#when i’m 100% sure most of us are messy-haired on the sofa or in bed

[butmomilovejin]

Day 1/365

Prompt: “Never heard of that being used as a murder weapon before.”

Genre: Angst, Mild crack

Summary: Jungkook had never felt fury like that; uncontrollable. You, having been his best friend for the best part of the last decade, meant so much to him and he couldn’t stand the thought of you being uncomfortable under the hands of some gross loner at a party. After he had taken his anger out on his target, he ends up at his boyfriend’s front door

Warnings: Mentions of sexual harassment, Violence, Yoongi tries to make light of a bad situation? 

WC: 1.4k

It was 2 in the morning and Jungkook was not where he should be, in bed, asleep. No. He was walking the streets of Seoul, pace rapid, as his legs carry him without him knowing, to Yoongi’s front door. 

He didn’t know what came over him. Earlier that evening, when you had told him about what that guy had done to you at a party the night before, touching you up as you wriggled to escape, you hadn’t expected him to explode like that, rushing out the door before you’d even finished your last sentence. Jungkook rang the doorbell for what felt like hours. No sign of movement in the house. Reaching into his pocket for his phone, he sees almost 100 missed calls from you over the past few hours. He continues to ignore them though as he unlocks the phone and goes straight to Yoongi’s contact. The phone rang... and rang... and rang... and Jungkook had begun searching through his messy pockets to try and find something to pick the lock with. But finally, just as it almost went to voicemail, a groggy sounding Yoongi muttered a confused ‘Hello?’ on the other end of the phone.

“Yoongi! How could you not hear the doorbell??” 

“You’re at my house?” He was now gradually waking up due to the rushed tone of Jungkook’s voice.

“Yes, now please let me in my saliva is turning into ice out here.”

“Nice mental image thank you, but the door’s open just come in.”

“Oh, ok- wait you leave your door unlocked at night?” 

“Locking doors is for the weak; now come inside before you get hypothermia.”

Jungkook tested the handle on the door and sure enough, it was open. He heads to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, listening to the soft movement of Yoongi’s footsteps he walks down the stairs, clad in his dressing gown and glasses, hair a mess, strands in every direction, not that Jungkook’s was any better.

Yoongi sits at a stool in the kitchen and looks at JK’s back as his hands grip the sink, white knuckles protruding, Yoongi seemingly not phased at all that his boyfriend was at his house at the witching hour, looking rather handsomely disheveled.

“Well, aren’t you gonna ask me why I’m here?” Jungkook asked, now facing Yoongi.

“No, I figured you’d tell me without prompting anyway.”

“You- Fair enough. Well where do I even START?”

“Why don’t we start with why you’re not at Y/N’s having your movie night, which by the way, still upset I didn’t get an invite.”

“It’s tradition between us! You can’t come it’s OUR time.”

“Kook... I’m joking,” Yoongi says as he guides the younger to the living room and sits him on a sofa across from himself, “What happened babe?”

The pet name causes Jungkook to look up lovingly to Yoongi. 

“Well, ok, so I was with her and she seemed a bit- I don’t know. She seemed kind of off-ish, I knew something was up when she didn’t even suggest Cat in the Hat for our movie.”

Yoongi nods along but he doesn’t know you nearly as well as Jungkook and has no idea how that would give the impression there was something wrong. Regardless, he acts like he understands as Jungkook continues on.

“I asked her what was up and she was very reluctant to tell me but eventually she gave in. She was harassed last night at that party we were meant to go to. I wish we never ate that week old pie, we would’ve been there if we weren’t spewing everywhere”

“Harassed?” Yoongi asked, trying to the pinpoint the important parts in between Jungkook’s rambled monologue.

“The guy was touching her up even when she was trying to get back to her friends. She said she was fine about it last night, because she was so drunk, it barely registered in her brain, but she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it all day today.”

“Well, technically yesterday, its 2am.”

“Dude... shut the fuck up.”

“Did you just friend zone me, we’ve been together for 2 years bro.”

“I love you bro.”

“I love you too bro, anyway please continue.”

“Oh yeah, so I basically stormed out, started running before I even knew who it was, realised I didn’t know who I was after, went to her friends Instagram and saw him and Y/N in the back of the picture, figured out who he was, turns out I went to school with the prick, found his Insta and, through that, found he still lived with his parents, knocked on the door, his dad opened the door, I politely asked for his son-” He took a deep breath before continuing, “He called him down, I grabbed his collar and dragged him outside and ruffled him up a bit, a lot actually, but then his dad came out with a whole ass bat and I grabbed the banana in my pocket I was saving for movie snacks and smacked him in the head with it before he could get me with the bat then he fell down and I ran away, oh my god have I killed an innocent old man?”

“Uhhhhhh,” Yoongi is unsure of what to say as Jungkook was now pacing around his living room, “Never heard of that being used as a murder weapon before.”

Jungkook gave him a death stare.

“Whew, if looks could kill. Listen Kook, you did the right thing, it was a BANANA, as strong as you think you are Mr Gym Lad, you’re not strong enough to kill a man with just a banana. What about Y/N though? You didn’t even say anything before you left?”

Jungkook had calmed down a tad now and was perched back on the sofa. He shook his head to the question, suddenly feeling bad that you were probably at home worrying when, most likely, you had just wanted comfort from him about the situation.

“Call her Kookie. Lets get in my car, you call her, and I’ll drive to her place.”

Jungkook agreed instantly, Yoongi was always good at grounding him. 

They did as they said and Jungkook held his phone to his ear as it rang, after some further persuasion from Yoongi, as the car rolled through the harsh lights of the street lamps, roads completely bare of any sign of life. Contrasting the call to his boyfriend, the phone hadn’t even rang once before your voice was on the other end.

“KOOK WHAT THE FU-”

“Hey...” He says quietly, a bit embarrassed of the drama he had caused.

“What did you do?” You said, relieved that you could hear his voice.

“Me and Yoongi are on our way over, I’m like 5 minutes away, we’ll talk about it then.”

You sigh, “Ok Kookie, you want hot chocolate?” 

He smiles slightly for the first time since stepping foot in your apartment earlier that night. “Do you even have to ask?”

“I’m making one for Yoongi too, does he want cream and marshmallows?”

“You want cream and marshmallows on your hot chocolate babe?” Jungkook holds the phone away from him as he directs the question to Yoongi, putting you on loud speaker.

“Obviously.”

“Ok, see you soon.” You respond before hanging up.

They buzz your apartment and you let them in instantly. The minute the door opens, you run to Jungkook, hooking your legs around him as you hug him closely. You had been worried all night he might have done something stupid on your behalf and gotten himself hurt or, more drastically, imprisoned.

He chuckles lowly as he sets you down. You walk to the kitchen and like little ducklings, they follow.

You hand out the hot chocolate and sit at the dining table, waiting for Jungkook to explain. Both you and Yoongi look at him expectedly and he finally begins his explanation, fortunately much calmer than the first time he had recited his story to Yoongi.

When he was finished, you go to wrap your arms around his neck, “Thank you,” you murmur into his hair as he keens to your hug, “But next time you wanna start chaos, take me with you.” You unwrap your arms to give him a hard flick on the back of the head, causing Yoongi to snigger and Jungkook to sheepishly rub the back of his head.

“Now, I know its late, but can we watch The Cat in the Hat?”

The boys share a look before agreeing and curling up with you on the sofa.

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AN- Ok! This is my first work of this year! I want to do one every day this year, it won’t always be possible but I will try my best! Yoongi could be seen as a bit insensitive in this one but I wanted to portray the dynamic his and Jungkook’s relationship has. If you enjoyed please leave me some feedback to help me improve and motivate me, like and reblog! 

[willowknee]

Forever is a long time - WillNE

Title: Forever is a long time  People: WillNE x reader Word count: 1,549 Warnings: n/a Songs to listen to: n/a  Prompt/request: Anon requested: Hi! Please can I request a really fluffy Will one shot? It can be anything I just need more cute Will haha 😂 A/N: I hope this is okay! I tried to make it as fluffy as I could, but it didn’t quite turn out how I wanted it. 

Will was someone who you had never expected to be the romantic type, sure he flirted with you a lot and sent you cute messages in the morning for you to wake up to but he was very secretive when it came to relationships, it took your friends nearly a full year to figure out that you two had far crossed the line from being just friends. But despite Will’s preference to keep everything between you two, he was one of the softest and sweetest boys you had ever had the pleasure of loving.

Opening your eyes on a particularly frosty Wednesday, you take in your surroundings, beige wallpaper, a desk full of recording equipment and two strong arms wrapped protectively around you. Will. You smile and turn around to face him and was pleasantly surprised to find out that he was already wide awake and had recently showered, his gorgeous brown locks still slightly damp and a few strands sticking to his forehead.

“Mornin’ love,” he says softly, brushing a strand of hair out of your face and gently tucks it behind your ear.

“Morning handsome,” you reply just as softly, leaning into his touch, closing your eyes.

“Nuh huh, I’ll be having none of that, you need to get up we have things to do,” Will shakes you awake, his voice normal volume and he laughs loudly when you let out a groan and try to bury yourself under the covers which he rudely pulls away from you.

“Will it’s my day off! What could we possibly need to do at half ten in the morning? Its lie-in day!” You complain.

“Hush woman, just get your pretty ass out of bed and get a shower because quite frankly, you stink,” he says playfully, but pulls you out of bed and pushes you in the direction of the bathroom.

“I need clothes, William,” you chide, trying to turn around.

“They’re already in there, now stop fighting me before I Batista bomb you to assert my alpha male dominance,” 

He wasn’t joking.

“Fine, if you want to get rid of me that much, jeez,” you chuckle before stepping into the bathroom and locking the door in an ultimate power move.

Walking towards the shower you start it up before waiting for it to warm up, as you stand and wait you notice a bag on the toilet seat lid, you peek inside and find brand new lingerie and pyjamas that you had been eyeing up in the store about a week ago. 

“Oh Will,” you sigh happily.

You take your time in the shower, deep conditioning your hair and shaving, exfoliating the whole works. After drying off and moisturising, you slip into the new clothes and brush your teeth, smiling the whole time. How cute was he? He always noticed the small things, you hadn’t even told him that you wanted them, but he still noticed and bought the exact same pair in your size in secret so he could surprise you.

Walking out the bathroom you go on the hunt for your boyfriend before finding him in the kitchen. He was surrounded by burnt food and messy pans and he looks up from his phone sheepishly.

“Okay so phase two didn’t exactly go to plan, normally I’m alright at cooking but the one day I need it to go well I just get done dirty, therefore as substitution, our Maccies breakfast is currently being picked up and will be here within the hour, so let’s move to phase three!” He exclaims.

You laugh at how adorable he was.

“First, we clean, you know it will be on my mind otherwise,” 

He nods and you two make quick work of throwing away the burnt food and rinsing the bowls and pans before putting them in the dishwasher. Once you were done, Will races you to the front room. The first thing you notice is how many sheets, blankets and pillows were on the sofa. 

“Uh, Will? Are you having a sleepover?” you question, confused.

“Nope, we’re building a fort!” 

You both have a blast building the fort, a couple of arguments about pillow arrangements, but you hear a knock at the door and you kick Will out of the semi-built fort so he can go collect your food while you finish up building.

“Bob the builder has nothing on you, ay love?” Will jokes to which you just poke your tongue out at him in response.

You both climb into the fort and Will sets out your food while you turn on the TV and turn on Disney plus. Will groans as you scroll through the selection of tv shows and films before you stop at a childhood classic. Phineas and Ferb. Will shakes his head with a smile at your choice but stays quiet nonetheless as you both get comfortable and dig into your food. 

The whole day was spent in the fort, around 5 in the evening Will began to frequently get up and disappear before returning with a smile. You didn’t question him, you just let him get on with it because you were sure that you would find out soon enough. 

A couple of hours later Will calls your name, you pause your game which you had switched to out of boredom of watching things without actively participating in it and you follow the sound of Will’s voice to the dining room. 

The table was properly laid out, decorated with a lit candle and a few rose petals which made your heart skip. Two glasses of what looked like wine had been poured and the plates were full of chicken dippers and potato smileys, which made you grin widely. It was a nostalgic meal that you always raved to Will about, you used to eat it all the time as a kid, a meal that reminded you of home. 

You walk over to Will and plant a soft and slow kiss to his lips, your heart was pounding hard and your chest felt tight, you were so in love with this man, you couldn’t imagine a life without him. 

He leads you to your seat and tucks you in before sitting opposite you, you both raise your glass in cheers and you take a sip to find out it wasn’t wine, after all, it was Vimto. Nostalgia level 100. The entire time you were sat at the table was full of flirting and playful banter, reminiscing about times you’ve spent together alone and with friends, peeling with laughter as you bring up embarrassing memories, this was well and truly perfect.

“There’s one more thing to end the day with,” Will says, walking off before returning with a neatly wrapped gift and an envelope. “Happy birthday, Gorgeous,” 

You feel your eyes begin to water, in all honesty, you had forgotten about your birthday, it just wasn’t something you celebrated to the point where on occasion you forget about it completely. You pick up the envelope and open it carefully, reading the card more tears appear as you fall deeper in love with the man before you who was looking sheepish. 

To the love of my life,

It’s your big day! No, I’m not proposing, when your man starts wracking in as much as Alex then I’ll consider buying you a ring, but until then, I just want to say Happy Birthday! And I want to tell you that you are the most gorgeous, kind and talented person I have ever known and I’m glad I get to call you mine. While I may not show you off a lot, that’s just simply because I don’t want to share you, I don’t want others to see the smile you wear when I make you happy, because that smile is mine, it’s my prize and it gives me something to look forward to and work for on a daily basis.

I love you, Y/N, and I want you to be mine forever.

Love, Big Boy Will. 

You laugh, tears streaming down your face and you look up to Will with the biggest smile you think you could ever wear.

“Will, I-”

“Open the present,”

You nod and pull the box closer, inside was another box, this one made out of wood that was delicately decorated. It was beautiful. 

“It’s beautiful Will,” you say, putting it on the table before you.

“Look inside it, Dummy,” 

Unlocking the clasps you open the lid and look inside, taking in all the little items and smiling more. 

“It’s all the things I’ve collected over the three years I’ve had the pleasure of knowing you, I cherish all of them because they’re all little pieces that make us… well, us,”

The piece of cardboard they put around the Starbucks cups so you don’t burn your fingers, he had both of yours with your names on from your first date together, he has the photobooth strips from your cousin’s wedding that you asked him to go with you so you didn’t look like a loner, it was all there.

“I love you, Y/N, and I will for a very long time,”

“Well, forever is a long time,” you smirk at him.

He smiles back with a little laugh. “Then forever it is.”

[hcrringtonshair]

Night Talks

Another day, another wiriting.

I received positive feeback from the ‘Caught’ Story. Thank you all for this, I really appreciate this !

Titel: Night Talks                                                                                                     

Summary: There’s nothing you can hide from Tony Stark. Especially not a close relationship to Bucky.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 1878                                                           

Warnings: cheesy fluff at the end, a typical Tony Stark

A/n: This cheesy Bucky at the end idk, I wrote it when I was drunk last night but I love imagine him this way. (btw thanks to my bf for the wine) And again english is not my mother tongue.

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(GIF not mine)

Snow falls slowly to the ground. You were sitting on the sofa in front of the grand window in the common room of the Avengers compound. Wrapped in a large blanket and drinking a tea. 

No one else was here, after a mission everyone wants to be on their own. A Peaceful silence lingered in the air and you took another sip of your tea. 

You were a bit upset of still being alone, you were hoping for an evening with the group after a few days alone. It doesn’t bother you being left here when they go and save the world, it becomes your normal life due to the fact that you are only a civilian, the only reason that you are here is your Dad. 

Tony Stark asks you to stay and live here with them, it turns out to be the best decision of your life. You learned a lot when it comes to mechanical and technical engineering and physics, more than you could ever learn at the MIT. 

And of course the honor living with the avengers in the same building was something that made your decision easier. 

Everyone welcomed you, they were all very kind and they became your family. And when Bucky shows up you fell in love. 

You didn’t admit it at the first and you couldn’t tell anyone. 

It‘s not like you and Bucky were a thing, you‘re just really close. 

The most important part was the talks at night when either of you couldn’t sleep. You like him very much, but if Tony would know you don‘t know who he would kill first. 

A bit later, the sky was fully black, the snow still falling and a thick white layer of snow glowing in the dark night. 

No one was showing up the whole evening. But finally you heard steps in the floor, hoping for someone who would join you. The free space on your left side dropped.

„Have a nice evening alone?“ 

You roll your eyes and look back in the eyes of your father. 

„Breathtaking.“ sarcasm was one of the things you inherit from him. 

„They’re all a bit tired. After two days in full action you would take a nap too.“ 

„I know. But it was boring the last two days and now it’s just the same.. I hope you were successful. If not you can go back.“ You heard him groan in a pillowcase and a chuckle. 

„If you wanna go on with this nonsense.. please. But don‘t think I don’t know it.“ 

Surprised by the change of this conversation, you could feel the blood rushing through your veins, your palms going sweaty and it was hard to stay cool.

„What do you mean?“ It was hard to keep a secret from him, you never imagined him to figure out. Maybe someone saw you and Bucky and told Tony, or he just saw it himself. In your mind you saw yourself packing your bags, ready to leave. Then you imagine Tony beating the hell out of Bucky for being close to his daughter. 

„You know what I mean y/n. I‘m old but I have my eyes everywhere. It‘s not like I don‘t know you. I know about you and Barnes.“ 

He put his hand on my shoulder a confused look in his eyes.

„You don‘t have to. It‘s just between me and him. I’ll not be like this other girls.“ 

„You were never like the other girls.“ he chuckles.

„Never.“ You showed a little smile.

„But this is no reason to take a guy who is.. Wait how old is he? Like 100 years old?“

You groan and put your hands on your face to hide your blushing cheeks from him. 

He didn’t tell you something new. Everyone knows the story of the Winter Soldier and of course Bucky told you everything himself. 

„Yes he is Dad. But did you forget that he was on ice for the most of his lifetime? And the lovely HYDRA manipulating his mind.“

„Yes but don’t you think it’s weird? You’re dating a guy who could be your grandpa. And he could be my grandpa too.“

„Dad please.“ You’re groaning again.

„Don‘t forget he killed your grandpa.“ You slapped his shoulder a brief giggle left your mouth.

You would never forget this, but you know that all these murderers tortured Bucky. He couldn’t sleep, or he had nightmares of his old life. 

„It’s enough. I get it, you think it’s a bad idea. But I’m old enough to know what I want.“

„I know.“

A weird silence coming up, you didn’t know what you could say. 

It felt like hours until you heard another feet stamps in the hallway. Steve steps in, he must have been very tired because he yawned very loud and makes his way to the fridge. 

“Hi Steve” You smiled at him as you turned around to look at him.

“Hi y/n. You’re good?” A tired smile shows up on his face as he closed the fridge with one water bottle in his hand.

“I’m fine thanks.” Before you could say another thing your Dad jumps up and makes his way to the Captain.

“Steve, did you know that your best friend is in love with my daughter?”

You let out a loud groan, “Dad shut it!”

The confusion in Steve’s face was heavy, first he said nothing then when you stand in front of him and Dad, he takes a sip of his water and shakes his head. 

“No I didn’t. Should I?” You shake your head fast but Tony didn’t seem to be satisfied by this answer.

“Bullshit. You’re his best friend, of course you know it. How you couldn’t if they’re so close right from the moment on he was moving in here.” 

He didn’t seem to be furious but he wasn’t in a good mood either.

“I know they’re friends. But I didn’t thought of that they’re a thing.” 

Steve mumbles into his water bottle before he takes another sip so he couldn’t give more answers.

You felt little stitches in your chest. That could only mean that Bucky doesn’t feel the same way, because if he did he would tell his best friend. 

So all the signs and gestures you thought he made were wrong. You just misunderstood his actions and that hurts now.

“Finally good news. Thank god.” Tony mumbles, he wishes a good night and vanished behind the glass door.

“So you’re in love with him?” A smirk on Steve’s face shows up as he turns to you. He inspects your face and you could barely stand the eye contact. 

„I don’t know.“ you mumble with the eyes focused on the hoodie you were wearing. „It‘s not a big deal Steve. It‘s selfish to think he feels the same. He has more important things to deal with.“

„Please don‘t say that. And more important stop thinking those things. I‘m his best friend I know him very much and trust me when I say he likes you a lot.“

„What’s going on in here?“ You both froze and look to the door. Bucky was standing there. He seems to be half asleep with messy hair and his sweatpants and pullover, hangs loose on his body. 

“Nothing.” with a wide smile you stepped towards him to hug him. As seen by Steve before a confused look in his face showed up, but he takes you in his arms. Your heartbeat races and you’ve tried to slow down your breath. The smell of him and his warm body gives you chills.

He was perfect, once more this thought came to your mind.

“Well good night guys.” You heard Steve leaving and a pleasant silence came up.

“You alright doll?” 

His fingers stroked your hair, his cheek leans against your head and gives you goosebumps. “I’m fine. How about you? How was the mission?”

“I’m good, but don’t let us talk about the nasty mission now. It’s late and you should sleep too.” 

You leaned back to look up in his face. His ice blue eyes looking tired but happy. His beard growed over the two days. A few small scratches on his left cheek makes you look worried. 

With a soft smile he was shaking his head, “Tomorrow doll. Let’s go to bed.”

He takes you with him in his room that was in the same floor as yours, he waited for you to change your clothes and he smirks as he sees your christmas pyjama. 

“Isn’t it a bit too early?”

“Never!” You shook your head as you enter his room. The white walls were a strong contrast to the grey and black interior. Unlike you or the others he didn’t place some own stuff. 

He didn’t get anything personal stuff but you decided to buy some flowers or something like this to light up this room and makes it like someone lives here.

You snuggle into the blankets and a few moments later Bucky was on your side.

Once again he takes you in his arms and leans his head against yours. 

“What were you talking about earlier with Steve? Tony didn’t seem pleased as I ran into him.” A brief uncertainty was in his voice. 

“Dad got his late night problems he wanted to solve. Steve helped me before he could rip me apart.” You snuggle into Buckys chest and thought of how that would look like. 

“Nothing about me? He looked normal until he saw me.”

“No. He’s just an idiot. Don’t care about him.”

The feeling lying to him was awful, but you couldn’t tell him the truth. That would ruin everything.

“I’m the perfect person for him to hate. I ruined his family in the 1990s and now I’m taking away his daughter. He’s a poor guy.”                                                 His voice seems far away, talking about taking you away makes your heart flutter.                                                                                                                He’s placing a soft kiss on your forehead and you could feel your cheeks burning. 

“One day he will forgive you. I’m sure. You know he’s way too melodramatic.”

You both laughing softly thinking about all the moments Tony Stark was playing the drama queen. 

“One day yes, maybe the day I die or the day he kills me himself when I marry you.”

You heard his breath stop for a moment, your own too. Your heartbeat racing once again and you tried to look him in the eyes. 

Even through the darkness you saw his face near yours. “I’m sorry.” He tried to look away but you put your hand against his cheek to link your eyes with his. “Nothing to be sorry for.” 

You give him a smile to show that everything is alright. You lean your forehead against his and take a deep breath. “It’ll be a pleasure to be your wife… someday.” 

You gave him a wink and he smiles like you, his eyes shining through the dark leaning his head forward to meet your lips with his own. 

It was a light kiss, a bit shy but full of unsaid feelings. Your heart must’ve been exploding any second but you didn’t care. 

“Good Night Buck.” Your voice wasn’t more than a fluster after you ended the kiss. 

[theycallmemoosey]

Fight for Me

Dan and Phil x Reader (Platonic)

A/N: Here is a request that is long overdue! I don’t know how I feel about this or if I captured the boy’s personality very well, but it made me laugh. It may be because it’s currently 1am or if because I am a comedy genius (I’m really not). Anyways...enjoy! Moose :) 

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“Hello?” You called out into what seemed like an empty house, “Anybody home?” 

There was no answer, so you chucked your keys back into your bag and flung your shoes off carelessly, not caring where in the hallway they landed. You strolled down the hallway, looking in each of the rooms to see if you could spot the two boys you loved so dearly. 

“Y/N!” Phil cried out in shock, clearly surprised that you were just wandering the house without either him or Dan realising, “How long have you been here?” 

“Just came in” you pointed over your shoulder towards the front door, “You sounded surprised I was here” 

“You didn’t text us so we weren’t expecting you” 

“Oh. I thought I did. Must not have sent” you shrugged, heading into the kitchen to make yourself some toast.

“Y/N, is everything alright?” Phil asked as he followed you into the kitchen, “You seem…off”

“Off?” You repeated, your back turned to him. 

“You didn’t tidy your shoes away when you came in…you didn’t text us to let you know you were coming and now you’re making toast” 

“What, so now I’m not allowed to make toast?” You argued back, making Phil sigh.

“You know that’s not what I meant. You’re just not yourself, Y/N”

“I’m just having a bad day, that’s all” you threw over your shoulder as you started to butter your toast, throwing the knife into the sink when you were finished. 

“Talk to me”

“About what?” 

“Talk to me about whatever it is that is upsetting you,” he said softly, sitting down on the breakfast bar stool underneath the kitchen island, “What’s going on in that amazing little brain of yours?” 

“I’m just stressed” you sighed heavily, “Work is killing me, my mum is on my back about getting married and giving her grandchildren, my grandfather is sick and I fear he may not be with us much longer and just to top it all off, my landlord wants me to leave the house as soon as possible so that she can sell it, which means that I have to move out and soon” 

“I mean, I don’t blame you for feeling like this, Y/N. That’s a lot of stuff to be happening for such a gentle and caring person”

“You really think that?” You blushed, smiling as you muted away on your toast. 

“Of course, I think you’re the most amazing-“ 

“There’s my favourite girl!” Dan smiled as he walked into the kitchen, his arms open wide as went to embrace you in a tight hug. 

“Hey Dan” you smiled, squeezing him tightly as he kissed your forehead, “What you got there?” 

Dan pulled away and looked down at his hand, which was carrying a bag of Gummy Bears, “Oh yeah, I heard you down here and thought you might like these, so I brought them downstairs with me to give to you. I wasn’t going to eat them” 

“Oh, thank you so much” you smiled widely, taking the bag and putting it on the counter. 

“Are you planning to stay for dinner, Y/N?” Phil asked, the frown on his face disappearing. 

“If it’s not too much of a trouble. I thought that I would come and see you guys because it feels like forever since I last saw you guys”

“It was only a couple of days ago” Dan pointed out as he leant against the kitchen counter next to you. 

“Regardless, I wanted to see you two. You never fail to make me happy” 

“That means a lot to me, Y/N, thank you. How does Carbonara sound?” Phil smiled. 

“Sounds great, thank you,” you said, stroking Phil’s arm in gratitude. 

Dan cleared his throat to cut the award tension, “Y/N, want to come and play on the Xbox with me?” 

“That sounds like the best plan right now” you groaned happily, almost skipping off towards the living room. 

Phil stopped Dan before he left the kitchen, “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” 

“Going to the living room?” 

“No, with Y/N” 

“What about her?” Dan sounded confused. 

“Dan, come on, you know I like her!” 

“What?! No! I like her!” 

“Well, we can’t both like her” Phil pointed out. 

“Fine, then neither of us will like her” 

“Fine” Phil agreed.

“Fine” Dan copied.

There was an awkward silence between the two of them before they quickly and suddenly snapped back to what they were previously doing. 

—————————

“What did you think?” Dan smiled down at you after his favourite anime finished, only just noticing that you had fallen asleep slumped against his entire body, your head resting on his shoulder. He chuckled gently, shifting you gently so he could escape before picking you up, making sure the blanket was still draped over your sleeping form. Slowly, he made his way with you in his arms towards the spare bedroom that you all called your own. The boys often joked that you stayed round their house so often that it was if you already lived there. They dared think about how abandoned your own flat was. 

“Hmm? What’s going on?” You hummed, Dan shushing you as he entered the spare room. 

“You fell asleep, love” 

“Oh” you yawned, “Thank you” 

Dan smiled as he laid you down on the bed and you rolled over into a small ball. He grabbed the blanket from the end of the bed and covered you gently, seeing a faint smile creep onto your face as you dreamed. 

“Night, Y/N” he whispered, stopping in the doorway when he heard a little voice. 

“Night Danny” 

—————————

You woke up to the smell of something frying and wandered into the kitchen. 

“Morning gorgeous girl” Phil looked up from the frying pan, his hair all messy and his glasses slightly wonky. 

“Hey Philly” you smiled, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, “What you cooking up there” 

“Bacon and egg sandwiches” he smiled, throwing the food together messily on a plate, “Grubs up” 

“Dear God are you amazing” you grinned widely, sitting on a stool in front of the breakfast bar as Phil served your favourite breakfast, “What’s the occasion?” 

“Does there have to be one?” He shrugged, shoving the pan into the sink. 

“Well, no…but you don’t usually do a full on breakfast unless something special is-“ 

“What, so I can’t make my favourite girl her favourite breakfast any day?” 

“Don’t get me wrong” you mumbled with a mouth full of food, “I’m not complaining” 

“No, but you are spraying” Phil laughed, tucking into his own breakfast as you slapped his arm jokingly. 

“This is incredible” you complimented Phil, “What did you do differently?” 

“Just put in an extra heaping of love” 

“You softie” you teased as you finished your sandwich, “Thank you again. I’m just gonna have a shower and then head to work” 

“I’ll clear up” he sighed happily, his stomach flipping when you squeezed his shoulders on the way out. 

——————————

“Well…” you sighed as you walked into the front room where both of the boys were sat watching some anime, “Work has just called…I have the day off!” 

“Aw, great” Phil smiled, scooting over on the sofa to make room for you. As you sat down, both boys stretched their arms up to rest them on the sofa behind you but ended up resting on one another, awkwardly flinching away from each other quickly when they realised they had failed. 

“Are you two really just going to watch anime all day?” You huffed, always having found it a bit boring. 

“Not if you don’t want to” Dan paused the TV, “What do you wanna do today?” 

“Not sure. I feel like going to the cinema” 

“But we’ve been to see every new movie!” Phil laughed. 

“Ok…what about the arcade? Near the cinema?” You suggested. 

“Sure. Sure, I can waste £100 right now” Dan groaned as he got up from the sofa, stretching his back out, “Let’s go” 

The three of you headed towards the arcade, laughing on the walk towards the arcade. 

“Oh look!” You cried when you arrived, “They’ve added a Mario Kart game!” 

Dan chuckled, “You know, we also have it back at home. We didn’t have to come here and play it” 

“Don’t be such a grump” you teased, hopping into the seat, “Who will be competing against me first?” 

“Well, I need the toilet really bad so Dan can have first game” Phil wandered off, leaving Dan to slide into the seat next to you. You slotted in the two pound coins and the game began and immediately the competitiveness began. You started to push each other to distract one another. 

“HA HA! I WIN! I WIN! IN YOUR MOTHERFUCKING FACE HOWELL!!” 

“Y/N, there are children here” Dan laughed, enjoying seeing you win.

“Maybe I should take over your gaming channel” 

“You are such a sore winner” Dan chuckled, heading over to the next game, bumping into Phil halfway there, “You took your time” 

“I ate bacon earlier…” 

“Why would you do that? You know that bacon makes your stomach unhappy!” Dan whispered. 

“It’s Y/N’s favourite breakfast” Phil sighed, rubbing his stomach in discomfort. 

“Hey! Phil! Come and do this with me!” 

“The 4D Machine?” Phil smiled, “Sounds good” 

“Phil, are you sure? With the way your stomach is?” Dan warned, but Phil shrugged him off and headed into the 4D pod with you. 

“Ohh!” You cried excitedly as Phil closed the door and paid the money, “They have a haunted house one! Let’s do that!” 

“But you hate horror” 

“It’s better than candy land” you retorted, choosing the haunted house section. And oh boy, you regretted it 10 seconds into it. You were constantly holding onto Phil’s hand in pure terror, although he did not find himself scared at all - just full of butterflies at the way you were gripping onto his hand and burying your head into his neck and chest. At one point, you screamed so loudly Phil found himself wrapping his arms around you and squeezing tightly. 

You came out of the booth and met with Dan, who was standing across the booth on his phone. He smiled when he saw you come out of the booth, panting and smiling widely. 

“How did it go?” 

“Terrifying!” You laughed, “I love it, but I was holding on to Phil for the entire thing” 

“Really?” Dan asked, his face washed with jealousy as he watched a very pleased Phil exit the booth, “Is that so?” 

“Yeah, yeah it was so” you smiled, “Let’s do that!!” 

The three of you continued to play all the games in the arcade until the store assistants had to force you out of the centre. You huffed as you looked chewed on one of the sweets you had won from the arcade.

“Why is it you spend so much money on so many games to win as many tickets as you possibly can, and yet you walk away with THE WORST prize. I mean…how many tickets did we win?” 

“Like 5000?” Dan guessed, shrugging his jacket off to wrap around your shoulders as the evening had become cold. 

“And what did we win?!” You gestured towards the sad collection of prizes in your backpack, “10 sweets, a key ring and what? A small figurine?” 

“It will go well with our collection!” Phil smiled happily, having chosen the pocket-sized pop vinyl figure himself.

“I’m starved…how does Pizza sound for dinner?” You suggested.

“You staying again?” Phil asked.

“If that’s not a problem? I enjoy staying with you guys” 

“No! No! No problem at all. We love having you at home” Dan smiled, taking your bag. 

“Great, I’ll order the pizza,” you said, grabbing your phone and calling the local pizza place. Phil grabbed Dan and dragged him forward slightly, out of hearing range from you. 

“Dan, I’m thinking about asking Y/N out on a date” 

“What? No!” Dan said quickly, “I want to ask her out” 

“You can’t be serious” Phil laughed, stopping when he realised Dan was, in fact, serious, “Oh you are…” 

“I think she likes me too,” Dan said softly, looking over and smiling at you. 

“No, no. She likes me. You should see the way that she acted around me in the 4D pod” 

“Phil, don’t be ridiculous. She sees you as a brother. But I think I have a chance!” 

“What makes you think that she doesn’t see YOU as a brother!” Phil argued. The two of them began to bicker at each other about who should be allowed to take you on a date but they were quickly interrupted when you skipped back over. 

“Alright guys, Pizza’s-“ 

“Y/N WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME!” The boys asked in unison, making you step back in surprise. 

“W-w-what?” You laughed breathily.

“Y/N, I really like you,” Dan said softly.

“And I really, REALLY like you” Phil added.

“I want to take you-“ 

“No” Phil interrupted Dan, “I want to-“ 

“You should go out with me, Y/N” 

“No Y/N, you should-“ 

The two boys spoke and argued over each other as they tried to get your attention. 

“BOYS! BOYS! STOP IT!” You shouted, making the two of them stop instantly, “Let me make this easy for you” 

“And go out with me” Dan whispered. 

“No me” Phil whispered even more quietly than Dan. 

“Don’t start, Phil…” Dan warned, feeling frustrated.

“GUYS, I’M GAY!”

[gingers-writing]

Sharing a bed with Loki (Narrative)

This was a fantastic request idea!

Words: 2,626

Warnings: reference to sex

Summary: finally finished a request to turn my sharing a bed with Loki into an actual story piece.

Master List

Requests Open!

It all started because you couldn’t sleep, maybe you’d had too much caffeine, maybe it was fate to meet him. But you entered the living room looking for something to do, and you found him. You didn’t notice him too begin with, he was huddled in the corner of the sofa, soft emerald silk pj’s camouflaged him. But when you returned from the kitchen with a glass of water, you heard him sniffle, turning on your heels, he had his face hidden by his hand. “Loki?” You knew the shade of green, it would only look good on him. “What?” He was snappy and grumpy, like normal, but his voice cracked and crouched, struggling to keep up the harsh tone. “Can’t you sleep ever?” Is all you said and he lost it, the tears he had built a dam in front of burst, sobbing into his hands. “Let’s me help you?”

You held out your hand, you had little experience with the God, you kept your distant, felt no need to try and spent intimate time with him. His large cold hand took yours, you didn’t talk, you just pulled him along to your room. “Get comfortable on the bed, I’m going to open a window. It’s warm in here...” You complained. “You really don’t have to look after me like some child...”

Maybe you shouldn’t have giggles but you did, “I’m not looked after you like a child, I’m looking after you like a friend, now get into bed...” you placed your glass on the bedside table and began to get into bed. He was hesitant but he did it. You didn’t have to ask anything, maybe he was reading your mind, he can do that right? Yeah, he’s got magic powers, of course, he can.

“I haven’t been able to sleep for weeks, nightmare after nightmare..” He physically cringed in the bed gripping the covers, “Then let’s get some light...” You grabbed your remote that had been abandoned on the floor at some point, very low volume, but the moving pictures filled the room with a dim light that offered some strange comfort.

He stares at you for what feels like an eternity, not that you’d have told him but his legs take up most the bed. Is long legs a God thing? Maybe. You shut your eyes and turned on your side, back to him and tried to sleep, it took ten minutes before you began to drift, but you felt his cold arm around your waist, his other hand worked its way under your neck, he engulfed you like a blanket.

Best sleep he’d had I’m weeks he claimed.

The next night he came back, claimed he couldn’t recreate the conditions in his room. You let him in, set it all up, but you back your back into his chest, you want to spoon, Loki is big enough to play big spoon. “What are you doing mortal?” Giggling as you feel him try and position his hands on you in a comfortable place. “We’re spooning Loki, it’s sometimes used to help people get to sleep...” He finally settled his hand, one under your neck, one on your thigh, his breath was surprisingly warm on your neck, his ruffled hair covering most of your face during the night. You woke up in pretty much the same position, with is weird because you always twist and wriggle. But he was pressed straight into your back.

The next few nights are the same.

But three nights later, you’re in a foul mood, 100% Tony’s fault. You could kill the man! Loki came in, you had your back turned, TV on and window open, he assumed you were asleep. He laid down at got comfortable when he began to get his arms into the position you grumbled:

“what are you doing Loki?” He pouted slightly. “I’m being the big spoon,” You turned on your back to face him, “I’m not in the mood to spoon tonight...” His eyes nearly turned watery, “Spooning helps me sleep..” You never clung to anything so fast, never. Before you know it, you're tangled in his arms and both asleep, he snores but doesn’t tell him!

You got into a habit of demanding to be the big spoon, which he always gave one of two replies. “You’re too small to be the big spoon.” Or “I’m a God and you are a mortal, therefore I must be big spoon..” You normally just give his arm a slap or nibble on his knuckles enough of him to feel the need to shake you off. You break him about three days into the argument, he’s laid in bed when you return from a shopping trip, he was napping, how cheeky. Slipping your shoes off you climbed in before him and you got to be the big spoon.

When he woke up he groaned, then traced the arm around his chest back to you. “Okay, you can be big spoon every now and then...” he was grumbly, but he didn’t mean it. It might have been your shit eating grin that annoyed him.

Around the two week mark you began to cling to his chest, he is normally asleep when you climb the mountain and lay across the giant expanse he calls his chest. Then you just cling, maybe like a baby panda, but more like a koala. You began again that night, his eyes shut and his breathing had been steady for ten minutes, you get free from his arms and climb onto his chest, as you begin to cling he groaned. “that’s so annoying...”

If he meant it he would have removed you, but he didn’t, he always had a smile cracking through his frown. He loved it, you know, because when he thinks you’re asleep, his hand goes to your hand and holds it, or he’ll rub the back of your thigh.

This whole thing might have been for Loki but it sure as hell helped you, you had nightmares too. He started with this idea, your nightmares grew worse as he grew better, “I’d like to enter your mind when you have a nightmare, I can calm it down, but I’ll only do it when you want me too...” You accepted the order, you were desperate, of course, you were, the nightmares terrified you.

He did it that night, as you tossed and turned he slowly crept into your mind, soothing the storm and making the bodies vanish. He made it into something nicer, it was just puppies, but he knew you liked them. You needed him to do it less and less. But that didn’t stop him when you did need it. He was straight there for you.

You two kept your whole secret did a year, mostly because he can teleport. But he heard Natasha trying to convince you to go on a date with Steve, you didn’t get a chance to answer. “Ah, Y/N, may I have a word with you, it’s regarding my idiot brother, I believe he’s broken his TV again...” That wasn’t unusual, so you left with Loki heading towards Thor’s room until he pulled you into his.

“I would like to court you...” Is all he said, staring you straight in the eyes. You began to think, did he hear your conversation with Nat? “We’re has this come from?” He chewed his lip, you’d never seen him do that before. “I only felt it was appropriate to ask after a year, I didn’t want to seem pushy, I like to be a gentleman...” Loki might be many things, but a good liar isn’t one. “Yeah lets date, sounds fun to me...” You leant up and pecked his cheek before leaving his room returning to Nat saying you couldn’t get with Steve because you already have someone. You thought something might have changed, maybe he would explore more with his hands, and the thought gave you anxiety. But no, one hand around your stomach, one under your head, he practically lived in that position all night.

A few nights later he rolled on you, like fully on top, you woke up without any air in your lungs, upon opening your eyes a sleeping Loki was on your chest snoring. “Loki...” shaking at his arm, ”Hhmmm...” his eyes didn’t open, “Can’t breath...” his eyes shot up and he practically jumped off you. “I’m so sorry are you okay, are you injured, I can get Doctor banner, we can take you to the hospital!” You just laughed and soothed his arm, “Loki, Loki, I’m fine, you’re just heavy...” he’s actually a small wall of muscle, not that he ever lets on about it. Now each night he sits apologising to you, normally whispering ‘sorry’ or ‘forgive me’ which you already had. But, that didn’t stop him.

He got into the habit of pulling you into his chest, keeping hold of your thighs and watching your eyelids fight to stay open. When you wake up, he’s always awake first, always. He sits watching you constantly, playing with your hair and touching the exposed skin on your arms.

He still treats the team terribly, but is it a massive improvement, Thor has decided you are a good influence on his brother and you should continue to date him. You were anyway so you just ignore Thor. He treats you like a goddess, each morning he’s picked an outfit and it always looks good, better then you could do alone. He brings you food when he knows you haven’t eaten, (which is all the time) and he even watches all the terrible Midgardian TV programmes you love only a slight complaint.

When laid together in a quiet room, Loki loves to whisper in your ear, he likes watching you shiver and your hair standing on end. He would tease you about it, so you plotted revenge, he was laid half asleep, his head cuddles into your neck. You began to whisper. “Loki, God of Mischief and Trickery, you’ve been mean to me all day, now it’s my turn...” He was covered in goosebumps, twitching and bright red, very clearly aroused by the action. But that was the mean part, if he wanted relief he’d have to give himself it, he needs to learn if he’s gonna start a fight, you’ll start a war. Loki hummed pulling you on top, “you are a naughty creature...” you simply closed your eyes and laid on his chest pretending to sleep, “Y/N...” He knew you were awake, and he was using your thigh for friction. “Y/N....” he poked at your arm before huffing and pouting to see if it got your attention. Which it didn’t. He declared defeat and went to sleep with you.

Loki soon grew to love pillow talk, he would play you on his chest, still panting and tangle his hands in your already messy hair, “tell me about your family...” you groan, “Loki, now is not the time...” he nods “yeah...tell me about your dreams for the future...” pressing your head flat against his cold chest. “I always wanted to move into the countryside, get a house and have a few kids, maybe a dog and cat, some fish, live comfortably.” Loki was left questioning if he could fit into that dream. Maybe he could, maybe he wasn’t made for it. “Baby your tugging...” he looked down, his hands were fists in your hair “I apologise, my love..” releasing his hands and smoothing your hair. “How was it anyway?” You just giggle, he always does this, he’s nervous he doesn’t please you right, thinks you’re gonna run off to his brother. “It was fantastic Loki, I really loved it, don’t think I could do a third round tho...” placing a kiss on his collarbone and cuddling into his neck. You made a little ritual for each night, you lean up, kiss just cheek and whisper “I love you Loki..” before heading to bed. The nightmares soon returned, and you would kick and scream, and sometimes the team would come running in thinking Loki was doing something, only to find him trying to comfort you as you sob in your sleep, only to have him sooth you when you finally calm down. You cry into his chest and can feel yourself shaking, he just lays with you listening to what you say, when talking about them gets too much he whispers “I’ve got you, baby, it’s not real, I’m real, we are real..”

You lay listening to his heart, it’s slow beating rhythm. His cold skin, it was real, that gave you comfort. During one of them nights, he had you laid on his chest, talking about his Jötum form. “It’s the form I received from Lauy, my biological father, I can withstand the cold, freeze skin and lots of other terrifying things....” You would hum in agreement, “show me...” He raises a brow towards you. You never demanded anything from him, “well, okay...” you watched his skin turn was the pale white slowly to a baby blue then full dark blue. You ran your fingers over the patterns smiling at his cold skin. “It’s beautiful...” he seemed shocked. “That’s normally not what mortals say...” engulfing you in his arms again.

On warm nights, you put this form to good use, smiling and allowing his cold hands onto your warm body. Cuddling after sex is a must do, that little touch starved muffin loves it, he pulls you on top of him and squeezes you, he’s scared you leave. Your skin against his is that only feeling that can raise his mood. He wasn’t hugged and touched like Thor was, so he makes up for that now.

Praise is this biggest weakness, the first time you praised him he started crying in excitement. Praise started to send him wild when the relationship got serious. “I love you playing with my hair, it makes my head tingle...” he would make a conscious effort to touch your hair at all times.

When you had sex with him, he practically stopped every five minutes (much to your annoyance) and began to ask if it was good enough, and when you gave him that praise he didn’t stop till he had you screaming against the bed. “Is this okay my love? It is to your liking?” You nod ready to release another moan, “yes Loki this is fantastic!” Loki found it difficult to control excitement, definitely found it hard to explain it, he normally shows it physically. Smacking his lips against your when he’s excited, stopping and bursting into happy tears while clinging to you. His favourite is sitting you on him and repeating the action to gain praise again.

One day when looking for Loki, Thor had a strange idea to check your room, Loki wasn’t always the best at keeping his hands to himself. When checking your room, he found the two of you, tangled in each other with only the sheet to protect you both. He thought you matched well when he finally got you alone he talked to you, “your spooning sessions with Loki, they are helping him a great deal. You should continue with him...” you just gave a nod and escaped while you could. Not like you would have stopped if he asked. Loki hasn’t murdered anyone, no one has been threatened, he shows a compassion towards mortals that aren’t you, you get the title of ‘girlfriend’ from him. But he enjoys nicknames for you, “little mortal,” as much at that own is his favourite, he is known to call you “little one” claiming you are tiny and need to grow, (when if you’re tall)

He likes to annoy you!

[skedaddledwritingposts]

Blue is a happy color [5]

The mayor‘s house was gigantic and honestly, utterly impressive. At least 100 feet high, consisting out of some kind of white stone, - probably marble as Ophelia figured –  and with wide, white doors, the female detective looked up at it for a while with pure awe.

When Gavin had slapped her shoulder and made a mocking noise with his mouth, the woman got a hold of herself again as her partner rang the doorbell.

The mayor had opened the door and quickly let them in, as soon after Valerie‘s name came over Gavin‘s lips.

„Mr. Lovich, is your wife home? We‘d like to talk to her too, if that‘s possible.“, the male detective said.

The father of the shortly deceased girl huffed, rolling his eyes. He had a stoic face, a long, sharp nose with thin lips, which looked like they’d be frowning on every day of the year.

The mayor swallowed hard before tightening his tie and turning towards Gavin. „No, that's not possible. She may be at home, but she's in bed ... and she isn’t feeling well."

Ophelia raised an eyebrow in face of his coldness but still nodded slowly.

„We're very sorry for what has happened, Mr. Lovich. You have my deepest condolences.“, Ophelia said and the three of them took a seat on the two very expensive looking sofas, standing in the middle of the living room.

Arthur Lovich only nodded slowly, still keeping his cold expression and not allowing himself to show any kind of emotion. He couldn't possibly be this controlled after his child just died, but Ophelia figured that acting experience probably came with the job.

Gavin cleared his throat before leaning forward a little bit and starting to talk. „We’d like to know what kind of relationship you had to your daughter?“

„A wonderful one“, Lovich responded. „Valerie was very well-behaved, polite and intelligent. She just got A‘s in school and was never rebellious or defiant. I … I loved her more than anything.“

For a short moment, the mayor‘s disguise seemed to crumble, his voice breaking at the end of his last sentence. But he quickly got a hold of himself again, after closing his eyes for a few seconds.

„And how was your wife’s relationship to Valerie?“, Gavin continued.

„Very good as well. Like I said, Valerie was the perfect child and basically an angel.“, the mayor explained.

Ophelia and Gavin shot each other a look. The perfect child? Both of them knew that this didn‘t exist, excluding android children, of course.

The woman bit the dry skin of her upper lip as she asked. „Did she go out often? Or did she have a boyfriend, a girlfriend maybe?“

Mr. Lovich laughed in a bitter, clangorous way. „No, she didn't, she knew that I wouldn't allow something like that. Whatever happened, I'm sure it had something to do with the influence of her so called ‘best friend‘.“

Once again, the two detectives shot each other a look and Ophelia tilted her head to the side. „You didn‘t approve of Alyssa‘s and Valerie‘s friendship?“

„I despised it, to be honest with you. Alyssa wasn't any good for my sweet girl.“, the mayor explained while standing up and walking over to the bar standing next to them. As he poured himself a drink, he continued talking. „It‘s not even like it‘s her own fault, she’s only a foster child, so she couldn’t know any better. But she is skipping school, she has a criminal record and she always smells like pot.“

Noticing the tension in her partner because of the things the mayor had said, Ophelia put a hand on his knee and giving him a little squeeze, only slightly too hard. She already knew Gavin well enough to know that he might say something stupid or tactless, and she really couldn’t have that now. It was still the mayor who they were talking to, even if he seemed to be a prick.

Suppressing the sharp comment that waited on her own tongue, Ophelia cleared her throat before speaking. „Of course, we‘ll look into it, Mr. Lovich. We already have two Detectives at her home. If she had anything to do with Valerie’s death, we'll find out.“

No matter what else the two detectives had asked him, he always insisted that his daughter was a good girl, never did anything wrong and after all, it was all Alyssa‘s fault, anyway.

After a few minutes, it was Gavin who pinched Ophelia in her lower back, as she almost let a sharp comment slip out of her mouth. The young woman bit her own lip hard, to keep herself from saying anything disrespectful. But to her, that man was no father, he was a politician with every inch of his tall and thin body.

„Would you mind letting us search her room?“, Gavin finally asked.

After having taken the last sip of his drink, the mayor shrugged his shoulders and answered. „Sure, go ahead, Detectives. We have nothing to hide.“

Both of them made their way up the stairs, - which were unnecessarily long and wide, - before heading to the dead girl‘s room at the end of the hallway.

After Ophelia had opened the door, they shot each other another look. The room didn't exactly look like the one of a fifteen-year-old girl would. It seemed almost sterile, with most of her belongings or furniture being white and without color.

Ophelia remembered how her room had looked when she had been fifteen. Her walls, full with pictures of her friends, the pets she owned or of her family, some dumb quotes she thought were absolutely genius or edgy. There had been bright colors everywhere, and it definetly had never been this clean.

„Alright, I'm gonna take a look at the drawers and her clothes. Gavin, would you mind looking under the bed, maybe?“, the young woman offered with a cheeky smile.

The man rolled his eyes, but crouched down to get under the bed. In the meanwhile, she opened the first, few drawers, but to only find some tops, shorts and underwear, nothing else.

The last drawer though, contained a small, golden book with Valerie‘s initials on it, as well as two black boxes.

„I think I’ve found something.“, Ophelia stated and turned around to look at her partner.

Gavin’s head popped out beneath the bed before he crawled out of it again, his dark clothes being almost completely covered in dust bunnies.

He looked grumpy as he joined her. „You made me crawl under that fucking bed for nothing, woman. You better found something.“

She chuckled a bit before handing him one of the boxes, opening the other herself.

„Wow, that‘s like … a shitload of condoms in here.“, the female detective exclaimed surprised before looking back at Gavin.

He grinned cockily as he turned the box inside of his hand so she could see inside. „Well, I won, because I've found better. Weed, cigs, small liquor bottles, whatever, you name it. Shit, I think there’s even some cocaine?“

„We'll take that with us. The book too, I guess it's her dairy. Could help us, maybe.“, Ophelia decided and Gavin nodded with acceptance. „Sounds like something.“

Ophelia stuffed the dairy in one of the boxes and gave them to Gavin so he could carry them. Together, they went down to talk to to the mayor again.

„We have everything that we need, I guess.“, Ophelia started and gave him a smile. „Thank you very much for your cooperation, Mr. Lovich.“

The mayor looked at them out of squinted his eyes. „What do we have here?“, he asked and raised both of his eyebrows.

„Some of Valerie‘s belongings, of which we think that they could help us find the murderer.“, Ophelia replied, not allowing her smile to break for a second.

Mr. Lovich glared at them for a while, before lifting his head and making a few steps towards her. When he was so close that the young woman could feel his breath on her Face, he whispered in a raw voice.

„If the news hear anything about this - “, he started, but Ophelia interrupted him quickly, still smiling. „Of course, sir, don't worry. I wish you a good evening, Mr. Lovich.“

As soon as the door of the mansion had shut behind them, Ophelia let out a deep sigh, while Gavin only grunted. „Fucking prick“

   When Hank and Connor had arrived at the home of the Hawking family, the android had rang the bell twice before a tiny girl with messy, brunette hair opened the door for them.

„Can I help you?“, she asked, her face was flushed and her eyes were red from crying.

„Yes, I think so. My name is Lieutenant Hank Anderson, I‘m from the Detroit Police Department. This is Connor, my partner. Are you Alyssa Hawking?“, Hank introduced himself.

The tiny girl nodded and a quick analyzation of her face confirmed this to Connor. After Alyssa had let them into her home, he looked around the room quickly.

„Are your parents home?“, he asked the girl, who responded with a shake of her head.

Connor shot Hank a knowing look, who returned it. Her parents left her home alone the day after her best friend died?

Alyssa let herself fall on the yellow couch in the middle of the room, nodding to the free space next to her. „Take a seat.“

„Thank you, Alyssa“, Hank said while he and the android did what they had been told to. „I assume that you know why we're here?“

Once again, the young girl only nodded, tears forming inside of her eyes again.

Connor suddenly felt the strong urge to swallow down the unusual lump that was forming inside of his throat.

Hank took a deep breath and looked at the young girl with eyes that almost looked sweet. „I'm very sorry for your loss, Alyssa. It must be terrible to lose a friend at such a young age.“

Alyssa only nodded absently, biting her lip while single tears ran down her cheeks. She tried not to look at one of them directly.

„But if we want to find the one who did this to your friend, we need your help.“, Hank said.

Alyssa snorted loud with her nose, still not looking at the men once. „And what would that change? She'd still be dead.“

„You're right, Valerie won‘t come back. That's simply a fact and, trust me, I know that hurts.“, Hank responded, bracing his upper body on his tighs and leaning forward a bit. „But the guy who did that to her is still out there, and he already raped three other girls. And he will hurt other people too if we don't find him.“

As the lieutenant spoke, Alyssa had started to cry freely, and bitter sobs were leaving her mouth. Connor grabbed his knees hard with his hands.

The girl swallowed her tears down and answered when she could speak again. „There's nothing I could tell you.“

„Valerie's parents told us that she wanted to stay with you last night. Did she arrive here?“, Connor insisted.

„No, she didn't.“, Alyssa replied and the android noticed how the expression on her face twisted, her heartbeat rising slightly.

„I don't think you're telling us the truth, Alyssa.“, he said.

For the first time since they had entered her house, Alyssa looked directly at one of them, glaring at Connor with reproachfully, taunting eyes. „She's dead. Nothing I could say would help her. It would only be bad for me.“

Hank shot his partner a look, frowning.

„Why would that be bad for you?“, Hank asked carefully. „Do you know what happened?“

„No!“, Alyssa almost screamed at them, tears spreading all over her face.

She sobbed once, then twice, and when she was calmed down again she added. „You don't know my parents.“

Suddenly, the front door of the flat opened with a loud swing and a tall, young woman with short, black hair entered the living room.

„What the fuck are these guys doing here?“, the woman spat at Alyssa after she had noticed Hank and Connor sitting on the couch next to her.

The two policemen shot each other a confused look, and the android’s LED flickered yellow once.

„They are from the DPD. Because of ... Valerie, you know.“, Alyssa responded to the older girl and before turning towards the two men again. „That's my foster sister, Isabelle, we call her Izzy. We're seven children.  She's the oldest.“

Before one of them had gotten any chance to reply to Alyssa, Isabelle had walked up to them and put her hands on her hips. „Yeah yeah yeah, whatever, what the fuck, I don't care. You two, fuck off.“

For a moment, both of them were completely agape. It was Connor who got a hold of himself first.

„Excuse me, Miss Hawking, but we're trying to investigate a murder case here, and your sister could be the only one having valuable information –“, he started, but Isabelle interrupted him quickly and rolled her eyes.

„I don't give a fuck. Get up and get the fuck outta here.“, the woman said and pulled Connor out of his seat by his hand, before turning to her foster sister. „What the hell are you thinking? You know what mom and dad will do when they see the fucking cops around here!“

Connor desperately turned to Hank in search of any kind of help. But the lieutenant only grunted before standing up and walking towards the front door of the house. When he had reached the door, he stopped and turned around again, holding a little card out for Alyssa.

„That's my number. Actually, it's Connor's number, but whatever. If there's anything you wanna talk about, call.“, Hank said, before putting it inside of her hand and instructing Connor to follow him with a motion of his hand, finally leaving the girl and her sister alone again.

  As they arrived at the station again, Ophelia and Gavin were already there, sitting at her desk.

Hank walked over to the two of them, while sighing deeply and pulling up Connor‘s chair to sit on it.  The android followed him with quick steps, hopping on the corner of his desk and waiting for the lieutenant to start speaking.

„So, did you children find something?“, he finally asked.

While Gavin frowned, - probably over Hank‘s use of the phrase ’children‘, - Ophelia looked up to him and responded. „Yes, we did. A very mean asshole, which is actually the mayor.“, she turned around to look at the lieutenant, wearing such an overly wide smile that the irony in it was even obvious to Connor.

Gavin pushed the two boxes with the diary towards the two others. „We also found Valerie‘s diary. And in there are condoms, weed, cigarettes, coke, I think.“

He made a short pause while Connor and Hank examined the content of the box. „Her father said it‘s the fault of Alyssa, says that she‘s a bad influence. Is she?“

„I don‘t know if she’s exactly a bad influence, but she’s hiding something. Maybe she had something to do with Valerie‘s death.“, Hank shrugged his shoulders. „All I know is that she‘s completely terrified, I think of her parents, but I have no idea why.“

„Alyssa said that Valerie never arrived at her place. But I don‘t believe her.“, Connor added.

Ophelia bit her own lip again and sighed. Her headache had started to come back and she tried to massage her temples. „Who knows, maybe she did die before arriving?“

The young woman sighed another time and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes and muttering. „I'll read her diary this evening, I guess. Maybe there’s something interesting inside, I dunno …“

„I'd strongly advise that you let me read it instead, Ophelia.“, Connor suddenly started and the woman jumped once again.

She had completely forgotten that he was there. But realizing that now made her face go blank again, while she starred at him with a dumbfounded expression.

After she hadn‘t answered him for about a minute, he added carefully. „I‘m not trying to insult you, so please excuse me if I did. It‘s just that I’d need about, five minutes to read that book and …. you seem … rather exhausted.“

„No, yeah, … sure, I mean, I guess. Thank you, Connor.“, she stuttered and turned away from him quickly after handing him the diary, seeing his LED flicker yellow in the corner of her eye.

Hank watched them and pulled one of his eyebrows up in confusion, but chose not to question it any further.

„Anyway, I think she knows something, too.“, the lieutenant said. „We almost got her to talk, but then her sister got home and literally told us to fuck off. She lives in a foster home, has six siblings.“

„Her sister, Isabelle, she said something about their parents disapproving of the police.“, Connor added again.

„Well, maybe she did get the drugs with Alyssa. Maybe her parents are involved. I don't think she's the main influence, though … I guess Mr. Lovich ruined his daughter all by himself.“, Ophelia said with shrug, while sighing deeply once again. „However, my shift is over since half an hour, so I think I'll go home now. Maybe I'll even get some sleep, who knows.“

The young detective bend down and lifted her bag up, putting her stuff inside and shouldering it, before saying goodbye to her colleagues and walking towards the exit.

„Yeah, just leave me here with all of those files and these reports to make ... bitch!",  Gavin called after her, but Ophelia was already on her way out of the station.

Connor looked after her for a moment, before he decided to follow her.

She was already standing in front of her car, fumbling with keys so she could open the door.

„Ophelia?“, he began after he had reached her. „Do you have a moment, please?“

For the third time of that day, Ophelia jumped when she heard Connor‘s voice.

„I, uh, I – uh, yeah, sure“, she mumbled, looking at the ground because she could feel her cheeks burn again. The young woman felt anxiety creep through her body.

The android took a deep breath he didn’t need and started. „I wanted to talk to you about the happenings of last night, if that's alright with you.“

It seemed like he waited for a response, but when he didn’t get one, he simply continued.

„I noticed that you get tense when you look at me. You‘re avoiding eye contact, your heart rate increases whenever I'm near you, and you're blushing.“, he made another pause and his LED turned in four yellow circles. „Did I do something wrong? Did I upset you?“

Ophelia pressed her lips together and leaned against her car, dropping her bag on the ground. She still felt her cheeks burning.

„No, you didn‘t, I did. I shouldn't have done what I did last night, I’m ... I don't want you to think I used you, or anything … it was highly inappropriate of me. I took advantage of you and I‘m sorry.“, she explained with a low voice.

Now, Connor seemed to be utterly confused and his voice got two octaves higher as he repeated. „Took Advantage of me? You?“

When she only nodded in response, he settled for shaking his head.

„Ophelia, you didn't take advantage of me. I may be only alive for one year, but I'm an adult.“, he said with an unusual confident voice. „I‘m a grown man and I know what I want, and I know what I don’t want, and I‘m able to phrase that out.“

It took the young woman a moment to take in what he had said.

„So, you’re not angry?“, she asked, relief starting to fill her stomach.

„Why should I be angry?“, Connor replied, brows furrowed in confusion. His LED made another yellow twist. „You were intoxicated. If anyone was taking advantage, it was me. I was worried that you might be angry.“

Ophelia took a deep breath and looked at him, a slight blush still spreading over her face. „I wanted to have sex with you, Connor … even though I knew that you don't experience it like I do.“

„I wanted to, too. Or else I wouldn't have done it.“, the android tried to reassure her. „You may have pushed my hand inside of your underwear, put I pushed my fingers inside of you.“

Her face turned bright red when he said that, pushing the memories that started to light up in her mind back into her back of her head. „Yes, you did.“

The pair went quiet for a while, Ophelia twisting nervously under his gaze while Connor was almost starring her down.

Without looking at him, she cleared her throat an asked, so quietly it wouldn’t have been audible to him if he was a human. „Would you … like to eat dinner with me, sometime, maybe?“

His LED kept it‘s cool, blue color as he responded. „As like friends or, as a date?“

„As … a date?“, she offered, still not returning his look.

 Connor thought about that for a moment before concluding. „I‘d like that, I guess.“

The young Detective made a relieved sound. „Oh fuck, thank god“, finally, she lifted her head again and looked back at the android. „When?“

„Today?“, he replied. „I‘m done with work in exactly two hours, nineteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds. I could come over after then?“

Instead of answering, Ophelia only nodded and smiled at him warmly, opening the door to her car and getting inside.

After she had started the motor, she turned down the window and spoke to the android for a last time before driving away. „I‘ll see you then, Connor.“

The RK-800 smiled to himself as he walked back into the station.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Tagged (Ask to be tagged!)  @mikithekiki

[clumsytwinkie]

cute questions

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk? - More cereal cause I don’t put milk in my cereal.

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day? - Yes unless it’s too cold

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books? - scraps of paper, birthday cards, receipts

4: how do you take your coffee/tea? - idk however the person makes it

5: are you self-conscious of your smile? - yeah

6: do you keep plants? - I used to keep cacti

7: do you name your plants? - yeah my cacti were called stella and bella

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings? - I write or reblog pics

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself? - yes

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach? - I sleep on my side or stomach

11: what's an inner joke you have with your friends? - yeast, kahea, kahiit, fapapus, simon biles, stacey, ariana, oreo, BC, too many

12: what's your favorite planet? - saturn

13: what's something that made you smile today? - youtube, cheetos

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like? - it would be the coolest space ever and it would have huge windows with a nice view. my room would have lots of fairy lights and cute posters. music would always be playing.

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is! - all of space is completely silent

16: what's your favorite pasta dish? - too many I love pesto, ravioli, alfredo, mac and cheese, four cheese, truffle carbonara, and just plain pasta with garlic butter and cheese idk what its called

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair? - maybe ombre with like lighter brown tips or just light brown

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up. - when I claimed that mountains respire

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it? - I keep a notebook that I write poems and prose in and another one where I just draw fashion stuff

20: what's your favorite eye color? - hazel

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that's been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces. - My favorite bag is this mini backpack that can be worn as a handbag as well and it used to belong to my mom but she gave it to me. It can hold a lot of stuff and is pretty worn out but I love it.

22: are you a morning person? - kind of because I have to wake up early every day so I’m used to it but I don’t mind because I don’t think I can stay in bed for that long anyways.

23: what's your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations? - sit on my sofa and watch TV on my laptop and youtube videos.

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets? - maybe 

25: what's the weirdest place you've ever broken into? - can’t remember but I have definitely broken in somewhere I think a park or something

26: what are the shoes you've had for forever and wear with every single outfit? - black converse or adidas

27: what's your favorite bubblegum flavor? - mint

28: sunrise or sunset? - sunset

29: what's something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing? - my friend always calls me nicknames and gives me big bear hugs

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared? - hell yes i am probably the most anxious person you’ll ever meet

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks. - I like wearing socks to sleep when i have gymnastics blisters on my hands. I like wearing any socks not just plain ones

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends. - I think this was after a music festival not sure if it was 3am but my friend went to the fridge and took out a box of pesto pasta and just started eating it cold. also we played monopoly and cards against humanity.

33: what's your fave pastry? - lemon meringue tart, sausage puff, mushroom puff, chocolate puff

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it? - I have these two care bears, one pink and one purple called Salad and Lolly and I still have them. I used to take them with me on every holiday. I have lost the purple one in an airport bathroom and a hotel.

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often? - stationary is literally one of my favorite things to shop for and one of the only reasons why I enjoy going back to school. I love pretty pens they make me feel better

36: which band's sound would fit your mood right now? - the 1975, arctic monkeys, the neighborhood

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean? - clean 

38: tell us about your pet peeves! - when people are two faced, when they do well but they say they don’t, when people lie to not embarrass themselves, when people constantly complain, when people ditch their friends, try to act cool and so much more

39: what color do you wear the most? - black, white and navy

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what's it's story? does it have any meaning to you? - I have a ring that my mom gave me when I was little and I think it used to belong to my grandma but I think I’ve lost it.

41: what's the last book you remember really, really loving? - this is going to sound lame but wattpad has some really great stories and also the humans of new york book 

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it! - don’t really have one just basically any starbucks

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with? - can’t remember don’t think I’ve ever done that but I’ve always wanted to lay in a field on top of a blanket with someone and just look at the stars and not talk

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything? - when I slept or when I was eating cheetos and watching netflix

45: do you trust your instincts a lot? - kinda

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of. - did it hurt when you fell down from heaven? (angel)

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe? - peas.

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today? - too many fears to pick from e.g. sharks, vegetables, the dark, monsters, scary movies, etc 

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought? - i would like to buy some but i dont have any yet because i don’t own a record player

50: what's an odd thing you collect? - stuff i wore/collected on gymnastics comps where i did well e.g. hairties, movie tickets, receipts, stickers, buttons

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them? -  52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far? 53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them? 54: who's the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face? 55: what's the most dramatic thing you've ever done to prove a point? 56: what are some things you find endearing in people? 57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics? 58: who's the wine mom and who's the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why? 59: what's your favorite myth? 60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves? 61: what's the stupidest gift you've ever given? the stupidest one you've ever received? 62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind? 63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be? 64: what color is the sky where you are right now? 65: is there anyone you haven't seen in a long time who you'd love to hang out with? 66: what would your ideal flower crown look like? 67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel? 68: what's winter like where you live? 69: what are your favorite board games? 70: have you ever used a ouija board? 71: what's your favorite kind of tea? 72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you'll forget it? 73: what are some of your worst habits? 74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns. 75: tell us about your pets! 76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren't? 77: pink or yellow lemonade? 78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub? 79: what's one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you? 80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why? 81: describe one of your friend's eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of. 82: are/were you good in school? 83: what's some of your favorite album art? 84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones? 85: do you read comics? what are your faves? 86: do you like concept albums? which ones? 87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives? 88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy? 89: are you close to your parents? 90: talk about your one of you favorite cities. 91: where do you plan on traveling this year? 92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch? 93: what's the hairstyle you wear the most? 94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday? 95: what are your plans for this weekend? 96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot? 97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house? 98: when's the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it? 99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them. 100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?​

[avecorviidae]

Fic: Aubade - Chapter Three

Fandom: Mob Psycho 100 Rating: M Relationship(s): Kageyama Ritsu/Suzuki Shou Word Count: 3934

Ao3 Link

“Did I leave the door unlocked?” Shou’s squinting, nose scrunched up and mouth twisted into a little frown, and Ritsu’s not sure if it’s because he’s actually worried about the door question, or if it’s because a cloud just moved, sending the sun directly into his eyes. It sets his hair alight, with a glare bright enough that it actually hurts to look at. He should move, he thinks, his hair is probably greasy enough that if it gets hot enough, it might actually set on fire. For reasons yet unknown, Shou has chosen to lie face-up on the ground, arms crossed behind his head and feet braced on a nearby low brick wall. Ritsu, who feels no need to spend five minutes dusting various sidewalk bits off of his clothes, has chosen to actually sit on the wall, feet dangling just slightly on either side of Shou’s. He leans forward, elbows on his thighs. “I thought you said you hadn’t been back to the house?” Shou shrugs, which looks pretty awkward considering that his shoulders don’t actually leave the ground, but he gets his point across. “I was talking about when I left last year, actually, but that too. I stopped by the house to dump my suitcase and stuff in the front hall, but I didn’t have time to do anything else. I probably left it unlocked then, too.” The worst part is, Ritsu can’t tell if he’s serious. He wouldn’t even put it past Shou, to leave a massive, expensive-looking house in a questionably upstanding neighborhood completely unlocked for a year while he jumps from country to country handling highly sensitive information related to his maniac of a father. Ritsu has been fiddling with the keychain attached to the lanyard in his pocket, and he thumbs through each key until he lands on the inexplicably cheesy flame-patterned one in between the office key and the key to Mob and Teru’s place. Ritsu barely even remembers acquiring it in the first place, just that it was some time after a magpie had flown off with the key that had previously been on the top of the doorframe. “I still have the spare you gave me, you could’ve asked one of us to go and check that it was locked.” It’s meant to be scolding, but it has about the same strength behind it as someone telling a puppy that it’s not supposed to lie on the sofa. It’s more by rote at this point, than out of any real expectation that Shou will change his behavior. Ritsu realizes that there’s a far more pressing issue here, and pushes himself off of the wall, moving until he’s standing above Shou. His shadow falls across Shou’s face, and after blinking the sun out of his eyes for a moment, Shou beams up at him. “Hey! Pff, you’re just a silhouette. Like an angel, or some shit.” He ignores the angel comment, as much as the irony of it is incredible. He has priorities, here. “Hey. You haven’t showered yet.” Shou snorts, moves one hand from behind his head to pat at Ritsu’s leg. “Aw, are you grossed out by my scary airport germs?”

He kicks lightly at Shou’s shoulder, saying, “Yes, you’ve probably given me like, three diseases. Come on, you’re gross, we’re going to get you in the nearest shower.” He reaches down and grabs at Shou’s wrist, still drifting somewhere near Ritsu’s knee. He gives a tug, but Shou remains limp on the ground, and holy shit, he always forgets that Shou isn’t just skinny, he’s lean, and muscle mass is fucking heavy. He’s reluctant to actually try and drag Shou along the sidewalk, because for one, he’s not five, but he’ll also probably end up dragging him along something mildly sharp, and Shou will whine about the scrape for the next week at least. So, he uses the best weapon he has.

“Your hair is drooping.” In half a second, Shou’s hand has turned in his grip and grabbed his wrist, and he uses Ritsu to pull himself up so quickly that Ritsu isn’t entirely sure his shoulder stays in its socket. Instead of letting go, Shou’s grip on his wrist tightens convulsively, and he looks into Ritsu’s eyes with an intensity that Ritsu usually associates with potentially word-destroying psychic threats. “We’re going.” “Uh huh, I know.  C’mon, your place is too far to walk to, you can use mine.”

Shou whines, “Ugh, fine,” dragging it out into a low groan, but he still starts walking in the direction of Ritsu’s house, shifting his grip so that his fingers slip into Ritsu’s. Ritsu lets himself be dragged along, only mildly surprised that Shou hadn’t pulled away. Aside from the first hug, Shou has been far less tactile than Ritsu had grown used to from him. They’ve still been walking closely enough for their arms to bump, but it’s odd, in comparison to a couple of years ago, when it had felt like Shou was always hanging off of him in some way. Weird. Would’ve thought Europe would make him more touchy, not less. He quickens his pace until he’s walking in step with Shou, instead of having his arm dragged ahead of him. There’s a comforting familiarity to the way that Shou immediately starts to swing their hands between them, although Ritsu reigns him in with a sharp squeeze when he tries to swing ridiculously high. In response, Shou tries to bat him in the face with his own hand, because Shou is apparently exactly seven years old. Their conversation hits a bit of a lull until Shou side-eyes him with a smile that immediately puts him on edge. “So,” he begins, voice light and airy, “I told you about my plane stories. You tell me about your roommates.” Ritsu narrows his eyes. “I told you about them. I’ve been telling you about them all year.” Shou had been oddly fascinated by the concept of student dorms, and had grilled Ritsu for just about every detail he could think of. Shou tilts his head in a so-so motion. “Fair enough. Okay, so there are… three of them?” “Yep. Two bedrooms, four beds.” “Aaaaand Daichi is the one you’re sleeping with?” “Please don’t phrase it like that.” Shou keeps them in that vein for a while, confirming information he already knows. Ritsu isn’t really sure where he’s going with this. More often than not, Shou’s intentions are clear right from the beginning of a line of questioning. He’s not exactly a master of subtlety.  Eventually, though, once he’s squeezed a new story out of him, (Matsuo making coffee out of ground caffeine pills and then not sleeping once for the entirety of finals week, having a conversation with thin air in broken English, and breaking a world record in some online game before finally crashing under Ritsu’s bed,) Shou just pauses, then asks, “Do you actually like it up there?” Well that was… unusual. Ritsu just shrugs. “It’s a college dorm, what do you think?” Shou’s eyebrows furrow, and Ritsu can see him biting at the inside of his cheek. “No, seriously. Like, if you could live somewhere else, would you?” “What’s the point in speculating? Sure, it sucks, Daichi snores and Matsuo plays video games all night, you know this. But it’s not like I can afford an apartment or anything, Shou, I’m broke. As long as I’ve got cheap housing on-campus that I don’t have to pay rent for, though, I can’t really complain.” Okay, now Ritsu really doesn’t see where he’s going with this. Shou’s well aware that Ritsu hates his dorm and his roommates with a burning passion, has essentially been letting Ritsu moan about them for a year now. Shou’s shifting around like he’s got something to say still, but only a quiet “huh” comes before he trails off into silence. Ritsu looks at him, waiting, but Shou says nothing, just looking until they’re forced to break eye contact to avoid bumping into a streetlamp. Well, Ritsu can press him on it later.

-

Teru’s backpack is shoved into a corner near the front door, and Ritsu only feels slightly guilty about rummaging through it until he comes up with the inevitable tube of hair gel. He sticks it on top of the pile of folded clothes on the coffee table and grabs it, carrying it through to the hallway. He shifts it so that it’s balanced on one elbow, freeing up his other hand to rap sharply on the bathroom door. He raises his voice over the sound of running water inside. “Is it locked?” Shou’s answer comes a moment later. “Nah. Promise your parents aren’t home, though?” “Nope, both out.” His mom had left a note on the counter letting him know that she’d gone shopping, and his dad was working swing shift right now, so he wouldn’t be home until late. “Alright if I come in? I’ve got your stuff.” “Go ahead. But no peeking!” Disregarding the opaque blue shower curtain, there’s still too much steam in the bathroom to see much of anything. Jeez, middle of summer and he’s still determined to use up all of the hot water in the country. He dumps the pile on the bathroom counter and grabs Shou’s discarded clothes from their messy heap on the tile, making sure to slam the door behind him so Shou knows that he’s gone. By the time he’s shoved Shou’s clothes in the washing machine with whatever other dirty laundry he could find, the water has shut off, and he can hear vague sounds of movement from the bathroom whenever he walks by. He’s idling on his phone, curled up on the sofa when Shou finally emerges. He hadn’t looked awful before, by any means, but as he throws himself onto the opposite end of the sofa with an exaggerated sigh, Ritsu thinks that he’s looking a lot better. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said that Shou’s hair was drooping, but now it’s damp from the shower instead of grease, and the gelled-up spikes are fluffy looking, feathering in places from how aggressively he tends to towel dry his hair.

Shou would half drown in most of Ritsu’s clothes, but he’d dug through his drawers until he’d found an old, small t-shirt from their first years of high school, and a pair of faded denim shorts that he thinks might have been Shou’s in the first place, left there years ago and then never recovered, sinking to the bottom of Ritsu’s dresser. They come down to just above his knees, so Ritsu can see that his legs are pink from the hot water, matching the sunburn on his face.

He’s sprawled himself out on the cushions, catlike, looking at Ritsu lazily through half-lidded eyes. All he needs is another conveniently placed beam of sun for him to lie in, and he’ll probably just fall asleep. “Anything interesting happen while I was gone?” Ritsu pulls up the messaging app on his phone and hands it to Shou so that he can see the pictures from Teru. They’re poorly lit and blurry, clearly taken in a rush, but their subject matter is clear as day. Reigen is clinging to the large, swinging lamp attached to the ceiling of a warehouse, hanging some twenty feet off of the ground. The only thing clear on his face are the whites of his eyes. Back on the ground is Mob, arms outstretched, clearly trying to coax Reigen back to the ground. Shou giggles in short bursts as he’s scrolling through the pictures, before handing the phone back to Ritsu. Well, he less hands it back, and more just stretches his arm towards Ritsu, shaking the phone at him until he sighs and leans forward to take it from him. Still grinning, Shou asks, “Did they get him down from there? No, wait, correction: did he fall down.” Just as he’s about to answer, Ritsu’s phone buzzes with another text. He reads it to Shou, half quoting and half summarizing. “Not yet… apparently Nii-san is going to try some more, uh, ‘forceful persuasion’?” “He’s going to drag him down!” Shou gasps in delight. Ritsu rolls his eyes, although the mental image of Mob having to psychically pull Reigen down from the ceiling like a spooked cat clinging to a tree branch is… not completely unamusing. How did he even get up there in the first place? The next text is another picture, Reigen flat on his back on the ground, with Mob crouched over him in concern. It’s captioned only “EXORCISM: COMPLETE”.

A few more texts confirm that Teru, Mob, and Reigen will head in the direction of the Kageyama house to meet up for dinner. The exorcism has taken them about an hour outside of the city, and in the meantime, Ritsu has managed to keep Shou’s chronic snacking habit at bay, so they should all be raring to go by the time they arrive. In the course of that, at most two minute conversation, Shou has reached over Ritsu’s shoulder, grabbed the TV remote, and stuck on the single most obnoxious and nonsensical looking soap opera that Ritsu has ever seen. As far as he can tell, the couple on screen are arguing about… dinner? No, the house. Wait, one of them just mentioned an affair. “What… What is this?” He asks, as the woman on the screen begins to sob hysterically, slamming a blender onto the kitchen counter. Shou’s smile is far too satisfied for Ritsu’s liking. “I have absolutely no idea.” “But you’re going to make me watch it, aren’t you.” “Sure am.”

He sighs in resignation, taking a page out of Shou’s book and shifting until he’s more comfortable, head resting on the cushion behind him. Shou kicks at his shin when Ritsu stretches his legs onto his side of the couch, but otherwise doesn’t say anything when they end up a little tangled together in the middle.

The TV ends up being strangely engaging in the way that bad soap operas are, and he finds himself watching the story of the sleazy gambler husband and his cheating murderer wife play out with mild interest, although the intersecting story of the bartender’s struggle to keep his business open is far more boring. He supposes it’s a testament to the format of the show, that it’s probably on its thirteenth season, but two random teenagers can jump into the middle of an episode and still be able to follow along. The storylines are superficial, the characters two-dimensional. Ritsu’s guessing that the couple on the screen are either brand new to the show, or haven’t had their characters change in the three or more years that they’ve been on it.

Ritsu has more of a preference for more in depth, continuity-reliant shows that develop characters and their relationships slowly, with a great deal of thought and care. Still, he supposes this kind of thing suits Shou, a show that he can jump in and out of at any point without needing to sit down and commit to the long haul. Or at least he would be able to, if he wasn’t busy napping. Ritsu isn’t sure when it happened, but sure enough, Shou’s clearly fast asleep, head lolling to the side and eyes shut. Ritsu considers waking him up, but honestly, after the alleged flight from hell he’s had, a few minutes couldn’t hurt him. Actually, he thinks, stifling a yawn into his fist, a few minutes couldn’t hurt me either. Despite the good few hours he’d gotten this morning, the train ride is still taking its toll on him, and watching Shou, all of the exhaustion seems to flood into his body, making him feel heavy and lethargic. They’ll wake us up when they get here. Living in a dorm where the TV was on at all hours of the day has conditioned Ritsu to fall asleep easily to background noise, so it’s simple to let the gentle screeching of the housewife and her husband turn into white noise, though he does make a vague effort to follow the argument, if only because he’s a little bit invested now.

He thinks that he drifts off at one point, but it’s impossible to tell, because the flow of conversation on the TV had been exactly as coherent when he’d been completely awake and lucid. He’s not sure it would make much more sense if he were completely alert and taking notes. He knows he’s drifted off when he feels a hand gently shaking his shoulder, and soft voices in the living room. He forces his eyes open, if only for the sole purpose of glaring at Reigen, who’s got the nerve to be laughing at him, the smug bastard. He pats Ritsu’s shoulder, greeting, “Hey, kiddo. Nice nap?” “Ugh,” he replies, with feeling. Still, he forces himself up, waving vaguely in the direction of Mob and Teru’s voices.

Shou is already sitting up, blinking slowly and scrubbing his hands over his face. “‘Sup, Pops,” he says through an almost obnoxiously wide yawn. Reigen reaches over to ruffle Shou’s spikes, ignoring the disgruntled protests about ‘Not the hair, not the hair!’ Everyone polite refrains from mentioning the fact that Shou’s hair is already terribly messed up just from the way he was lying. “Alright, you two ready to go?” Ritsu and Shou groan almost in unison, although while Ritsu actually stands to leave, Shou just flops backwards, shutting his eyes and playing dead, keeping up the act even as Reigen and Ritsu each grab one of his arms and forcibly drag him to his feet.

-

If there’s one nice thing about being back in Seasoning, it’s that it’s actually making him walk. In Grain City, if something’s not already on campus, it’s a short walk or a ten minute bus ride away at the very most. Ritsu has spent the better part of a year in either his dorm, his classes, the campus library, or the nearby grocery store. He probably doesn’t get out enough, especially now that he doesn’t have Shou hanging around to drag him on meandering walks across half of the city anymore. Back at home, the buses are technically supposed to run on a schedule, but you’ve got a one in three chance of it coming even remotely on time, if at all. Everything in the city is within walking distance, but it’s more of an actual challenge than the building-to-building strolls he’s used to. When Ritsu’s calves start burning, he thinks that maybe, just maybe, he’s not getting enough exercise these days. Teru, Mob, and Reigen had broken off from their group about ten minutes back, in order to close up the office and go home. Ritsu was almost sorry to see them go, if only because the sun is finally beginning to set, and Teru’s shirt has a ten foot visibility radius in the dark. Shou’s bouncing along at his side, one arm linked with his so that he doesn’t wander off the sidewalk as he stares up at the sky. Ritsu is being a responsible guide and not getting distracted by the pretty sky, but admittedly, it is quite a night, with the sun painting the sky a glowing red that seeps through the rolling clouds and seems to wash the world in pink.

It’s faded to mostly darkness when they finally reach the house, Ritsu unlocking the door and pulling it open so that Shou can step inside ahead of him. It probably won’t cool down too much during the night, won’t even really reach something that could be called chilly until the early hours of the morning, but Ritsu is still grateful for the slight drop in temperature that had come with the sunset. Shou, on the other hand, is still in shorts and a t-shirt, and has been clinging to him to conserve body heat for the duration of the walk. Shou jumps into the house ahead of him, sighing at the sudden warmth, and idles on bouncing heels in the front hall while Ritsu comes in at a normal human pace, locking the door behind him.

His mother pulls them both into a hug before Ritsu can blink, and then starts gushing at Shou, a flow of conversation that Ritsu barely follows, and judging by the slightly bewildered look on Shou’s face, he’s guessing he’s having a hard time following along too. Still, they make it out with the mutual understanding that even if they’ve already eaten and don’t need dinner, Shou is sticking around and he is staying the night, which Ritsu kind of thought was a given anyways, but was apparently surprising to Shou.

It takes a while of rummaging through various cupboards until he finds where his mom has hidden the spare quilts, and by the time he’s laid out a decent pallet on his bedroom floor, Shou has already stolen one of Ritsu’s pillows and half of the house’s blankets, which he dumps onto the quilts and immediately starts to make a nest. Ritsu watches him as he adjusts, kicking around blankets and circling around like a cat trying to get comfortable, until he ends up flat on his stomach, feet in the air, and chin propped up on his hands. “Oi, Ritsu, you’ve got your laptop, right?” Ritsu tugs his laptop out of his backpack, plugging it into the outlet closest to the nest. “What am I pulling up?” He settles himself on his stomach beside Shou, tapping in his login. “Youtube. The dude next to me on the plane actually bought the in-flight wifi, and he was watching some weird shit.” Shou squishes himself against Ritsu’s shoulder so that he can get to the keyboard, typing in the address, and then a nearly incoherent combination of words into the search bar. Naturally, they get on a weird video tangent that lasts them a solid two hours, until Shou’s hyperactivity has trailed off into quiet exhaustion, and Ritsu is blinking the backlight of the screen out of his eyes for a good couple of minutes after he clicks the laptop shut. Shou rolls onto his back while Ritsu shuffles out of his jeans and puts on some sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. He offers pyjamas to Shou, but he declines, because apparently the irony of getting cozy in every blanket Ritsu’s family owns while still sleeping in denim is entirely lost on him. Even after Ritsu has turned off the light, they both end up on their phones, Ritsu scrolling absently through the news before switching to the Spirits and Such homepage. It’s become something of a blog, since Teru was given social media privileges, to the point that he and Reigen post weekly exorcism tips. It’s a decently interesting read, for a while, although he gets distracted by Shou sending him weird pictures he’s found, even though Shou is literally right there and could show him, instead of just snickering every time Ritsu’s phone goes off. Eventually, the other side of the room goes dark when Shou turns off his phone, and Ritsu assumes he’s going to sleep. Out of nowhere, though, Shou starts to speak. “Hey, Ritsu.” “Hmm?” “I was thinking,” and his voice is drowsy, quiet, but has a pensive edge that makes Ritsu look over even though he can’t see Shou’s expression in the dark. “About?” He prompts, after a few more seconds of silence. “What if you and me got a place together?” “What?”