked at Sam, who had his finger on his chin (assessing the situation), pleading with him with your eyes. "Go ahead, y/n." He said, nodding.

"Thank you, Sam." You replied then went back to the screen. "If I'm not mistaken, that's Kendall Jenner."

"Yes, it is."

"That's not exactly a new face." You argued. "And isn't she already an ambassador for Adidas?"

"It is a new face of The Falcons." She answered. "And she's actually ending her contract with Adidas. Something about breach of contract or some sort that I cannot legally discuss with outsiders."

"Where are the plus-size models?" You asked.

"I was actually getting to it." She clicked the next slide.

"Ashley Graham?"

"Yes, her. She's the perfect candidate."

You bit your lip, leaning forward on the table and unhooking your pinky with Bucky's. "Look, all of these models are gorgeous and handsome and good models but they're faces you see every single day on billboards — "

"Exactly. They're faces you see every single day." She repeated. "That means that these faces sell. And that's what we want for this release."

"I thought what you wanted was inclusivity." You frowned. "We should get people who are real athletes and models from different races, colors, and sizes. Real people, not these people you see every day on your phone or everywhere you go. These models are overrated, anyways." You faced Sam, who was listening intently. "Let's not get faces but stories instead. I believe that's what will separate The Falcons from these huge brands. It's a new release, right? Might as well make everything new."

Your words hung in the air, rendering the whole conference room quiet. Until Sharon broke it off. "Business doesn't work that way. I went to business school. I know how the system works."

You chuckled. "I majored in business and finance. Trust me, I know everything there is to know about business, not just you."

She was dumbfounded but tried to hide it, anyway. "But this is my proposal. You don't have a say on who we should get. You don't work for The Falcons."

"I know." You sighed. "But I'm working with you, and I have a say in this as much as you do." You glanced at Sam who was deep in thought. "But of course, Sam will always have the last say."

You leaned back in your chair, your chest heaving. With your eyes straight ahead, you grabbed Bucky's hand and hooked your pinky with his.

"Sharon," Sam started, "that was an excellent presentation and I humbly appreciate it but y/n does have a point. I wouldn't want these people representing The Falcons. I want people like me, people with stories to tell. Inclusivity isn't a marketing strategy, or a statement. It's what I believe in. And you," he swiveled his chair in your direction, "made a good case out of it."

You broke out in a smile, glancing at Bucky who also did the same. He now intertwined his fingers with yours, squeezing your hand three times.

"Sharon, find new models and athletes and have their profiles by next week. Let's think of it like... Kind of like a casting call." Sam said, standing up. "Now, let's dismiss this meeting 'cause I am starving."

-

"You have got to get a new assistant, Sam." Bucky groaned as you got inside Bucky's limo. You had lunch at some fancy restaurant in Manhattan before Sam showed you around the main store down Fifth Street.

You laughed, greeting Howard who gave you a smile through the rearview mirror. "She's the best assistant I could ever get."

"Please." Bucky said. "You could have better. She's just, ugh, I don't know, what's the word for someone who thinks she's better than everyone else in the room? Who hates practically everyone but goes to great, great lengths just to kiss your ass — "

"Alright, alright!" Sam cut him off, laughing. "I get it, man. But y'know I can't afford to lose her. It took me months to get a loyal and honest assistant."

"Ugh, fine."

"You just want her out because you're protecting your little babydoll."

"Jesus, Sam." Bucky said. "Stop calling her that."

"Yeah, stop calling me that." You frowned, leaning on Bucky's side and wrapping your hand around his muscular arm. "Only he gets to call me that."

"You guys make me sick." Sam joked.

You turned towards Bucky who had the end of his eyes, crinkled, and nose, scrunched. "Hey," you said, grabbing his attention, "did you get a text from Parker last night?"

His expression became relaxed, and looked at you. "Yes, actually. Something about a kid named Schmidt."

You chuckled. "Yeah, he's kind of a bully. Remind me to beat his ass when he comes to the bar. You won't miss him. He's got way too much gel in his hair, and too much of a know-it-all, kind of like, Ross Geller."

"Oh, I'd like to watch you beat someone up." Sam nodded, smirking. "You know what, I'd pay you to punch Parker."

"Oh come on, Sam." Bucky laughed.

"Nah, I'm kidding. I love that little kid. Speaking of Peter," Sam cleared his throat, "what are you guys gonna do when he gets back?"

You and Bucky fell silent, hooking your pinky with his once more. "We, uh," you glanced at Bucky who had his eyes on his shoes, "we haven't talked about it yet. But we will tell him, that's for sure. Right, James?"

His eyes shot up to yours, then at Sam. "Yes, yes, of course. I mean it's Peter. Of course, we'll tell him. Just not right away."

"What do you mean not right away?" You frowned.

"Well, we can't flat out tell the guy we're dating the moment he comes back. I don't want him to have a heart attack." Then, he bent down a little, leveling his mouth on your ear. "We are dating, right?"

"Well, we haven't talked about it and we're certainly not talking about it in front of Sam." You replied, glancing at Sam who was just staring at the both of you.

"We're here, Mr. Barnes." The partition pulled open, revealing Howard's voice. The three of you got out of the limo, the bar right just right in front. Before we even got to enter the bar, Sam tapped your shoulder and called out to Bucky.

"Do you mind if I borrow your girl for a moment? I'll just have to discuss something work-related."

Bucky turned around and glanced at the both of us. "Yes, sure." He pecked you on the lips then turned around to enter the bar.

"This is actually about Bucky." Sam said.

"Oh." You said. "Okay. What about Bucky?"

"I have to say, I haven't seen him that happy."

"Uh, isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"

"It is, it is! And I'm glad he has you."

"But?"

He sighed. "But just be careful with him. Look, y/n, he's a good guy and all; we're practically brothers... But he's a child. I've known him since we were teenagers. He's almost forty and not once has he had a serious relationship."

"What are you trying to say, Sam?"

"You've only known him for, what, a couple of weeks? Don't you think this is going a little too fast?"

"I like Bucky." You replied. "I genuinely do and what we do or how we do is honestly none of your business. It doesn't matter how long I've known him. I appreciate you looking out for Bucky, but Bucky's an adult. We're all adults here. We can handle ourselves."

"Just promise me one thing."

"Sure."

"Don't hurt my friend." He said. "He may act like this rich bitch just parading around town, getting by with his manly looks and shit, but he's a child. He doesn't know what he wants. If you hurt him, you'll also end up hurting yourself. So, be careful, alright? Think this through, and talk with him."

Silence.

"Promise me, y/n."

You nodded. "Yeah, I promise."

"Good. Now let's head in there, I need a drink."

"Wait, Sam." You said, making Sam stop in his tracks. "Do you think Bucky likes me as much as I do?"

"I can't say for sure." Sam replied before walking inside.

You leaned your back against the brick wall, hitting the back of your head. You closed your eyes, letting all your thoughts rush in.

Still feeling a little bit light-headed, you went inside (which was still empty except for Nat, Sam, and Bucky) and as soon as Nat's eyes landed on your figure, she whistled. "Oh wow, Mrs. Fancypants!"

You chuckled, removing your blazer, revealing the tight black tube top as it was getting a bit hot. "Shut up, Nat."

"Woah, somebody call the fire department 'cause it's getting hoooot in here!" Nat continued then tilted her head towards Bucky. "Hey big guy, if you're not gonna hit that, I will."

You rolled your eyes, chucking the blazer to her face. You turned to Bucky who was sitting in the usual booth with Sam. "She said the same thing to me about you."

"Don't expose me like that, y/n. Not. Cool."

You giggled, sliding in the booth and greeting Bucky with a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, you."

"Hey, doll." He smiled, placing his hand on your thigh and pulling you closer. "We were just talking about you."

You glanced at Sam, who was smiling at you. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "Don't worry, it's all good. And, y/n... That thing we talked about earlier."

"What about it?" You asked.

"We're good." He answered. "And to answer that last question, he does."

You beamed. "Really? He does?" You asked, as if Bucky wasn't even in the room.

"Yes, he really does."

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Bucky asked out of curiosity.

You glanced at Sam, smiling, "Oh, just this model I want for the shoot," and then you looked back at Bucky, "I was kind of having doubts for a hot minute over there about him, but, everything's fine. Everything's good."

"Good." He kissed your temple softly, making your heart flutter. "It should be."

[statticscribbles]

Strongest

Summary: Sweet Pea/Plus Sized!Reader; Past Jughead/Reader Request: Using the song “Strongest by Ina”? Reader got pregnant w/ jughead’s daughter during senior year but jug doesn’t feel ready for a kid/ is still with Betty ( he used reader as a rebound) and sweet pea is there to love her ?

TW: discussions of abortion

You’re shaking when you lean over the toilet to vomit, you can hear someone come in and freeze hoping they’ll just use the bathroom and leave. “Y/N you in here?” You swallow grimacing and stepping from the bathroom stall looking nervously at Toni. “You okay?” She watches as you wash your hands before rinsing your mouth out. “Yeah, just uh, stomach bug.” Toni’s hand grips your shoulder. “Really? You didn’t even eat anything yet, you were just saying how you were starving.” “You don’t need food for your stomach to puke.” You shrug trying your best not to panic.

“Go home then; I’m pretty sure everyone will understand; especially if you puke more. Nobody’s going to want to get that. Not before the game.” You nod retreating from the bathroom to grab your bag and head home. “Hey Y/N where are you going?” “Home; don’t feel well.” You offer a half smile to Jughead who nods. “I can stop by later if you want; I wanna talk anyways.” You shake your head. “I’ll let you know if I feel better.” You’re walking home, feeling the nausea ebb off, and you debating stopping into the shop to get pain medication. You reason it’s probably just your period, and then the panic sinks in your gut that you should have gotten it two and a half weeks ago. “Shit.” You hiss deciding you’ll have to go to the store but not for the pain meds.

You’re surprised at how much your luck holds, the shop keeper doesn’t glance beyond the leather jacket, and your mom isn’t home from work which leaves you to chug five glasses of water and shiver in fear on the couch until you can pee on the stick that’s hopefully not going to change anything. You’re pretty sure this is what hell is and the four minutes is almost up when your luck runs out and you hear a knock followed by the door opening. “Y/N?” Toni calls out and you want to vomit remembering you left the box on the couch. “Listen I won’t bother you but Fangs said he saw you in the pharmacy looking freaked out and he panicked cause he thought you were gonna puke but when he went up to ask if you wanted a ride you were gone so he called me to.” You cringe as she sucks in a breath. The door opens and she finds you curled next to the toilet hiding from the stick that’s balanced on the edge of the sink. “I can’t look.” You speak muffled between your knees.  You hear her wince and you don’t even need to look to know it’s positive.

“Fuck. How do you think Jones’ll feel knowing he’s gonna end up like his dad?” Toni stays quiet, you can hear her moving the test, and crouching in front of you. “He’s back with Betty.” You sigh dropping your shoulder and pulling in a shaking breath. “Well it can’t-“ “If you say worse-“ You hiss. “Hey Toni is Y/N; oh shit.” You can hear someone grabbing the box and turning it over to read it. “Well at least it’s not my fucking mom.” “Oh hey Sweet Pea-“ Toni winces as you start to cry. “Come on Y/N maybe your mom didn’t see anything.” Toni assures you as she helps you stand and tucks the stick in her pocket.

You manage to keep a small amount of luck, Toni able to pass of your tears and general upset-ness as being sick; and her presence as worry and a reminder about the game coming up. It ends abruptly when your mom leaves as soon as she came rushing to get to her second job.

“So; uh, how’d it go?” Sweet Pea asks and Toni glares at him. “How the fuck do you think it went Pea?” “So that’s a yes then?” You turn away from them and retreat to the couch shoving your bag and the pillows to the floor curling into the side of the couch and tugging the blanket over yourself. “Maybe if I just don’t eat for the next like two weeks; hah I’d actually lose weight then, bet Cheryl would let me on the Vixens. At least it won’t be noticeable for a while.” “You have time to think about it anyways. There’s that clinic in Centerville I can give you a lift if you need. Maybe you should let Jones know?” Toni prompts and you shrug.

“Why, that won’t change anything. He used me for a rebound; just until Cooper decided she wanted him back. I wasn’t anything to him and he won’t care.” “You can say it’s mine.” Sweet Pea speaks and you and Toni stare at him. “What?” “Say it’s mine; everyone already assumes I sleep around; that way you don’t have to date me if you don’t want; no one would be surprised. I mean; not being bad, we’re Southsider’s I think they expect it to be fair. It’s just an option.” He holds his hands up nervously. “That’s really Sweet. Thank you.” “Just living up to my name.” He laughs a little and you can’t help but smile. Toni sighs. “I’m gonna bounce; we still on for Pop’s later?” You nod and she grins.

“You want me to leave?” You turn to Sweet Pea who’s ripping up the box and soaking it in water. “What are you doing?” “Soaking the paint off; this way when you throw it away it’s too soggy to read.” “Oh.” You curl your hand around his arm, and he sets the cup aside as you lean on him. “Thank you.” You can feel yourself crying. “It’s no problem; anything for you Y/N.” You laugh a little. “What?” He arches and eyebrow. “I don’t think you’ll be saying that in a few months.” “Do you need anything?” “Right now?” “Well yeah but also in general. You can stay with me if your mom kicks you out. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Why are you being so nice to me; you don’t need to pretend; I’ll be fine on my own; I can manage. Really it’s sweet of you to pretend to be the dad for cover but it’s okay. You don’t need to do anything.” “I know; I want to. I want to help.” “Why?” “I like you, as in romantically.” He keeps his eyes on the ground. “You like me? Me? When you could have anyone else in the entire town?” “Yes.” He looks up grinning. “Is that a problem?” You shake your head and he steps closer. “Good; can I kiss you?” He asks pulling your face closer. “I’d be insulted if you didn’t.”

It’s been a week of keeping quiet before Toni looks guiltily at when everyone is sitting in Pop’s; you don’t catch on until you see the booth arrangement; Toni’s on the edge, next to Cheryl; who’s next to Veronica, then Archie, then Betty, and then Jughead. You’re about to ask Sweet Pea to sit next to him when Cheryl smiles and waves you in. “You’re smaller so Sweet Pea can hang off the edge.” “Y/N you doing okay? You look like you lost weight.” Betty asks and you shrug. “I’ve been stressed lately.” “Stress isn’t good.” Fangs trails off as you watch Toni glare at him; you know Sweet Pea told him something of your situation. “Fangs you’ve been staring at Sweet Pea since he got here. What do you know?” “Nothing.” He stutters and Toni and Sweet Pea shake their heads in unison. “Fangs.” Jughead pressures and you can see when Fangs’ folds. “Sweet Pea knocked some girl up.” He mumbles and everyone freezes.

“Fangs I told you not to say anything!” “They deserve to know they’re your friends!” “This is my business, y’all don’t need to be involved.” “Yes we do!” Veronica fires back and Sweet Pea glares. “Did I knock you up? No I didn’t the only people this needs to be between are me and the girl; the rest of you can fuck off.” “No; Sweet Pea as leader of the Serpent’s I have;”

“You ain’t got shit Jones; you ain’t got no reason to poke your nose in my business not when you went of and how did you put it to fang’s and me? Ah yes; slummed it with the Serpent’s while Betty wasn’t talking to you? Hm? Did all those hook-ups you had after you drank just like your dad escape your mind?” You can see the way Jughead’s eyes flicker to you and you can see him swallow. “Fuck this.” He hisses standing and leaving; you’re surprised when Betty doesn’t follow him. More surprised when you find yourself running to catch up to him as he storms off. “I’m pissed you didn’t tell me you were with Sweet Pea when we hooked up; it’s a little rude to both of us.” “I wasn’t.” “So now you have to deal with some random chick he knocked up trying to ruin your relationship; both of you are in the Serpent’s I’m not having that shit interfering with the rest of us.” He laughs and you shake your head. “What?” You swallow not saying anything just shrugging. “Y/N what the fuck is going on.” “I’m with Sweet Pea but he didn’t knock me up.” You retreat as Betty emerges.

“Jones looks like he’s gonna keel over.” Sweet Pea mumbles into your ear and you try not to laugh. “I bet Betty is pissed at him.” You comment and everyone nods. “She’s going to ‘have words with him’ as she put it; are we taking bets on if they break-up or not.” “Come on Toni that’s a shit thing to do.” Archie comments and she grins back. “You’re just pissed cause you lost the last time we bet.” “Shut up.” Archie laughs and you sigh, surprised at how quickly everything returns to normal.

Everyone at school knows; you don’t see the point in trying to hide it; nobody expects any different from a Serpent; although you have to admit having Toni and by extension Cheryl to back you up means no one actually says what they’re thinking about you. Jughead asks to talk to you; he and Betty reconnected yet again; Archie lost fifteen bucks once more and complains to both Ronnie and you about it. “What do you need.” He glares at you; despite having been the one to ask to talk. “You’ll have to be more specific.” You fake a smile. “For the kid; as leader of the Serpent’s I have a responsibility to make sure you and said kid are taken care of and-“ “Leader of the Serpent’s that’s what you’re going with?” You scoff and he shakes his head. “I didn’t ask for this.” “And you think I did?”

“You didn’t do anything to change it.” He snaps and you sigh. “Listen; I don’t need shit from you and your “I’m leader of the Serpents” crap you’re spewing; either you take actual responsibility or just stay the fuck away from me. You have Betty to deal with I’m not going to drag you from how perfect and wonderful she is.” You mock and snap. “I can handle it. I don’t need you.” You expect him to hesitate to ask if you need anything. Instead he just nods. “Good. Keep it that way. Betty better not find out.” “Is that a threat?” “If she doesn’t find out then it won’t be.” He stalks from the room.

“You okay Y/N? You seem kinda shakey?” Sweet Pea snaps you from the daze you were in. “Yeah just tired.” You try to shrug off Jughead’s words but they linger in the back of your mind making you tremor slightly. “Come on. Let’s head home.” You nod letting Sweet Pea grab your bag. “So?” He prompts and you let him pull you against him as he spoons you on the couch; one of his hands draped over the bump on your stomach. “What did Jones want?” “To threaten me; well imply a threat; he doesn’t want Betty to find out.” Sweet Pea narrows his eyes. “I’m pretty sure her and half the school know; little hard to hide it yeah?” His hand moves lightly upwards to turn your face to kiss him. “Not that; just the whole dad thing.” You shrug and Sweet Pea sighs into your hair. “Everyone assumes it’s mine; there’s no need to stress; even Fangs doesn’t know, just in case he lets it slip.”

“I’m not worried about them it’s just shit Jughead just used me for a quick fuck and he gets to walk away from all this; and I’d be the bitch if I said anything.” You sniffle and Sweet Pea sits up slightly wiping your tears. “I know baby, I’m sorry he’s being such a dick about everything; it really is shit.” He pulls the throw blanket over you as he goes to answer a knock on his door. “Hey Sweet Pea is Y/N around?” “What do you want Jones?” “Just to clarify some things we talked about earlier is all.” “Oh you mean when you threatened her?” You peer from the edge of the couch keeping out of sight of the door.

“Listen Sweet Pea I don’t expect you to understand but-“ You can’t see anything as he closes the door. You can hear, surprised no one else seems to hear their shouting match. “You don’t expect me to understand what? You playing pretend at being a good leader for the Serpents? You threatening my girl? You running off and hiding after being an irresponsible fuck boy? I get it, I understand perfectly why you don’t want this getting out; can’t have the leader of the Serpent’s not stepping up and taking care of what’s his can we? But you need to understand something Jones; you don’t get to say shit; you don’t get to have anything to do with this beyond what Y/N needs help with; because if you don’t I’ll go straight to Alice; and I’ll tell her exactly what you did behind her daughters back; before you two had officially broken up no less.” “You wouldn’t-“ “You wanna test that out?” “It goes against Serpent laws for you to-“ You jump when something hits the side of the trailer.

“Serpent law states we protect are own; what the fuck you doing to protect Y/N huh? Running off with some Northsider who likes to use us when she gets in trouble? Allowing one of our own to get killed cause you couldn’t offer him sanctuary after he got out of prison? What about Fangs; kicking him out cause he’s trying to help his mom; you gonna do that to Y/N? You need us to follow you; but if you think you’re the one directing us.” You can hear something thud and you realize Sweet Pea had hoisted Jughead against the side of the trailer moments ago. You don’t move and don’t say anything straining to hear if they’re talking more or not. “What happened?” You ask when Sweet Pea walks back in.

“Nothing Jones just wanted to see if you were okay; said he was sorry about the threat earlier.” “Oh that’s good then.” You don’t say anything as Sweet Pea lifts you and moves you against his chest as you return to spooning before the interruption. “I love you.” You don’t say anything else and keep your eyes straight ahead waiting for a response. You can feel both you and Sweet Pea untense as he smiles responding. “I love you too.” “You have another check up tomorrow, get some rest okay babe?” “Okay.” You nod; not commenting on how when he wraps his arms around you one automatically drifts to protect your stomach.

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A Telling Proposal

The event is over, so I can officially post this here now. Just some good old LadyNoir/Adrinette fluff which if you were paying attention to this blog in February, I did talk about LadyNoir a lot so when I abandoned my original idea, this was the one that hit me next, and with everything going on with my grandma (who died 2 days before I published this originally) I just wanted something light, easy, and fun. 

Read on AO3

“I have a proposal for you.”

Ladybug’s eyes narrowed on her partner as he leaned against his staff to be level with her face. There was a smugness in his expression that told her she wasn’t going to like what came next, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him when she sighed and said, “No, I will not marry you.”

“Ha-ha, that’s…not what I was going to ask,” he said, averting his gaze briefly before flashing her one of those boyish grins. “This time.” She rolled her eyes and waved an arm for him to continue. “Well, you and I can’t know anything about each other…”

“Correct,” she said with a nod, crossing her arms over her chest.

“So, I’ve been thinking…We can’t even do stuff like celebrate each other’s birthdays, so what if we picked a day and designated it as our birthday-day?” He said, beaming when she didn’t immediately shoot him down.

“You want to pick a random day to celebrate both of our birthdays?” She asked for clarification, mask raising to one side.

“Yes.” He nodded.

She drummed her fingers, considering it a moment before shrugging. “Alright. What day?”

“How about this Saturday? We can get each other gifts, have cake, watch the lights, talk.” He shrugged. “Anything we want. It’s our birthday.”

“Okay, sounds fun,” she said, lips curling into a smile.

“Wait, really?” His ears stood up straight in surprise.

“Yeah, I think it’s a good idea. I’ve thought about asking when your birthday is before, but I didn’t want to learn anything that could give away your identity,” she said, turning to face him fully. “I’ve wanted to get you a gift for a while, but we’ve never had the time.” A smile tugged on his lips, and she averted her gaze, cheeks burning. “It’s not a big deal. You’re my friend, so of course I’d want to get you a birthday gift.”

“Right,” Chat said, though his expression was far too smug for her liking. “So, Saturday then?”

She pursed her lips, contemplating it a moment, and nodded. “Saturday.”

***

Adrien stared out the window of his town car with a pensive frown. When he’d suggested their joint birthday, he hadn’t actually expected her to be so receptive to it, and he had to admit, he was caught a little off guard. Sure, he was excited that she’d approved the idea, but that left him with a bigger problem: he didn’t know what to get her as a gift.

Normally, he could think of a thousand romantic ideas, but this time he was coming up empty. Should he buy her a gift? Or make her a gift like he did for Marinette? Should he write her a poem? Or maybe get her a gag gift? No, that would be lame. What did Ladybug even like?

His chest clenched.

What did Ladybug like? He didn’t really know. Video games? What type of perfume did she wear normally? Did she like makeup? This was worse than he thought. All this time he thought he knew Ladybug, but the truth remained that she really kept a lot of things about herself hidden. The curse of secret identities.

Maybe he should just keep his gift general and pick something that any girl would like. After all, Ladybug made it clear that this was strictly a platonic endeavor. But what did girls like from boys that are just friends? Especially boys that you care about deeply who would risk their life for you but in a totally platonic way? He needed advice.

But from who? Chloe? No. She’d probably grill him about why he was getting a gift for someone other than her. Alya might just grill him in general. He needed someone he could trust. Someone like…

Marinette!

Black pigtails bounced up the stairs as the car rolled to a stop, and Adrien hopped out, racing to catch up to her. Marinette was the perfect person to ask. She was like a master gift-giver.

“Hey, Marinette!” He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. “Oops, my bad. Guess I should have warned you.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I need a favor.”

“A favor? For why? I mean- why? What’s up?” She asked, blinking several times.

“Well, I have a…friend, and I want to get her a gift for her birthday, but I don’t really know what to get her. You’re really good at giving gifts, so what do you think I should get her?” He asked, and she relaxed, a smile curling on her lips that helped ease some of Adrien’s own nerves. Marinette had a way of doing that.

“Oh. Well, what does she like?” His shoulders tensed at that.

“Uh, well, I don’t really know,” he said with a wince. “I was hoping you could give me some advice on some stuff girls like in general?”

“Hmm, who is she?” Marinette asked, but at his hesitance she added, “Or who is she to you?”

“She’s just…a friend. A good friend. Someone that I kind of hope to be more than friends with some day,” he said, cheeks warming, and he cleared his throat. “I want to get her something that she’ll love, but I don’t really know what that is.”

“Is it Kagami?” Marinette asked, and Adrien blinked, wondering how she could have come to that conclusion. Then again, he remembered not too long ago asking for Marinette’s help taking Kagami on a date, so he conceded that it was a fair assumption for her to make.

“No. It’s not Kagami,” he said which seemed to perplex her more, and he knew he had to be careful with his words. “It’s for someone I work with. You don’t know her.”

“Okay,” she said slowly, pursing her lips. “Well, whenever I give someone a gift, I make sure that it’s personal to that individual. Like for Alya I made her a new case for her phone and for Rose I knit some pink mittens.”

Well, there went his general idea.

“Do you think I should make her something?” His eyes widened, and Marinette held up reassuring hands when he blanched.

“It doesn’t have to be hand-made, but it should be something from your heart that you know she will like,” she said, but it didn’t help. “Tell you what. Why don’t we go shopping after school? I’ll help you pick something out.”

“Thanks, Marinette. You’re a life saver,” he said, pressing his palms together in an expression of gratitude.

He had to admit that having Marinette’s assistance did calm a lot of his nerves about the situation. With her helping, he was bound to find the perfect gift for Ladybug. Plus it meant he got to spend more time with Marinette which was always a win in his book.

“So, where do you think we should start?” He asked as Gorilla strolled slowly up the street. “Should I buy her clothes?”

“Do you know her size?” Marinette asked, and he pursed his lips, conceding her point. She paused outside the jewelry store and pointed inside. “You want this gift to tell your feelings for her, right? So, come pick out something that makes you think of her.”

“Well…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess, I mean, she only sees me as a friend, so do you really think I should buy her something like that?”

“You want to be more than friends someday, right?” Marinette asked, and his cheeks warmed. “Follow your heart.”

It was solid advice considering his head was a frantic mess, but what did his heart want? To get her something she’d love. Something that conveyed how much he cared about her. Something that would make her think about him whenever she saw it.

Marinette was browsing bracelets when he approached her, and she straightened, giving him an encouraging smile as he held up a golden heart-shaped locket. The front was encrusted with a ruby that reminded him of her suit, and Marinette’s eyes lit up when she saw it.

“Adrien, it’s beautiful. She’ll love it,” she said, clasping her hands over her chest.

“Are you sure? It’s not too much?” He asked, but she placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“It’s perfect, and if it’s what your heart picked out then there’s no way she won’t like it,” she said with a confidence he tried to grasp for himself.

He took a deep breath, glancing down at the locket once more and nodding. “Okay. You’re right. It’ll be perfect.” He smiled back up at her. “Thanks again for your help. I was feeling really lost about all of this.”

“Any time. We’re friends, aren’t we?” She said, lowering her gaze to her shoes and clasping her hands behind her back. “Well, good luck with your gift. Let me know how it goes, okay?”

“I will,” he said as she moved for the door. “Marinette?”

“Yeah?” She paused in the threshold, turning back to face him and tilting her head to the side.

“I’m really glad to have an amazing friend like you,” he said, and something flashed on her face that he couldn’t quite read. She seemed sad almost, but just as quickly as it came, she covered it up with a smile.

“Yeah, me too.”

***

Ladybug stared out across the rooftops, twirling the ribbon of her gift around one finger. She hadn’t been able to focus ever since she helped Adrien pick out a gift for his mystery girl. Alya was joking about having her admitted for being such a space cadet, but she couldn’t help it. Adrien was going to give that locket to some beautiful model then they were going to get married, have beautiful model babies and move to private island then Marinette would never see him again. She’d die all alone with her fifty cats and a hamster named-

“Ladybug?” Chat waved his hand in front of her face, and she blinked.

“How long have you been calling my name?” She asked with a wince.

“I dunno. 15-20 seconds?” He shrugged, and her stomach did a little flip. “You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. I had a…long week,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck. “Lots of homework. Hawkmoth making akumas every day. Juggling a double life. You know how it is.” She gestured around to the streamers she’d hung up between chimneys. “Plus, I set all this up for us.”

“You really liked this birthday idea,” he said, sounding a bit too smug as he leaned down into her face, so she flicked his bell.

“Everyone likes birthdays. Anyone who doesn’t like birthdays is a monster,” she said pointedly. “But I will admit, it was kind of fun decorating our cake.”

“Oh? M’lady baked me a birthday cake? I’m honored.” He waggled his eyebrows, and she shoved his shoulder with a laugh.

“Just a small one,” she said.

“And it’s not burnt?” He asked, mask lifting to one side, and her jaw dropped.

“I’m a very good baker, thank you very much!” She crossed her arms over her chest as his shoulders shook with laughter. “Fine. Don’t eat any of it then.”

“Wait, no! I want it. I’m really happy,” he said, holding up apologetic hands.

Ladybug rolled her eyes and paced over to retrieve the cake from the white unmarked box sitting on an orange crate. She had to go to two different stores to find a box that wouldn’t give her away, and explaining to her dad why he couldn’t see the cake she was baking was a whole other situation in and of itself. She just hoped that Chat Noir wouldn’t be too suspicious of her. Maybe she should have added too much vanilla to the frosting. Curse her years of bakery experience!

“Whoa,” Chat gasped when she pulled the cake from the box. She’d drawn their faces in the frosting, and the lettering was perfect if she did say so herself. A little too perfect, actually. “You made this yourself?”

“Everyone has hobbies, chaton,” she said as nonchalantly as possible, and fortunately, he seemed to accept it.

“Oh, can I light the candles?” He asked, bouncing like a kid who really should not be trusted with matches.

“Just don’t burn the building down. I don’t think the business below will appreciate it,” she said, offering him the box and doing her best not to laugh when he stuck his tongue out as he passed the flame over each wick.

“Ready?” He grinned, the flickering light casting shadows across his face as they started to sing.

When the song finished, they blew out the candles in unison, and Chat flashed her his signature boyish grin.

“Joyeux anniversaire, m’lady,” he said, lifting her hand to his lips.

“Joyeux anniversaire, Chat Noir,” Ladybug replied. “Cake first or presents?”

“I’m dying to try your cooking,” he said, bouncing on his heels. “But I think I want to give you my gift first.”

“Okay,” Ladybug said with a smile, retrieving her gift and holding it out to him.

“Oh, I wonder what m’lady got me,” Chat said, shaking the neatly wrapped box before carefully ripping the bow. He removed a hand-knit black beanie with cat ears and turned it over in his hands with a grin. “Wow, did you make this too?”

“I- watched a tutorial. I’m not great at knitting, but I think it’s best if a gift comes from the heart,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck.

“This looks so well made. I think you’ve uncovered a hidden talent, m’lady,” he said, pulling the hat over his ears. “Maybe next time you can knit me a blanket, and we can snuggle.”

Ladybug let out a breathy laugh as he leaned into her face and waggled his brows, pushing his nose away. “Dare I ask what you got me?”

Chat retrieved a small square box wrapped in red paper from his belt and held it out to her with a cheeky grin. She turned it over in her hands, the contents inside rattling, and shrugged, tearing away the paper. When she lifted the lid, her jaw dropped but snapped shut again as her stomach jumped up to her throat. Inside was a small golden locket embezzled with a ruby. The same locket she’d helped Adrien pick out two days ago. Which meant that either this locket was popular, or-

“Do you like it?” He asked, looking up at her through his lashes.

She knew that look all too well. It was the same shy, wanting-to-be-accepted look she’d seen Adrien give so many times. She had that look on posters on her wall. She’d always known Chat’s smile was a little too perfect to be normal. Now she knew why.

“It’s-” Your identity.

Granted, it wasn’t his fault. After all, what were the odds? It wasn’t like he’d done it on purpose. He just wanted to make sure she liked whatever he got her, so he asked a friend for advice. He didn’t know that she was that very same friend he was buying said gift for! Oh, and Adrien had been so worried about getting the perfect gift…

“It’s beautiful, chaton. Thank you,” she said finally, trailing her fingers over the jewel.

He breathed a sigh of relief, but Ladybug tensed more with each passing second. Adrien was Chat Noir. Adrien the-love-of-her-life Agreste was Chat Noir. Which meant she was in love with Chat Noir.

This wasn’t happening. Should she tell him? No. Well…maybe? What if he wasn’t really Adrien, and it was all a coincidence? It could be a coincidence, right? Then if she told him how she knew, he’d know her identity. Her head was spinning.

“Do you want me to help you put it on?” He asked, his voice more subdued and timid than she was used to, and when she flicked her gaze back to him, he looked every bit Adrien with one hand cupping the back of his neck.

“I- yes. Sorry, I just…I’ve never gotten something like this before,” she admitted, turning around as Chat draped the necklace over her head. “It’s really beautiful.”

“I gotta confess. I was really nervous about buying you a gift. It made me realize how little I know about you,” he said, fastening the clasp. “I asked a good friend of mine for help because I wanted everything to be perfect.” She turned to face him, his eyes warm and soft. “You mean the world to me, Ladybug, and I wanted you to know that.”

“Chat, I-”

“I know. You love someone else,” he said, lowering his gaze to his shoes. “I envy him every day, and I hope he realizes how lucky he is.”

Ladybug searched his expression as he smiled down at her, her heart hammering in her chest. Adrien was in love with her. She’d been rejecting him for months. Oh, how she just wanted to fall of that roof, but true to form, she panicked and hugged him to hide her face before it could betray her.

“You mean the world to me too, you know,” she said, nuzzling into his shoulder. “You’re my best friend.”

“I know,” he sighed, leaning into her embrace. “And you have no idea how happy that makes me.” He pulled away, his signature playful smirk returning.  “But if you loved me back, I’d buy you pretty necklaces all the time. As many as you wanted.”

She flicked his bell with a laugh. If only he knew. And he could know. She could tell him. Should she? She didn’t know. Adrien was Chat Noir.

“Thank you for indulging me tonight. I’ll cherish your gift forever,” he said, lifting her hand to his lips, and she hated how hot her cheeks got when he pressed a soft kiss to her fingers.

“This is fun. We’ll have to do it again next year,” she said, biting her lip.

“Happy Birthday, Ladybug.”

“Yeah. Happy Birthday, chaton.”

***

“What am I gonna do, Tikki?” Marinette flopped onto her bed and buried her face into her pillow. “I’m not supposed to know Adrien is Chat Noir.”

“Well, there isn’t much you can do to take it back now,” Tikki said pointedly, and Marinette let out a groan.

“Do you think I should take his Miraculous?” She lifted her head, eyebrows knit together in a worried frown.

“Do you think you should?”

“Well…” She sat up and moved the pillow to her lap, picking at loose threads. “It’s the rule, but…I can’t imagine being Ladybug without Chat Noir. Putting aside the fact that he’s the boy I love, Chat Noir is my friend, my partner. I trust him.”

“You are the guardian now, Marinette, so knowing his identity isn’t a bad thing,” Tikki said, floating over to sit on the pillow. “And you two work so well together.”

“Yeah, but what if I get flustered around him now that I know he’s really Adrien? What if I get distracted, or try to kiss him, or-” She covered her face with her hands. “I don’t want him to stop being Chat Noir, but now I can’t stop thinking about his identity and how he’s the boy that I…you know. I mean, should I tell him I know? I should tell him, right?”

“If you think it’s a good ide-”

“But what if I tell him and then he wants to know my identity? I mean, it would only be fair since I know his. And if I tell him my identity, what if he gets distracted. Well, more distracted than usual,” she said, clutching fistfuls of her hair. “What if he comes to visit my balcony as Chat Noir because he’s in love with me and then Hawkmoth sees him then Hawkmoth will know I’m the guardian, and he’ll get the Miracle Box, Paris will be doomed, and I’ll be the worst Ladybug in the history of Ladybug!”

“Marinette,” Tikki chided as her chosen fell back onto the mattress. “You always think too much. I’m sure everything will be fine no matter what you decide to do. You said it yourself that Chat Noir is your friend and you trust him, and you know that Adrien is a good guy too. Trust yourself to make the right decision.”

“Yeah, but what if I mess up? What if…I get it wrong again?” She flicked her gaze over to her hidden compartment that housed the Miracle Box.

“Then you’ll definitely want Chat Noir to have your back, right?” Tikki said, and Marinette gave her a small smile.

“Yeah. Definitely,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Thanks, Tikki. I’ll sleep on it and make a decision in the morning.”

“That’s a great idea,” Tikki said, flitting over to her spot as Marinette turned out the light and laid down. “Good night, Marinette. I know you’ll make the right choice.”

“Yeah…” Marinette hummed, picking at the golden locket around her neck.

It’s what she was hoping.

***

The following Monday, Marinette climbed the stairs of the school slower than usual. She’d made up her mind, but she couldn’t help questioning whether or not it was the right choice. Adrien deserved to know that his identity was compromised, and telling him her own identity felt fair. But was she telling him because of her feelings for him or because she actually felt like it was the right decision? That fact was yet to be determined. She just hoped she could find the words.

A mop of blond hair was hunched over a locker, shuffling through a silver shoulder bag, and Marinette took a deep breath. She could do this. It was just Chat Noir. She talked to him all the time. He was her best friend. He was going to be ecstatic to finally learn her identity. This was for the good of their partnership. She hoped.

“Adrien?” She called, her voice timid and unsure, and she flinched as he turned over his shoulder.

“Marinette!” A smile broke over his lips. “Thanks so much for your help the other day. My friend liked the gift.”

“Oh, that’s awesome!” She said, feigning enthusiasm. “Actually, I was hoping to talk to you about that. Do you have a minute?”

“Sure, what’s up?” He asked, those green eyes calm and unassuming. He didn’t have a care in the world unlike the quiet storm brewing inside Marinette.

“Um, it’s kind of private. Can we talk somewhere else?” She said, glancing around the other students filing in and out of the locker room. Adrien seemed confused but didn’t question it as he followed Marinette to a secluded corner of the courtyard.

“What’s up?” He asked, and she took a deep breath.

“Okay, I know this is going to be a big shock, so please don’t freak out, but…I know you’re Chat Noir,” she said, and Adrien’s eyebrows raised.

“What? You think I’m Chat Noir?” He scoffed, shifting his weight. “I mean, I’m flattered, but-”

His voice trailed off when Marinette pulled the locket from inside her shirt, and she curled her shoulders with a sigh.

“I’m so sorry. I had no idea who you were buying it for. If I had known it was going to give away your identity, I never would have agreed to help,” she said. “But what were the odds?”

“Wait,” Adrien said, blinking a couple times and tilting his head to the side. “Ladybug?”

“Hi, kitty.” She gave a small wave, biting her lip, and she expected him to break down. To panic. To do anything but lift her off her feet and spin her around. “Adrien!”

He twirled in circles, laughing and smiling before abruptly dipping her and touching his forehead to hers. “It’s you!”

“Adrien,” she hissed, giving a nervous glance at the other students in the courtyard, and he pulled her upright again, though his hands never strayed from her waist.

“It’s really been you all along,” he said, a dopey grin, crinkling his eyes. “You’ve been so close to me all this time.”

“Adrien.”

“You’re my bugaboo.”

“Don’t call me that out in the open!” She clamped a hand over his mouth, feeling her cheeks flush under that affectionate green gaze.

“But this makes perfect sense. You’re so smart, and you always look out for others. Of course, you’re Ladybug,” he said, smacking his forehead as if he should have realized sooner. One of his signature impish grins curled on his lips, and Marinette quickly learned just how much Chat Noir there really was in Adrien as he said, “So, what are you doing tomorrow night? Wanna see a movie?”

“Seriously? Just like that you’re in love with Marinette?” She gave him a look.

“Well, yeah.” He shrugged, and she felt her annoyance flaring. 72 hours ago, she would have killed to hear Adrien say he loved her, but now she felt a little offended.

“Why? Just because I’m you-know-who now?” She crossed her arms over her chest, and Adrien seemed to realize her point.

“It’s not like that,” he assured her, green eyes softening and working a sort of voodoo magic over her that she couldn’t quite resist no matter how hard she tried. “The way I see it…Ladybug is you. All of the crazy schemes, the brains, the heroism, the compassion, the kindness, everything about Ladybug that I fell in love with comes from you, Marinette. Because that’s who you are. So, yeah, just like that.”

She had to admit, it was hard to stay mad at someone so cute. Especially when he was looking at her with such fondness and adoration. She’d been trying to ignore her feelings this whole time. To listen to her head instead of her heart, but in a lot of ways, it had been just like that for her too.

All of a sudden, the giant question mark that was Adrien had become so clear to her. He became familiar. Safe. Comfortable. Her partner. Her friend. Her kitty. The boy who had once seemed so out of reach had become so close in the blink of an eye, and now he stood before her less than a meter away, heart open and willing if she would only reach out and grab it.

“I guess I’m free,” she said, pursing her lips, and Adrien’s face lit up.

“Really?” He asked, and she nodded. “Wait, really, really?”

“Yes,” she laughed, and his eyes did that thing again. “Am I going to have to put up with you hitting on me twice as much now?”

“Of course.” He grinned, and she let out a sigh, looking him up and down.

“And what are you going to do if I flirt back one of these days?” She quirked a brow.

“Die of happiness,” he said. “Wait, is that a possibility?”

“Well,” she hummed, biting back a smile. “The boy I was in love with all this time…It was you.”

“Yes!” He exclaimed, and Marinette shushed him into lowering his voice. “This just proves it. You and I are meant to be together. We’re going to be unstoppable. We’ll defeat Hawkmoth, get married, live together in a beautiful cottage with kids and a hamster named-”

Marinette silenced him with a kiss, taking his hands and swinging them back and forth when she pulled away. Adrien let out a dreamy sigh, lips glued into a smile, and at her laugh, he straightened his shoulders.

“Can I ask you something?”

“If it’s to marry you, I think we should at least wait until we’re out of school,” she said, flicking his nose playfully.

“No, that question will come in time.” He waved it away then rubbed the back of his neck. “I was just thinking…This birthday thing made me realize how little I know about Ladybug, and I do know a bit more about Marinette, but not as much as I’d like, so…I want to get to know you, Marinette. I’ve always wanted to.”

“Okay,” she said. “On one condition: I want to get to know Adrien Agreste better too.”

“Deal.” He gave her hands a squeeze, and she bit her lip.

“So, what do you want to know?” She asked, and a smile stretching across his cheeks.

“Everything.”

[yamithediaperdork]

Inuyasha’s new pup Part four (Dear god it lives!)

the boys were only about 10 minutes into their walk and already Souta was starting to get a little nervous, feeling like maybe he had made a mistake coming into town in his diapers. the bulk between his legs had been fine for playing in the yard or waddling around the house but he was realizing albeit too late that it made him waddle in a fashion more then one mother they passed seemed to recognize and made the older ladies giggle, bring a blush to his cheek. "Uhhh Inuyasha..Let's say off hand I'm maybe having second thoughts.." Souta started as they passed a group of older girls and a few of them broke into a fit of giggles. Of course what Souta didn't know was that it wasn't because of him, but a comment that had been made about a boy from their class, but as any diaper dork who's braved a public waddling knows, you feel like everyone knows. "I'd say it's too little too late. Unless your starting to chafe, then I'll just carry you." Inuyasha said with a little smirk, holding the boy's improvised diaper bag with ease in one hand and offering his free arm. Souta mentally pictured it, Him on Inuyasha's hip and hugging him, the half demons strong arm under his pampered butt and blushed even worse and found himself wishing he'd tugged a baseball cap on to try and hide his face. "Uh, No thank you." Souta squeaked out and barely caught himself before his thumb slipped into his mouth. Inuyasha smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "Your the boss apple sauce." he said cheerfully and then stopped and scanned the street signs. "IIIII don't suppose you know the way to this store you wanna go to do you?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Heh, Don't worry 'Yasha. I won't let you get lost and get grabbed by the dog catcher." Souta said, smirking and getting a bit of his old nerve back. Taking Inuyasha's hand he started to lead the way.

Of course Inuyasha knew what store the boy was talking about, it was call All-mart and Kagome had taken him there when they were having a Ramen noodle cup sale. But he could also see how scared and nervous his pup was getting and figured if he acted like he was the one who needed help, it would give Souta a boost of much needed confidence. Seeing the change in attuide as Souta lead the way Inuyasha knew he'd been right, and decided to lay it on a little more for the little guys sake as he saw a group of boy's around his age by a electronics store, watching a demo of a new game. "You know, I think I've gone though whole forests that weren't as confusing as this town. Plus it's not like I can just climb up a lamp post or the like to get my bearing." Inuyasha said and then smirked. "well, not again. your sister was less then pleased the last time.." He said and wagged his eyebrows as Souta giggle and put a hand over his mouth. "Why do I have NO trouble seeing you do that?" Souta giggled and drew a little bit of attention from a bigger boy who nudged one of his friend and pointed. "So which way do we go now?" Inuyasha asked, getting Souta in front of him and having the pup point and start to explain while he bared his fangs at the would be bully who suddenly decided the demo was MUCH more interesting then starting a scene. "Well we gotta go down that street till 9th, then hang a right an- Hey! Are you even listening? Sheesh, Maybe I need to get a leash for you. your hopeless." Souta sighed, unaware he'd just been saved. "heh, you might be onto something but I think we'll draw a little bit too much attention if you lead me around on a leash pup." Inuyasha said and ruffled the boys hair. "heh, True. Just stick close to me and I'll look  after you." Souta said.

7 minutes later and they were at the All-mart and browsing the aisles with a cart, Souta sitting in the part of the cart where the groceries were suppose to go but since they weren't picking up THAT much Inuyasha didn't see the harm. The diaper bag was in the front basket where Inuyasha had tried to convince Souta to sit at first but the boy had flat out refused and with Inuyasha not wanting the little guy to get too tired he had come up with the compromise. "Sooo I know we're mostly here for clothes and milk..but what do you say we load up on some chocolate and candy?" Souta asked, grinning impishly then getting a worried look on his face. "wait, can you HAVE chocolate? I don't want you to get sick!" Inuyasha chuckled at that and ruffled the pup's hair again, he was just so god damn cute. "Yeah don't worry, I'm not THAT much of a dog that some sweets will do me in. though I dunno how I feel about filling YOU up with sugar. your hyper enough as is." He teased and winked. "Pleassssssse?" Souta begged, bringing his hands together and clearly trying to muster every ounce of his cuteness into this one plea. Inuyasha had already been heading for the candy aisle before the plea and as such the cuteness attack just about melted him before he managed to look away. "Ok ok! Just turn the look off!" he said, holding up a hand as if to protect himself,then joked. "That's more powerful then a punch from half the demons I know!" "Beware the powers of my cuteness!" Souta giggled impishly but did as asked, thinking he now had a powerful attack all his own to use and started to try and think up names for it as the started to raid the shelf's of their chocolate treats.

With the cart loaded up with sweets and three jugs of milk the boys made they're way over to the diaper aisle and were floored by just HOW many choices there was for padding in Souta's size. "heh, guess little big guys like you are more common then we thought." Inuyasha commented. "Heh yeah..Geez I don't even know where to start." Souta said, rubbing the back of his head then standing up in the cart and holding his arms out for Inuyasha to get him out. Smirking the half demon did so and he let the little pup crinkle and waddle back and forth looking deep in thought. While Souta tried to pick out his padding Inuyasha spotted a few things he wanted to get for him non padding related and snagged a package of pacifiers and a couple of baby bottle's Souta could call all his own. He also grabbed a couple of pack of wipes and some baby powder and turned around to find Souta lugging two massive packs of diapers back with him. A quick scan of the packs showed they were just as thick if not a little thicker then the ones Souta was already wearing but these were 20 packs, which had Inuyasha raising a eyebrow and smirking. "Just how much do you plan on going before your mom and sister get back?" He teased, making Souta blush. "I uh..well I can put one back if yo-" Souta started, poking two fingers together and Inuyasha just put them both in the cart. "I Knew what I was signing up for today Pup. Don't worry." Inuyasha said then helped him back into the cart which was starting to get a little bit cramped. Still it beat making the little guy walk around and if Inuyasha was being honest semi made him feel like he was pushing the pup around in a stroller. Which he knew there was zero chance in getting Souta in a real one as they headed for the clothing department.

Souta giggled and squirmed a little in the shopping cart. Truthfully he was loving riding the cart, it made him feel like he was in a stroller but he figured if he tried to whine for one that would be too fair, PLUS there would be no way to sugar coat what a big baby he was if he was in one. 'Maybe if I can get Kagome to take me back to the past and take a stroller back then..not like -I- know anyone in the past.' He thought and giggled out loud. "Penny for your thoughts." Inuyasha said behind him as they traveled over to the boys wear section. "Nope! mu thoughts are SO profound you hafa pay 2 dollars for them!" Souta giggled and winked. "heh, Maybe later then.. Alright sooo.. I'll let you get to it..I don't know much about clothing sizes and stuff." Inuyasha said Helping Souta out. "Ummm oook butttt er.." and Souta squirmed a little, shifting on his heels. "whats wrong? do you need to pee?" Inuyasha asked. "W-What? No!" Souta huffed and then his bladder twitched, making him a liar. "Well kinda..but I wanted you to sit and check out the outfits I pick and tell me if they look good." Inuyasha chuckled and smirked. "I suppose I could, though believe it or not I'm not exactly up to date on fashion." he said in a mock whisper, putting a finger to his lips. "Shhh don't tell anyone!" "Your secret is safe with me." Souta giggled and then went and started to pick out some shorts and pants. Keeping in mind the trouble he had before he made sure to pick a few sizes above his normal size and then retreated to the changing room. He'd been tempted to grab a couple of tops that looked -really- cute but had been hit by a dose of reality when he say the prices and realized they didn't have a unlimited amount of funds. Stripping down to his top and his diaper and socks, Souta paused for a second looking at his reflection in the mirror in the changing room, god, the diaper looked sooo bulky from sucking up his sweat from the walk and he wiggled his hips a little and popped his thumb into his mouth and slapped his pamper butt, making a whomp sound. 'I'm SUCH a big baby!' he thought with a mental giggle. "Souta, you ok in there?" Came Inuyasha's worried voice, Snapping Souta out of big baby mode. "I heard a weird noise, do you need me to come in?" "N-No! I'm ok!" Souta squeaked, blushing and rubbing the back of his head, and then getting down to business.

In the end only two of the shorts Souta had grabbing worked with his diapers, a light tan cargo look that hide the diapers really well and a baggy cotton pair that was a red on the top and blue on the bottom, meeting in a wave pattern in the middle and would also do a good job hiding the padding. Souta had tried a pair of black jogging pants but the bulk had really stood out and the cargo pants he'd picked had sagged down at the waist and would flash the top of the padding. It wasn't the haul they'd been hoping for but at least it would mean Souta wouldn't be stuck in just diapers and a top when the one pair of shorts were being washed. with the pup back in the cart they went up to the check out (and had a brief argument with the cashier about whether or not they had loaded stuff into the make shift diaper bag till Inuyasha had opened it up for the clerk to see and brought a blush to her face that matched Souta's) and they they were out the door. "Hey, would you mind if I called us a cab? I know I promised a trip to a noodle stand but this is a lot to carry and I don't wanna risk the milk going off." Inuyasha said. "Only if it has a car seat for me." Souta giggled, then seemed to recall who he was talking to. "That was a joke!" "I figured as much Silly." Inuyasha chuckled and went to a pay phone to make the call and as he talked on the phone Souta started to squirm back and forth, and a soft poot or two (Or three or four) started to escape from his behind. Finishing up his call Inuyasha replaced the phone and came over to Souta and tried not to mind the smell of gas, and was thankful no one was too close to them though a young couple had taken notice. "Souta buddy, the cab will be here in about five minutes. do you think you can make it?" Inuyasha asked, keeping his voice low. "I-I'll try." The blushing diaper pup said and there was a soft hissing noise that only Inuyasha picked up on as the little pup flooded his diaper. "I'm just saying, we won't have time for a diaper change." Inuyasha said and rubbed the pup's back. "I..I Know..I'm trying Inuyasha." he whimpered and then his thumb found it's way into his mouth as he was semi hunching then standing up over and over. Credit given where it was due Souta held on till the cab was JUST pulling up but then he lost the battle and hunched over and LOUDLY filled the seat of his diapers, attracting lots of attention between the series of loud wet farts and well him crying out "I'M GOING BOOM BOOM!" and starting to bawl. the cab driver didn't look thrilled about having the smelly boy in his car but a glare from Inuyasha was all it took to convince him to keep his mouth shut and just roll down the windows.

A small part of Souta's mind knew that the car ride had only taken about 10 minutes at most, but as he sat in the back seat, face in Inuyasha's chest and sobbing, With every bump making him bounce in his stinky diapers, it felt like a hour. He rushed inside as best he could, waddling and cowboy walking and the diaper big time showing as Inuyasha handled the cab driver and getting everything inside. Souta went right to the backroom and tugged down his short, gagging as he noticed he had slightly leaked and then started the shower going before proceeding to slowly and carefully peel the tapes off and get the stinky diaper in the trash, holding his nose and then hopping in the shower. there was just no way he was waiting on Inuyasha to change him nor was he gonna try and clean himself up with toilet paper. (He'd tried it before after maybe having a uh-oh accident at school and had ended up clogging the toilet.) He was about halfway though washing when he heard the bathroom door open. "Souta buddy, you ok?" Inuyasha asked. "Y-yeah.. I'm just..I uh..Couldn't wait on you. I was leaking." He said. "I can see that. you get all cleaned up and I'll handle the shorts and taking care of the stinky diaper. Did um.. did you want anther diaper or did you wanna take a break?" Inuyasha asked. Souta paused from his washing and bit his lip.He DID wanna keep wearing but the accident in public had him a little rattled. "It's ok if you wanna take a break pup." Inuyasha added. "N-No..just..um..I wanna stay inside today now ok?" Souta said after a few more second. "That's ok. Meet me in your bedroom when you finish and I'll have everything ready." Inuyasha said and Souta could hear him picking things up. "oh, uh..don't forget to rinse out the tub though when your done." Inuyasha said then he left the room and it was already smelling better. "..He's the best big bro ever." Souta coo'ed and went back to washing up.

[mor-beck-more-problems]

Drop Dead Goregous || Morgan & Jasmine

TIMING: Current

LOCATION: Downtown

PARTIES: @halequeenjas & @mor-beck-more-problems

SUMMARY: Morgan’s shopping trip gets interrupted by a ghostly visitor, but not the one she expects.

Morgan was shaken by what she’d seen lately. After almost five months dead, she would’ve thought she’d earned some kind of credit against death bullshit, especially ghost bullshit, considering how she’d died. But it never stopped. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried, her hundred year old bullshit came up to rip the floor out from under her and she was left to catch her own fall. Letting out another breath she didn’t need, Morgan shuffled around the boutique she was visiting. Fall was coming, and she wanted to give herself a wardrobe upgrade to match her new reputation and her new self. Bye-bye cutesly floral kimonos, at least for now. She picked through the selections, holding up one muted dress after another before she went back to a rack of black dresses and loose sweaters. As she did, she spotted a familiar face nearby, and a sad, scruffy looking ghost-man hovering behind her, way, way too close for politeness. He had a face that insisted it knew more than you and would be happy to explain how in a twelve slide power point or over beers at a local micro-brewery.

Morgan tried to catch the guy’s attention subtly with her eyes, a good ‘I see you, jerkface’ staredown. But aiming for a little eye contact wasn’t doing much. She took one of the dresses she liked and headed for another rack, ready to swing her hanger through him as a warning shot. “Leave her alone, asshat,” she hissed. “Find somewhere else to haunt.” The hanger bopped against his side, the clips on the dress rattled. He was...solid?

After performing an exorcism for a client earlier, Jasmine was worn down and decided a little retail therapy would perk her right back up. At least the person who was possessed was rich so the paycheck was hefty. No reason to not treat herself to a new dress or five. She’d been idly thumbing through a rack of maroon and burnt orange sweater dresses that’d be perfect for the fall, when she heard someone behind her very quietly whisper the word haunt. How had she missed there was a ghost here? She whipped around, instinctively going for the iron rod in her oversized purse. She recognized the other woman, who could clearly also see ghosts, was whacking Larry Bob with a hanger that didn’t go through him. Her breath hitched in her throat as she hoarsely grumbled, “Damn it, Larry.” His eyes were on her iron rod and he was backing away from her slowly. She swung and he just dodged her leaving a slight whooshing sound in the air. Another whack and this time it stung. He was more quick to move now though he seemed disoriented by not being able to phase through walls. This still meant nothing good. “Here,” she said as she tossed a bag of salt at Morgan,“If he comes toward you throw some of that on him.”

The last thing Morgan had expected was for the woman to know she was being haunted in the first place, much less to have something on hand for keeping him back. Was this survival coping in action or were they somehow...friendly? From the way she swore, probably not. But still--what? Morgan was so befuddled she almost dropped the travel size salt bag. She stammered unintelligibly before throwing a small sprinkle of salt Larry’s way. Yep, just as effective as the iron. But it also happened to bounce off him, not through him. “I’m sorry, but you-- you know he’s there? And what he is?” This much was obvious, but she was still trying to process. “Are you...okay? I mean, you seem okay. Very okay, more than, even, it’s just uh, most people wouldn’t with that guy hanging over their shoulder all stalker-like.” From the looks of the woman, she was one of the more okay looking people Morgan had ever met, and familiar too, though she couldn’t match her face in her head yet. And in her uncertainty, she blabbered on until she ran out of breath. “I just thought, well, maybe you didn’t know! So I’d try...something. To help you, I mean. But you do know! So… sorry, I’m Morgan and definitely not this weird all the time. Have we met before maybe? I would love to have made a better first impression on you some other time.”

It was good that the other woman was quick to throw the dash of salt she’d been given as it caused some recoil from Larry Bob. Jasmine gave the woman an approving nod before she lunged forward with her iron rod and whacked Larry on the head with the iron rod. The kickback of it not going through him made her stumble backward slightly, but he seemed about done with trying to attack him. A nice dose of salt and iron usually made him fuck off for a little while. Her hair was now disheveled as she turned back to Morgan. Normally, she would have not advertised she could see ghosts, but it was clear this was an ability they shared. She let out a dramatic sigh as she responded, “Yeah, he’s a ghost… a poltergeist more specifically. Which I know because I can see ghosts and obviously so can you.” This woman was definitely a little spazzy and caught off guard by the fact Jasmine knew what she was doing. Admittedly, she knew she didn’t look like she could hold her own in a fight, but to be fair, neither did the pint-sized woman who was originally wielding a hanger. “That’s a logical thing to think. Most people don’t know. I just happen to be an exorcist with a poltergeist because a certain someone doesn’t realize trying to make my life hell doesn’t make his sad excuse of a life any more impressive.” The last part she said pointedly even though Larry had faded away. At the mention of hoping she made a better first impression, Jasmine piped in, “We have met. At Bea’s party. Your first impression was good, not that this one was like bad or anything either. I mean, you tried to fight a ghost for me.”

“A POLTER--” Morgan covered her mouth before she drew the attention of the whole store. The young woman, Jasmine, she remembered now, was being remarkably chill about this, and if she wasn’t freaking out about her poltergeist stalker then why was Morgan having a fit about it in public? Sure, she’d been killed by a ghost before, but Larry over there didn’t look murderous so much as just...douchey. But as Jasmine went on, more pieces started to fall together. Morgan had to admit, she didn’t realize exorcists could look like Jasmine: indulgently polished, young, flippantly bold. But then she’d only really met Rebecca before, so who was she to be surprised? “That’s pretty impressive,” she said, gathering herself. “I wish I’d known when we first met, but I guess I should know by now that any friend of Bea’s is bound to be spooky or magical somehow. You’re Jasmine, right? You must’ve been at this awhile to be so chill about a tag-along like...Larry. And I...guess I did try to fight thim, huh? I’m kind of um…” She struggled to find a polite euphemism for what she was, ultimately settling on, “Dead. Almost five months now as it happens. So there’s not much they can really do to get to me.”

Thankfully, Morgan covered her own mouth before Jasmine had to. The last thing she needed was someone hearing them and thinking she was crazy. Especially not the shop owner. This was the best place in town to find high end business professional clothing. “Yes,” she said in a hushed tone, “A poltergeist. Which I know is bad. Like really bad and I’m working on it.” While she couldn’t say Morgan was wrong, she knew she was impressive for a multitude of reasons, she was still more curious about how Morgan could see the ghost and how he somehow became solid. The solid part was arguably more concerning, but hey, it was a little more satisfying to hit him and have it land for real. “That’s me. It’s Morgan, right? I guess I have been. My aunt taught me how to do exorcisms when I was around 19. Plus, pretty used to this particular ghost. Trying to get rid of him, but turns out he may be a two woman job,” she explained. As Morgan explained why she could see ghosts, Jasmine’s jaw quite literally dropped. Dead? Sure, she was pasty, but she just chalked that up to needing a good dose of Vitamin D. The only dead person she’d known was dead prior to this had just been Bea. “Huh,” she mused out loud, “I didn’t realize that was a thing, but hey, for being dead you sure are pretty. Good nothing to get to you though.” In a more hushed tone she asked, “So like are you a vampire or something? I don’t really know much outside of ghosts.”

Morgan was relieved more than anything to see Jasmine at least a little concerned about the polter. Although the idea that they took a long time to ‘work on’ was kind of distressing, given the state of her own personal demon girl. “Are those..um…?” Morgan squeaked. “Do they usually take...a lot of working on? Is that a thing?” She looked over her shoulder uncertainly at where Larry had just been. Maybe this wasn’t really the time. They were in public, after all. She smirked at Jasmine’s compliment and tossed her hair back, smirking, only a little shrill as her unease rolled off and away from her. “What can I say, it’s hard to keep a good girl down.” She smiled warmly at the question, appreciating the tact and concern. “You’re close, but I like brains better than blood,” she said. “It’s not as bad as the movies make it out to be. I mean, the Dawn of the Dead never looked this cute, right? Oh, and before you ask, it’s only been five months. I’m not like, a hundred or anything. But I will look just this good when I am, apparently.”

Jasmine frowned slightly at the question mostly because she hated the answer. Normally, poltergeists were easy enough to remove with an exorcism. Sure, performing an exorcism was physically exhausting and sometimes she ended up with some cuts along the way, but prior to Larry Bob they had always ended with there no longer being a ghost. “No, she answered with a hint of an edge in her voice, “He’s the only poltergeist I’ve had a particularly difficult time getting rid of.” Thankfully, Tiffany seemed to be too preoccupied with her phone to bother paying attention to what was going on around the shop. No one paying attention to them or what happened with Larry Bob was a good thing and meant her reputation was still intact. She hated online shopping and didn’t want to have to drive too far out of town to get nice clothes. Her face brightened as Morgan joked and she laughed in response. “Does that mean you have brains and beauty?” It was easier to joke than to acknowledge that she was a bit alarmed. Bea being back from the dead had thrown her for enough of a loop. Ghosts were one thing, but weren’t zombies and vampires supposed to be all grr? That was a bit out of her wheelhouse though she trusted any friend of Bea’s wasn’t going to hurt her. “Dawn of the Dead’s got nothing on you, that’s for damn sure. That’s a pretty big change, but hey, you’ve got eternal hotness going for you, so congratulations to you on that one.” She wasn’t sure if being new to the whole zombie thing was more or less comforting. She blurted out, “So… brains, huh?”

“Oh!” Morgan’s voice came out as a bright pop and she wasn’t sure whether to feel guilty about it or not. She didn’t care about whether Constance was a poltergeist or not, she just wanted her to leave and suffer. But she also wanted her friends to get out of this unscathed. No more hospitals, no more tears, no more hurt, no more staring at death through the eyes of an angry, pimpled face. It was good to know that if Constance snapped, she would still be easy to crush. “I was just curious,” she added, a little awkwardly. “I have a uh, not quite polter problem too, and I was just, you know, wondering. For obvious reasons. Not really into the ‘collateral damage’ scene. Been there, done that!” She laughed, but it came out a little hollow and shrill. Nell and Taki had been hurt because of Constance. Deirdre had been hurt because of Constance. Blanche had been hurt tracking her down. If Constance decided that she needed to go after anyone besides Deirdre-- Morgan didn’t want to think about it. She had enough reasons to take the ghost apart piece by piece. It was much, much nicer talking about how attractive they both were, and so much easier for making friends. At least Jasmine knew how to take care of herself around a spirit. Morgan wouldn’t be endangering her too much if they hit it off.

“Thank you! It is really nice looking this great without embalming, even with the brains and all. That part’s super real, but a little snack of preserved eyeballs and organs? Also good. I’m just kinda sad I’m never gonna know if I looked hot with gray hairs, you know? But you are kind of extraordinary to look at, if that’s not too weird to say. I’m, you know, I have a girlfriend. But like, that manicure! It’s gorgeous. I’m always so worried my hands are gonna freak people out if they have to touch them.” As she said this, she realized her hand was already held out to shake and--yikes. Too much. Morgan pulled her hand away, smiling apologetically. “I’m sorry, for crashing your shopping trip. If you’re anything like the other exorcists I’ve known, you definitely deserve some TLC. Um, that dress really does look pretty, by the way. I hope you get it.”

At the mention of having some degree of a ghost problem, Jasmine straightened up a little bit. To a degree, she hated all of this. Exorcisms were draining. Seeing dead people got exhausting. None of it was quite how she used to envision her life, but she couldn’t just sit here with these powers and ignore her calling. What she knew for sure was that she definitely deserved the new pair of shoes she was getting to go with her new dress. “A not quite polter problem,” she said slowly just to make sure she heard right, “Is this something you’d let me check out? This ghost may not want to show their face to an exorcist, but I do know a few spellcasters who could probably summon them.” To lighten the mood a bit, she added, “Since you’re a friend of Bea’s, I’ll even give you a friends and family discount.” At least not quite a poltergeist could mean slightly less complex. It still left an uneasy feeling within her that she opted to ignore for the time being until Morgan opted to give her more information.

This part of the conversation was easier and involved a lot less potential danger. Morgan didn’t seem like she was jonesing for her brains though the thought did cross her mind. Jasmine lit up a bit and added, “Well, you’re definitely the prettiest dead girl I’ve ever seen… and trust me, I’ve seen a lot. Also, eh, I’ll let you keep those snacks to yourself. Not really up my alley personally, but like, different nutritional needs I’m sure.” Eyeballs and brains still had a major ick factor though. God, when she died, she just wanted to stay dead and hopefully that would be a very long time from now. That thought quickly faded as Morgan began complimenting her. With a flip of her hair, she responded, “You know, hair dye does exist, but thank you. I can’t help but agree with you.” She looked down to the dress. “You think so,” she asked, “Red is usually more my color but this shade of burnt orange is perfect for fall.” She laughed a bit, “Don’t worry, didn’t think you were trying to hit on me. I could totally do your nails though. My dad grounded me for like six months my junior year of high school, so I got pretty good at doing them myself. Trust me, it takes a lot more than cold hands to freak me out.” An uncertainty she felt about the whole zombie thing was quickly fading. Morgan was fun and seemingly sweet. Once they got rid of her ghost, it’d be all good times.

Morgan waved away Jasmine’s concern, covering her uneasy laugh with a smile. “I’m getting it figured out, no worries. It’s not like she follows me around all the time.” Just some spontaneous attempted murder. Just girl stuff. “But, you know, anything goes south and you’ll be my first call.” So far, exorcisms ‘to the pain’ were a little hard to come by, and there wasn’t much of a roadmap for finding the worst of the worst either. As plausible as it seemed that Jasmine would have some idea, she couldn’t risk her going out and getting rid of Constance the easy way behind her back. They’d only just met, Jasmine had no reason to trust her sob story. Maybe later, when Morgan wasn’t just some rando to her, she’d explain it better. “‘Sides, maybe by then we’ll be friends too, no middle gal, however truly exceptional she might be.” Morgan smiled with relief as Jasmine took everything in stride. “I am no stranger to red,” she said, gesturing down to her own tunic cardigan, slumping artfully off one shoulder. “But orange is just so… I mean it just screams October and pumpkin spice, right?” Her smile widened as she went on. “That would be amazing! You know, I’ve never gotten the knack of doing my own nails, I don’t know if it’s a left handed thing or what, but it never comes out right. And come to think of it, I’m sure you have lots of stories, especially if you’ve been in town your whole life. Um, whenever you’re free, we should--I don’t know, do nails. Or hair. Something nice in all this White Crest--” she waved her fingers vaguely, “Nonsense. And we can bring salt! It might be nice to get to know one another without ghostly plus ones, right?”

Jasmine tilted her head not quite believing that statement, but she had to trust Morgan would come to her if things got too heated. It wasn’t as if she could go out looking for this ghost with so little information. “Good, please do keep me posted if anything escalates. The longer she sticks around, the worse she’ll get,” she explained and hoped the situation was given the proper attention. Since really learning about her powers and what she was capable of, she felt a sense of duty to keep people safe from bad ghosts. Jasmine doubted she was the only exorcist in town. As long as it was being handled, that was what mattered, so she laughed and agreed, “You know, I think we can work on that. Being friends without the stunning middle woman.” As Morgan gestured at her tunic, Jas added, “Which I do love on you, really brings out your eyes, but you’re right. It’s pumpkin spice season, why not dress like what everyone is craving… well, you know besides me.” The last part came off almost joking, but she definitely believed it to be true. She was funny, gorgeous, wealthy, and happened to save people from ghosts on the side. What was there not to love? “I’m getting it,” she exclaimed before excitedly adding, “Oh, you’re definitely coming over to my place for a proper manicure and most likely some wine. My hot tub is, like, super nice, too. Also, my home is ghost free due to some handy wards and tons of salt so no unwanted plus ones. If you couldn’t tell by my resounding agreement, I’d love to get to know you better and become actual friends. Especially if I get to paint your nails. Makeovers are kind of my thing.” Somehow, Morgan’s energy was a bit contagious. She never thought she’d be making friends with a zombie, but hey, she was solid and didn’t haunt people so who was she to judge? She had a feeling they’d be fast friends.

[pinkykitten]

Hairspray pt. 1

Stranger Things

Billy Hargrove x plus size! female reader

Warning: curse words, body-shaming, things get a lil steamy at the end

Specifics: comedy, angst, fluff, romance, chapter fic, race neutral reader, plus size reader, chubby reader, pictures

People: billy hargrove, nancy wheeler, jonathan byers, heather, your dad, your mother, amber (bully, oc) 

Words: 4,089

Summary: Based on Bell’s 2.5k Challenge, @acciosnapes. Being rich was tough. Your parents expected so much out of you; they expected you to be perfect. Owning practically all of Hawkins, Indiana; they perceived themselves to be above everyone else. Having that thinking made you alone, as you were not allowed to hang out with people beneath you. 4th of July of 1985 holds the fair for Independence day. You had feelings for a certain bad boy and if luck comes your way you may tell him the truth and who knows maybe he’ll even ask you to the fair. During those moments though, you will have to endure top secret evil science labs and experiments. You will uncover Hawkins secrets, make friends and who knows maybe break a couple of rules.

Authors Note: y/f/n = your father’s name

y/m/n = your mother’s name

this is the first part of the chapter fics hairpsray. this is for a challenge and i love this so much. i love writing confident plus size characters and readers. the aesthetic was made by me and the beginning to the end of this fic i got inspired by hairpsray 2007 by the start of the movie all the way to miss baltimore crabs number. i put an amber in here like the movie and some quotes and dialogue is taken from the movie hairspray, lets see if u guys can figure it out. anywho i love this hope u love it and im so happy i did this challenge there will be more so check out for this series and im excited to show u guys. yay! 

The summer of 1985. It was hot and sticky outside. The cicadas singing as they made their way near you home. You were excited. You were going to, no matter who tried to stop you, get a job.

It very well likely might not have made sense to anyone. You were rich. Grew up with a golden spoon in your mouth. You never knew life to be hard. Every little thing was given to you, whether it be toys, dresses, makeup, you had it all. At least thats what your parents thought. Your father was basically equal with the Mayor. The two helped each other out with smart work and of course the dirty work. Y/f/n thought you didn’t know but you sniffed out the clues and put them together. You knew your father was no innocent man. He played his cards right to get this money, not earn it. And y/m/n, just followed your father around like a lost puppy. You could see the kindness in her sometimes but she always listened to your father. 

What your parents didn’t know was you were searching for something more important. Something that meant a whole lot to you. Money didn’t matter. You didn’t want that life. You wanted to be independent and be able to make mistakes and live life. Your parents always disciplined you on peers. You were not allowed to be with low lives; people who weren't as successful as your family. But all the friends your parents wanted you to love were snobs and thought so highly of themselves. You wanted to get away from that life. Your whole life was planned out for you. You are forever and always this pretty, perfect sweet girl who follows rules even though sometimes you didn’t feel those things. 

You woke up to the sun beating down on your face. You rolled around on your pastel pink king sized bed. Groaning, as you subconsciously hit your alarm clock but noticing you were awoken before its ring. 

“Hmm, thats never happened before.”

You stretch as you jump out of bed to start your first day of work. You would never tell your parents. They would never understand and probably make excuses to stop you. You were going to try to get hired at Hawkins Community Pool. It was a risky decision based on your size. You were plus sized and adored it! You felt on top of the world most times and never cared what anyone thought. But there were times where you did get down from comments but you still pushed ahead and loved yourself. You were willing to give the lifeguard gig a chance and there was a plus side. Your crush Billy Hargrove was there. You just hoped you could entice him enough to give you a go. 

You scrambled to your feet as you raced to your phone. You dialed your best friend Nancy’s number. You had to keep the relationship a secret. If your parents knew about your friendship they probably would flip. You knew about all the secrets of the kids and Hawkins lab. Nancy felt guilty not telling you so she spilled the beans about everything to you. About Eleven, the monsters, scientists. It sounded unreal but you knew Nancy would never lie to you. 

“Hey Nance, are we still on for the mall today?” You asked, twirling the cable with your fingers. 

On the other side you could hear Nancy struggling, “yep we’re still on. Sorry I’m running late to my first day of work.”

“Oh yeah its today. What are you gonna be doing again?”

Nancy made a yelp as the phone was muffled, “sorry I just slipped putting on my dress.” Just as Nancy said that you could hear Jonathan’s voice in the background. 

“No way!” You squealed. “Did you sleep with Jonathan?”

Nancy giggled, “...sorta...kinda...yeah.”

“You naughty girl!”

“Whatever!”

“Tell him I said hi,” you said.

“Oh my god y/n, you’re unbelievable but I gotta go now.”

“Wait? Are you still coming with me to get my bathing suit?”

“Like I would miss this. Y/n’s first job and pretty much your first time being a independent young lady. Y/n, we’re definitely going to celebrate!” She hanged up the phone and you got dressed for the day. 

You went to the living room and turned on the tv. “Good morning Hawkins, Indiana.” The news man and lady said as they raised their morning cup of coffee to the viewers. 

You skipped around the kitchen finding something to eat. Humming a tune you couldn’t get out of your head as it was a song you made up. 

“I love you Hawkins, and someday when I take to the world, the worlds gonna wake up see. Hawkins and me,” you sang as you were stopped by your father. 

“Why are you so jumpy this morning?” He wore a scowl on his face. 

You shrugged, “nothing in particular dad.” You kissed him on the cheek. Your mother walked in swatting your hand as you were about to make breakfast for yourself. 

“The maids can get it honey,” she said as the maid ran in and got started in cooking you your favorite. 

You rolled your eyes as you got your bag, “you know I think I’ll just eat on the road. I’ll pick up something on the side.”

“Honey, make sure its nothing greasy,” your mother said. “You have to try to back away from foods, remember.”

“You remind me everyday mother.” Your parents always pointed out the fact that you were bigger than most girls your age. They always tried to put you on diets and workouts but nothing worked. It didn’t work because you didn’t want it to work. You were totally fine with your body and wish they could see what you saw. 

Finishing the rest of your corn dog from the food court you awaited on Nancy by the store. Checking your time you knew Nancy was supposed to be here.  

“C’mon Nance, where are you?”

Finally she showed up from around the corner. Her hair all disheveled. It looks as if she was rushed. 

“Hey there best friend...you okay?” You asked, hugging her as she came up. 

She waved your question off. “It can wait. So what are you thinking of getting? Whats your vision?”

“Well,” you said as you entered into the tiny shop. Women of all sizes were there but you can see the look of disappointment on many of the bigger girls faces. There was barely anything there for them. You looked through the clearance for “Big Girls” it read on the sign. “since I have to make a good impression, I’m going to wear something sexy but also professional. I don’t want to look like no stripper.”

Nancy chuckled, “right. Also isn’t this swimsuit for only this time cause you have to wear their red one while you work there.”

“Correct. Like I said though I want them to see I am trying and I am not going to half-as* it.”

“How bout this one?” Nancy said as she brought out a blue one. It had sequins on it; very beautiful. But it was too sexual. The breast area was very much wide and open. The back showed too much butt. “What do you think about this?”

“Don’t get me wrong its super pretty but like I said; I need to look professional. Plus there’s gonna be kids there.”

“I gotcha. Sorry I maybe just want everyone to pass out when they see my friend.”

“Oh I bet everyone will, even if I don’t wear anything sexual. They’re probably gonna be like agghhh an earthquake when they see me walking in and I’ll respond like, you bet b*tch.”

Nancy laughed. 

“How bout this one?” You pulled out a Hawaiian one. It was pretty but more for old ladies and it was boring. 

“Okay yeah sure...for my nana!”

“Well how do you know me and your nana don’t have the same taste?”

“Look you need something more than that. Like you said, making a statement.”

You bit your lip, “man this harder than I thought. I’m kind scared to be honest about doing this. Like I think the last time I ever got this scared was when they announced the new coke.”

Nancy tried her hardest to hold back a giggle, “why are you scared?”

“Picture this, what if a stranger hands me a blunt and you know I’m curious by nature and I accept it? What in the world will Billy think? He’ll probably think I’m like a druggie 24/7!”

“First off, that is the oddest situation I’ve ever heard of. Second, is this your weird way of saying what if Billy doesn’t like you?”

“No I know he’ll like me sexually but I mean platonically. What if he doesn’t want to be like a normal couple and hang out? What if he’s ashamed to be with me? These are good questions.”

Nancy held your hand, “than he’s the jerk I always thought him to be and you’re too good for him.”

You nodded, “I mean I’m too good for him now but in that moment, if he’s a d*ck then I will be 10 times better than him. So any ways...how was work?”

Nancy rolled her eyes and looks down, “I kinda don’t want to talk about it.”

“What? What happened? Am I gonna have to slap a b*tch?” You became territorial and overprotective of your friend.

“No, no, no its just, the men at work sorta treat me like I’m dumb and that I’m not really of use to this type of work. I guess cause they see me as a woman they think they can take advantage of me. They make fun of myey/n. In front of everyone. Its bull sh*t.” Nancy almost looked as if she wanted to cry.

“Hey its okay. This is your first day. People are going to be jack as*es but you listen to me. Whenever any one has talked about me differently or made fun of me because of my weight or whatever I either laugh with them, ignore them, or say something smart back to them. There are ways that we women can stand up for ourselves without having to insult or hurt someone physically.”

“Its just easier said than done. But I’ve got a lead. A lady called me today about diseased rats. I think that maybe this is my chance to be a journalist like I’ve always wanted to be.”

You clapped her on the back, “atta girl. You take that chance. You take it right in your hand and never let it go. No matter what they tell, or do to you; you have the right, the power. Use it Nancy. Use your voice.”

Nancy smiled and picked out an orange swimsuit. You didn’t care if people called you an actual orange; all you saw was perfection. 

“How bout this one y/n?”

“Thats the one Nancy. Its perfect!”

“Hey pancake y/n and Nancy drew,” Amber, your arch nemesis. The bully, the b*tch of the town walked up to you two. Her high heels clicked as they met with the floor. Her skirt was so short you could almost see her goodies from up high. Her makeup was too overdone and her blonde hair was as perfect as Tom Cruise’s abs. She snickered as she saw you hold up your swimsuit to pay. “And you’re gonna wear that? Where are you going? To the Hawkins pool?”

“Yes as a matter of fact I am. Thanks for you looking out for me...Amber.” You said as you walked right by her; nudging her lightly. “Now I don’t wanna get there late so if you excuse me-”

“Oh sorry, too skinny of a space?”

“Amber-” Nancy started but you waved a hand out to her. 

“No its okay Nance. She’s right, it was too skinny for my delicious body.” You shrugged. 

Amber motioned closer to you. Her foot stepping on yours. “Are you going to the pool to see Billy?”

You almost forgot. Rumor had it that Amber was going to try all Summer to get with Billy but so far you heard he was single and you sure as he*l were not going to miss the opportunity. 

“Well I mean I will see him whether I want to or not. He kind works there.”

“I’m not talking about that fat-a*s. I’m saying are you doing all this. Wanting to work there just because he’s there?”

“Wow Amber! I didn’t realize you were my mother. Congratulations! Now shall I tell you about all my business?”

Amber snarled, “I swear to God if you try anything with Billy I will hunt you down. If you think for a moment that he would ever like someone like you? You are completely and utterly stupid. Know your place and be careful... you might stop traffic in that.” Amber chuckled as she walked away. Her butt swaying as she tried to show you she was better than you.

“Yeah well I have a better a*s than you!”

Nancy shook her head as she led you to the register, “C’mon y/n, lets just go.” 

Did that little interaction ever stop you? 

Never! You still went with your plan. Get this job in order to get your Billy. It was plain and simple. And also to prove to yourself and your parents that you can do things on your own and you didn’t need anyone. 

Nancy dropped you off. You got changed in the bathroom and knew it just turned into Billy’s shift. You met with the other kids at the front desk. As they saw you they laughed. “Well, well, well if it isn’t y/n l/n, the rich girl. What can we do you for?”

As you were about to speak one of the boys put his hand up, “I’m sorry but we don’t have any gold bars here at the moment. Maybe you’ll have to ask the President of the United States.”

You glared at the boy and were silent. The boy thought he broke you and you acted very suspicious. Suddenly you laughed, “yeah well maybe I’ll go ask your dad since he seems to pay me every time I’m with him.” You of course knew it wasn’t true. You had never even slept with anyone before heck with his dad. It was all for games. 

The others hollered out loudly at your come back and the boy stood back flushed. 

“Now I want to work here and I think I deserve a resume. I see your sign that you are hiring so what do I have to do here folks?” You clapped your hands. 

A girl named Heather walked by and heard your conversation. “Y/n, right?”

“Thats me.” You shook her hand. 

“Awesome, yeah I remember your call. You wanted a job here?”

“Correct again.”

“Well around here we do things differently. In order to get the job we need to see your walk.”

“My what?”

“Your walk.” The other teens tried to stifle their laughter. “Thats the most important step. We need to see how you walk in order to get to your post.”

“Oh okay for a minute I thought you wanted me to walk on water or something.”

Heather rolled her eyes. “No. I need to see how you do and then we can talk and I can give you a resume.”

“Wait. You’re the one who conducts the interviews around here and stuff like that?”

Heather nodded. Lying.

“Cool so when do I start the walk?”

“Now!” Heather pushed you into the open. 

“Oh okay,” you were shy at first but then conducted yourself. The sun shone on your skin deliciously making your skin glow. You looked at your surroundings. A lot of kids. A chubby kid running, which you knew was a no-no. The other side, near Billy was, “Mrs. Wheeler? What in the world is she doing looking at Billy like that?” You felt anger erupt within you. Yes, you were a little jealous. Even though their relationship was extremely wrong you still felt jealous. You proceeded to walk. Not caring if anything budged out, jiggled, nothing. You felt sexy, beautiful and that’s all that mattered. 

You shook your hips as you walked up to the chair. You had talked to Billy before but never a full out conversation. It was little ones. Billy stood right by the chair, talking to Mrs. Wheeler. As you showed up Billy looked at you straight in the eye. You bit your lip winking at him. Billy then looked all over you, raising his brow. He licked his lips. 

“Hi y/n,” he said all suave; putting his hand out to stop Mrs. Wheeler’s conversation, interrupting her. 

“Hi Billy, hello Mrs. Wheeler.”

Mrs. Wheeler seemed angry so she sat back down in the sun. 

“Well, well, well, what are you doing here?” Billy asked as he leaned against the lifeguard chair. 

“Well I heard y’all were hiring. I saw in the newspaper that they’re making another lifeguard here, coinciding with the first one of course. Heard it gets hectic around here.”

Billy chewed on a toothpick as he came closer to you, smirking. His eyes seeming almost a sea green when it hit the sun. “Yeah it sure does get hectic around here, but I think with you around; things will get more hectic. Trust me.”

“Will it be by your doing?” You got closer as well. Playing his games.

“I don’t know, might be.”

“Got any more bigger girls like me around here?”

“No just the one and only you.”

“Oh so you were looking?” You didn’t mind that he called you bigger or when someone called you fat. It was the truth and you learned to love those words. 

“Is that a bad thing?” Billy asked as his eyes scanned all over you once more. His eyes became lustful. 

“No, I mean you might as well learn what a real woman looks like. I guess I’ll be making history around here. Y/n l/n, the first lifeguard that is really and surely a-”

“Whole lotta woman,” Billy said as his voice came out raspy and more of a moan. 

Your knees were becoming weak. “Thats right.”

“Alright miss making history. Why do you want this job? Aren’t your parents rich? Doesn’t your dad work with the mayor?”

“Yep but I feel as a young lady, I need to learn and live.”

“Don’t worry you’ll learn all those things here; I’ll make sure I’ll teach you.” Billy said as he touched your arm, sending electricity coursing through your veins. 

“So Billy Hargrove will be my lifeguard teacher, huh? Not bad. But...will you ever need to punish me?”

Billy looked shocked as you said that and laughed. He inched closer to you until his plump lips landed on your ear, “only when you’re being a bad girl.”

It took everything out of you not to moan right there. You coughed as you tried to act natural again. Billy got you good. 

“Bashful much?”

“More like turned on,” you muttered not knowing Billy heard as he smiled wide. You turned around and walked straight back to Heather. Your a*s shaking a lot as you walked back making Billy almost have a heart attack. There was no way he was going to go through summer without you. 

“So how’d I do?” You questioned Heather. Excited to hear the news. 

“Well...it was okay.”

“Okay?”

“You weren’t supposed to talk to anyone yet.”

“Um, its a community pool. Everyone's talking.” You said. 

“No we mean when you were talking to Billy. You see a lot of the girls here like him. And we can’t have you jeopardizing their chances and scaring Billy if you know what I mean.” Heather said as she winced. 

Billy had wanted to hear the news about you working here and stood nearby; hearing the whole conversation. 

Your eyes widened, “no I’m sorry I don’t know what you mean?”

“Its just with your rich parents and well your weight for another thing we feel as its just too much...stuff for this job requirement.”

“So you’re basically saying I’m too fat and rich for a small summer job?”

Heather tried not to laugh as the other kids in the office did. You rolled your eyes. “And all this walk and stuff, that was fake too I suppose.”

Heather couldn’t control herself. She bursted out laughing. “You’re totally right! And you fell for it!”

You tried your hardest not to let them get to you. Not to cry. But it was difficult. They embarrassed you, hurt your feelings, rejected you because of your weight and life. You felt like you could get nowhere with them. 

You smiled, “thank you for your time guys.”

“Whatever!” Heather waved you off. 

Billy on the other hand was furious. He knew what it mean to be treated differently and to be hurt. He wanted to stand up for you but he was scared he would lose his job. 

You walked away and Billy walked up to Heather. “Hey, why do you have to be so cruel?”

“Says the guy who literally bullys everyone. What makes y/n any different?”

“Maybe its because she’s not a b*tch. Like some people are.” Billy walked away to get back to work but he could not for the life of him stop thinking about you. You clouded his brain all day. 

You walked home. Thinking about all that was said to you today. You had high hopes of getting the job but now you didn’t know where to go. Crashing onto your bed you cried onto your pillow. Your mother was out shopping with a group of her rich friends and your father was helping the Mayor out with the 4th of July fair. They didn’t care how you felt that day. When someone hurt you. They only cared about themselves. 

Your phone rang and it was Nancy. You sniffled your tears, wiping your face, “hello Nance. Whats up?”

“Hey y/n oh my god you’re not going to believe it! I got a lead on the rats! Me and Jonathan went to go check it out at Mrs. Driscoll. She showed us her basement and all the fertilizer bags had holes in them from the rats. She said that maybe they had rabies and wanted us to notify the public but y/n when I got a good look at these rats it was not like the norm.”

“What do you mean?” You sat up.

“What I mean is that these rats were like having a convulsion. They were acting really strange. Like crazy, I’m gonna investigate more tomorrow and then maybe just maybe the guys at my work will actually take me seriously.”

“You show them! But be careful okay, I don’t want you or Jonathan to loose your jobs. Pursue this story your way.”

“Thanks. Hey what about you? How did things go for your lifeguard summer adventure? And what about Billy? Oh my god did he see you that? He probably had such a big boner-”

“Nancy!” You started to cry again. “I didn’t get the job.”

“What the h*ll do you mean? Do I have to smack a b*tch?”

You chuckled lightly, “no its nothing like that or what I mean is theres nothing you can do. I went in and they pranked me and called me names and pretty much made fun of me saying that I couldn’t work there because I was rich and fat.”

“So? Who the h*ll cares? Jesus, I hate people.”

“Me too, but never you.” You sighed. 

“You know what you do?”

“What Nancy? I tried everything-”

“You try again! Go tomorrow and wear their attire their red swimsuits and show them that you are not playing around. Make them see that you are the woman for the job. You are an amazing person y/n, show them and show Billy.”

You wiped your tears away and got the boost you needed. “You’re right Nance, thanks. I’m gonna keep trying until I have done all that I can.”

“Yeah and if not there is a new mall that you could work at and really anywhere. People would be lucky to have you.”

“Thanks Nancy. You always know how to make me feel better.” You hanged up the phone and got a good nights rest for the next day where you would try your hardest to achieve something you so badly wanted. 

Tag list: @harrington-lover, @angelgl16, @perfectlybeautifulsuit, @hyehoney, @haven-prelude (wont let me tag), @leasly, @totally-alexa21, @creamy-pasta-boi, @multireese, @fanfictionrecommendations-com, @prentisskelley, @malereaderforkpop (wont let me tag), @guardian-of-cookies, @justafangirl-97, @teenageshitposts (wont let me tag), @dippergravity (wont let me tag), @some-booty, @fromfoolishpeopletodeadpeople, @collectiveyou, @wtfisalltherandoms, @dirbel, @eastcoasthaven, @fangirl-4-life415 (wont let me tag), @idontknowwhattocallthisworld (wont let me tag)

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[stattic-writes]

Strongest

https://statticscribbles.tumblr.com/post/639099629845233664/masterlist

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[jamiebluewind]

Misunderstandings

OC Perspective (Lyric)

Word Count: 1466

Notes: nonbinary character (Lyric), transmale character (Aultho), occasional use of fantasy language (elvish)

Characters: Lyric (original character), Aultho (original character), and Fabian (mentioned)

Warnings: bigotry, fantasy based racism, violence mention (please message me if I missed any)

Ships: None

Spoilers: Fantasy High Season 1 (minor)

Summary: Aultho had a bad day at work (due to a particular half-elf). His sibling Lyric tries to help.

Takes place after the bonus comic for Fabian's Gifts.

Requested by @rizbian

****

Lyric sat in their room tinkering with a new crystal array. Normally they would be in bed already, but their brother had messaged them from work saying that he would be home late. It meant one of two things; he either had a big last minute order or he had stuck his foot in his mouth again.

While soldering a few stray wires on their latest project, they heard their brother slam the door, followed by a loud "Vyshaana darrdartha biir!" Yeah. That was never a good sign. They put their tools away and headed towards the sounds of angry sun elf.

They leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, eyeing Aultho. He was facing away from them, searched for something in the upper cupboards. "I'm guessing your evening went well," they said with a smirk.

"Not now Lyric," he replied flatly without turning around. Uh-oh. This was bad.

Lyric reached out and placed a hand on their brother's shoulder. He was tense. The twins stood like this for a moment as Lyric's thumb made soft circles on the other's shoulder. Finally, Aultho's shoulders slumped with a sigh as he turned his head. A deep bruise blossomed across his jaw and he had the beginnings of a black eye. "Seldarine!" they exclaimed. "What... how... go sit. I'll bring some ice and healing aid."

A halfhearted smile appeared on Aultho's face as he shook his head. "Gys sa salen?" he said more like a question than a demand as he nodded towards the liquor.

"Sure," Lyric replied. "Elven wine or something harder?"

"Whichever you grab first," he answered as he walked towards the small livingroom.

Lyric poured up two drinks, sending a small machine to grab the healing aid while they got the rest. They pulled a coldpack out of storage and activated it with a tap before pressing it between their body and arm so they would have two free hands for the glasses. By the time they walk into the livingroom and sat the glasses down, the machine had returned, healing aid in hand.

Aultho glanced and the tin. "I only asked for a drink," he said. It was an absentminded observation, the kind he often made that got him in the most trouble.

"And I brought you something that will actually do some good," they replied. They dipped their fingers in the magic infused balm and applied a thin coat to his face. They made a mental note to make more for him to keep at work. Aultho would have never let them see him like this if he had any left.

Slowly, the balm did it's job as the scraps knitted themselves back together, the harsh bruise faded to a softer hue, and the swelling became less pronounced. "Thank you," Aultho said with a sigh. Lyric wordlessly ploped the coldpack in his hand before taking their seat. Aultho placed the pack on the sore area and sighed again before reaching over to grab his drink.

Lyric gave him a few rare moments of silence to collect his thoughts. They were going to find out what happened of course, but Aultho looked so drained that they decided he needed a little more time than normal. It wasn't the first time he had come home like this since they fled to Solace. In fact, when the twins first arrived it had been almost a daily occurrence! Lyric had gotten in their fair share of stupid fights too - especially those first couple months - but they had adapted and found friends that helped them understand. All Aultho had was Lyric, a prickly exterior, and a strong aversion to admitting when he needed help.

Lyric was about to start prodding when a heavy sigh came from Aultho. "I really have no idea how I pissed this one off," he said. His head was leaned back and his eyes were closed. "The gods damned biir."

"Did you call him a biir?" Lyric asked. Serious or no, they could never resist getting cheeky with their brother.

Aultho leaned up to roll his eyes at them, only to stop with a flinch and an "ow". He looked like he had a headache coming on. "I haven't been that stupid since the second month we arrived here," he replied.

"And yet-" they started

"I know," he said. "It still comes out sometimes when I'm mad. Apologies."

They reached out and patted his leg. At least he was trying.

"I was about to close shop when a customer came in," he said, looking at his sibling. "Tall. Loud. Probably half-elf or human. Wearing one of those stupid school sports coats..."

They furrowed their brow. "Letterman jacket?" they guessed.

"Yes!" he said. "That's it."

"So probably in high school or college?" they asked.

He nodded and then seemed to immediately regret it. "Yes," he answered. "That sounds about right.  A real gabreth. He banged on the counter, demanding a small briefcase. I suggested he make it a briefcase of holding. Then he punched me, yanked me up by my collar, said he wanted the feature while threatening me, requested initials, and then said he would be back in two hours to pick it up!"

They stared. "That's... how could that even be done," they asked.

"Not easily," he answered. "I luckily had a small black briefcase already made plus several scrolls on hand to help with the magic and lettering, but it was close." He winced. "Too close. I half expected him to punch me again once I explained that the magic had to settle for a couple weeks before the holding feature he requested would work, but he seemed quite happy with it." A humorless laugh came out. "Even gave me a tip."

Lyric breathed out heavily and sunk into their seat. "Wow," they said. They blinked a few times, trying to figure out what to do next. "Okay. Lets go through EXACTLY what you said. Because this is either a learning moment for you or a perfect time for me to test out my battle tech."

This got a real laugh out of him. "Okay," he answered. "Let's see..." He scewed his face in thought. "I think he said 'I demand a goblin sized leather briefcase.' I told him it would be a tiny thing and turning it into a briefcase of holding would give the goblin a lot more space to store the shiny things they stole. Then he punched me and-"

"Wait," they said, holding up a hand. Lyric was pretty sure their brain quit working for a second there and was desperately trying to catch up. "Did you actually tell this person... that goblins are thieves who like shiny things?"

A pause. His eyes widened. "...yes?" he answered, drawing out the eh sound.

Oh dear gods their brother could be an idiot sometimes. "Al," they said. "You can't... that's month four stuff!"

"But just last week someone told me..." He stopped and closed his eyes as he breathed out, defeated. "Mhaor kiira," he whispered.

"Hey," they said, taking their brother's hand, "whoever told you that was the asshole here. It's not your fault. Not completely anyway." It was hard enough for Aultho to sort through the lies and truthes without some idiot making it harder on him. Unfortunately, their brother was an accidental bigot magnet.

"Maethe," he said solemnly, "but I am still the fool falling for their false truthes after nearly a year."

They glared at him. "I will fight you ya know?" they replied. "I have a pile of battle tech ready to unleash at a moment's notice."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is it beside the pile of gay stuff?" he asked.

"My dearest brother," they answered with a hand to their chest, "Everything I own is gay stuff. You have to be more specific." They punctuated it with a wink.

He chuckled softly. "I should have realized," he replied. He looked at them with a genuine smile now that reached his eyes. "We should probably prepare for bed," he said suddenly as he stood up and stretched. "Would you mind if I borrowed your mini crystal while I trance? I might need a refresher."

Lyric smiled brightly at him. It was the first time he had asked for the mini crystal instead of having it pushed on him. Progress. "Sure," they answered with a nod as they unclipped the purplish pink crystal and handed it to him. "No problem." They made a mental note to get him one of his own that they could update regularly.

He looked down at the crystal now cradled in his hands. "Thank you," he said with a soft smile before turning to walk away. "Goodnight, Syolkiir," he said over his shoulder as he went into his room.

"Goodnight, Quinpah," they answered. "Love you too."

~~~~~~

Elvish Words Used

Aul: in

Tho: truth

Vyshaana: vile curse or an insult (reference to the Vyshaan clan of sun elves).

Darrdartha: foamjaws, rabies

Biir: garbage, used as an insult against half-elves or those of human heritage

Seldarine!: Gods! (expression of exasperation)

Gys Sa Salen: Give Me a Drink/I Need A Drink

Gabreth: untrustworthy, likely to turn on you, cruel in battle (dangerous/vicious)

Mhaor: corrupt/corruption

Kiir: gem (plural is kiira)

Maethe: perhaps

Syolkiir: wild star/gem (meteor)

Quinpah: a type of elvish bread/pastry

[eekispyykes]

Mr Sparklepuff Feline Obituary 5.1.2020/Abridged

Mr Puffs 4-2002-  5-1-2020

by Michael Bench

Mr Puffs was an excellent friend and adventurous hiker. He loved to be outdoors. A ferocious mouser ; he did an arc'ing jump on mice and chipmunks from 2 clumps of brush away. The porch frankly stank from all his gifts. An amazing climber and very fast sprinter crossing a square acre in about 3.5sec. Some would ask why he was named as such and close friends know the whole story. A primary point was so people had a good vibe about him and would let him be. In the past two years  he had cancer of the face that spread. He had been treated with surgery to remove the tumor. At a shade over 18yo, he set to rest as every night he was shivvering in normal home temp and couldn't keep weight on; refusing to leave the couch; hating being put in pet clothes/infant flannel.

2017-2020 were tough years for him adjusting to a new stray friend we “adopted” from the wild. They were startingn to get along. It played into the stress.I feel bad about this. it split us up somewhat.  My younger cat was more forceful about claiming me. It weighs on me; Frankly it seemed like a few rape attempts also that difficulted the social cue of ‘normal cat spooning”.. Mr Puffs was able to get out on a van ride of Fogelsville,PA about three months ago. He also gave some love to his plush hedgehog toy. He gave it a consensual drilling every once a while or daily.

What you should know about Mr Puffs:

:My grilling deputy  and trout inspector

:Loved to play the mysterious thing under blanket or newspaper game

:Love to play the mysterious tapping fingers under the many basement stairs game

:Fine taste in music and loved being my karaoke fan. Love you buddy. Not very keen on Tv after Keenan Michael Keys left Animal  Planet's morning show.

:Enjoyed less usual faire like potatoes and adored bbq chicken pizza; he could handle medium wings. He WAS WARNED each time and kept him away from it till it was obvious he wanted it. Honey ham, turkey, .. and salami**. Mind you, he has never been overweight and was complimented by his first vet for muscle tone. It's his compliment to own.

:Enjoyed jumping apartment building gaps while in town: we had to rough it for a month in a storage facility after an unexpected eviction.. which we then would go for walks 1a-3a to get his exercise and water the landscape mulch at 11th street Fred Meyers. There's a little marsh back behind the store that became our little daytime haven.

:His Hiking career started in Eugene, OR. We would go night walking ,w/o a leash and whenever someone was coming he would detour off the sidewalk and into the nearest house’s bushes.. This was optimal because he would get back on the lit sidewalk and learn to keep course. This advanced to 5-7 mile hikes from U Oregon campus to Hendrix park and back. One trip such trip he was panting so he didn’t really want to run away anywhere or into traffic fortunately.. The sun had come out of the cloud cover and heated things up above the usual. We stopped at an icecream place on the way back on the edge of campus: Agate and 19th. Even though he was tired, he was a smart and collected guy. so he slinked to the back of the shop till I came back out..It was like escorting the supermodel of manly cats.  It was at this time I knew leashes or more distant locations were necessary.  

:While we were driving back to Pennsylvania, he decided to have a playfrenzy on the dashboard while I was in heavy traffic nearabouts of Nebraska/Rushmore on the interstate.

:Short story : Since he now had room in the yard to runaround Puffs tested his speed and momentum to get up tree trunks. Our front yard had a medium sized maple oak something. Mr Puffs ran up the tree and alarmed a family of nesting doves. The doves and Mr Puffs seemed to flee the tree foilage each in horizontal directions at about 8ft off the ground.  

:Other than a shoulder injury from a fight of somesort, he was very durable. His parent's owners had coined him 'Jaco” after the famous bass player.. A green -eyed Russian Blue tuxedo, angular white paws.  with little white hairs across his coat. At times I also referred to him as “Cactus Jack”. Massive front incisors like a miniature sabertooth. I pitied the rabbits who he caught which were still squealing.

:Another Short Story. I coaxed my mom to live a little and put that front addition on the house she always wanted. She got an enclosed porch. Theres an open porch on the back of the house also. When the framing was done.. I went out to the backyard to enjoy the night sky, I heard nothing. When I turned around I had two bright eyes scaring me  to the ground. From 9ft, the top of the roof porch he looked at me Apparently Puffs had climbed the 8ft of framing from the work table, crossed the rafters, crossed the whole house roof and decided to voyeur me on the other side of the house. I was very glad he didn't tempt the electric lines whose pole he had tried to climb other days.Stressing moments on me as well.

:Puffs became a pro at taking baths since 2017, and getting nails trimmed at the same time. The trim helped him jump (getting pad purchase)  and helped the furniture too.

:Another quick story. Cats can swim. I took him to go swimming in the creek and that went pretty good the first time. (Must always be on leash. And probably use partially inflated swimmy muscle). He was really comfortable in the water if it was shallow(2.5ft). The problem with the creek is its near a road so don't be near roads even with the leash on.  He was swimming a good crawl in about 4ft.  A fish mustve brushed his foot because he panicked and started jumping out of the water like a bass on a hook. I literally had to swing him in the air (with leash) and onto the shore into some leaves and grass. There's some fault in not being close enough to him to pick him up out of the water directly. He swam pretty good and at range.  To ease that trauma.. (nearly heart attack probably; that went sour) , I let him calm down. At a much shallower area no taller than his knees(5-6”) I set him into the stream without much resentment and just petted him to get him calm.  (He wasn't a lap cat before that either.) At that point the swimming  got shuttered for downhill walks and other casual stuff.

: On similar climbing points.. even till about 2015, he liked to jump the gap from the upright piano top (4ft) to the top of the entertainment center (7.5 ft) plus the hallway gap of  3.5 ft and he was really solid at it. Would stay up there for a while and then jump down onto the sofa table (3 ft tall).. He was always calculating a new feat. When that one item stopped being in his wheelhouse it was clear he was getting bothered/ annoyed and the stress of a cat territory issue wore him down.

If you were to be near him, you'd end up watching him. This statue of a male cat with really long tail. Not lemur-long but really long.. a gray panther. And, maybe you'd try to pet him since he looked inviting. Yet, you wouldn't get much petting done. He'd probably tolerate two brushes and then give your hand a carving with his claws, hiss at you and find a new place to observe the room,  That said, he would cruise the neighborhood looking which apartment I might've visited, slink in and check out how other people decorated. A very dignified personality, sometimes to the point of indignant.  He was  a cat you'd want to clone over and over because he was just that cool on himself. Cloning him was on the slate too until those type of businesses were closed with political force.. He actually inspired a jazz song  (currently in midi form) that I’ve yet to record. I was tore up about his first cancer surgery so I started writing. Hope that will be out soon enuff. I hope this can help you appreciate Mr Puffs. He was buried at a spot he chose. It was nearby a set of brush he would choose to hide in hours near the middle of  hikes.

.. he loved to hide.  Back in Oregon I'd take him  in the van with my mentally handicapped clients. He'd be set loose to get his relaxation in. By the time it was time to leave. he wanted to stay. He hid in bushes and culverts. I learned very quickly that such outings had to be local or I'd be driving back hours to go get him at night or worse. Once I knew that, we'd take rides on the bus to the edges of the bus line and just chill on hills overlooking boating lakes. Fern Ridge Reservoir had a nice pine overlook off Territorial hwy.  He really enjoyed outings and variety. Maybe thats what kept him interested as a matter of longevity. I want to end on that.  He showed me lessons in best intentions and good in the bad.. and murdering all my Egyptian spiny mice within hours of acquiring them and their replacements. Its not like I wouldn't have gotten him a feeder mouse but there were plenty stinking up the walkway as it was. I'm blessed to have spent that month sheltered in a renta-shed with him. It seems the alternative .. without having enough for a pet deposit elsewhere (that moment) was to lower my standards for the landlords daughter and by whatever 'influence' she had. 'evicted us for periodic renovations”. So, eventually we chose instead to leave and he got a brims of fieldmice, chipmunks and forest romping. I hope that was an appreciated choice. He liked city life too. Should you choose to tribute to Mr Puffs, I welcome it. He’d be the type of cat Dos Equis beer would be looking for if he actually drank it.

Hope you’re feeling better, Puffs; BFF 

[devilbat]

Daydreaming

Warning ⚠️: fluff and angst

Somthing I wanted to finishes. Not sure how I feel about it.

God, why did he have to be so damn hot. You know you shouldn’t think that after what he did in New York. But still. He blue green eyes, his raven black hair, he’s sharp jaw line. He lean body especially in those suits he wears. Even in his armor he walked with confidence. You couldn’t help but glance ever time you saw him.

Today you sat with another co-work in the brake room. It was all ready one of those mornings so you had gone to get coffee with extra shots.

“He looking at you again.” You co-worker giggled. She wiggled here eyebrows at you.

“Who? ��� You perked up at her hoping it was the god of mischief.

“Jim from I.T.” She stated.

“Oh.” Your voice filled with disappointment. As your eyes wondering over to where Loki was. He was talking with another agent not even looking your way. You had really don’t know the god as well as you would like. You had only a few encounters with him few times a month they were never very long. Though when he did see you he would wave or stop you and ask how you were. He always seem to be really nice to you but then again you had shown him the same when he first got there. You made it a point to at least say hello every time you saw him and after 2 years, he Now was the one saying it.

“Well don’t sound so excited, or anything!” She rolled her eyes. “Who are you looking at anyways?” She followed your gazes. You tried to avoid your gazes before she saw who it was. But it was to late. She saw him. “Oh oh, Loki!” She practically yelled. Which made him look up at the sound of his name not sure where it came from.

“Shhh, keep it down.” You whispered. Loki looked over to where you were sitting, he smiled at you warmly then want back to talking with the other agent.

“So I take it he doesn’t know you like him.” She cooed elbowing you in the side.

“No he doesn’t. And it will stay that way.” You sighed heavily. You alway thought he was to good for you after all he is a god, a prince and a king. He would only be interested in someone that is well not from Midgard let a lone an ordinary girl.

“Why cause he tried to take over the world. Or the fact he can’t stand mortal. Or the fact that he is a god and this brother is an Average. And they both are way to good looking for us mortal women.” She sighed as well thinking of Loki’s well like brother Thor. You knew she swooned over him.

“The later of all that.” You sighed daydreaming about him as always. Your coworker laughed and shook her head. You watched as Loki walked away but had glanced your way and smiled before turning. After that Both you and your coworker went back to your work Stations. Your day felt long. As you pushed Data and numbers through the computer. You were busy staring at your computer never noticing someone walked up to your desk. Clearing his throat. Almost caused you to jump. Looking up you saw Loki standing there.

“Ah Lady y/n, just the beautiful Midgardain I was looking for.” Loki cooed. He moved to the side of your desk. Hand brushing the wood.

“What can I help you with Loki?” You tried hard not to look into those eyes of his. Know you could get lost in them. He gave you that pantie dropping smirked of his as his long fingers brushed against your arm.

His cool touch made you gasp.

“I was wondering if I could court you?” He smiled. Your jaw went slack at his words.

“What?” You said softly. Not really being able to think of what he was asking let alone the word he used. You knew thing in Asgard were like being at a renaissance fair. But you never thought he would use them. He seemed more up on earth terms. then his brother Thor, who still used Asgard terms.

“I would like to court you darling.” She spoke softly. Watching you carefully. “I do believe the term you Midgardains use is date. I would like to take you out on a date.” You hadn’t realized how close he had gotten, in fact he was leaned down. His face only inches from yours. You face heated up as his words sunk in. The god of mischief was asking you out was this real? Then all to soon his lips were on yours. In a passionate kiss. You felt his fingers laced with yours. Dear god his lips felt like heaven.

You snapped out of your day dream when someone called you name. You looked up heat rushed to your cheeks as you saw Jim from I.T. standing in front of your desk. Looking rather smug. Ugh he annoyed you. He was not what you wanted standing in front of you.

“Y/n. You know daydreaming about me on company time is probably not a good thing. That and what ever fantasy you’re having of me. I’m sure I can give you just for the a night.” He smirked. You rolled your eyes. “I’m mean your really not my type. But, I’ll make an acceptation. I have often wondered what it would be like to plow into a bigger girl.” Your eye widen as you sat there gawking that the man. Normal you would have some witty comeback but you just couldn’t believe you were hearing this. At work in all places.

“I’m sorry what!” Was all that you could say. Trying to fight the tear that threaten to come out. You really weren’t that big. You were that in between average size and plus size. You could shop at either store depending on the brand. He keep talking going on and on about your ‘size’. You didn’t hear a word he said. As you tried to think of something let alone away to leave. You saw a stack of random paper you had made notes on, nothing important .

“You know I don’t have time for your yammering, I need to get these to Mr Stark.” You lied, As You rose to your feet grabbing the paper quickly pushing passed Jim. As you felt the tears start. Walking at a fast pace, almost jogging you made it out of the office areas, and down to the elevator. Once you made it to the main floor, you rounded the corner, ran smack dab into to a lean wall. As strong arms grabbed a hold of you before you feel back on your ass.

“Woo there darling.” You heard Loki’s smooth voice say. Your eye widened and you looked down so loki couldn’t see your face. You didn’t need him to say something either. “Are you all right lady y/n?”

“I’m sorry loki. Yes I’m fine. I got to go.” You mumbled, trying to sound like you weren’t about to cry, managing to squirm out of his grasp. Rushing past him and out the main doors. But Loki saw your face. And let’s face it you can’t lie to the god of lies. All you could think of as you made your way to your car was Jim’s words. You were always confident, but now you don’t know. To add to that you thought that’s probably how loki saw you as a “bigger” girl. You got into your car. That’s when the tears came. Sitting there your head against the steering wheel. At least in your dreams loki didn’t think of you in anyway but hopelessly in love with you.

You whipped the tears from your faces as you started your car. All you needed to do was make it home, then you could cry, maybe eat a tub of your favorite ice cream and watch a romantic movie. Or maybe a horror movie, seeing some asshole guy get it, might put you in a better mood. You were about to pull out of your spot, when the passenger door open and someone got in. Looking over you saw the god himself sitting next to you. Pinched yourself just to make sure you weren’t dreaming. Nope this was real.

“U-um Loki what are y-you doing?” You stumble over your words. You were stuns to see him in your car. Though his long legs were in the dashboard and his head practically hit the roof of the car.

“Your upset darling, I only wish to know what is wrong? And remember I’m the god of lies, so I’ll know when you’re lying.” He turned his body slightly to look at you. He brushed the hair that had stuck to your face off and behind your ear. He then cupped your cheek, turning your head to face him. His thumb whipped away the last few tear that managed to slip out. His smile was genuine. As he looked into your eyes.

“I-I.” You didn’t want to tell him. It was to embarrassing. Let a lone you were rather shy about things like this.

“It’s all right Love. You can tell me.” He stated. His hand never leaving your cheek. You sighed softly, taking a deep breath. You started to tell him what had happened. You managed to tell him everything with out once looking into his eyes, that would steal you heart ever time. You fidgeted at with your hair. Once you had finished you took another deep breath letting it out, your eyes finally met Loki’s. You saw what look like anger in them. Other then that his face was unreadable. Loki then took your hands in to his making your hands stop. You looked down then back up at him.

“I want you to know that.” He took a deep breath before he spoke again. You were ready to hear the worst. “You my dear are thee most beautiful mortal I have every laid eyes on. And I have live almost 1500 years. I find your curve ravishing. I would be honored and lucky to have you as mine.” Loki’s words were like silk as he spoke to you. He had even kissed each hand. As he held them. You weren’t going to lie you pinched yourself a few more times.

“I-i um, no one has ever said that to me before. Well in that greave detail. I really don’t know what to say. I’m still think I’m dreaming.” You smiled shyly as your turn your head feeling your cheeks go red at his silver tongue. Loki cupped your chin forcing you to look at him.

“This is no dream. I can assure you this is real. And say you’ll be mine, and mine alone?” He purred. You nodded and a small squeak of a yes passed your lips. Loki then leaned forward. Pressing his lips to yours. It was soft, but all to quick. As he pulled away a little. “Now if you would tell the name of this prophetic excuse of a mortal, so I may ride the realm of him.”

“That would be loki I’ve heard so much about.” You giggled. He only smirked. Yet you knew he was being Sirius about it. “Loki I don’t want you to kill anyone on my behalf.” Loki sighed heavily.

“Fine, I’ll let him live.” He rolled his eyes. ‘But I will make his life a hel.’ He thought.

@kitkatkl @lokilvrr @instantnoodlese @drakesfiance @meyoko10 @jackheart180 @theoneanna @graveyard-groupie @silverquartx @moonfaery @kcd15

[animaelynn-blog]

Rant about work, read at your own risk. (I’d appreciate it though)

I want to log this experience.

First, let me tell you a bit about myself.

I’m a trans girl.

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a job, I’ve been looking for work. I’m a very outgoing person and absolutely love to be around people.

One day me and one of my friends went out looking to help get me a job, i brought resumés, and i personally like to fill out paper job applications so the employer knows I’m not the type of person to fill out things online only to not show up, i like to show my initiative.

So, eventually i make my way through the mall and find a place one of my friends work at. It’s amazing! It’s like a gift shop with all kinds of unique things i have tons of interest in, so obviously i ask if they’re hiring and when they gave me a paper application i filled it out then and there.

So, i wait and make sure to either stop in or call to make sure they know I’m serious about working there. Got a date set up for an interview - Aug 15th.

The day come i show up 20 minutes early and rehearse what I’m going to say because i really really want this job. I casually walk into the store about 5 minutes early and say I’m there for the interview. To which the reply was “Could you come back in about 10 minutes, we just had something come up”

Im all like “yeah, not a problem. I’ll be back then.” I sat down on one of the benches in the mall in my free time and quizzes myself trying to drill everything i need to say in my interview into my head. When time expires i took another deep breath and walk in again. I was thanked for my patience and we headed out of the business to a few seats outside the store. (To me this is odd, shouldn’t the interview be in the back where it’s quiet?) regardless i follow and the interview begins and I’m told the reason we’re outside the store is because they just found out that they’re going to have to move locations within the mall and i know more than most of the people that work there because that’s what the interview delay was about. I was asked if that was a problem and i said “no, not at all as long as you just don’t want me strictly for moving things” i said jokingly.

So, the interview continues and I’m feeling great I’m nailing all these questions and one of the questions was something similar to “am i accepting towards other people” and without missing a beat i said “well, absolutely I’m trans so I’d be quite the hypocrite to look down on others.” Oops, accidentally outer myself i thought. I can kiss this job goodbye.

But, to my surprise i was told most of the staff is LGBT and not to worry and that relieved me greatly and i was told i would get a call back soon (i was impossible to get a timeframe because of the move, understandably.)

So, i continued to check in every week or so until i was told to come in and they’d go over the basics and rules with me and get me familiar with the layout. (I wanna say maybe a week later) So, obviously i show up and everything was explained super hap hazardously because i was told “you won’t need to know most of this since were moving to another location... fair enough)

They had me put ceramic and fragile items in the proper boxes and such and then the next week they did the same after those 2 days i filled out a tax paper and was told about the app they used to communicate with and was added and told the schedule would be posted there.

They have me scheduled for 4 hours one day that was all i figured ok cool I’m new that’s no big deal. I was careful packing things and was praised for not breaking anything accidentally because i was told i would and it happens to everyone.

A month and a half pass and i get called into the new store to help organization and learn the new layout. I was secretly upset so i asked my friend when we got off why they didn’t schedule me at all during the move and i was told that the owner doesn’t like women doing heavy lifting and labor because of a past accident (a bit sexist i thought but it made me happy as i was being referred to by my employer as female, so I’ll take it)

My friend also told me in confidence that she was going to be promoted to manager and not to say anything but she was excited and i was excited for her.

My first day working (basically, since i was never really given proper training still.) THEY HAD ME OPEN BY MYSELF. I was sick to my stomach but there was instructions written down to help so i wasn’t worried and under the instructions on what to do and such it read “if any questions please contact (my friend), Manager 1, or Manager 2. (In that order)

My friend was listed first so naturally i thought that was the progression to go through, plus knowing she was in the process of being promoted i figured it was that way to help her understand how manager varies from regular employee. I followed the instructions to a tee. Found things to clean and stay busy during all of my shifts. I loved when the customers would come in it was very easy for me to establish connections and help sell stuff which was ya know my job. Always with a smile.

I’d come in for shifts and people hired around the same time as i was we’re sitting down doing nothing. I’m not the type of person to just tattle on someone so i try to help them and tell them to do anything to stay busy. To me we’re all like a family and i loved my coworkers.

I picked up on things really fast but i have the habit of repeating what was just said or wanting reiteration so i know what I’m doing is correct and it helps me remember for future reference.

Since, i picked up on things easy I’d have my coworkers asking me things which i just learned (because the computer system changed during the move and they were having trouble adjusting to the new one) and i was glad i could help them. It’s my work family i want what is best for us as a whole.

Now, this is where things start to get weird because this comes the day after the whole Trump wants to erase trans people thing.

I was asked my shirt size as all employees needed to wear them on the weekends and was told mine was lost. A few days before i noticed we had a for hire sign in the window which initially didn’t even catch my eye because i was told someone was in the process of getting let go because they made fun of a coworkers weight and didn’t stop.

Later, we had an abrupt day where everyone was to be at the store for retraining (wasn’t surprised because they really didn’t do it to begin with- this included Manager 1 overseeing Manager 2 while Manager 2 reviewed the normal employees. We went through the basics and i nailed it again, i actually got ahead of the Manager on something and how they were to be done because i was so proud of what I’d learned by myself with basically zero training.

I left there estatic. I nailed it.

I was asked about a minor screw up on my part i was never told about so i wasn’t worried.

I was asked “why i clocked out an 30 mins after close” to which i replied it was my first day closing and i wanted to triple check my math to make sure all the earnings for the day was accounted for.” To which i was told 15 mins after close is the absolute latest and i told my manager that it wouldn’t happen again.

I was also asked about my friend (you know the one that was going to get promoted to manager?) i was asked if i was told she was a manager to which i said no. Because ya know when something is said in confidence it stays there and i wasn’t about to get someone i deeply care about in trouble or fired especially someone who worked there basically since the beginning. I’m not the type of person to ever bring this info to their attention or hold it over their head. I believe good things come to good people.

A few hours later, i got this message through the app we used at work.

“Hi (My Name),

As you know I was in today to review employee status at (The store). After reviewing the status of all team members with (the owner) and (manager 2), it has been decided that we will not be able to continue your employment with (the business) long term. You can continue to work the next week that you're scheduled, and we can schedule you for one more week of work after that. November 10th would be the last possible day. We wanted to give you the courtesy of an advanced notice so that you can make future plans for yourself.”

I sat in my car re-reading this message thinking it had to be sent to the wrong person.

My first, response to this message was vague and thankful for the opportunity type response.

However, after talking to a few of my closest friends i was convinced to inquire more about this to which i was sent this message.

“(My name),

The issues we have been observing include difficulty with approaching customers and difficulty taking instruction and focusing on tasks. As the final decision was made with (the owners) input, it is not reversible.

These were my strengths, the things i was most proud of. I would have understood if it was things i wasn’t great at. But, it wasn’t. Which besides telling me in person was another slap in the face.

It because obvious that they were not basing any of this on any of the days i actually worked but only on a few hours that day. Keep in mind i never worked with anyone longer than one hour and worked alone mostly. At no point until the review day did i ever work with any of my managers since the store opened.

I got fucked over and I’m now currently looking for a job that accepts trans people and a place that actually takes interest in me as an employee and not a number.

Sorry, for this rant. I just wanted to share my frustration.

[ssilverstreak]

Cultural Differences:  Periods

Only the fact that he instinctively equated the Callahan household with safety kept Roshaun from taking Kit’s head off when he was ambushed as soon as he appeared in the stand of trees at the edge of the property.

“You don’t want to go in there.  Trust me,” Kit said as he grabbed Roshaun’s arm before the spell circle had even faded.

Roshaun raised an elegant brow in a mixture of confusion and annoyance.  It had been a long day of meetings, meetings, and more meetings, and he had been looking forward to submerging himself in his pack-mate’s scent and having a willing ear to rant to while he unwound. “And why not?”

“Check your bond,” Kit said with a wry grin, as if the shorter male was amused at some joke that Roshaun wasn’t even aware had been told.

Annoyance was outweighing confusion at the moment, but Kit rarely did things without a reason, Roshaun knew that much.  With a sigh, he probed along his connection to Dairine.

He jerked slightly, eyes opening wide at the pain-anger-upset-tense that flooded back along their bond.  It was the mental and emotional equivalent of a wounded animal just waiting to lash out at anyone that disturbed it.

“She’s not injured, before you panic,” Kit said, halting Roshaun just as he began to stride forward, determination on his face to take revenge on whoever had dared to harm his partner.  “She’s just on her period.  Neets is on hers too, and I know she and her sister are on the same cycle because she told me, and I didn’t think you’d want to walk into that without some warning.  And a peace offering.”

Roshaun stared at Kit for a long moment, trying to get his thoughts in order and finally settling on “What’s a period?”

“… Ho boy,” Kit muttered under his breath.  “Time of the month?  Visit from Aunt Flo?  Cycle? Dairine hasn’t explained anything related to any of that?”

“No, no she hasn’t. Is it something dangerous?”

“Only to the people around her.  Look, I was going to make a store run for Neets anyways, you can come along and get some stuff for Dairine, and I’ll try to explain things as we go.”

Roshaun hesitated, but a flash of irritation along his bond with Dairine decided him.  He had no desire to incur her wrath at the moment, and perhaps Kit could shed some light on what was going on.  “Very well.  You spoke of peace offerings, I’m assuming to improve her mood.  What did you have in mind?”

“Well, chocolate is usually a good start.”

Kit went several steps before realizing that he was suddenly short one planetary king.  He paused and looked behind him, only to find that Roshaun was standing stock still and blushing, of all things.

After a moment to think over what could have caused such a reaction, he gave an amused grin.  “I’m assuming chocolate does something very different to Wellakhit than it does to humans.”

“I would certainly hope so,” Roshaun squeaked before clearing his throat and attempting to regain his dignity.

“Just to clarify, humans just think it’s delicious.  It’s something that, especially if you get the good stuff, makes a good peace offering in situations like this.  I know Neets craves it when she’s on her period or about to be, I’m not sure about Dairine.” Kit tilted his head slightly.  “What does it do to you guys?”

“I would rather not talk about it,” Roshaun said stiffly, knowing very well that Kit would probably look it up in his manual later.  At least the knowledge that he would most likely not be dealing with a very amorous Dairine as a result of a gift served as a sharp relief.

He ignored the small stab of disappointment that came with it.

“Fair enough.” Kit would definitely be looking it up later, Roshaun knew it.  “Anyways, while we walk I can fill you in on what’s going on with Neets and Dairine.”

“That would be… appreciated,” Roshaun answered, silently grateful for the walk as a chance to compose himself.  It took a mere trigger word in the Speech, and the slight disguise spell that he had become well-practiced in settled over him.

“Okay, so a period is-“

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

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.” Kit looked entirely too pleased with himself at the expression on Roshaun’s face.

“And this doesn’t hurt them?!”

“Oh, it hurts.  How much it does varies from person to person. I know Neets gets some pretty rough cramps, and she’s said that Dairine’s are even worse.”

Roshaun couldn’t find words for a long moment, mind numb over the revelation.  Finally, he blurted out the only thing that broke through. “How has your species survived?!”

Kit burst out laughing even as he tossed a few chocolate bars into the basket.  Roshaun tried not to flinch away from them, and Kit pretended not to notice.

“Anyways, it’s painful and messy and leaves them pretty cranky, which is completely understandable. And that is also why we’re doing this store run for them.” A couple aisles over, Kit tossed a box of something that Roshaun didn’t catch the name of into the basket.  “You want some ice cream?”

“What’s ice cream?”

“It’s a frozen treat. Don’t worry, we can get you one without chocolate.”

“I suppose it cannot hurt to try it, then.”

“Awesome.” A couple aisles further down, Kit opened up the door to what was clearly a refrigerated food storage unit and began pulling out small cartons of what Roshaun guessed was ice cream.  “Do you like strawberries?”

“Yes.” During his first visit, Roshaun had become acquainted with the small fruits one evening as an accompaniment to that night’s meal.

“Strawberry it is.” A fourth carton joined the other three in the basket.  “And that should do it.  Let me just pay for this and we can take a transport spell back, before the ice cream melts.”

“Why not just use a spell to keep it cold?”

“Because I don’t want to walk back,” Kit replied with a shrug and a grin.

Honestly, Roshaun wasn’t going to argue that point.  After a long day of meeting after meeting and training with his father, and then the walk to the store, his own legs were hinting strongly that it was past time for him to get some rest.  Kit, annoyingly, looked no worse for wear.

Stupid humans and their stupid crazy stamina.

It took more time to find a quiet, secluded spot for the transport spell than it did to cast the spell itself, but it still wasn’t long before Roshaun once again found himself standing in the patch of trees at the back of the Callahan property.

Before they went inside, Kit took both bags and quickly sorted items between them before handing one back to Roshaun.  “Here. Offer this before you do anything else and she probably won’t kill you.”

Really, Roshaun would have assumed that the shorter male was joking, but they both knew Dairine too well.

At this point Roshaun was more than a little worried about what he was getting himself into, but there was no way he was about to show it, or back down.

At least she didn’t have the power levels to toss him into the sun on a whim anymore.

Okay, he knew she wouldn’t actually do that, she was too fond of him, but the waves of irritation rolling down their bond even as he headed up the stairs to her bedroom had him on edge.

He paused at the first door as Kit continued past him to Nita’s room, and sent a quiet ‘May I come in?’ along their connection.  ‘I brought things that Kit assured me would help.’

A pause, then a tentative ‘Is ice cream and-or chocolate one of those things?’

‘Both, actually.’

Another pause, this one clearly mulling it over, then a sense of resignation, like a full-body sigh, washed over him.  ‘Alright, you can come in.’

Roshaun tamped down his own relief as he opened the door, though he did make sure to hold up the shopping bag in front of him like a shield.

Look, he was brave, not stupid.

Dairine gave him half a baleful look from where she was sprawled on her front, face half-buried in one of her pillows.  His partner looked more disheveled than normal, fiery hair mussed and clothes wrinkled, as if she had been tossing and turning.  A cord ran from the edge of something square-looking that was trapped under her lower abdomen, and the control partway down the cord was lit up, indicating that it was in use.

“May I?” he asked, gesturing slightly to the spot on the small bed beside Dairine.  She grumbled a little, but he could tell it was mostly for show as she sat up, dragging the small rectangle on the end of the cord with her as she rearranged herself so that she was sitting back against the pillows on her bed.

One trait that humans and Wellakhit happily seemed to share was a need for physical contact.  As soon as Roshaun had managed to get onto a bed that really was far too small for someone of his size, plus another person, Dairine tucked herself up under his arm and made grabby motions for the bag. He handed it over, and while she began digging through it he retrieved the brush from her bedside table and began doing what he could to put her hair to rights.

By the time the brush was running freely through the human’s thick red hair, Dairine had already retrieved the carton labeled ‘rocky road’ and a spoon and was making a concerted effort to demolish the dark brown contents.  From the empty box and the pill bottle that had been returned to the bag, she had already taken the painkillers, so Roshaun freed his own carton of ice cream and a spoon.

After a bite, Roshaun silently concluded that ice cream was similar to, but not exactly like, a frozen treat his own people made from the juice of a fruit that grew in the temperate regions of the non-slag side of Wellakh.  The earth version was quite enjoyable, he decided, being rather smoother and richer than the version he was used to.

Halfway through his ice cream, a soft increase of the weight against his side and a gentle fuzziness along the bond with his partner indicated that Dairine had fallen asleep. Carefully, he took the partially-eaten ice cream away from her, and with a small spell sent both it and his own to the frozen food storage downstairs.

Roshaun set the bag aside, then worked to rearrange the pillows into something more comfortable to lean back against.  He knew that Dairine was a heavy sleeper from past experience, and indeed she didn’t wake up as he settled in for what would probably be a few hours of being in the same spot.  Indeed, it wasn’t long before the human was curled into his side, using him as an impromptu pillow.

Honestly, most days Roshaun would rather have ‘makes a comfortable pillow’ over ‘king’ on his list of qualifications.

With a sigh, he pulled out his connection to the Aethers and began to retrieve some of the paperwork he had stored there.  May as well get a head start on things that were due soon.

As he relaxed and got into the rhythm of filling things out, a low rumble in his chest began.  The shock of it startled the purr right out of him, and he glanced down at Dairine, who still hadn’t woken.

Huh.  So it was like that, then.

Roshaun closed his eyes and sighed, then went back to his paperwork.  This time, when the soft rumble of a purr kicked up, he didn’t bother to fight it.

Really, the only shame was that Dairine wasn’t awake to return it.

[dis-easedfairy]

Impulsive Decision pt.2

Chapter 2: The Duck Tape Pillar

WARNINGS: SWEARING/STRONG LANGUAGE | KIDNAPPING | MENTIONS OF MURDER |

Pairing: BTS x Reader / Kim Taehyung x Reader

Word Count: 2,723

Summary:  Y/n is the owner of a very wealthy and successful company, Barnanby Inc. Y/n attends a BTS show. They make a very impulsive decision to show a loophole in BTS’s security and end up kidnapping BTS and 2 girls. In a fit of panic Y/n stashes BTS and the girls in a very luxurious bunker for the time being, but Y/n’s world slowly starts to crumble the longer the boys are out of the public’s eye.

A/N: This is mostly angst with a small amount of fluff at the end.

"Okay, my friend is gone, I'm calm, I'm confused and mildly stressed, aka me most of the time. I'm sorry you had to see me pop off on 'My-Daddy-Is-A-Lawyer' over here, but I'd like to show you the rest of the bunker. If any of you try what she or Jimin did, you will be exiled to the ducktape pillar until you learn manners, are we clear?" I stated, walking out the bathroom in front of them all. 

Everyone nodded, all but the girl ducktaped. I walked over to the double doors and slid them open revealing a very open layout. It was a nice spacious living room with three couches, large tv, and speakers. A normal sized kitchen behind the living room and a dining room with a large table.

I had the whole place black, white and gray besides a few things here are there that were different colors of the rainbow to add some personality. I walked into the dining room with them following. There were two openings on the left and right of the dining room. 

I turned around to face them

"To your right is a hall that leads to a gym, a locker room, an office, a library and a bathroom. To your left are the bedrooms. There are only 4 done so you may have to share rooms. I was supposed to have the other four rooms fixed up, but never got around to it and never saw a need to. Also, there is a laundry room and 3 large bathrooms in that hall because I prepped this bunker for my family and they take like 3 hours in the bathroom for some reason. You are free to play my arcade games, eat my snacks, drink my alcohol and do as you please. Be sure to eat dinner and I'll be back." I announced and began to walk out. 

"You're not staying?" Jimin asked quickly.

I stopped to turn to them, they all seemed panicked.

"Don't worry this place isn't riddled with traps or anything. I'm only leaving to tell my company I'm taking a week off, get food and inform my family that I'm going rogue for a week or so."

"'Going rogue'?" RM questioned.

" Your company??" J-Hope asked.

"Yeah, I do this thing where I just drop off the face of the earth for a few days. It usually happens when I'm depressed, or just want to be alone. They understand already. Yes, my company, I inherited it from my dad. It started from cartoons to TV to toys, how else does someone acquire enough money to build a bunker with 8 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, large TV and speakers, a nice kitchen, a gym, office, library and gaming room all well stocked with top of the line equipment? I'll be back in a bit." I began walking out once more.

   I ended up over-shopping. I got too much food and bought clothes for the boys, hoping they'd fit. I got out my car and started loading everything at the dial door. I made sure I had everything before I closed and locked the vault door and opened the punched in the code, loading everything in the now empty feeling room. I noticed the girl wasn't taped to the pillar. I sighed. I slid open the doors dramatically.

"HeLLO FELLOW BITCHES!" I called out moving bags to the kitchen.

Jimin and Suga were sitting on the couches, mindlessly watching TV, I could hear an argument happening between Jungkook and Jin along with a Mortal Kombat tune playing.

Jimin jumped up and went to grab bags from the previous room and Suga gave me a look I couldn't figure out.

"What's with the look?" I asked, starting to load things in the fridge.

"Why so many bags? Are they too heavy?"

"I got a lot of food and clothes for you all. Unless you like using the same underwear and hoodie for a week, then be my guest." I tried to make it seem like his sudden concern didn't faze me.

Jimin came in with a ton of bags, dropping them on the floor and started helping me put things away. 

"Since when did you become helpful?" I asked Jimin suspiciously. 

Jin walked into the dining room, he saw me and gave me a small smile.

"Hello, how was the trip?" He asked softly, walking up the counter, looking curiously through the bags.

"Fine, I guess. I got a lot of food and got you all clothes, where is everyone?"

"Jungkook, Taehyung, and Hoseok are in the gaming room cheating," I let out a small giggle. "Namjoon is in the library with Seongmi and Linza."

"Which one is the one I dislike? Ducktape Girl I mean."

Jin was trying not to laugh as he got the name 'Linza' out. 

"How's your back?" Jimin asked quietly. 

"Okay, what's going on?? Suga looked at me funny but asked if the bags were too heavy. You held a knife to my back and are now asking how my back is feeling like you weren't threatening to stab it a few hours ago. Jin has been mostly calm this whole time and it's starting to freak me out." I admitted. 

"Yah! When I have I not been calm!?" Jin almost demanded, making me smile.

My phone gave off a notification that I had lost cell service from being in the bunker. It made me freeze. I walked over to Suga and held my hand out. 

"Hand over the phone."

He looked as if he was going to challenge me, but decided against it. He handed me his phone. I turned on the screen. An app was open, a recording app that had several 10-20 minute recordings on it within the past 4 hours. Since I kidnapped them. I frowned and handed his phone back. That's why he and Jimin seemed so concerned with me, they wanted to not be suspicious. They wanted to seem compliant.

"You're not deleting anything?" Jimin sounded timid, like he was afraid to say the wrong thing.

There was no doubt that he recorded me popping off on 'Ducktape Girl' when I was angry. Out of context, I would be painted as an unhinged monster in front of a judge, especially since 'Ducktape Girl' insisted her father was a lawyer. Not only that but my family's reputation with the law since my father passed was an extremely unsturdy bridge that was one gust of wind away from completely disintegrating. The police in the area were just praying to get a family member of mine to harass every day. I could go to jail for life.

I was going to jail for life. 

I felt my eyes begin to water at the thought. I didn't even consider how long I'd go to jail for this, or how much more my family would be ridiculed when I did go to prison. All because of my poor impulse control, all because I made a stupid decision and didn't back out of it once I saw it go south.

"I'm not deleting anything; That's destroying evidence. I'm going to bed. I had ruined my life enough today." I emotionlessly spilled out, turning to the big double doors. 

"You should eat something! Or at least a snack." Jin called out.

"You can eat all you want. I'm not hungry." I closed the double doors behind me and got on the large bed. 

I pulled out my phone. I saw I had a call from my mom. I pulled myself out the bed and opened the dial door, closing it behind me. I got outside the bunker and caught service, despite the bunker being in a forest in the middle of nowhere. I tapped 'call back' and waited.

"Hey, Y/n your brother and I were just having a debate, want to settle it?" I smiled a little.

"That depends, what are you two arguing about NOW?"

"Mom wants to make HER 'Watermelon Wonder' bullshits for our sister's picnic." My brother butt in.

They were clearly drinking. My mother would never let my brother call her 'Watermelon Wonder's 'bullshits' without some kind of influence.

Our family was into charity events, whether it be picnics, fairs, library 'parties' or even college parties, we always liked to help out those in need. We did this all year round whenever given the chance, but summer was our busiest season.

'Watermelon Wonder' was a concoction my mother forced us to drink when we were younger. My MOTHER'S recipe had different types of melon, plus every leafy or healthy green thing she could get her hands on. Broccoli, spinach, kale, peas, you name it, blended into a thick liquid that was practically paste. 

My FATHER'S recipe was just melons, mint and a small amount a lime blended into a smooth refreshing drink that was meant to be kept ice cold, we sold it in cans at our toy stores, it was a fundraiser tradition. 

"No mom, DAD'S 'Watermelon Wonder' is the only one that shall ever have our involvement." 

"HA! Remember when mom put WASABI in them!?"

I shivered at the memory as my mother and brother began bickering. No fun fundraisers in prison. No family dinners. No Drunk Family Night. No fulfillment of the promises I made to my father. My chest tightened making me let in a shaky breath that made my family stop bickering.

"Y/n? Honey, are you okay?" My mother asked.

The tears in my eyes spilled over.

"Yeah, just...depression." I lied. 

"Are you taking your pills?" 

"Yeah. I think I have to up the dosage. We still can't get it right. I'm sorry I can't be at the fundraiser, but I'll be sure to donate. I uh, need to make an appointment with our family lawyer too. I've been getting a property offer and want to make sure everything goes to you guys." 

"Seth hasn't seen you since your father passed, I'm sure he'd love to know you're scheduling. I heard you're trying to expand to games?"

I smiled and I began to cry more.

"Yeah, dad loved them so much." My voice wavered.

My mom let out a dreamy sigh. "I remember our first date was in an arcade. He joked that if we'd have kids, he'd ignore me and play video games with them. Sure enough, your brother and sister showed up, you shortly after, then your little sister, I barely got to see him out of office or off the living room floor. He somehow always remembered anniversaries, birthdays and what I was wearing on the 13th day of that month. He never, not once, made me feel neglected or not paid attention to. He loved me. He loved all of you."

"Sorry mom, I have to go, work is calling." I managed. 

"Okay, don't forget about your Dad's birthday coming up. We have a big even set up!"

"I won't, love you all." I hung up quickly and let out the sob that I was holding back.

I had so much to lose. I was so angry at myself. I texted Seth, the family lawyer to schedule an appointment, sent Jason a text, threatening him, telling him if he told anyone I'd let out all the details about the dirty magazine I found in his room when we were 10 and went back into the bunker. 

I fell into the large bed, hoping Freddy Kruger would do me a solid and pull me far away. No such luck.   I heard a soft knock on the double doors.

"You may be blessed with my presence," I called out loud enough for them to hear. 

The door slid open, showing V in a large white T-shirt and boxers, hugging a pillow. I sat up.

"What's up?" I asked softly, my voice was still hoarse from crying. 

He frowned, stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He climbed on the bed in front of me and sat there looking at me for a bit. 

"I want to get to know you." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Not much to know, just a crazy fan who kidnapped everyone." I laughed bitterly.

"I don't believe that."

I looked into his eyes, almost silently asking if we was serious. He was waiting patiently. I sighed, running my hands through my hair as I lied back. He quickly lied beside me, making my heart nearly jump out my chest and make a run for it.  I tried to stay as calm as a possibly could. The luminous god beside me was making it pretty difficult.

"I own my father's company. He was an aspiring game designer until he met my mother who was an animator. Most of the companies she went to, to sell her work denied it for more popular animators. Talent didn't get her anywhere. So my father switched gears for her and became a business student. He didn't even finish college but managed to win over anyone who got within 100 yards of him. People loved him. He made a ton of connections, got a lot of job offers, made a lot of money from 2 to 3 years of hard work, bought a company, named it after my mother's first character, 'Barnaby' and had his new buddies run ads, shorts and other animations on their networks.  My family's company got bigger, started showing their animations on their own platform. My older sister helps run that side of the company, Broadcasting and Entertainment. People wanted merchandise, my father expanded to toys that he and my mother designed. My younger sister helps with feedback and my older brother helps run that side, Toys and Merchandise. I was planning on moving to video games, my father used to love them. Every time he had a day off, I'd wake up to waffles with a tower of whipped cream on top, bacon, eggs, sausage, every berry he could find and every video game he could get his hands on. We'd all sit in the living room, until he had to go to work the next day, just playing games, having fun until that sun came up." I ranted, looking at the ceiling, smiling slightly.

"What happened to him?"

"He was murdered. His car somehow didn't have breaks suddenly in the middle of a busy highway. He crashed. The police said there was no foul play, My father was diligent with the car around that time since I was learning how to drive. The breaks weren't worn. Someone wanted him dead. They succeeded. My father always thought I was the most caring, likable, wittiest, smartest, bravest and most cunning of his children, so he gave me the company in his will." I let out another bitter laugh.

"He's probably the most disappointed billionaire ghost." I sighed feeling a sense of acceptance wash over me.

"Why would he be disappointed."

"Because I 'yeet'ed that shit out the window as I ran 12 red lights with 7 very famous idols and 2 innocent people in the back of a limo. All gone because I wanted to see how far I could go. Once I saw how far I could go, I was too afraid, too stupid to back out. Now I have a girl who says her father is a lawyer, an innocent girl whose family misses her dearly, 7 idols who are either terrified or disgusted in me in which case two of those idols have evidence that can destroy me, a best friend who can be labeled an accomplice,  a police force who hates my family and is just waiting for the moment when one of us slips, and a family who will get blindsided by the news that their 'Golden Y/n' finally snapped."

"I'm not terrified or disgusted in you." V whispered softly. 

"Are you saying this because you want plushies?"

"Yes." His boxy smile lifted my entire soul. 

I giggled. "I'll get you one tomorrow, any color preferences?"

"Gray. I'm sure everything will turn out okay." 

I turned on my side to look at him.

"I hope so. You know, V, you may be my new favorite." I yawned.

"Good, I like the crazy ones."

We both let out tired laughs.

"Call me Tae." He whispered.

"Okay, Tae. Call me, N/n. Nightie night."

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