#unfortunately I need to learn because uh my skin will need it eventually

[elsartzz]

I know I’m not supposed to vent here but uh yeah suffice to say it might not have been the best idea to try learn how to do a facial routine right before a trip

[iam93percentstardust]

Winteriron, both Tony and Bucky are insanely jealous of each other bc they think the other is super into Steve. But like, in reality, Steve's a troll and Tony and Bucky are the stupidest at seeing what's right in front of them.

I hope this is okay, this prompt really got away from me

~

“They’re idiots, Your Honor,” Steve moaned, collapsing face-down into Natasha’s couch.

“And just where did you learn that phrase?” Natasha asked from her armchair. She sounded amused, damn her, as though his real and totally valid problems were of no concern to her. And maybe they weren’t; she did, after all, have other issues on her mind, like what she was going to wear to Capitol Hill the next time she needed to tell Congress to fuck off when they tried to put restrictions on the team. Still, it was rude to make light of his problems.

“I can learn new things,” he grumbled into the expensive leather. “I have the Twitter.”

Natasha made a strangled sound that sounded suspiciously like she was laughing but when he raised his head to glare at her, her face was perfectly composed. He glared at her anyway. She probably deserved it and he was still in a bad mood.

“What did they do this time?” she asked eventually. She sounded sympathetic but he was on to her now. He squinted at her, just to make sure that she knew that he was watching her. She just raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Damn spies, never being impressed by anything that he did… not that that was really a surprise. Tony was never impressed by anything he did either and Thor was unimpressed by Midgardians in general.

“Tony has convinced himself Bucky and I were dating back before the war,” he informed her.

She groaned. “He didn’t.”

“He did. And Bucky thinks that the only reason Tony and I aren’t dating is because I haven’t figured out that Tony has feelings for me yet so he keeps trying to tell me about all of Tony’s good points.”

“But Tony doesn’t have feelings for you.”

“I know that, and you know that, but Bucky is an idiot who doesn’t know that.”

Natasha groaned again. “And Tony is even worse,” she muttered. “So what did you do?”

He looked at her.

She sighed. “Tell me you didn’t tease them.”

“In my defense!” Steve began. “I didn’t think Tony would take it seriously when I told him that of course Bucky and I were fucking like rabbits during the war. I thought he’d do what he always does and make a dumb quip and tell me that he’s going to tell the whole internet that I’m a troll.”

“I told you to stop doing that.”

“Won’t.”

“They’re never going to get together if you keep causing problems like this.”

“They’re idiots who won’t communicate with each other,” Steve said stubbornly. “It’s not my problem if they can’t figure out I’m not serious.”

“Forget Tony telling the internet you’re a troll; I’m going to tell them and they’ll believe me.”

This was not a terribly effective threat, as Steve didn’t really care if the entire world knew he was a troll or not. Unfortunately, Natasha apparently figured that out because she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully and then added, “Or I could always just say that your birthday isn’t actually the fourth of July.”

He knew she was still mad about that. “You wouldn’t.”

“Wouldn’t I?” she said innocently. “Oh and Steve? Figure it out before next week, please. If they get together next week, Clint wins the pool and I refuse to give him any more money.”

Steve stared at her. “You two have a very odd relationship.”

Her smile was downright filthy as she purred, “But a very fulfilling one too.”

~

Steve had a plan. It wasn’t necessarily a good plan—the Man with a Plan really only had a plan when it came to battle strategy—but he did have one. He just wasn’t sure if this plan was going to backfire horribly on him.

“Well,” he muttered in the elevator, “at least it’ll be funny.”

And it was. It was really incredibly funny to see the looks on everyone’s faces as he tromped into the kitchen for breakfast, declared, “Natasha! Wonderful morning!” and kissed her square on the mouth.

He turned to Clint. “Clint! Great to see you too!” Clint tried to dodge, but Steve caught him and planted a big ol’ wet one on his mouth.

“Bruce!” he began only to see Bruce’s skin tinged the slightest shade of green. “Nope! Thor!”

That was all he had to say before Thor exclaimed, “An excellent new bonding idea, Captain,” and kissed Steve before Steve could kiss him first. It was a little more thorough than Steve would have liked, but hey, it was all in the name of romance so he decided not to complain about it.

“Rhodey!”

“Take one step closer, Flag Boy, and I will personally repulsor you in the ass.”

“Got it!” And he swung back around to Sam instead. “Sam!” At least Sam was laughing while Steve kissed him. It was a nice change to being greeted as though he was contagious.

And then it was time for the big two. The two that really mattered. The two that Steve was going to personally throw off the tower if they still couldn’t get their shit together after this.

“Bucky!” Barely the briefest kiss before he was pulling away and cheerfully saying, “Yuck! Let’s never do that again, okay?”

And lastly—“Tony!” Another brief kiss before he pulled away and said, “Tony, for a billionaire playboy, you sure do kiss like a limp fish.”

“Hey!” Tony protested.

In the background, he heard Clint whisper to Natasha, “Are we sure he hasn’t been replaced by a shapeshifting alien or something?”

“That would be the Skrulls,” Thor said, sounding very amused, “and I do not believe they would be so foolish as to give away their game this early.”

“Well, it sure can’t be Stevie,” Bucky muttered bitterly. “He would never compare kissing Tony to kissing a fish.”

“Really, Bucky?” Steve said. “And why wouldn’t I do that, exactly?”

Bucky looked a little like a deer caught in the headlights. Steve probably would have felt bad for putting his closest friend on the spot like that but he really was getting very tired of the pining. And the stupidity. And the waxing poetic about the perfect shape of Tony’s ass. Like, sure, it was fine, but it wasn’t fine enough to write literal sonnets to.

“Uh,” Bucky said intelligently and gestured at Tony.

“Sorry, I don’t speak pine tree,” Steve said. “You’ll have to explain.”

“You know,” Bucky mumbled, “cause you’re dating Tony and anyone lucky enough to be dating Tony shouldn’t be calling him a fish.”

Steve opened his mouth but Tony beat him to the push. “I’m not dating Steve,” he said bewilderedly. “Where did—you’re the one dating Steve.”

“Ew, no,” Bucky said immediately.

Steve scowled at him. “Wow, you didn’t have to be so quick about it, punk.”

“Jerk.”

“See?” Tony exclaimed, gesturing between the two of them.

Bucky blinked at him. “What, like you never call Rhodey pet names?”

“That’s different, we’re friends.”

“Yeah, so are Stevie and I.”

“No—no—love story for the ages,” Tony spluttered.

“I’m not dating Steve, Tony!” Bucky exclaimed. “Why would I date him when I wanna be dating you?”

Silence rang in the kitchen.

“What?” Tony eventually whispered.

“I—uh—” That deer in the headlights look was back. But, fortunately, it was only there for a split second before Tony scrambled up out of his chair and into Bucky’s lap, seizing his face between his hands as he kissed him. A beat passed and then Bucky groaned, hands clutching greedily at Tony’s waist.

“Time to go,” Natasha declared.

Bucky stood, just enough to lay Tony out on the table.

“Yep,” Steve agreed, sprinting for the door, the rest of the team right behind him. “JARVIS, schedule the kitchen for a deep clean this afternoon. And once they’re done, tell Bucky I said, ‘You’re welcome.’”

Four hours later, Bucky’s texted response was a very smug, Tony doesn’t kiss like a limp fish at all, asshole.

[gummy-friend]

23, 45, and 50 with piglin hybrid Techno and tiny avian hybrid Phil? ‘v‘ you don’t gotta do all or any of these! ALSO I WANNA SAY THAT I LOVE YOUR WRING SM ❤️💕💖💕❤️

Thank you so much, I'm happy you like my writings!!!! :DD

So sorry for the late answer, but know that I appreciate your ask so much

———

• "You're going to be okay, I promise"

• "Shhh, just sleep, you're safe"

• "No one is going to hurt you again"

Piglin hybrid Techno and Tiny avian hybrid Phil

Content warning: Calling a person as "It" and language

——————

A gunfire shot echoed.

"There it is!" A shout echoed, a man pointing towards high trees. A dark green shadow— No, not leaves— floating limpingly amongst the brown of the branches and trunks.

"Is there a net?!" another shout. Another man. Panting as they chase the tiny flying figure.

"The last net has been fired two shots ago!" the first one called out

"Fuck— It's a hybrid tiny, too" A huff, a big one. Two people in arms finally stopping, holding their knees in exhaustion. "Damn it, that'll sell so well"

They stopped.

But not the tiny, though.

The occasional sharp small branch sticking out, the leaves that's positioned unfortunately fit for a papercut, and the eventual large branch finally hitting the golden haired avian hybrid tiny in his head. The injuries came together, the no-longer-shiny black wings finally gave up, and the flying figure of a tiny avian hybrid fell down. Now stopping after the hunters has stopped.

ｏｏｏ

Being a piglin hybrid has its perks, Techno thinks. The piglin on the nether wouldn't go exactly after you unprovoked, you can still live in the cold (not advised, by the way, it sucks in the cold), and you can adapt to the overworld just fine— well, excluding the townspeople avoiding you, at least.

Of course, the good also comes with the bad. The piglin back at home absolutely despises you(because you look 'too human' or whatever), the nether temperature eventually became absolutely unbearable, and..

"Oooh, gold" The lingering feeling of attraction to gold. Except this time, it's not gold.

But a golden-haired tiny.

Listen, Techno's not heartless, there's no way he'll abandon another living being in help, no matter how awkward it may be— imagine waking up to a giant piglin hybrid, if that isn't awkward Techno doesn't know what it is (No, it's absolutely not fear, what do you mean) — So Techno took the tiny in.

After leaving the nether dimension, Techno tried living in a tundra biome. But it didn't work for him— he's not used to the cold— So he tried to live in the forest. It's a decent place, he figured out he can grow crops for a living— trading is also a steady source of income in the overworld. But getting back on the topic— Techno lives in a cabin in the woods, and is currently carrying a tiny home. It's a questionable situation, but hey, it's the thought that counts right? (or however the overworld saying goes)

Techno inspected the unconscious tiny— He's still breathing, fortunately. Techno doesn't know how to feel if he picked up a tiny corpse— Several cuts are visible on the tiny's skin. It doesn't look that bad— excluding the large cut on his side and the practically broken right wing— M-hm, not that bad.

Step one, Washing your hands before cleaning the injury. It's a fairly-large wound for someone so small, and fortunately, the wound has stopped bleeding, so Techno shouldn't worry about that.

Next step, applying antibiotic. Techno's certain he has a bottle of antibiotics— yeah, he has one— an almost brand-new bottle of antibiotics, he's glad he bought one yesterday.

As soon as the antibiotic made contact with the tiny's wounds, though, the tiny shot up with a hiss of "Fuck—!"

。。。

Phil woke up when Techno was washing his hands.

He had heard a stream of water and several footsteps— he thought he fell unconscious near a river. It doesn't matter, he can get up later, he's too hurt for getting up.

Until the stinging pain emerged from his side.

"Fuck-!" Phil cried out, moving away from the supposed source of pain

That fumkign hurts. Phil doesn't know what happened, it may be a bee— but bees doesn't attack unprovoked, then, what?

With each second passing Phil's head pounded even more, forcing him to focus and unfocus on his surroundings. A Wooden floor— Polished wooden floor, not the usual tree bark footing he occasionally sees— Unfamiliar surroundings— No trees or the usual greens he sees everyday, no, it's a human furniture surroundings.

As if his mind is saving the worst for last, Phil's vision finally focuses on the giant figure in front of him. The figure of a giant piglin hybrid.

Instantly, Philza's mind clicked. Human— no— hybrid furniture surroundings, him being unconscious, the stinging pain on his sides— Fuck— The piglin was going to eat him.

"Fuck no—" Phil breathed out, scooting backwards. Unfortunately, it's futile, as he quickly reached the edge of the wooden table. Phil looked at the drop, and fumk, it's a fucking high drop— his- his wings are broken

"Uh—" The piglin hybrid called out. Phil's head turned to look at him— head still pounding too hard to focus on the piglin hybrid's expression. "You're... you're hurt." The piglin hybrid gave Phil a sad excuse of an explanation. No shit, sherlock.

"S-so?" Phil glared, trying so hard to not fall off the table— or should he? Is one wing enough to shield his fall..?

"I'm... I'm trying to treat your wounds..?" the piglin hybrid said. Another look from Phil and he saw a white bottle of whatever— it's suspicious "Look, I found you unconscious on the forest floor, I'm just trying to heal you"

Phil is not listening to the guy, still scanning the things on the giant piglin hybrid's hands. A white suspicious bottle, a clump of cotton possibly doused in the suspicious bottle's content, and a wide, white, suspicious rope(..?) On the other end of the table.

"I'm not going to hurt you." the sudden voice from the piglin hybrid startles Phil. Maybe it's because of the reassuring tone of the man, suddenly, Phil's mind starts to focus more "You're going to be okay, I promise"

With that, the giant lowered the things in his hands. First, the suspicious white bottle. "Antibiotics" it reads.

"It's for cleaning your wound— it stings, that's why you woke up— but it's not a bad thing" The piglin hybrid explained, noticing Phil's confused expression (Antibiotics sounds fuckinh suspicious) "And to apply the antibiotics, I used the cotton" He lowered the cotton near the 'Antibiotics' bottle— but not too close to Phil. "see, I'm not trying to hurt you"

"...and that rope?" Phil questions. He's convinced about the antibiotics, but not the weirdly-shaped rope

"...rope?" The piglin hybrid blinked, confused.

"That!" Phil pointed at the weirdly-shaped rope "That weirdly-shaped rope!"

"You've... never seen a bandage before..?"

"...what?"

"That's- that's a bandage— it's for keeping the wound clean and preventing it from opening up again" He explained, a hint of amusement behind his confusion. Okay. "Are you satisfied now?"

Maybe it's because of embarassment, maybe it's because of finally feeling convinced, but Phil nodded to the human's word.

The consequence of agreeing fucking hurts— Fuck, it hurts.

The antibiotics really does fucking sting.

"Fuck!" another shout, and Techno— Phil had learned his name in the middle of the stinging pain (Saying Piglin hybrid man is too long and well, rude)— Techno finally finished applying the antibiotic.

"Done." Techno said, tone light like he never stung Phil. "You can rest there, I think I still have spare cloths for you to sleep on"

"Wait, sleep?" Phil spoke up, bewildered. Sure, he's exhausted after all of the things happening today, but that doesn't mean he want to sleep in a human— wait, no, Hybrid— but still, a Giant's house. That's a death flag right there.

"Ya" Techno said, Another light answer. "your body need to rest to have the energy to heal. Also, the bandage will need to be changed"

"Sleep here?"

"Ya" Techno's response is light. So light, no care for Phil's bewildered tone as he stuffed the tools he used to treat Phil back to wherever it belongs.

"And you're not going to hurt me?" Phil asked. No way. He's a fucking giant.

"That just sounds abyssmal— I've just healed you" Techno said, his tone still light as he rummages around his furnitures, looking for something.

"So then.. what are you going to do?" Phil asked, staring at Techno as he stacked several cloths together (what the fuck is he doing..?)

"Sleep, probably— I was actually going to trade new seeds since new season is coming up, but then you happened sooo" Techno trailed off, concentrating. "Done. Here— you can sleep here" Techno's figure moved away to reveal what Phil assumed was a bed— It's actually just several cloths stacked together— but it's nice.

"You made a bed for me?" Phil asked, looking at the bed Techno just made

"Yeah— do you need help getting here?" Techno gestures towards Phil's stature— small and has a broken wing

Phil looked at where Techno is gesturing. "..yeah"

"Should— Should I just.. pick you up at the back of your clothes or...?" Techno asked. He was expecting Phil to elaborate on how to pick a tiny up without being rude— but Phil's lack of elaboration speaks volume.

It ended up with Phil asking for Techno to give him his hand for platforming— Which after Techno quickly replied with a "sure", Phil became very anxious about standing on a giant's hand— Fortunately, Techno didn't try to hurt him or anything (Maybe it's Phil who scratched him— Bird claws as feet and all) and Phil reached the bed.

It's a fairly-nice bed, In Phil's opinion. Because it is practically just a ton of cloths stacked together, it became a very comfy bed. So when Phil rested his body on it, his exhaustion and thought caught up to him.

It's a first time for Phil. Being inside a giant's house, and.. being this near a giant. He's restless— he can't fucking sleep— he shouldn't sleep. The possibility of the giant hurting him, the possibility of another giant barging into this house and catching Phil... He's scared.

"Shhh, just sleep, you're safe" a sudden voice from Techno startled him. Was Techno there the whole time? More than that, did Techno realized Phil's worry? "I'm not going to hurt you— Like I said. You're going to be okay," Techno said, taking a seat beside the cabinet Phil's bed is placed.

What is it? Maybe it's because Techno sounds so.. reassuring, but Phil's heart solidified at Techno's word.

"No one is going to hurt you again" was the last thing Phil heard from Techno before Phil falling asleep.

Maybe it's trust that made Phil believe in Techno.

———

The dialogue prompts are from here, send in some prompts! :D

Masterlist (If you're interested in my writings! :D)

[lovee-infected]

Hi there! How would the twst boys react to their s/o being slapped by Eliza 😂. Thanks for feeding us the wonderful headcanons! 💜

I love writing for such brilliant ideas , enjoy !

Riddle Rosehearts

Riddle goes blank for a second , unsure what to say or how to react : Half of him wanted to act in and condemn ghosts for their arrogance to lay a hand on you but on the other hand , he knew that he didn't have the right to ; It was their brides choice and she did have the right to do it - which wasn't really pleasant -

You give him a sad look , expecting a show of mercy of sympathy , but he didn't move an eyebrow

You run to a silent corner to cry , and he comes after you . Riddle gives you a hug and apologizes that he couldn't help anything back then

He criticizes your movements as well , how you didn't present yourself properly and why Eliza could've changed her mind

But in the end ; he gives you a small reminder : " Perfect or not , know that you're enough for me ,"

Trey Clover

He got slapped himself so he understands how the world flashed before your eyes for a second

You look a bit down about failing so easily while you were trying to help ; but so did Trey . You get each other on that point

He barely notices it but he literally doesn't know how to flirt , but he tries his best to cheer you up "Ah don't give me that face ! At least you were waaay better than me,"

Well , maybe you weren't such an overly perfect being but neither was Trey , he was just an ordinary guy you'll get to see everyday ; not a stunning prince . It seems like the two of you come from a rather similar level

Perhaps that's why the two of you get along pretty well

Cater Diamond

You didn't expect him to even put his phone down for you but he eventually did ; you find it pretty odd to see him this eager about anything without wanting to share it via Internet , but it also means that he does care for you

He doesn't bother touching your cheek and asking if it hurts

He plants a small kiss on your blushing face and then goes salty again : " So glad that she didn't get you , means you're still all mine ! "

He brings up his phone and before you could've recognized , takes a selfie of him kissing an all shocked you . You beg him to delete it but he isn't listening , but he insures you that this one's a private issue so he won't post it ; perhaps the first selfie he isn't going to share anywhere

Ace Trappola

Trey and Riddle grab his body and mouth before he could do something stupid , how dare she , how dare she slaps you !?

Ace ws already tired of this drama with the hopelessly romantic bride , and you were the final shock .

" SHE IS A HUNDRED TIMES BETTER THAN Y-" Ace tries to shout at Eliza but Riddle grabs him by collar and puts a hand on his mouth : "YOU IDIOT WHAT ARE YOU..."

You come to calm him down , insisting that it's really nothing important , you didn't care . He still seems to be really pissed off at Eliza : " Huh , does she really think that she's any big deal ? My- girls are really crappy sometimes ,-"

Ace refuses to believe that you don't feel any offended so he pulls you to his embrace and keeps on sending you positive vibes non-stop : " You're gorgeous (y/n)! I mean it ! You're smart , talented , dignified ..."

Deuce Spade

He is low-key happy that you two join him at the losers bench . At least you won't now see him as the awkward loser he was in front of Eliza ; not too much to say

"So you too got slapped ?" he tells you he has no idea how to start the conversation

He knows that he is supposed to do something better but he is just blank about it

One half of him wants to hug you and tell that it's fine , then ask if you think he's awkward or something . But the other half just doesn't know what to say

He says that you two must learn some social skills together , that's the most he can do to flirt now : He soft boy

Leona Kingscholar

He actually doesn't mind insulting you a little for getting slapped . He's pissed off himself so he appreciates teasing you

From putting on a cocky smile and smirking to playing with you using sarcastic words

His very last sarcasm seems to be the worst : " I can say that you are way lower than royal standards ,"

But he puts a different end to his words : "...But since I as well got rejected , I guess we're now rejected mates ,"

Is it his sarcastic way of saying a small "I love you" ? Yes it is

Ruggie Bucchi

He didn't bother to come and try proposing , but wasn't expecting for you to try either . He lets out one of his Hyena-like giggles and comes to you

" Was that bride this savage ? Then I'm thankful that I didn't show up ! " he sneakers

He disappears for a second and comes back with an ice-pack : " Geez , it's my third time doing it today . Come over ," he tells you

He already did it for Leona and Jack because he was told to , but he is all ready to give you all those services and more to you

He does enjoy teasing you , but nursing you in situations like this is another hubby of him , after all you're an exception

Jack Howl

He kinda feels guilty about you getting slapped ; he shouldn't have let you tried it anyway . The possibility of you making it was low and you weren't a NRC student anyway

He knows that everyone else were the same but when it was you who got slapped right in front of everyone , he fears it being an issue

He quickly checks on you to see if you're fine and or need a doctor

He is a bit worried about your face swelling so he takes you school's nurse

On your way back , you thank him because of caring for you and he starts to blush and denies it all : " What do you mean ? It was nothing important . No need to thank ,"

Azul Ashengrotto

Azul grabs your hand , wishes Idia a happy marriage and the two of you leave the rest in the middle of chaos

He nags under the lips , telling how he wished others to let him turn her into a little clam

He telles you what an unfortunate soul Eliza is , not only did she die on her marriage day but she also lost perfect lover such as you

He doesn't care about the rest now , so he decides to leave them on their own and instead , have some free time with you

While you wear having some tea at mostrolounge , he shakes head and insults Eliza : " You are surely too much for her , my dear (y/n) . Ghosts always envy humans ; specially when it comes to someone as great as you ~"

Jade Leech

Eliza is now pretty odd to him , first she dislikes the flowers , and now , she rejects you ? Ghosts seem to be even weirder than surface creatures , he thinks

He understands the high standards required while choosing a partner , but you don't seem to lack anything ? How strange

He even cares to ask Eliza about what she might have disliked about you since you don't seem to have any problems , but he avoids it anyway because he isn't ready to get secondly slapped

He offers you a short walk with a bright smile , and you accept

" Miss Eliza surely has weird standards , (y/n) sweetie . You were perfect enough to win ,"

Too bad Crowley insists on them respecting their ghost visitors as long as the stay , Jade is really encouraged to give them a lesson . But uh , he has to have a hold of himself as Octavinelle's vice dorm leader

" Too bad she is dead , flowers would have had an interesting effect if she weren't ," he sighs

Floyd Leech

This bride is getting on his nerves , loud , dumb , in love with a blue , awkward chicken and finds silly excuses to reject everyone proposing to her. If she weren't dead , Floyd would wish her to be . Some brats are better dead

He doesn't see any need to spoil you , but he decides to spill somevtea since it was you " Don't worry shrimpy . You may not be perfect , but she's worse than you , " he flirts .He gives you a tight hug and squeezes you , rambling that it's because Eliza didn't let him do that

He actually finds the red mark on your face cute , saying that it makes your skin color just similar to a shrimp .

He can't help loving your -shrimp-like face - and so , he lowers his head and gives it a small kiss

Vil Schoenheit

If Eliza were alive , Vil would love it now to burn her alive in a huge dig of poison . Or maybe feed him to the dogs , both seem nice

He gently holds your face within his hands and carefully looks at the mark Eliza left behind

He curses under the lips and then pulls you into a soft hug : " Don't mind her love , lowly creatures are unworthy of true beauty , don't let their though bring you down," he mumbles

He absolutely hates being disrespected like this , so he leaves it to Rook and Epel ; though he doubts them being any helpful

He takes you to Pomefiore for firstly , making sure that your slapped face won't swell and then , giving you a full day spa . From extreme showers to putting on your makeup

When you're done , he stares at you through the mirror and smiles : " What an idiot she was to lose this stunning beauty of yours ,"

Rook Hunt

This bride keeps fascinating him , first Vil and now you ? Good god , she is pathetic

Rook really looks up to both of you as a symbol of beauty , grace and in general , perfection . Seeing the two of you being insulted like this is a real pitty

He is being relied on as one of the only four guys who didn't get slapped so he sadly doesn't have much time to comfort you now ; so he comes up with a new idea :

He asks you to give him the pleasure and be his : Bride model ; he has got plenty of tricks up his sleeve , but he still needs to practice them on someone

His long and beautiful poem which was hiding an I love you within its words , and his brilliance ways of winning one's heart leave you speechless ; not ever imagining that he might be this much of a romance man

He practices literally anything he was planning to do with you , and then comes up with the final words : " Dearest (y/n) , would you give me the honor of being your servant of love for eternity ? "

Epel Felmier

You got...what ? Epel was a normal guy at least in his own opinion , Vil senpai was surely beautiful but...not perfect either . But why you ? You didn't seem to have any specific problems . He doesn't like this thing with proposing anyways , so he was hoping someone , specially you , to succeed before he has to...

He is supposed to be practicing dos and don'ts of being a perfect groom , but he just can't do it without checking on you

He comes to you and gives you a tight hug , asking if you're alright

He confesses that he as well is now really scared since he has never even kissed a girl before , but he's going to try his best and put an end into this

He isn't the best of his own , but if a prince on a white horse is what this Ghost needed , he is going to make it , and prove it to you that he can

Kalim al asim

He doesn't know what is going on when you face him with your half red face , he gasps and worriedly starts asking questions : was there a fight ? Did you get hurt ? Was someone trying to bully you ? Who on earth had dared to do this to you !?

You explain the whole issue with he ghost bride and how almost everyone got slapped , making him calm down a bit

He now wants to have a word with this bride , it's rude to slap people just because you don't like them and that really bugs Kalim

Jamil stops him by reminding that it's none of Scarabia's business and as the dorm leader , he has to stay here taking care of more important stuff

Kalim has to agree but he isn't quite satisfied , but he comes up with another way to cheer you up :

" Imagine you're the bride and I'm proposing to you , let's see if I get slapped or not ! "

Jamil Viper

Just as Kalim , he can't imagine why you got slapped for at first but when you explain , he chills a bit

Most of the brides Jamil know gave in to marriage after being given tons of gold and jewelry , but since it is with a ghost , he wondered what might actually attract her. Princesses have to marry people from the same level as themselves , probably a prince or someone pretty rich ; so he isn't really fascinated that you and others all got slapped

He can't help it much , but perhaps insulting all other guys losing their chance is something he would appreciate talking about . It isn't clear if he wants you to feel better by neglecting every other guy or is just trying to chill a bit ; anyways it's joyful for you to talk and having him spending some time with you alone

Idia Shroud

Idia is locked inside the room ,, but he hears sound of you trying to propose to Eliza . His feeling are a bit complicated , both hopeful that Eliza would give up on him because of you and jealous of Eliza , whom you proposed to. No one's here to see him can freely admire your beautiful words coming one after one , and then an unexpected sound : You got slapped

Idia now has lost both his very last hope to get freed and his temper : His hair is slightly turning read . This crazy bride made him lose the global championship league of his favorite video game (since he was tied up by her ) and now slaps you !?

His thoughts are really wild now , especially because of how he can't do anything at all . He wishes he could see you and tell how beautiful and great he thinks your proposal was , hopeful that it'll make you smile

You still went out of his way and tried to free him , and that was more than enough for Idia . All he wishes is to see one more time and get to tell how he feels for you♥

Ortho Shroud

This ghost : Kidnapped his brother and now , slaps you

Who says robots can't feel anything ? Because now , Ortho is mad

He really does want to hack all of NRC's servers and share pictures of ghosts who dare kidnapping and insulting students without the principal doing anything . That'd be an end to Mr Crowley's career but since he isn't doing anything serious , he deserves it

You apologize him because of failing to save his brother , but he just gives you a hug telling how scared he is

You and Idia are the most important people in his life , he just can't stand having you hurt . Not even imagining what he might do if he loses any of you

Malleus Draconia

He wasn't there to recognize this any sooner , but Lilia and Sebek did tell him everything .He shouldn't show up in front of any other students (because they might spoil his real name ) and shouldn't show up in front of any ghosts (because they may catch him and force him to propose ). He was thinking of meeting you in front of ramshackle drom ; your regular corner but since there as well is haunted by the ghosts , he can't help but to wait for this drama to cool down

When you finally return to Ramshackle dorm in the middle of the night , your unexpected guest , tsuno-tarou , is waiting for you

You are suspicious that you didn't see him at all today , so he explains that due to some reasons he couldn't make it . He says hat he doesn't really know what had happened since he stayed in dorm all day , so you go on telling everything from the very beginning . He already knows everything but wants to hear it all from you one more time . He likes to see what they all might've looked like into your eyes . When you're done telling him the story , he giggles and asks one more question ; just curious to see how you'll answer : " So didn't you try proposing , or did you as well get slapped...?"

Lilia Vanrouge

This day was getting more and more complicated... First getting rejected for being too cute and having his 500+ year reputation ruined like this and now , you being the second to get slapped ; this isn't fair

He can help but to let his tears fall , if he's too cute then it's fine for him to cry . Sebek and you freak out in fear of him being through some sort of serious pain or injury , then he just laughs and tells you that he's alright . He just needed to comfort himself but freeing those tears

He doesn't see any need of today getting worse , so he doesn't mind flirting a bit . He jokes on whatever you rejected for not being more frustrating than being too cute and laughs

He thinks that you may like to talk more , so he brings up a more interesting issue : His hundred years experience with women

You are fascinated at how many times he has joined ladies for dances or drinking , yet has never been on a serious relationship

He's actually trying to spill more tea of his low experiements with relationships , hopeful that you get his point

Silver

You return along with Lilia and Sebek. , all of having half of your face red . Silver wasn't there to know what was going on or why Sebek is shouting at him for being a coward not trying to propose like a real man . Poor boy is just blank

Lilia takes Sebek along with him and leaves the two of you alone , so you start telling everything over . He tries his best to hide his laugh at the point where Sebek got slapped but he failed , then Lilia and finally , you

You tell him that you really feel frustrated about failing others and not being good enough , but it makes Silver gently laugh : " Well , from Leona Senpai to Mr . Vil , they all got slapped one by one , doesn't it sound a bit weird ? "

You surely don't get hos point so he continues : " When someone keeps rejecting everyone one by one , it means that they don't really know what they want. They're seeking perfection ; but no one's ever perfect enough for them . Through lovers would still love each other aside lacking too much on their own , and that's what makes their love last : They complete each other "

His words really move you and make you ask how he can tell all these words so beautifully

He gives you small smile and adds : " Well , it's because I've experienced it all with you "

Sebek Zigvolt

Having both master Malleus and you insulted on the same day : This is too much !

You shouldn't have been the one forced propose while others like Silver were laying comfortably on a sofa dreaming of rainforests and colorful birds , it wasn't your right !

He doesn't even ask , he immediately takes you to the nurse office to put a stick on your slapped face . You insist that it's be too much but he isn't listening

He then , apologizes for about an hour for not talking you out of something that wasn't even your duty and promises that there won't be a next time on it

You really get concerned at how stressed out this boy suddenly gets over nothing , so you cut him off by pulling yourself to his embrace and giving him a hug . He freezes at first , but then relaxes and hugs back

" Promise that I'll never let you down (y/n) , never"

♦♥♠♣

Tagging : @lilyholo @yourlittlerunt @minteasketches @epher-posts @takumipineapplexd @yandere-of-your-dreams

[static-fanatic-1]

Yandere!All For One x Fem!Reader

Warning: Non-con, Fingering, Kidnapping, Mentioning of stalking, Spooky gift giving, Reader has a powerful healing quirk activated by bodily fluids (it’s important).

Word count: 7.3k

~~~~~

You nervously bit your lip, twiddling your hands and fingers to relive the anxiety creeping up your spine. Recovery Girl, the healing hero that decided to take you under her wing, decided it would be good idea for you to meet a colleague of hers to get some physical training. It was an important thing that you needed to learn despite your quirk.

The slender yet short woman took a weary glance at you. "Calm down (y/n), you have no reason to be nervous."

You jumped at the sound of her voice. "I-I know, what if they don't think I'm worth training though?" You've always been self councious of your quirk. Though it was insanely powerful, mainly for other people, it turned you into a physically sickly person. To simply put it, what you thought was not worth training.

A disappointed sigh left her lips. Recovery girl, still not looking her age as of yet, was a short woman with dark black hair, peppered with more white streaks than her natural color, dressed in a bun with her usual hero look going on. "Gran Torino won't push you too hard, besides he's training Toshinori! You know him right? The third year who's really strong?"

A slight blush tinted your cheeks. "Uh, y-yes ma'am!" God you hated it when you became a stuttering mess, especially when that specific third year was mentioned. Ever since you bumped into him in the halls you couldn't shake away your growing crush. It was totally embarrassing. Even your classmate, Enji Todoroki, lightly made fun of you for it.

Ms. Shuzenji lightly chuckled at your reddened expression. "Gran Torino said he would meet us in one of the gyms after school hours. Since you're a first year and you don't have your provisional license yet, we aren't supposed to train you off of school grounds." She further explained.

"When I get my license will it be alright for me to train off campus? Or could he just take me in for hero studies?"

"Technically you already are under hero studies because I'm training you, and because I'm a teacher I can't allow you to train off school grounds." The two of you turned a corner, now face to face with the large door separating you two from the racket going on on the other side. Both of you exchanged a confused look before opening the doors.

From what you were witnessing, you probably shouldn't have agreed to working with Gran Torino.

The yellow blur flew from floor to ceiling, and wall to wall just to slam his feet into the poor boy's body. Each attack seemed more painful than the last as he desperately tried to keep up with his sensei.

Toshinori paused, as did Gran Torino, and excitedly straightened his stance. With a finger pointing in your general direction his face lit up. "Your that first year I bumped into! Gran Torino you should have told me who-!"

His spat was quickly cut off by a pair of feet slamming against his ribs. The blond flew across the gym and into the concrete walls, dust fuming around his now hunched over form. "Don't get distracted, Toshinori." Torino scolded.

The average height hero turned, now facing the two female across the room. "So this is (l/n)? Nice to meet you." He said with a slight wave.

Recovery girl tapped your shoulder and motioned to the suffering boy, telling you to heal him without using her words. "Pl-pleasure to meet you too, sir." Quickly nodding in both of the hero's directions, you scurried over to the third year you unfortunately developed a crush over.

"Um, Toshinori Senpai, are you hurt?" 'What am I saying? Of course he's hurt!' Your flustered mumbling almost went unnoticed.

"Yeah, yeah, probably broke a rib... again." His blond hair framed his smiling face, the overly joyous expression only bringing you more concern.

"Again?! Here, let me help." You wrapped your arms around his form and lifted him into a seating position, doing your best to keep him upright. "Alright so this might be weird, but, are you okay with kissing me?" You twisted your face in a sad excuse for guilt.

Toshinori found it funny, but unexpected none the less. "K-kiss you?!" His face burst into a deep red blush while his words came out as coughs.

"Y-Yeah! I mean or lick you, whatever floats your boat I don't judge."

Gran Torino wondered over to the youthful hero. "So she's the healer? The one you wanted me to train alongside Toshinori right?"

She nodded and turned to look at her addresser. "Her healing is stronger than mine, and there are no repercussions on the person she uses it with. If the two of them get to know each other they could be an amazing team."

"Healing stronger than yours huh? How does it work?"

"Bodily fluids like blood and saliva." Shuzenji paused, letting the information sink in before continuing. "Her quirk has been used in ways it shouldn't have been used."

Gran Torino furrowed his brows and looked at the two students. Toshinori already looked much better than before. His skin seemed healthier, pained expression replaced with a bright red face, and the blood smeared on his mouth being wiped away like a memory. Still, he soaked in the new information as he watched the students embarrass themselves.

"Does she know about one for all?"

"No, but she's trustworthy enough to tell, eventually at least."

"Alright, alright, I'll train her."

~~~

After a few months of training under Gran Torino and Toshinori, you had grown a little bit stronger. At least as strong as you were able to get. Toshinori on the other hand made a lot more progress, his training also getting far more intense than you will ever be able to handle.

Enji tapped your shoulder, bringing you back to reality. He gave you a disappointed yet concerned look. "You need to focus, I don't want to help you with History again."

"Ah, sorry, sorry." He scoffed and grabbed his stuff to leave the classroom. "Wait for me!" You yelped, quickly stuffing your things in your bag to chasing after him. "Your legs are too long!"

The two of you wondered into the cafeteria and settled in your seats. You shuffled things around in your bag as Enji started to eat, you could feel him watching and judging you. "What?"

He slurped up his hot soba, taking his time before he decided it would be okay to explain his judgement. "You have been training with that third year huh? Yagi, isn't it?"

"O-oh! Um, yeah. Toshinori, he's been helping me get stronger despite my quirk's draw back." You shifted in your seat under his intense glare.

"And?" He pressed on.

"Oh you know, he's helping me learn how to fight and get physically stronger. Nothing too special. Why do you ask?"

A certain blond revealed himself, his bright smile almost blinding as he smacked his tray on the table next to you. "Hey (y/n), Todorok-kun!"

You jumped and covered your reddening face with your hands. "Ah! Hello Toshi-senpai!"

Enji glanced between the two of you, both of you have been rather close lately and the redhead was developing theories that have been plaguing his mind. "That's why I ask." He pointed to your bright red face.

Toshinori almost spat out his water when he glanced at your red face. "Woah! Todoroki-kun, it's nothing like that! Haha!"

"Y-Yeah! We're just training!" You spat out.

Enji just gave you a look, but overall decided against pressing further. Instead he sighed and glared at the third year.

You couldn't blame him though, Toshi was easily considered as strong as the pros, and Enji wanted to be on top of them all. He most likely saw him as competition.

You lightly laughed and tapped Enji's shoulder. "Don't over think it. Besides let's be honest, I need a lot more help than you do." You have the redhead a delicate smile, still he kept his condescending look.

"Don't you have to do chemistry homework you skipped?"

"Oh shit! That's next period!" You yelped and began the homework you skipped last night.

"Geez, I remember chemistry, I really struggled with that one." Toshi exclaimed, leaning back with his cheeks stuffed with pork cutlet and rice. "I can't help you with that one, (y/n)-chan."

"Don't worry, I'm surprisingly good at math and science. It's the other subjects I struggle with." You stuffed your face with your food as you quickly solved the problems on the sheet. "Enji actually helps me with the other ones, I help him with chemistry and maths."

"I don't need your help." Todoroki snapped back.

"Sure." Came out your muffled sarcasm. "Do you want me to check your homework?"

There was a slight pause, Toshinori placing his hand over his mouth to stop his growing laughter.

"Yes."

~~~

That was the beginning of the three of you. Toshi quickly climbed up the ranks as the number one hero. He left for America for a while, but kept in touch with you as you finished school and tried to make a name for yourself.

Enji quickly surpassed you, but he still stayed your dear friend. He found an organization and followed behind Toshi, climbing up the ranks and making a name at the early age of twenty.

They were strong, powerful, and you were everything else. Weak. The only thing you had going for you was your quirk, and even then it was taxing on your body.

You joined a smaller hero agency and continued developing your quirk. With your skill in chemistry you learned you can convert your bodily fluids into pill form. Though they don't work as well, it allows you to give people a full heal without loosing yourself.

Though you never seemed to be as lucky as you hoped. The hero you had come to know and trust abused your kindness, his other sidekicks finding it funny to stuff you full of their cocks and use you as a toy.

You never felt so humiliated and destroyed in your entire life. What started as a simple conversation drastically changed into the hero's using your quirk as an excuse to do as they pleased. They even threatened to ruin your career as a hero if you told anyone... but you just couldn't keep quiet.

That night you drove away, tears streaming down your reddened cheeks as the horrid feeling and taste lingered. You drove all the way to the current number nine's house and knocked on his door at 2:48 am. He lived alone, still focusing on climbing up the ranks to be number one.

Despite not seeing him in months and thinking you were only a distraction, he let you in.

Enji held you close as you sobbed and told him what happened, your words chocking on your cries. He let you clean up and stay for the night, as you didn't feel safe alone anymore. You slept on the couch that night, unbeknownst to you Enji called up Toshinori.

The three of you met up the next day to expose the so called heroes that defiled you. Without Enji and Toshinori, you wouldn't have been able to tell anyone, that or you would never be the hero you've always wanted to be.

You constantly look back on that day. You couldn't help but appreciate what your two friends did for you, especially when you are reminded of them. You would give anything to help them. Anything.

You joined All Might in his quest for heroism, becoming his sidekick and healing people he saved. He loved working with you, and you loved working with him. The spark between the two of you was obvious from the beginning, and as the two of you worked together the spark only grew.

You left for a while though, a well-known hero asking for your help in America. You bought a small apartment and began your own.

~~~

"Wait... what? He-he's...." You voice cracked, hand lightly tracing the bow on the flat triangular box on your bed. Smooth wrapping providing false comfort over the situation over the phone. Gran Torino's gruff, pained voice echoed in your ears and in your brain.

"Toshinori needs your healing, that or I'm afraid it will be the end of the Symbol of Peace." You shivered at his words, turning your back to your bed to sit down. Your hands rubbed your face and eyes from stress, not just from Toshi's conditions but the strange gifts you keep finding in your house. "Recovery girl already stabilized him, but your healing should finish the job."

"I understand, uh, I'll book a ticket-"

"Don't, we already bought a private plane ticket, we don't want the media to get involved." Gran Torino finished, sighing behind the screen. He must be feeling the same things you were feeling; stress and anxiety. Despite the stress he continued, giving the details of the flight he bought.

"Alright, alright. I'll get some pills ready and pack. Take care." He lightly chuckled, probably nodding behind the screen, before ending the call.

You dropped you phone on your bed and sighed. The hand that was tracing the wrapped gift paused over the red satin bow. A sense of dread crawled up your spine making you shiver.

You wanted to throw the thing away and let it rot in your dark closet, but after finally deciding to open the other ones up you decided that wasn't a good idea. Whoever has been sending you the few gifts wanted something you were too afraid to give.

Yesterday you opened the first gift, one with a purple bow and silver wrapping paper, and found a beautiful sun dress with a letter. At first you thought it was a fan, after all it wasn't too strange for you to find fans who gave you gifts like this, so you ignored the red flag of finding it on your temporary apartment door step.

But when you glanced at the letter, your blood froze. Written in fancy cursive, penmanship you could easily call perfect, was an alarming letter about compliments you could dismiss as a little strange. That was the second red flag.

The next few gifts had letters as well, each one more descriptive and alarming than the last. One described how entertaining it was for you to be so close to the number one hero All Might, and how the sender would enjoy taking you from him.

So when you found another gift, this time wrapped in a red bow with dark grey wrapping, you wanted to puke. You debated opening it up to save yourself some sanity and stress, but you were more afraid of the repercussions of not seeing what's inside.

With shaky breaths and an even shakier hand you unveiled the mystery box. You never felt so much dread in your life until you saw what was under the letter.

A gorgeous, obviously expressive set of black lingerie brought bile into your throat. Clasping your hand over your mouth you tried to swollen the nasty mixture as you continued your investigation. The set was lacey in a sultry way, seductive like it was meant for a lover to wear on their honeymoon.

You hated it, you feared it.

Especially the letters, you still didn't know who sent them but that only made you more afraid. So you read it, maybe you would know who was sending you these things, maybe you could get them arrested and save yourself the stress while you go heal Toshi.

'Dear (y/n) (l/n),

I consider myself a patient man, one that will wait until the time is right. I wish for you to wear the gift I have given you, it would greatly please me to see you in it when I come for you. So save yourself the pain-'

You stopped and gagged, crumpling up the carefully written letter and throwing it across the room. Anxious tears streamed down your face as you violently shook.

Their going to come for you? Why? When? Where? Here? No no no, not here. You'll be off back home in Japan, away from this sad apartment and away from the creepy stalker.

You glanced over at the lingerie, should you wear it? What would they do if you didn't wear it? Are they watching you now?

Once more you shivered, this time taking the lingerie and holding it close. You were terrified of the consequences so you decided to wear it. All you had to do now was get some pills ready and pack for the plane ride. So stop stressing.

~~~

You held your bags close, the satchel with your quirk infused pills even closer. Your anxiety was spiking, more so than it has ever before. You wore half of your hero costume, having on the white lab coat, jaw guard, and belts with sleeping syringes you created yourself. Usually you have heels with a dress shirt and pencil skirt, but instead you decided to wear something more comfortable. So you wore grey sweat pants and a black tank top under your white coat.

Grey and white mountains littered the horizon while vibrant greenery and large trees rose high into the sky. You exited the small plane and wondered over to Gran Torino. A solemn expression decorated your features as you met up with the group.

Gran Torino, Sir Nighteye, and Tsukauchi waited for you, Tsu being the only one to smile back. "Hey, Witch Doctor are you ready to head out?" Tsu wore a white dress shirt and black slacks with his favorite brown trench coat over his shoulders.

Gran Torino and Sir Nighteye wore their full hero costumes despite the long ride ahead.

Your smile widened ever so slightly as you nodded. "Please, call me (y/n). And yes, I have the pills if he wants to go that route, it should be more than enough to heal him all the way." You lifted up the satchel and waved it around.

They knew how your quirk worked, bodily fluids. So they understood how people in the past took advantage of that, so they were a little surprised when you mentioned giving All Might a choice. They didn't mention it though. "Could-can you... tell me about Toshi?"

Gran Torino grunted before waking to a few cars nearby. "His stomach was pretty much gutted, he's hanging on a thread thanks to Recovery Girl. He would've died otherwise."

Nighteye looked away with an uncomfortable expression. "If he-he didn't hold on for so long...." He mumbled away without wanting to finish his sentence.

"He'll be fine," Finished Tsukauchi. "He is fine, he just needs some help getting better."

You listened to the policeman, his enthusiasm seemingly forced and full of anxiety. "What happened to him?" You asked again, this time with more force.

They all stayed silent as they continued walking to the cars, so you stopped. "L-listen, I know why it might be hard to talk about, but-but I would like to know. There-there has been some crazy shit happening lately, and you said he was injured a few days ago? It just-just seems too... too coincidental? I guess?"

Tsukauchi turned to you with a worried expression. "Like what? Why haven't you told any of us?"

"I was-it is just-just a stalker but... I'm scared, you know? It started four-five days ago and it just seems too coincidental." You lightly laughed at yourself, your hands rubbing up and down your arms to try and calm your riled up nerves. "Never mind, I'm-I'm just stressing out. Maybe...."

Nighteye adjusted his glasses and peered into your soul. "Why would it be coincidental? What else happened?"

"There-there were letters. Letters with information only a few people should know about." Your body curled in on itself. "Some things about Nana, and you guys, and Toshi. Just a bunch of mumbo jumbo that has me scared."

Tsukauchi placed a hand on your shoulder. "Let's talk about this in the car." His delicate smile helped put you at ease, so you nodded and continued. "And if you really are worried maybe Nighteye can look into your future?"

The tall, suit wearing man scoffed as he entered the passengers seat. "I'm not exactly okay with something like that."

"It would help." You meekly said, getting into the car. The men took a nice long look at you, how you shivered and stared with a furrowed brow. It was like you were playing out scenarios of all the bad things that could happen to you. "But I understand-!"

"You look pathetic like that." Nighteye shifted in his seat as Gran Torino started the car. "I'll do for you, but you can't change what will happen. I've tried."

You shyly smiled at him and nodded your head. "That's fine with me, I just want to mentally prepare myself, ya' know?"

"That's a good idea, Witch Doct-I mean (y/n)." Tsu corrected himself and shifted next to you.

"Right, thanks guys." You and Sir looked into each others eyes, a small shiver running up your spine as his left eye turned into a purple-black storm.

All four of you waited as the car sped through the Japanese wilderness. The large green trees provided shade and small rays of sunlight peeking through. The road was long and curved on the side of the mountain you were descending. It was peaceful, calm... too calm.

The thick air was interrupted by a gasp, Nighteye's calculating eyes shifting to the sunroof of the small car. His body was rigid, his face twisted in growing fear. "Stop the car!"

Gran Torino smashed the breaks causing the car to screech and dangerously swerve to a stop. "Whats-?!"

He couldn't finish his sentence before a large, swirling purple mass emerged from nothing before the group. A large hand emerged, a rocky face following behind.

"Get our of the car!" Sir Nighteye screeched, grabbing Gran Torino and pulling him out with him. Tsukauchi dashed out and joined the others against the cliff side.

You unbuckled and reached for the door handle, but you were too late.

The large figure fully emerged and smacked his hand against the car, knocking it off the steep cliff side and into the mass of trees below. You screamed and held your body as close as possible, the car shoving you every which way. Glass shattered, metal crushed against itself, you hit your head so much you could taste the blood in your mouth.

A loud crash echoed through the forest floor, bird and animals fleeing to a far away safety. You coughed, trying to drag your body out the broken window next to you.

Your arm shrieked in pain, it must be broken, you thought. Still you refused to be a sitting duck. You clawed your way out of the car, praying all of your things are in one piece.

Gran Torino appeared in front of you and helped you out before hopping away. The giant from before jumped down beside the car, the ground around him crumbling under his feet. "Everything I do is for my master." The giant chanted his mantra, his eyes glueing to your form with heart stopping ferocity.

Nighteye fell from above and slammed his feet against the giant's head, knocking him off his rhythm.

He grunted and stumbled into a tree, trampling the plant in the process. He took the broken tree and rips it from the ground just to chuck it back at Sir Nighteye.

"Watch out!" You swallowed your blood and spit to heal yourself just enough to get into the fight. You shoved your support mask over the lower half of your face, letting it pierce through your skin so you can drink your blood. "Torino! Make sure Tsukauchi is okay, I'll go for Sir!"

"Get in and get out!" Quickly you two split up.

You dashed over to Sir Nighteye and pulled him from the colliding tree. You drank your blood and building saliva to slowly heal your wounds, your broken arm mending itself enough for you to use it.

The tree burst into splinters. Sir found his footing and pulled you behind another tree. "Are you okay?" He asked, holding you close while looking at the giant behind him.

"Yeah, yeah. What did you see in your vision? We'll get out right?"

Sir Nighteye bit his bottom lip. He didn't know what he should do, tell her and give up or try and fight fate. "That's not important right now." He commented calmly, but internally he was at war.

He saw your future, one where you were taken after everyone else was too hurt to fight back. Gran Torino would jump in to try and save you, Tsukauchi begging for you be set free from the cliff side. Gran Torino would be caught and killed when he tries to save you, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Sir Nighteye almost debated letting you get caught just so the rest of them could get away unharmed.

You glanced at him before pulling the two of you were crushed by the giant. "Focus Sir! We need to group up with Torino and Tsu. This guy is really strong."

"We can't take him on." He blurted out.

"What do mean?" Your voice came out shaky, the giant already on his way to fight you two again. He trudged over and loomed above you and Sir, growling as he swiped Sir Nighteye away. The giant had a hint of a smile of his face when he gripped your form in his iron like grip.

You jolted in his hold and fumbled with your hero costume to pull out the syringes, all of them. Quickly you stabbed the giant's neck and pumped his system with five of your homemade concoctions.

Gran Torino grabbed Nighteye before he slammed against a tree, carefully putting the fading man on the ground. Torino stared up at your thrashing form, but before he could rush up to help you a hand tightly gripped his forearm. "Don't, if you go you'll die!"

Nighteye's grip tightened once he heard Tsukauchi scream from above.

"We can't let them take her, she's the only one that can heal Toshinori!" Gran Torino argued, thrashing away and dashing to save you.

The giant wobbled from the potent amount of drugs in is system, but it didn't stop him. A new purple portal formed in front of the two of you, and a newfound vigor was found in the giant. "Gran Torino!" Your voice echoed with unadulterated terror.

You could see him coming to help you, but you could also feel the giant prepare an attack against your friend. If you were taken Toshi wouldn't get the drugs, Gran Torino would get seriously injured if he got too close. You didn't want to see that happen, so you grabbed the satchel and threw it as hard as possible at Torino, smacking him against the face and knocking him to the ground.

The giant trudged into the portal with you over his shoulder, leaving your hero buddies in the ruined forest. He kneeled down and swayed from the drugs, letting you fall to the ground below him.

A man of purple mist and a dress vest walked over, his misty hands clamped over his front. "Witch Doctor," he addresses," I would appreciate it if you followed me."

You bit your lip, still being looked over by the giant man behind your hunched form. You wanted to ask a question, to yell and scream and thrash until they were too annoyed to keep you alive... but you were too afraid to even try.

Was this the man sending you the letters? Was this the legendary All For One Toshi warned you about? "Who-who are you?" Your voice betrayed you and cracked under your fear.

Yellow eyes evaluated your own (e/c) ones. The mist man in front of you seemed to be figuring out what happened to the woozy giant behind you, but you couldn't tell in those yellow voids of his. "My name is Kurogiri, now, follow me." His tone shifted into a more violent one.

You shivered under his gaze, a figure showing up beside him. A judgmental figure at that, short with large goggles and a mustache. Though this new addition discarded you with a quiet mutter under his breath.

Kurogiri finally had enough waiting and grabbed you by your wounded forearm, making you cringe as he pulled you through the dull halls of the facility. The environment was filled with dark greys, bright blues and a metallic shine. "Where are we going?"

"You are going to heal my master."

You didn't need to hear anymore before understanding what was going to happen. You pulled your injured arm from his grip, wincing at the pain, and ran as fast as you could.

Sadly you didn't get as far as you would have wanted. A purple portal swept you off your feet, making you fall into a new room entirely. Your body slammed against the hard floor without mercy.

Kurogiri sighed and stepped through a portal he made for himself, once again dragging you to your feet. The room was dark, but clean and barren none the less. The sounds that echoed through the room was that of a breathing machine and medical equipment.

"You may leave, Kurogiri. I'll take it from here."

A haunting voice shook you to your core, it was deep and threatening, yet mocking and intrigued. The man of mist turned on his heels and left, closing the portal behind him. Your heat beat loudly in your chest, suffocating and causing you to hyperventilate.

The voice boomed with laughter, a strained sound complimenting the 'wrrr's of the machines. "You have no reason to be afraid, (y/n)." The hands gripping the floor violently shook, tears pricking the corners of your eyes. "Now come here."

His mammoth sized hand stalked out of the darkness covering his body, tempting you to take it. You could see the underlying of his mouth, bright white teeth gleaming in mockery. "I suggest you don't keep me waiting, I've been patient enough." He added.

Your feet acted on their own volition, moving you closer to the shadowed figure. He could probably hear your uneven breathing from the bed he sat in. Once you stood beside the bed, tears streaming down your cheeks, he roughly grabbed your wrists and pulled you on top of him. Your legs straddled his hips as he sat up, a sigh escaping his barely visible lips.

"I must confess, (y/n), I've had my eyes on you for quite sometime." His mocking tone brought more tears to fall. "At first I was going to take you after I killed Nana, just to torture All Might some more. Then I learned of your quirk and wanted it for myself, but it wouldn't exactly be useful if I took it would it?"

His mammoth hands wrapped tightly around your wrists, forcing them to cup his cheeks around his sickening smile. "I asked a question." His voice shifted into a scolding tone, his hands slipping from your arms to your waist.

"N-no, it wouldn't."

All For One's smile widened at your scared tone. "Are you scared?" He mocked. "Where's that smile All Might preaches, huh?" You jolted in his lap as his cold hands touched the flesh of your hips. He snickered at your skittish reactions. "You are much cuter up close, you know that?"

Submit or fight back? You tried that a long time ago, fighting back, and it made everything so much worse. You were afraid, terrified of fighting back against this man. Were you afraid of death? No, you never thought yourself to be, but maybe you were wrong. The suffocating feeling of him staring you down like prey made you think he was death itself. And that made you fucking terrified.

His humming and hands sliding your shirt up brought you back to reality. "Wa-wait!"

He grumbled and stopped. "Go on."

"I can heal you another way! It'll hurt less but-but it'll take a little longer." You stutter to try and save your skin, but the never faltering smile he gave told you it was all for not.

His hands also proved that theory. They roamed up your tank top, tapping each finger against your skin for more insult to injury. "You're so sweet, worrying about me. I'm sure you already know who I am, don't you?"

You nodded and tried to shift away from the man's touches. He groaned at the friction down below. Time stopped when you heard that noise, a meek squeak emitting from your throat. He mockingly laughed at the sound. "I'll take that as a yes."

He started to take off your clothes, gently, slowly, layer by layer. Shivers and tears shocked your body, you hated it, but you were too afraid to even think about fighting back. Pieces were thrown to the stone floor, your hero costume being stripped from you.

All For One's grin widened more than you thought possible. "You wore the lingerie I bought for you. I'm flattered." His hands cupped your covered breasts, the thumbs tracing the lace. You held back a mewl when he undid the clasp and started kneading the mounds. Forefingers and thumbs tweaked your nipples, pulling and pinching the sensitive flesh.

Your hands stayed glued to his face, the tips of your fingers grazed mauled flesh but quickly pulled away. The man below you noticed, chuckled, and forced your hands onto his mauled face again. "This is what your precious All Might did to me, cruel isn't it?"

A shiver ran down your spine at the odd sensation he forced in your finger tips. Calloused hands dragged down your waist to your panty line, pulling the clothe to the side. His thick finger ran up your slit, collecting the small amount of fluid that had built up. He returned it to his lips and dragged his tongue to lap up the liquid pleasure.

All For One shuddered and groaned at the taste. the man could feel your quirk taking effect, the burning sensation already taking hold the more he tasted. Animalistic pleasure grabbed him by the throat, his lips crashing into your own. He wanted more of that sweet taste, the taste that would heal him back into completion over and over and over again.

He wanted you, all of you.

Saliva mixed in both of your mouths as his tongue slipped past your lips. He groaned and tightened his already iron grip on your hips, your bones creaking under the strain. You meekly shrieked when he bit down on your bottom lip, sucking and drinking the blood.

The wound quickly healed up so he kept his assault, biting and sucking and drinking the blood. Your hands slid to his clothed chest, trying to push off.

All For One wasn't having it though, he stripped himself of his suit jacket and dress shirt and pulled your form closer to him. His clothed groin strained in his pants, you could feel it prodding your nether regions. One hand snaked into your (h/l) (h/c) hair to keep your lips locked with his, the other hand cupping and rubbing your sex.

You accidentally moaned into the kiss, earning a amused groan from your captor. The man let go of your bruising lips to listen to your cute mewls. His hands sped up, using the base of his palm to rub your clit as one of his thick fingers entered the sex.

He mercilessly pumped the finger, curling and prodding at the spongy spot inside you. Your legs trembled around him, hands sliding up to his shoulder for something sturdy to hold. You hated how pleasurable this felt, you hated how it was him who made you feel like this.

"St-sto-ah-p! I-I-!" He chuckled at your meek attempts, his lips crashing into your neck and biting harshly. "Gah!" You could feel the blood drip down your collar bone before being lapped up. All For One added another finger and scissored around to stretch you out.

You could feel the rumbling of his throat, the tightening and tensing of his muscles, all from your bodily fluids. Your own wounds lightly healing, leaving black and blue bruises in its wake.

He added a third figure, stuffing you full. His palm roughly hit your clit with each intense thrust. Your toes curled, stomach tensing. You could feel your release emerging, and he could tell. "Go on," He moaned. "Don't hold back."

Your legs clamped around his hips as your pleasure reached its peek. Throwing your head back you loudly moaned into the abyss of the dark room. Your release hitting like a truck as you shivered.

All For One laughed as he licked his fingers clean, both groaning from the taste and the pain shooting through his healing body. It was strange how his head tingled and burned as it healed. Arms wrapped tightly around your form, glueing you to his chest as you came down from your high.

As you sunk lower in his lap, sweat face against his chest, you could hear the light echo of his belt buckle being undone. Your pleasure foggy mind didn't follow the sound, only wanting to soak in his warmth and go to sleep. You squirmed around his movements until something hard rubbed your clit.

Hands gripped your hips harshly, lifting you up suddenly just thrust you balls deep onto his hard cock. You screamed and clawed at his shoulders, drawing a small amount of blood.

You never felt so stuffed in your life, his cock pressing in all the right places without giving you any extra room. His head pressed against your crevix, prodding at your womb. Your slick helped ease the pain but his massive size kept you writhing under his grip.

All For One's rigid breath echoed like a dark mantra to your pained squeaks. He lifted you by your hips and slammed you back down.

You strangled out a moan with each deep thrust. The hard cock jabbed your insides to make you see stars, your body warming up to the abuse. You gasped every time his head pushed against your entrance of your womb.

Your breasts bounced, the liquid between your thighs drenching his dress pants, and the friction between your legs riding you closer to the edge of ecstasy. He thrust his hips to meet yours as he lifted you up and kept pushing you back down with feverish force. Each thrust bumped painfully your insides, pushing farther and deeper.

"You're not a virgin are you? Has All Might fucked you like this?" All For One's tone changed from the usual mocking to seething hatred. "Has he marked you like this? Ravaged your cunt until he had you screaming?" He lifted you all the way to his tip and slammed you down hard.

The head of his cock pushed through your crevix and into your womb from his force. You shrieked from the painful feeling, but the sadistic sensation pushed you over the edge.

Your walls clamped tightly around his length and gushed liquid pleasure on his lap. The man loudly groaned when your walls sucked him deeper. He kept going, thrusting and pushing deeper, faster, and stronger.

The liquid from your body twisting his flesh back to its original state. It hurt like hell, you could tell as his large hands crushed your hips like grapes. Fat tears streamed down your reddened cheeks, sobs echoing through the mostly empty room.

All For One's thrusts quickly became sloppy, obviously chasing his own release. "He's been replaced, I'll fill you up and mark you as my own! He'll never see you again, I'll make sure of it!"

Hot ropes of white spilled into your womb effectively making you see stars. Both of you tensed and shook at the force of the orgasm. Your third climax tore into the last of your energy, making you pass out from sheer exhaustion.

All For One released his tight hold on your hips, eyeing your form with a deranged smile. Bruises lined your neck, collarbone, and hips. Your quirk would heal them a bit, but you would need time to allow them to fully heal.

The dangerous man, on the other hand, was healed to the point where he wouldn't need the breathing machine to live. He wasn't healed all the way, that would only happen after a few more sessions, but it was a start.

His gaze fell on your soft features, no longer perturbed by his actions and instead twisted into a delicate serenity. You looked peaceful blissfully unaware of what he had in store for you, not that he minded.

~~~

You shift in your sleep, scrunching your nose at some unknown pain down below. A plush pillow rest below your head, and almost acted like a chain keeping you down. Despite the comfort, you forced yourself to get up. Groaning, you threw off your covers and stretched out like a cat. Wincing from the pain and sitting up in the overly warm and soft bed.

You took the opportunity to soak in your surroundings. The colors were warm, a dresser parallel with a door on the opposite side of the room. Everything looked meticulously placed and expensive. The room was large and had a door off to the side, probably the bathroom, with a pair of sliding doors, most likely a closet, and an archway leading to another room.

You stumbled out of the bed and limped around the room. A mirror on the wall revealed what you looked like. Hickies littered your neck and collarbone, your once broken arm wrapped in bandages to help it heal. A lavender colored nightgown draped just above your still shaky thighs. You winced and lifted it up, more bandages around your bruised hips.

He was rough, that was something you could remember. You probably didn't heal him all the way either, that must be why he kept you alive.

You jumped and turned in the direction of some new noises. Heavy footsteps echoed through the room next over so you peeked behind the archway to see who decided to show up.

All For One slipped off his large dress shoes with his back to you. You could kill him, couldn't you? The man's back was facing you, all you needed was a blade or blunt object. You glanced around the room but found nothing, then again you had the feeling he already knew where and what you were doing.

"How did you sleep, (y/n)?" You swallowed the lump of spit in your throat as you gripped the archway. "Hm?" He peered over his shoulder, the sickening smile that haunted your nightmares stretching across his thin lips. His head was still mangled, but it was now healed into a large, clean scar.

"Why am I here?" You asked.

He turned to fully face you and stepped nearer, his bulky form looming over your frail body like a veil. His hand moved to your cheek, caressing the flesh in an all too intimate act of affection. "I think you already know the answer to that." He mused, dipping to let his lips graze the shell of your ear.

You shivered.

"You're mine."

[vidavalor]

Just going to put this out there...

There are about a thousand justifiable reasons why Sam is hesitant to take up the shield and thought the best thing to do would be to give it to the Smithsonian and let it go with Steve. Chief among them is absolutely the fact that as a Black man, he hasn’t always felt like America has had his back the way that he has had its. He’s not wild about being a symbol when he’s really still in a place where it is hard everyday to get through what he’s been through-- just living in his skin, during the war, losing Riley, losing Steve, everything-- as a man. But there’s also another reason that I think could be part of it and it would be pretty ironic, considering that Bucky’s own conflicts are causing him to see Sam with the shield as the only good end result. (Bucky’s conflicts are not all that dissimilar to Sam. A closeted POW soldier left behind by his government fighting every day for a sense of mental and physical autonomy over his own mind and body knows more than anyone might realize about Sam’s own conflicts, which is another reason why they’re well-suited.) So, what is that ironic other reason why Sam could have turned down the shield? Well, uh... Bucky. 

Consider that being Captain America is a lot different than being The Falcon. The show even nods to this a bit with Walker and Lemar in TFATWS (and The Hulk and Ant-Man in Endgame). The big, marquee superhero names are the ones with all the fanfare and pomp and circumstance. No one has ever got Scott Lang’s hometown high school football team to learn and perform a remix of the Captain America song for his interview with Good Morning America. Sam is only really quasi-famous right now on a mainstream level. The person that we see recognize him is a Black kid (Black Kid TM), in a scene that speaks to the importance of representation and also to some of its complexities. (The ”My daddy says it’s ‘Black Falcon’” moment which is something that Sam, who is Black and also uh literally The Falcon, actually thinks is a bit regressive and finds frustrating.) The point, though, is that Sam is recognizable instantly to many people who look like him, including kids, but the show often points out how silo-ed even superhero fandom is inside the MCU because the two white people who eventually can recognize Sam as The Falcon have to take a beat and really think about it. In the case of the bank manager, Sam has to all but tell him who he is. The show illustrates how this is a thing that is meant to reflect how society in the MCU behaves (and that is really the same as our own, unfortunately). It shows this through the scene with Walker and Lemar, when the (white, because it’s relevant to this conversation) girls approach Walker for autographs and do not even see Lemar. They have no idea who Battlestar is and he and Walker talk about that afterwards. While this is obviously meant to point out a sense of racial injustice, Endgame also points out that it can also just be because some superheroes have more flash and symbolism. While it’s an example of racial inequality on TFATWS, it’s also a funny “no one thinks Ant-Man is cool” thing in Endgame that shows the idea of there being kind of B-tiered superheroes. What does this have to do with Sam not taking up the shield and Bucky? 

Sam Wilson, after Endgame, has just come back from being missing for the last five years to find his sister exhausted from a life that has been kicking her ass for ages now and his nephews grown five years without him into the “little men” that they are becoming. Before those five years, he had been on the run with Steve for two of them. He’s not old by any stretch of the imagination but he is *older* now and he’s enough time beyond some of the worst traumas of his life to think about maybe finding one for himself. Learning that Steve went back in time to find some peace with a family, seeing that Tony Stark got that before he died... it puts it on the mind for Sam, even if it was likely already there anyway. He has a fresh start. But there is a difference between being The Falcon and being Captain America and it’s not only the challenges of being the first (known to the public) Black Captain America. Can he do this and have his own life at the same time? Because even if he gets a third of the attention that was given to John Walker, it is way more attention than he’s ever had before. He’s not just going to be a bit famous-- he’s going to become a literal American icon overnight. 

What if Sam has decided that he can’t do this because he wants some quiet nights and isn’t sure he can get them if he takes this on? What if he wants to be just a guy sometimes, just a man who helps run a fishing business in Delacroix, Louisiana and wants to watch the sunset with the person he loves, who is not at all what might be in the government’s dream idea of the life of The Star-Spangled Man with a Plan? 

What if Sam is thinking about how he might like to see if he can fall in love again sometime in his post-Riley life, with someone who could understand and love him back this time? The hope of that alone might be another reason to turn down the shield, if he thinks he’d rather find a way to be a good husband to a man he loves than be a symbol to a country he loves but that struggles to love him back at times. 

Not to mention that he’s not sure America is ready not only for a Black and gay Captain America but one that is in love with a formerly brainwashed, hundred and six year old, PTSD-laden cyborg and he’s not about to risk his and Bucky’s chance at this for a mantle he’s not sure he even feels really should be his to carry. Sam knows about trauma recovery and knows they’re both-- but especially Bucky-- going to need to go slow at this. It’s really hard to try to be there to support the guy you love’s work on dealing with decades of loss of control over his own mind and body-- and that’s without the whole world watching. Sam wants some privacy and autonomy for both of them, not to mention a little of the time that’s been stolen from them for the room to see if they can make this work. That is one of the reasons why he turned down the shield, IMO.

[ofmythsandmadness]

pretty eyes.

you love diego hargreeves pretty eyes, sober and drunk off your rocker. only, when its the latter, it’s a little harder to hold back your eager compliments.

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WARNINGS & DETAILS: gender!neutral reader. mention of alcohol & drinking, some fighting later on in the chapter (it’ll make sense when it comes), idiots being idiots, mutual pining, a tad bit of angst. WORD COUNT: 6.5k NOTES: at the end (read please).

BUY ME A COFFEE HERE. | CHECK OUT MY OTHER WRITINGS HERE.

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“DO YOU KNOW WHY THE SKY’S BLUE?”

Diego didn’t look back, but from the sounds of tiny pants and dull clunks of shoes hitting the ground, he knew enough to paint a picture. You, struggling to rid yourself of the coat he forced you to put on, dropping the heels you claimed you hated so vehemently, all the while probably grinning from ear to ear like he imagined little kids looked on Christmas Day. He knew you’d be waiting for his answer, just as you always did, expecting something greater than he could give you in his own flustered state.

Sometimes you were predictable. But he liked that about you.

“I don’t know. Why?”

“No, silly! I’m asking you!”

“Oh.” His tongue danced across his bottom lip, wetting the chapped skin before responding. “I dunno. Sorry.”

Only a sparkling laugh and a thump answered him. He whirled around to see you flat on your butt on the ground, staring up at him with drooping doe eyes. It would be an irresistibly pretty sight, if he knew it wasn’t from extreme inebriation and you were completely off your rocker at the moment.

Still, pretty.

“Help me up?” You laughed, waving your hands aimlessly towards him. “Puh-lease?”

Diego grimaced slightly but moved anyways. He grabbed at your hands (clammy, another symptom of your heavy drinking choices)  and yanked you towards him. Only he overestimated you and greatly underestimated his own strength it seemed -- instead of lifting to your feet like any normal person, you practically flew towards him, landing just under his chin and flopping against his chest.

And Diego froze.

Normally he would have pulled away and shrugged it off as a mistake. Neither of you would mention it again and would move on with your lives, forgetting how close your bodies had been and the way your gaze was intoxicating upon itself. He had rules for those things; never getting too close to a friend who made his heart beat in a rather unfriendly way was one of them.

But as you looked up at him, still smiling dopily and eyes almost crossed, he couldn’t remember a single thing about rules or precautions or anything of the sort. All that was on Diego’s mind, was you.

Your smile softened a tad, painted lips closing over your teeth and only hinting at the dimples he had stared at many-a-time before. Up close, he could see flecks of black under your eyes, staining flushed skin with ebony freckles that no one could believe was natural. He didn’t know the word for it, but guessed it was from you rubbing at your eyes and forgetting you had painted them hours before. Despite it, you still looked absolutely radiant.

“You have really pretty eyes.”

Diego blinked, startled by your giggled statement. “W-what?”

“Sooo pretty,” you gushed. One of your hands left his chest -- he hadn’t even realised they had been pressed there, but he suddenly missed the warm sensation -- and caressed his cheek. He shuddered at the touch. “Maybe the pre...prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen!”

If merely standing near you was heart-attack inducing, Diego was certain that all this was going to explode the vessel. Any second at that point, it would just burst and coat your grinning face with its guts--

-- he shook his head, ridding himself of both that image and the foolish thoughts flooding around it. You were drunk. Everyone said and did stupid stuff when they were drunk. Right? Like the time he lost a fight with a lamp post -- he wouldn’t do that sober, but alcohol made everyone a fool. You just chose compliments over actions, maybe.

The saying ‘drunk words, sober thoughts’ lingered in his mind for half a second, but he pushed it away. That only worked in late night television or shitty rom-coms, not reality. Not with them.

“You should get to bed,” Diego said gruffly, pulling away from your fingers. He didn’t miss the flash of disappointment on your face, but tried to push it away for his own emotions’ sake. “You’re gonna want to, ‘fore all this hits.”

“You should smile more.”

Diego froze. He didn’t turn back to her that time, knowing it would only hurt him more, but he couldn’t bring himself to move another inch.

“Your eyes are fu...cking beautiful, but your smile?” Clapping echoed paces behind him; his jaw clenched with every smack. “Diego, you’re so pretty!”

He reached behind him blindly, scrambling and feeling stupid before finally launching onto you. Still avoiding your charming smile, he pulled you along, leading you out and into your bedroom. “I’ll be back to get you some Advil. Sit down.”

“I wish you’d smile more,” you said, completely ignoring every word he said. You fell down to your bed with a plop. “It lights up those pretty pretty, pretty eyes so much...so fucking pretty, Diego! I can’t even think of any other words, that’s how be-yew-tiful you are.”

“Okay, I--”

“-- and you always look so grumpy. It’s so funny!”

Diego should have been long gone, at that point. For his own sake and for yours, because you would hate that you rambled on so much, and he was going to pay for the emotional turmoil you were putting him through. But he couldn’t. He simply stood, still and awkward in your bedroom doorway, watching as you tried to twist your face to look like his own.

It didn’t work at all. Your lips fought angrily to smile again, and your eyelids just drooped, so far you looked stoned, or maybe like a zombie ready to bite. But even if you looked beyond ridiculous, his mind still screamed at how adorable it was, and despite himself, Diego smiled.

“See! See, there - there it is!” You pointed frantically at his own face, like he didn’t know it was there. “God, I wish I had a mirror to show you how pretty you are! Lil...lil sunshine boy!”

Okay, ‘sunshine boy’ was new. It took a little bit of the piss out of everything, and he was able to grumble and walk away finally from your singing self. Calls of his name paired with nonsensical titles followed. Diego tried his best to ignore them, but he knew the coos would haunt him later. Even as he searched for a glass, the sounds bounced through his head like injured bats in a cave; no way out and too blind to escape, forced to flit around endlessly until someone ended their suffering.

But Diego, unfortunately, did not know how to do that. So he simply bore the weight of your compliments knowing that they were nothing but sounds and syllables made up by a confused mind, trying to push through the night with as little baggage as possible.

As he walked back to your room, he sighed. This wasn’t how he planned things to go. It had been a good night -- sure, he might not have had as much fun as you looked like you were having, dancing and drinking and laughing, but at least he was with you. And he liked that, and the lax nature you took on when you drank, making him feel less pressure about constantly being the best version of himself. He hadn’t felt like he needed to put on a show, he was just Diego, for better or for worse. And somehow, you didn’t mind that.

He only wished that he could have more than that and all the time.

“Okay,” he said, clearing his throat after the word came out garbled. “Uh - got you this, you’re gonna want to drink it and take these now. Okay? And I’m putting these here for tomorrow morning, so you can take that as soon as you’re up. You got that?”

Your head bobbed up and down excitedly, but he knew you didn’t take in a word he said. So as you swallowed the tablets and gulped down the water, he scribbled out a note to remind you of what definitely went right over your head.

Diego paused, pen slightly trembling in his hand, before jotting down two more sentences. Thanks for last night. Had a good time being with you, as always. He hesitated, hovering over the slip of paper before cursing and scribbling out the lines with added violence. He tried again, being a little bit more poetic (which wasn’t much, but words really were not his thing) only to be disappointed again, pushing down on the pen so hard he was sure it would burst. Once he was sure nothing but scribbles could be made of the mess, he put the note under the Advil bottle and stepped away.

“You wanna change out of that?” He asked, gesturing to your clothes. “Doubt that’s comfortable.”

“Nah,” you drawled. You smiled up at him and even dared to wink (it was more of a sloppy, half-assed blink, but it still made his head swim). “I’m just comfortable. Do...you…’re you comfortable?”

Diego chose not to answer that. He pushed you back gently, deciding not to fight with you on changing and instead just going with sleep. You didn’t fight him much. If anything you leaned into it, holding onto his hands for seconds longer than you should and mumbling sweet nonsense up at him.

“You know,” you sang, “you know what, Di...Diego?”

He didn’t pause. “What?”

“I would do anything...and everything...in order to make you smile forever. You know? Anything.”

Those were the words that weighed heaviest on Diego’s conscience as he drove back to his place. It was as though they had erased everything else, anything that had happened that day or any time before and just left that in its place. He didn’t know why, but they stuck, and as he wove through the dimly lit streets, your voice floated about like a bodiless apparition, set to destroy his mind and drive him mad.

Diego had had his heart broken several times before. It happened almost easily in his childhood, normally by the hands of his vindictive father. He had learned how to patch it up, sew up the cracks and try to make it so it wouldn’t happen again, and eventually he got better at that. But it shattered again when Ben died, and he realised that they were just kids, forced to play heroes in a horrifically gruesome world they didn’t belong in. That took a while to mend, but he did, until he screwed up at the police academy and Patch left him too. After that he had let the fragments just sit in piles in his chest, digging at his ribs and leaving him winded after long nights in the cold darkness. He hadn’t cared; he thought that was what was expected of him. Nothing but a broken heart to hold him when the nightmares got too bad.

But when you came along, he didn’t have to stitch himself back together. You did it for him. Somehow without him noticing you had snuck into his chest and unravelled the poor stitchwork and blotted out the stains left that he hadn’t bothered to clean up. Over time, you had managed to make it almost brand new again, and it was a whole new experience of smiling and watching as you failed to finish your joke again, only because you were already laughing too hard. Of getting wasted on Wednesday’s when your job sucked more and dancing down the streets up to your apartment, uncaring of those who watched. Of you chiding him for the cuts and bruises collected from his vigilante expeditions, but always being there to wash them out and make a fresh pot of tea. Of you, merely existing, and allowing him to bask in your sunshine a while longer.

But hearing those soft words leave your drunken lips, spilling out like tar from someone so angelic, hurt. Diego didn’t think that was possible with you.

He sighed, turning down the street towards the gym. It would be a sleepless night again.

YOU WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING CONFUSED AND ACHING.

Not as much as you normally would be, which was a nice change of pace -- you assumed you had enough common sense to take premature headache meds, knowing how bad the hangover got for them. But your drunken self did not have the thought of changing out of your stiff, uncomfortable going-out clothes, instead draping yourself across the mattress smelling like the shitty bar you had careened in and leaving every part of your body pissed off. Sweaty fabric clung to your skin, leaving you feeling soggy and misworn and eagerly wishing you could have made better choices earlier.

You groaned and slipped out of the comforter, already missing its heavy warmth. Slowly you staggered over to your desk where you must have left the Advil for that morning. “Thank you, past me,” you sighed, twisting open the cap with a grimace.

A paper caught your eye, small amongst the stacks of work files you had yet to comb through. Downing one pill, you grabbed it, taking in the scribbled letters through tired, squinting eyes.

Leaving this for you because you’re too drunk to remember what I said. Take these and drink water before you die of a hangover. I’d hate to find your body that way. Also left your things on your kitchen counter, they’re not stolen. Also left your burrito in your microwave -- you insisted on buying one last night, so don’t forget about it. Take care.

Underneath were two lines of thick black scribbles, covering up whatever was written under that and leaving only a scrawled ‘Diego’ as your final clue. But, despite whatever mystery the pen covered up, you smiled and pinned the note to your bulletin board.

“Thanks, bud,” you grinned, speaking like he was there to hear. “Hope I wasn’t too annoying last night.”

You went about your morning with a smile despite the pounding pulverising your muscles, and enjoying the lazy Sunday hours spent cleaning up. You even spoiled yourself with a long shower, eating up your hot water minutes with joy, knowing you’d hate yourself for it two weeks later. After an hour of cleaning up, washing your face free of the makeup smudged across your cheeks and devouring that burrito left for you, you finally felt refreshed and better about things.

You glanced up at the time. Diego would be up, probably manning the desk for Al as he did most Sunday’s (the facet of his job he hated most). But, at least that meant he would be available to take your call. You missed him, even after seeing him just the night before, and selfishly craved the distraction of his low rasp. Maybe you could even make him laugh, cheer him up during his boring shift.

But five minutes later, you were left disappointed when none of the three calls went through. You tried not to think too hard on it -- he was a busy guy, and was either working or doing his other line of work, and ignoring your call meant nothing. Course, it probably didn’t look good for a boxing gym, but...you’d settle.

You would just call back later. He would definitely be available to talk then.

IT HAD BEEN A WEEK SINCE YOU LAST TALKED TO DIEGO, which was the longest either of you had gone without even speaking to one another in the history of your friendship.

On its own, the fact wasn’t so troubling. You were both working adults who had their own lives to sort through, jobs and bills and other friends that you didn’t like half as much as each other, grocery shopping and patrolling the streets alike, filling up both schedules easily. But the two of you were closer than that, and definitely more than just friends that saw each other every other week. You didn’t care about those friends like you cared about Diego.

And it hurt, that he was going to such lengths to avoid you.

Every time you stopped by his gym, Diego was gone. Al simply shrugged off your questions with a non-committal ‘I don’t keep track of the shithead’ and even when you went to knock on his door to check if he was lying, you got nothing. No regulars knew either, which was strange; he always liked to spend his afternoons training with a couple people, sometimes you if you showed up at the right time. You considered doing just that and waiting for him to show -- but even after hours of sparring, the man was nowhere to be seen.

You had tried everything, to the point where Al was annoyed and you felt like you were losing your mind. Surely Diego hadn’t just disappeared off the face of the earth. That didn’t seem right or possible and you knew you hadn’t made him up, because you had the pictures and notes to prove it. You could see his face, disgruntled and sometimes smiling in the photos you had snapped of him -- so why couldn’t you find it anywhere else?

With all options exhausted, you gave up for a few days, allowing yourself the chance to catch your breath. However, with that came the exhaustive process of trying to figure out why on earth Diego was avoiding you. And unfortunately, all that linked back to your last night spent together, and the bitter realisation that you must have fucked up the night somehow and left him not wanting to see you again.

And that thought broke you.

Thursday night was spent crying alone on your couch, trying to push past the depressing thoughts and failing miserably. You couldn’t remember half of what you did that night, but you knew he hadn’t been drinking as much as you, and alcohol always rendered you a ranting, rambling fool that he must have had to deal with. He had got you home, but for what? And what if it was all in that stupid note he had left you, scribbling out the real reason he was leaving you high and dry?

You threw the note out that night, staring down at it in the trash with tears pooling in your eyes. If only you could know why.

The issue was, Diego was more than just a friend to you. Sure your relationship had been built on totally platonic foundations, but it soon blossomed into so much more. He was a companion, your partner, the man who made you feel comfortable enough to wheeze into laughter-induced tears with, or just sob against his shoulder without feeling judged. He was the guy who brought you fast food when you forgot about dinner when work ran late, and the one who let you sleep over when you didn’t want to be alone. He made you smile by just being there -- like, you would open your door (or window, usually) and just grin like an idiot at the mere sight of his face. He was just Diego, but that meant more to you than you had ever been able to say.

Maybe, hell, you loved him. Was that so bad? It hadn’t been intentional to fall -- one day you had just been eating pizza on your countertop way too late in the night, and you looked over and realised your heart had only ever fluttered so violently for him. That he was the guy you could imagine spending the rest of your days with and never getting bored. Of course, you didn’t act on it, knowing that it was a platonic relationship and admitting such would destroy it completely -- but that didn’t mean your official break-up didn’t hurt any less.

You skipped work Friday, something you never did.

When your coworkers called, you wrote it off as illness related, while still drowning in the sorrow of being left high and dry.

Friends hit you up to make some ‘end of the week’ plans, but you ignored them.

You fell asleep at nine that night -- the earliest you had in aeons.

You stayed in bed for most of Saturday, staring at the ceiling or the photos pinned to your walls of the two of you, wondering if this was all just a weird dream you were going to wake up from.

Six hours later, you hadn’t woken up from your dream, but you had made up your mind.

One hour after that, at almost ten o’clock at night, you were rolling up to that same boxing gym you had haunted for that week, dressed in dark activewear and parked a ways away from the actual space. Steely-eyed and with your jaw clenched, you marched out the vehicle and into the building, knowing full well what you were going to find. You had a plan, and whatever it took, you were going to put it into motion.

Maybe it wasn’t the greatest plan, and maybe you had only just come up with it, with barely any time to consider it’s workability and whether or not you were just throwing words together, but nevertheless, you persisted.

You were going to get Diego back.

“DIEGO FUCKING HARGREEVES,”

The man, back turned away, stiffened and immediately went to move,

“run and I will end you, boy,” you growled, stomping towards him with force; he could practically feel each stomp echoing in his chest, cracking him down to the size of a pea. Somehow, he couldn’t move, frozen in place by your command. “Okay?!”

“H-hey, I--”

“--why the hell have you been avoiding me?!”

His eyes were wide and panicked and frantically, he searched all around for a way out. Unfortunately, your body in front of him blocked his only exit, leaving him stammering for answers you knew he didn’t easily have. “Look, I--”

“--I have been worried and scared and sad and out of my mind this entire week,” you snapped, jabbing a finger into his tank top, pushing him back in his steps. Your anger dug deep into him, thorns grabbing onto every bit of vulnerable flesh -- and the worst part was, you were absolutely right.  “You know that? I have called everywhere I could -- I even called the police, wondering if you were in custody and I just missed that news drop. But no, you were just gone, avoiding me for who knows what reason!”

“I didn’t--”

“--what did I do, Diego? What happened, what did I do wrong?”

“Nothing! You’ve done nothing.”

“Then why won’t you even look me in the eyes?” you hissed back, staring up at him in hopes he would catch your gaze. But he didn’t; his eyes still looked far away from yours, searching for something to give him a way out with. “You won’t even look at me, that’s how pissed off you are at me.”

“That’s not true.”

“I get if I did something wrong, but you can’t just pull away from me like that -- this friendship isn’t built on shit like that. I can’t cope with this void left by you deciding you don’t like me anymore!”

“That’s not what happened,” he insisted, his own voice raising in volume. “I swear!”

“Then what, Diego? What possible reason could you have that isn’t related to me doing something wrong? Because that’s all the evidence I got out of this and unlike you, I have zero detective skills so I’m working on one freakin’ theory here!”

His eyes averted to the ground, staring down at the both of your feet, one pair tapping angrily and the other shuffling in hopes of escape. He felt himself folding in, a habit he had broken a long time ago with you, one he thought he had killed off forever. But apparently it hadn’t. 

“You can’t even answer me,” you shuddered. Your sneakers squeaked against the shiny linoleum, leading you back a step. “You - I don’t understand this. At all. And you can’t even give me an answer why? D-don’t I deserve a reason for why I hurt you, Diego?”

“No, c’mon. I…” he hesitated once more as expected. Whatever he was planning on saying died in his mouth and thickened his tongue, leaving him once again stumbling for an excuse. He felt your eyes on him as well as his father, reproachfully clicking his tongue at once again, his stuttering, bumbling fool of a son. “I did...I didn’t…”

“Forget it. Screw this.”

“W-wait, don’t leave--”

“--I’m not leaving!”

He froze, holding onto your bicep in an attempt to stop you. Slowly, his hand fell away, “w-what?”

“I’m not leaving,” you repeated, and slowly he watched as a devilish smile stained your cheeks, pulling away the angry lines of before. “I didn’t come here to leave, I came here for answers. And I guess I just have to fight you for ‘em.”

At that point, Diego’s head had been through the wringer so much, he felt like it could just pop off if he wasn’t careful. And yet still, his eyes bugged out and he stared at you in complete shock, unsure just how he was supposed to process that last sentence.

“I’m sorry, what?!”

You shrugged like it was nothing at all, “c’mon. I know you’re better with the physical stuff and I wanna catch you off guard, finally get an answer out of you. I’m gonna, like, fight you for the truth.”

He watched as you toed off your shoes and shrugged off your thin jacket, letting it fall to the floor behind you with little care. You seemed ready, like you had planned this all along -- and had you? What was the reason behind all this? Was there something that he just wasn’t getting, in his state of emotional disarray? Or were you just losing your mind because of him?

“L-look, I’m s-sorry, but I,” he paused, trying to form the syllables in his mouth so they weren’t so thick and jumbled. “I can’t just fight you.”

“Sure you can. We spar all the time.”

“But w-w-why?”

Once more, your shoulders lifted and fell; ever the nonchalant dramatic. “Call it a bet. I win, you tell me why you avoided me for so long. And if you win, which you probably won’t but if you do…” you grimaced. “I’ll leave and you never have to see me again.”

Diego baulked. “I don’t want that.”

“Clearly you do,” you jabbed back. “Right?”

“No. I don’t. I don’t want to lose you.”

You huffed; clearly you didn’t believe him, but you also seemed set on the idea that you were definitely going to win, so he wasn’t sure where he stood in that. “Fine, pick your prize and keep it to yourself. I don’t care.”

Diego still hesitated, hovering to the side as you wrapped your hands. There seemed no way out of the situation, but surely there had to be - surely you weren’t just going to hop into the ring for an explanation.

Was this some ill-fated revenge?

You must have noticed his expression, because he heard you laughing from a whiles away. “I’m not looking to hurt you, Diego. Trust me, no matter what you do, I’d never want to do that.”

His heart fluttered.

“It’s just,” you cocked your head, thinking over your words before smiling again, “like you said when you first started training me. Freestyle, baby.”

You had deepened your voice tremendously to mock his own -- and while it was a horrible impression, it did call back to the one you did before of him. Not that you seemed to remember that, you had been piss drunk, but the thought still made him cringe.

All this, because of him. He screwed it all up and for what?

“Rules are the same as always. First person to pin the other down for more than five beats wins. No serious hits, so like, don’t break my nose or anything.”

“I can’t do this,” he mumbled, even as he stepped into the ring. “We don’t need to do this. We can just talk.”

You sighed and looked back at him. There was a fierceness in your eyes, a determination for something he wasn’t quite sure of -- like there was a plan in motion, only he couldn’t figure out where the steps lead. “I didn’t come here to walk away, Diego. I’m here to win a bet and get my friend back, and also kick his ass if I have to because I’m desperate. You can’t convince me to leave, so wrap your hands and let’s get this going!”

“But-”

“-it’s either this or I just stare at you until you crack,” you said, no longer smiling. “And I doubt you want that typ’a torture, do you?”

He stared at you askance. “Really?”

You didn’t answer him with words that time.

The fight was fast, and almost evenly matched -- you had a slight advantage with your eye on your prize, and he was faltering with every other blow knowing he couldn’t bear to hurt you. But the pace picked up and soon it was like you were one fluid being, predators locked on and desperate to claw the other away from them while simultaneously, drawing them back in. Fists flew and every so often he saw the sparks fly from the fire in your eyes, catching on everything he turned from and leaving him surrounded by the flames you spilled.

For a moment, Diego thought he had it. He had managed to pivot away from your last onslaught and pulled you away from the centre, edging into the corner where he could finally pin you down. His arms outstretched and for a moment he was actually smiling because it felt like the good old days -- sparring way too late into the night when he should have been working with the girl he secretly loved and the stars watching from way above, admiring the gruesomely pretty sight.

But in a flash, everything switched.

He lunged, you slid.

When he fumbled, your legs wrapped around his own, pulling him back and flipping over one another like beetles rolling in the hot sun.

You were everywhere, smothering his smoke with your body, forcing him down before he even realised what was happening.

Diego blinked, and suddenly you were on top of him, legs on either side of his waist and your hands holding his own up above his head. Your expression edged on feral as you grinned down at him, straddling him and fighting everything he pushed back with.

But he couldn’t fight back. Not when you were on him and everywhere and he could smell your shampoo as your hand dangled around him, dripping your scent around him like he was in that poppy field from Wizard of Oz, ready to give into the toxin and be one with the flowers. Your hands held his own and he wished he could slide his fingers into the clasp, holding them to him and kiss each bruised knuckle with tenderness he didn’t know he possessed. Your hips, legs, chest pressed against his own, both heaving and waiting for the other to move and interrupt the tension rising with every passing second.

“One,” you began, voice low and teasing. Did you know what you did to him? “Two…”

Diego writhed in your hold, but it was no use. You had him. He was yours and he would be satisfied to be so for the rest of your days, if only you never let him go. His gaze flitted across your face, tracing the way your eyebrows furrowed and relaxed with the numbers, eyes still wide and filled with emotions he didn’t quite know how to read. Sweat beaded on your brow and stained your cheeks and yet still, he thought you were as perfect as you could be, mere inches from his own darting eyes.

“Four...four and a half…” your smile grew and you got a little closer, almost touching his face with your own. “Five…”

He didn’t dare to breathe.

“I win, Hargreeves.”

But despite the hushed declaration, you did not move. Your body stayed over his, hands pushing his own down with gentle force but keeping him locked under you. Your eyes remained on his own, locking them in place as your face grew nearer. Soon enough your nose was just touching his own, nudging softly and turning so it fit better against his lips, which were parted and so close to pressing against your own-

-but you pulled away.

Just as Diego’s eyes had shut, your weight left his and he was left to sit up confused and watch you stomp away. You slipped out of the ring and down to the ground with a soft thump. He watched you unwrap your knuckles and to his surprise, he saw your hands shake with the movement. 

“This was a mistake,” you mumbled to yourself. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to hear. “This was stupid, I have to-”

“-don’t go,” he mumbled. In one swift movement Diego had jumped back to his feet and pulled after you. You stumbled back a few paces; he raced after, hurrying to your side with an aggression he didn’t know he possessed. “Don’t go.”

“Diego, I-”

“-I pushed you away because I screwed up,” he said, all in one breath and so fast he wasn’t sure if you could understand him. “I messed this up. We’re only supposed to be friends, I know that, but I-I can’t not be in love with you, not when you’re that perfect and so beautiful and you make me smile e-even when I feel like the shittiest sh-sh-shit and-”

“-kiss me.”

“What?”

You stepped forward, angling yourself just under his chin. Your chest heaved. “Kiss me, asshole.”

And slowly his hands moved on their own accord, cupping your cheeks and holding you to him. His eyes darted down once, staring at the pink lips before reaching your own again for a silent affirmation. When you nodded in his hands he acted, pulling you to him quickly and pressing his lips against his own, finally.

It was fast and passionate, both beings pulling at the other, urging the other closer than the skin they already pressed against. His one hand left your jaw to hold your neck, angling your face so he could better caress it, smudging himself across your lips with little care. He felt your own touch against his back, sliding down to his hips and pulling -- without even thinking, he moaned, feeling your lower body roll up against him and leave his mind in overdrive.

You pulled away for air finally, gasping only to be pulled in again for a softer, gentler kiss. He pecked the corners of your mouth before finally taking your lower in between his teeth, biting softly before sucking on the tender swollen skin. He pulled away then, dropping his forehead to your own as you both took another breath.

“If…” you paused to inhale, grinning through the gasp of oxygen, “if I knew you were holding all that back, Diego, I would have kissed your ass a lot sooner.”

“I’m...I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be sorry,” you murmured. He felt your hands leave his waist, pulling up to the one he still had cradled against your cheek. Your head leaned into the gentle touch. Even as your fingers held his. “I just...is this why you stopped talking to me?”

Diego shook his head softly against your own. Once more his heart faltered and threatened to burst, but he ignored it. “No, I just...I realised that I was-”

“-sorry, I don’t - you have an eyelash.” He froze as your fingers stroked his cheek, pulling away the evidence that had caught your attention. Your eyes darted up to his for a moment, and he watched as they widened and brightened under his perplexed gaze. “Your eyes really are pretty.”

His heart stopped for a beat.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“That’s why I stopped!” he exclaimed. He pulled away from you then, gesticulating wildly around like the air was going to supply you with answers. “That’s why!”

You frowned, cocking your head like a lost puppy. “You...because of your pretty eyes?!”

“What? Wait, no, that’s not why.”

“I’m so confused right now, bud, and I just--”

“--last week,” he rushed, cutting you off before he could lose momentum again. “I took you home. You were wasted, and you kept talking and - and you told me I had pretty eyes.”

Still, you looked bewildered.

“I-I have been obsessed with you since the day I met you,” he said, soft and unsure if any of the words would come out right. Or if they themselves were the right ones to say. “I couldn’t help it. And I didn’t let myself act on it because I knew that it wouldn’t wo-wo-work out, you’d get mad and I’d lose you. I rathered having you as a friend, then losing you cause I was in love with you.”

“Love?” you questioned, barely a breath of a sound lingering between them.

“But that night, you went on and on and I realised then that I was too gone to keep it in. And I realised that you wouldn’t feel the same...and I didn’t want to hurt you, so I left. And…”

“Diego Hargreeves, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.”

His brow furrowed low, anger mingling with befuddlement on his flushed skin. “Hey, I-”

“-first of all, you really think I would just hate you because you thought of me as more than a friend?! Even if I didn’t like you - which I do, by the way - I wouldn’t do that, I value you too much. But second of all, you’re telling me that you never noticed how much I liked you back?!”

“I-”

“-I have felt like an idiot for the past year, holding in my feelings for you and wishing you could feel the same way. And when you left, I thought - I thought that was it, and that I screwed things up when I was drunk, which I guess I did but-”

“-you didn’t screw anything up, I did!”

“No you didn’t, I did! I’m the drunken initiator!”

“I shouldn’t have just left!”

“Okay, so we both screwed up!” you shouted, throwing your hands up in the air in exasperation. “But dammit, Diego, I have loved you for ages, and you - we - this is what it came to?!”

“Well, I-”

“-I can’t believe this!” you chortled. “All this time?!”

“I guess so,” he said, voice catching on the ‘so’. “I guess, yeah.”

“Holy crap.”

“Ha. Yeah.”

“I love you,” you giggled, breathless and still flushed, messy and beautiful in the shitty gym lighting. “I love you, Diego Hargreeves.”

His heart didn’t break. It didn’t even crack. Diego instead felt the slight twinge as the organ settled in his chest, content and buzzing with the panted cry. The breaklines of before didn’t feel so harsh, mended by your shiny eyes and swollen lips that he wanted to stare at until the end of his days. For once, his heart actually felt whole.

“I love you too,” Diego mumbled, smiling like a little kid. The muscles in his face, rusted over with age and disuse, groaned at the extreme grin but he kept it on anyways, smiling down at you with the strangest feeling of happiness coursing through his body. “A lot.”

And you beamed. “Have I ever told you, your eyes look like, a thousand times prettier when you smile?”

A/N: WHY DO I KEEP WRITING ALCOHOL BASED IDIOTS TO LOVERS FICS?? Have I any other creative thoughts?? Does this make me seem like that’s all I think about?? These are the thoughts that now run through my mind as I rush to post this...and truthfully, I don’t have an answer. I swear I’m a little more creative! I just...have a hankering for these things. Oops.

I wrote this weirdly super super fast and it’s super nonsensical, especially the middle bits? But I weirdly like it. I’m not sure. The plot is a ~little~ wonky but I’m rolling with it!

I’m open to make more stuff on here, I’ve gotten quite bad at it but I like writing these things as practice pieces. So, if you want to read more, requests are open and you can find a list of prompts (if you want them) in my masterlist. I’m putting out an updated list later on in the month, but I also am just open to have any sorts of requests. xx

(also as always - if you enjoyed and you want more, follow, reblog, and consider buying me a kofi! linked in my bio bc tumblr doesn’t like direct links on posts, please check it out if you’re feeling generous because I’m recently unemployed and any bit helps. but sharing this post and showing others the work is appreciated a great deal and i love you if you do!)

[nonbinaryeye]

Forsaken Scholar and Beholding Sailor

Written for @lonelyeyesweek

Day 6 - Entity Swap

One of them spends most of the year travelling all around the world seeing all its wonders. The other one stays locked in the Institute. It is not that hard to guess which one of them serves to the Eye and which one serves the Lonely…

Read on AO3

…

Peter Lukas loves traveling around the world with his ship. What could be better and more fitting for a servant of the Eye than to sail through the seas as he pleases,  discovering all the hidden secrets of the most forgotten places on the Earth, gaining forgotten Knowledge and Seeing all the wonders the world has to offer with his own Eyes. And the most importantly of course – also feeding his patron with different flavours of the worries, fears and traumas people are experiencing in the different countries.

As amazing as it is to cross over the ocean all the way there and back, one of his favourite places is still the city of London. It is not because the sight of the city would be that amazing or wonderful – far from it. However it is one of the most monitored cities in the world and how could the soul of a Beholder not appreciate that? Knowledge that he cannot even cross a street without dozens of cameras – from ATM, from nearby stores, the traffic ones– turning its Eye on him, it's truly delightful!

It is strange though how he chose from all the places to build his Institute here as well. True, in two hundred years London certainly changed a lot but it was hardly quiet, peaceful or abandoned back then. As always Peter is curious about his intention and as always he sees it as one more reason to not to tell him anything.

Whistling he approaches the Magnus Institute – quite a big building in the middle of the city – which you could somehow still easily miss if you did not know exactly where to look for it. He opens the door with an elbow as both his hands are preoccupied carrying a big box containing few things he picked up on his travels.

Peter never felt the particular need to hoard the artefacts. He is the servant of the Eye. The point is therefore to See to witness everything with his own Eyes. There is no need for that. Though lately he always makes sure to grab a few interesting or possibly cursed objects. It would be rude to show up after such a long time without appropriate gifts.

“Hello, I am here to see my husband!” he announces loudly to the receptionist. She winces and looks around in fear that someone will blame her for such a loud visitor. As always there is still no one around.

“I… uhm… who?” she hesitantly turns back at Peter who is cheerfully smiling.

“You know, James-… no, I think it is Elias now… Elias Butcher? Boucher? Budget? I don’t know why he always has to pick the worst names.”

“Uh… do you mean… Elias Bouchard?”

“Yes! That sounds about right… even though… are you sure it is not Butcher?” Peter grins while the woman on the reception desk continues staring at him in disbelief.

“I didn’t know Mr Bouchard is married.”

“Oh, you didn’t? That is very unfortunate for you then. He hates when people know too much about him.”

“What you mean by it… uh… I- I will announce to you…”

“It is alright! I will find my way. See you around.”

Peter winks at her since his hands are still full and whistling again he turns around leaving a mildly confused, mildly terrified woman behind.

The Institute is a maze. Full of corridors leading in the same direction and full of others leading to dead ends. Full of offices which seemed way too big for just one person but too small to fit there two. Full of empty rooms or doors with no room behind them. One could easily get lost there. Even a basic task might take hours considering how far away all seems all the basic utilities form each other.

What luck that Peter Knows the way very well and in a couple of minutes through a few shortcuts he stands in front of the door leading to the office of the Head of the institute. Or at least he thinks these are the doors… They all look exactly the same and of course that there is no sign, no plate with name trying to give any guest any sense of space.

He kicks in the door a few times and when he hears nothing he tries to open it again with his elbows. To his surprise the door is not even locked!

“Hello Jonah!” Peter cheerfully greets the man who is frowning at some documents on his desk. On the first look he seemed to be the least remarkable person that ever lived – he is of rather small posture, dressed in a boring grey suit matching the colour of his eyes and hair that lost the bright ginger colour quite some time ago. But one cannot always trust the first impression as he also appears to be in his forties and claims to be named Elias Bouchard.

From all the people Peter ever met, Jonah Magnus is the most fascinating and charming one. It has taken Peter a while to get through his dull and cold demeanour but once he has he could no longer unsee his sharp wits and occasionally even a bit nicer and sweeter side.

“You are here already? Haven’t you left like yesterday?” Jonah does not even look up and Peter cannot help himself but smile over the familiarity of his act.

“It has been three whole months! Have you not missed me, oh fog around my lighthouse, cliffs around my port, barnacle-”

“No for a fact I was very happy without you and your ridiculous names of endorsement,” he sighs dramatically but corners of his mouth twitch a bit upwards.

“I did miss you. I was writing you that on the postcards.”

“Yes I know. I could not miss the overflowing mailbox. Once again I beg you not to send me anymore of them. I don’t even know where to put them…”

“Have you not say the last time you are throwing them all away?” It is always cute to see Jonah’s pale skin to colour with blush.

“Yes! Yes I am. That is what I meant. My bin is overflowing with them.”

“Feel free to throw them away, I will send you new ones!”

“That is exactly what I beg you not to do!”

Peter decides not to tease Jonah any longer; he is starting to look a bit exasperated and he knows better than to push his buttons too much. One time when Peter crossed the limit of Jonah’s tolerance, the servant of the Lonely filled the office with fog. It took the servant of the Eye a few minutes to get out and when he did he found himself in front of the Institute with doors locked. He would rather not repeat that. And so to offer peace Peter finally puts the box down on the desk. By the sound it makes it is clear that it is much heavier that one might guess by the ease with which the sailor has carried it.

“I am bringing you gifts!”

Jonah looks unimpressed. “I am not interested. Please could you find some other place to throw all your useless crap in than my institute?”

“I thought your institute is supposed to research the supernatural? I am bringing you cursed and priceless artefacts to study and all I ask in return is your love. Should you not be more grateful?”

“First of all your price is too high. Plus I have plenty of things to study for decades since you must bring me something every time…”

Saying that the institute’s approach to supernatural research is specific or interesting would be an understatement. As far as Peter knows Jonah Magnus started the Institute way back in 1818 shortly after learning about the Fears. Jonah pretended he was only interested in studying the supernatural even though he already had a scheme in mind regarding how to serve his chosen patron. He decided to lure in scholars with the promise of achieving great discoveries. Then he made sure to make their life just a lonely misery with them sacrificing their life in pointless study isolated from society.

Peter also knows Jonah was somehow acquainted with his ancestor Mordechai Lukas, who decided to sponsor his project in exchange of sharing all the knowledge and discoveries the institute will create as a byproduct of making scholars lonely. The deal lasts till now and that is how he and Jonah met at first… But that is all Peter knows about his past as Jonah is not usually very talkative concerning his past.

Forsaken has granted him a long and lonely life to serve its cause. Though lately Peter is doing his best to sometimes interrupt the lonely part of it… He changes name from time to time for legal reasons. Not that it is even necessary as no one ever looks into the institute and its matters way too closely. And if someone really even notices its existence and starts asking way too many questions it usually only leads to their mysterious disappearance.

“You can always hire more people to sort it out? I sometimes doubt you really have any employees at all. I rarely run into anyone…”

“That is exactly the point. I do not really want to risk they could meet. Now regarding your gift…”

“Ah well as much as it pains me if you do not truly want it…” Peter put on a theatrical look of tragedy and grabs the box again. Jonah raises his hand to stop him. Their fingers brush and he is as cold as ever.

“It is fine… since you have already brought it here. Just put it in the artefact storage on your way out. Someone will get to it eventually.”

Peter lets go of the box again rather grabbing Jonah’s hands into his leaning closer over the desk. Jonah is still doing his best to look unbothered but when Peter kisses his hands he cannot help himself but smile over the silly behaviour of his partner.

“We can always get a divorce if you despise my affection so much, my beloved husband.” Peter gently strokes the golden ring on Jonah’s finger.

“No need. Time spent together with you is so short when you live as long as I do that it hardly matters anyway.”

“It hardly matters to you. It still matters to me, my dear Jonah.”

“I could not care less, Peter,” Jonah grabs his collar and finally pulls him into a kiss.

[closer-stars]

Gut Feeling (9)

Member: San Genre: Fluff, Comfort Word Count: 9k Requested: Yes Content: the stuff people have been waiting for. food. boys being boys (affectionate). life being a butt. relationships are tricky. the turns have tabled. just stuff i owe you all after the pain that is called Slow Burn Note: I’m so sorry this took so long. A lot happened in between (covid scare at home if anything) in my life ahah. :( . writer’s block. trying to tie some loose strings while having something to close off for the last chapter. we’re nearly done! Proof read!. (also ehe, look forward to another fic i’ve been making maybe? ; w;)

Network: @ateezlovenet

Tag list: @barsformars @yeotlny @seoultraveller @shinyddeonghwa @frankenstein852 @miniyeo @hwaberrykiwi @jeongyunhoed 

Part 8

Blood runs loudly in his ears that for a brief moment he thought he was hearing things. 

“Can we take it slow?” It’s not really a question for you but somehow you managed to make it sound like such. 

“Y-you’re really giving me a chance?” In his case, it really is a question phrased and sounding like such. 

The way he looks, cheeks flushed in various warm shades, hands pinned under his thighs-- in all honesty, he looked like a nervous high school boy. It was adorable. “Why else would I ask if we can take it slow..” You point out gently, trying to chuckle a little lightly to gently rid the tension in the room.

Relationships have always been tricky. 

Words stumble out of his mouth with the ease of a duckling who doesn’t know how to swim. “Yeah! I, uh, I mean, yeah, we can take it slow.” San can keep his composure together on the stage despite wardrobe malfunctions or falling microphone packs but put him face to face with someone who has his heart and he’s fumbling. “I don’t want to hurt you.” He confesses. He doesn’t want to commit the same mistake. Not again. 

His words soften your features. You can’t blame him. The road the two of you walked on was a tricky one. You’re a little hopeful that this time it won’t be as troublesome as it was in the past. “I think,” you start. It’s easy to miss the hesitance the flashes behind his eyes. “I think, I trust you enough to know that you won’t hurt me intentionally.” You say carefully. There are things you’ve learned in your years without him that made you who you are, now you’re willing to learn a little more with him by your side. 

His gaze on you is intense, studying your features closely as he hopes that you aren’t joking. It takes a moment for him to realize that you’re sincere. You’ve never joked about relationships with the members or with anyone. You’re taking the risk, what kind of sign was he looking for still? His lips curve upwards slowly, until his dimples show. “Yeah, I’d like that.” 

It’s obvious how the weight on both your shoulders has been lifted at his answer. You can’t help but giggle at the sight of how happy he looks. The happy moment is cut by the growling of his stomach. Two pairs of eyes look at his stomach but only one pair of ears heat up upon realizing what had just happened. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat.” You say without missing a beat. “I’m not good like Wooyoung though when it comes to cooking meat.” You warn as you pull him up to bring with you to the kitchen. 

“The food you cook in barbeque restaurants says otherwise though.” He points out, truthfully, he’s at the point of hunger where he’ll eat anything. 

The face you make at his words makes him giggle. It was fun teasing you. “San, those meats were marinated in their sauces.. All I had to do was put it on some hot surface to make it edible.” As you go through your pantry, you ask him if he’s okay with seafood. Of course, this was met with enthusiasm. 

That’s how the rest of the night goes, just San telling you how the commercial filming went. He recounts how tired he is of the drink he had to sip over the day-- not that he’ll ever get tired of the drink itself but just for today he didn’t want anything to do with it. Along with the usual discomforts of filming, he retells the antics the members do that haven’t changed over the years.  It hasn’t quite set in yet that the two of you are now officially together, if anything, it still feels like the two of you are still just friends only with reciprocated feelings. 

It’s not hard to notice how tired San feels now that he’s clean and full (in stomach and heart), that you can’t help the smile growing on your features as you watch him stifle a yawn. “Go get ready for bed, your mattress is already ready.” You say, shooing him to get his needed rest. 

“No, I want to help clean.” He mumbles as he stands up, used utensils and dishes in hands. While you were packing away the leftovers, he already was one step ahead of you-- cleaning them already. He just knows where everything is by now. You also know how stubborn he is by now, so you let him. As thanks, you give him a quick hug. Just as you were about to pull away to let him finish, he makes an indignant sound. “Stay like this, please? I like your hugs.” 

“As long as you wash them thoroughly.” You murmur. 

---------

The two of you are on your own beds, until now San’s a little dismayed that Lily has to sleep in another room. It was to curb her neediness, you’ve told him in the past, but still. He didn’t mind having a little fur friend next to him while he sleeps. That is, if he could actually sleep. 

It’s been an hour since his back hit the mattress to call it a day. To his right was you, sound asleep with half your face covered by the blanket. He was a little envious of how you could sleep without any sort of habit like him. Unfortunately for him, he forgot to bring something to hug to sleep so he’s left alone wide awake with his thoughts. The conversation replays in his mind, picturing how you looked at him, he wonders too how he looked earlier. This wasn’t a dream was it? He doesn’t know why he keeps doubting everything. A part of him thinks he doesn’t deserve this, knowing how he was in the past. Another part of him has to remind himself that he’s grown from it. Should he have stayed for the night? He really needs advice from his members right now. But if he didn’t stay for the night then the two of you wouldn’t have-- 

“Still awake?” 

The soft voice startles him from his thoughts, his head whipping to the source. But, you look asleep so who’s speaking? 

“Can’t sleep, huh? Did you forget to bring something to hug?” The voice was from you despite your closed eyes. He gazes at you in relief, thankful that he wasn’t being fooled by some supernatural being. 

“Go back to sleep, I’ll be able to sleep soon.” He tells you softly once he catches the rasp in your sleep ridden voice. 

You raise your arm, inviting him over to your bed. “Come here. I know you by now.” 

Even in the dark, his eyes widen at your invitation. “I thought you wanted to take things slow.” San returns, staring at your open arms before looking at your features, your eyes now open. Who knew they could sparkle even in the dark?

“I do. I also do know that you’re very cranky when you don’t get a minimum of three hours of decent sleep.” At your words, he checks the time, blinding himself at the sudden brightness of his phone. 4AM. He shifts carefully into your arms. Good god, you’re so warm and comfortable. It takes him a while to wrap his arms around you. By the time his body melts with yours, and how his arm sinks onto your side, you’ve already fallen asleep.

Sunlight hits your eyes and you try to cover your eyes from the disruption, only to gently hit your forehead against something. That’s what gets you to open your eyes. A blue shirt? You shift in alarm to look up at who was right next to you. Oh right, you let San sleep with you on your bed. This is the first time you see him so vulnerable up close. His lashes just barely brush against his skin, his mouth slightly ajar as he snores softly. A small part of you wishes to have him like this a little longer, that even if you spoi yourself with a few moments of just gazing at his sleeping form, the day has to start. “San..” you murmur, shaking him gently. 

No response. The man continues to sleep on, with no plans of letting you move out of his hold. No wonder he sleeps with a plush toy or pillow in his arms.

“San.” You say a little louder. “It’s 7AM. You have a schedule..” You remind him, patting his arm gently. His groan lets you know he’s awake much to his distaste, even going as far as covering his eyes with his forearm, to block any sunlight from forcing him up. “Get up please?” You ask him nicely, though your hand proceeds to squish his cheeks, this time you let your phone blare your alarm. “I’ll cook you some breakfast as long as you get up and get ready for your schedules.” His arms tighten just a little around you, begging for a few more minutes through a raspy whine. San, come on.” You plead gently, patting his cheek lightly to get his arms to loosen up. Eventually he does, and you catch up on the lost time to prepare food and prepare yourself up for the day. 

“Only because your alarm’s Illusion.” 

--------

Breakfast goes by smoothly once San wakes up, coffee and a decent meal putting him in a better mood. You wonder when did he become a little better with the mornings but that’s another story for another time. The two of you eat quietly, the TV faintly plays the morning programs. 

“Ah, right..” You speak up after a moment. “Manager Yoon’s going to be the one to pick you up.” At least that means San doesn’t have to rush anymore when it comes to preparing for the day. That also means he’s the last to be made up for today’s guestings in the nightly radio. 

The man stifles a yawn, his body still warming up to the mere fact he’s awake in the morning. “That’s good. What time is he coming here?” He asks as he looks at his phone. “Nevermind, half an hour.” He quickly adds as he sees the message. 

This also means he would have to tell the boys and the managers of his relationship status now. “Is it alright if I tell the boys about us?” He asks, remembering the conversation he had with the members in the past. He gave it a shot now, and it was successful. “Of course, I won’t say anything if you don’t want to.” It was through the months of catching up that he realized just how private you are with your own life. 

You don’t mind, so you give him the go signal. “Yeah, if you have to tell the company too that’s alright. I just don’t want to go public with the relationship at least for now.” You trust San yes, but can you trust the fans? A lot has changed between the two of you but surely more so for the fans they cater to. 

He nods, a little giddy to tell the boys already that the two of you are now a thing. He sees the food that’s still on the table and feels a little bummed that he won’t be able to eat this at the end of the day. 

“Go get ready, your manager’s going to be here any time now.” You stand up as you finish your own meal.

He places his own plate by the sink as a thought flashes in his mind. He wonders how nice it would be to live with you, instead of just constant sleepovers. These thoughts were better saved for another time, for now, he opts to press a quick kiss on your temple. “Thanks, babe.���

---------

The trip to the hair salon was a little rowdy to put it simply. After San dropped the news on the three members and Manager Yoon, the questions just kept going. The questions were just the same thing though, just coming from two sources: Wooyoung and Yunho. Seonghwa on the other hand was watching the entire scene unfold with relief and amusement. It was nice to see San smile this bright and giddy again. 

San did tell the entire conversation to the best that he can to the three. Manager Yoon smiling to himself as well as he listens to him. “About time.” Yunho teases as he hits San’s shoulders over and over. 

“As much as I’m happy for you, I’m bummed I won’t get to see Hongjoong drunk.” Wooyoung says with a snicker. San takes no offense, admittedly he also wanted to see Hongjoong drunk too. Maybe some other time. 

“I’ll tell the other members in the dorm. I promised them that it would only be the members and managers.” San immediately follows it up with the promise. He trusts his members, he really does but the extra precaution was needed especially with you. As much as he wants to tell the members now, it’ll have to wait when they’re back in the privacy of their dorms. For now, they had to focus on their schedules for the next few days. 

--------

The other members noticed that San was a little happier than usual even at such an early hour. Yeosang throws an inquisitive look at Wooyoung, hoping for an answer to the strange behavior. The latter says nothing but gives his friend a patient smile. Even as San tries to contain his relief for you, there’s the feeling of quiet content on his shoulders. 

The cameras start rolling, and the smiles start showing. It’s nice to see the fans again after so long. New and familiar faces are in front of them, it was an odd feeling to see people this close again. The cheers that erupt after greeting them puts a rush of adrenaline into their veins. Though there was a glass wall that separates them, the djs and the fans, it wasn’t a big deal. Things were safe now. They can go out and have a small fan meeting with the fans afterwards.

The radio show goes smoothly: a few TMIs of their daily life and comeback preparations. Some skits were done for those listening in along with a short QnA with their new songs playing in between. As much as San wanted to check his phone during the break, there were fans just outside that could look at his phone just because he knows you usually message around this time. Instead, he looks out the window, greeting the fans and waving to the cameras. He’s grateful for the fans who have stayed through the thick and thin. In a sense, both sides have seen each other grow through life’s milestones. He wonders how many of them are in a relationship as well and the thought unknowingly makes him smile softly at the fans. 

It’s Wooyoung’s insistent poking and tickling that gets him out of his thoughts, just in time for the show to continue. Before the show ends, they’re told to sing their latest song. In typical fashion, they sing their hearts out even if this is just a radio show, even if their dancing won’t be caught on camera, they still do the choreography in their seats. 

For the ending of the show, they go to where the fans are waiting, waving to them as the curtains of the venue slowly go down. It takes a while for the curtains to go down but the boys make the most with a few finger hearts, waves, and kisses to fans who have been waiting for hours for them. Now that the radio show has ended, San was able to comfortably complain and retaliate Wooyoung’s teasing and poking earlier. 

“Don’t get mad at me. You really looked like you were out of it!” Wooyoung claims as he squeaks over the tickling that he can’t escape from. Thanks Jongho. 

It’s not like San can deny that he was busy in his own head but he wasn’t going to confirm it outright here. 

Hongjoong’s return with their new album that they signed in the hair salon managed to break the bickering. It was their way of thanking the DJ for being invited onto his show, along with the hopes of being invited again in the future. With all the niceties and other gratitudes out of the way, it was time to head home. 

---------

It’s when everyone’s finally at home that the air was buzzing with curiosity. It’s rare to have San be that warm in the mornings. Well he’s gotten better with the mornings, that was a fact but there was some sort of warmth that was oozing out of San today. He knows this too or at least, he can sense that there’s something in the air with his members. 

“San, did something happen?” Hongjoong asks, now that they’re complete again for their weekly catch up. The other four were still in the dark about what had happened, the three that do know are just smiling at him. The smiles though are clearly in different stages. 

Yeosang, despite his curiosity to know what happened, can’t help but feel a little bit of alarm at the sight of how different the smiles were on Seonghwa’s, Yunho’s and Wooyoung’s faces. “San did something really smart or really dumb.” He blurts out, much to Mingi’s alarm. 

This makes the mentioned male wince at how true it sounds. He did do a lot of dumb stuff behind the camera so he couldn’t blame Yeosang for that. “Depends on how you guys take it though…” San speaks up now that everyone’s eyes are on him. His hand reaches behind his neck, rubbing it to ease his nerves. After a deep breath, he tells them that you and him are now dating, officially. The room bursts into celebration after it sinks in: Yunho and Mingi tackling the poor guy to the floor, Jongho and Seonghwa have bursted into song-- a popular OST from a recent drama they’re watching, Hongjoong says nothing but smiles in relief at his member. Thank god it ends on a good note. Truly, his kids are growing up. 

“Wooyoung looks bummed.” Yeosang points out, though with no concern after knowing the reason. It gets everyone to look at him, everyone but San who feared the worst. 

“Nah, I’m happy for our Sannie here.” Wooyoung explains, putting emphasis on his nickname the same way you would for him. “This just means, Hongjoong-hyung and I won’t be able to drink ten shots.” 

It’s only then that Hongjoong bursts into cheer, going as far as to tease him much to Wooyoung’s fake annoyance.

San looks at the entire room, eyes slightly wide with shock. “So you guys are okay with it? The two of us dating?” Even to him, the mere fact he’s dating someone he’s had feelings for so long feels unreal. 

Hongjoong shakes his head, bottom lip out in thought. “No? Why would we have an issue with it? You’ve been in love with them for so long and growing through it and now the two of you are together. Why would we be mad about this? San, we’re happy.” He stops for a moment. “Do you have plans of telling the company?”

San tilts his head in thought this time. “I’m still thinking if I should. I mean, they’ve given me the go signal if I want to tell the company but they’d rather I don’t go public with the dating.” He recounts the conversation. Hell, even his fellow friends in the other groups didn’t go public with their dating. For now, he’ll stick to being private about your relationship. “Give me two months before telling the company maybe?” 

“Six?” 

He looks at Seonghwa, a little surprised by the input. “Really?”

“Or you know,” butts in Yunho. “Just tell the company when you’re ready.” 

“Can we at least meet up with them again soon?” Mingi asks now that it seems settled. “I miss seeing them too.” He admits, a dusting of embarrassment over his cheeks. 

Now that Mingi mentioned it, it’s been quite a while since all of you met up again. While he did have you all to himself for the most part, their hectic schedules have made it hard for the nine of you to meet for dinner. “I can send them a message, ask their schedule then we can plan it from there.” San suggests.

Seeing the younger yawn through their words, Hongjoong decides to end the catch up session there. “I guess we can end it here then. Everyone’s tired and we got a full schedule for the next three days.” 

It goes without saying that if there’s a full schedule then San won’t be able to sleep over until the end. For the most part, he manages not being able to see you on the daily. He’s used to it. It’s a little different now that the two of you are dating, he wants to see you more often but work comes first. The text messages will do for now. 

---------

The last schedule finally ends and already the members can feel the buzz in his body to see you again. Seonghwa snickers at the scene in front of him. A wide eyed San that’s about to bounce on the balls of his feet. If it weren’t for it being seen as rude, he would be bouncing to leave the building. While the younger’s too busy in his own thoughts and excitement, Seonghwa sneaks a video to send to you. 

[ Seonghwa to You ] excited_san.vid

[ Seonghwa to You ] be prepared for tonight

[ Seonghwa to You ] he was so exhausted the past few days.

[ Seonghwa to You ] he’s gonna be clingy

[ Seonghwa to You ] don’t say i didn’t warn you.

“Did you just send them a video of San?” asks Wooyoung under his breath to not be caught by San. All they were waiting for was the director in order to say properly bid goodbye after the long shoot. At his question, Seonghwa shows Wooyoung the video.  “Send it to me, hyung. I want to have something to use for his birthday.” The younger begs. 

“Just shoot him now. He’s swaying on his feet.” Seonghwa points out. True enough, San couldn’t keep still now. To others, he just seemed restless, aching to be in the comfort of his own bed. But the members know better, he’s excited to come home to you. 

[ You to Seonghwa ] I’m not surprised. 

[ You to Seonghwa ] I already have food ready in case he skips on dinner again.

[ You to Seonghwa ] laughing_apeach.emoji

Seonghwa keeps his phone immediately once the director comes in. Proper niceties were exchanged along with a gift of a signed album. Now that was done, San lets out a relieved exhale as they leave the premises. 

“Sleeping over at their place again?” Seonghwa teases his younger member. “Don’t forget to ask for their schedule for a dinner with us too.” He reminds lightly at the sight of San’s red cheeks. 

“Of course! Ah, hyung, what do you take me for?” San complains lightheartedly as they make their way to the car. 

“A lovesick puppy.” Seonghwa returns without missing a beat and it’s enough to make San hide his face behind his hands. While San tries to calm down from such a straightforward answer, Seonghwa already sends San a reminder to his kakao. “There, if you still forget, you’re cleaning the bathroom for a week.” 

The doorbell rings and you immediately make your way to the door. Lily following by your feet, the little one already knowing who it was by the door. By the time you unlock your door, you see San now in his casual get up, smiling warmly at you. “Hey.” San says simply, his arms slightly raised, a shy request for a hug to which you grant once he steps inside your home. 

--------

The familiar scent of your shampoo and your clothes relaxes his strained body after a strenuous week. You can feel him practically melt in your arms. “Hey, hey, don’t fall asleep like this. I’m not strong enough to carry you to bed!” The way your voice rose in concern and alarm made San giggle lightly against your neck. Not wanting to scare you any further, he peels himself off you. 

He spots your Lily looking up at him, tail swishing about in warm welcome to his return. Once they’re given the chance to head home for a break, he’ll get to see Byeol again. Once he sets his things down by your couch, Lily loops herself around his legs. “Nice to see you too~” he coos softly as he carefully picks her up in his arms. 

As he busies himself with your feline companion, “Have you eaten?” You ask from the kitchen. At least you don’t have to worry about what he likes to eat. 

“Not yet…” He confesses, a little shyly as he approaches the kitchen, gently setting Lily down on the ground. “What’s for dinner?” He asks, as he looks for how else can he help around your place. 

“Beef, shrimp and some tteokbokki I cooked yesterday.” The table was already set up. You lean against the counter as you wait for the microwave to finish heating up the last of the meal you prepared for him. Silence shortly falls over the two of you, save for the microwave whirring in the background. It’s hard not to spot how hungry San looks at the sight of the food in front of him that it makes you chuckle lightly. “You can eat already, San. I’m just heating up the tteokbokki.” 

The microwave beeps as it finishes heating the last meal. Already San has started to eat the beef first and you let him eat in peace, god knows how long it has been since his last meal. He notices you watching him with soft eyes and again he feels his ears heat up. He asks you a question that you can’t quite decipher with the food in his mouth. “Eat first, before you ask again.” You reassure, once he tries to rush through his food. 

You had a point so he chews slowly this time, making sure to not choke in the process before speaking up again. “How was your day?” He asks, this time a little clearer, before taking another spoonful of what looked like his 2nd serving of rice. 

Well, you entertain him with your day: meetings, pre-production preparations, scouting of locations. It’s the same old day for you but you don’t mind. You’re always on the move even at the odd hours of the night sometimes. He sees it in your smile, despite the dark circles under your eyes from sleepless nights, he sees how fulfilled you are with your work. It’s the same feeling he has with his. It’s through you that he learned how to be a better artist in front of the camera and with the staff. It’s also because of you that Wooyoung’s video editing skills got better but that’s another story. 

So you return the question to him, wondering how he’s been for the past few days. Honestly, you tune in to his shows whenever you can, sometimes even just having it as background noise as you work on your own at home. 

He takes your question as his cue to let his body digest the food he practically inhaled. He leans back against the chair, trying to recall the blur of the past few days. To a degree, he does. Truthfully, the days melt into each other when it comes to work. The only way he knows that time has passed is through the habits the members have, along with your text messages. It’s not that he doesn’t care for himself but his life as an artist is always fast paced that even someone as seasoned as him still has trouble with telling the days apart. Despite that, he’s able to remember enough to give you a bit of story, though he ends it with a bashful confession of how the days just blur into each other sometimes. Your reassurance relieves him even if it’s a bit. It’s a little worrisome that he confuses the days when he works, he admits. 

When he realizes that he’s already full from the food, he lets out a content sigh. “Thank you for the meal, really.” He says, already feeling sleepy from how sated he feels. 

“Hey don’t fall asleep on me!” You whine as you nudge his calf under the table. “Help me put these away first!” It takes him awhile to regain his surroundings, food coma already coming in fast for him. Fortunately, he manages to get himself out of his lazy state to help you. 

Once all of that was over, the two of you lounge by the couch, letting the tv play whatever movie was playing. It’s only when the two of you are in your sleepwear that the exhaustion sets in. 

Your head finds comfort leaning against his arm. The two of you weren’t really paying attention to the movie, it was just there for white noise. Both of you were just basking in each other’s presence-- even if it meant Lily pads back and forth on the couch behind you. The two of you watch the feline bolt across the room, chasing after its own toys. As Lily bounces off, running after a ball, San takes a peek at you. “I know that look.” He says softly, careful to not startle you. “Wanna talk about what’s in your head?” He offers. 

Truthfully, he also had some thoughts in his head. Though, he still has trouble phrasing them out loud, he’d rather listen to you first. Maybe from there he’d get answers or relief from your thoughts as well. 

Your gaze has fallen from Lily running around to your hand just brushing against his and it’s when San speaks up softly that you snap out of your daze. “Hm?” You hum in response. “Nothing serious.” You reassure. “Just thinking of how we’ve become.” You add. How do you tell San the thoughts in your tangled head? There’s a lot of thoughts in there, verbalizing these thoughts still aren’t your forte. 

“Oh?” He replies, hoping to hear more of your thoughts. As much as he is talkative, taking the role of the ears was something he appreciates just as much. “Like how?” He asks, his palm upturned as an open invitation for you to hold his hand.

It takes a few moments for you to accept the invitation as you ended up just keeping your gaze on his open hand. “It’s just… I feel happy with you.” It’s not the answer he expected but he listens. “Not saying that I wasn’t happy without you, I felt happy and fulfilled on my own. I think,” You stop often, trying to find the right words. “There’s something about us now dating that makes my heart race.” 

“Is it a good kind?” San asks, leaning forward and shifting to face you properly. 

It’s hard to miss how intense his gaze can be despite the soft look in his eyes that it makes you look down at your hands that brush against each other. “Yeah, I like the feeling so far.” You admit. It’s a new feeling, the best way you can describe it is how you get so excited and nervous for the first day of doing something you love. Only instead of doing something, it’s knowing you have someone willing to stay by your side. 

It’s such a new feeling and you’re not sure of how to treasure it properly. 

 like, we went from these two awkward adults making ends meet with their jobs, still trying to get used to the fact we’re both in our early twenties.” The mention of the age makes him think back to those years. It feels a little weird to have started out like that to end up becoming the man he is today. He thinks back to his members, seeing each other grow and become their own individual selves outside the group. Eventually the thoughts go to you, the one sitting next to him with their arm looped around his. “Come to think of it, San. I did a lot of stupid things too back then… in hindsight, I could’ve reacted better and done things a little differently and maybe neither of us would’ve gone through such things but…” A soft sigh leaves your lips. “That’s life. We’ve learned from it from the looks of things.” 

Once you finish your thought, San’s features soften up. It’s not that he’s been wanting some kind of apology for how you acted, he’s moved past that by now. He’s been in good terms with you now but he still wonders just how vivid your thoughts are. After you spill your thoughts, he leans over to brush his lips against your temple. He doesn’t know why he does so but it just felt like he should. Having you lean into his affection was a thrill he doesn’t see himself getting tired of, it leaves such a warm feeling in his chest that he couldn’t help but pull you closer. “What has happened brought us to where we are now, so please, don’t beat yourself up for what happened.” He murmurs softly, pulling away to make you look at him in the eye. 

The two of you were so close. So painfully close, that one could just reach out a little and your lips could touch. No one makes a move though. Instead, the two of you look at each other, quiet content in the air. San closes the gap between the two of you by leaning his forehead gently against yours, giggling softly. 

“What?” You mumbled, slight confusion in your voice. The lack of distance now had your heart racing, the faint scent of his shampoo already had your head spinning. 

“Nothing,” he just giggles and quickly presses a kiss on your forehead. “The movie’s already finished. We barely even paid attention.” Already, the screen’s rolling credits along with bloopers in between. He glances at the time. It’s a habit of his when he’s had a long day. 

“Let’s go to sleep?” You offer, after he puts his phone down. He flashes a small smile. “What?” 

“I don’t have anything tomorrow, so I’ll be able to catch up on sleep.” He says with pride. A small part of you tightens in pain, you have a full day tomorrow. 

“Crap, I got a full day tomorrow. I can buy us fried chicken and maybe some soju to make up for it.” You explain. He looks at you and guilt shines in your eyes to which he shakes his head.

He squishes your cheeks together, producing a surprised yelp from you. “Babe,” he starts. “It’s okay, that’s work. You have to deal with me working crazy hours day in and day out, I don’t mind.” He explains. The way your lips pucker up makes him laugh. “At least bring home some mint choco ice cream too!” A thought of how your lips would feel against his passes his head. 

On the other hand, you felt your heart skip as he called you ‘Babe’. Maybe you can call him something similar down the line. His words bring you reassurance, managing to smile after he lets go of your cheeks. “I’ll buy you a big serving.” You promise as you stand up, stretching your now sleeping legs. San raises his arms to you, looking like a baby asking to be carried. With your utmost strength, you pull him to his feet. 

To be honest, ever since he slept with you in the same bed, it’s been a little weird to sleep on your own. He says hugging you makes him sleep better, but you can’t deny that sleeping in his arms does feel nice. Now that you’re settled under the blankets, he pulls you flush against his chest. “You sure it won’t get too hot for you like this?” You ask him once you make sure your alarm is ready for tomorrow. 

“Nope. I’ll be fine. You need to get your sleep. Do I need to sing you a lullaby?” 

You were thankful he couldn’t feel how hot your cheeks have become at such an offer. Maybe in the near future. Instead of saying anything, you just lace your fingers with his that were around your waist. “Go to sleep, Sannie. You got chicken, soju and ice cream waiting for you tomorrow.” Just as you were about to drift to sleep, you feel his nose nuzzle lightly against your neck. The last thing you feel before you fall asleep is his smile against your skin. 

--------

You wake up to your phone buzzing to start the new day. Something in you tells you staying at home is better but you press on. As much as sleeping in with San is nice, you need to earn money. 

A soft yawn slips from your lips, and you stretch just a little. It’s a little tricky to wake your body up when San’s warmth practically envelops your entire being. Regardless, you miraculously wriggle yourself free from San’s sleeping figure to get ready for the day ahead of you.   

You get ready for the day quietly, making sure to not make too much noise. Carefully, you manage to make yourself something filling and quick to eat on the way. Of course, knowing how late San wakes up on off days: you put his share in the fridge. A quick note is placed on the fridge, just something to let him know there’s some food for him if he doesn’t want to order take out. You also make sure to feed Lily as she’s already pacing around expecting food for the day. “Don’t disturb Sannie okay?” 

Before you leave, you press a quick kiss on his temple-- it was the only spot you could see as he practically buried himself in your blankets. How lucky. With that, you’re off to work. 

--------

It’s midday by the time San wakes up. Lily’s already on his chest, meowing at him to wake up. The weight on his chest gets him to his senses quickly as he scrambles for his phone. “What time is it…” He rasps out as the screen momentarily blinds him. 2.00 PM. He’d sleep more but it’s not an option when Lily’s impatient for her lunch. Once Lily knows he isn’t falling back asleep, she hops off him. Her tail swishes about in impatience and hunger. Once he was free, he rolls off the bed with a yawn. Feed her first before doing any of his morning routine. 

He’s wide awake by the time he gets out of the shower. Also, he’s hungry. He looks through his messages as he walks around your apartment. 

[ You to San: 8:00 AM ] hello hello! I made some food that you might want to eat once you wake up!

[ Wooyoung to San: 9:54 AM ] When can we eat with the two of you? :> 

[ Hongjoong to San: 1:45 PM ] We got a photoshoot three days from now. Don’t forget! 

You usually message him around noon to remind him to eat even if he was just in your apartment. But it’s already 2.45PM, he worries for a moment but he tries to chalk it up to you just having a full day. He checks the kitchen and sees the note that you stuck onto the fridge. 

You made rice balls and took some of the left over meat for your breakfast. This means that you made some for him too. He looks into the fridge once more if there’s any other food he could pair with the rice balls. He does: pickled radish, fermented anchovies and some beef with the rice balls. If he still wants more, he can go for take out while waiting for you. 

He spends what’s left of his day watching tv or playing games on his phone, all while entertaining a rather clingy Lily. 

[ San to You ] How are you? 

It’s been a couple of hours since you’ve made any message to him. It’s become the topic on his mind, being battled out by two opposing sides of: you’re probably busy or something’s wrong. There was another possibility that he didn’t consider until now: both. For his peace of mind and hopefully yours, he writes up a message for you.

[ San to You ] Babe, don’t stress about the food! Leave it up to me, just come back into my arms okay? 

[ San to You ] San_Duck.jpg

He looks at the time, he remembers you mentioning that you’ll be back by ten in the evening. That’s roughly five more hours of waiting and lounging about. He treasures the moments of silence and alone time he gets regardless of where he is: they’re a rarity in his field of work. His phone’s barely ringing from anything work related, but it rings when it comes to game invites. Who was he to turn down a match or two with his dear friends? 

For the next hour or two, he manages to entertain himself with a few games, all while Lily finds entertainment in his hoodie’s zipper. The only reason he stops is because Lily was about to pull his hoodie off from her insistent pulling and tossing about. “Alright alright, you’re really just like your owner huh?” He jokes under his breath as he stands up to play with the feline this time. 

In between playing with her, San manages to get some snacks in his system. With only less than three hours left before you arrive home, he orders take out for dinner for the two of you. 

All that’s left now is to wait. 

It’s already eleven. The food’s a little cold now, the ice cream and alcohol are in the fridge. Maybe he should heat it up again? Are you okay? He doesn’t know if he should worry or go out and look for you. Even Lily’s restlessly swishing her tail about by the door. He looks at his phone and your message comes in right on time. 

[ You to San ] Sorry work ended late.

[ You to San ] I couldn’t buy your favorites too.. 

Something definitely happened at work but he won’t ask through text. You’ll tell him anyways. 

[ San to You ] It’s fine! I’ll heat up our food ^^

When he stands up and picks up the food from the table, Lily looks up at him unblinking. “They’ll be late but they’re on their way home.” He replies, a bit of an attempt to reassure himself as well, while heating up the chicken and other meals he bought. 

You arrive at home at nearly midnight. Your bag being dropped somewhere in the hallway. The drop startled both San and Lily. He immediately jumps to his feet and peeks into the hallway, you’re there against the wall, running your fingers through your hair. He notes how you’re trying to pace your breathing. “Babe…?” He calls you softly, worry obvious in his eyes as he takes a careful step forward. “What’s going--” you run into his arms, and slowly, his shirt feels a little damp. A little surprised by the turn of events, he glances at Lily. The feline says nothing but approaches you, gently butting her head against your leg. Even she was worried by the sudden burst of tears. “Hey… let’s sit down, you’ve had a long day.” San ushers gently. He doesn’t make a move until you cry out the initial frustrations. 

He sits down first, letting you sit in between his legs, almost cradling you as you try your utmost best to stop crying. Lily pads over to the both of you, hopping onto the couch to keep an eye on you especially. San doesn’t say anything, letting you cry as much as you can, proving back rubs whenever your body shakes from tears you try to hold on to. 

Whenever his hand’s on your back, the tears keep flowing. No matter how hard you try to use your usual methods to stop crying, it still keeps going. “Need tissue..” you mumble through your sniffles. Already your boyfriend has one in his hand and he wipes your tears first, before attending to your nose. He reassures you to take your time, that you don’t need to tell him if you don’t have the strength to talk about it. Besides the reassurances, he reminds you to eat too. That’s when you realize you’ve been on an empty stomach for a long while now. You shift in his arms just to get some food in your system. 

As the two of you eat, the walls you tried to keep up earlier, come down. You tell him of a horrible meeting that set everyone a week back which could mean a longer delay down the line. It’s not your fault, you say over and over, wanting to believe your own innocence. No matter what you did to avoid this situation, it still happened because of uncooperative talents who decided not to tell anyone of their plans. Yet it fell on you, you were the point person for both sides yet because of their inability to communicate, the brunt of the chaos fell on you. All the pent up stress you kept away from San bursted today after that horrific meeting. The reason you left late was due to all the follow up meetings to rearrange the timeline of projects. The constant frustration and disappointment from everyone and yourself just broke you. As you explain, your voice breaks again that you had to put down the potato wedge. You try to control yourself again. You’ve cried too much. 

San has none of your insistent need to control yourself. He whispers soft praises and words of comfort. “It’s okay.” he would say as he feeds chicken pops to you. “You did everything you can and I’m proud of you still.” He would remind you as he urges you to drink water.  “Let me know who these are and I’ll give them an earful.” He threatens. While it sounds empty to the two of you, he knows just what to do should he know who these were. At one point, the tears continue again and he wonders just how much you’ve tried to keep from him no matter how many times he asks. Your lover sighs a little, pained to see you in such a position but he knows you need to let out all the things you’ve kept inside. He lets you cry it out but he also makes sure to wipe the tears that continue to run down your already tear stained cheeks. He could only imagine just how heavy you feel. “Can you look at me?” San asks gently. It takes a few heart beats but you eventually do. Eyes shining still with tears that have yet to shed, yet you manage to still have that flame in you to keep going. “Today’s one bad day. That’s okay.” he starts, cupping your cheeks because of how often you look away whenever he gets into these moods. He needs you to keep his eyes on him this time, just once. “Tomorrow’s another day. Another beginning. Your co-workers are aware now of how insufferable those talents are. They’ll come to their senses to apologize to you.” A small smile flickers in his serious visage when he hears you laugh a bit at his choice of words. “Also, it’s okay to cry. Don’t hold it in to yourself. Even if we’re both always so busy, you can talk to me or Jiwoo.” A meow comes from behind you and it makes the two of you look at Lily, pacing around the couch. “Of course, Lily’s here as well.” His thumbs run across your cheeks ever so carefully, wiping away the tear stains. “Promise me at least? Anything that bothers you, talk to anyone about it, even me.” 

You lean into his touch, your hands rest over his ever so lightly. At his words, your chest tightens at how worried he is for you. Your eyes close again, breathing slowly. “I will.” You say simply. It doesn’t surprise you anymore when you feel San’s lips flutter over your eyes, your cheeks, then your nose. The ticklish yet comforting feeling causes giggles to bubble out from your lips. Yet you don’t say anything, still so shy by how close he is to you. He doesn’t pull away yet, and you can’t open your eyes just yet. You can feel his gaze on you though and it makes you squirm a little, self conscious and curious of what’s San looking at exactly. His words, barely above a whisper, makes you sit still in between his legs. 

“Can I kiss you?” It didn’t take much for you to understand where he wanted to kiss you. For a moment you bite your bottom lip in thought at such a question. In your exhausted state, his question brings your brain out of the fog enough to make you nod. 

The kiss isn’t like those in dramas. There’s no music that plays in the background, no fireworks. It was just silence in your room and your heart beat in your ears. It’s not like the pop songs that talk of sweet lollipops and chocolate flavored kisses. This tasted of dried tears and take out food but it was familiar. It’s not like the books where they describe just how soft their lover’s lips were. This was a little chapped and rough but it felt so right. The kiss was a little clumsy, noses bumping along the way but it was something that made your day a little better. 

You never thought you could melt under someone’s affections and love. But here you are, feeling a little weak in his hold, wanting more of his lips against yours until either of you pull away for air. 

It takes a moment before the two of you pull away from the kiss. It wasn’t the most ideal situation to do so but it just happened naturally. He wished he could take the pain away from you but that’s not how life works. This was the best thing he could think of to comfort you. You lean against his forehead, a smile so faint, so soft, it reminds him of pillows just before sleep takes him. “Thank you.” You say softly. “Thank you for being with me.” 

You didn’t realize that your hands have slid over to loosely grip his shirt. 

 He wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you closer as he tilts his head just a little, just to kiss the corner of your lips. “Anything for you.” He simply says. There’s relief in his shoulders when he sees how you’ve stopped crying, how the rain clouds in your head have cleared up. Giggles bubble out of your lips, slowly the you that the two of you know comes back. 

“Can I take a shower? I want to be in my pajamas.” You say, slowly regaining your surroundings. You were still rather hungry but you want the comfort of fresh new clothes. 

“Go ahead. I can clean up from here. I’ll see you in bed then?” he asks as the two of you stand up, putting all the bones and other trash in one bag. You press a quick peck on his cheek as thanks, scampering off quickly before you could see the shocked look on his face. It takes him a moment to get back to reality. “Ah, what am I going to do with you..” He asks to no one in particular. He feels Lily’s eyes on him, her ears flicking in what he assumes could be amusement. “What? I’m in love with them.”

--------

The two of you are finally in bed, getting ready to wind down. “What’s your schedule tomorrow? Er, well, today.” He asks as he towel dries your hair. 

“I come in at noon, they said they’ll look through the records as protocol.” You say simply. Now that your head’s clearer, you know that this won’t mean the end of your career with the production house. It could mean some reprimands but it’s not the end of the world for you. 

“Okay good, at least you get some sleep.” He muses, satisfied now with how dry your hair is now. He carefully combs through your locks.

“San If you keep that up, I’ll fall asleep on you like this.” How you managed to say that through a yawn was beyond you. 

“That’s okay, I can carry you.” He says without missing a beat but he stops either way, putting away the towel and comb. “Tell you what, by next week, let’s have dinner with the boys.” 

It’s a good idea. You miss the boys already and you wonder how they’ve been since the shoot. “Sounds like a plan to me. I’ll send you my schedule when we wake up then we can plan it from there?” 

The two of you shift a little in bed and as always, San’s arms finds their home around your waist, pulling you a little closer than usual tonight. “Sleep well, babe.” He murmurs softly against your neck. In return, you squeeze his hand just a bit. 

“You too, Sannie.” Tomorrow’s a new day. As long as you can have him, you can take on anything.

Relationships might be tricky but you’ll make it work.

Part 10

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Another One?!, Part 6

First > Previous > Epilogue

Adrien tensed when he walked into the living room and saw Cass struggling to wipe a red stain (fruit punch, maybe?) off the couch.

“Uh…?”

She looked up and her face paled a little bit. She did a quick sign for help, which was just the letter H in sign language for them, and he hesitated. He wanted to, he really did, but if Marinette caught him being an accomplice…

He turned on his heel and walked back the way he came.

Big mistake.

A few hours later, Marinette walked down and cursed.

“Sweeties! And Chaton!”

Everyone scrambled to the living room and found her standing by the couch, her arms crossed over her chest as she regarded each of them with a barely concealed glare.

“Whatever happened, it wasn’t me,” said Jason. Everyone nodded that they, too, were not at fault.

She clicked her tongue and uncrossed her arms to sign along with her words. “Well, it was one of you! So, if no one wants to fess up then everyone has to help clean.”

“What? That’s not fair!” Complained Dick. “If we didn’t do it then we shouldn’t have to help!”

“Then maybe the person should fess up. It’s not like I can just figure out who’s lyi -- wait, I absolutely can. Cass!”

Cass slowly shifted out of the group and then walked over to his wife. She fixed her gaze on each of the guys in turn and then signed the letter ‘A’.

Everyone looked at Adrien, who was rapidly paling. Ah. Not good.

“Wait wait wait! It wasn’t me! It was Cass, I saw her cleaning it up!”

Cass sniffled and started wiping her eyes.

Marinette clicked her tongue again. “Wow, Chaton, I can’t believe you’d not only lie about it but also pin it on Cass. I’m disappointed in you,” she said. She leaned down and picked up Cass like she weighed nothing and hugged her as she took her from the room.

Marinette didn’t see the nasty grin Cass sent him over her shoulder.

But Adrien and the boys did.

Tim waited until Marinette was out of the room to laugh, and Jason and Dick both joined him almost instantly.

“You know, I’d feel bad but you probably deserve it,” said Dick.

Adrien sighed and shook his head. “I don’t.”

“Please, Cass hardly ever does anything mean. You messed up,” said Jason through peals of laughter.

“Shut up,” said Adrien bitterly as he made his way to the closet for cleaning supplies.

~

Marinette grinned as she made her way along the power line as quickly as she could without making a misstep.

Jason was doing his hardest to get her to fall. Because he’s a good son like that.

“Mom! Look! A person’s getting robbed!”

She flipped him off without looking up and then came to a stop when her phone buzzed.

Weird. She hadn’t thought anyone else was out on patrols…

She pulled out her phone and saw Jason doing the same out of the corner of her eyes.

ChatoNoir: I’ve found another kid. Can we adopt him? He looks so sad...

“Fuck!” Said Jason.

Marinette snickered.

Buginette: ok

HelmetRights: Fuck, I’ve lost the only other person who was on my side

Oracle: Youre not mad?

Buginette: ive come to accept random adoptions as a part of life so its ok as long as he tells me before he does it

ChatoNoir: Yay!

ChatoNoir: Right, I’m opening up a room for him. Be on the lookout for hellportals or whatever. Get a buddy, everyone, in case it tries to take you this time.

She glanced at Jason and they both shrugged before jumping to the street and hooking their arms through each other’s.

HelmetRights: We’re good over here

ChatoNoir: And everyone’s good here. Right. I’ll do it now.

There was a beat where nothing happened…

And then a bright white light stretched beside them.

Marinette blinked. She shared a look with Jason. It hadn’t been trying to take one of them? That wasn’t normal --.

“ROBIN ON YOUR LEFT!” Yelled a deep voice from the other side, pulling both of their attentions back to the portal.

She squinted to see through the portal and a strangled yelp escaped her throat when a blur of yellow, green, and red flew towards them.

There was a flash of color and Marinette was bowled over.

She groaned and stumbled to catch her footing, pushing the weird item away from her, only for her hand to touch something that was definitely soft enough to be skin. She was so startled by this revelation that she actually fell.

Her head hit the pavement and she murmured a curse, only to curse louder when an elbow slammed into her stomach.

She felt the person roll off of her and blinked the lights from her eyes to look at them.

It was a child, she was pretty sure. After all, no one over the age of ten would willingly wear that combination of colors.

Holy shit, wait a minute, the child had a sword.

That got her moving, scrambling on the floor to get away from a very distressed kid with a fucking SWORD WHAT THE FUCK --.

“Holy shit holy shit holy shit --,” Jason practically chanted as he, too, apparently realized the very unfortunate fact that this kid had a weapon out and they definitely didn’t. There was a flash of light as he created a shield around himself and his mother.

Good timing, the kid had started to swing it in their direction. It collided with the forcefield and the kid was thrown back a few steps. This only seemed to anger him, though, because the kid started hacking at the forcefield.

Jason and Marinette exchanged confused looks for the second time that night, but came to the silent agreement that they could just wait until the kid tired out.

Marinette plopped down in the bubble and held out a hand. Jason whined a little but reached into one of the many hidden pockets of his outfit and pulled out a snack at random.

Then he sat down next to her with one of his own and they nibbled at their food as the kid attempted to slash at them.

But, eventually, the person came to the realization that this really wasn’t working at all and they dropped down to sit as well.

Marinette pulled her yoyo off of her belt and started toying with it idly. Jason cocked his gun.

They dropped the forcefield.

The kid eyed them warily and they shared the sentiment…

But Marinette ended up just yawning and asking “Who’re your parents?”

This made the kid frown. “You don’t know who I am?”

She glanced at Jason, who shrugged, and then looked back at the kid. “Are we supposed to?”

“… I’m Robin.”

Jason raised his eyebrows. “We heard. Nice name, by the way, were you named after the vigilante?”

“I bet he was. Kwami, he’s never going to let us live this down.”

“We don’t have to tell him,” said Jason.

“True --.”

The stranger clicked his tongue to pulled their attention back to him. “Wait, I’m the vigilante Robin. So you do know who I am, you’ve just… never seen me or the outfit?”

Marinette understood, now, she thought. “Oh. You’re from another dimension.”

Then her and Jason paled a little bit. Oh kwami. He was from another dimension. They’d thought the portals were just portals to different places like Tim’s, but this was a way bigger problem. They didn’t really have a reliable way to take this kid back home that they knew of, there was no proof that it opened up to the same reality every time.

“Find me Batman, then, or Nightwing. Nightwing is a constant in every reality I’ve heard of.”

Jason and Marinette exchanged confused looks.

“Batman? Is he one of ours? He’s got the lack of creativity that you and dad have,” said Jason.

Marinette shrugged. “Maybe he’s the kid Chaton just adopted?”

Alternate-Robin looked confused and angry. “No! Batman! And Nightwing!”

“Yeah, kid, we heard you,” said Jason with a strained smile. “We’re trying to figure out who that is. Do you want to call the Justice League and see if he’s a new member?”

Marinette swallowed back bile. “Do I want… no?”

“Mom --.”

“Fine, fine.” She pulled out her phone and, after a few quick calls, came to the conclusion that neither of them existed in this reality. “Sorry, sweetie, it looks like they aren’t people here. Do you have any normal people we can try and take you to?”

Alternate-Robin glared at them. “Why would I tell you something that would lead to you figuring out my identity?”

“Because we already have a Robin, which means you probably don’t even have an identity here…”

They thought about this for a minute before groaning. “Fine. Find me Bruce Wayne… please.”

Bruce Wayne? Where had she heard the name before --?

Jason gave a laugh. “Wayne? The dead kid?”

Marinette reached out and gave his arm a tiny smack, because wow look at that now the Alternate-Robin (who she really needed to learn a new name for because I’m tired of writing that) looked like he was going to cry.

“Bruce Wayne is dead?”

“Uh… yes, sweetie, he died a long time ago,” she said gently. “I’m sorry, is there anyone else we might be able to take you to?”

Alternate-Robin thought for a minute before clicking his tongue. “I guess you can take me to Dick Grayson.”

Marinette and Jason were not prepared. Jason had been eating Trail Mix so he would have an excuse not to talk and was now choking, Marinette felt like the air had been sapped from her lungs. She was now very quickly doing math to try and figure out exactly how old this kid would have to be for it to be okay that Dick had a kid because she was extremely concerned --.

“Is he dead here, too?” Asked Alternate-Robin, who was definitely on the verge of tears now fuck --.

“No, he’s alive,” said Jason, who had managed to dislodge the M&M in his throat enough to speak. “It’s just…”

He looked at Marinette to try and figure out what to do, and she bit her lip anxiously as she thought it through...

“Okay. We’ll take you to him.”

~

HelmetRights: Okay, so, good news and bad news

Adrien cringed. That wasn’t exactly what you want to hear when you possibly shatter a dimension while creating a room for your newest.

ChatoNoir: Good news first.

HelmetRights: Good news is mom and I are okay

He breathed a sigh of relief and fell back on the couch. Great. At least that was fine. He could deal with any other problem.

HelmetRights: Bad news is there’s a kid from another dimension here asking for Dick Grayson claiming that HE is the ‘Robin’ of the other dimension where Bruce Wayne is alive and apparently ‘Batman’ is a thing

… Except for that. What the heck?

Pegasus: That’s one heck of a run on sentence…

HelmetRights: I know where you live

Buginette: we might be adopting him to because i dont know if he even exists here or how were going to get him home

HelmetRights: *Too

Buginette: i will help you murder helmet if you want pegasus

Pegasus: Thanks…

HelmetRights: You guys are the worst

HelmetRights: Anyways, we’re bringing him to see Dick because he apparently knows/likes him so everyone be nice

The house went still as the message came in, and then there was a string of cursing from multiple people and kwamis.

Adrien grabbed Plagg and stuffed him in the pocket of his jeans and then started ushering kwamis into their owner’s rooms.

Dick ran to his room, likely to grab a set of fake teeth to hide how sharp his teeth had become since taking the fox miraculous.

Tim started stashing all of his tech under floorboards.

Cass quickly pulled on her gloves so she wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally poisoning him if her nails grazed him.

Steph and Barbara met eyes and then apparently decided they didn’t care enough to get up from their spot, instead just continuing to watch TV.

Duke, who was new and therefore had the least to hide, just started tidying.

Only a few minutes later, the doorbell rang. He smiled as he went to open it, hoping against hope that whoever this weird Other-Robin was they were stupid enough to not notice the fact that everyone was more than a little out of breath.

He opened the door and fought the urge to squeal. The kid was so TINY.

The kid looked up at him and for a moment he could see the way surprise made its way across their expression before he turned around to look at Marinette. “Wait, you’re the original Ladybug?”

Marinette blinked a few times and then laughed awkwardly. “Yeah…?”

“Because that’s the original Chat Noir,” said Other-Robin, jerking his head towards Adrien.

The entire house froze up, unsure how to process this. Were their identities all well-known in this other dimension?

“Wait, is Paris still around in this reality?”

Marinette and Adrien paled a little bit. It seemed like in whatever reality this kid was from they hadn’t made the wish. This was really not how they wanted the kids to find out about all of that. In fact, they were hoping that this never would have come up at all…

Adrien flashed his brightest smile. “Mhmm. Anyways, since the jig is up, I guess you two can detransform…”

Marinette and Jason glanced at each other and shrugged before detransforming.

The kid’s eyes widened. “Todd?!”

Jason frowned and sunk into his hoodie a little bit. “Agreste, now, actually…”

The kid was hardly listening as he pushed past Adrien to get into the house. He took one look at the people gathered there and then turned back to the people at the door with a confused look.

“Are you doing this on purpose?”

They all exchanged frowns.

“Doing what on purpose?” Said Adrien.

Other-Robin examined all of their faces for a few minutes before shaking his head. “Okay… so, in this dimension, Bruce Wayne is dead, but you’re somehow all together here, too… there’s still, at least, a Robin but no Batman… and, apparently, Chat Noir and Ladybug didn’t fail here...” He pressed his hands to his temples. “Give me a minute, please, I need to process…”

The house seemed at a loss for what to do about the kid, because Other-Robin seemed like he was going to cry. Eventually Dick, who was the only one of them they knew had a good relationship with him, got off the couch and walked over to him.

“Hey… it’s a lot, yeah. Do you want some cookies? Mari made them and I think they’re really good. C’mon…” He gently rested a hand on the kid’s shoulder and steered him to the kitchen.

Marinette and Adrien met eyes again before pulling out their phones frantically. This was beginning to sound suspiciously like this was their fault and they didn’t like it...

He saw the day of the headline declaring the Waynes dead and bile built in the back of his throat.

The same day Emilie had died.

Ah. So that’s what the wish did.

He felt Marinette’s hand lock around his wrist and squeeze. He nodded his understanding.

They needed to get this kid as far away from here as possible before someone figured out what had happened.

~

“Who wants to take a trip to Paris?”

Everyone looked up instantly, their eyes wide. Fair enough, Marinette had never even considered going back before. Sure, she loved the idea of Paris, loved the idea of seeing her parents and visiting the sights, loved the idea of going back to the place she and Adrien had met…

But idealism had never been her friend. She knew that she would be miserable if she was back.

After all, everything there was just a reminder of what she couldn’t save.

(More importantly, knowing her luck she could be there for one hour and she’d still find a way to run into Lila. She was not about to start punching civilians no matter how awful they were.)

But, really, they needed to find Bunnix.

There wasn’t anyone that they knew of that could open dimensions reliably.

Sure, both she and Adrien knew how to scratch some runes on the wall and open portals to pocket dimensions. However, opening a random pocket dimension is completely different from choosing a specific dimension out of the millions of different realities that existed.

And Bunnix had time powers so… maybe there was a chance?

Yes, it was a stretch, but they had to try it.

“Damian, you have to come, but everyone else…?” She said, pointing to the computer on her lap. “Make your decision within the next five minutes, please, I need to buy plane tickets.”

Dick smiled. “Can we see your parents?”

Jason nodded and pointed at him. “Good point, no reason to go if we don’t get grandma’s cookies.”

“... you do realize that my dad is the one that does most of the -- nevermind.” Marinette clicked her tongue. “Yes, we can visit my parents. Who’s coming?”

Everyone raised their hand.

And that’s how they ended up on her parent’s doorstep with apologetic smiles and eight kids.

“Maman! Pere! Coucou!” She said, with an awkward smile and jazz hands to match.

Sabine took the kids in for a long time before looking at Marinette and Adrien pointedly. “I thought you were kidding when you said you had this many. You have a problem.”

Adrien sighed and looked at the ground. “I know…”

She broke into a smile and stepped aside so they could all file in. “Good. Now, everyone inside. It’s cold out and I’m sure you all want something warm to eat.”

The kids’ eyes all lit up and they rushed to the display cases. Tom Dupain smiled at them all as he helped serve the kids.

Marinette felt like joining them, but then her mother’s hands grabbed both her and her husband’s wrists.

“I need to know all of their names. And why is the little one wearing that outfit?”

She cringed mentally. She’d hoped that her parents would get so disoriented by all the kids that they wouldn’t really notice Damian, but really she should have known that was too much to ask. The kid was wearing the world’s worst color combination and was easily the most angry looking of all of them. He stood out.

She glanced at Adrien, who quickly started pointing out kids.

Marientte was left to try to think of an excuse. Eventually, when Adrien had listed off the last name, she said “He wanted to be an original vigilante for Halloween and he hasn’t taken the costume off since.”

Her mom looked a little skeptical for a second, but they were quickly distracted:

“HEY CAN I SEE MOM’S CHILDHOOD BEDROOM?” Yelled Jason.

“NO!” Said Marinette.

Tom, however, gave the kids the directions and she was left to watch in horror as they all started rushing upstairs to go get joke material.

She pursed her lips tightly. “It’s just one night. Just one night. Just one night…”

She felt Adrien press a kiss to her temple and gave him a weak smile.

~

It felt weird travelling with a young child and not carrying them the entire way.

After all, it would definitely go much faster if Damian just allowed him to pick him up, but apparently he had experience running across rooftops.

Part of him was concerned by this, the other part of him thought that he wasn’t able to criticize much about this ‘Batman’ guy’s particular parenting style. It wasn’t like he or Marinette were particularly against allowing kids to be vigilantes anymore, and he assumed Batman was the same way.

Either way, now the entire family and Damian all made their way along rooftops.

He glanced to the side and saw Marinette smiling behind her mask. He felt the same, honestly, there was an odd sense of nostalgia to it. They hadn’t done this since they were teens…

Speaking of blasts from the past, though, they came to a stop just outside of Alix’s house. It was a cute one-room apartment, which isn’t all that impressive until you consider the fact that it was facing the Eiffel Tower.

“Wow, Alix must be doing well for herself,” said Adrien absently as they slowly lowered themselves down to her window.

Marinette hummed lightly and tipped her head as they considered the fact that there was no one home.

He frowned. They’d been expecting her to be home, that was kind of annoying. Well, now she’d just think they were very loud burglars.

Whatever.

He glanced at Tim. “Pegasus, can we have an in?”

Tim opened a portal for them and there was a series of dull thuds as they all hit the carpet in Alix’s room.

Duke turned on the light for them and they all blinked a bit to get used to the light now spread through the room thanks to a lantern fastened to the ceiling.

And then… they had to wait.

Marinette and Adrien spent most of the time waiting by keeping their kids out of Alix’s stuff. They didn’t really like or dislike the woman, they were pretty neutral about most of their old classmates at this point, but they figured it would be best if they didn’t start off what was (to Alix’s knowledge) their first/only meeting by seeming like snooping pricks.

Speaking of snooping pricks…

Adrien extended his baton and hit the Dick across the room that was minding his own business on his phone and sighed when he disappeared into a puff of smoke. Man, he hated when he was right.

“Everyone, arms out, we need to find Robin.”

There was a collective groan of annoyance as everyone began reaching around --.

And then there was a loud snapping sound and they were all thrown into darkness. This only lasted a few seconds before the darkness seemed to part and creep into the dark edges of the room.

It seemed that Dick had, in a desperate attempt to not get touched and have his position get revealed, jumped onto the lantern that had been previously used as light. The lantern, in turn, had snapped under his weight…

Alix was going to hate them. Great.

Marinette frowned. “Wait, who did that? There’s no miraculi that can shift light...”

Duke raised his hand. “I’m a meta, actually. I have a few light-based powers. Like photokinetic vision and umbrakinesis.”

“Oh… cool,” said Marinette, who definitely didn’t know what those words meant. She quickly brushed past this, though: “The people underneath us are going to hate her.”

She grabbed Dick by the back of his outfit and pulled him to his feet.

Damian clicked his tongue. “You’re all children.”

“You’re… ten, max,” said Jason.

“Thirteen!”

“Really? But you’re so tiny…” said Tim, reaching out a hand to touch the baby fat still present on Damian’s cheeks.

Damian scowled and batted his hand away. “Don’t touch me, Drake.”

“Agreste,” said Tim absently.

This made him pause momentarily. “You took the Agreste name?”

“... yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

Damian opened his mouth, and then slowly looked around. “Did everyone take the Agreste name here?”

Dick shrugged and shook his head. “Duke and I kept our names to honor our birth parents, but everyone else did.”

Whatever the kid was going to say next was cut off when Alix entered her apartment and screamed at the sight of all the vigilantes just casually walking around.

Adrien and Dick cringed and brought their hands up to cover their ears and only relaxed again when Alix finally stopped. Now Alix had just frozen up and Adrien almost felt bad about interrupting her internal freakout…

But they really needed to get a move on, so...

“Sal --!” Wait, no, Alix had never worked with them in this reality, that was too informal. “Je suis désolé. Bonjour, Madame!”

“What are you doing in my house?”

“Well…” Began Marinette. “We need some help from Bunnix.”

Alix hesitated momentarily and, before she could say something along the lines of ‘I don’t know how to help you’, Adrien cut in:

“Please, this will go so much faster if you don’t lie. We just need help and then we’ll be on our way.”

She frowned a little bit and then nodded, mumbling to transform.

In seconds a blue portal not unlike Tim’s stretched in the middle of the room and she waved for them to come inside.

There was a moment’s hesitation and then Adrien sighed. “Right, we’re going to do this as quickly as possible so… everyone except for Ladybug, Other-Robin, and me are going to stay here. Sound good?”

Everyone grumbled a little bit about being left out, especially Dick and Jason, but they all agreed with a nod.

The three stepped through after Alnix. Adrien rolled his eyes when he glanced back and saw all the kids crowded around the portal, faces pressed as close to it as they could without technically going through and breaking the rules.

“You know, your French is really good for Americans,” said Alix awkwardly.

Adrien tried not to sound too offended when he said, “You think we’re Americans?”

“... yeah. You patrol in America.”

Marinette also looked a little put out, but she gave Adrien a pointed look that he was pretty sure meant ‘Don’t tell her we’re French we have secret identities for a reason’. He pouted a little bit but let the subject drop.

They walked until they were in the center and Adrien fought the urge to vomit into a random time period. The place was… trippy. It was both spherical and endless, bright colors spiraled in every portal but all that he could see was white, a high-pitched whine filled his ears and yet he was sure he heard nothing.

He glanced down at Damian and saw the kid looking around wildly, his jaw open in a mix of shock and horror. He reached over and covered his mask gently.

“Okay, what’s the problem?” Said Alix.

Marinette and Adrien exchanged frowns.

“Right, so… this is Damian Wayne. He’s Bruce Wayne’s kid.”

“Bruce Wayne’s dead.”

She pressed her lips together and nodded. “Exactly. He’s from another dimension, one where Bruce Wayne didn’t die.”

Alix frowned. “That’s not my thing, sorry.”

Adrien sighed. “Yeah, we thought so…” He discreetly slid a hand down to cover Damian’s mouth. “... but, say we brought back Bruce Wayne. Because I’m pretty sure that’s the only real difference, so… what would happen?”

“Probably something catastrophic,” said Alix. “Even if he was just some random guy there would be huge problems, but this is a billionaire. There’s no way that wouldn’t mess things up.”

Adrien opened his mouth, but she shook her head.

“We aren’t going to be doing that. If that’s all, I’d suggest you go,” she said coldly.

He glanced at his wife and frowned. It looked like she was going to argue, her face red, and then her skin suddenly drained of color. Adrien glanced at where she was looking and saw why: three portals were glitching. One alternated between a kid crying over two bodies in an alley and a scene of three dead socialites. The other two started with the same scene, of four people watching a fire, but then quickly flicked back to what they knew to be Adrien and Marinette in their rooms.

He quickly turned around. “Fine, we know when to give up. Let’s go,” he said.

The portal closed behind them and he fought the urge to wince. Hopefully Alix would never notice that was off…

He looked around and saw the kids standing there, arms crossed over their chests.

“It looks like we can’t fix it…” said Adrien awkwardly. “So, everyone, say hi to your new little brother, Damian.”

He had pulled his hands from Damian’s face now that they were out of The Burrow, but now he wanted to put them back on. He didn’t know what to do with them and had to settle for just putting them on his hips.

“You’re hiding something,” Dick said. “Spill.”

He met Marinette’s eyes and she bit her lip nervously.

He sighed. “Fine. Let’s head back to the hotel. We’ll tell you on the way.”

Tim opened a portal for them and they began running along the rooftops again.

“So, our story starts on September 19, 30 years ago… the day my mother died...”

~

Marinette bit her lip. The family hadn’t said anything since they had told them the story, and the longer they were silent the more her anxiety increased.

Now, they were standing in an alley, detransformed, a block away from their hotel. They could all move -- should, probably, it was kind of cold out and if they didn’t get inside soon Tim would definitely catch something -- but no one seemed particularly eager to.

She shrugged off one of her jackets and handed it to Tim. The movement seemed to startle everyone back into reality.

“So, what you’re saying is… the reason why my dad and I don’t exist here is because you two made a reckless, selfish wish?” Said Damian, his voice soft.

Marinette winced. Part of her was tempted to say that it wasn’t selfish, that a bunch of people were now alive, but she knew that wasn’t true. After all, she and Adrien had definitely been concerned that something would happen that would kill a bunch of people in the place of those they had resurrected.

“Yes, and I’m really sorry,” she said.

“And we’ve suspected that things were going a specific way because the timeline was trying to right itself for a while, we just…” Adrien sighed. “... we never thought that we would ever actually get confirmation on it.”

Another silence stretched through the alley, and then Jason turned to Damian.

“Am I dead in your reality?”

Damian blinked a few times and then nodded. “You died when you were fifteen and then were brought back thanks to the League of Assassins…”

“That explains the ‘legally dead’ thing. Always thought that was weird.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Damn, I can’t even drive because other-me’s dumbass died.”

Dick raised his hand like a kid in school. “I have a question: do they like my puns over there, at least?”

“No. Everyone hates them.”

He pouted. “Man…”

The family started clamoring for answers as to what their alternate versions were doing, and Marinette exchanged looks with her husband. This was… definitely not the response they'd been expecting.

Marinette frowned. “Um… shouldn’t you guys be more… concerned? Disgusted? We let a bunch of people die…”

She got a bunch of shrugs.

Tim grinned. “You brought them back, didn’t you? Besides, over there I don’t have powers. This is way better.”

“Bet our trust funds are bigger over there, though,” said Steph thoughtfully. Then she shrugged. “Eh, still okay here, I guess.”

Barbara shrugged. “And, really, I don’t like the idea of being paralyzed by a clown of all things. Though I wish he was still alive so I could --.”

“THERE IS A CHILD PRESENT,” interrupted Dick, reaching out to cover Damian’s ears.

(The kid nearly chopped off his hands for attempting to do so, but Dick didn’t seem all that concerned as he dodged and stuffed them in his pockets.)

“I like being alive,” Jason chimed in. “Way cooler this way.”

Duke shrugged. “And it seems like Gotham is a little bit safer with you guys in charge. Less outright evil people with stupid gimmicks.”

Cass beamed and waved for Damian’s attention so she could sign: “Speaking of, how is Uncle Nygma doing in the other world?”

Damian stared at her like she was insane. “You’ve… you made The Riddler your uncle?!”

They nodded.

“He’s like… the cool uncle that teaches you how to avoid your taxes!” Explained Jason.

Adrien and Marinette hoped that they were just talking about the vibe that their ‘uncle’ gave off and not something that Nygma had actually done. They didn’t need any government agencies on their asses.

Speaking of government agencies…

Marinette pulled Tim aside. “Hey, I need you to make some documentation for Damian. I think we can pass him off as a biological child, he looks close enough to a mix of us, but… yeah, we need him to ‘exist’.”

Tim nodded. “I’ll do it when I get to our hotel room.”

She smiled.

~

Adrien eventually managed to coax all the kids inside.

Marinette and Barbara had spent some time on the plane ride attempting to make a sleeping arrangement that took into account a bunch of factors including sleeping patterns and compatibility, but they hadn’t even made it inside their rooms before the kids decided that they would take it into their own hands.

It started with Dick and Jason grabbing Tim and Marinette before they could disappear into their room so they wouldn’t be able to stay up.

(“At least let me get my computer!” “NO!”)

And then Cass, Duke, and Adrien all decided that they were bored and made their way to the room.

And then Damian, who had been feeling left out, ended up coming by as well.

The only person left out was Barbara, who had decided that she actually wanted to sleep that night.

Let me tell you, beds are not made for ten people to sleep on them. By the time Cass had gotten on they had heard the bed creak a little too loudly and decided that, hey, the floor isn’t THAT uncomfortable.

So they’d pushed the bed to the side and grabbed all the blankets from every room they’d paid for for a slumber party.

Adrien and Marinette were currently being crushed underneath their kids, but otherwise it was going great.

Damian was sitting the furthest away, pouting. Marinette had finally convinced (forced) him to change out of the Other-Robin costume and now he was wearing some of Cass and Tim’s old clothes.

Now, listen, when Adrien sees kids in oversized clothes pouting in a corner away from everyone, his first instinct is to go help. However, his instincts were kind of overruled right now because he couldn’t get up if he tried. Jason was sitting on his legs and Steph was attempting to braid his hair.

He had to settle for a smile and a “Damian… want to join us?”

“No. You all are… grossly affectionate.”

Adrien laughed a little bit, then realized he was being serious. “We’re… cuddling. It’s a normal thing.”

“It’s gross.”

He frowned a little bit and scrutinized Damian’s face. Did he not do this with his family?

The kid cleared his throat and looked away. “My father will come for me eventually and it is best if I do not attach myself to any of you.”

“Aren’t you already attached to us, though?” Said Dick, who had trapped Tim in his sweater so he couldn’t get up for extra coffee.

“None of you are exactly the same as you are in my world.”

Jason shrugged and flipped the page in his book. “Obviously not, we were raised by different people. It’s simple behaviorism.”

“Nerd,” said Tim, who had the least ability to criticize out of all of them.

“Shut up, Timbo.”

Marinette muttered something that might have been “Kwami the nicknames are getting worse” from where she was currently being crushed by Cass and Duke, who were using her stomach as a flat surface for a card game.

(“Got any sevens?” “I thought we were playing speed…?”)

“Either way, we probably all have the same general traits,” said Dick, who was apparently deciding to ignore all his siblings. Smart.

Adrien shrugged as much as he could without disturbing his kids. “And we don’t know when your dad will get here, humans need socialization to survive. Right, Mr. Psych Major?”

Jason hesitated and then made a ‘sort of’ motion with his hand. “It’s more like you need socialization to remain physically and mentally healthy but for the most part you wouldn’t die you’d just wither away --.”

“NERD.”

Jason pushed himself to his feet and oh wow so that’s what breathing was like Adrien had almost forgotten but wait no fighting is bad.

Dick quickly realized the problem with holding onto Tim while Jason was mad at him and abandoned ship, releasing the kid from the confines of his sweater and rushing away to cling to Damian instead.

Then Tim and Jason relaxed.

“Thanks, Jay.”

“Hm. You owe me twenty.”

“Gotcha.” Tim glanced at Marinette. “Want some coffee while I’m up?”

Marinette wheezed. They just assumed she meant yes.

Dick gasped as he watched Tim hop through a portal provided by Kaalki to get coffee. “I’ve been tricked!”

“Yes, clearly, Grayson. Now get off of me!”

Dick pouted and continued to cling to the child. “No. Tim is rude. I need comfort.”

“Unhand me!”

“Aw, come on, you love the other me it’s only a matter of time until you eventually love me, too!”

“MARINETTE! TELL HIM TO STOP TOUCHING ME!”

“MARIIIIII ALL THE YOUNG ONES ARE BEING RUDE.”

The person in question just wheezed again.

Damian was forced to resign himself to his fate.

Adrien rolled his eyes and sunk back into Steph’s lap.

He had almost managed to get to sleep but then Jason sat himself down on his chest again and dang it he’d just gotten used to oxygen again this sucks…

But at least everyone was relaxing for once.

~

What was the most upsetting thing about learning about the other version of herself?

The other version got a hamster! SHE couldn’t get a hamster.

Well…

Actually, she’s a grown adult. She can do what she wants.

But she was going to ask Barbara first…

She poked her head into Dick and Barbara’s shared room and was surprised to see Damian was also there. Huh. Apparently attachments do transfer over, whether or not Damian wanted to admit it.

Whatever. She’d had a mission.

She looked at the woman currently typing away at her computer. “Hey, I’m getting a hamster at the store.”

“Cool.”

Marinette pumped her fist in the air in victory and then turned to leave, only to hear Damian’s voice:

“Can I visit the pet store, too?”

She hesitated, then shrugged. “Yeah, don’t see why not. You dressed?”

“I am.”

She grinned and pulled her keys from her pocket and twirled them around her finger. “Let’s go, then.”

Despite having thought this would be just a her thing, she was okay with bringing Damian along. After all, she’d only have him for a little while and…

Actually, maybe bonding with a kid who was going to be gone in an indeterminate amount of time was a bad thing…

Ah, crap. Too late.

She brushed this thought from her mind and started on her way downstairs, only to quickly find herself joined by multiple kids: Jason had decided she wasn’t allowed to bond with anyone if he wasn’t there, Duke had wanted to see the animals, Steph had just been bored…

She realized that maybe it was time to get a bigger car as they reached the max capacity. There was still six other kids...

Also her husband. Him too.

Whatever, at least they had enough seats for this specific trip.

The moment she got there, Damian was gone in a blur of red. She blinked a few times and then muttered a curse. Great. She lost a kid. Already.

Well, at least she had everyone else, still --.

Nope. Only Jason had remained with her.

Does getting leashes for children count as child abuse? She didn’t know.

Jason grinned. “I’m the best kid,” he said.

She clicked her tongue. “You’re the best behaved kid at this exact moment.”

“I’ll take it.”

She gave his shoulder a tiny shove. “Whatever. Help me find them.”

“Dad is gonna be pissed when we show up with a hamster, y’know,” he said.

“What’s he going to say? ‘It’s a lot of responsibility?’ ‘You should have talked to me first?’”

“Fair enough.”

She found Duke looking at the fish and grabbed him by the back of his jacket and started pulling him along. “Besides, if he let Alternate-Me have one then he probably won’t be that mad.”

“We don’t know how mad he was,” muttered Duke as he was dragged along the floors.

Jason picked up Steph as they walked past her in the dog section. “Not divorce mad, at least.”

Steph whined and kicked her legs against Jason’s chest. “I want a divorce from this family!”

“Not at all how that works,” said Jason.

“You need a job to be emancipated,” said Duke.

“I’m concerned that you know --,” Marinette cut herself off mid sentence and then made a quiet sound in the back of her throat that she was pretty sure was a squeal.

Damian was currently being swarmed by about twenty cats. He looked somewhat distressed, though only because he was having trouble petting them all with his two hands. His red hoodie was now covered in multicolored cat hair.

“Can we please get them?” Asked Damian when he had finally spotted them.

Hm…

“We can get one of them --.”

“Each,” said Steph, who had managed to squirm out of Jason’s grip and run to the cat pile.

Marinette hesitated. Man, she was weak. There was four kids all giving her the cutest pouts and she wasn’t able to say no to that.

She clicked her tongue and looked away. “Well, I guess Adrien still would be happier with a bunch of cats than a hamster…”

“NICE!”

“I still get to name one JJ, though, and teach it to run around in a hamster ball,” she muttered as she walked over and started sifting through the animals.

When she got home she was almost tempted to pull an Adrien and see how long she could hide all the cats for, but she was 99% sure he could talk to cats (Jason had once had an in-depth conversation with a turtle, she wasn’t eager to replicate the feat with a beetle). They’d probably snitch on her.

So she went and found him in their room, the four kids trailing behind them.

Then she glanced at Damian. “Hey, sweetie, you should go through first and just say that you weren’t allowed cats in the other dimension and you wanted to get them while you still could.”

Damian frowned. “But that’s lying.”

“Think of it as doing what you need to.”

His face hardened and then softened into the world’s cutest pout as he slowly opened the door and stepped inside, his cat (Pennyworth) held close to him.

“Uh…”

“We got cats!”

“Uh…”

“Please, can I keep them? My father wouldn’t let me have them and…”

Four hours later, she sat with her husband on the bed in one of the few moments of alone time they were ever allowed.

But, also, she had JJ with her and she wasn’t intending on letting him go anytime soon.

“I know you allowed them all to get cats without even trying to convince them otherwise. Pennyworth ratted you out.”

“Listen, you should have seen Damian. He was so cute, you wouldn’t have been able to resist, either.”

Adrien sighed and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. “I’m beginning to think we should have gone with that manor my dad offered to buy all those years ago.”

“Is it still open?”

“What’s the point? We’ll have to move in a few years anyways.”

She groaned. “Fuck, I forgot about that.”

He gave a tiny laugh and buried his face in her neck. “Yeah, I don’t know how much longer we can get away with ‘model skincare routines are just like that’.”

She clicked her tongue, letting her fingers glide through his hair.

“... what if Damian’s dad can’t get here in time?”

“Finders keepers?”

She couldn’t see it but she knew Adrien was rolling his eyes.

“He’ll just have to get here in time,” said Marinette. She bit her lip and added a: “I’m sure he will.”

~

Despite being sure that Batman had to be trying his hardest to get here, years passed.

After all, dimension hopping is hard even when you know exactly where you’re going. Adrien and Marinette hadn’t even thought it really possible. Sure, they knew there were other dimensions and that it was possible to go between them, but targeting specific dimensions to travel to…?

So they weren’t exactly surprised when no guy named Bruce Wayne or Batman showed up to claim the kid.

That was fine. They could take care of a kid. (They’d done it before and, even if this one had a lot of social problems, this was nothing compared to taking care of a young Dick Grayson. At least this one stayed on the floor.)

What wasn’t fine that the kid was definitely not handling the fact that his father hadn’t found him yet well.

When they saw how distressed Damian was, they tried to fix the problem themselves.

Adrien had opened a pocket dimension and when, predictably, a portal opened to swallow Tim up they’d asked the people on the other side if they were missing a Robin. The people on the other side had looked at him weird and then pointed at a kid in an equally ghastly outfit as the one Damian had shown up in. So that was out of the question, it was opening new realities every time.

Marinette had asked all the kwamis, but it seemed that even gods are limited to their own realities. Something about upsetting a balance or whatever.

They had even granted immunity to any criminal that could get them to another reality, but if there were any they weren’t eager to make themselves known.

… so, yeah, that hadn’t worked the way they’d wanted it to.

They were at a loss of what to do.

They had to move soon, the questions about their appearance were becoming more and more common. People were beginning to speculate on how Adrien and Marinette had some weird inability to age, and were beginning to note that all the other people in their family had also seemingly stopped aging at around twenty. Could any skincare routine really be that good?

(No. Adrien knew for a fact that the answer was no. Any model knew the answer was no.)

And it wasn’t like they could just leave this child alone in the city. Sure, the kid knew self-defense, but there was a high chance of them asking for a social security number if he applied for a job…

After an unfortunate loss in a game of rock-paper-scissors, it was made Adrien’s job to break the news.

Adrien sighed and gently knocked on the wall next to the portal to Damian’s room.

“You may come in.”

He poked his head around carefully and sent an awkward wave to the kid.

Damian had been working out, it seemed, punching a punching bag. Adrien didn’t think that boded well for him, if he was being honest. Maybe he should come back another time --.

“What do you need?”

He winced internally and slowly crossed the room to sit on the bed. He patted the space behind him.

Damian clicked his tongue but did end up sitting down beside him.

“We need to talk about your options.”

“What options?”

“Whether you want to continue waiting for your dad to come get you or if you want to be part of our family…”

Damian frowned. “Why aren’t you going to stay?”

Adrien cringed a little bit. He might as well be blunt about it to make sure he got the point across. “Alright. Look at me.”

Damian nodded and looked him in the eyes.

“I’m almost fifty.”

The kid was not prepared if the way he reeled back in surprise was any indication.

“But you -- you --!”

“I know, that’s the problem. We can’t stay much longer before our secret identities aren’t as much of a secret anymore. We’re still planning to help Gotham, obviously, Tim can open portals to get us here, but… we all need to essentially go off the grid until everyone forgets what we look like...”

He got a frown. “But…”

“We won’t stop you from staying here. You’d need a job so we can emancipate you. We’ll still send you money and stuff when we can, of course, but that’s your option for staying here. We didn’t give you a miraculous, you age normally. You can live a normal life here until your dad picks you up…”

Damian nodded slowly. “And what’s the other option?”

“You move away with us. You can have a miraculous, if you want, and if not then that’s also fine but we won’t let you join in vigilantism unless you have one. If you don’t want to be a vigilante then we’ll pay for everything you need and support you in whatever you choose to do.”

“But I’d have to give up hoping that Batman would find me.”

Adrien winced and nodded.

Damian closed his eyes and rested his head on Adrien’s shoulder. “Why hasn’t he come yet?” He whispered, so quiet that he’d almost thought he’d imagined it.

“I’m sure he’s trying, Dami, it’s just not an easy thing to do.”

“Do you think he’ll ever get here?”

He sighed and shook his head. “I think if he was going to then he would have done it already.”

He felt a face bury itself in his shoulder and frowned when his shirtsleeve wettened. He hesitated. Did Damian want him to acknowledge it? Would it be bad for a temporary father figure to hug a child over the likely loss of their original father? He didn’t know.

“I’m sorry, Dami,” he murmured. “Do you want me to call Dick in here?”

“No…”

“Want me to leave?”

“No…”

He nodded slightly and drew the kid into a hug, resting his chin on top of Damian’s head. “Okay.”

“What if he doesn’t want me?” Damian sniffled.

Adrien closed his eyes. “Then, frankly, he’s stupid.”

He heard the kid laugh a little bit. “Yeah, he is a bit stupid.”

He didn’t answer, just pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

~

Marinette clicked her tongue and pointed at the whiteboard labelled ‘what to do about the crime thing’.

“More murder?” Offered Steph.

She rolled her eyes but wrote it down.

“More inconsistent patrols,” offered Duke. “So they have a harder time telling when we’ll catch them.”

She nodded thoughtfully and wrote it down.

Dick raised his hand. “Fix the court system.”

“Too much work,” she said, not even bothering to write it. “Not enough time.”

Tim didn’t even look up from his computer. “Get the social security numbers of every crime lord in Gotham and release them to the public. See what happens.”

She mumbled a “Alright, someone is losing computer privileges for the week…” She wrote down a reminder to do that in the corner.

“What if we…” Jason shrugged. “... become the major crime lords, rule over everyone, and shoot everyone who doesn’t fall in line. We wouldn’t be able to stop crime entirely but at least we’d get to choose what they’re doing.”

“That’s a lot of ground to cover.”

“Then we split into factions publicly. Give west side to Dad and Dickwad, Cass and Duke get the south, you and I can take the area around crime alley, and so on…”

Everyone looked at each other and then shrugged. Yeah. They’d tried everything else, why not?

~~~

Guess who wrote a finale at a normal time for once~

~

Taglist

@i-am-ironic @nathleigh @mialuvscats @golden-promises @sassakitty @deathwishy @toodaloo-kangaroo @ladythugs @moonlightstar64 @dahjokester @jjmjjktth

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 283: I'M MARY POPPINS Y’ALL

Previously on BnHA: Everyone was all, “Tomura what do you have?” and Tomura was all,” a quirk bullet!” and they were all, “NO!!” He then threw the bullet at Aizawa, who ironically actually did have a knife, and since no one bothered to say “no!!” this time he proceeded to CHOP OFF HIS OWN LEG. Just, schwoop. Lopped it right off. Didn’t even fucking care. Anyway so then Tomura was all, “you know what who even needs quirk bullets” and somehow broke free from both Deku and Ryuukyuu to go claw off Aizawa’s face. Thankfully Todoroki “I've spent the past eight chapters puttering around waiting for the coolest moment to strike” Shouto finally decided to join the fray by impaling Tomura, and everyone was all, “ahaha, classic Shouto”, and Tomura was all, “don’t worry though I’m fine”, and it seems like he really is now, since he’s finally regenerated and all his wounds have healed again! The chapter ended with Gigantomachia stampeding towards Jakku, which is super terrible, but what else is fucking new.

Today on BnHA: The Gunga kids spend a few pages standing around letting all that trauma soak in nice and deep as Machia rampages on towards Jakku. Back in the Shigaraki Wastes, the heroes regroup, which mostly consists of the remaining conscious adults tearfully being all “you kids get out of here... save yourselves...” and the kids being all “YOU JUST SIT THERE AND CHILL, DAD” and “[EXPLETIVES]” and “I’M YOUNG AND FILLED WITH RIGHTEOUS SHOUNEN RAGE”, all of which is very entertaining to me and makes me very proud. Anyway so then Tomura’s body sort of explodes a bit, and he’s all, “what”, and then it finally sinks in that he might have popped out of the toaster early, so he tries to end the fight right there and then with another round of Decay. Except that Deku counters it by SPONTANEOUSLY LEARNING HOW TO FLY, which is probably SO CONFUSING for all the non-Gran-and-Kacchan people around, which is just one of the many things I love about it. And the other things I love about it are that it’s (1) THE MOST BADASS THING EVER, and (2) just, really fucking great. So yeah. Rage, Deku, rage.

OH NO MY BABIES

don’t tell me. I’m not sure I want to know what it is they’re looking at. how many of the pros are fucking dead now ffffmg

also that is an extremely intriguing chapter title, though. 75? as in percent?? oh my god is something finally going to go fucking right for our heroes. or at least, you know, less wrong

OOOF

dammit Momo he was supposed to go to sleep! WHAT THE HELL WAS ALL OF THAT MATH FOR, THEN. did he grow bigger, or did she just somehow miscalculate the dosage, or is he finally going to go night-night halfway to Jakku?

btw Momo I’m not actually mad at you, you’re still the only one who fucking did anything at all. if anyone tries to give you shit, just look them in the eye and ask them “okay and how many things did YOU do?”, and they’ll be like, “oh shit, none”, and you’ll be all “yeah that’s what I fucking thought” because YEAH

OH MY GOD SERO ANGST

I have never seen Sero this badly shaken before. it’s somehow so shocking?? holy shit you guys, I know I’ve been saying for ages “lolo all these kids about to be traumatized af” but somehow it’s one thing to know it’s coming, and another to finally actually see it. oh god

anyway let’s just hope all of the grown-ups aren’t actually fucking dead. but based on all of the kids’ expressions, it really feels like a lot of them might be, and that’s just... ...

and they had to see it. right? is that what this is implying?? holy shit. they watched it all happen. that’s it, the rest of this arc is cancelled, please proceed directly to the emergency therapy arc right now

TOKO!!

holy shit look at the size of that rock that fell on the medical tent. and DS pulling people out of the wreckage. it really feels like everywhere you turn this arc, the intrepid young scamps of U.A.’s first year hero class are the ones out here keeping things one step from total disaster

oh shit

excuse the hell out of me young Momo but what the hell is up with this use of the word “dead” with the implied “like everyone else” hanging there at the end?? what is up with that. that’s a very bad sentence I don’t like that at ALL

and what the actual hell is this panel of FATGUM AND TAMAKI IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CARNAGE, TWO PEOPLE WHOSE NAMES I’M QUITE SURE ARE ON THIS CONTRACT OF “PEOPLE WHO AREN’T ALLOWED TO DIE” WHICH HORIKOSHI IMPLICITLY AGREED TO THE MOMENT I STARTED READING THE MANGA. BOY WHAT

JESUS MOTHER F. CHRIST

THAT’S. THAT’S, UH

OH THANK FUCK

I mean, I already knew they survived, though. so WHY AM I STILL SO FUCKING ANXIOUS. good grief

and in before Majestic fucking dies on the next page, having saved the children with his very last act. I fucking hate you Majestic, you blue-balling child-preserving magnificent wizard bastard

HE FRISBEED THEM TO SAFETY GAH

WHY COULDN’T YOU DO THAT TO MACHIA THOUGH. BUT AT LEAST HE SAVED THE BABIES. TOO BAD HE’S FUCKING DEAD hahaha sob sob sob

is anyone still alive?? did the guys who were fighting off Snoopy Sno-Cone and RD back at the mansion at least make it out in one piece??

(ETA: from here on out all of these guys shall be referred to as Schrodinger's Heroes until further notice.)

so now Mineta is questioning whether or not their Smart Momo Plan even fucking did anything, which. same, Mineta, honestly. but it must have!! right?? ????

anyway so here’s some more panels of everyone dying do you want to see them. sure. why not

can we get back to the Tomura fight now. I’ve had just about enough of this, I’d like to see some 75% business now before this turns into the most depressing chapter of all time

BOOOOOOO

goddammit. well for now my money’s on Machia collapsing just as they make it back to Jakku. so Momo’s plan does eventually work, but the League still makes it back to Tomura thus ensuring more shenanigans can take place. goddamn, lol, just when I thought the arc was nearing its climax. feels like it just fucking respawned with a full life bar

also Toga is really looking... not great. I’m so scared for whoever she ends up fighting after this. OCHAKO MY SWEET BABY GIRL PLEASE WATCH OUT

WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE

PLEASE ARREST HIM FASTER. holy fuck if you fucking screw this up and he gets rescued I SWEAR TO GOD

oh wait is he just here to provide more backstory on Gigantomachia

GO BURNIN’, YOU GOT THIS. also, gonna be honest, at this point I really would not mind if Machia did a little less living for Tomura and a bit more dying

FINALLY!!!

FKFKF Aizawa not looking too good oh god. and Deku looks like he’s about to spontaneously develop ALL OF HIS REMAINING QUIRKS JUST LIKE THAT ON THE SPOT, FUCK YOU TOMURA

oh my god DON’T GET DISTRACTED!!

Shouto’s arrival is either about to make Endeavor more useless than ever, or suddenly a whole lot LESS useless, and right now it’s up in the air and I am excited but also scared

EXCUSES EXCUSES

BLAH BLAH BLAH. “SORRY I’M LATE, I WAS SAVING PEOPLE’S LIVES,” Shouto lies through his teeth, clearly not aware that Tomura has a built in GPS and knows full well that Shouto was actually only a few feet behind Bakugou and Deku and so that explanation doesn’t fly at all. the real truth must be something so embarrassing that he’s ashamed to admit it. did you get lost. did you run into an NPC who wouldn’t let you pass until you had completed some sort of quest

THERE YOU ARE KACCHAN, I WAS WONDERING

just as enraged as Deku! it’s almost like he just witnessed his sensei chopping off his own leg and subsequently almost being murdered or something

(ETA: actually lol I think he’s mad at Deku, for taking off earlier and leaving him behind with Gran. though there’s no law that says he can’t be mad about two things at once! anyway so do you guys think that being beaten to the punch by Deku here may perhaps frustrate this young man and contribute to his decision to return the favor at some point later on in this battle, perhaps with dire consequences? hmm.)

anyway so if you all are keeping up with the math, and I think you are, it seems like just about every one of the adult pros is either down for the count (Aizawa, Gran), or recovering (Endeavor, Ryuukyuu??), or Might As Well Not Even Be There (a certain TWO OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL IN A TIME OUT AND HAD BETTER BE THINKING GOOD AND HARD ABOUT WHAT THEY’VE DONE. OR MORE PRECISELY, DID NOT DO OR EVEN ATTEMPT TO DO). anyway so all of that means that the only ones actually ready and raring to go here in Round 2 against the newly regenerated and POSSIBLY HAS HIS DECAY QUIRK BACK Shigaraki Tomura are... drum roll...!

okay but FUCK YOU GUYS though oh my god YOU’RE EVEN RUINING THE DRUM ROLL

DID YOU NOT EVEN NOTICE HIS LEG BEFORE?!?!? holy -- can I -- can I please just slap them, I --

anyway so RockLockRock looks like he has something to say here. probably going to tell Deku to take Aizawa and run, as if Deku isn’t the fucking glue holding this entire operation together at this point now that Aizawa is KOed. can you believe these guys are so incompetent they’ve actually got me arguing in favor of the child soldiers now, what even

...fuck

shit. that face. he’s ready to die to give them all a chance. he knows he wouldn’t last two seconds against Tomura and yet he’s willing to sacrifice it all. damn it RLR... okay fine your time out is done now, but I’m still calling your parents

unfortunately, you’ll never believe it, but Deku doesn’t seem all that inclined to listen to this man telling him to bail and save his own skin sob

ngl though I am living for the Enraged Vengeance Deku we’ve been seeing in these last couple chapters. maybe now everyone will stop dismissing him as just a soft boi who always eats his vegetables and doesn’t swear, and remember that in truth he’s actually a mildly unhinged feral child with an infinite pain tolerance and a god-given talent for never listening to any life-prolonging advice that adults give him ever

oop don’t tell me he’s gonna do the Decay thing again, shit

-- uh

“eh?” lmao what the fuck. my boy's torso just opened up like a fucking door hinge and all he can say is “eh.” this fucking manga

like he’s seriously just calmly standing there trying to assess what the heck has gone wrong

you really don’t feel pain do you. “haha lol what why is my arm falling off I thought I fucking ascended”

OH MY GOD

IT’S OCTOBER THIRD. looool the fuck

Tomura. my sweet little S+ ranked death machine with an A rank in knowledge. who’s spent the past 15-20 minutes battling to the death with the number one fucking hero and all his pals. who all just HAPPENED to be there all ready and waiting to fight him the instant he woke up. Tomura. buddy. did it really only just occur to you that maybe something went wrong somewhere along the line. that maybe things were not, in fact going according to keikaku. that maybe the heroes didn’t just sit around waiting for you to finish cooking in your villain bake oven. like please forgive my impudence but TOMURA ARE YOU STUPID, is what I’m saying, I guess. but gently

(ETA: SHIGARAKI TOMURA, WHOSE ARM IS CURRENTLY DANGLING BY A THREAD: “hold up lol what day is it.”)

I really like how Deku’s just crying nonstop this entire time though. but like, you know. crying with RAGE

lol and he’s figured it out as well, and I fucking love the connection his mind made, look at this

sudden feelings of solidarity. “WE’RE NOT SO DIFFERENT, YOU AND I” lmao

AHH MIRKO

how does she still have two legs?? Horikoshi I can’t believe you forgot how many legs your own favorite character has. but anyways yes this has been your friendly reminder that Mirko saved EVERYONE and should have a battleship named after her

okay NOW he’s doing the thing

good job Tomura you finally got them!! good thing none of them can fly, or Float. RIGHT, DEKU

AHAHAHAHAHA YESSSSS

YOU LOVE TO SEE IT. AND A BLACKWHIP/FLOAT COMBO, TOO! TOMURA, YOU WERE SAYING??

(ETA: he even grabbed Kacchan too. “I can fly by myself!” YOU SHUSH MISTER.)

(ETA 2: and what I also love about this is that we know the SIXQUIRKS are seemingly in tune with Deku’s emotions, so it honestly makes perfect sense that in the heat of the moment with Tomura threatening to kill all these people that he cares about, the quirk just basically acts on his instinct to save and doesn’t stop to ask questions. we’re saving everyone, no buts. and he even activates Float at long last, acting on that same instinct. honestly Kacchan had the exact right idea the whole time, all the way back in chapter 217. “it’ll activate when he’s in trouble, right?” exactly.)

NO GRAN STOP NO ONE ASKED FOR THESE FEELS

OH MY GOD

NEVER HAVE I STANNED THIS BOY SO HARD. HOT DAMN

he’s so fucking mad. omg??! omg

okay so I’m gonna try my best to explain why I love this so much lol. all right. so the thing is, it’s actually so rare for Deku to actually take the reins like this. even though he’s the main character, even though he’s All Might’s heir, his personality is such that he genuinely doesn’t mind being in the backseat and is perfectly content to share the spotlight with others, or even relinquish it completely. BnHA has had... how many arcs so far? hold up let me check

-- okay I just checked and it’s 18. so, 18 arcs. and out of all those arcs, Deku has had a solo fight in approximately... five of them. and two of those fights were against Bakugou and Todoroki, respectively, so he was still sharing the spotlight even then. aside from that, he’s fought Muscular, Gentle, and Overhaul (oh, and Shinsou, I guess). that’s it! and it’s been almost 300 chapters! and again, he’s the main character. in a shounen manga. like seriously though, that is wild

and so seeing him here like this on the last page, ready to throw hands with Tomura, presumably while using Blackwhip as some sort of physical barrier to coat his attacks and prevent Tomura from trying any more Decay shenanigans with him? dude. I FELT THAT HYPE. it’s just a really effective way of keeping me from getting Main Character Fatigue like I might get in most other shounen series. because Deku doesn’t get the spotlight all that often in comparison, it still feels fresh to me, especially now with him actually going up against the Big Bad. just, idk what else to say except “hell yeah” lol

anyway, so I don’t even know how long it’s gonna last, and I expect that Kacchan and Shouto aren’t going to be content to just sit back and let Deku have all the glory either (Kacchan in particular is probably frothing at the mouth already), so in all likelihood it’s probably going to be more of a 3-on-1 than a 1-on-1. and it’s also very likely to end with Tomura gaining the upper hand and trying to take OFA! and so in truth this is a very fleeting moment of triumph, and the most premature of celebrations! but even so... damn. and also I just love seeing shounen kids lose their damn minds and explode with angry determination. and I especially love seeing it with Deku, because I love the reminder that beneath that sweet, unassuming nerdy exterior lies a core of fucking steel. that look in his eyes, though. TOMURA ARE YOU SCARED. you should be a little scared, lmao

anyway. so that’s the chapter! and I’m really glad we ended on this note, not just because Deku is a badass, but also because like I was saying earlier, this was about as bad a situation as the good guys have ever been in, and I felt like the manga was starting to lose that feeling of hope that still needs to be there at its core even when things are at their darkest. idk, I feel like we needed this. Tomura got a chance to catch his breath in the last chapter, and now it’s the heroes’ turn. whew

[alovesongshewrote]

For the requests, can you do Douxie x reader where the reader gets a job at the bookshop and conveniently forgets their sweater at work so Douxie has to lend them his hoodie 🥺👉🏻👈🏻

Sweater | Hisirdoux Casperan x Reader

Plot:  haha, sweater go brrrrrrrrr

Word Count: 1,946

Warnings:  Folding chairs and spiders

A/N:   Idk what this is, but i hope you enjoy it

Tag List: @furblrwurblr

You had always wanted to work at a bookstore.

Ever since you were an angsty twelve-year-old who only found solace in books, it had been your dream to work amongst the written word.  Too bad Chapters had shitty hours.

That didn’t matter now, though.  GDT Arcane Books had excellent hours, a positive work environment, and the nicest couches to ever exist.  They also had a painting of Guillermo del Toro.  You weren’t sure why, but you loved it anyway.  There was only one thing about the small bookstore that you loved more than the Del Toro painting, which is saying a lot, that painting was amazing.

Your coworker, Hisirdoux Casperan, was very quickly becoming your favourite human being in the entire world.  He was sweet, selfless, and he cared about other people.  He made you laugh more than anyone else, and he was there for you when you were stressed or anxious.  Also, he had a cat.  I don’t even need to tell you that cats are amazing.

The bookstore was the perfect place, and it only got better as the seasons changed.  Fall in Arcadia was beautiful, fall in Arcadia in a bookstore was even better.  GDT began to feel like a second home to you, so much, in fact, that you developed the habit of leaving things at work.  It wasn’t your fault, things like this happen sometimes, and that’s okay.  As long as you don’t forget anything too important, you should survive.

And then you forgot something important.  

It wasn’t anything major like your wallet, but it was necessary to keep you warm in the cool weather, especially at night.

And it was night.  And it was cold.  And your favourite sweater was still in the bookstore.  And you hadn’t realized until Douxie had locked the doors and you’d both gone your separate ways.

In short, you were a little bit screwed.

You wrapped your arms around yourself, shivering slightly.  This was fine.  Totally fine.  As fine as a dog drinking coffee in a burning room.  The wind blew, shaking the branches on the trees and raising goosebumps on your skin.  Lovely.

You braced yourself against the breeze, trudging forward, determined to make it home and have a hot cup of tea.  

And then you heard a trash can fall over.  Extra lovely.

The last thing you wanted was to deal with a Goblin or Shadow Mephit or something.  You walked faster.  There was another, louder crash behind you.  You sped up again.  You were not dealing with this tonight.

There was more noise from behind you, the universe clearly disregarding your wishes for a calm night.  At this point, you were running.  There was a limit to how much crap you could put up with, and it was a limit you were fast approaching.  

Then Douxie flew into your side, bringing both of you to the ground.

“Douxie!?”

“(Y/N)!?”  

Whatever had thrown Douxie at you roared from the alley.  You couldn’t see it, but you could tell that it wasn’t anything good.

“You have to run,”  your coworker said, getting to his feet and offering you a hand up.

“What?  No, I’m not leaving you-”

“I’ll be okay, (Y/N), but you need to get out of here!”

Even if you wanted to, you didn’t have time to get out of there.  What appeared to be a large stone spider emerged from the space between buildings.  How this thing didn’t wake up the whole neighbourhood, you had no idea, and you couldn’t stop to think of one because the arachnid was now attacking.  Douxie stood in front of you, shielding you with his body, and some kind of blue forcefield.  

“(Y/N), GO!”

You ran, but you didn’t go home.  Instead, you searched for something to fight with.  

Monsters and magic were not a new concept to you, not when you lived in Arcadia.  You’d gone through whatever the hell that troll-thing was, an alien attack, and several other crap-tastic world-ending events.  This was just one monster, and you had Douxie, who was apparently a wizard on your side.  This was not the problem you were expecting or even a problem you wanted, but it was one you could handle.

It took a minute of searching, but eventually, you found the perfect weapon.  Someone had left a folding chair outside.  It may not be an enchanted sword, or a serrator, or a gun, but folding chairs had done wonders for you during the troll-hell, and you figured it would work for you now.

You grabbed the chair and rejoined the fray.

Douxie was not pleased to see this.  He really liked you.  You were sweet, snarky and charming, and he really liked all of your quirks.  He enjoyed your company and wanted to spend more time with you.  He knew you were a strong person, and that you could take care of yourself, but he was really hoping that you wouldn’t have to deal with this.  He knew it would kill him if anything bad happened to you.

But you lived in Arcadia, where bad things always happened, and you knew how to deal with this.

“EAT CHAIR, PUNK!”  you yelled, bringing the chair down on whatever part of the spider you could reach.  This didn’t make the spider happy, but you were able to avoid any and all attacks while repeatedly bashing the thing with your folding chair.

The wizard was at a loss for words.  

While he wanted you to run home, he knew there was a high chance that you would stay, and a higher chance that you would stay and try to help him.  The chair, however, had not been a part of these calculations, so all he could do was stare and watch as you kicked this thing’s ass.  No one could blame him, it was very impressive and very attractive.

And kick-ass you did.  You dodged attacks and landed hits, your folding chair proving to be as useful as ever.  Eventually, you managed to wedge your weapon between the pincers of the arachnid, distracting it momentarily.

“Douxie!  Now!”

Douxie snapped from his haze at the sound of your voice.  He sent a wave of magic at the thing before opening the gate to limbo underneath it.  You and Douxie were left staring at the ground where the thing had fallen through.

“Nice one,”

“Thanks,”  the situation set in for both of you.

“Hey, wait a minute, what was that?”

“Oh, fuzzbuckets, are you okay?”

The two of you hesitated for a moment, held at a stalemate.  You wanted answers, he wanted to know if you were alright.

You took this time to take in details you hadn’t noticed while beating up the stone spider.  Douxie had some kind of band or cuff on his wrist.  You had never seen that before despite working with him for a few months now.  It was new.  And it was pretty cool if you were telling the truth.

While you examined the cuff from where you stood, Douxie noticed that you were unharmed, but shivering slightly.  You didn’t have your sweater on.

“Aren’t you cold?”

The question knocked you out of your thoughts, but fortunately, you were focused enough to answer, “Oh, uh, yeah, I forgot my sweater back at the bookstore,”

“Oh,”

Without another word, Douxie took off his hoodie, walked over to you and wrapped it around your shoulders.

“There you go, that should warm you up,”

You gingerly grabbed the edges of the hoodie, wrapping it tightly around your shaking frame.  He was right, it did warm you up, but as your eyes ran over the tattoos on Douxie’s shoulders, you thought of a few more ways he could help you achieve that goal.

“Thank you,”

“Of course, love,”

The wind blew by again.  It wasn’t so bad this time.

Then you realized how late it was.

“Oh, god, I should be getting home, I-”

“Let me walk you,”

“Are you sure?”

“(Y/N), I know you can defend yourself,”  he cast a cautious glance towards the discarded folding chair, “But it would make me feel a lot better to know you got home safe,”

Your cheeks warmed at the sentiment.  It was nice to be cared about.

“Ok.  Come on, I’m this way,”

The walk started off in silence.

Douxie’s hoodie was soft.  His tattoos were really nice.  It was still kinda cold, but Douxie showed no signs of feeling the temperature.  

But it was too quiet.  You needed to talk about this.

“Hey, Doux?  You mind telling me what that thing was?”

The wizard sucked in a deep breath, “To be honest, I don’t know yet.  I’m still figuring that one out,”

“Huh,”  you supposed that was a valid answer, “Let me know when you do,”

Douxie smiled for a moment.  He told you that you’d be the first to know.  Then his face fell.  He almost looked scared, but there was nothing around you to be scared of.  You were a bit confused, but your attention stayed on Douxie.

“(Y/N), until this is all sorted out, could you avoid going out after dark?  I don’t want you getting hurt,”

That was a bit of an understatement.  If you got hurt at all, it would kill him.  If you got hurt by something he could have protected you from, it would destroy him.

“I’ll do my best, but you know I get off from work late,”

“Then I’ll walk you home,”

“I’d like that,”

You were a bit surprised by how determined he was to keep you safe.  It was really nice to have someone watching out for you for a change.  It made you feel warm on the inside.  

After that, the conversation turned to normal things.  Music, books, anything other than stone monsters with no name.  Douxie did ask where you learned to wield a folding chair, but some things are best left to the imagination.

You were actually sad when your house came into view, something you never thought possible.  You’d been enjoying your time with Douxie so much, you didn’t want it to end.  Unfortunately, you did not control the universe.

“Well, this is me,” you took off the hoodie, which was also a sad event.  You held it out for Douxie to take, “Here-”

“Hang onto it,” the wizard said, taking your hands under the hoodie for a moment, “At least until you get your sweater back,”

You both pulled away, blushing, 100%.

“Thank you,”

“It’s no problem, really,”

There was another moment of silence.  You both had so much to say, but no idea how to say it.  

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow,”

“Tomorrow,”

Douxie watched as you opened the door to your home, and stepped through the door.  A surge of energy ran through him.  He had to say something, anything, or he would regret it.

“(Y/N)?”

You spun around to face him faster than either of you thought possible, “Yes?”

Douxie paused.  He didn’t think he’d get that far, to be honest.  But you were watching him with anticipation, waiting for him to speak.

“Just… stay safe, okay?”  it wasn’t exactly what he wanted to say, but it was close enough.

“I will if you do,”

The smile on your face was the best thing he’d seen all day.

He was so distracted by the curve of your lips that he didn’t even notice that you had moved to stand in front of him.

“Thanks again, Douxie,”  and with that, you left a small kiss on his cheek and entered your apartment, leaving Douxie a blushing mess on your doorstep.

“Douxie?  Are you alright?”

“I’m much better than alright, Arch,”

[tchallasbabymama]

The Temple- Chapter 1/?

N’Jadaka x OC

A/N: I thought this was going to be a two parter, but now it’s looking like maaaaybe 3? I’m just now getting back into my writing and forgot how longwinded I can be lol. Enjoy! 

CW: short mention of suicidal ideation

Previous chapter: Prologue

3256 Words

N’Jadaka’s eyes blinked open and he was met with yet another day in Wakanda. This one was a little different than all his other mornings there because it was the first time he got to wake up in his own bed in his own quarters (outside of that one day he was king.) N’Jadaka had spent the last three months in a psychiatric treatment facility working on his anger and mental health issues. When he woke up after the civil war he caused he was livid. He had wanted to die on that mountain and unfortunately the feeling didn’t leave him until about a month into his treatment. He felt he had nothing to live for since his entire life’s work had gone up in flames before his eyes. He accomplished his one goal in life only to have it snatched back from him a day later. Everything important to him in his life had been taken from him and he felt he had nothing else to live for, so his cousin, King T’Challa, arranged for N’Jadaka to spend some time at Ithemba Center for Mental Wellness. 

He would never admit it out loud, but N’Jadaka was scared to go to Ithemba. He thought his stint as king would have turned Wakandans against him, but it did the opposite. The royal family had decided that transparency was the best policy and did a press conference explaining the entire situation to the people. T’Challa explained what had happened between his father and uncle, what the prince’s life had been like up to that point, and the fact that while he did usurp the throne he did it the right way according to Wakandan law so he wouldn't be charged with treason. The people of Wakanda were shocked, but welcomed their new prince with open arms. He wasn’t aware of the new developments because he was still resting in a healing pod in Shuri’s lab at the time, but when he went to Ithemba he was surprised to find out that everybody already knew him and was more than willing to help him. N’Jadaka hadn’t received that much care and attention since he was a child and he didn't really know how to handle it. It took him weeks to learn how to open himself to others, and it wasn’t until his last month of treatment that he even began opening himself up to the other patients in group therapy.

N’Jadaka’s main therapist was a woman named Ife. She reminded him so much of his mother that he had almost no choice but to open himself to her, crying in her lap during their first couple sessions. Ife had been incredibly patient with the emotional yet emotionally repressed prince, allowing him to work through his overwhelming feelings of anger, sadness, and hurt. 

His time with Ife and the other patients at the center had been incredibly healing and he felt like a new man. He still felt like he had a ways to go, and he could tell he needed something, but couldn’t figure out what. His healing didn’t feel anywhere close to being done.

A knock at the door interrupted his morning laziness.

“Ngena.”

In walked the king of Wakanda flanked by two of his Dora Milaje, who he politely dismissed to stand outside the door. He walked across the room and sat in the plush velvet wingback chair by the full bookshelves.

“Sup man?” N’Jadaka barely opened his eyes to speak to his cousin. The bed was too comfortable.

“My apologies cousin, did I wake you?”

“Nah I’m up, this bed just won’t let me go.”

T’Challa chuckled at his cousin’s laziness. He completely understood, the beds were the most comfortable beds he’d experienced in all of his travels and time abroad in school. 

“I just wanted to formally invite you to attend breakfast at 9. It’s casual, just family and whatever few friends are staying in the palace with us at the time. M���Baku will be joining us today.”

“The gorilla nigga?”

T’Challa tried and failed to stifle his laughter, which quickly spread to his slightly younger cousin.

“Yes the gorilla nigga.”

“Ooooh I’m telling M’Baku you said that. Better yet, I’m telling Auntie.”

“I’d really rather you not.”

N’Jadaka chuckled and wondered if this is how it always would’ve been if they had grown up together. The thought was more bitter than sweet, so he pushed it aside for the time being. 

“Maybe just this once.”

T’Challa grinned at his cousin and he also wondered how life would’ve been had they known each other their whole lives.

“Thank you. Oh and get up, it’s already 8:30” T’Challa stood and walked towards the door.

“These damn beds…” N’Jadaka shook his head and reluctantly flung the sheet back and swung his legs over the side of his bed, completely forgetting he slept naked. He rushed to cover himself in the king’s presence.

“Shit, my bad, man.” 

“For…?”

“Nigga I got my dick swinging!”

“You’re sorry for being naked? Wh- oh that’s right. We aren’t puritanical like you are used to in America. Nudity isn't scandalous here, it’s just a body. But I will leave and let you get ready. See you, umzala.”

N’Jadaka stood there shocked. He knew of Wakandan culture, but experiencing it was going to be an adjustment. Just how different were they? They were never affected by colonization so the oppressive white supremacist ideology wouldn’t exist there. He had a lot of unlearning to do and a lot of questions to ask his family.

He eventually shook himself out of his thoughts and made his way to the en suite bathroom. He turned on the shower using the touchpad and the water fell from the ceiling like rain. He scrubbed down in the vanilla chai body wash he had requested and afterwards he covered his skin in shea butter. He walked into his enormous closet and stood there overwhelmed at the choices. His inner child wanted to throw a fit for everything he’d missed out on, but N’Jadaka took a deep breath to center himself before walking over to the section of clothes that he recognized. He was so nervous about breakfast he almost dressed to impress, but then he remembered T’Challa’s words and casual outfit. He grabbed his Lost Tribe hoodie and threw on his favorite black jeans and his Timbs. He swooped all his locs to one side of his head and threw on his gold glasses. N’Jadaka took a deep breath and walked towards the door.

“Chill out...it’ll be fine.”

The guards stationed outside his door directed him to the dining room where he was met with the smiling faces of his family members. Ramonda was the first to notice he’d entered the room..

“Mholo, umtshana!”

She met him for a hug and kissed his cheek. He smiled so hard his dimples looked deeper than ever and he hugged her back.

“Mornin, Auntie. T, Lil Bit, Charlie’s Angel, Big Man.” N’Jadaka greeted his cousins, Nakia, and M’Baku.

Yet again, T’Challa failed to stifle a laugh, which he tried to play off with a cough. Nakia lightly backhanded his chest and sucked her teeth at him. 

“Little bit? Don't start with me, bubble wrap!”

“Who is Charlie and why am I their angel?”

“That is not my name.”

Shuri, Nakia, and M’Baku spoke over each other.

Thankfully the queen mother was there to settle the children down right as the food was being brought out. N’Jadaka looked at the table and was surprised to see that Ramonda was seated next to T’Challa and that the only empty seat was at the end of the table. 

The king noticed N’Jadaka’s nervousness as he watched him sit down gingerly and take in his surroundings. 

“So N’Jadaka, how was your first night in the palace? Our beds are the most comfortable in the world.”

“Auntie, I almost didn’t come to breakfast. That bed had a hold on me.”

“You must come visit my people sometimes. If you think you sleep good here, wait until you have the crisp mountain air-”

“Nah lemme stop you right there. Crisp is code for cold, and I don't do that shit. Sorry Auntie.”

“I don't do that shit either. When I was staying there I shivered the whole time, even with the beautiful furs and blankets! I’m just not built for the cold.”

N’Jadaka grimaced at the mention of his time as a burgeoning world dictator. He was thankful nobody noticed.

He was also thankful for the large platters of food the kitchen staff came and sat in front of them. They passed the food around the table and soon enough there was silence as everyone dug into what N’Jadaka would later describe as the best meal he ever had.

After breakfast, the three men retired to T’Challa’s office while the princess hurried off to her lab, Nakia disappeared, and Ramonda tended to her garden. 

“So, N’Jadaka...I wanted to talk to you about a few things-”

“Then why is Mighty Joe Young here?”

M’Baku rolled his eyes.

“Again, that is not my name. Who even is this person?”

“It’s a big ass gorilla.”

“Oh- well in that case…”

T’Challa cleared his throat.

“As I was saying. Before anything, we need to address your crowning ceremony. Obviously you are part of the royal family, but by Wakandan law, all royalty must be officially crowned to be able to hold a title. If you would like to be Prince N’Jadaka son of Prince N’Jobu we must have the ceremony.”

N’Jadaka’s voice caught in his throat and his eyes got misty.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

M’Baku put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s good to have you, brother.”

“Good to be here.”

T’Challa fought tears of his own.

“Ok so uh, that’s that. We can hash those details out later. Now, the second thing I wanted to bring up with you is this: M’Baku and Nakia have offered to show you around the merchant tribe here in the city, the river tribe, and Jabariland. Shuri will get you acquainted with the mining tribe, and I will take you out to the border tribe on Wednesday.”

“Aight, sounds like a plan, but I don’t want the surface-level touristy shit.”

T’Challa chuckled.

“Noted. Now, lastly,” T’Challa pulled up a projection of a futuristic yet somehow still modern building next to a basketball court. 

N’Jadaka’s stomach dropped.

“What is this?”

“I want to open our borders to the ‘Lost Tribe’ as you call it. Maybe to the rest of the world eventually, but at the time they are less of a concern. In addition to that, I-”

The king was cut off by Nakia entering the room.

“Perfect time, love.”

“Sorry for being late, this baby runs my life now.”

“I’m getting a baby cousin?!”

Nakia looked at him dryly.

“Yes, N’Jadaka, you are getting a baby cousin.”

He peeped her attitude and settled down. If there was one thing he knew in this world, it was never piss of a pregnant woman.

“So the Outreach Centers, yes. I had actually had the idea for a while, but it took the country almost burning down for this idiot to see I was right. T’Challa had the idea to use your old apartment complex as the first Wakandan Outreach Center. Hopefully if it goes well, we could expand to-”

N’Jadaka zoned out staring at the projection. His vision may not have come true in the way he thought it would, but this would certainly be a step towards the betterment of the lives of Black people everywhere. N’Jadaka couldn't help but grin. 

“I think we lost him…”

“Cousin!”

He snapped out of his daze.

“Yeah I-I like it. Thank you, this really means a lot. One thing though?”

“Yes?”

“I want it dedicated to my pops.”

T’Challa smiled and zoomed in on the name above the door. It read “Prince N’Jobu’s Wakandan Outreach Center”. Then he took them on a 3-D tour of the facility, ending with the memorial to N’Jobu in room 1401.

N’Jadaka nearly broke down in tears.

“Cool. Thanks, man. For everything. This is…” N’Jadaka took a deep breath. “Just, thanks…”

The other three Wakandans smiled back at him fondly, an occurrence it seemed he would have to get used to. 

“I’m glad you like it. Now if you three will excuse me, I have work to do.”

Nakia kissed T’Challa’s forehead and left the room.

 “Aight, I need something lighthearted. A nigga is tired of crying. Oh! Actually I got some questions…”

“Ask away.”

“So earlier you mentioned how free and open and shit yall are here...I’m single and haven’t had any in like 6 months so where can I go to find some pussy. Since I’m a prince do I just like, I don't know, have concubines brought to me? I don't know how this works”

M’Baku snorted.

“Clearly.”

N’Jadaka flipped him off while T’Challa answered.

“No, we do not have ‘concubines’ though we do sort of have sex workers, which we can discuss later. You know, it would do you good to read some Wakandan history books...and maybe even some of our sex education material.”

“Ay man, I already know all that.”

“Not the way we teach it. Plus our birth control is better here.”

“More effective?”

“And no side effects. Trust me, you’ll want to visit the library at the end of the hall, cousin.”

N’Jadaka considered his suggestion and made a mental note to check out the library later that day.

“Yes, maybe you’ll learn a thing or two,” M’Baku chimed in.

“My guy, I know how sex works! I’m just curious about the culture surrounding sex. T, you said y'all aren’t puritanical like America...expand on that.”

“Well the list of books I just sent to your beads would be able to cover this in greater detail than I can at the moment, but basically every preconceived notion you have about sex, gender, attraction, etc. has been tainted by colonialism as a means of control over the population.”

“Hanuman…”

“Yeah I know that, I guess I just can’t really conceptualize a world without all that sexism and homophobia and shit.”

“What is homophobia?” M’Baku asked, genuinely confused. The cousins answered at the same time.

“When people hate gay niggas.”

“The hatred of, or at least the disdain for, those who are attracted to their same gender.”

“And we ain't even getting into the people who aren't men or women, that shit blows people's minds.”

“Why?”

The cousins continued to explain the outside world to M’Baku for what felt like hours. T’Challa looked at the clock and stood.

“Well gentlemen, as...depressing as this conversation has been, we must get to the council meeting.”

“I need a drink after that. The strongest Jabari mead!”

“Yeah imagine living with that shit for 30 years then coming here. I’m not gonna know how to act.”

“You’ll learn.”

The three made their way to the council meeting and N’Jadaka had never been so bored in all of his life. He started nodding off at one point and M’Baku elbowed him in his side when he started to snore. When it was finally over they parted ways and N’Jadaka headed to the library. He had plenty of reading to do.

He started with the Wakandan history books reading about the lives of his ancestors. His fathers stories had given him a good foundation to build on, but what he found in the books blew his mind. 

Wakandans can trace their history for thousands of years, all the way back to the time of the great Bashenga, the first Black Panther. Growing up as a Black American, N’Jadaka had no connection to his mother’s family history because there was no record. When the Lost Tribe was enslaved and brought to the west, they were recorded as cargo, not people. The enslavers didn’t care about their names or where they came from, and when they got to shore their families continued to be ripped apart and sold to the highest bidder. They weren’t allowed to play drums and congregate, they weren’t allowed to read, they weren’t allowed to marry. There was no written record of his people, and the most they could go on was family bibles which almost never went back before the mid 1800s. 

N’Jadaka was overwhelmed with the information, so he decided to switch to something else and come back to the history books later. He picked up “Intimacy and Sex” by Ami Nbunda and flipped through the pages. He skimmed the table of contents and was surprised by what he saw.

The first chapter was on anatomy, but it actually included intersex people instead of just focusing on male and female bodies. The next chapter was about loving and respecting yourself and others, but not in the slut-shaming way of the outside world. The next few chapters were on the mental and emotional sides of intimacy, and the last few were on birth control, sexual health, attraction, healthy communication, and more resources. 

The prince couldn’t believe what he was seeing as he flipped through the pages. He stopped on a full-color photo of a vulva with all the parts labeled.

“This is for kids? Damn, we really living in two different worlds. America would never.”

He turned the page and saw a to-scale model of the entire clitoris, and his eyes bugged out of his head. 

“That shit’s a whole wishbone…”

He continued to read through the pages in awe. M’Baku was right, he was learning a thing or two.

N’Jadaka spent the whole day in the library reading book after book on everything he could get his hands on. If it hadn’t been for his guards alerting him to the time, he would’ve missed dinner. He grabbed the last two books and went to drop them in his quarters before heading to dinner.

“Umzala, have you been in the library this whole time?”

“Yeah man, it’s a lot to take in. I might have to take that sex ed book back to the states.”

“We plan on doing just that at the Outreach Centers. Comprehensive sex education is a necessity, and since your government prefers to keep people in the dark about how their own bodies work it will be our job to educate those who come through our doors. All but the last chapter, of course.” 

T’Challa winked and N’Jadaka felt like he had missed something.

“You mean the resources? Makes sense, those books wouldn't be available outs-”

“Not the books, dear, the Temple.” Ramonda chimed in.

“The what? I ain't got that far yet.”

Shuri rounded the corner and N’Jadaka expected the conversation to stop, but no.

“Remember earlier when you asked about concubines and I said we have sex workers?”

Ramonda cut her eyes at N’Jadaka as he nodded.

“Well that term doesn’t quite encompass what they do. They are sexual healers blessed by Bast herself and they reside in the Temple of Healing on the outskirts of the city near the Land of the Dead. They are known as the Daughters of Bast.”

“Now I feel bad for calling them concubines.”

“You should.” Ramonda said as she slapped him upside the head.

“Ow Auntie, damn”

T’Challa was thankful that his mother had someone else to fuss over, and he chuckled.

“I think it would be a good idea for you to pay them a visit. They are healers, after all.”

Next Chapter

[fatiguing-thoughts]

“Natural” - Chapter 15 - Embry Call x Reader

I was stirred from my sleep at the sound of something in my room. 

My initial panic subsides when I hear Embry’s soothing voice in my ear. 

“It’s just me. Don’t worry.” He says, climbing into bed next to me. 

I feel his warm arms wrap around me and I press my face into the crook of his neck.

“What time is it?” I mumble.

“It’s a little past midnight.” He kisses my temple, stroking my hair. 

“Oh wow, I’ve been asleep for a while.” I chuckle. 

“Yeah, you never answered my texts. I figured you’d fallen asleep. You had a long day.” He chuckles, pressing soft kisses to my neck. 

“That I did. We all did.” I sigh.

“We’ll find him, don’t worry.” Embry whispers.

“I don’t know, Em. I’m really worried. I don’t recognize my best friend anymore.” I say, tears falling from my eyes.

“I know, I know. He’s still there, he’s just going through the ringer.” He soothes me, rubbing comforting circles in my back. 

“I know, I just want to help him. He’s been there for me through so much. Jacob’s like my brother.” I sniffle. 

“I know you do, bean. But you can’t fix what’s going on with him. He’s heartbroken and he’s gonna take some time for himself to heal.” 

Embry’s voice and touch always soothed me, but the thought of how much pain one of our best friends was going through was still plaguing my mind. I had no idea where he was or what he was doing. 

“Did you look for him today?” I look at Embry.

“Quil, Sam, Paul, and I all went out earlier. We’re going to be taking shifts looking for him.” 

“Nothing?” I ask with defeat.

“No, we lost his scent. We can’t hear his thoughts. We went all the way to the Candadian border. We’ll find him, he just doesn’t want to be found yet.” He chuckles softly, trying to lighten the mood.

“The Canadian border? How much further could he be?” I ask surprised.

“Who knows, he’s fast. We’ll find him eventually. We will.” He promises.

“I hope so.” I murmur, pressing my face deeper into his neck.

The smell of pine needles and teakwood throwing my senses into a frenzy. 

“In other news, we picked up the scent of another leech seemingly on its way to Forks. Quil and I got him, though. Gotta make sure nothing else comes here.” 

“It’s crazy how casual this is for all of you. I still can’t completely grasp it, yet. It’s just so common, Vampires in Forks. Months ago I never knew they existed, and here we are. They’re just everywhere.” I giggle.

“Isn’t it? But it makes sense why they like it here. They’re just surprised to see us, most vampires don’t even know we exist. Makes our job a little easier.” 

“How many do you think will be at the wedding next month?” I ask.

“I’m not sure. We’re gonna have to figure out who we do and don’t have to worry about, though.” His raspy voice laughs softly into my ear. 

“That’s a really good point, I didn’t consider that.” I giggle. 

“I know, I’m just here to remind you of it all. But you definitely wanna go?” He asks me, looking into my eyes. 

“Well, yeah. I’m intrigued, I wanna see what it’ll be like. I wanna see the wedding, I’m sure it’s going to be beautiful. Seth was really excited, too. So I wanna go for his sake, he’ll need some backup. Plus, Billy is going because of Charlie. I can’t leave Billy all alone. I’m going, but if you don’t want to, I won’t force you. I know you aren’t exactly fond of them.” I give him a soft smile. 

He leans up against my headboard and pulls me with him. He looks into my eyes with a soft smile.

“Babe, if you think I’m gonna let you go to a wedding without a date, you are mistaken. I would love to go with you. Anywhere, really. Besides, I can’t leave you with that many vampires. It’s rule number one of vampire weddings.” He chuckles. 

“Awe, Em. Thank you. How silly of me to forget rule number one.” I smirk as I place a kiss on his lips. 

“I don’t know how you could.” He pulls me in for another kiss.

His large hands find my hips, pulling me further into him. The kiss grows deeper, feeling his hungry lips on my own. 

“What time do you have to go home?” I exhale, pulling away from the kiss.

“Pretty soon, unfortunately. My mom’s gonna be looking to see if I’m in my bed soon.” He sighs.

“I understand.” I nod before placing my forehead on his. 

“I’m sorry, bean. We can have another sleepover soon.” He smiles, kissing the tip of my nose.

“I can’t wait. You’re still coming over for dinner tomorrow, right?” I ask.

“Of course.” He smiles. 

I laid against his chest until he had to leave. His heartbeat thumping against my ear put me to sleep faster than anything else really can. 

I start to stir as I feel movement in the bed.

“I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He kisses my forehead before walking to my window.

I felt my eyes drooping shut before he reaches it. 

“I love you, too.” I mumble into the pillow.

I pull my blankets closer to me as my main source of heat has since left my bed. 

I woke up to see the sun peaking through my curtains. 

I check my phone and see a missed call from Leah. It was only nine in the morning, weird that she called so early. 

I then saw a text from her, asking me if she can come over when I’m awake. I text her back telling her she can come over now. 

I get myself dressed and ready for the day and make my way downstairs. 

I pop some waffles in the toaster and await for Leah’s arrival.

Though it wasn’t long as a few moments later there was a knock on my front door.

“Hey Leah. Come in.” I swing the door open further and she quickly enters. 

“Hi.” She smiles softly. 

“Are you hungry? Do you want anything to eat or drink?” I ask her.

“I’m good with water.” 

“Sit down, Leah.” I smile.

I bring her a glass of water and she gives me a small thank you.

“So, what’s going on?” I smile at her.

“Just the Alyssa thing. I explained it all to her. I just feel so bad about how she learned about all of it. She was so… afraid. It hurt to see her so afraid of us. She looked like she saw a monster.” She sighs.

“I understand. I think it’s natural to be afraid in a situation like that. But what matters is how she handles it from here. Jake made it a difficult introduction, but it seems like a fixable situation.” I place my hand on her shoulder comfortingly. 

“For sure. I get it. She said she needed a day or so to herself, and I get it, I do. But this is painful for me. I showed her me, and she seemed alright but… just really shaken up.” Leah confesses. 

“I get it. I talked to her, she said she didn’t wanna lose the connection she has with all of us, with you. She just needs to take some time to absorb it all. The girl watched a giant boy turn into a giant wolf. Then, she watched another one turn into another giant wolf. Then, she almost saw them fight. And then, she learned about vampires and how they’re running crazy through her hometown. She got a very harsh and rushed introduction, the girl feels like she’s nuts.” I chuckle, placing my hand on Leah’s.

“Yeah. But she said she doesn’t want to lose the connection she has with me?” She smiles.

“Of course that’s all you heard.” I roll my eyes.

“Oh shut up.” She laughs.

I walk over to go get the waffles I toasted and hand one to Leah.

She thanks me and eats it.

“I thought you weren’t hungry?” I tease.

“That was before I heard good news.” She smiles, taking a bite out of the eggo waffle. 

“Okay, fair.” I chuckle.

“By the way, I just want to let you know that I’m relieved you’ll be going to the wedding with Seth. I couldn’t bring myself to go, but you and Embry can keep an eye on him.” 

“Of course. Ya know, despite all the drama this girl brings, he’s still really excited for that wedding.” I laugh.

“He’s just happy to be anywhere. He loves love and he loves the Cullens. Don’t really get why, though.” She rolls her eyes.

“Well, I think Seth sees things in a different light than everyone else. He’s kinda his own sun. I love it, I wish I could be more like him, sometimes.” I admit with a small smile.

“I agree, Seth is really warm. He’s kind. He tries to only see the best in people. Which is why I worry for him, especially at a party full of leeches. So I find comfort in knowing you guys will be there.” She takes a sip of her water with a smirk. 

I shake my head, laughing at her. But in reality, it made sense to feel that way. It made so much sense.

“So, what’re your plans with Embry for the day?” 

“Well, my dad wanted to have dinner with us. So what I have to do is either feed him before or feed him after, because he’s expressed his concern with eating too much in front of my dad. He doesn’t want to raise any suspicions.” I giggle.

“That’s a good point. I guess that’s something to consider.” She picks at the skin on her thumb. 

“Are you actually okay?” 

“I mean, I will be fine soon. It just kinda physically hurts.” She purses her lips.

“Well, let’s go have some fun, then. I don’t have anything to do until my dad gets home from work.” 

“I mean, I don’t have to go on patrol and search for Jacob until 3. We could do something.” She smiles.

“Alright, let’s go.” I grab my car keys and we are on our merry way.

“What’s the plan?” She asks as I turn the car on.

“Uh, not sure. You got anything in mind?” I turn to her before driving off. 

“Not a clue.” She smirks.

“Okay, well we can go play in the woods. I know you’re doing that later, so I don’t know. We can mess with the guys, maybe? Drive around until we find something? We could go get lunch later, maybe?” I start throwing ideas around. 

“Okay, uh. Those are all great options.” She laughs.

“But?” 

“But, I don’t know what to do.” 

“We can hang out on the beach. Maybe look for some seals? I need a dress to wear to Bella’s wedding, but I don’t think you’d be very interested in dress shopping.” I chuckle. 

“Not usually, but we could do that if you’d like. I’d like to go see some seals, though. That could be fun.” She smiles.

“Alright, seals it is.” I smile. 

We drove over to the beach, blasting some fun music. 

Seeing Leah in a good mood was something that I enjoyed, it was something I didn’t get to see often anymore. She really deserved the happiness the world has to offer; and I’m glad she’s finding it. 

After our jam session, we pulled up to the beach and got out. We began our walk, which wouldn’t be too long, hopefully. 

“Do you think we’ll see any baby seals?” I ask.

“Maybe, I think this is like the time when they’re born.” She looks around. 

“Great. I love fluffy seal pups, it’s all I need to see and then I’ll be content with my life.” I giggle.

“Wow, that’s all it takes?” Leah teases. 

“Well yeah, have you ever seen a seal pup?” 

“You got me there, they are very cute.” Leah laughs at me. 

We continue our walk down the rocky shore for what feels like an hour or so before she tells me there are some coming up soon.

“How do you know? Those are just rocks.” I ask her.

“I have really good vision now, one of the perks. Plus, I can smell them. They don’t smell that great.” She laughs. 

“Jeez, all the things I forget to consider.” I laugh.

The sudden realization dawned upon me, what if I smelled bad and didn’t know it? They could all smell so well. 

“Leah, you would tell me if I smelled bad right? I’m gonna need you to do that for me.” I lift up the corner of my shirt, smelling it.

“(Y/N), you do not smell bad. But yes, I will tell you.” She laughs.

We continue walking, rounding the corner. 

“Wow, there they are.” I whisper in amazement. 

“Beautiful.” 

We sit and stare at them from afar for a bit. Talking about life for what feels like hours.

And suddenly our sunlight was blocked by two figures. 

“Can I help you?” Leah’s annoyed tone rings through the air.

“Yeah, we were wondering if we could sit with you two lovely ladies. We figured you might want our company.” One tries to shmooze. 

I look up and see two young guys. One a bit taller than average, lanky build. He had blonde hair and a smile plastered on his face. I look at the other one standing next to him, a little stockier than his friend. He was a few inches shorter and his hair was a light brown, he too was smiling at us. 

“Well, you did not figure correctly.” Leah scoffs. 

“Wow, someone’s feisty.” The blonde teases. 

“You’re a little quiet, though.” The brown haired boy smiles at me.

“It is with the advice of my lawyer that I remain quiet.” I smirk up at him.

Leah looks over at me, realizing what I’m doing. I can tell that she’s holding back her laughter. 

“What?” The blonde one asks.

“My lawyer? Just ever since my case, he said that I shouldn’t talk to men like you guys anymore. It was what provoked me the first time.” I shrug. 

“He was right. It was like something snapped that time. She just missed a sentence by *that*.” She pinches her thumb and her index finger close together. 

“Yeah, my boyfriend’s crazy, too. He just got out of prison. He should be here any minute, though. If you guys wanna meet him?” I smile at them.

“Uh, no thanks.” The blonde one quickly says, grabbing his friend’s arm and walking away.

“Bye! It was nice to meet you!” I call after them, causing them to walk faster. 

After they were out of earshot, Leah and I burst out into laughter. 

“That was impressive.” She laughs.

“Thank you. You did great, yourself.” I laugh.

“I see how you managed to keep up with Quil for all these years.” 

“Oh please, I made Quil the snarky boy he is.” I smirk. 

A few minutes later we decided it was time to go. 

Our walk back consisted of throwing around random things to do.

“I mean, I could go for ice cream.” I chime as we near my car.

“Who am I to say no to ice cream?” She laughs.

So we made our way to the local ice cream spot.

“Can I have sprinkles on the bottom? And extra sprinkles on top?” I ask the woman making my ice cream with an awkward smile.

“Of course!” The kind girl smiles as she packs on the sprinkles.

“Jeez, (Y/N). You want any ice cream with those sprinkles?” Leah laughs as she licks her ice cream.

“Not really, I’m in it for the sprinkles.” I laugh as I pay and thank the woman. 

Sitting on the bench outside of the ice cream shop I look at the time.

“Can’t believe it’s already noon.” I laugh.

“Wow, time flew. But what do we do now?” Leah asks, throwing out her napkin. 

“Well… I still need that dress. And there’s a dress store like fifteen minutes away…” I say, voice trailing off. 

“Alright, let’s go get you a dress. I just have to go on Jacob and leech patrol at 3.” She reminds me. 

“You got it, boss.” I smile as I stand up and throw out my empty cup. 

The dress shop was small but offered a substantial amount of options.

“Thank you for helping me, I need an honest opinion. This isn’t really my thing but I have to get it done.” I smile at her, shuffling through dresses.

“Of course, what else are friends for?” She chuckles.

“You got me there. Do you think long or short?” I ask.

“Uhhh, either works. What color are you thinking?” She asks. 

“I like emerald or purple.” I shrug. 

“Okay, those would work.” 

After about a half an hour of shuffling, we grabbed a few good options and I made my way to the dressing room. 

“No.” Leah says as I walk out in a deep purple dress that came to my knees. There was only one shoulder on the dress.

“Yeah I don’t like the top of it.” I shrug.

I make my way back in, and after we hated all of them I lost hope.

“I found this one, try it on.” She says handing me an emerald green dress. 

“Thank you.” I smile and make my way back into the dressing room. 

I put it on and look into the mirror. The gown flowed beautifully, complimenting my complexion and figure well. The straps and neckline held my chest together well. A modest, yet beautiful dress. It was perfect for this wedding. There was a hidden slit in the dress, I didn’t notice it until I brought my leg forward. I think this would be the dress, as long as Leah gave me the thumbs up.

“What do you think?” I ask as I exit the dressing room.

“That one looks great.” She smiles at me.

“I agree. I think this is the one I’m gonna buy.” I smile before going back into the dressing room. 

I get dressed back into my normal clothes and bring the dress over to the register. 

By the time we got into the car, it was a little after 2:00. 

“I’ll drive you home. Thank you for the fun day.” I smile at her.

“No, thank you. I had fun. Scaring men is a great way to pass time.” She chuckles. 

“It is, we should absolutely do that again. The guy was lucky Quil wasn’t here to add to it.” I laugh. 

“Oh yeah, it would’ve escalated to some kind of mafia story.” Her laughter echoes in the car. 

We got to her house and I said hello to Seth. 

“Hey Seth.” I wave.

“Hey! How’re you doing?” His cheerful voice fills my ears.

“I’m good. I’m gonna go pick up Embry to get him food before we eat dinner with my dad.” I giggle.

“Yeah that makes sense. He eats almost as much as Quil, which is a lot.” His smile beamed like sunshine. 

“I know, it’s crazy isn’t it.” I laugh. 

I say my goodbyes and make my way over to Embry’s house, calling him to let him know I was on my way.

I park my car and see him waiting for me outside with a smile, a few flowers in his hand. 

“Hey, Em.” I smile, giving him a soft kiss on his lips when he gets in my car. 

“Hey, bean.” He beams as I pull away and begin the drive back to my house. 

“How was patrol?” I ask, tearing my eyes from the road for a second. 

“It was alright. Good news is that we didn’t find any vampires. Bad news is that we didn’t find Jacob. But, I saw some pretty flowers and I thought of you. So I picked them.” He smiled, holding up the flowers for me to see.

“Embry, they’re beautiful. You’re too sweet, thank you.” I blush. 

“Anything for you, babe.” He smiles, pressing a kiss to the top of my hand. 

His head looks into my back seat, noticing the dress bag. 

“Oh you got a dress for the wedding?” He smiles at me.

“I did, Leah helped me pick it out today. It’s a little long for me right now, but I think heels will fix that.” 

“I can’t wait to see you in it.” Embry says, causing me to blush. 

“I can’t wait to see you all dressed up, I’m excited.” I smirk.

“I guess that’s the silver lining of this wedding.” He chuckles. 

We drove back to my house, jamming out to our playlist. 

I pull into the driveway and lead Embry into the house.

“What’re we cooking for dinner?” He asks.

“Well, I figured you could find something in the fridge to eat before he gets home and then I’ll make spaghetti and accessories to spaghetti for actual dinner.” I suggest.

“Spaghetti accessories?” Embry laughs, raising an eyebrow.

“Ya know, sauce, garlic bread, that kinda stuff.” I giggle. 

“Wow. Accessories.” He teases, pulling me in for a kiss. 

“Alright, eat some food so that we can start cooking.” I kiss the tip of his nose. 

I place the flowers in a vase and admire them for a few moments as Embry ate some leftovers from dinner last night. I brought the dress upstairs to my room before returning to the kitchen.

We began cooking and before I knew it, it was after 4:00. My dad should be home at any moment so our timing worked pretty well. 

“You know how they say you can tell if spaghetti is done?” Embry asks me.

“How?” I ask with a smirk, knowing damn well what he was going to do.

He grabs a piece of spaghetti out of the strainer and throws it at the wall behind me.

“Oh, no you’re supposed to throw it at someone, not a wall.” I joke with a grin.

I take a piece of spaghetti and throw it at Embry, and it got stuck to his arm.

“See, it’s done. It sticks.” I giggle, walking over to him and the wall to throw out those pieces. 

“Wow, babe. Harsh.” He giggles, wrapping his arms around my waist. 

“It’s what I am, coldblooded.” I joke. 

“Oh yeah, totally.” He rolls his eyes. 

Suddenly, his eyes are ripping themselves from my waist.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, slightly worried.

“Your dad’s pulling up into the driveway. I hear his car from up the block.” He laughs.

“Wow, super hearing. I forget about that.” I laugh. 

My dad opens the door and greets us.

“I’m just gonna change and then I’ll be right back down for dinner.” He says before jogging up the steps. 

I finish setting everything else up and Embry and I take a seat at the table, waiting for my dad.

“Hey, Embry. I’m glad to see you again.” My dad says to him with a smile.

“It’s good to see you again, too.” Embry smiles. 

“How was work?” I ask my dad.

“It was alright. John messed up one of our clients’ accounts, so that was a fun thing to fix for the rest of the day.” He says, voice filled with sarcasm. 

“Oh, sounds like a great time.” I joke.

“Of course, always is. But how was your day? What did you guys do today? Where did these flowers come from?” He asks before taking a bite of his garlic bread.

“Oh, I brought them for (Y/N). I saw them on a hike with Quil and I thought she’d like them.” He smiles.

“That’s really nice of you, Embry.” My dad smiles.

“Leah and I hung out. We went seal watching, scared some men, got ice cream and went dress shopping.” I took a bite of spaghetti.

“Sounds fun, but how and why did you scare men?” My dad raises an eyebrow. 

Embry too was interested to know the story, judging by his face. 

“Well when we were sitting at the beach, two guys came up to us. Flirting with us and thinking they were sooooo smooth. They didn’t get the message that we weren’t interested and didn’t want them around. So I told them my lawyer advised me to stay away from situations like that after what happened the last time. I said I barely made it out without a prison sentence. I wanted them to fear me. Then, I told them my crazy boyfriend who just got out of prison would be there any minute if they wanted to stick around and meet him.” I smile, taking a sip of my water.

Embry laughs way too hard at the absurd words coming from my mouth and my father looks proud yet concerned, he too began to laugh.

“I mean, it worked right?” My dad asks.

“Of course it worked, they looked so scared.” I smile. 

“I’m proud of you. Glad to know you’re still my snarky daughter.” My dad smiles at me.

“I’m proud of your quick thinking, it’s great. But you should call me next time.” Embry says with a concerned face. 

“Yeah, you never know who you’re talking to. Thankfully they weren’t crazy.” My dad agrees.

“I know, but Leah was there.” I defend to Embry.

“You’re right, I forgot she was there for a second.” Embry nods. 

“What does Leah being there do?” My dad asks, confused as to why that meant everything is peachy and safe.

“Uh, she’s just intimidating. Plus I wasn’t alone.” I try to save myself. 

“I mean, that’s true. It’s better to be with someone than by yourself.” My dad agrees. 

Can’t exactly tell my dad that Leah is stronger than any other human that could be threatening me. That she won’t face any physical damage from them, that she could snap them like a twig. That she can shift into a giant wolf. 

“How was dress shopping?” My dad asks, breaking the silence. 

“It was good, I bought a dress.” I smiled. 

“That’s great, I wanna see it after dinner.” He smiled.

“Of course, I have to show Embry, too. The wedding is just a few weeks away.” I say.

“Very fast, very rushed. The invitation just got here the other day.” My dad says.

“The whole thing is a rush.” Embry agrees.

“I mean, yeah. But they’re in love. And it’s what she wants.” I say to Embry.

I knew he was referring to Bella becoming a vampire more than the wedding. It was a lot on Jacob, making it a lot on everyone else. Nobody understood her desire to become one. 

“That’s important, I would hope she wants it.” My dad laughs. 

“She definitely does.” Embry agrees.

“I heard Jacob ran away. Billy’s made missing flyers. You guys haven’t heard from him at all?” My dad asks.

“Nope, not at all.” Embry says with a devastated face.

“No, I wish he would come back. He disappeared after he got the invitation in the mail.” I say, pursing my lips. 

“That’s a shame. Hopefully he comes back soon. Billy’s so upset. Jake doesn’t need her, he’ll find someone.” My dad says in a disappointed tone.

“I know, he’s just inconsolable about it.” I say as I take another sip of my water. 

We finish eating dinner, talking about everything and nothing. We clean it up and sit in the living room.

“Alright, hon. Let’s see the dress.” My dad smiles.

“Okay, I’ll go put it on.” I smile before walking upstairs, leaving Embry and my dad on the couch. 

I put the dress on and walk back down the stairs, lifting it up so I don’t trip.

“Right now, it’s a little too long but when I put heels on I think it’ll be okay.” I smile awkwardly.

“You look beautiful.” Embry says with a smile plastered across his face, eyes almost glazed over with admiration. 

“You do.” My dad smiles proudly. 

“Thank you.” I blush. 

I walk back upstairs and throw some pajamas on, ready to watch some tv with Embry and my dad.

My phone rings and I see Quil’s name flash on my screen.

“Hey Quil, what’s up?” I ask into the phone.

“Yeah, I have him with me. I don’t know why he’s not checking his phone. Yeah, yeah I’ll tell him. Okay, relax there, bud. I’ll bring him over, calm down.” I say into the phone.

“What’s wrong?” Embry asks.

“Sam needs you to come over, there’s an issue with his truck and he’s afraid the engine is gonna be destroyed if you don’t look at it. Jacob’s not there to help anymore, so it’s gotta be you.” I smile. 

“Oh, okay.” Embry says, trying to stay calm.

“It was good to hang out with you guys. Hopefully you can help him.” My dad smiles and says goodbye before we walk out my front door.

“What’s actually wrong?” Embry asks.

“Quil’s words were ‘there’s a few leeches and they need you immediately’ so I couldn’t exactly say that.” I look at him.

“Of course there is. I don’t want you outside, you’re gonna stay inside Sam’s house with Emily and Kim. I’ll meet you there and then Brady and Collin will wait with you guys there. I’ll come get you after we get them. Okay?” Embry says as he makes sure I get into my car. 

He shuts my door and runs into the woods, phasing to catch up with everyone. 

I sped the whole way to Sam’s house, going far too fast. But it was necessary. I would see Embry soon. 

I call Emily to let her know I was on the way and she told me that Brady and Collin would be outside waiting for me. I kept on driving.

“Hey guys.” I say, getting out of my car. 

The two wolves nod at me, coming closer to let me run my fingers through their fur.

Emily swings the door open for me to come in. 

I sit on the couch with her and Kim.

We talk for a little while before deciding it was time to watch cheesy movies. 

A few hours in, I felt my eyelids grow heavy. It became harder to keep my head up, bobbing in and out of sleep. 

___________________________________ Word Count: 5106

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[chasseurdeloup-retired]

Hell’s Kitchen || Ariana, Rio, Damien, and Kaden

TIMING: Current LOCATION: Kaden’s Apartment PARTIES: @letsbenditlikebennett, @3starsquinn, @damienxsheppard, @chasseurdeloup SUMMARY: Kaden finally recruits help to make the staggering number of pies needed. Two werewolves, two hunters, and one pixie, no problems whatsoever.

“Is there more flour over there?” Kaden called out, barely looking up from the counter as he worked to make more dough. It didn’t matter who answered. Honestly he wasn’t certain that his apartment was big enough for all four of them at once, at least not actively working and baking. He knew it wasn’t big enough for the number of pies they had to make. It was hard to keep from muttering curses under his breath as he worked, mostly about two hundred pies and mostly in French. Still, he was grateful for the help at the moment, odd bunch though it might be. Two werewolves and two werewolf hunters. All in one apartment. Kaden had to keep rolling his shoulders back to ignore the chills down his spine every now and then. “Make sure the finished ones are labeled,” he called out to the living room. “Uh, please.” The timer buzzed and he nearly jumped out of his skin. “And someone grab that. I’ve got another ready here to swap out.”

Orion felt like a fish out of water. He didn’t think it was going too far out on a limb to assume that he had the least amount of experience with baking. Unless watching his sister bake growing up counted for anything. “I think I saw some flour over here.” Rio answered Kaden, dodging in and out of furniture and people to get to the counter. “Sorry, excuse me!” Rio mentioned to Damien as he slid behind him. Though the two had not met before, Rio figured that if he was a friend of Kaden and Ariana’s then he must be alright. He finally reached the bag and held it up in the air triumphantly before tucking it under his arm to take back over to Kaden. He ignored the tingling sensation nipping at his skin, a mainstay anytime he hung out with Ariana. Eventually it would stop bothering him like it always did. “What do you want me to do with it?” Rio found himself asking. This had been how he tried to make himself useful despite the minimal amount of baking experience he had. He didn’t know how to bake the pies, so he busied himself grabbing ingredients and measuring things out instead.

Damien wasn’t sure why he agreed to help. He was not typically the sort to be favorable to others, and he sure as shit didn’t know how to bake. Regardless of his usual disposition, he found himself here, ignorant of the threat the two men in the room could be to him, and annoyed to see the little werewolf walking about. “What are you doing here?” Damien grumbled lowly as he bent his form down to address Ariana. His tone lacked the sharp edge he wanted it to have, dulled now by their familiarity and a liking he wouldn’t admit to. If he was made to recognize the two hunters in the room he’d be forced to realize she was his closest ally. With a brief introduction to Rio, and an old greeting given to Kaden, Damien went to work. His hand snapped out to clasp the timer as Rio slipped past him, he should be glad the alarm of it signaled another pie was done and the lot of them were closer to their goal, but he hated the sound. Maneuvering through the maze of people, Damien arrived at the oven to free it of a recent baked good, leaving the door open for someone to place another on the racks.

“Hand it to me,” Kaden said simply, holding his hand out to take the bag of flour. With a quick sigh, he realized he could actually take a whole fucking second to explain. Rio did want to learn about baking, he’d said as much before. “I need to coat my hands again so that the dough doesn’t stick to them when I’m working with it.” Without even looking at the bag, Kaden reached in to scoop out some flour and pat it onto his hands. Only as soon as he did, something was off. It was… sticky? Definitely not flour. “Putain de merde,” he grumbled to himself, holding out his sugar covered hands. “Did you read the label on the bag, kid? I thought you liked reading.” he asked as he dodged around the two werewolves to get to the sink. “Please tell me you’re doing better over here. And can you get the next pie in the oven, Rio? Just make sure it’s not one that was already baked.”

Appreciative of Kaden trying to teach him along the way, Orion listened eagerly as Kaden explained the process and dipped his hand into the bag, only to pull out a handful of definitely not flour. Rio frowned at the bag, doing a double take to see that it did indeed claim to be sugar on the outside. Which didn’t make any sense considering he knew he had grabbed the flour. “I’m so sorry! I swe- I thought it said flour.” Rio caught himself mid sentence and rephrased, still eyeing the package as if the words were going to change back to flour. Rio pivoted quickly, still listening to Kaden while trying to right the wrong he had done. He found the bag of flour, opening it up to confirm this time before picking it up to take over to Kaden. Except this time when he lifted it, a stream of flour began pouring out of the bag from the bottom. “Oh come on!” Rio groaned, lifting it up to see a hole in the bottom. How had that happened? He plugged it with his hand and moved it next to Kaden, “There’s a hole in this, I don’t know why.” He explained clumsily before moving along to Kaden's next request, the new pies. He grabbed an unbaked one and moved towards the oven, waiting for Damien to remove a few before occupying the empty space. “Are you any good at baking or are you just as inept at this as I am?” Rio asked, smiling weakly at the man in what was probably a poor attempt at making conversation.

The commotion behind him drew Damien’s attention and he turned to watch as Kaden plunged his hand into a white bag and drew it back with his fingers covered in sugar. It seemed like an easy enough mistake to make, various ingredients in the kitchen were astray as the lot of them clamored to make more pies. One by one Damien pulled the pies from the oven, placing them on the limited counter space till only one was left perched in his hands wrapped in a cloth to prevent the heat from sinking into his fingertips. Searching the area for an available space, he found Rio struggling with the sought after bag of flour, a hole allowing for white powder to flow from the bag and dust their surroundings. He couldn’t help the small grin that developed on his face as Rio spoke to him, “you’re making me look good,” the werewolf replied as he moved through the limited space and dropped the last pie on the counter. An audible crack followed its landing as egg oozed from beneath the pan. “Fuck!” the curse was a little louder than need be, amplified by his genuine surprise, “where the hell did that egg come from? Did one of you put it there?” Damien reached for some paper towel to address the mess, “who the hell just leaves eggs lying around like that.”

The last person Ariana expected to see at Kaden’s apartment to help with baking pies of all things was Damien. Did Damien know Kaden was a hunter? Did Kaden know Damien was a werewolf? He had his whole werewolf sixth sense thing so he had to know, right? Maybe Ariana wasn’t his only exception which she was somehow both grateful for and a little jealous of, but she definitely preferred Kaden not trying to kill the grumpy werewolf she adopted so she’d take it. She couldn’t help the eye roll when Damien asked why she was here. “Helping make pies, obviously,” she answered jokingly as she continued rolling out some pie crust she had been working on. As fun as embarrassing Kaden could be, she wasn’t too keen to go into their fairly complicated backstory. Instead, she cackled as Kaden got his hands all sticky with sugar. It seemed like what followed was just a series of unfortunate events as Rio dropped flour everywhere and Damien broke a random egg. Ariana couldn’t help but laugh at Damien’s curses. “Y’all good? Do we need to like… reorganize the space,” she asked before her rolling pin went over an egg that definitely wasn’t there when she started rolling. “Hey,” she exclaimed with a hint of frustration in her voice, “Just because you’re making a mess of the eggs doesn’t mean you had to put one in my way,” she grumbled at Damien.

The kitchen was filled with cursing, which was nothing new, but it left Kaden wondering if the was a good idea after all. Maybe he should have just continued to struggle on his own to chip away at the growing list of orders. “My hands are wet, I can’t--” He didn’t get to finish his sentence before having to try and clumsily grab the leaking bag, alternating wiping his hands dry on his jeans. It only worked a little. The cracking behind him made him wince. “The hell is going on in here?” he muttered, mostly to himself, setting the bag aside for now. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back out of the way before remembering that his were both still a little wet and sprinkled with patches of flour. “Rearrange. Yeah, let’s do that. We can, uh… We can move things…” He looked around for any opening. “Somewhere. I don’t know, we can move the extra ingredients out onto the table over there, the one with the--” His brows furrowed as he went to point towards the dining room table. The one currently covered in mushrooms. Putain. Of course the fucking pixie was at it. Something he knew he could explain to Rio and Ari. How much did Damien even know? And what kind of shit would that lead to? Kaden sighed. For now, ignore it. “The mushrooms. Just move those. Ignore them. Whatever.”

“When was the last time you had your eyes checked,” Damien countered Ariana as she reeled to recover the damage the egg had done to her rolling pin, “I’ve been too busy to plant eggs around here for you.” He snagged another paper towel and cleaned the surface the pie was resting on, discarding the material into the nearest trash bin. He had hardly been paying attention to what the hunters were doing, only turning around when Kaden began to formulate a new plan for their operation. Eyes scanned the cluttered workspace for available room for the pies, locking on the table the same time Kaden noticed the abundance of mushrooms. Where the hell had those come from? He didn’t remember seeing them when he walked in, and if he had he would have turned tail and left thinking this was some kind of joke. Damien had been fortunate enough that since moving to White Crest his interactions with the supernatural were limited, or subtle. They didn’t exactly step out and admit they were vampires or fae. Only recently had he encountered another of his kind that resulted in any damage. He had no idea what could have produced so many mushrooms. “Are you joking?” he turned to the others, clearly confused, “are we using those? We’re not using those, right? That would be disgusting. I might not have the cooking skills of a Frenchman but even I can’t stomach the idea of mushroom pie.”

Did baking usually involve this much mess? Orion knew people always said that a few eggs had to be cracked, but he had never considered that the phrase was meant literally. “Mushrooms?” Rio asked, perplexed by Damien’s statement until he had turned and spotted them for himself. That was certainly odd, and if Rio had to take a wild guess, probably involved some sort of fae. But why here of all places? “Is this a normal occurrence while you’re baking?” Though the thought was perplexing, he thought it would be mildly humorous if the hunter’s secret to baking was some sort of fae ingredient. Rio was checking on the pies he had put in the oven when he heard music start playing from seemingly nowhere. Recognized the song too, Abba. He had always loved the group until he realized the Silver Bullet played it so much. “Where is that music coming from?”

Not quite willing to admit Damien was probably right, Ariana opted to stick her tongue out at him before cleaning up the mess in front of her. “Whatever,” she muttered before following Kaden out to the table. Her brows furrowed in confusion at the sight of all the mushrooms. Sure, he was dating a banshee, but Regan didn’t exactly seem the type to enjoy getting hopped up on fairy mushrooms. Plus, she was pretty sure those weren’t there when she arrived. “Ignoring the mushrooms. Sounds like a great idea,” she said with a not so subtle hint of sarcasm in her tone though she eventually found herself laughing at Damien’s questions. She’d explain later, but for now, she joked, “Obviously someone requested a mushroom pot pie.” Only seconds before Rio mentioned it, she could faintly hear the sound of that one Gimme Gimme Gimme song that Celeste had always liked. It caused her mouth to twist into a slight frown. “Yeah, Kaden, what’s with the old people music?” She shook her head, “No wonder you and Celeste were friends. Same boomer music taste.”

“Not normal, no,” Kaden called out with a sigh not far behind. He wiped off his hands once more on his jeans before turning to the fridge, swinging the door open, and reaching in for two bottles. “Here,” he said, handing one of the bottles of beer to Damien. “I think we’re going to need this.” He cracked open the cap and took a swig before looking at the state of the table. Rumpleskuffs, had to be. Showing off for all the new guests. Kaden debated disappearing into the other room to make a deal with the pixie just long enough to get this all over with when he, too, heard a familiar sound. His eyes darted to the teenager, wide and shocked before narrowing in on her. “Cut it out, Ari. Is this another one of your tocking tick pranks? Putain, this isn’t--” Only it was clear she wasn’t responsible for the music, either. “Hey. I’m not that old. I don’t even like ABBA. That much. Anyway.” The timer went off again. His brow furrowed and he looked back to the oven. There was no way that was right. The pies just went in. “One second,” he said as he went to check on the pies. Not done. He turned off the timer and reset it, hoping that he wasn’t going to have to reset it again in a minute or two. Something told him that might be the case.

“You don’t like ABBA?” Orion questioned the hunter, perplexed by the bold statement. When it played at the Silver Bullet was just about the only time that people in that place didn’t seem all that bad. For a moment, they stopped being all grumbly and macho. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on Rio’s part. “It’s tiktok, Kaden.” He sighed, almost amused by how terribly he had butchered the app name, “And I don’t think this song is one of the popular sounds.” Not this ABBA song at least. A timer suddenly going off made Rio jump, hopping away from the oven and raising his heart rate on instinct. There was no way those were done already. Rio folded his arms and cast a worried glance over towards Damien. If he wasn’t here, Rio would be asking about what was actually going on. Since Kaden and Ariana weren’t bringing it up, he assumed that meant he must not be in the know. Or at the very least, not in the know about  fae and the mischief they can allegedly cause. “I didn’t know volunteering to help you bake pies was going to be so... eventful.”

Damien gratefully accepted the beer Kaden offered him, with the music playing in the background and mushrooms piled up onto the table things were starting to feel part of a show. A cooking segment you accidentally landed on while clicking through shows and paused on because of the quirky nature of it all. He took a drink of his beer and shrugged off the remarks between the two discussing the name of an app and their taste in music. Damien snagged an empty bowl meant for cooking and started to collect the mushrooms, “mushroom pot pie my ass,” he replied, though he was sure by Ariana’s tone that she hadn’t been serious at all. “And don’t lie Kaden, everyone likes ABBA, or at least one of their songs.” Damien took the mushrooms he collected into review, looking over the strangeness of their appearance as if the answer was written just out of sight. “What do you even want me to do with these?”

“What? No. Even if this was a good prank, this whole mess is longer than one minute,” Ariana said with a matter of fact tone to her voice as if Kaden was supposed to know that TikTok videos couldn’t be longer than a minute. She grabbed some more finished pies to set on the table and clear their workspace and shook her head at Damien’s mushroom pot pie questioning. Later, she’d explain the significance of mushrooms though she was dying to know now just why they were here. Still, curiosity took over as she picked up one of the mushrooms and eyed the almost fake looking spots that danced across it’s cap. “Is Regan on a mushroom kick or something,” she blurted out before adding the mushroom to the bowl Damien was collecting them in. Regan didn’t seem the type to intentionally partake in fae things, but it would explain the pimping out pies thing.

How was it that everyone in that damn room knew his secret? How the hell did they find out? Kaden’s eyes shot to Ari. Did she tell Rio? She could have. But how did Damien know, too? “Alright, fine,” he admitted with a grumble into his beer. “I don’t hate ABBA but I don’t love them or anything like that.” His brow furrowed again as Damien brushed the mushrooms off the table. Interesting. Normally they were just visual illusions. Then again, Rumpleskuffs had been very bored lately. Maybe he save some spores just for this sort of occasion. “You can, uh, just put them in the trash. Or something.” Shit, would that anger the tiny fae? Probably. “Or, uh, just set them to the side. Somewhere. Doesn’t matter, figure it out.” The timer went off again and Kaden thought he might scream. At the very least he was going to take this fucking timer and chuck it out the window. Instead, he simply turned it off again, reset it again, and placed it down on the counter as gently as he could manage. It still was a bit of a slam. “Huh?” he called back to Ari, his chest tightening at the thought. He knew Ari knew what Regan was. And Rio. But would that give her away to Damien? Couldn’t they just all pretend to be completely fucking normal humans for an hour or two? Wouldn’t that be nice? “No, definitely not hers. Regan hates mushrooms. I think. Nah, this is just, uh, wel…” Shit, should have gone with her explanation. “Maybe just another experiment of hers or something. Like that.”

Damien discarded the bowl of mushrooms on the couch sofa, it seemed unlikely they’d need that space for anything else with the pies quickly taking over the apartment. He had never asked how Kaden managed to rack up such an order and it seemed a little late now to question it. The timer began to chime again, signifying one more item baked towards their goal, but the sound of it landing on the counter a little too harshly caused Damien to turn his head. Was this about Regan? He didn’t see how mushrooms could be tied back to her but the stress of this, it seemed like the roots really dug into something more daunting than a bake off. “I don’t get the impression Regan is much of a trickster. Though maybe she’d have an interest in mushrooms if they were sprouting from something recently departed. Or were related to the death of something,” at least, that was more of the impression Damien had of her, knowledgeable about all things deceased. He strode over to Kaden, placing a hand on his shoulder, “maybe you should take a break man,” he gave a light push over towards the couch, “I think he can manage for a little bit.” It was then that Damien turned his head, or rather, looked down to find Ari, “come on girl scout, time to earn a badge for baking mastery.”

Mushrooms were a fae thing, Orion knew that much. Though he didn’t think it was really a Banshee thing. Definitely not a Regan thing. Not unless this whole health kick where Regan assumed that Rio was one missed protein or strong breeze would be his breaking point had been nothing more than a practical joke all along. If that were the case, Rio would actually have to be a bit impressed. And maybe a bit disappointed. “Saprophytes” Rio suggested casually as the discussion turned towards mushrooms growing on dead things, “It’s a type of fungus that grows on dead things.” Not that those mushrooms were the kind that grew on dead things. At least he didn’t think so. Damien was trying to get Kaden to take a break, which was probably the right idea. Even if the idea of losing his lifeline to this whole baking thing was a bit terrifying. “Who is in charge then? Because I don’t know what I’m doing. Guidance requested please.”

Considering Damien seemed to shrug off any warnings she gave him about other supernatural crap that happened in town, Ariana doubted that he’d put together two and two when it came to fae and mushrooms. Kaden seemed pretty certain Regan hated mushrooms and given how serious Regan was, she doubted she was really into pranks. Still, if she happened upon some mushrooms, that could have changed her outlook a bit. At least from what Ariana understood about fae and mushrooms which admittedly wasn’t much for someone who had a warden girlfriend. She looked Damien and Kaden both with an amused grin on her face and wondered why they weren’t just throwing the mushrooms out. “Couch, seems good enough until the kitchen is freed up,” she said with a shrug before she added, “And I’m a little old to be a girl scout, but I’ve gotten pretty good at baking. So don’t worry, you two be grumpy old men together and Rio and I can take over in the kitchen for a bit.” Before she even finished her sentence, she could practically hear Kaden grumbling about how he wasn’t grumpy or saying some French swear word. While he hadn’t responded, it still left her smiling. She linked her arm up with Rio’s and assured, “No worries, Rio. I’ve been baking with your sister long enough that I’m practically an expert at this point.” Somehow, the timer was going off again and she swore it had only been a few minutes. Someone was definitely joking around here. If this was a cartoon, she was sure steam would be coming out of Kaden’s ears and that was enough to have her laughing amongst the chaos again. She dragged Rio into the kitchen, turned the timer off, and whispered, “Okay, what the hell is going on here? Who is not me and pranking Kaden?” Mime stripper reviews crossed her mind and her eyes lit up. She poked her head out of the kitchen and asked, “Hey, Kaden? Has Nell been here recently?” Though mushrooms still didn’t seem like Nell’s style even if she had joked about enchanting vegetables after the potato incident.

Damien was going to elect Ariana as the leader of this little group, she seemed to be the thread that connected most of them, but he also did not want to give Ari the satisfaction of his vote. So, he took to his role in accompanying Kaden to the couch as the second half of the grumpy man team, throwing an arm around Kaden’s shoulder as he indulged in his beer. “I’ll be happy to fit the grumpy man trope if it lets me finish my drink,” he murmured to Kaden, maneuvering towards the couch. Damien let his body all but crashing into the cushion, sinking in without protest. The time spouted off again causing him to briefly turn his head to see how the others were managing the kitchen before returning his focus on the drink. He knew he shouldn’t ask what came next, that he shouldn’t want to know, but some part of him had grown to care for these people and Damien struggled to ignore that. “How are things going with Regan, with her classes I mean?” he asked Kaden, “is she taking breaks in-between to work on the pie business?”

“Guess Ari is your guidance,” Kaden said back to Rio. “Just shout if you all need help. And I’m not that old, alright,” he grumbled as he took a seat on the couch. Putain, he couldn’t remember the last time he sat down today, if he was being honest. Maybe the teenage werewolf was right and he did need the break. The timer went off again and he pinched his nose between his fingers, hoping the pressure would relieve some of the tension in his head. It wasn’t working so he took a swig of his drink instead. It didn’t make the headache go away but it was good beer and it was better than the goddamn mushrooms. “It’s not Nell. Or Blanche. Or Grace.” Not that it was even possible to be some of them but he knew the cause of this was a small fae who had taken up residence in his apartment. Another swig was definitely necessary. “How do you know Nell, anyway?” Then again, it wasn’t hard to run into at least one Vural in town. Well, now that there were three again. Kaden sighed and was about to take another drink but Damien’s comment made him stop and furrow his brows. “Huh?” he asked as he looked over to Damien. Classes? What cl-- Oh. Oh. That’s right. When he’d explained the banshee lessons. Putain. “Uh, yeah it’s going alright. She’s made progress I think. Almost done. But yeah, the pies have been a good break for her. As much of a fucking mess this is, it’s been nice to have.”

Somehow, the two youngest ended up in charge of the pies. Luckily for Orion, Ari knew what she was doing. Unluckily for him, she knew what she was doing because of his sister. She wasn’t exactly an ideal conversation topic. Ironically, she was probably the most conflicting part of his own friendship with Ari at this point. He trusted her to keep Ari safe, but not much beyond that. “Just tell me what to do. I’ll be the obedient sous chef.” Rio laughed. When she whispered to him he shrugged but glanced toward the two. He didn’t know Damien, but he didn’t really seem the type. Kaden hadn’t been wrong to suspect Ari first, admittedly. “No idea. But all seems very… fae-y. Just pretend that’s a word.” The kitchen was a mess and he couldn’t tell what parts of that were their doing and what part was whatever was continuing to mess things up. While he waited on instructions, Rio worked to try to tidy up. “We have a very intricate young person friend group, Kaden.” Rio answered his question. Of course they knew Nell. Probably because of Winston. At least in Rio’s case, they had been the common string that introduced most of the friends Rio had now. “We’re all very tight knit.” Trauma and near death experiences had a habit of encouraging bonding experiences.

Seeing as Kaden wasn’t dropping any hint of who the hell was playing mushroom pranks on him, Ariana figured it was probably time to drop it. She could always bug him about it later. It seemed like she could have a true partner in crime with pranking Kaden. The part of her that enjoyed the clout on TikTok was delighted. The part of her that still struggled to wrap her head around fae things after everything with Lydia and then Deirdre, decided maybe this prankster wasn’t up her alley. Mushrooms brought a rightful sense of unease. “Your sous-chef duty for now is gonna be turning the timer off since it seems to like going off every 2 minutes and we all have too good of hearing for that shit,” she said to Rio who could probably already sense she wasn’t the only werewolf in the room. She got to rolling out some more dough for the crust and called out, “What he said.” It was easier than explaining they chatted online a few times before Nell and Bea helped make charmed jewelry to help protect her and Celeste. So much help that did, not that it was their fault. With a few more crusts cut out, she got another batch of pies ready to move into the oven. As crazy as the afternoon was, Ari found there was some sort of content feeling that came with being surrounded by people she loved.

[whimsywispsblog]

Nothing More

A/N: Hello Wispies, how have y'all been? So, I finally completed my first Chrisandra (Chris x Cassandra) ficlet! It is quite short and really dramatic, but I hope you like it!

"So, how's our little Cassie doing?" Emily asked, taking a big bite off her sandwich. Chris raised an eyebrow as he took a sip of his awfully cold coffee, trying not to spit the bitter liquid.

"Who the hell is Cassie?"

"Cassandra Demitrescu, of course," Emily gave a deadpanned expression, her lips slowly curling into a smirk, making a few crumbs of bread fall off. "Your...uh...midnight tryst?"

"She's not a midnight tryst, Em. She is just an asset for the intel on the inner workings of the Village and Miranda." Chris rubbed his forehead, slightly irritated.

"Sure." Emily mused, wiping her mouth with a tissue, swallowing down a chuckle that (fortunately) did not go unnoticed by Chris.

Maybe he should have let someone younger from his squad handle the asset. Cassandra Demitrescu. Daughter of Alcina Demitrescu. A dangerous biological weapon walking freely, killing several "preys" who were just innocent ignorant people. And she dreadfully reminded him of Jessica Sherawat, a triple agent. Jessica could hardly keep her hands off him. She was really irritating and petty. She was either dumb enough not to see that he wasn't interested, or she purposefully ignored the signs. He never knew which. Of course, compared to Cassandra, Jessica was a little less annoying. And stupid. Or more like naive.

The two of them engaged in a fight just near the exit of the castle. She was strong and difficult to kill, especially with the mutated insects. But Chris was able to keep up with her games until she took him over with her insects and brute strength. And just as she was about to kill Chris, Cassandra immediately dropped her sickle and rushed to grab a packet of granola that must have fallen off during their duel. Instead of killing her, Chris decided to try and get her to give him more information for a chocolate or a granola bar (Not like he could have killed her anyway. She might be a little distracted, but she could definitely overpower him easily).

A part of him felt awful about manipulating and rattling with her naivete. Still, another part of him knew that she was an uncontrollable and vicious bioweapon. They would always meet up at the Fort, past midnight on days when her mother was at the meeting. To her, it was her moment of freedom (and a chance to initiate a...ahem...a hush-hush intimacy with the handsome outsider). But Chris always tried to dissuade her approaches, at most giving her a peck on the cheek or on her hand. To Cassandra, that was enough for her. After centuries, she was being courted by a handsome gentleman. But Chris- he was stuck in a moral dilemma. Yesterday, they got the information that Miranda has indeed set her eyes on young Rose. They were in their final stages of setting up the cameras to monitor the situation before jumping to conclusions. The fortress was the last place. The squad intentionally left that for the Captain. How kind!

Just as he was ready to step out into the harsh Northern winds, the notification ring of his phone buzzed. There were only 4 contacts (besides his squad) that were never muted: Jill, Claire, Barry and Ethan. And the message was from Jill, a voice message.

"Hey, Chris! So, a little update for you. It seems Ada Wong is liked Connections. We're not sure how. Right now, we're trying to track her down, and we're calling in her little puppy, Leon. Also, I will be leaving for Paris today, there's some intel that we'd like to investigate, and Claire is there too, so hopefully, we'll get to catch up." The voice message ended with her usual goodbyes and see you soon.

Ada Wong. That one name that infuriates him (after Albert Wesker, of course). Although he did know that it was Carla's game and not Ada, after the BSAA received a drive with all the proof from an 'Anonymous Wellwisher' (AW = Ada Wong! Get it?!), he still found it difficult to not blame Ada for it. His fists clenched as he started reminiscing about the Lanshiang incident...Piers...Finn.

-

The inner wall of the fortress echoed the soft sounds of metal clanking and Chris' grunts. There was something about the frosty air and the quietness. Chris enjoyed the languid atmosphere. It was something he craved since the BSAA was formed. Maybe before that. Even sleep was tormenting- somehow, he could hear the snarl of the BOWs, and sometimes he could even feel the icky touch of the creatures. The smell- good lord. That sickening smell haunted him to no end. It was there in everything- even in his favourite burger and fries. But this day, there was something different about it. Or maybe he needed this- some time away from BSAA, away from civilisation and his mission. Just rejuvenate with nature's kisses. The wintery smell and the icy air was just perfect IF...If the sounds of the gravel crunching as someone walked- no, not walked, instead hopped towards him wasn't there. He knew exactly who it was- Cassandra Demitrescu.

"Chris! What are you doing here?" The girl giggled as she buried her face in Chris's shoulder, enjoying the feeling of the harsh fabric on her skin and his scent, of course. Chris gave a soft smile, patting her head a few times. It was only then that Cassandra noticed his gear. "Why are you wearing that funny thing? Are you going on a killing spree?" She giggled once more.

"No. I was just out on a walk before leaving for home."

"Will you come back?" Cassandra asked with her puppy dog eyes.

"Probably. Soon." He smiled.

"Will you stay then? When you come back?"

Chris shook his head with a neutral expression while Cassandra looked down sadly. Her sad face increased Chris' guilt. Ever since he and Cassandra started talking, he learned many things about her. One of the most important: She just wanted a normal life. A human life. Not in the castle, not with her sisters and mother, not in the Village. She wanted to experience a normal human life, and she got it from her time with Chris. It was short, yes, but to her, it was an adventure of a lifetime. A wish fulfilled, but at a terrible cost of having her trust and heart broken eventually. In this situation, he was the heartless monster, and she was an innocent girl who knew nothing outside of her castle.

"So...this is where it all ends?" Cassandra asked, her voice soft and low. Chris placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Yes. But I am glad to have had spent some time with you, Cassandra." He meant it. He truly did. As much as he could feel his inner voice breaking and howling, there wasn't any other way. Or the only other way was killing her, which Chris did not want to do. She didn't deserve that kind of heartbreak. Not today.

"Then...If you did like it, why don't you stay? I can talk to Mother-"

"I have a job and family back home. I am sorry."

"Bring them here! Stay here!"

"I cannot, Cassandra. I have other commitments." Cassandra's eyes teared up as her lips quivered uncontrollably.

"More important than me?" She whispered, pulling her hood back on. Chris nodded softly, whispering, 'Yes'.

"Maybe I shouldn't have met you," Cassandra said, clutching her dress. "Bela was right. Look at me. I was a fool to believe that this would..." She looked up at Chris, the tears trailing down her cheeks. Chris tried to wipe off the tears, but the girl pushed his hand away, turning her face away. "Just go, Chris."

"I am sorry, Cassandra."

"I don't want your apology." She said finally, bursting into a swarm of flies, flying away from the place. Chris stayed alone in the empty corridor, replaying the moment in his head. Cassandra's tears.

"Damn, Captain, you just broke her heart!" Lobo chuckled, unaware of Chris' growing sorrow.

"Yeah." That was all he said, and that was enough for Lobo to get the hint that his Captain had been, unfortunately, emotionally compromised by their enemy.

Little did Cassandra know that not only was that her last time meeting Chris, but it was her last week alive. Chris knew that she needed to be killed, and she knew that whatever was said and done, Chris cannot stay here in the Village because, unlike for her, this wasn't his home. But that never stopped her sad tears from falling, her soft gasps turning into audible whimpers and mewls, as she held the chocolate wrappers that Chris had given her close to her chest.

Her sobs got louder and louder as she collapsed onto her bed, crying harder and harder. Cassandra could have killed him then and there. She was powerful, and she knew it. She could take down Chris without much trouble. Or maybe even force him to live with her and abandon his home. But Cassandra loved him. Or maybe cared for him too much. She really did. And that is why she chose to let him go.

In a way, Chris, too, let her go. He could have taken her and given her the 'human life' she craved for. But knowing the BSAA, they would first imprison her. Then run several tormenting experiments on her, as if she hadn't lived through enough already. She would have been used as a weapon, and they'd make her do all the dirty work. And lastly, she'd be killed off once her purpose is served. It wasn't worth it, and that would have made her more miserable. In this, atleast she is at home. She has a family. Her death is inevitable, but she wouldn't die alone or in some unknown lands. And she was his mission. Nothing more.

"Nothing more," He muttered, walking towards the safehouse.