#would be uncool to do it in front of the bois)

[inlandempir]

personally i think kim had more times he thought about how believable it would be if the detective on the case with him suddenly dropped dead or went missing and the lack of questioning people would have about it rather than homosexual thoughts concerning the bois

[helplesslypurple77]

Day 16-Step-Sibling Incest-Chrollo/Reader/Hisoka/Illumi

Notes:

ok soooo, we’re finishing up Kinktober with a bang! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) anyway, this one is gonna be kind of hard to write but im starting it a bit early cause i have a lot of free time today! Btw this shits ooc as hell but idgaf. It's also looooooong, like over 8k words loooooong. Anyway, enjoy

Title is from ‘The Boys’ by Girls Generation

btw art is from pinterest, if its ur dm me and ill credit u<3

....

You find out your mother remarried when her postcard arrives in the mail. It's a short note, and starts out by telling you that she's on vacation in Bali. She goes on in detail about all the cool things she's doing, and you just shake your head, very used to your mothers forgetful attitude. And then, at the end in a little throwaway sentence, she mentions that she got remarried. 

‘He's a lovely man. And he's got three boys, Name dear. Try to get along with them, and don't cause trouble!’ 

You shake your head, annoyed at the entire note. She tells you not to cause trouble? As if you would, you don't care enough about your mother to bother being upset about the news. But she could have at least invited you to the wedding. She probably forgot about you, her only daughter. It sounds insane, and impossible, but you're very used to your mother forgetting about you entirely. You didn't mind anymore. She pays for anything you need, and your life is comfortable, if not happy. But you could live with that. 

You stare at the postcard for a minute, taking in the colorful flowers and ocean on the front. The bright colors hurt your eyes a bit. But brothers! You couldn't believe it. You had lived your entire life an only child, and now that was about to change. You felt a bit of tentative excitement fill your heart, lifting your moon and painting a smile across your face. You smiled, pinning the stupid postcard to the fridge. It stood out, the only thing on the entire front of the fridge. 

Things are about to change. For better or worse, you don't know. 

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

It's lunch break the next day. You're sitting at your usual lunch table, telling your friend about the postcard, the sun shining down on the uniformed students sitting around in the courtyard of your expensive private school. A brisk breeze whistles through the air, rustling your knee length skirt. You shiver, grabbing your uniform jacket from where you had discarded it, and pulling it back on. Your friend Evelyne, sitting across from you and picking at her sandwich, rolls her eyes.

“Your mom sucks, Name.” She says, popping a green grape into her mouth. You smile.

“Oh, she's not that bad, Evie.” You say, feeling the need to defend your mom, even though she doesn't deserve it. Evie rolls her eyes, pulling at the sleeve of her gray sweater. The school forbids any clothing items aside from uniforms of course, and a jacket or sweater over your white button up. Evie had decorated her sweater with pins and patches, adding a slight bit of uniqueness to the sea of girls wearing similar uniforms. You were too lazy, just wearing the normal dark navy uniforms. Evie was so cool in your opinion. She even dared to dye her hair a brilliant orange red color, which was against the rules. But apparently the school was too busy checking that all the girls' skirts were the correct length, that they missed Evie’s bright hair. Or maybe they didn't care. Evie’s father donated to the school a lot, after all. Evie pulls at her hair, fluffing her bob around her face. 

“Seriously though Name, that was so uncool of your mom. First she doesn't invite you to the wedding, and now just dropping three step siblings on you?” Evie says, her voice echoing in the courtyard a little too loudly. You look around anxiously, but no one cares. The brisk breeze blows some leaves off the large tree over your heads, and you watch them tumble down to the ground.

“I mean it's not too bad, right?” You ask, stealing one of her grapes. “I really don't know anything about them, they could be nice!”

“Sure,” Evie says, taking a large bite of her sandwich. “That was still a dick move, though.”

“Maybe,” You giggle, popping another grape in your mouth. “They might—”

Someone clears their throat right behind you. Startling, drop your third grape, and turn around. There's a boy standing behind you. Looming over you and Evie and the table, with long straight hair tumbling down his back. He's wearing the male version of the uniform, without the jacket. You raise an eyebrow.

“Um, can I help you?” You ask. You hadn't heard anyone come up behind you. The boy doesn't say anything, simply looking you up and down with no expression on his face. He has big eyes, like a porcelain doll in the window of a shop. His skin is pale, his lashes long, his mouth a pale pink. He's quite handsome. And then he opens his mouth.

“I am disappointed,” He says, voice even and cold. There is barely any inflection there at all, but his eyebrows furrow slightly as he looks at you. You frown.

“Uh, what?” You ask, confused. It seems like he’s insulting you, but you can't quite tell because you don't even know who this guy is, what the hell he's talking about, or why he's talking to you in the first place. Evie frowns, opening her mouth. You shake your head at her.

“You know, when people usually meet each other for the first time, it's polite to introduce yourself.” You say, trying to smile through the confusion and slight annoyance. The boy tilts his head, hair waterfalling down his back. You're kind of jealous of it, it looks so smooth and straight. 

“I am Illumi.” The boy says after a moment. And then, before you can spack, he continues. “Father informed us that we are to live with you from now on. I am disappointed.”

The pieces start falling together, the puzzle solving itself in an instant in your mind. Your mouth drops open, a chill running through your body. 

“You're one of my new step siblings?” You ask, jumping to your feet in shock. Illumi nods, frowning slightly at your sudden movement. He's very tall, looming over you even when you're standing right in front of him. You offer a hand, trying to smile. He's been quite rude, but you still give him a few chances to make it up. After all, he has a right to be upset about this situation, after all. His father had just gotten married, just like your mother. You wonder if he was invited to the wedding. 

Illumi stares down at your hand, frowning like it's personally offended him somehow. Finally, after your smile starts to waver, he takes it, giving you a quick handshake. 

“It's nice to meet you.” You say, really trying to mean it. Illumi nods. He doesn't talk much, just stands there before you, staring deep into your eyes with his big, black soulless ones. 

“You are very normal.” Illumi says, looking you up and down again. You raise an eyebrow, trying to figure out if that's a compliment or an insult.

“Is that good or bad?” You ask. You can hear Evie grinding her teeth behind you, like an angry guard dog. Illumi tilts his head to the side, tapping his chin. He moves a bit like a robot, slow, calculated, and cold. 

“Simply an observation,” He says, straightening his head. His hair flows distractingly around him. You don't know how to feel.

“Oh,” You say, forcing a customer service smile. “You look like a porcelain doll.”

Evie chokes on a laugh. You know she's rolling her eyes behind you. Illumi’s brow furrows, his black eyes slipping from your own for a moment, to look behind you. 

“Your friend is quite loud.” He says, looking back at you like you should deal with it. You raise an eyebrow. This guy is really weird.

“I guess?” You say, running a hand through your hair. “She sounds normal to me.”

Illumi frowns, standing still and straight like a robot. 

“The two of you are similar in your normality,” He says. “I shall inform father that I am disappointed in his choice of family.”

He turns, walking away briskly, his hair swinging behind him. You strain your ears, listening for the footsteps that are supposed to be there. You hear none. 

“Well, he's just lovely, huh.” Evie says, popping a grape into her mouth. You sit down again, taking a bite of your own food.

“He's quite odd,” You say, taking a sip of your soda. “Reminds me of a robot. Or a haunted doll.”

Evie chuckles, tossing her half eaten sandwich in the trash can with a thump. She grabs one of your apple slices, taking a bite. You steal a grape in retaliation, even though you’ve already eaten half of them. You make a mental note to grab some grapes at the grocery store later. 

“Well name,” Evie says, tossing the rest of her trash as the bell signaling the end of lunch echoes through the air. “I hope you're excited to meet the rest of your step-siblings.”

“I don't know, I guess I am a little bit.” You say, tossing your trash as you and Evie start towards your English class. “They can't be weirder than Illumi, right?”

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

You might have to eat your words, you think to yourself as you stand in the front entrance of your large house, staring at the three boys across from you. It's been about two weeks since your first meeting with Illumi, and your mother and her new husband had just arrived back from their vacation. It seems the boys had not been invited. You feel a bit vindictively happy about that. Your mother and her new husband barely spared you a few drive by greetings before they vanished into the house with their bags. Leaving you and your three new step brothers in the front entrance. You break the silence, offering your hand with a smile. 

“Im Name,” You say, voice echoing in the front entrance. The room stills for a moment, and then the tallest one darts into action. He moves forward, gripping your hand in his cold, pale hands, and shaking it firmly. 

“How lovely it is to meet you, Name.” He says, smiling. His yellow eyes dart up and down your body, zeroing in on your uniform, and then your eyes. He runs a hand through his bright red hair, pushing it back off his forehead. It falls back immediately, obscuring his eyes slightly as he speaks.

“Having such a pretty sister is so exciting.” He says, pointed canines flashing in the light. You flush. 

“Hisoka,” One of the other boys says, voice a warning. “Stop it.”

The red haired boy, Hisoka, simply smirks wider, slowly bringing your hand up to press a kiss to the top. You flush, yanking your hand away from his plush lips. He tilts his head, pouting like a wounded puppy. The black shirt he's wearing stretches over the muscles of his chest and arms. He's really hot. So are all of them actually. You wince internally. These boys are going to be your step brothers, you aren't allowed to lust after them, no matter how attractive they are. 

“It's nice to meet you,” You say, forcing down your blush. Hisoka's smile returns to his face. It looks practiced, rehearsed, fake. This one is dangerous. 

“I'm the oldest, you see. Chrollo, the frowny one with the bangs,” he gestures backwards at the boy in question, who simply sighs as Hisoka continues, “Is the middle child. And the one on the end is the youngest.”

“Illumi and i met already actually.” You interject, frowning slightly. Hisoka raises a single eyebrow. 

“Oh dear, I hope he wasn't too rude.” He says, smiling apologetically. You resist the urge to tattle, and brush your hair over your shoulders. You're wearing simple clothes, some jeans and a nice blouse. Your mother had texted you before they had arrived, asking you not to ‘embarrass her’. 

“Oh, he was fine.” You say quietly, ignoring the way Illumi stares into your soul. “We go to the same school. Do you guys go there too?”

Hisoka chuckles, looming over you a bit. His stare edges towards predatory sometimes. 

“Oh no dear, I graduated a couple years ago.” He laughs, arm flexing as he pats you gently on the shoulder. 

“Oh,” You say, ignoring the lingering hand on your shoulder. He's very physical. “Would you guys like a tour of the house?”

“That would be lovely!” Hisoka exclaims, spinning you around bodily and gripping your waist. “You're very sweet, darling.”

You smile, ducking away from the hand clutching your waist. It's better for your own sanity. The other boys trail behind you as you exit the main entrance way. 

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Adjusting to the new living situation isn't as bad as you thought it would be. Your mother and her new husband don't hang around the house often, and even if they do, they usually stay secluded to their wing of the house. Hisoka often isn't at the house for long stretches of time, or comes back quite late at night. It's too bad, he's the most friendly of his brothers. Illumi is home almost twenty-four seven, leaving only for school and the occasional odd errand. Chrollo vanishes, you don't know where he goes. But he's probably still at the house. You think. 

It's been a few weeks since you were first introduced to them, but your life hasn't really changed all that much. The two younger boys aren't very friendly or inviting, and you haven't had the chance to talk to them as much as you’d like. It would be nice if you could get to know them a bit better. So that's what you're doing now. 

Illumi is probably in his room. He usually goes straight to his room after school, and shuts the door behind him with a slam. All of the bedrooms are in the same hallway, two on each side. Your parents bedroom is in their wing of the house, of course.

You walk up the stairs, steeling yourself for a hard fight. Illumi is a weirdo who can't really carry a conversation well and doesnt want to talk to you, but you're determined to try to be friends with him. Or at least, civil. You even have a plan. Ask for help with homework, and then the two of you could be study buddies. You were in the same grade, which meant you had the same classes. It was a perfect plan! Well, maybe not perfect, but pretty good. 

The hallway is dark. You switch on the light with a click, illuminating the metal plates on each door. Your room is next to Illumi’s. Hisoka and Chrollo’s rooms are on the other side. No light shows from under their doors. They're probably out. Illumi’s room has cold bright light leaking into the hallway, however. You dip into your room to change out of your school uniform. Slinging on a tank top and a pair of sweatpants, you grab your study materials and walk a few feet down the hall. Raising your hand, you knock tentatively on Illumi’s door. 

“Hey Illumi? It's me, can I come in?” You ask through the door. It's quiet, and for a moment you wonder if he's actually not in. and then he speaks.

“Yes.” He says, quietly, just barely audible through the thick wood of the door. You take a deep breath, steel yourself and open the door.

You step through, cold feet meeting a blue carpet, and close the door behind you. Illumi looks up, staring at you with wide, confused eyes. He’s sitting on the floor with his study materials spread neatly on a low table. You smile.

“Can I study with you?” You ask, hiding your shaking hands behind your back. Illumi blinks for a moment, as if mentally calculating whether or not it's a good idea. Finally, he nods.

“I don't see why not.” He says, looking back to his own study materials. You smile.

“Thanks,” You say, moving into the room and bending down to place your study materials out. Illumi makes an odd noise, like a choke and a cough at the same time. You look up, worried. His face is a little flushed.

“You ok?” You ask, sitting down across from him at the low table. Illumi nods.

“I am fine.” He says, eyes wandering from you to your work to the wall behind you. You shrug, turning to your study materials. The room sinks into silence, broken by the occasional turning of pages and the scratching of pencil on paper. Finally, when you think he's adjusted to your presence enough, you speak.

“Hey Illumi, what did you mean when you said I was normal?” 

Illumi looks up from his work, eyes darting past your chest a little slowly and focusing on your eyes. He tilts his head in confusion. 

“Exactly what it sounds like.” He says, as if it's obvious. You frown.

“But what does it mean?” You try again, “Like that im ugly?”

“You are not ugly.” Illumi says, voice sounding a bit weird. You flush.

“Oh, thanks.” You say, scratching your chain awkwardly. “Is it that I'm boring?”

Illumi stares at you long and hard, barely blinking. It seems like he's trying to figure out why you're upset. It reminds you of a robot, updating its programming as it tries to figure out what the weird human is upset about. Finally, he shakes his head.

“The words I used were inappropriate. I apologize.” Illumi offers, face still blank. “I simply met you were not the tyrant your mother portrayed you as.”

You frown. You've heard those words before, the insults aren't uncommon from your mother. But it still hurts. Your chest aches as you force a smile.

“Oh, really?” You say, forcing a fake laugh. “What did she say?”

Illumi frowns slightly, watching your face closely. He seems to be scanning for any change, any hint that you're upset. But your poker face is flawless, you've had a lot of practice. Finally, he opens his mouth.

“You were a spoiled brat who would throw a tantrum at a moment's notice.” He says, placing his pencil down on the table. “I was informed you went to my school, so I decided to meet you. You were not like I had been told, and I simply expressed it poorly.”

Your heart sinks into your stomach. You know your mother doesn't like you that much, or at least never wanted children, but is this what she thought of you? You feel like you're going to cry. You don't want to, you can't cry in front of Illumi. But against your will you feel tear after tear roll down your face. Illumi looks almost helpless as you cry, whipping it away with the back of your hand. 

“Are you sad?” Illumi asks, frowning. He looks like he doesn't know what to do.

“Yes, Illumi.” You sob, tears rolling faster and faster down your face. “I'm crying. Have you never seen a girl cry?”

Illumi shakes his head, hand hanging awkwardly in the air between you. He clenches his fingers a few times, then lets it drop down. 

“I don't really talk to girls.” Illumi says, staring in confusion as the tears roll down your cheeks. He looks almost adorable in his helplessness. Your shoulders shake as you cry, big fat tears rolling down your face and hitting the fabric of your tank top, soaking the blue fabric a darker blue. Illumi stares, awkwardly shuffling his pencil around in front of him. Finally, you give up.

“You're supposed to comfort crying girls.” You whimper, wiping the tears away as fast as they come. 

“Comfort?” Illumi asks, tilting his head. You nod.

“Just give me a hug, Illumi.” You cry, crawling around the table towards him. Illumi sits there awkwardly as you throw yourself against his black covered chest. You cry into the turtleneck he's wearing, muffling your sobs into his chest. Illumi sits straight up, hands hovering awkwardly above your body until finally, when you crawl fully onto his lap, he settles them on your back. His hands are big, and warm. Finally, the tears start to subside. 

You snuggle into his neck and shoulder, warm and snug against his surprisingly hot body. In both temperature and stature, actually. He has broad shoulders, and strong arms through the thick black fabric of the turtleneck. You giggle, drawing circles on his shoulders as you wipe the last tears away. 

“Thanks for giving me a hug.” You sigh, still burrowing into his warm body. Illumi coughs, the sound loud in the relative silence of the house. 

“I apologize if it was a poor hug. I was never taught to give one.” He says, voice rumbling out from his chest. You giggle, shifting on his lap.

“What are you talking about, silly. No one gets taught how to hug.” You say, running your hand through strands of his long, silky hair. Illumi coughs, clearing his throat as you shift on his lap again. The room sinks into comfortable silence for a moment. 

“What, have you never hugged a girl before?” You laugh, moving again. Illumi makes a choked little sound in his throat, and shakes his head.

“I told you, I don't really talk to girls.” He says, his voice sounding a bit strained. You frown, pulling away from his chest to look him directly in the face. A faint flush has painted itself across his cheeks. 

“Hey, are you alright? You sound weird.” You say, bringing a hand up and pressing it against his forehead. You shift on his lap a bit as you bring your other hand up, touching your own forehead. He doesn't have a fever, at least.

“I am fine.” Illumi nods. His cheeks are still just the palest petal pink, but his ears have started burning pure red among the strands of  black hair. You're kind of alarmed. You dont think you’ve ever seen a hint of pink on his face, and now you see so much. You shift slightly as Illumi’s hands fall, grabbing your waist tightly.

“You should get off.” He says, voice warbling slightly. You frown, trying to ignore how butterflies rise in your stomach as his hands clench around your waist. 

“Wait, why?” You ask, grabbing his shoulders as you slip slightly, pulling yourself close against him. “I was enjo—”

You stop suddenly as you feel something under your thigh. Illumi looks away, body tensing as you move experimentally, pressing against the thing. It jumps against you. Illumi chokes.

“Are you hard?” You ask, voice loud in the silence. Illumi winces slightly.

“No.” He says, pulling his head back until his hair partially obscures his face. You shift experimentally and are rewarded with his hands clenching down on your waist. 

“Illumi you literally are.” You say, biting back a smile. Illumi doesn't say anything. Now you know you should be disgusted. He's your step-brother, after all. But, you can't quite bring yourself to pull away and run to your room. So instead you slide down his thighs, slowly crawling backwards on the floor until you're sitting a few feet in front of Illumi. His face looks dreadfully blank, like he expects you to slap him. Your eyes trace down his figure, taking in his broad shoulders and trim waist, and the bulge in his pants. You really wanna fuck him. But somehow, that seems like too much. Like it's a line you can't cross as step siblings, so you'll settle for this. Reaching your hand out slowly, carefully, you bring it down, stroking him over his pants. 

The effect is instantaneous. Illumi’s back straightens, his body tensing as a small groan leaks out from between his clenched lips. 

“Wait, what are you doing?” Illumi asks, obviously trying to keep his tone even as you stroke him.

“Thanking you.” You smile, pulling the belt of his sweatpants down. There's a small wet patch on his gray underwear, near the tip. You grin, licking your lips, and pressing your hand against him. Illumi whimpers, and quickly bites the rest of the sound back. You wish he would let all of his sounds out, but you doubt he will. And so you pull him out of his boxers, stroking him gently in your hand. Illumi bites his lips, eyes falling closed as you stroke him. He looks so pretty like this. Back straight and stiff, hair pooling around his shoulders and hitting the ground, cheeks flushed cherry blossom pink. You grin, mouth watering, and bend down. 

“Wait, Name.” Illumi protests, his voice slightly hoarse. You pause, looking up at him from your position on the floor. His black eyes are filled with swirling lust and something else you can't quite place. 

“Yeah?” You ask, letting a big glob of spit fall from your lips and plop onto Illumis dick. It twitches and Illumis shoulders twitch with it. 

“What are you doing?” He asks, eyes locked on your own. You smile.

“I'm gonna give you a blowjob.” You say, and then start taking him into your mouth. He was clearly going to say more things, probably useless things that you don't want to hear, but they dissolve in his throat as you take him as far as you can, using your hand on the parts you can't reach. You make sure to use your hand on the parts you can't quite reach. Illumi groans again, as one hand clenches in the fabric of the carpet, and the other grabs your hair. You humm around him, pulling up and down, doing your best to drive him mad. It must be working, too, because tiny huffs and groans have started to leak out, even though he must be doing his best to hold them back. You can feel him twitching in your throat, probably close to cumming. 

You smile around him, pressing a kidd to the tip before eating him down your throat again. Illumi groans, hand yanking your hair a bit as he does.

“Wait name im—”

He doesn't get to finish his sentence before something warm and sticky is flowing down your throat. You do your best to swallow it all before you pull off him, licking your lips. And then you realize what you just did. Illumi looks out of it, his black eyes hazy and confused, his cheeks still flushed. His dick is lying on the hem of his pants, tracking spit and cum on them. He looks very pretty. And then it just hits you what you’ve done. You gave your step brother a blowjob. You jump to your feet, trying to fix your hair. Illumi startles, shoving himself back into his underwear and pulling up his pants. Finally, when the room sinks into silence, you speak.

“Don't tell anyone.” You say, whipping a spot of cum off your boobs. Illumis eyes jump there, and then back to your own. You wait for him to agree, then flee to your room in embarrassment. What the hell have you done. 

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

So maybe your plan to get to know your step brother didn't exactly go as you had thought. But you were still determined to get to know them. Without the blowjob part, obviously. You sigh, turning a page in your book as you stare into space. The library was your favorite part of your house. The smell of books and lavender filled your nostrils and helped you calm down. The light was golden, pouring over the little seating area you’ve found yourself in. It was a perfect place to read. 

Too bad you're not actually reading, just trying to forget the Blowjob Incident™ from two days ago. You sigh, remembering it again and shifting your legs. You hate to admit how much it kinda turns you on. How you just wanna go back and demand that Illumi eat you out. You sigh, crossing your legs again, and closing your book with a slam. Well, the book was boring anyway. 

Your socked feet make barely a noise on the hardwood floors as you move back into the tall bookshelves that rise to the sky. Well, the ceiling. The bookshelves aren't that tall but they still feel tall. You slip the book away, and then move down the narrow hallways of books running your hand along their spines. Maybe a smut book will make you a little less pent up. Or more, but you could at least blame it on the book then, and not the Blowjob Incident™. 

The smut section of the library was there when you and your mom moved in. Actually, most of the books were. It makes sense because the house has been in your family for generations. You chose not to think too hard about which of your dead relatives had picked out the smut books. You had already read all of them, but you scanned the shelf for one of the better ones. 

Finally you spot one, the familiar gold and red cover sitting teasingly out of reach on the top shelf. You stand on your tippy toes, and reach up as high as you can, your fingertips just brushing the bottom. You brace your hand against one of the lower shelves and strain as high as you can. Someone chuckles behind you. And then a warm body comes up behind you, reaching just the last few inches to grab the book from the shelf and recede. You spin, and take in Chrollo, standing in front of you with the book outstretched.

“Here you go,” He says, offering you the book. You take it quickly, holding it against your chest as you flush.

“Thanks,” You say, hiding the title of the book as best you can. Better to be safe than sorry. Chrollo smiles slightly, folding his arms across his chest. He's wearing a fluffy looking sweater. You clear your throat, still standing with your back against the smut books. 

“Are you enjoying the library?” You ask, in a hurry to change the subject, so he doesnt start asking questions about your book.

“Yes it's quite extensive.” Chrollo says, brushing a hand through his hair. “I myself have been enjoying the philosophy and nonfiction sections.”

“Oh,” You say, smiling slightly. “Those sections are pretty good, the nonfiction section especially has some pretty interesting and rare books. ”

“You seem to know this library pretty well.” Chrollo says, sliding his hands into the pockets of his black pants. “I assume you’ve read most of the collection?”

“Yep, almost all of it.” You say, smiling excitedly. “I haven't quite got through the cookbook section.”

You love the library. It's such a lovely place to escape too. And besides, your mother never comes in here. She says it's too dusty, even though the maids do a wonderful job of cleaning the entire house. You sigh, leaning back against the bookcase. Chrollo frowns.

“You seem upset about something.” He says, moving a few steps closer. You sigh. Your mothers words still sit a bit heavy in your heart, but you're more used to her cruelty than you should be. It's embarrassing that you're actually more upset about the Blowjob Incident™. But you definitely can't tell Chrollo that. So your mother is getting thrown under the bus. Besides, you're kind of curious to hear what they were told about you.

“What where…” You say, clearing your throat, and trying again. “Well I mean, how much did you guys know about me before you moved in.”

Silence falls for a moment as Chrollo considers you, taking in your body, clothes up a turtleneck, pleated skirt and socks, your face as you avoid his eyes. Then he speaks.

“Oh, not much. At least I wasn't told anything.” Chrollo says almost soothingly, moving forward to pat you gently on the arm as he continues. “I know father told Illumi a bit more.”

You frown, tilting your head. 

“Why not you?” You ask, looking up at him. Chrollo stifles a smile.

“Oh, Father and I don't get along.” He rubs your shoulder reassuringly, and you shiver as his warm hand leaves you. “Illumi listens to him. Hisoka and I do not.”

“Oh,” You say, shoving down your confusion and the urge to pry. “Well, did you know anything?”

“Your age and gender.” Chrollo says, patting you on the head with a chuckle. “Is that what you were upset about? Don't you worry, We all had a favorable impression of you the moment we saw you.”

You frown, brow furrowing in confusion as Chrollo steers both of you out of the seas of bookshelves and back into the rest area. You spot a book resting open on the couch, a mug of something warm on the table. Steam spirals into the air, and you sit down on the other end of the couch, watching Chrollo as he picks up the book, sitting neatly in the middle. You sigh, brushing your hair out from behind you and leaning back, closing your eyes. The sounds of page turning fills the air, broken only by Chrollo’s slow, even, breathing. 

You open your own book, too embarrassed to change books now. What would you say if he asked why you were exchanging your book? ‘Oops, I grabbed a smut book because I was feeling horny after I gave your brother a blowjob, and I'm too embarrassed to read it in front of you.’ Hello no. Besides, Chrollo isn't paying attention to you, and you’ve already read this book a thousand times. The smut won't turn you on as it once had, you're sure. 

You were wrong. Maybe it's something about the fact that chrollo is sitting a few inches away, turning the pages of his own book calmly, or maybe you were just that horny, but you're barely into the smut scene when your pussy starts throbbing. You shuffle on the couch, crossing your legs and clenching your thighs together. You shiver at the little burst of pleasure that gave you and continue reading, body tight and tense. You're barely digesting the words on the page, far too busy being distracted by the warm body a few inches away from you. Chrollo is much more interesting than the stupid smut book anyway. 

You look at him out of the corner of your eyes. His hair falls gently, angled down towards the book in his lap. It's some philosophy book, you don't care enough to try to make out the tiny text at the top of the page. Chrollo's skin is pale, sharp against the black of his hair. It's a close shade to the cream white of his sweater. You want to reach out and brush his hair out of his eyes, then beg him to kiss you senseless. 

You curse the universe for giving you such hot men who were so close in age to you and lived with you, and then making them your step siblings. So out of reach. You ignore the looming memories of the Blowjob Incident™, and turn a page, trying to focus on the smut scene. But words on a page cannot distract you from the subtle scent of Chrollo's cologne, floating in the air between you. You shift uncomfortably on the couch as your pussy floods with heat, your body begging to be touched. 

You're crossing your legs again when Chrollo speaks.

“You seem a bit restless.” He says, pausing before the last word. You slam your book shut, not even bothering to put a bookmark in it. Your face must be flushed, you know.

“I guess.” You say, clearing your throat. You swear you can hear your arousal in your voice, smell it in the air. The room sinks into silence as Chrollo puts a bookmark in his book, setting it down on the table with a soft thump. You clutch yours in your lap, kind of thankful for a hard thing to clutch. Not like that. Chrollo smiles at you softly, his gray eyes glowing slightly in the lowlight.

“Bad book?” He asks, gesturing towards the book in your lap with a nod. You squeak, shrugging. 

“Uh, it's fine!” You say, putting it on your other side. You feel like a rubber band pulled tight, about to snap. Chrollo seems to be moving closer. 

“I'm impressed,” Chrollo chuckles, scooting closer to you along the couch. 

“What?” You say, heart pounding double time as his gray eyes move closer and closer. You scoot backwards until you're sitting with your back pressed against the arm. The book slides off the couch, hitting the ground with a muffled thud. Chrollo chuckles, stopping a few feet away from your knees. 

“It's quite bold to read a smut book an inch away from your step brother.” Chrollo says simply, a small smile marking his pale lips. Your mouth drops open.

“How did you know?” You ask, voice a little to breathless for you liking. A flush is working its way up your chest and neck, and overtaking your face. Your traitorous pussy drools arousal on your panties. Chrollo chuckles.

“I memorized the Library layout.” He says, smoothing a hand over your sock covered calf. “I'm sure you did as well.”

You’ve had it memorized since you were a child. But you're very distracted right now by his warm hand as it moves slightly higher on your raised legs, now brushing past your knee. You bite back a whimper, not daring to make a noise as his hand travels higher and higher. Chrollo chuckles.

“We certainly aren't the best step siblings, aren't we?” He says, hand stroking up and down your thigh, tips of his fingers barely brushing the edges of your pleated skirt. His fingers feel hot against your bare skin. You slap your hand over your mouth, and Chrollo smirks. 

“What are they going to say?” You whimper through your hand as Chrollo gently grips both your thighs, urging them apart. Chrollo chuckles, tugging down your panties, the last sticky barrier between him and your telling wetness. 

“Who, our parents?” he asks, voice still so soft in the large silence of the caverness library. “They're never here. How could they know?”

 You guess he's right, you think to yourself as he presses a delicate little kiss to your clit. How could they know, when neither of them pay attention to you. To any of their children, it seems. Your back arches against the couch, hands reaching down to tangle in Chrollo's black hair.

Chrollo eats pussy like a man starved. He eats you out like you're an oasis in a dry desert and he hasn't had a sip of water in years. He buries his head between your thighs, gripping your hips tightly as he licks and sucks you closer and closer to orgasm. You feel like you're losing your mind, tipping so close to insanity. Here you are, engaged in sexual activities with another one of your step brothers. Two out of three. And although you had initiated the one from a couple days ago, this one had been all Chrollo. 

You whimper as you feel your orgasm threatening on the horizon, as you tug gently on Chrollo's soft hair and moan his name tellingly into the empty library. 

“I'm gonna cum.” You whimper, warning him with a few extra tugs to the hair in case he isn't listening. He only doubles his efforts, concentrating his sucking and licking on your clit and tossing you off the cliff of orgasm like a rag doll. You moan loudly as you cun, body tensing and convulsing as you come undone, tugging at his hair. 

It takes you a moment to come back, blinking up at the overhead lights. And when you speak, your voice is hoarse. 

“You can't tell.” You say, voice trembling in the room. You wait for Chrollo to nod, and when he does, then you flee again, pulling your panties up and dashing out of the room leaving Chrollo behind you. 

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

You straighten your back as you stand a few feet outside of the doors to the exercise room. You know Hisoka is in there. You know he's there because you made sure to triple check with him, and both his brothers. You need to talk to him. Urgently, one might say, because you're kind of having a crisis, and it's surprisingly hard to get him alone to talk. But the crisis. Maybe it has something to do with the incidents that had happened in the last week. You shiver slightly as you remember them, body trembling as it recalls all of it. You shake your head, straighten your shoulders, and march into the gym with your head held high. 

You don't go in here often. You don't like working out, preferring sports to things like gyms and working out. But you know the general layout.

Hisoka is over by the rack of weights. You can see his brilliant hair from all the way across the room, as he does some sort of weight exercise. You move through the room, catching your own reflection out of the corner of your eye in the mirror lining one wall. The room is silent, besides for the sound of your feet on the cold concrete floor, and the muffled music blasting from Hisoka’s headphones. 

He hasn't spotted you yet. As you move closer, you watch his arm muscles bulge, completely put on display by the black tank top he's wearing. You clear your throat, begging your already fried nerves and the arousal beating at your gut to calm down. 

“Hisoka? Can I talk to you?” You say, trying to be audible over the music pounding in his headphones. Hisoka looks up, meeting your eyes in the mirror in his sharp yellow gaze, and then smiles. 

“Ah, Name. I didn't see you there.” He says, placing the weight back in the rack, and pulling his headphones out of his ears. “Come to watch me workout?”

He winks, and you chuckle. He's not wrong, that's what you were doing just then. You shake any traces of arousal out of your face and force a smile.

“Um, I wanted to talk to you about something.” You say, bringing a hand to your mouth. You chew anxiously on your nails, heart pounding a bit too fast. Hisoka’s brow furrows, eyes scanning you up and down. 

“Is something wrong, darling?” He asks, moving closer to you, gently grabbing your hand and lowering it away from your mouth. You almost flinch as his hot fingers touch you, as he gets close enough and all you can see is the beads of sweat lingering on his skin. You want to lick them off, oddly enough. His hand is still holding your wrist. He can probably feel your pulse beating double time. 

“I,” You start, then clear your throat. “Well, this is kind of embarrassing.”

Hisoka raises an eyebrow, hidden behind his bright red hair. His eyes flicker the length of your body again, taking in your pajama shorts and t-shirt you cut into a crop top. You look like a slob, but he'd already seen you when he got home and you figured it would be weird if you showed up wearing something nicer to have this conversation. You didn't even know if he would believe you, or what he would say. You shake your head, begging your face not to flush. 

“Well, recently, i've been trying to get to know Illumi and Chrollo,” You start. Hisoka chuckles.

“Oh how adorable~” He says, patting you gently on your head. He smells of salt and musk and faintly of cologne. “Aren't you just the sweetest.”

You flush, body heating up at the nickname. Maybe this was a bad idea. 

“Is your hair natural?” You ask, too embarrassed to keep talking. Hisoka chuckles.

“Yes, doll. The three of us have different mothers.” He says, patting your head gently again. “Now what did you want to say?”

“Oh, um,” you stutter again, voice suddenly caught in your throat. “I'm not sure how to say this.”

Hisoka considers you, trying to peer into your soul through your eyes and figure out what's got you so worried. You almost wish he would. Then the words wouldn't have to pass your lips. He's starting to look almost worried. Or as worried as you've ever seen him look. 

“Why don't you sit down,” he says. You plop down onto the mat below your feet, sitting with your legs crossed on the cushy material. Hisoka sits down opposite you, smiling patiently at you. 

“Have my brothers been bothering you?” He asks, moving forward to smooth the wrinkle between your brows. “You don't deserve to worry your pretty head about those idiots.”

“Oh no, it's my fault too.” You say, shaking your head. Hisoka's hand withdraws, falling back into his lap. You don't know if you want him to touch you more or stand ten feet away. You can't decide which one you want more. 

“Well, I think I've been a bad step sister.” You confide, leaning forward a bit. Hisoka raises an eyebrow,

“Oh why would you think that?” He purrs, reaching forward again to smooth a hand over your shoulder. “If anything, you're too good for undeserving men like us, doll.”

You smile, brushing your hair over your shoulder. The gym is empty besides the two of you. You don't know if anyone else is home. Your mother and her new husband are on some favation. Illumi is 

“I guess. The other boys haven't complained or anything,” You flush, body temperature rising as you remember the things that had happened. “But, I keep doing things that step sisters aren't supposed to do.”

Hisoka’s face goes blank for a moment. He blinks a couple times, and then a smile appears on his face. 

“Whatever are you talking about?” He asks, a fake smile still glued to his face. You flinch, face still flushed. It feels like he already knows what you mean, or has an idea. But he seems like he wants to hear it from your lips. Hear you say all the dirty forbidden things you've gotten up to with his half siblings. You lick your lips and clear your throat. Your hands are trembling in your lap, and you clench them against your pajama shorts, suddenly feeling too naked to be doing this. You don't know why. 

Maybe it's how Hisoka is looking at you. His yellow eyes scan your body, taking in each square inch of bare skin on display for his viewing, or the careful way he holds himself. He looks predatory. You hate how it sends a bolt of heat to your gut. You take a deep breath, steady yourself, and speak.

“We have engaged in some sexual acts.” You whisper into the silence of the gym. Hisoka raises an eyebrow, looking mostly unsurprised. 

His yellow eyes dart down again, scanning your body as if looking for evidence of what you have spoken into existence.

“I'm afraid you're going to need to be more specific, doll.” Hisoka says, voice light and teasing as if the two of you are discussing something as trivial as the weather. You gulp down your spit, taking a deep breath and closing your eyes. 

“I have Illumi a blow job. Chrollo ate me out.” You say, keeping your eyes closed. “What am I supposed to do?”

Silence echoes in the gym for a moment. And then Hisoka chuckles. 

“Oh my, what a dilemma you seem to have, doll.” He laughs, the sound echoing in the empty room. You open your eyes, kind of confused.

“You seem surprised.” You say, eyes gliding over Hisoka’s body again before you can yank them up to his eyes. You're already a bit turned on from just talking to him, touching him, being near him. Not to mention thinking too much about the events of the last week. 

“Oh, i figured it out as soon as you mentioned sexual acts.” Hisoka says, doing air quotations around the words ‘sexual acts’. He shoots you a wink as he continues. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”

“Oh,” You say. He seems very casual about this, very unbothered. You pull your lower lip into your mouth, biting it as you watch him smile unnervingly. “Why aren't you angry?”

“Hmm~” Hisoka hums, eyes darting down to your mouth as you let your bottom lip out of your mouth, probably a bit red from the biting. “I wonder.”

It happens so fast. One moment you're sitting upright, watching Hisoka in front of you with apprehension. And then the next moment you're tumbling backwards, the world spinning on its axis. Your back hits the mat with a thump and you grunt. Hisoka looms over you, a feral light hiding in his eyes as he greedily scans you up and down. 

“What?” You say breathlessly, biting back the moan that wants to leak out as you take in Hisoka above you. His hair droops around him in a brilliant red halo. He cages you against the matte softened floor, and you whimper as his thigh finds its way between your legs, pressing up into your pussy. 

“My brothers and I are very different, you know.” Hisoka says, leaning down to press a soft kiss to your neck. “But I suppose we are similar in some ways after all.”

He nips at your neck and you whimper, body reflexively straightening against his thigh. Your hands reach up to scrabble at his shoulders. 

“Wait, Hisoka.” You whimper as he breaths hot and heavy on your ear, pressing hickeys on the skin under your ear. “No marks, they’ll see.”

Hisoka laughs huskily. 

“Who doll?” He laughs, pressing his thug against your pussy harder. You whimper, pleasure running a hard line down your spine. You're losing your mind and he hasn't even taken your clothes off. 

“Chrollo” You breathe, the name coming out as more of a moan. “And Illumi.”

“Ah, not those pesky absent parents of ours?” Hisoka says, a chuckle in his voice. “Oh they won't mind. If anything, they’ll take it as a challenge. How would you like that doll?”

You whimper, gripping his muscled shoulders tightly and digging your nails into his back. Hisoka grunts, body pressing you deep into the floor. You're trapped, between the matt covered floor and a body of solid muscle. Hisoka reaches down, using one hand to pull the loose pajama shorts off your body, tossing them somewhere behind him. You whimper as he yanks off your panties too, exposing your poor pussy to the bare air and the mean strokes of his corded thigh. 

“You're so sexy,” You whimper as he drives his muscled thigh into your clit. You feel like you're going to break, just shatter to pieces right there on the gym floor. Hisoka laughs, heavy in your ear. 

“What a slutty step-sister I have.” he breathes, voice deliciously husky. “I wonder. Could you handle all of us at once?”

Your pussy twitches against him, drooling more arousal, leaving sticky trains all over the fabric of his sweatpants. 

“Oh god yes,” You whimper, images of it filling your mind. You're too turned on to be mortified as HIsoka laughs, kissing hickeys and bite marks all over your neck. You're losing your mind. It seems your three for three, and all you want to do is to be fucked stupid by your step brothers. 

Hisoka chuckles, pulling away to stare down at you with lust driven yellow eyes, almost glowing behind curtains of red hair. And then he shoves two fingers into your mouth.

“Be a good girl and suck.” He coos, driving his thigh against your pussy in regular thrusts, driving you closer and closer to orgasms. You're gonna cum. Soon, you're so close to losing your mind.

You're sure you look like a mess. Your hair is a messy halo around your head two fingers shoved in your mouth, your body twisting and turning on the mat. Shorts and underwear long discarded, grinding your bare pussy on your step brother's clothed thigh. But you don't even care. Hisoka smiles above you, canines sharp in the lowlight.

“You gonna cum, doll?” he smiles. You nod, sucking his fingers obediently, whining around them as best you can. Hisoka smiles, merciful as an avenging angel above you.

“You've been so good, so I'll let you cum.” You coos, leaning the weight of his body on you as he withdraws his fingers from your mouth. You're about to protest, but you don't get words as he replaces his fingers with his lips, sealing your mouth in a kiss as you fall off the edge.

Your body convulses as you cum, grinding down on his thigh until you can't anymore, until you're screaming from oversensitivity and you yank yourself away from his thigh, trembling. Hisoka eats every moan and scream, muffling it with his tongue and his lips. Until finally, he pulls away with a little chuckle.

“Done already?” He coos, wiping the tears and spit from your face with a laugh. “I was just going to call the others.”

...

Endnotes: i hope you guys enjoyed this kinktober ride as much as i did lol. This ones a bit long but i figured we’d better go out with a bang~

[sc0tters]

Present | Nico Hischier

summary: Sydney and Nico were given a second chance but do they take it or leave the once broken relationship, broken.

request: for @writingonleaves in the @callsign-denmark‘s luck of the puck fic exchange.

warnings: swearing, drinking, like two brief mentions about sexual themes.

word count: 8.75k

authors note: this was SO much fun to write oh my god! there could have been about 3k more in this but I was trimming portions to try to get it out in time. Think I have fallen in love with another fic couple and this was honestly really different to my normal stuff so we might see some small changes to future works because of this!

Nico was like a bad smell she couldn’t get rid of.

Albeit they had broken up well over four years ago, Sydney still couldn’t let herself move on. That was the first relationship that she had been the one to end it. What made that all the much more painful to swallow was that she was on a losing battle playing second fiddle to hockey.

The last normal conversation they had felt like it was weeks ago. Sydney had forced herself into everything that wasn’t Nico after they started fighting. Arguments ranged from complaints of how long Nico was spending at the rink away from practice to how she felt like more like his roommate than his girlfriend. Both had the same complaints behind them, Sydney missed her boyfriend.

Yet each time she tried to confront him about the matter Nico reminded her that she wouldn’t understand what was going on in his life as it was hockey. Those blows were low and she hoped she could forget about them tonight when she swore he was going to be the same caring and thoughtful Nico that Sydney fell for a year and a half ago. Her birthday was one night that Nico made Sydney feel like a princess.

So as this night came around for the second time in their relationship and the third time since he met her. It would have been understandable for her to have had expectations. But in reality all she wanted was for him to show up.

After missing two different nights with her friends and one dinner with her parents after cancelling in the last moments. Sydney’s friends resorted to saying how he was flakier than dandruff but nobody thought he could miss his girls birthday. Sure Nico had things to learn in life, but just like hockey he was learning to be a better boyfriend each day.

Sydney tried to remind herself of that as she sat at the table staring at the empty spot next to her. Everyone did their best to take her mind off of the fact that this time Nico hadn’t even given her an excuse. But no matter how hard they tried to mask their disappointment for the Swiss boy, nothing changed the fact that Sydney felt so alone in a room of the people who were meant to make her the happiest.

So part of her felt a little relieved when it came time for her to go home. Her coat was heavy on her skin as she began the short walk back to the apartment “wait!” The voice made her freeze as her grip on the gifts she held intensified.

Her mouth felt dry as she turned to see Nico running towards her “schatzi I’m so sorry.” The hockey player blurted out as he finally stopped in front of her with his tie loosely fastened around his neck. Sydney clicked her tongue as she shook her head “all I wanted was one night where you would put me first.” She admitted looking at the ground.

The boy was quick to place his hands on her shoulders “of course I put you first, you’re my girlfriend.” Nico spoke plainly like it was the stupidest thing he had heard her say “do you really?” Sydney scoffed as she took a step back.

It seemed as she had snapped “you never want to spend time with me anymore and when you do you’re on your phone distracted.” He avoided her eye as she mentioned that “but when you do pay attention you make me feel so awful like I’m uncool like or not good enough for you.” She brought her hand to her eye to wipe away a tear before it had the chance to roll down her cheek.

Nico knew he hadn’t been a great boyfriend as of recent but he thought he could change “practice went late tonight.” He confessed letting her look down to see his devils bag still in his hand “I think we should break up.” Sydney blurted out and in that moment the hockey player swore his world stopped spinning.

His eyes widened as he tried to figure out if this was just some joke “I mean we barely act like we’re together anyways and when we do we fight so it won’t be much different to right now.” Sydney shrugged as she pointed it out to him.

The boy remained silent as he wanted to wake up from whatever bad dream this was meant to be “goodbye Nico.” She mouthed trying all that she could to not let her voice break as she felt her heart go.

He watched her turn her foot as she began to leave him “please Syd don’t leave.” Nico pleaded feeling himself grow nauseated by the silence as her heels clicking against the sidewalk echoed in his ear “I love you.” It was a place hope statement for him wanting to make sure that she couldn’t leave without hearing him say it one last time.

Nico let out a sigh of relief finally seeing her turn around “there we are.” He smiled holding his arms out as she hugged him “I love you Nico.” Sydney sniffled as she felt a tear roll down her cheek resulting in him kissing her temple.

It took everything from her in that moment to stop herself from listening to her gut as she was close to staying with him “but I simply do not like you anymore.” Her confession had him dropping his hands from around her as he grew confused “and for that I can’t stay.” Sydney shook her head as she cupped his cheek getting one last time to look at him before she stepped away.

Nico felt like the world hated him as a cab pulled up in front of them “I’ll get my stuff during the week.” Sydney announced knowing that he was going to have a roadtrip and wouldn’t be able to stop her. What killed him the most wasn’t that she left, it was the fact that she didn’t even look back to him before she got in the cab.

Even as that happened years ago, the memory still managed to haunt the Jersey native. Even as she completed her degree Sydney couldn’t help but avoid that block. Nico had done well pushing his emotions down as he tried to respect her wishes. It hurt him that Sydney had walked out of his life but he knew she wasn’t unjustified. Nina made sure to call her younger brother out when she was on the other end of a drunken phone call from him.

Despite the fact that, his family only met Sydney on a handful of FaceTime calls, it was clear that she was ready to give him the world. So it was suffice to say that the family was shocked to hear that things had ended. Nobody blamed her for leaving either, but when she revealed to her Instagram page that Nina of course still followed that Sydney moved to Florida. Seeing her in a new NHL teams colors served as the harsh reminder that there was no space for their relationship to come back together.

From time to time Nico would drive past places in New Jersey and would see the memories of the grin imprinted on her face. He’d sometimes go back to the old restaurants and places that Sydney showed him wanting to make sure her Swiss man saw the real city. Nico somehow always ended up disappointed when she wouldn’t show up.

They had each learnt over the years how to live apart whilst never letting go of the remnants of that stained your hearts. Sydney loved being in Tampa, her dream was to work in sport and she was doing it. The lightings began to hold her heart and Sydney swore she would never leave, even as the garden state was still her home.

So when the star’s seemed to align and she was let go from Tampa mere hours before the offer came to go home. To say that Sydney was contemplating it that was an understatement, a life she loved that she ran from was ready to catch up to her. All of those years avoiding the hockey shows and the prudential centre were now for nothing.

Her friends swore she was stupid for even considering turning down the offer, not only was it finally a chance to come home. But it was also the job that Sydney had in a big circle on her vision board as a teen. Nico ended the season injured and that meant that Sydney was going to have to work with him.

That’s why she ended up on FaceTime with her closest friend needing all of the advice that she could get “what are you so afraid of Syd?” Willow sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair “what if things end up the same again?” Sydney’s voice was barely above a whisper as she swirled the wine in her glass. The fears were justified as the girls remembered the time that Sydney was always left waiting only to be met with disappointment.

Willow much like Sydney had left New Jersey after they graduated, yet she didn’t have as much to lose coming back “look I’m in New York if he thinks about being an ass.” Willow offered resulting in a smile forming on the older girls lips “I guess I should get on a call and tell them I’m coming home?” Sydney announced as she figured that nothing could go too badly wrong.

Family skates were a time that everyone loved and to celebrate the start of the season Nico convinced Sydney to join him for her first time on the ice “you seriously telling me you don’t know how to skate?” Nico couldn’t help but laugh as he stared at the girls nervous expression “I was always a field hockey girl growing up so don’t even!” Sydney scoffed as she shook her head.

It made the boy smile “think it’s cute you didn’t know.” The hockey player confessed as he looked down to her skates “just keep your doing that with your feet.” Nico nodded as he loosened his grip on her hands.

Sydney felt her eyes go wide “you better not.” She shook her head going to argue with him “I won’t let you get hurt schatzi.” He kissed her temple before let finally let go her sending a soft push to the small of her back “I’m doing it!” She cheered realizing that she could now skate by herself.

Nico smiled on as he let out a laugh “I’m so proud of you!” He clasped his hands together “wait how do I stop?” Her voice went shaky as Nico forgot to teach her that part.

A smile formed on Sydney’s lips as she fiddled with her necklace remembering that moment as she stared at the ice in front of her “doc is that you?” A familiar Canadian laughed as he hadn’t seen her in years “good to see you Bas.” Sydney turned around to see the older boy who matched her grin.

It took him seconds to pull her into a hug “time has been good to you kid.” He announced hinting to her longer hair that now wasn’t touched by the box color that Sydney loved to play with in college “I hope you aren’t stealing the doctor before I finish giving her the tour Nate.” Jillian teased as she had been tasked with showing Sydney around.

Sydney turned her attention to the older woman when she heard the sound of the boys coming in “if we could just head straight to my office so I could set up?” She proposed hoping that Jillian would agree, unaware of the girls reasoning for cutting her tour early “yeah sure.” The blonde nodded as she motioned to Sydney to follow her.

Within two minutes Nico was stood in the space that once held Sydney’s feet “you’re here early.” The captain pointed out as he furrowed his eyebrows “just figured I’d come meet the new physio early.” Nate shrugged as he threw his hands into his jacket.

His panicked state was noted by the younger boy “was he really that bad?” Nico let out a snort as he began to think that he wouldn’t need any rehabilitation before the trip to Czechia “I’ll let you make your own opinions about her.” The Canadian patted the boys back before he walked away fearing he’d say anything more.

Sydney felt herself cheer as she looked to everything that she had organized “nobody told me when I should see you but I need to be-” Nico cut himself off as his eyes widened seeing her name on the plate that sat on her desk “Sydney.” Her name felt foreign on his tongue as he never knew he’d get the chance to say it again.

The girl froze not knowing what to do as a smile forced its way onto her lips “what is it that you needed to see me for?” She cocked her head ignoring the way her heart pounded out of her chest “to get cleared so I can be back on the ice.” Nico explained as he pointed to his shoulder.

She nodded directing her head to where the examination table sat “go sit up there.” The girl pulled her hair into a pony “take your shirt off too.” She added watching him sit there like he was frozen.

His cheeks turned red as he grew embarrassed “right sorry.” He sighed pulling his shirt off before he placed it next to him “so how are you?” Sydney’s voice was soft as she ran her finger over the area.

Nico watched her intently “I mean I’ve been as good as one can be for captain and injured.” He confessed as he shrugged wincing as her hands turned her shoulder “I meant how is your shoulder feeling?” The girl stood there awkwardly as she reminded him why he was there.

The boy nodded as he gasped “right sorry.” The hockey player was quick to make it seem like he knew that all along “really hoping I’m ready to be cleared.” He was scared that she would stop him from traveling.

Sydney clicked her tongue as she stared at his arm “well I think you should pack your bags.” A smile formed on her lips as his eyes lit up “so think you should go get back to your team cap.” She bit her lower lip as it got caught between her teeth.

He pulled his shirt over his head and it helped her breathe again as she was no longer staring at his chiseled chest “so how have you been?” Nico twiddled his thumbs as he took in the sight of Sydney in her devils tracksuit “last few years in Florida has been real good t’me.” She shrugged trying to ignore the fact that he still used the same cologne that she had bought him.

All he could do was nod as his eyes leaned to the door “y’know I’m sorry.” Nico apologized as he sucked at his teeth “think you should get back to your team now.” She reminded him as she shook her head not caring for his apology.

Nico frowned when he watched her open her door “schatzi please.” He pleaded with a frown “think it’s best if you go.” Sydney mumbled looking to the floor as she refused to meet his eyes until he left.

As the door shut behind her she let out a breath that she didn’t even know she was holding in “fuck.” The physio felt her voice break when her head pushed against the door. It was going to long season if Sydney couldn’t even get through the mere act of talking to him.

Nico felt like he was barely above water watching the team practice as his legs bounced. His mind ran a million miles a minute holding every thought that he had kept in about Sydney came flooding back “you okay?” Jesper furrowed his eyebrows as he slid onto the bench next to the captain.

The Swiss man sighed as he nodded “she’s back.” The blonde couldn’t tell if the captain was asking him or admitting to that “who is?” Jesper felt like he was out of the loop.

Before Nico could answer him the older boy began poking his thigh “Syd is the new doc!” He whisper yelled feeling as though his mouth was about to fall out of his jaw “I know!” Nico sent him a glare trying to hint to his teammate that she was who he was talking about.

His lips turned into an o shape as he nodded “guys I expect you all to make yourself familiar with your new physio Sydney James.” The coach pointed to her as she sent the guys an awkward wave.

She was grateful for the fact that only a handful of the devils players she knew were still with the team as unfamiliar faces stared back at her “don’t try getting hurt to meet me early though, I look forward to meeting you guys throughout the season.” Her joke went down well with the team who cracked a laugh in response.

It made Nico feel sick as he saw the way that Luke and Alex looked up at the girl. They were far too friendly with her that the Swiss man wished he could just announce to the team that Sydney was off limits. But as she was pulled into a conversation with Nate who couldn’t help but send Nico a reminding look, the captain knew it wouldn’t work.

He spent the first two weeks of training trying to get his emotions under control as Nico needed to keep the green eyed monster to himself. Part of him wished he was still injured so that he could be the one spending time in her office as Sydney hadn’t spoken to him after that moment when she cleared him. Nico was willing to go as far as to pull some kind of rank to get the chance to sit with her during the flight to Czechia, only stopping once he was spoken down.

The flight was peaceful for the girl who got her beloved window seat. If there was one trait that Sydney was happy to say she got from her mom it was the fact that she could fall asleep anywhere and the hard plane wall seemed to be a favorite. Her phone was out as the team got to their hotel, snapping pictures to send back to Willow so the girls could talk about their future trips to Europe.

Nico smiled as he saw the girl grin only letting his expression drop when she flipped her phone around to show something to Jack that made him laugh in response. The Hughes boy was finally getting a chance to get to know her as the couple of interactions they had prior, were all under her being Nico’s girlfriend.

It was unclear to the Swiss man though when Sydney and Jack became so close but now he had seen them sit together on the bus for the entire ride to the hotel “you cannot be jealous Nico.” Nate reminded the younger boy as he could sense the glare the captain sent the centre from a mile away.

As she laughed and tucked her hair behind her ear Nico felt his heart flutter “I’m going to give him extra laps then.” Nico warned looking up to his friends “why don’t you talk to her?” Nate shot back pointing out that it was the most obvious thing that he could have done.

That resulted in Nico rolling his eyes as he shook his head “she didn’t seem like she wanted that.” He mumbled choosing to believe that Sydney had a change of heart by now “look don’t tell her I suggested this but she won’t turn you down if you’re injured.” Nate lowered his voice as he avoided the girls eyes like he was sharing a secret or something.

Nico truly wanted to call the idea for what it was which was a plan destined to fail “that’s never going to work.” He knew that he couldn’t hide anything from his Sydney and the captain prayed that she still knew him like that “just think about it.” Were the parting words that the older boy left with him as he walked off.

It didn’t take long for the knock to come at Sydney’s temporary office door “come in!” She called out as she wrapped the ice packs ready to go “hey Syd.” His voice was soft as he stood with one foot in the doorframe.

The girl furrowed her eyebrows as she turned to see Nico looking anywhere but where she was “what’s up cap?” The physio crossed her arms waiting to hear what brought him into her office “hurt my shoulder.” He pointed to the recently recovered one and it made the girl feel like her heart was in her chest.

She motioned to him to come over like he was a sick child waking their parent up in the middle of the night “did this happen in practice or?” It worried Sydney as the last she saw of him he was looking alright. Because as much as she didn’t want to admit it, she had been keeping an eye on him.

Nico nodded “Nate pushed me into the board and I think I just hit it weirdly.” He confessed as he took his shirt off not caring for the fact that he threw the older boy under the bus “good news is that it looks really good.” Sydney mumbled to herself as she studied the moment of his arm.

Of course the boy thought she was complimenting him at first “ah.” His gasp sounded like a wince making the girl furrow her eyebrows “you know I think we might have to pull you from tomorrow’s game if it doesn’t get better.” That was a blatant lie made her want to see just how honest the boy in front of her was being.

His eyes went wide as he thought about it “maybe I just need a painkiller and good night sleep and I’ll be good?” He offered as she dropped her hands going to reprimand him “doc!” The whine echoed in the hall quickly turning Sydney’s attention away from the boy.

She frowned seeing Luke walk in as he clutched his nose “what’s up bud?” The girl was quick to go over to his side to help him to her table “Jack hit me with the puck.” He explained making her hold back a laugh as this wasn’t the first time the siblings sent each other to see her.

So as Nico sat there dumbfounded by how fast he lost her attention Sydney couldn’t help but glare at him “if you’re done playing pretend I have an actual patient I need to see.” She spoke with spite. He was left to grab his shirt as he went to scurry out of the room beyond embarrassed with the new mental note to never listen to Nate again.

Maybe Sydney would have felt better if she knew the guilt that Nico carried after he left her room. But as she sat on the phone, she didn’t really care how he felt “you know the slap in the face that I felt today?” Sydney sighed as she fiddled with the ends of her robes strings.

Willow was still in bed as she had barely woken up from a night out “look I think you need to have a serious chat with him because that was a total dick move.” All the older girl did was validate her feelings “if he wants to have a relationship with you then he needs to be mature.” She added leaving Sydney to nod as she stared out of her window capturing the European nightlife.

It hurt her knowing that he seemed to care enough that little to do that to her “Will I think there’s someone at the door.” Sydney sighed hearing the sound of breathing outside of her room “I should go back to bed anyways.” Willows words made the younger girl laugh as the screen went black.

Sydney took those few paces to get to the other side of her room “hey-oh.” Her face dropped seeing Nico now stood in front of her “can we talk?” This time round his face was full of this sorry expression that even made the physio feel bad for spending her last hour bitching about him.

She nodded opening her door a little further to let him in as she wanted to avoid Nate and John’s room that was right across the hall from hers “I was a dick today.” Nico never really knew what words were appropriate for certain situations, especially when they came to the girl in front of him.

He watched her facial expressions softened as she let her arms drop to her sides “I know.” She nodded letting out a sigh “I just keep on trying to figure out how the hell we navigate this because I’m really happy you’re back.” The captain confessed as he scratched the nape of his neck.

Sydney did her best to hold back a grin as she knew his words were going to make her swoon “I just don’t want to lose you again.” They both knew he was hinting to romantically yet as the room grew hot she ignored that “you pull a stunt like that again and I will not talk to you.” She felt like he had made a mockery of her job by faking being hurt just to talk to her.

The boy nodded “I’m not that scary and if you want to talk just tell me that.” She warned him making him smile “I’ll make sure you have your food before I come talk.” He teased making her playfully roll her eyes as she pretended to be annoyed.

Nico watched her send him a genuine smile as he heard his phone go off reminding him that he was meant to be playing the F1 video game with Timo “well I think I should head back to mine now.” He announced reading the message from the boy wondering where he was.

Sydney nodded as she tugged at the necklace on her neck “and Nico?” Her voice was softer as they both shifted back to her door “I’m glad to be back too.” Whilst the physio couldn’t bring herself to say what she meant aloud, Nico knew it all too tell “have a nice night Syd.” Once he started the walk back to his room he realized that they each knew each other too well.

It was one of the reasons why neither one of them could find themselves in a long term relationship with another person. Their hearts couldn’t be given to strangers when the scars of that relationship were still impounded on them. So as much as Sydney probably would hate to admit it, she was still the same person that Nico knew like the back of his hand and he was that to her.

If Sydney had the choice her birthday would have been just another day. After the nightmare that was her birthday when she broke up with Nico it became a day she preferred to forget. That’s why she ended up awake early and on a run through the city she missed. It made her happy seeing the way that the summer leaves were now turning to different shades of fall with crisp oranges and reds painted the trees and streets in front of her.

Going for a run was never her first choice of activities but now that she was back in Nico’s life for her birthday, it brought up emotions Sydney wished to forget. Her feet took her to coffee shop that she hadn’t seen in years “you okay doc?” Jack’s voice was soft as he furrowed his eyebrows “just great.”She lied pulling her AirPods out of her ear as her head felt dizzy.

Jack held his hand out to the girl as he motioned inside “I could do with some company when I have my coffee if the birthday girl pleases.” A smile formed on his face as she was quickly confused forgetting about her previous emotions “really thought Nico wouldn’t tell us about your birthday?” Jack didn’t now the details of why they ended as neither party felt up to revealing that to him.

Sydney shook her head as her eyes stuck to the corner as memories came flooding back into her mind “can’t say I expected him rush to it.” She mumbled clenching her hand around her phone as she realized that nothing had changed in the cafe after all those years. The Hughes boy saw where she was staring“you want to go sit there and I’ll get you your normal?” Before he waited for the girl to answer the hockey player left wanting to get her a birthday treat.

It had been pouring all day when Nico ran into the girls favorite cafe “hey schatzi.” He smiled kissing her temple before he slid into the seat next to her “you’re all wet!” She complained feeling him shake his hair in her face like a dog.

A laugh left his lips as he hooked his fingers under her jaw “missed ya.” Nico mumbled before he pecked her lips. The kiss was far too short for her approval and it had her letting her lips form a pout as Sydney went to kiss him again “seems you missed me too.” The hockey player smirked watching his girlfriend roll her eyes.

His hands went to her sides pulling her that much closer to her as he smiled “don’t know why I do.” She clicked her tongue pulling him into a proper kiss. Nico groaned as her tongue swiped across his lower lip and before he got the chance to enjoy the kiss she pulled away “that’s why.” Nico nodded to himself as he had to do everything in his power to stop the blood from rushing to his cock.

Jack noticed that Sydney hadn’t moved and it left him squeezing her arm as he grew worried “you alright doc?” He furrowed his brows watching as she practically had her soul come back into her body “yeah I-I’m sorry.” She nodded tucking her loose strands from her braid behind her ear.

The boy felt bad thinking he had been apart of it “we can take it to go and I’ll drop you off at yours if you’d prefer?” Jack offered hoping that the girl would tell him what was going on eventually “yeah maybe that would be best.” Sydney nodded as she frowned “think I need to go home and take the day.” Part of her felt pathetic as she truthfully thought that she could survive and get through it all but maybe she wasn’t that brave.

From the moment Nico realized that Sydney wasn’t at work he felt like shit. Jack didn’t fail to mention his little interaction with the girl and how she was really off from the moment they walked into that cafe “what if she doesn’t want to see anyone?” Jack inquired as he pulled up his phone to find the address that the physio had put in when he dropped her off “she can turn me away and I won’t say that it was you who gave me the address.”Nico knew he wouldn’t stop worrying about the girl.

It made the boy scoff “I am telling you so I don’t get extra laps.” Jack reminded the older boy as he spoke in a duh tone “same thing?” The captain shrugged as he rolled his eyes.

Sydney sat comfortably with her pint of ice cream when she was curled up in a blanket“go away I’m sick!” She faked a cough at the sound of a knock at her door “I know you’re in there and I know you’re okay!” Nico called out as he looked to the bags of Chinese takeaway in his hands.

She furrowed her eyebrows as she skeptically walked to the door “what are you doing here?” The physio asked staring through the peephole to see where he was “you shouldn’t spend your birthday alone.” He was met with silence “and I brought you food.” That offer worked far better as the girl opened the door.

Nico smiled as he held the bags up “can I come in?” He asked as she nodded “you didn’t need to do this.” Sydney pointed out as she shoved her hands into her hoodie pockets.

It made the boy roll his eyes “I am here because you deserve it and you always loved this places egg rolls.” The smell made Sydney moan “god you are a saint.” She nodded opening the bag like she hadn’t eaten in weeks “why is there a cupcake on the top?” Sydney took a step back as she cocked her head waiting for this answer.

The captain awkwardly looked to the ground “realized I’ve never gotten you a cupcake on your birthday.” He confessed reflecting on how poor of a boyfriend he had to her “thank you for this.” Her smile was genuine as her heart felt full.

He brushed her off as he wanted to just do something nice for her “so why don’t you go sit down and I’ll get some plates?” It was like a flip switched in their minds and before they both knew it they were back to this domestic couple laying on the couch as they caught up “so how is it being captain?” Sydney had never gotten the chance to congratulate him on that as they always thought she’d be by his side when it happened.

The boy placed his chopsticks on his plate as he looked up “I’m just glad we are doing better than last season.” In a competition for felt like last place Nico was relieved to know that the team had improved “everyone always blames the captain when the stuff on the ice goes wrong.” The weight of the world had been on his shoulders and he didn’t think he could do it again.

Sydney frowned as she shook her head placing her hand on his “never thought it was your fault neeks.” Her voice was barely above a whisper as she squeezed his hand “you’d be someone who would be the most justified to hate my guts.” Nico pointed out making the girl move closer to him.

Their legs touched and it seemed to make him melt into her couch “I broke up with you because this wasn’t right for me anymore, not because I hated you.” Sydney confessed needing him to know hear her “you were always too good to me Syd.” Nico sighed bringing his hand up to cup her cheek.

She was proud that she hadn’t started to cry as she realized how much she missed moments like this with him “nice to know you think that.” The girl smiled as she watched his eyes dart to her lips “y’know I’m proud of us for reaching our dreams.” Nico announced dropping his hand as he moved away from her side.

Sydney missed his touch as she nodded “think you being captain is a bit more impressive than a physio.” Her words made him send her a glare “without you we’d be a dead team walking.” Nico was quick to quip back “like Jack would have killed Luke and you know the boys love you.” It had been barely a month since she joined the team and it was clear that for many she was like a sister that they never had.

It made her blush as she hurried her head in her hands quietly shaking her head “they like me?” She let her lips formed an o as she smiled “they like me!” It had her kicking her feet “the more you say it the more I regret it!” He matched her tone causing her lips to shoot into a line.

It was sent with this glare “on that note I’m going to get another drink.” Nico smiled getting up as he sent to the kitchen “you know I’m glad you came back to Jersey.” He confessed looking into her fridge as he had put his juice into it.

The other side of the room was silent “it’s good seeing you out of that awful shade of blue.” A laugh left his lips as he played harder against the two Florida teams as Nina let it slip that it was where Sydney relocated to “and I really do know I was a fool for not running after you.” He rambled on cracking open the bottle.

He was confused not getting any response “I was stupid for not doing that and I know I should-” the hockey captain laughed as he cut himself off seeing Sydney fast asleep on the couch.

It was sweet and comforting as she was out cold already too far gone to be woken up from sudden noises “you’ve never stopped being so beautiful.” Nico sighed placing his glass on the table “happy birthday Syd.” He pulled her blanket over her tucking her in.

Soft huffs left her lips as she nuzzled her head into the pillow behind her “goodnight.” The captain picked up her plate heading to clean up for her.

Snow fell on the roads outside as Sydney was busy in the kitchen “Syd come get the door!” Her mom called out turning the Christmas music down “ma I gotta make sure that my cookies are right!” The physio complained wipe the flour on her apron.

The girl was irritated as she walked through the house avoiding the areas of her scattered younger cousins who ran through the first floor “you came!” Sydney’s brother let out a giggle turning to see when his sister would come to him “Syd, Nico is here!” Kyle squealed not noticing as his sisters eyes went wide.

Sydney felt embarrassed as she was covered in flour and a definite bit of chocolate “I know.” She nodded hearing the gasps from her uncles as they realised that the Devils captain was stood in the living room “merry Christmas Syd.” Nico smiled sending her a wave “your dad said I could come.” He explained pointing to her father who did nothing more than nod willingly as he took full blame for the matter.

As her family began to move closer to him with many never having had met him before Nico found himself getting overwhelmed sending Sydney a hopeful look that she’d come and save him “alright alright people hands off my captain.” The physio groaned pushing through as she wrapped her hand around the Swiss man’s “I need my sue chef for the rest of my cookies.” She lied ignoring the complaints from the older members of her family who couldn’t help but sigh at the news.

Nico smiled seeing the chaos that was the kitchen counter “you don’t mind that I’m here?” He asked pulling the coat from his shoulders “Nico you deserve to spend Christmas with people who love you.” Sydney began placing the cookies into the oven as she set her timer.

The boy found a comfortable place in the corner of her kitchen “but if you can’t spend the day with your family I’ll happily let you spend it with mine.” Since she was a kid the house was always full on holidays and that’s what she had grown used to “you really mean that?” To say he was touched was an understatement.

She nodded watching him go to hug her “I’m gonna get flour all over ya.” Sydney went to stop him but instead it only made him hug her tighter “I’ll let you make a mess out of me any day Syd.” Nico confessed as he kissed her head, if only she knew she already made him feel like that each day.

January came and went and now the team was celebrating a flurry of wins with a family skate session “doc where are your skates?” Luke quizzed the girl as he crossed his arms “they are in the corner.” Sydney pointed to the side.

The boy furrowed his brows as the girl grinned “and why aren’t they on your feet?” He spoke in a duh tone “because this is time for you guys to skate with your families.” Sydney shot back like it was the most obvious thing in this world “you are family so get those on before I push you onto the ice.” the duo had formed this brother sister bond that had them questioning why they only just met.

Nico watched the interaction from afar “you better get her on the ice before I do.” Nina warned as she skated to her brothers side “don’t want to make her uncomfortable.” He confessed watching as she ruffled her hand through the younger Hughes boys hair.

Nina sighed squeezing his hand “if you don’t I’ll tell her about how you slept talk about her for a month after she dumped you.” The girl warned with a smirk on her face “you wouldn’t.” The Hischier siblings each faced off in front of each other.

But their moment was cut short when Luke cleared his throat “Nina she said she’s not skating if you don’t come skate with her.” The Hughes boy sighed not knowing how he ended up in the position of biding the girls battles.

It made her laugh “I’m coming baby!” Nina called out seeing the girl waving at her.

It made Nico smile as he realised that the duo were still just as close as they used to be “who would have thought you’d be putting up a fight with your sister for doc.” Dawson teased seeing the girls embrace each other “you want take extra laps?” Nicos offer left the boy silent as he shook his head letting the captain watch the sight.

The crowd that the prudential center was ecstatic after the boys won their final game of the season “doc we did it!” Jack cheered seeing the girl smile as she high-fived him “so you gonna come with us tonight?” He asked seeing the crowd of his teammates funnel into the locker room.

She grew confused as she furrowed her eyebrows “come with you?” She trailed off hoping the boy would fill in the gaps “we are going to celebrate and you’re coming with!” Luke chuckled as he sent her a grin “you better come with Syd.” Nico pleaded letting out a groan as he could see she wasn’t sure.

The quick desperate looks that the boys sent her were enough “just spend me the address and I’ll be there okay!” She pinched the bridge of her nose as she heard them all cheer.

Sydney looked good in her red dress and that’s what left Nico practically attached to her hip “neeks if you don’t leave we’re both not getting any action tonight.” The physio warned as every guy that thought about looking her way was instantly turned off by the idea of the Swiss man next to her.

Nico forced a laugh as he sipped his beer “who says that I really want to go home with some stranger anyways?” He shot back making her smirk “the captain decide he’s too good for a reward now?” She teased stirring her straw in her drink.

He did everything he could to not get angry that she failed to note his flirtatious acknowledgements “only if this girl doesn’t come and give it to me.” The captain nudged his shoulder with hers “so blonde with the big tits still has a shot?” Sydney laughed seeing that a girl that had been trying her luck all night with the boy was still there waiting for him.

It made Nico cringe at the memory of how her fake nails practically dug into the skin of his arm “don’t remember you referring to yourself as big tits.” The joke have time to land before Sydney brought her hand to hit him “I’m kidding!” Nico groaned having to massage the area of his now sore arm.

She sent him an unimpressed look that only made him smile in response as he held back a laugh “have to admit that it was pretty fucking funny.” His voice was soft as he tried to re break the ice “shut up.” Sydney rolled her eyes as she turned her head now noticing that their faces were millimetres away from each other.

Nico was the first to move but instead of moving away, he hooked his fingers under her jaw and pulled Sydney closer. His lips were rough against hers and if it wasn’t for Willow yelling in her mind Sydney would have melted into his touch. Yet that wasn’t the case as she pulled away “Nico.” Their foreheads touched like they were struggling to breathe.

The boy was embarrassed as he had been rejected “I should go.” Sydney announced as she looked to her watch. Tonight she was grateful for the fact that she wasn’t wearing heels as it meant she could slip away from the scene.

Still running wasn’t something that Sydney enjoyed. But somehow here she was avoiding her feelings. It was surprisingly tougher than the girl thought to avoid Nico as he was everywhere. Shortly after that night in the bar the team ended up on a roadtrip to play their wild card game, and Nico was in the seat next to her.

Luckily for them both they ended up asleep and were forced to talk. Then the countless awkward elevator rides came where somehow not a single person on the team could be in the same lift as them. Still neither one of them broke, it was this battle of stubbornness that seemed destined to go on forever “Hischier is down!” The announcer called out as the coaching staff looked to Sydney as her eyes went wide.

In that moment she no longer cared about the fact that she had rejected him. The awkwardness they both felt seemed to dissipate as she slid onto her knees in front of him “what hurts Nico?” She asked seeing him clutch different parts of his body “my knee.” Nico frowned locking eyes with her as it made the girl sigh.

The physio didn’t hesitate to do the right thing “I need to check you out in the room.” The team was already three down in the third and Sydney came to the conclusion that with injuries she was going to make the boys cut their losses with less than five minutes on the clock.

He went to argue as the boys helped him up “need to check you out Neeks to make sure you’re okay.” Her voice was soft fearing the worst as he didn’t put any weight on his leg “I’m fine he spat shaking his head as he almost couldn’t believe that she’d take him out of a game this big.

It was funny how Sydney taking him out early ended up being the reason why Nico wasn’t walking into the end of season gala with some kind of brace around his knee. The team were happy together and as the happy couples within it finally got the chance to celebrate how far their partners came over the long season, it felt incomplete.

Sure Nico would have wanted a HABs the cup to complete it. But it was actually when he searched for Sydney that he realised something was off, she was gone “you seen Syd?” Nico asked Nate wondering if the girl was hiding in a corner beating Luke at the days wordle that he always struggled to get.

But instead Nate motioned out to the terrace that was attached to the venue “said she wanted to get some air a couple of minutes ago!” Nate called out over the music as he shrugged. Nico patted his teammate on the back to thank him before he went straight for the door.

If he hadn’t looked hard enough he would have missed her but there stood Sydney in the corner as she let her black dress blend into the night “there you are Syd.” He was quick to regret placing his hand on the skin of her back realising how cold she was “you’re practically frozen.” Nico pointed out removing his suit jacket.

Sydney smiled feeling the thick material wrap around her shoulders “what are you doing out here?” The captain asked as he cocked his head “just been doing some thinking.” The physio confessed as she shrugged.

Nico nodded hoping to hear more from her but decided against pushing for it. But as he stood there and her lips remained shut the boy lost hope and went to leave her “I don’t want to just be your physio Nico.” Sydney blurted out feeling her throat go dry as the nerves hit her.

It made his feet stick to the spot where he stood “I thought I did a good job letting the boys get you too.” Nico pointed out as she sighed.

She knew telling him was a stupid idea that would only end up hurting her “I keep on trying to remember all of the reasons why we didn’t work.” His face dropped as her eyes went shut “but it only works for like a minute until I see that you’ve grown into this great guy who deserves the world.” It made Nico smile knowing that Sydney felt that way.

The girl tucked her hair behind her ear “but you’re going to Switzerland and I’m meant to be in France.” Willow had indeed convinced Sydney to take that girls trip that they so clearly deserved “and you need to be able to be free back there.” Nina hadn’t withheld any information from the physio so she now knew about all the girls that wanted him both in his home and hers.

Nico took a step back closer to her “why turn me down in the bar?” He asked still thinking back to the moment where she ran away from him “I was scared it was going to be a one time thing.” With that Nico had his hands on her waist spinning her so that she could look at him.

His eyes pierced hers “I’ve been ready to go six stages in with ya since I was so boring you feel asleep on your birthday.” Nico teased her and was only met with a scoff “I had a long day okay!” Nico began to sway her back and forth as they listened to the music that traveled from inside.

The boy rested his head against hers as they both swore they could be there forever “I want to be yours forever.” Sydney confessed making him smile “I am yours forever.” He mumbled leaning down to peck her lips.

Not to be dramatic but the sound of fireworks went off and Nico swore the world understood him, or at least that was until he looked up to the sky to see fireworks going off. They made him smile as he heard Sydney squeal in delight.

So there the duo stood arms wrapped around each other with the inevitable spending the night between the sheets with tangled legs looming over their heads. All the moment needed to be perfect was one final touch “Nico you wanna go on a date tonight?” Sydney smiled as she already had an idea forming in her mind.

Nico nodded as he thought about the perfect place to go “why don’t we go get pizza?” Most people would have cringed at that idea whilst they were dressed in the high clothing that they were “like right now?” Sydney wasn’t used to the side of Nico that was ready to pull her down the stares and out to something impulsive.

He nodded pressing the open button on the elevator “ain’t no time like the present baby.” Nico announced letting the doors slide shut before he let his lips lace with Sydney’s. The world went on but I’m hat moment for them it all stopped allowing the duo to enjoy their present.

[shortpplfedup]

We Are Episodes 9-12: They got me, they really got me

My heart has exploded. This show has ruined me. I'm crying on a Wednesday afternoon about a bunch of queer boys all actively doing their best by each other every day. This show is saying 'Your actions matter. Your intentions matter. Your words matter. IT ALL MATTERS.' Also, we unlocked everything about this show by learning two very important backstories: the story of Tan and Fang, and Phum and Fang's family history.

I think this block of eps has been the most explicitly romantic section of the show so far. Bookended by two of the now-requisite-for-Thai-BL change of scenery trips (and man that volunteer camp paid dividends), this was just a great, GREAT bit of Show. One of my favourite things about how the relationships are progressing in this show is that they are allowing these boys to have courtship. Yeah, they might be attracted to each other, like each other, even make out with each other, but there is a gap between 'I like you' and 'I want to be with you' that romance doesn't always explore. Stating your intentions and deliberately and actively wooing somebody still matters. In the West, and especially in the limited western romance we get, sometimes it feels like we've decided it is juvenile and/or old-fashioned, it is somehow uncool, to require declaration, to ask and receive an answer. We have cool-girled (non-gender-specific) our way into the age of the noncommittal extended situationship. This show allows all of these boys to have that bit of romance, to expect it, to require it, and to have that taken seriously.

Phum and Peem had a rocky start, so it makes sense that it would take time and effort for them to get to a place where Peem feels comfortable admitting his feelings for Phum, even if he has accepted them to himself (him letting Khluen down gently was such a nice touch), and cannot keep himself from showing them at every turn. A detail I love is that Phum continues to apologise for the way he treated Peem at the start. He so so sincerely regrets it all, in a believable way, and he does not take Peem's forgiveness as a given at all. Him declaring himself in front of all of their friends and going all out to woo Peem is part of that apology, along with his actual multiple, repeated 'I'm sorry's. And then him going STRAIGHT to Peem when he had that fight with his dad, and Peem dropping all the flirty games instantly because he knew something was wrong...BURY MEEEEEEEEEEE.

Tan finally told his friends the story of him and Fang and EVERYTHING about this show clicked into place with that information. Understanding how and when this all started for them explains not only their entire dynamic, but also draws direct lines from them to every other couple. The rocky start? That's Phum and Peem. Falling slowly over time? Q and Toey. Afraid to ruin the friendship? Totally where I see Chain and Pun landing. And then across this chunk we get to see the interiority of their relationship now, and the DEPTHS of their devotion to and understanding of each other. They truly, madly, deeply love each other, exactly for who they each are. Plus, enthusiastically mutually horny for each other, which is always fun to see.

Q and Toey spend some time here really talking through their history and their feelings, explaining their past actions to each other and laying to rest a lot of their fears and hurts from Q's sudden disappearance from Toey's life and Toey's sudden appearance in Q's. These two were working at cross-purposes and off incorrect assumptions for so long, them finally getting onto the same page thanks to their meddling-ass friends was just a giant exhale. And Q asking Toey to be his boyfriend in the way it all began, at the place it all began put me so very deep in my feels.

They are really letting the Chain/Pun thing build up in the background, in tiny moments and offhand comments, and every morsel we get of them feels like it matters. I'm sure that's part practicality given the reshoots, but Chain and Pun also feel like those friends in the group who turn up married one day when nobody knew they even liked each other. In my Hospital Playlist analogy for this show, they are Ik Jun and Song Hwa, down to Chain's loving indulgence of Pun's tuneless insistence on singing.

The non-romantic relationships in this show continue to be the cherry on the sundae. Q and Peem's friendship, Phum and Beer's friendship, Toey and Matt's friendship, the brotherly love between Fang and Phum, Pun and Mick's himbo bromance, how ride or die EVERYBODY is for Toey, how fully integrated Phum, Beer, Mick, Toey and Matt are into the crew now, the silly fun they have when all the gang's together...I'm so emotional about this. I will give New Siwaj that he has always understood that great romances need great friendships to support them. I haven't always liked how he has put those together narratively, or managed the tonal shifts involved, but this one is just working gangbusters for me.

Four more eps to go and I have gone from thinking 16 eps were too many to never wanting this show to leave me. At the same time, I'm aware that we're moving into the New Siwaj Red Zone (aka the final act), where things often fall apart with him. Still, I'm having such a good time so far I'm choosing optimism. Time to update my couple scores.

Q and Toey: 3.5/4 hearts

Their romantic arc is more or less winding down now I think, and they're moving into cupid role for Phum and Peem. I have so thoroughly enjoyed this journey and look forward to seeing how they work as a team in the final bit!

Phum and Peem: 3.5/4 hearts

These two are ruining me, I am giggling kicking my feet all week thinking about them. Peem saying the ocean was too far when Phum wanted to take him there to feel better, but taking Phum there without a second thought when Phum showed up shaken and sad...NO YOU'RE CRYING.

Tan and Fang: 4/4 hearts

They are the absolute heart of this show. Just rock solid, undeniable, unquestionable. Tan saying in ep 12 he wants to be Fang's safe zone AND his family? Fang shouting out his love? PLEASE CALL ME SINGLE MORE QUIETLY ABEG.

Pun and Chain: 3/4 hearts

There is no heterosexual or even queerplatonic explanation for these two, and so the candle in my window stays lit for them.

[gangsteri-aine]

On today's episode of Aine thinks about fitpac when they should be doing something far more useful: qFit definitely practiced asking qPac out beforehand

At the start, when he was asking Pac whether or not he would be awake (streaming) this week, his voice was semi-casual. When it was even slightly unclear if Pac would be awake (streaming) on Friday, he very carefully made sure they were on the same page. No room for mistakes when planning this.

When he was sure Pac would be awake (streaming) and started to actually ask him out, his voice got louder and clearer. Like was reading from a script but knew the words by heart anyway. Like he had stood in front of a mirror and practiced his speech so he wouldn't trip over his words and look uncool in front of Pac. Like he had thought about this a lot ever since Ramón suggested he should ask Pac on a not-date.

In conclusion: Fit totally practiced this out loud like the nervous gay loser he is (/affectionate) and I hope Ramón heard him and laughed (and then encouraged him to continue and gave tips on how to make it sound better and more natural)

Now my one wish before the not-date happens is that Fit tells Ramón he asked Pac to do dungeons with him. His little baby boy will be so happy and so proud of him

[fiapartridge]

Maybe before Beckett and Hazel started dating one of the other ducks players would flirt with her during the weekly questions for TikTok and Beckett is just so annoyed with it bc even though they aren’t “together” yet that’s HIS GIRL!!!! a little bit of drama if you know what I mean

does he know? -> beckett x hazel 💌🌸✨

"does he know that i want you so bad?" does he know, one direction

pairing: beckett sennecke x hazel summary: beckett is tired of the guys flirting with his girl... warning(s): cursing author's note: omg BYE I WAS LIKE when can i start the drama 👀 i already have ideas for a breakup LMFAOO wc: 1.4k

He shouldn’t feel like this—not after only knowing her for a couple weeks, not after only going on three dates with the girl—but watching his teammates flirt with her, day after day, knowing that he and Hazel are—at least in Beckett’s mind—a thing, made him feel…I don’t know, upset? Angry? Jealous? Sure he’s never really told the guys that he’s with Hazel, and honestly, he doesn’t even know if Hazel thinks that they’re together, but to Beckett, that was his girl—in the least territorial way ever.

“Beck!” Trevor shouted, skating over to the bench where Beckett was standing, dousing his face with cold water. 

“Hey, Trev,” Beckett responded, lowering the water bottle and facing the older boy.

“You okay?” he laughed, clapping his back. 

Beckett wondered what prompted Trevor to ask that. Did he put his pants on backwards again, or maybe he was wearing the wrong helmet, or, oh shit, was he supposed to be doing laps right now? Beckett looked around curiously, and then did another look confusedly, no one was doing laps. Okay, maybe he was okay then. But then why was Trevor talking to him? 

“Uh,” Beckett stammered. “I think I’m okay…” he trailed off, his mind racing with ideas on why he’s probably not okay. If I think I’m okay, but everyone else thinks I’m not okay, then that should mean that they cancel each other out and that I am okay? Or does that mean that I’m not okay? Fuck, now I’m confused.

Trevor laughed loudly, his shoulders shaking as Beckett stood in front of him awkwardly. “You’re disassociating as fuck right now.”

Before Beckett could ask Trevor how he learned that word—because let’s be real, despite Trevor attending college for a year, he didn’t know many words—Olen skated up to the two boys, grabbing a water bottle from the bench. 

“Zelly, riddle me this—”

“For fucks sake, did you just say ‘riddle me this,’ Zeegs?” Olen chuckled.

Trevor waved him off, continuing his ramble. “Riddle me this!” he said louder, trying to drown out Olen and Beckett’s laughter. “Becky here is falling for the media girl.”

Beckett scoffed, throwing his hands in the air. “No, I’m not!”

“You totally are,” Trevor replied. “You were watching her set up her little tripod for the last five minutes.”

“No way, Beck,” Olen chuckled. 

“I don’t like her like that,” he argued. He didn’t even know why he was arguing with them. Everything they were saying was completely factual. He does like Hazel. Hazel has been one of the best people he’s met since coming here, but for some reason, he just couldn’t admit it to them. Maybe it was the way he felt like he had to be mature coming to the Ducks, I mean, he’s in the NHL now. He should act like it, but at the same time, he kind of just wanted to look cool around them. 

Was admitting that he liked Hazel deemed uncool, though? He wasn’t sure. 

“Oh,” Trevor nodded dramatically. “So you don’t mind that Cut’s over there flirting with your girl?”

Beckett whipped around, faster than he would like to admit, and came face to face with the exact scene Trevor had described. There Cutter was, making Hazel laugh. He had no right to make Hazel laugh like that. Was it even funny? Was she laughing out of pity because she’s just that nice? Was this her way of telling him to leave her alone, by indulging in his stupid jokes and unfunny references? What could he even be saying that was making her laugh that way?

Hazel’s shoulders shook uncontrollably, laughing so hard she might even pee her pants. Amanda, the other intern working social media with her, laughing equally as hard. 

“The Lakers are not what LAK in hockey stands for,” Cutter laughed as Amanda snorted loudly, prompting more chuckles from the three. 

“How was I supposed to know!” Hazel shouted, small shiny tears rimming her eyes. 

“I don’t know, you work in hockey?” Cutter replied. “But at least we know you’re not a Kings fan,” he smirked, knocking his shoulder against hers.

“Cool down, bro. You look like you’re gonna pop a vein,” Trevor laughed as Beckett watched the three of them.

“What could he possibly be saying that is that funny?” Beckett scoffed, squeezing more water into his mouth.

“Here’s an idea: why don’t you go over there and tell him to back the fuck off your girl?” Trevor suggested. Trevor always made rash decisions, and every single time, they backfired. But this one didn’t sound too bad. But also, this is Beckett Sennecke we’re talking about. The boy trips over his own two feet and stumbles over simple phrases like The Cat in the Hat. He couldn’t give Cutter a piece of his mind even if he wanted to.

And he wanted to so badly, or at least walk over there and kiss the shit out of Hazel right in front of the guy. 

“She’s not my girl, Trev,” Beckett sighed.

“Yeah, but you want her to be. So, just do it,” he shrugged as if it was so easy. For Trevor, maybe. Trevor could get any girl he wanted by just sending a look there way. But again, this is Beckett Sennecke we’re talking about. He was the literal embodiment of a loser. “C’mon, we’re doing the stupid question thing again. Go over there and get your fuckin’ girl.”

Beckett rolled his eyes, but followed the older boy’s lead. He strode over to the tunnel where the interviews were taking place. He read the whiteboard that listed this week’s question. “If you had any superpower, what would it be?”

He listened to all of the boys’ responses before it was Cutter’s turn. He smirked at the camera, and then smirked at Hazel, like he knew that his answer would incite something in her. Beckett’s stomach churned, watching Cutter eye Hazel like he wanted her in not-so-innocent ways.

Cutter mulled the question over before giving his response. “Teleportation, definitely.”

“Why?” Hazel prompted.

Cutter smiled and it made Beckett’s body go scolding hot with envy. Beckett wasn’t even a jealous person, or maybe he’s never liked any girl enough to become jealous of a guy talking to them, but right now, he felt like he could burn a hole in a wall just from one look—maybe that could be his superpower, he thought.

“So I could take this pretty girl I know anywhere she wants.”

What the fuck? Beckett’s entire body lurched, not even sure if he heard the guy correctly. But by the way Cutter was smirking at his girl, Beckett could tell that he heard the guy loud and clear. 

“You just gonna let him say that, Beck?” Olen teased.

No the fuck he wasn’t.

Walking forward, Beckett met Hazel’s gaze and it was like his body fell back into a safe, normal temperature. She smiled at him and it felt different. It felt different from the way she smiled at Mason, and the way she smiled at Leo, and even the way she smiled at Cutter. It felt warm and giddy and real and genuine and—it felt like Hazel, like his Hazel. 

“Beckster.”

“Haze.”

It was like he was gravitating towards her. He wanted to talk to her and ask her a million questions. He wanted to ask for her thoughts on the third book in the Off Campus series; if she was tired from standing all day; if she was hungry, or if she wanted him to grab her a snack from his duffle bag, knowing that she hates the ones the nutritionist provides. “I appreciate the healthiness, like do your job, sis, but like…we really need some junk food around here, you know? Like at least some potato chips or something.”

“This will probably be the most important question you’ll hear all day,” she grinned, tilting her head up to look at Beckett.

“Oh, definitely,” he smiled back, and it was like a charge of electricity was tying them together, like something magnetic was keeping them close, unrippable without force. It felt right, like he had no reason to be jealous of Cutter or anyone else on the team because they didn’t connect with Hazel—-not the way Beckett did. They could make her laugh, smile, god forbid they make her cry, but it’ll always be Beckett that she comes back to, and it'll always be Hazel that he wants. 

“What superpower do you want, Beck?”

He gazed at her, a playful smirk spreading across his face, and said, "I’d make it rain potato chips.”

taglist! (@bunbunbl0gs @crazy4smitty )

[ioniansunsets]

THIS IS A VERY AGGRESSIVE WAY OF REQUESTINF SOMERHING BUT ILL GIVE TOU 4 DABLOONS IF YOU WRITE SOME KAYN HEARTSTEEL GETTINT ABSOLUTELY EMBARRASED BY HIS GF BECAUSE SHE KEEPS ACTING ALL LOVELY DOVEY IN FRONT OF THE BOYS TO MAKE KAYN FLUSTERED

✖ Heartsteel!Kayn Getting Embarassed ✖

✖ Word Count: 560

✖ Tags: Established R/S

✖ A/N: Shorter than usual but I think its really cute!!! I love bullying men and making them all PADJASDASDPOASJ??!?/1/!?/1!!! thank you for asking this, feel free to ask for more I LIKE THIS. Embarrassed face ref under the cut.

----

" Hey! Stop! Stop I tell you! This is my last warning!"

Kayn's face was red as you pepper it with kisses, happily sitting on his lap, arms around his neck, ignoring his cries for help. His arms that was once tightly wrapped around your waist now trying to lift you off him.

" Weren't you the one calling me your precious little baby just mere seconds ago?"

" That was before the rest fucking came in!"

You hear Ezreal and Aphelios snicker as you shower Kayn in love. Kayn, audibly groaning, as he tries to stand up from the couch with you still in his hands. In the kerfuffle, you topple onto the couch, pulling Kayn down with you. Now in an even more compromising position as you laugh with him over you. His breathing was a panicked mess, not used to being seen so uncool and weak in front of his bros. With a small tug, you drag him by his literal collar, pulling him down even closer to you as you hug him. You heard him suck in air as your arms wrap around him. Oh no, did Kayn just stop breathing? With his face near yours, you whisper softly in his ears, just for him to hear. You tell him just how much you love him, how important he is to you, and how cute he was like this all embarrassed thinking about what his precious little friends would think when you know they don't mind. You hear him growl your name as he swallows hard. The tips of his ears now also red from sheer, utter, embarrassment as he coughs a little and promptly tries getting up of you. A scoff leaving his lips as he finally sits up, hair and clothes now a mess from the small play fight.

Kayn's hand instantly rises to his face to cover what he could, trying to hide just how red you made him now that he realized everyone could see just how badly he was blushing as he sits up on the couch. His eyes dart between the you still lying oh so cutely on that damned couch, and his friends staring at him with smirks on their faces. Ok in your defense, the other boys couldn't care less about your relationship with Kayn, it was just Kayn himself who had issues being seen all lovey dovey with you, which meant the boys liked teasing him about it all the more. It wasn't that bad to bully the smug rapper every once in a while. Kayn was always the one teasing you in public anyway, this was a well deserved revenge. As you giggle Kayn shakes his head and he mumbles something to you softly.

" You're making my life hard babe don't do that again...I really can't handle this."

He stares at you with such a look of pure vulnerability it left you stunned. Hells you didn't even know Kayn's facial muscles could pull off an expression like that. Now your heart was the one thumping. A soft barely audible apology leaves your lips as Kayn turns to leave the room to calm down. All you could do was sit and stare, doing your best to commit that cute face to memory. Ah it was unfair how in the end, you were the one still left blushing and speechless.

[[This is the mental image I had writing Kayn's expression hehaoihoiahoaihaohfoihoaiehfoaeihioshdaoi heheheehehehehehe]]

[marvel-ous-m]

D&D&D (Dungeons and Dragons and Dustin's Birthday)

AO3 Link | WC: 4,979 | Rating: Teen and Up Audiences | Tags: Fluff, Eddie Munson & Steve Harrington, Claudia Henderson is a Good Parent, Enemies to Friends, Hints of Steddie if you squint (and tilt your head), Birthday shenanigans, Mild Hurt/Comfort (like, very very mild, this is mostly just fluff)

This is a gift fic for the lovely @devondespresso!! Dev, I've loved getting to know you through this fandom. You are such a lovely person and a truly outstanding author. I'm so thankful I know you! I hope that you enjoy your day!!

Note: This is a pre-s3 fic taking place in May of 1985 with canon divergence for how Eddie and Dustin meet!

“Steve, thank you so much for agreeing to help with this. Come on in.” Claudia answered the door with her typical bright smile and ushered Steve into the Henderson family residence, leading him to the dining room. “I gave Dusty five dollars to go to the arcade with his friends, so I figure he’ll be out of the house for the next hour or so.” 

“Of course, Ms. Henderson.” Steve smiled back at her and took a seat at his usual spot in the dining room. Claudia sat across from him, and Steve took a moment to glance at the various decorations strewn around the table. They were mismatched, and all seemed like lightly-used relics of birthday-parties-past. “So… it looks like we’re throwing a Superman-Science-Robot...Underwater birthday party?” 

Claudia covered her mouth to muffle the snort of laughter from Steve’s comment. “Oh no! Could you imagine? I think Dusty would get all impassioned for five minutes straight if I did that, telling me about all the inaccuracies in the theme. No, these are just to help you boys get some inspiration for planning his birthday party! Thank you again for agreeing to do this. Nowadays he thinks everything I do is so uncool, so I thought it’d be best if you two took over the party planning this year.” 

Steve’s smile grew a bit tight at that. “Anytime, Ms. Henderson- really. But, uh- I’m sorry, I thought it was just me planning this? Did you have someone else in mind that I’ll be working with?” 

“Did I not tell you, honey? I’m sorry, it must have slipped my mind, I invited-” Claudia was cut off by the doorbell ringing, and she popped out of her seat in an instant. “Oh! That’ll be him- I’ll be right back.” She rushed to the front door, leaving Steve alone at the table with the pile of old decorations. He began to absently fiddle with a Superman poster as he waited for Claudia to return, mind racing through the various people who she could have enlisted to help plan the party. 

Nancy? No, Claudia had said ‘you boys’, so it wasn’t her. Jonathan? Maybe, but as far as Steve knew, Jon and Dustin weren’t very close. Maybe it was one of the other kids? But she’d said that she sent Dustin to the arcade with his friends, and presumably that meant all of the kids were with him…

“Thank you so much for inviting me, Ms. Henderson. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know Dustin over the last few months.” Oh no. 

Steve knew that voice. He’d heard it more times than he could count, shouting around the lunch room and marking sarcastic comments in class. 

No fucking way-

“Oh, you are too sweet, dear. Come on in, Steve’s already at the table, and I’ve got some old decorations laid out that you boys can hopefully make use of.” The two entered the room, and Steve felt his shoulders tense when he confirmed who he’d be working with. 

Eddie fucking Munson entered the room alongside Claudia, and was wearing a shit-eating grin when he met Steve’s eyes. “Hey there, Harrington. Sounds like we’ll be working together.” 

Steve pasted on his most convincing smile and nodded. “Yep. Sounds like it.” 

Claudia, oblivious to the tension between the boys, grinned. “I’m so glad you two know each other! That should make planning a bit easier. Now, I have to run off to go buy some groceries for the week, so I’ll leave you to it! There are cookies on the counter, feel free to help yourselves. If Dustin comes home before I’m back, you boys can just let him know that you’re here to help me do some renovating in the garage.” With that, she grabbed her purse from the living room and left to run her errands, abandoning Steve and Eddie at her kitchen table. 

“So… you, uh…” Steve trailed off, his desperate attempt at making conversation failing miserably. 

Eddie raised his eyebrow at Steve from where he was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. “Y’know, the kid always talks about you- ‘Steve’ this and ‘Steve’ that, but I kept telling myself it couldn’t be Steve Harrington, that maybe Dustin formed a weird friendship with a different adult man named Steve. Yet, here you are- Fallen so low from the totem pole that you’re planning a fourteenth birthday party for a kid in middle school.” 

“Yeah, well, at least I graduate this year- unlike some people.” Eddie’s words had triggered Steve’s bitchy side, he’ll admit it- but genuinely, what the fuck was Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson doing hanging around Dustin? “Also, you’re making fun of me for planning Dustin’s party, but in case I missed something, you’re here too.” 

Eddie threw a hand over his heart dramatically and pretended to double over, as if he’d been shot. “Oh, you wound me, Harrington. The rumors are true, I will not be walking the Hawkins High stage this year- but mark my words, ‘86 will be my year.” 

“Mhm.” Steve hummed, unimpressed. 

“As for knowing Dustin- there was that club fair two months ago for all the middle schoolers to attend, and I got Hellfire a table. Y’know, wanted to scope out the sheepies for next year’s flock. Anyways, I met Dustin and I ended up giving him my phone number because he wanted to talk about campaign stuff. Y’know what that little twerp did? He called me that night and started asking about stats for characters. Then he called me the next night, then the next, and eventually Claudia just told him to invite me over. We ended up painting mini figs- that’s miniatures for D&D- and watched dorky movies all day. It was pretty fuckin’ awesome, and Claudia liked me enough to keep inviting me over.” Eddie grinned at Steve, but the weight of Eddie’s words were not lost on him. 

Claudia liked him enough to keep inviting him over. Eddie Munson, known drug dealer and social pariah. 

Steve hadn’t formed much of a relationship with him- in fact, he’d pretty much avoided him because he’d heard such bad things- but Steve trusted Claudia’s opinion on things, often more than he trusted his own. She’d become a bit of a mother figure to him over the last few years, and if she liked Eddie enough to trust him with Dustin, maybe it was time for Steve to rethink his stance on the guy. 

“Oh.” Steve spoke, his lips pursed in thought more than anything else. “Well… alright. What theme should we make Dustin’s party?” 

 Eddie’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and he crossed his arms defensively. “What, now you’re fine working with me? Just like that?” 

Steve shrugged. “Yeah? Claudia and Dustin both like you, so that makes you alright in my book.” 

Eddie let out a huff of surprise, then uncrossed his arms and ran a hand through his frizzy curls. “Well… alright then. Uh, I guess I did have one idea. It’s maybe sorta stupid, and I’m not sure how we would pull it off, but I think it’d be fun if we can make it happen?” Eddie’s tone turned hesitant at the end of his ramble, betraying his apprehension surrounding the party. 

Steve gave him a reassuring smile. “Well? What is it? In case it’s not clear just by looking at me, I’m less the ‘idea’ guy and more of the ‘execution’ guy.” 

“I’m sure that’s not true, Steve. You seem like at least a thirty-percent ideas, seventy-percent execution kinda guy.” 

Steve quirked his brow. “Stop stalling and spit it out, Munson.” 

Eddie didn’t have much of a chance to avoid the invitation presented there, so he didn’t. He came out with his idea, complete with creative ideas for how to go about making it happen on a low budget, and despite all of his hemming and hawing around the theme, it was actually pretty brilliant. 

“Yeah, alright- I think we can make that happen, but it’s gonna take a good amount of time, and we don’t have a lot of that to spare. Are you up for that?” 

Eddie hummed thoughtfully, and when he finally responded, it was with a playful glint in his eye. “In the pursuit of making Dustin’s 14th birthday everything it should be and more, I am prepared to make that sacrifice.” 

Steve smirked at that. “Then I think it’s about time that we get to work.”

Ms. Henderson ended up arriving back home before Dustin did, her arms laden with groceries. She entered the dining room with an eager grin after setting everything down in the kitchen. “So? Have you boys come up with a plan?”

“Yeah, we think so! We’ll need a good chunk of time to set up on the day-of. I have a list of some stuff to shop for and an idea of how to decorate his cake, and Eddie will need a lot of paper in the meantime, like that kind on the rolls at elementary schools. Do you have an idea for how to get that?” Steve glanced up at Claudia from the planning document he and Eddie had been furiously working on for the last few minutes, an excited smile on his face.

Yeah, he was excited, go fuckin’ figure. Eddie’s idea had ended up being pretty brilliant once they worked out some of the kinks, and he was looking forward to seeing Dustin’s reaction on the day-of.

“Y’know, back when Dusty was in elementary school, I was president of the PTA. I made quite a few connections back then- I’m sure I could take advantage of that and get the supplies you need.” Claudia replied, a nostalgic and slightly mischievous sparkle in her eye.

Eddie grinned. “Damn Ms. H, look at you! No better than a common criminal. The more I learn about you, the more I love about you!” 

“Oh, stop.” Claudia let out an amused snort and pat Eddie’s shoulder with a roll of her eyes. “I gave more hours than I can count to that school, some butcher paper is the least they can do to pay me back, and I’m sure they know that. Eddie, I’ll go ahead and call you when I figure out a time for us to pick up those supplies. Is there anything else you need from me, boys? Cooking? Baking?” 

“No, ma’am- that should be it. I’ll handle the baking, and we figured it’d be best to just order pizza for the party. Everything else is already done or delegated between me or Eddie.” Steve responded.

“Alright! Well, I’m certainly excited to see what you two put together- but for now, it’s probably a good idea to head out. Dustin will be home any minute. How about you two plan to come by the same time next week to set up? I’ll take Dustin out shopping, that should be more than enough time for you two to set up before the party that evening.”

Steve glanced Eddie’s way, and after receiving his nod of affirmation, Steve turned his attention to Claudia. “That sounds perfect, Ms. Henderson. We’ll see you then.”

“Great! Now- go grab a cookie from the kitchen and get going. Remember- if Dusty somehow finds out you were here and asks about it, you’re helping me renovate the garage.” 

Steve and Eddie followed Claudia’s instructions and exited the Henderson household together. Before Steve could get in his car to drive away, though, Eddie spoke up. “Man, that kid really doesn’t know what goes on in his garage, does he?”

Steve snorted out a laugh and shook his head, amused. “Get in your van, Munson. Call me if you need help with anything, alright? I wrote my phone number at the top of your planning sheet.” 

“Sure, but don’t worry, Steve-O. You shouldn’t be hearing from me until next week, when we meet again here at castle Henderson, and I arrive with my van laden with decorations.” 

Eddie called him three days later, after school had already let out for the day. “Dude, did you know how hard it is to paint bricks on gray paper? I feel like I’m dying here, man.” 

“Is this you asking me for help? I thought you were all, y’know, arts and crafts-y-”

“Steve, please don’t make me ask twice. I live in Forest Hills- once you get here you won’t be able to miss me, I’m the guy in front of his trailer sweating buckets trying to paint giant sheets of gray paper.” 

Steve rolled his eyes fondly. “I don’t think you even asked once, but alright, no need to be so dramatic. Let me change into some painting clothes, I should be there in about twenty minutes.” 

Steve hung up the phone and rushed up to his bedroom, changing into a pair of ratty jeans and an old t-shirt from gym class. He grabbed his keys on his way out the door, and just as Eddie had said, when he pulled up to Forest Hills fifteen minutes later, he knew exactly which trailer was Eddie’s. 

Eddie was knelt on a patch of grass outside his home. There were a few long gray sheets of butcher paper in front of him, and he was covered in various splotches of dark gray, red, and black paint. Steve parked his car nearby and made his way to the makeshift crafting area, his mouth upturned in an amused smile. 

“Y’know you’re supposed to keep the paint on the paper or in the bottles, right? It’s not really supposed to get all over you.”

Eddie’s head shot up when he heard Steve’s voice, and though his expression made him look annoyed, there was a spark of joy in his eyes. “Ha-ha-ha. Laugh it up, Harrington. At least I’m doing work.” 

“Yeah, speaking of which, have you planned the campaign yet? You’re the one who wanted to do this whole ‘immersion' thing, it would kinda suck if we hit it out of the park on immersion with no activity to actually make it… uh, y’know. Immersive.” Steve joined Eddie on the ground as he spoke, grabbing an extra paint brush from a pile nearby, then dipping it into a paper plate of gray paint. 

“You don’t need to worry your pretty little head about that, Stevie. I’ve always got at least three one shots prepped, and there’s one that should be perfect for Dustin and his five friends with a little tweaking. It’s just this painting shit that’s giving me trouble.”

Steve frowned, and couldn’t help but mouth the word ‘pretty’ to himself. 

Eddie Munson called him pretty.

Steve felt his stomach flutter with anxiety, and he elected to ignore it.

Eddie Munson was weird.

“Well… hopefully it’ll go quicker with the two of us working together.” Steve smiled through the one-sided awkwardness he was now feeling. 

Their conversation ended up spiraling into a debate over music for the two hours that it took them to finish up the painting. By the time they were done, the day was turning to night, and Steve’s limbs were aching from the strain of staying in pretty much the same position the entire time they worked. He couldn’t even imagine how Eddie felt by now- but a look at the other man told him that he was probably about ready to fall over. 

Steve helped Eddie clean the brushes off using a nearby faucet, and once everything was packed up, he left to head back home- but not before confirming their meeting time at the Henderson house in a few days and telling Eddie to use dish liquid in the shower to help get the paint off. 

Steve and Eddie ended up arriving at the Henderson home at the same time on Saturday. Eddie still had a few flecks of paint on his nail beds and a stripe of red paint on his cheek, even though it had been three days since their impromptu arts-and-crafts day. Steve raised his eyebrows at Eddie when he noticed it, and received a clipped, “Don’t say anything,” in response. 

Eddie ended up reaching the Henderson’s front door before Steve, and after knocking, was met with an excited-looking Dustin. “Eddie! What are you doing here? Wait- Steve? Do you guys know each other? Did mom invite you over? That’s weird, because we’re supposed to go shopping in, like, ten minutes- so why are you at my house when I’m not gonna be at my house? Is that paint on your cheek?” 

“Uhhh… we- well, I- Steve and me-” 

Steve stepped forward and put his hand on Eddie’s shoulder to cut off his desperate attempt at answering Dustin. “Your mom is having us renovate the garage. We’re painting today, which is why she’s taking you out- because… uh, y’know. Fumes.” 

Dustin crossed his arms, standing immovable in the doorway. “Why is mom having you renovate the garage on my birthday weekend? Also, you didn’t answer my other question- how do you guys know each other?” 

“Dude, we go to school together. It’s a small town, and I can be a social guy when I wanna be. As far as your mom’s reason for having us do this work this weekend- I don’t know how your mom thinks, dude. You should maybe ask her that.” Eddie responded, then slung an arm around Dustin’s shoulders and walked with him into the house. 

Steve followed them, impressed by Eddie’s ability to go from stumbling around the truth to selling the lie. 

They made their way to the kitchen, where Claudia was digging in her purse for something. Her head shot up when she heard Dustin and Eddie enter the room, and a large smile made its way onto her face. 

“Boys! Good to see you. Dustin and I were just heading out. We’ll see you in about three hours, alright?” Claudia slung her purse over her shoulder and pushed past Eddie and Dustin to make her way to the front door. “Come on, Dusty! If we leave now, we’ll have time to swing by the bookstore!” 

Dustin sighed and moved out from under Eddie’s arm, shooting Steve and Eddie one last suspicious look before joining his mom by the front door. A slew of questions poured out of his mouth when he joined her, mostly of him asking why the boys were over, why the garage was getting renovated, and other questions along that line that he was saying too fast for Steve to process. Finally, the front door shut behind them, and the rumble of Ms. Henderson’s car leaving the front driveway signaled to Eddie and Steve that it was time to get to work. 

“I’ve got the big sheets of paper rolled up in the back of the van, and the red dragon decoration thing is in the passenger seat. The rest of the stuff needed for the campaign is in my backpack.” Eddie spoke as he made his way to the front door, and Steve followed behind him once again, rolling up his sleeves as they walked. 

“I have the stuff from the party supply store in the trunk, and the cake is in a cake carrier in the passenger seat. Thanks again for the sketch you drew of that dice thing-y, I think it helped a lot.” 

“Oh, right! The D20? I can’t believe you made a cake of that thing, man. I didn’t even know before this that you baked.” 

Steve shrugged, stopping behind Eddie outside of his van. He took the painted rolls of butcher paper from Eddie as he unloaded the decorations. “My babysitter taught me when I was younger, it’s nice. Calming.” 

Eddie hummed, grabbing the last roll of paper from the back of the van. He shut the doors with a thud, then made his way back to the Henderson house. 

They unloaded Steve’s car next, Eddie grabbing the party store supplies while Steve carefully transported the cake from his car to the fridge. 

They got to work after that, hanging the castle walls they had painted around Ms. Henderson’s dining room, making it look as much like a castle as possible. Steve had purchased red and black streamers from the party store, which he hung on the ceiling to add a bit of color to the room. Once that was done, he and Eddie had to work together to hang the red dragon that Eddie had crafted in the corner of the room. It was clearly homemade, yeah, but Eddie had put a lot of work into it, and it actually looked really cool. It was flat, but he had used black and red paint to create 3D effects on the paper. 

“Y’know Eds, you’re different than I thought you were.” Steve spoke from where he was standing in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, hands on his hips as he took in the transformed space.

Eddie huffed next to him and crossed his arms, clearly offended by Steve’s words. “Gee, thanks Harrington.”

“No- I- shit, that came out wrong. I mean- look, the guys on the basketball team, they would always say so much shit about you. Junkie, burnout, asshole-”

“-You’re not really helping your case here, Stevie-”

“-if you would just listen, I could actually get to my point. What I’m saying is that they’re wrong. They say those things because they don’t understand what it’s like to actually give a shit about something. I didn’t really start to understand that until this last Fall, but the social hierarchy stuff, the conformity that you so proudly protest, that means everything to those guys- for a long time, it meant everything to me, too. In the long run, though? It doesn’t mean shit. You actually care about shit- real shit. You’re fuckin’ talented man, you’re creative as hell. You went to a club fair and met Dustin, and instead of pushing him away or telling him to get a life- which I’m sure most highschoolers would do in your situation after he bugged you three nights in a row- you took him under your wing. You’re a good guy, Eddie.” 

“Huh.” Eddie spoke under his breath, blinking at Steve as he processed the man’s words. “You’re different than I thought you were, too. Even after all the shit that went down with Wheeler earlier this year, I couldn’t believe what everyone was saying- no way The King gave up his crown and started babysitting a bunch of middle schoolers. Yet, here you are. Baking a cake from scratch and giving up hours of time to make sure some random kid has a cool birthday, themed around a thing that you don’t even understand.” 

Steve rolled his eyes and shoved Eddie’s shoulder. “I’ll have you know, I’ve babysat these kids long enough to know what the fuck Dungeons and Dragons is. I just haven’t played it.” 

“You’re an enigma, Steve Harrington- but that’s not a bad thing.” Eddie crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Steve, as if trying to piece him apart with his eyes. 

Steve stepped out of the kitchen doorway and made a show out of looking at his watch. “Ah, shit, look at the time! Dustin’s friends will be here any minute, you should set up for the game, I’m gonna order pizza.” 

“... alright, man. Sounds good.” Eddie moved back to the dining room, taking a seat at the head of the table to begin setting up the oneshot he had planned while Steve got to work ordering pizza. 

Steve ended up being correct- the kids started to arrive a few seconds after he hung up the phone with the local pizza place. They all rushed to Steve, which was predictable, seeing as they hadn’t really met Eddie yet- but after Steve introduced them to the Dungeon Master and told them the plan for Dustin’s birthday, they began to glom onto the guy and ask a million questions about the campaign, high school, and anything else that came to mind. 

Eddie seemed to take the questions in stride and match the kid’s energy with his own. He even got El and Max excited about D&D. Steve wasn’t exactly sure how the kids got Hopper to allow Eleven out of the cabin, but he wasn’t about to ask any questions. Ignorance is bliss, right? 

Dustin and Claudia ended up arriving home shortly after the pizzas arrived. Claudia entered the house first and set the shopping down in the entryway, then led Dustin to the dining room, her hands over his eyes. The entire time, Dustin put up a fuss about his eyes being covered. 

He fell quiet a few seconds later, when her hands fell from his eyes, and all of the kids shouted ‘surprise’! 

Dustin’s grinned when he saw everyone, and he immediately ran to his friends, hugging them as he looked around the room, shocked. “Whoa! Mom, did you do all this? How?”

Claudia put her hands in the air, a knowing smile on her face. “This was all Steve and Eddie, Dusty, I just got them to throw your birthday party.”

Dustin’s smile grew impossibly wider as he rushed across the room to hug Claudia- then turned and hugged Steve, then Eddie. Steve was used to the boy’s hugs by now, but the way Eddie’s eyes grew wide in shock, then a bit glossy as he returned the hug, told Steve that maybe this was Eddie’s first time being hugged by the boy.  

After Dustin finished his round of thank-you’s, the kids ravaged the pizza and got straight into playing the campaign, eager to play with a new DM for the first time. Steve found a spot to watch them from the kitchen while he multi-tasked with cleaning up from the kid’s lunch and getting cake ready. 

Claudia has long since abandoned the group of kids, eager to sort through the shopping she and Dustin had done. About an hour after things started, though, she joined Steve in the kitchen. 

“I can’t thank you boys enough for what you put together. It looks amazing in there, and Dusty looks so happy.” Ms. Henderson kept her voice quiet enough that it wouldn’t travel to the dining room. “I know Dustin doesn’t have too many friends- my boy can be a lot for some people, and I’m not naive to that. Still, he loves the people he has. You and Eddie aren’t exceptions to that. He’s not old enough to remember when Walter passed, but… well, I’m just glad he has you two as role models. Men to look up to, y’know?” 

Steve’s eyes shifted to Eddie as Claudia spoke, and he felt himself grow emotional at her words. “I mean… friends are one thing, Ms. Henderson, but role models? I’m a washed-up jock and Eddie is…” Steve trailed off, frowning to himself. 

“I know what Eddie is, Steve. I’ve heard enough around town. Still, you have to admit, he has a strong work ethic and he’s passionate in the same ways Dustin is. As for you- well, Steve, I’ve put together enough to understand how strong you are, and how fiercely you protect the ones you love. I don’t think I could ask for two better role models for Dustin.” 

“Oh.” Steve felt his cheeks grow warm, and swiped a hand over his eyes to brush away the tears gathering there. “Uh… thank you, Ms. Henderson. That’s really sweet of you to say.” 

“Thank you for being here for my boy. Not just now, not just for this, but for everything you’ve done. It means the world to us.” She pulled Steve into a hug, and Steve hugged her right back. 

“Yeah, of course. He’s…” Steve trailed off, his eyes shifting to the dining room. He could still see Dustin over Claudia’s shoulder. The kid was sitting up on his knees in his chair, practically folded in half as he tried to move one of the figures across the map on the table. “He’s a great kid.” 

Later, after the campaign had ended, after all the kids had their fill of the D20 cake that Steve had baked, after the party was cleaned up, the guests had gone home, and Dustin had gone to bed, Steve found himself leaving the Henderson home with Eddie by his side. 

“I’d say we did a pretty good job for our first time working together, Harrington.” Eddie nudged their shoulders together as they walked to their cars, a playful smirk gracing his features. 

“Yeah, we did do pretty well, didn’t we?” Steve smiled. 

Eddie turned towards his car, apparently heading out, but Steve put his hand on Eddie’s shoulder to stop him. “I know you’re not graduating this year, but- the next gathering with everyone will be a graduation party that Mrs. Byers- Will’s mom- and Ms. Henderson are throwing for me. It’d be cool if you came.” 

Eddie raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You want me at your graduation party?”

Steve shrugged. “It’s not like I have many other friends my age. It’ll be right after the graduation ceremony. I can pick you up on the way, if you want. I’d really like it if you were there.” 

Eddie’s expression turned more vulnerable after that- delicate, breakable. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” 

“Cool.” Eddie swallowed nervously, shoving his hands in his jacket. “I’ll see you then, I guess. You’ll pick me up?” 

Steve nodded, letting his hand drop from Eddie’s shoulder. “I should be to your house around noon, yeah.” 

“Cool.” Eddie repeated, and without another word, darted off to clammer into his van. He was gone from the Henderson household in seconds. 

Steve rolled his eyes fondly at Eddie’s antics, and couldn’t wipe the smile on his face. 

Eddie Munson was a weirdo. 

It was a good thing that Steve liked to collect weirdos.

[villainessprefect]

~Tell It to My Heart~

title: Heedless Hearts

Dialogue #5: “I love you, you idiot!”

Ace x gn!reader

Read on AO3

You're a smart person, really, you are. Ace has seen you solve problems, school related or not, with ease. You're practically a nerd compared to the Heartslabyul duo. Whatever comes your way, you will always find an answer. No matter the cost.

This leads him to wonder if that's what causes you to be reckless all the time. The drive to find a solution, to help someone else who needs it, even at the cost of your own soul. Maybe you weren't all that smart as he thought.

Ace sighs as he looks at your arm. An icicle made a clean cut on your sleeve, slicing it open and brushing against your flesh. Red dared to leak out, but not at an alarming rate.

"Ah," you hiss as your eyes fall on the fresh wound. "I guess I didn't notice this earlier." You wince as you move your arm and opt to let it hang at your side for the time being. "Oh well, it's not the worst that's happened to me."

It's how you say it so nonchalantly that it...bothers him. And he doesn't like the feeling.

"You didn't have to take the hit, ya know? Honestly, it's like you have a death wish or something." Ace shakes his head and grips your arm. He's surprisingly careful, gentle even, as he lifts it up to get a better look. Yeah, it definitely isn't as bad as taking an eel's tail to the gut, but that didn't mean this didn't hurt. "You knew that was meant for me- why did you take it?"

"You were preoccupied." Ace is quick on his feet, and he's got good reflexes, but he isn't invincible. You weren't a target in most magical fights and after watching so many, you think you could pick up on a few tactics these boys resort to. "It would have knocked the wind out of you. Or worse. I got lucky with just a scratch."

You chuckle as if unaware of how your casual tone affects him. Brushing off some light wound that could have been worse right in front of him stings. Maybe you were right about the damage that could have been done, but that doesn't give you the right to sacrifice yourself.

"And if it would have gotten to you instead?" A tinge of anger slips out and he clicks his tongue. He's never been one to hide how he feels, but he dislikes getting angry with you. It makes him feel like shit afterward. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop him from voicing his thoughts. "You said it yourself, you got lucky. What if it was worse?"

You don't respond and your gaze drifts elsewhere. His tone is harsh, almost scolding. But he makes a valid point, as always.

"I'm sorry," you breathe out. "I just wanted to..."

"Help?" He finishes. "I know you want to, but instead of helping others maybe you should, I dunno, help yourself for once? Instead of getting involved and trying to have some savior complex, be selfish for once. Doing all this isn't going to help you in the long run. Besides, do you know how badly it sucks to see you in the infirmary?"

Ace lets out a breath after letting that out. He hates how you seem to curl into yourself, making it look like he is the bad guy here. Is he wrong to point this out? To worry over you? He frees your hand to run a hand through his hair. Guilt is already eating at him as he sees that downcast expression.

He knows you mean well. You're doing your best in a world that isn't your own. But things aren't the same here as in your world. Even he knows that.

"Look," he starts, internally praying that he can save himself. "I get really worried about you, okay? You're like..." Ace shifts, a little uncomfortable. A friend? Yeah. But you're also more than that. "Special."

"Special?" You look up, eyes filled with confusion upon hearing something sweeter after that brutal truth.

"Yes, you're special. In a good way. Even if you do make the cool look uncool. And if you don't believe it, then I'll prove it to you. Cuz I love you, you idiot."

A pause.

Your cheeks turn red.

His mirror yours.

"See? You made me do a totally uncool and unplanned confession."

"...You mean it?"

Ace is almost in disbelief until he remembers his track record. Okay, so maybe a couple of fibs here and there would come back to bite him in the ass, but...seriously?! Maybe he shouldn't have done this, but he needed to make a point and get it through that thick skull of yours somehow.

"Yeah, I mean it. Don't make me repeat it..." Ace clicks his tongue. Now he's feeling shy? Lame. It's nothing he can't shake off though. "So, what? Are you going to believe me now? Maybe take care of yourself a little more cuz you have someone like me in your life. Or are you going to break my heart?" Cue the overly dramatic sad pouting.

"Hey!" You huff. If your arm wasn't injured, you would have playfully hit his. "I...I'll take care of your heart with all of mine."

Ace's act disappears in an instant. "Oh? Are you sure? That's very bold of you to say so~!" He hums. "You can gush about how much you'll take care of me while we bandage up your silly little mistake. And I'm not taking no for an answer!"

[fangirl-docintraining]

in the most recent chapter you mentioned it being close to thanksgiving, so i assume halloween has already passed, what do u think everyone dressed as? (but especially betty and darry, i feel like betty would wanna do some dorky cute matching costume lmao)

Okay okay yes I love this I’ll try my best but tbh it’s a bit tricky cause all of my ideas are like modern media and I’m like idkkkk what they dressed up for in the late 60’s hehe but I’ll do at least some headcannons

Two Bit loves Halloween, he loved to go trick or treating when he was younger. Now he stays at the house after he takes his little sister trick or treating and let me tell you he decks his house out with all the decorations he can get his hands on. It’s the most popular house in the neighborhood.I feel like he would do a classic Disney character as a costume

Dally is not dressing up and he will claim he doesn’t like Halloween (he does) but he likes to help jump scare kids at Two Bit’s house, it’s the only time he can do this with it getting in trouble lol

Johnny and Ponyboy would probs dress up together if they did but they’re kinda in that awkward teen boy phase where I can’t decide if they’d think it’s too “uncool” to dress up for Halloween but I think they’re in on Dally and Two Bit’s shenanigans for sure

Steve and Soda would probs come up with costumes for them to show off so I’m gonna say they dress up as surfer guys with some Hawaiian shirts unbuttoned 😂 The DX does VERY well with customers that day hehe

Okay I’m sorry this is such a LAME answer but I have no clue if Darry and Betty would dress up for Halloween. They’re def busy and it’s not like highest priority for them but they 10000% are handing out candy and so I feel like Betty would slap together something cute last minute but I’m honestly open to suggestions (modern AU different story, Betty is def LOCKED in on that shit)

My cutest idea is Betty definitely dresses up Pip by using an old sheet with cutouts and making him a ghost dog so he is VERY happy to get all the pats and attention from everyone every time they answer the front door lol. Honestly he’s the star of the show. Idk if yall have ever seen the video of the girl who painted her black lab with some pet safe glow in the dark paint and when you turn off the light it’s a glow in the dark skeleton dog it’s amazing and also that’s something I could see her doing

[knuffled]

not so bad - chapter 8

last chapter of the punk!percy fic! hope you all enjoy

ao3 link

Saturday, six on the dot. Annabeth sat in her car in the parking lot outside Sally’s and drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. She had to reign in the itch to glance at her phone, which laid face up in the passenger’s seat, in case Percy texted her. When she got to the restaurant, she’d shot him a text letting him know that she was there, and he’d replied that he’d be out in a few minutes. It had only been a minute or two since then, but the wait felt intolerable to her.

The last time she’d been on a date was a total trainwreck. She’d been a sophomore going out with a college freshman named Luke, which should have been enough to clue her in to the fact that she was dealing with a creep, but in her hubris, she’d thought he saw something special in her, recognized her maturity even. In the end, it was because he’d assumed Annabeth was impressionable and easy, mistakenly so considering she had ditched him at the restaurant under the pretense of needing to use the restroom.

She didn’t have fears that her date with Percy would be like that, but in the three minutes she sat there, she became woefully aware of her own lack of dating experience. It had never mattered to her before, but she didn’t want to come across as lame and uncool in front of someone as effortlessly debonair as Percy.

Oof. Debonair. An SAT word. Definitely lame and uncool.

Annabeth peeked down at the outfit Piper had helped her choose: a billowy, black shirt-like blouse and a pair of high-waisted white pants. Even she had to admit the outfit looked good, but now that she had time to languish in her own mental prison, she wasn’t sure it would be to Percy’s taste. Annabeth buried her face in her hands. God, she should’ve gone with something more fun and casual.

A knock on her window made Annabeth jolt in her seat. It was Percy, motioning for her to roll down her window, so she did. As he rested a forearm against the doorframe and leaned in, the scent of his cologne caught her off guard and made her face prickle.

She shook her head to physically dispel her thoughts and said, “H-Hey.”

“Hey yourself,” Percy said, smiling. “I was thinking I could drive tonight, but I’ll leave it up to you.”

“Uh, yeah, no, that’s fine by me,” Annabeth said.

“Cool!” Percy said, straightening. “You can just leave your car here in the lot then.”

Annabeth nodded and turned off the ignition before grabbing the keys and her purse. Percy rocked on his heels, hands in his pockets, and grinned at her when she got out of the car. As they started walking, Annabeth took a second to get a proper look at him since she’d been too frazzled to before. He was wearing a black bomber jacket over a plain white t-shirt and a pair of black chinos. It was almost unfair how good he looked with such a simple outfit, like James Dean or something.

He must have noticed her staring because he coughed surreptitiously. “Am I too underdressed or something? I can head inside and change real quick?”

“Oh, no, you look good,” Annabeth said quickly. “Great actually.”

“Yeah?” Percy asked, ducking his chin. “Well, I think you’ve got me beat in the outfit department. You look, um- spectacular.”

It was a little pathetic how giddy that made her feel. “T-Thanks.”

Percy shot her a boyish smile that she couldn’t help returning. When they came to a stop in front of a blue Prius, Annabeth couldn’t help giving him a little shit.

“Who would’ve thought,” Annabeth drawled. “Percy Jackson drives a Prius.”

“It gets good mileage, okay?” Percy protested, his face turning pink. “And it’s environmentally friendly!”

Annabeth bit back a smile and shrugged. “Just seems like an odd fit for a brooding, bad boy-type.”

Percy rolled his eyes and opened the passenger’s side door for her, which was such an antiquated, chivalrous thing to do that it made her swoon just a little bit. He waited until she was settled before sliding into the driver’s seat and starting the car. As they pulled out of the lot, Percy reached to turn on some music out of habit, but a Nirvana riff blared through the speakers so loudly it felt like getting hit in the face with a shovel. He immediately shut it off, but Annabeth laughed at the way his cheeks flushed.

He ruffled his hair and muttered, “Sorry. Forgot I had it turned up that loud.”

“Was that Territorial Pissings?”

Percy turned to her, eyebrows raised. “You know that song?”

Annabeth nodded. “Yeah, one of my stepbrothers, Bobby, is obsessed with Nirvana. He got a guitar for his birthday, and he’s trying to learn their songs.”

He gave an innocuous look and asked, “And how has that been?”

“Awful,” Annabeth admitted. “Like, hearing a total newbie butcher Nirvana riffs on a shitty practice amp is miserable, especially when their bedroom is right to yours.” “Yeah, I’ll bet,” Percy said, laughing. “What kind of music do you listen to?”

“I like a lot of stuff.”

“C’mon, that’s a cop out answer,” Percy said. “Give me a guilty pleasure song.”

“I don’t believe in guilty pleasure songs,” Annabeth said, shrugging.

He gave her a sidelong glance. “Hmm, I can see that, considering you’re the heathen that puts pineapple on pizza. Shame probably isn’t in your vocabulary.”

Annabeth snorted with laughter, which made him smile. There was something so easy about talking to him. They must have driven for at least a half hour, but it felt like five minutes passed because the conversation flowed so well between them. Annabeth had seen in movies or heard from Piper that chemistry was important when it came to romance, but she’d never known what that meant. The idea of magically clicking with someone, feeling effortlessly seen and understood, sounded like a fantasy. At the very least, it wasn’t something she ever thought would happen to her. And yet, here she was, talking to this gorgeous boy that she hadn’t even known four months ago, and she suddenly understood what Piper had meant.

Eventually, Percy pulled into a parking lot and opened the door for her again. Annabeth tried to ignore the heat of his hand on the small of her back as he guided her inside the building. It was an indoor mini-golf course.

When Annabeth glanced at him, Percy shrugged and said, “A little cliché, I know, but you’re a competitive person so I figured getting your ass kicked is probably your love language.”

Annabeth barked a laugh. “Oh, is that right? You sound awfully confident.”

His eyes twinkled. “Only a little bit.”

They got a pair of clubs and spent the better part of two hours taking a child’s game far too seriously. True to his word, Percy did end up kicking her ass, but Annabeth did a damn good job for a first-timer. By his own admission, she would have won if they’d played as beginners. Still, it was a ton of fun since Annabeth tended to scare people off by being too intense and competitive, but instead that seemed to attract Percy, not push him away.

After mini-golf, they went back to the restaurant, which Sally closed early for the night on account of their date. Percy took her back into the kitchen and tossed her an apron, which surprised her.

“Uh, what’s this for?” “We’re gonna make a pizza for each other that we think the other person would like.” Percy shrugged off his jacket and tied his apron behind his back with practiced ease. “And it goes without saying, but no pineapple on mine, please.”

Annabeth toyed with the apron’s strands. “Uh, I should let you know, I’m kind of a walking disaster in the kitchen.”

Percy waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be watching you every step of the way.”

Despite her apprehension, Annabeth nodded and slipped on her apron. Percy grabbed some dough that had already been proofing in the fridge and showed her how to flatten it into an oblong disk with a rolling pin. He tossed them into the air himself since Annabeth stood a snowball’s chance in hell of pulling that off. After that, he showed her how to ladle the sauce and distribute cheese, but he let her have free reign over the remaining toppings. Since it was a secret, they worked at other ends of the kitchen, but Percy ultimately put the pizzas in the wood-fire oven, although he made a show of closing his eyes so he wouldn’t see her toppings.

Within a minute or two, Percy fished their pizzas out and cut them. Percy’s pizza for her was sausage and black olive, and her pizza for him was Calabrian chilis and feta.

Percy took a bite of a slice and made a sound of surprise. “Wow, this is great. I’ve never tried this combo before.”

“I had it once at a restaurant back when I lived in San Francisco,” Annabeth said. “It was one of my favorites there. I didn’t know you guys had Calabrian chili’s here, otherwise I would have ordered it.”

Percy nodded and then motioned for her to try hers as well. “It’s delicious.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Percy said, smiling. “Ever since I was a kid, if I was having a bad day or we were celebrating something or just because, my Ma would make a sausage and olive pie for me. It’s my favorite food.”

“It’s a good choice,” Annabeth said softly. “Could be improved with some pineapple though.”

That made him shake with laughter, and something about the sight of him sitting on the countertop, hiding his smile behind a hand like it wasn’t worth seeing, stirred something in her.

She craned up to kiss him, catching him by surprise. Instead of melting into the kiss, he broke away and met her eyes with a hard look on his face.

Panic and hurt rushed through her, but Percy whispered, “This- look, I know you only meant it as a joke earlier, but this isn’t all to like fulfill some bad boy fantasy or something, right?”

“It’s not, Percy,” Annabeth said quickly. “Why would you think that?”

He averted his gaze and said, “I, uh, have had bad experiences in the past with girls like building this weird idea of me in their heads, and then they’d get disappointed that I wasn’t what they wanted me to be. And like, that’s fine, but I really, really like you Annabeth, and I- I’m not sure-”

“Hey, listen to me,” Annabeth said, putting a hand on his cheek. “I like you. Like a lot. It’s honestly a little scary how much. The whole bad boy thing was an insensitive thing to say, I didn’t mean that, and I promise that’s not what I like about you or even how I think of you, okay?”

“Okay,” Percy whispered. He pulled her closer to him, hands resting on her hips, and put his forehead against hers. “Sorry for fucking up our first kiss.”

Annabeth breathed a laugh and leaned in to steal a kiss. “Oh, don’t worry about that. We have plenty of time to make up for it.”

[altocat]

Its absolutely freezing rn for me so how do AGSZC do with cold/what do they do?

Angeal: Wears five layers of protective clothing. Looks completely ridiculous waddling down the hall in twelve different jackets but he's the only one on the floor who ISN'T shivering so good for him.

Sephiroth: He's extremely durable in almost every type of temperature and weather but also REFUSES to leave his bed. He spends all his free time huddling under the sheets glaring at everyone. Attempting to drag him from his blanket fortress might result in actual murder.

Genesis: Skilled with fire magic and is perfectly capable of keeping himself warm but would honestly rather loudly complain about it the entire time because he knows it annoys them. Is comically posing and bewailing his discomfort all over the main lounge before snickering because people are practically BEGGING him to burn something. Angeal gives him PERMISSION to be destructive for once.

Zack: Goes shirtless and charges out into the rain and ice. He can BEAT the cold! He can radiate enough sunshine boy energy to conquer this impregnable foe! He gets the flu for an entire month afterwards and cries while Aerith pets him.

Cloud: His mother made him a hand-knit sweater from home, complete with his name stitched on the front because baby boy. But because he doesn't want to look uncool, he never wears it. He joins Zack on his Flu Cruise within days, partly because he didn't swallow his pride and bundle up, and partly because Zack kept hugging him.

[milimeters-morales]

part two of that autistic miles oneshot under the readmore! All warnings and pairings still apply ^_^

Word Count: 6k+

Miles loves animals. That’s a known fact. Spider-Man also loves animals. This is a slightly less known fact, but still known by a good amount of people. 

“Thank you so much, Spider-Man,” a parent tells him as he cradles two kittens he rescued from getting ran over by traffic, “I don’t even know how they escaped-”

The kittens meow, finally giving Miles a good reason to look down. The people’s gazes are very heartwarming in a sense, but it was too much emotion for Miles. The parent keeps talking, the child reaching out for the kittens that Miles refuses to hand over until he has to.

Miles smiles warmly, lenses squinting in delight as one kitten tries to paw at his chin. How cute! 

If these kittens were his, he’d name them Coffee and Cocoa. They’re very pretty as well, with spiky brown coats, one of them with faint tabby markings on the legs, and with the most vibrant green eyes he’s ever seen on an animal. They would fit in the palm of his hands if they were curled up, and their pink little bell collars only add to the cuteness. 

“-and we’ll put up a baby gate for them, I promise. Now, what do you say, honey?” Miles catches the last part of the parent’s sentence as they place a hand on the kid’s shoulder.

“Thank you Mr. Spider-Man,” the kid tells him with all the intensity and sincerity only toddlers could manage while covered in syrup and dressed in pajamas, and goes to reach for the kittens again.

The kittens meow loudly as the parent swoops in before the sticky hands can touch their delicate fur, and Miles… 

Okay, don’t tell anybody this. Not even Ganke. Actually, especially not Ganke. It’s a bit embarrassing, and he really doesn’t want this to be a running joke the other boy brings up when they’re supposed to be focusing in class, and end up getting them in trouble again. Also, he doesn’t want Ganke to think he’s uncool. Okay? Okay.

So.

Miles meows at the two. Not the two kittens, no, because that's the normal and socially acceptable response in public when you see two kittens meowing and calling out to you. No, Miles Gonzalo Morales, someone who’s literally saved his world (twice!), meowed at the two people in front of him.

“Oh my god,” he immediately tries to start apologizing, but the parent bursts out into laughter when the kid starts meowing back at him. 

This is supposed to be a fun, happy moment. Silly and lighthearted. Spider-Man meowing and a kid meowing back after saving their kittens from death. Miles knows this, and that somehow makes the feeling of shame and…disgust, he realizes, at himself even worse.

But he laughs with the parent, and then the kid, because he knows he’s supposed to. He’s seen enough shows and been around enough people throughout his life to know something that obvious. But in all honesty, he just wants to curl up somewhere, and bite down, slam his head on something, throw himself into a few walls-

And he knows that’s not a normal reaction either, so he just feels more embarrassed as he laughs with the two and waves goodbye. Thank god for the mask, right?

___

Pavitr isn’t a surface hard enough to slam his head on, or throw himself onto to feel something else other than the embarrassment, but at least he can give Miles the pressure he needs.

“I’m just saying, that’s not a normal reaction. Have you ever thought of getting some chew toys?”

He’s not a dog, Pavitr.

“Not like that! I meant one of those chew necklaces, or a fidget toy, just to keep yourself uh… stable. Because you jumping to solutions like that? That is not very stable!”

Miles says nothing. He knew it wasn’t normal, and hearing someone else say it wasn’t stable was something he was always prepared for. Well, sort of prepared for. It stung only a little hearing it, and he knows Pavitr didn’t mean to imply anything too bad, but he was right anyway.

“I tend to be,” Pavitr says, rubbing comforting circles on his back. 

Their legs are intertwined, both in their suits and laying in a web-hammock high above the noise of the city. The stars are much more visible the higher you go, and Pavitr’s been taking the time to point out constellations that Miles doesn’t know the meaning of. He keeps getting off track when the legend he’s telling Miles reminds him of something he did back in his universe, and Miles finds it a bit endearing. Ganke does the same thing, though he manages to circle back to his original point fairly easily.

“I’ll buy you one. Any of us could, really! It’s no big thing. Anyway, it sounds like you just need to meow more, because I can sense you have something to say. And you keep mouthing it on my chest.”

Miles groans quietly and tries not to dig his fingernails into Pavitr as he’s reminded of the events from earlier that day.

Miles goes to groan a bit more dramatically so Pavitr doesn’t think he worsened the mood, because out of everyone he’s met, Pavitr is the most socially awkward. Not even in a nervous wreck way, he’s just so earnest and eager to share what he thinks, that he doesn’t always read the room correctly. But they balance each other out, because Miles always over-reads a room (is that even a thing? Someone let him know) and ends up really anxious about saying the right thing. It’s been happening less and less with each passing day, but the fact that it’s an issue at all…

Anyway, the groan doesn’t come out right. Like, at all. In fact, it’s more like a trilling noise that cats make. 

Patches of himself dance in and out of visibility for the most tense five seconds of Miles’s life, until Pavitr’s lenses squint happily. “You can do that too?! Lucky, I’m so jealous!” he gushes.

Huh?

“Yeah, Gwen and Hobie sometimes do that! You don’t know how badly I want to be able to- to just make a noise that people know means I’m happy without having to constantly smile or actually find the words for,” Pavitr rushes out, fully removing his arms from around Miles to hold his hands between their chest, bringing their foreheads together for a quick second. “That’s the most I can really do, that and hugs, to get my point across when I’m too tired for words.”

Miles wants to ask a lot of questions, mainly “why are you happy about this”, “why aren’t you pushing me away in disgust”, and “can you go back to hugging me”, but he settles for, “what do you mean you can’t do that?”

Too bad his brain loves not listening to him. 

He meows, and this time his camouflage kicks in completely. 

“You’re asking why I can’t make those noises?”

Well, he did say he was good at reading people, Miles thinks.

“I can’t believe I never told you! I didn’t get bitten, my powers are magic,” Pavitr exclaims happily, “yeah, this yogi blessed me, so I don’t actually have spider DNA or other stuff.”

Miles meows again, a questioning tone seeping in. (God, he won’t hear the end of this.)

“Yeah, the DNA! Y’know, how Hobie has glowing organic webs because his spider was SUPER messed up but he can’t use them because he’s not entirely healthy? So he uses the webshooters?”

No, he didn’t know that. God, he’s barely asked about Pavitr’s and Hobie’s pasts… he figured they didn’t bring it up for a reason, and he never felt the need to pry.

“Well, I don’t know if you wanna talk about the other guy,” Pavitr says, voice now a mumble as he makes a clawing motion to reference Miguel, “but it’s kinda like that. Except, uh, the opposite? Sorry if it doesn’t really make sense, I’m getting tired.”

Miles meows again, quieter to match Pavitr’s volume. 

“The purring too. I know the meowing itself isn’t a spider-thing, but I’m 99% sure the purring is, so if you ever start doing that around me, don’t be afraid.”

Right. Okay, yeah. Pavitr’s a sweet guy, he wouldn’t make fun of him about something that he was really insecure (that word felt too weak to describe how he felt) about.

“I mean, maybe you won’t make those- oh okay, well uh-“

A quiet rumbling comes from his chest. Pavitr goes silent and rubs more comforting circles into his back until Miles slowly reappears.

Pavitr wasn’t making fun of him, or secretly thinking of him as some sort of freak who can’t speak like a normal human, Miles knew that. He knew Pavitr better than that, and it was almost insulting to think of the other boy like that. He knows this already.

“I can’t keep talking, okay, so… just… keep purring? It’s super calming,” Pavitr mumbles as he buries his face into the crook of the other’s neck, “I can’t talk anymore. Sorry.”

Miles feels a very brief rush of emotion at the request and the admission, none of which he can name (as per usual), and the purring gets stronger.

___

Hobie chats up the smoking line cook in the back of the hole-in-the-wall Miles likes to frequent on particularly rough days as he orders his food. He can hear their conversation through the walls, and is annoyed by Hobie when he isn’t even involved in the conversation. 

“Who would win, a thousand rats, or five bears on cocaine?”

Miles tries to tune out Hobie’s questions as he orders their food.

It doesn’t really work, and he’s pretty sure the lady taking his order at the counter wonders why he looks so pissed off.

Walking outside and going around the back to drag Hobie away from the poor line cook he’s tormenting with stupid questions. “But you can’t even mix benadryl with-” Miles hears Hobie arguing now, and just grabs him by the collar and tugs him out of the alley.

“I got our food, let’s eat,” he tells the taller boy, who’s busy slapping his hand away and lightly punching his shoulder.

They decide to eat on the steps of a random apartment building near his own. He feels the steam condensing and dripping water into his palms and grimaces.

“What’s that frown for? Food ain’t good?” Hobie asks him around a mouth full of rice and honey chicken.

“Nah, just don’t like the feeling,” Miles says, taking the broccoli and meat out of the rice and putting them in small piles. He scowls at the juice from the meat mixing with the broccoli, and the juices from both soaking the rice with an unbalanced ratio of vegetable flavoring to meat flavoring… it’s silly. It’ll still get eaten, if the look in Hobie’s eyes means anything.

“Are you gonna eat that?” Hobie asks him, getting closer and pointing at the broccoli pile with his fork (which was missing a tine, for some reason).

“Probably not. I don’t think I’m hungry,” Miles tells him, still focused on trying to separate the carrots from the rice. Man, why didn’t he just stick with his usual order?

“I need a yes or no, mate,” Hobie tells him, pulling his fork back.

“But I don’t know, I don’t really get hungry.”

“What?” Hobie looks properly confused, and not in his usual dry “I know you’re lying to me but the lie was so bad it’s intriguing” way, but genuinely. 

“Yeah,” Miles says, feeling more and more embarrassed even though he knows the last person he should feel embarrassed around is Hobie. But he’s just so… cool, in so many ways that Miles isn’t. He doesn’t want him to think he’s weird and just avoid him. Or worse, convince other people to avoid him.

Stop it, he’d never do that to me, Miles pleads. The memory of him meowing last week tries to wash over him, but he beats it back with a stick, forcing his happiest moments to replay in his mind and keeping his hands still so he doesn’t try to bite them. Pavitr wouldn’t judge him, Hobie wouldn’t judge him. Not now, not now, not now , he begs his brain. Behave. Be normal. You’re fine.

“I just… I guess I don’t ever really feel hungry. Like, I get hungry after too long, but I only really know when it’s been that long when the headaches and cramps start. Or the dizziness and all that,” Miles explains, voice getting meeker with each word. Be cool, Morales. For your own sake, just be cool.

“How often are you eating?” Hovie immediately asks him, a hard look in his eye. 

Oh. He’s worried about- “No, look- I’m fine. I eat at the right times y'know, I’m supposed to. Breakfast in the morning, lunch in the afternoon, dinner in the evenings, maybe a midnight snack. So I’m good, you don’t have to worry about me.”

Hobie lets out a (relieved?) sigh, “And what about the times you forget to?“

“Oh, I just don’t get the signal until it gets bad, I guess.”

Hobie stares at him until Miles feels like he’s ready to crawl into the sewers and hide there forever, so he uses the passing of someone exiting the building as an excuse to look away and focus back on his food. 

“So how long has it been since you last ate?” Hobie asks him.

Miles has to count on his fingers, and apparently that action alone is enough for Hobie, because he just huffs and waves his hand for him to stop. “Just eat.”

Miles decides to stop separating the food and shovels a forkful in his mouth, still ending up feeling a little embarrassed.

___

“Ms. Spider-Man, why are you standing like Barbie?” a young girl asks him after he catches her from falling off the balcony. He’s standing on the wall making sure she goes back inside, and looks down. Right.

He’s on his tiptoes again. Clearing his throat, he flattens his feet against the brick, suppressing the strange shudder the sudden shift caused.

“Sometimes I just walk like that,” he tells her.

“Oh. Okay. Bye,” she says nonchalantly as she goes back into the building. 

Miles wishes all conversations were that easy. Children are way easier to talk to than other people, and that’s a prime example. They have a question, they ask that question, that question gets answered, and they’re (usually) fine and go about their business. 

Is that so bad? 

___

Miles is shirtless, sprawled on the couch and staring blankly at the ceiling, occasionally having to move his limbs when Ganke feels like checking the couch for the billionth time might reveal the missing lego piece he’s looking for. It’s a rare day where he and his parents are both home, so he invited Ganke over to make sure he doesn’t lose his mind in this heat paired with his parents being sappy and grossly in love in the kitchen. Why Ganke decided it was the perfect temperature and moment to start moving shit around and rearrange Miles’s limp body to check between couch cushions in search of missing lego pieces, Miles will never know.

He tries to listen to music loud enough to drown out the sound of his parents talking, and the feeling of his shorts scratching his skin. It was maddening, but it’s not like he could walk around in his underwear. He could in his room of course, but there isn’t an AC in there to keep him cool, and opening the window would be useless in the heat.

Seeing Ganke say something, Miles pauses his music. “What?”

“I was just saying how you’re fine with super loud music only when you’re the one listening to it with your headphones. Otherwise it’s like you’re being- what did you say? Stabbed in the head?” Ganke gives him a quizzical once-over before returning to check under the couch. “Would your parents be mad if I moved this?”

“Oh,” Miles says, “yeah, I don’t really know how that works either. And it wasn’t stabbed, it was hit repeatedly with a blunt object.”

“Same thing.”

“So not the same thing, and don’t move the couch, you’ll probably unearth a government secret and put us all on a list because you thought it was a good idea to show your Glitch chat,” Miles scoffs playfully, making unpausing his music obvious with loud taps so Ganke can tell in case he has anything else to say. 

“That was one time, how was I supposed to…” Ganke’s voice trails off as the song increases in volume again.

But seriously, why did he do that? Loud, sudden, and repetitive noises were the bane of his existence on one of his bad days, and extremely annoying to the point of anger and watery eyes on his bests. He usually wanted to break something if someone else was clicking their pen, or tear out his hair and bite into something if they were talking too loud to him, but when he was making the noises, he felt perfectly fine. Better, in fact. 

There was a time, he thinks, when he was around eight or nine. He couldn’t have been older than that because he lost a tooth to a car door when he was ten, and he doesn’t remember that feeling then. There were guests over, maybe his mom or dad’s friends from work and some family members coming to congratulate him on graduating some grade at the top of his class? Anyway, Miles wasn’t enjoying it. He hid in his room and under his covers with his hands practically glued to his ears and his eyes squeezed shut. They were all talking so loud, and when he was out in the kitchen fixing his plate of food, he could hear everyone chewing, smell their colognes and perfumes, and don’t get him started on the one lady with the high-pitched laugh. He hated, absolutely hated , how shrill it sounded, it made his arms feel like they were made of jelly as a cold chill ran through him each time. He didn’t say anything though, because his parents raised him better than that, and it was mean. Even eight-or-nine year old Miles could understand that, though it took a while getting there.

When he sat down and began to eat, his fork scraped his teeth in the first bite. He gagged quietly and ran to his room, scratching at his arms and biting down on nothing repeatedly. He wanted to scream, but he wasn’t going to draw attention and make everyone worried. He wanted to tear at his face and hair until it all came off, he wanted to bash his head in the wall until he couldn’t feel anything, he wanted to just crawl out of his body. He didn’t want to feel what it felt, that awful, repulsive, spine-chilling feeling of silverware against his two front teeth. He couldn’t breathe, and curling into a ball against his bedroom door once he escaped the front area didn’t help. He rapidly tapped his nails on the floor as he tried to search for any solution.

Which led to him curled up tightly in his covers with his hands over his ears and his nails digging into his skin. He tensed his entire body up the second he wrapped the covers around him, constricting not too unlike a snake that has caught prey but with all the care of his father’s hugs after he made him proud, and curled his toes as if it would change anything. He found that biting his lip helped, but his mother wasn’t too pleased with that when she found him a few minutes later, wondering where her little boy had gone.

Her singing a calming tune that she usually sang to get him to sleep as a baby didn’t help at all now.

She sighed, and Miles expected her to tell everyone to leave and that the party was over because Miles was too upset over nothing, but she came back a few moments later and put some headphones over his head in place of his hands.

“They were a gift me and your father were going to give you tonight,” she whispered with a small smile, pressing a button on a silver ipod nano, and music filled Miles’s ears. He felt his eyelids start drooping immediately, his shoulders slacked, and could feel all his senses slowly going back down to 5, instead of the 11 they were dialed up to. The song drowned out everything in the world, erasing all the reminders of the loud people, disgusting feelings, and violent thoughts.

“Come get us when you’re feeling better, okay?” 

Miles nodded, incapable of doing much else, and his mother kissed his forehead before quietly leaving the room.

Of course, he can’t afford to be like that as Spider-Man, so he mostly suppressed those negative feelings when he could. He hears all that stuff all the time now anyway with his enhanced senses, so he’s just going to have to deal with it. It’s not even as bad as it was when he was a kid, it’s way easier for him to grit his teeth and keep pushing compared to all those years ago.

But the control that comes with his music sort of… cancels out, he guesses, the negative effects that the noises give him. He’s in charge of what plays, when it plays, at what volume, and at what speed. If he’s in control of the noise then it’s not bad. If he isn’t, then it’s bad. Simple as that.

“Yeah, I see it that way too,” his father’s voice is muffled but still close enough to make Miles jump.

The man laughs and thumps him on the shoulder. Miles cringes at the feeling of the cold sweat making contact and lightly shoves the man’s hand off with a smile.

___

Miles stayed up late in his bunk, staring wide eyed at the screen. He had finally decided to look up all of his symptoms, something his mother and friends always told him not to do very often unless he wanted to discover he had a rare type of brain cancer, and was surprised by what he saw.

10 Signs Your Child Has Autism (And How To Cope)

Is My Son Autistic? Twenty Ways To Deal With Food Avoidance In Autistic Toddlers

Sensory Overload and Sensory Processing Disorder

Autism in Girls V.S. Boys 

Am I Autistic Quiz (Real Answers)

Signs Of Autism & When To Call Your Doctor

Why Are Autistic Girls Less Diagnosed Than Autistic Boys?

He turns off his phone and goes to bed.

___

Crawling back into the dorm after a long night, Miles pulls off his mask and lays down next to Ganke, who’s still playing his game. “Hobie, can I ask you something?”

“I’m asleep,” Hobie says from his sprawl on Miles’s bunk. The older boy must have snuck in while he was out and Ganke didn’t try to chase him out this time.

“Are you autistic?“

“Do it look like I’d care mate?” A boot falls off and hits Ganke’s leg, making him grumble in annoyance. Miles leans into him and rubs his arm until Ganke gets the hint and wraps it around the boy, not once taking his eye off the screen. 

Miles rolls his eyes. “And you, Ganke?”

“Probably. Mom said it’s ADHD but I don’t really care,” the boy mumbles in response, subconsciously leaning back into Miles, “not like it’d change anything.”

Miles smiles. That’s true, Ganke probably doesn’t care about anything like that. He’s always pretty chill when it comes to people- actually, that might not be the right word. He can be pretty harsh or wired, but everything he says is in a tired and chill way. “Remember that time you told me you hoped I died because I accidentally spilled sriracha all over your new pants?” Miles asks him, smiling at the memory.

Ganke laughs fondly, “Oh yeah, man I looked like I bled through and just never noticed. You were so lucky we were in here, I would have killed you if I had to walk across the cafeteria with sauce all on me.”

“Aw, you wouldn’t’ve done that. You love me too much to kill me.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“You do.”

Another boot drops on Ganke’s leg, and a pocket knife falls out of it when it hits the ground. Hobie grumbles from above, “Shut it, you two. I got a long day at the office tomorrow. Gotta bring home the bacon for the missus and youngins.”

“Hobie said shut up.”

“Really? I didn’t hear him,” Miles says, feeling himself slipping as he watched Peter (who looked very young in this game for some reason) fight some black-and-white guy in a suit. Huh. Would people make a game about him when he died? With the made-up villains? Would they put Ganke in the game?

Ganke slightly turns his head so his lips brush against Miles’s forehead for the briefest of seconds, bringing him back to reality before he fully zoned out, and tells him, “If they do, I’ll make sure they know to include your Strawberry Shortcake pajama sets.”

Miles brings his knees up to his chest, a quiet purr starting up as Peter proceeds to get his ass handed to him in a train car. Yikes.

___

“Are you autistic?” Miles asks Gwen.

“No, she’s just blonde,” answers Pavitr. 

“Shut up,” Gwen lightly punches Pavitr, still enough to send him flying across the roof, “No, I don’t have anything going on. Why?���

Miles wipes some blood from his lip. “I was just wondering. Let’s keep going,” he says, a bit breathless.

Gwen places a hand on her hip and asks him, “You sure? You look kind of tired. I get that we just started trying this out and all, but you don’t have to force yourself to join.”

The sparring meetups let him get rid of his energy, and the feeling of the punches that almost hurt remind him of where he is.The chokeholds that are tight against his throat make his lungs burn and that burn makes him feel all the more real. The body-slamming forces his mind to stop its aimless floating away from him and to keep track of what damage is being done. The rare moments of skin-to-skin contact are like moments of pure clarity, and he can’t lose that.

In the end, when he’s sweaty and exhausted, he feels human again. Normal. Right.

“I’m sure.”

___

During lunch, Ganke places a necklace on his lap. It had a dark red guitar pick-shaped object on what looked like a pretty long piece of dental floss.

“Pavitr wanted me to give this to you since he couldn’t find you,” Ganke tells him, “and he said to wash it before and after each time you use it.”

“Is this what I think it is?” he asks around a mouth of rice. 

“Chew necklace. We wanted to give you something else to bite instead of yourself,” Ganke gestures to the bandages on his arms that were barely visible. Miles pulls down his sleeve with a frown. Those were from last night, when his brain wouldn’t give him a break and kept making him think about all the sensations he hates, and his friend patched him up. Again.

Are Ganke’s eyebags getting worse?

Miles looked a bit skeptical. He saw a picture of one a few days ago, when he was at Gwen’s and researching more autistic traits. He'll definitely be looked at funny if he ever used it though, he just knows it. Sure, people chew on their pens and pencils, even he sometimes did that, but using basically a teething toy felt slightly insulting. The very sight of it makes it look right out of a children’s book, and it’s an uncomfortable weight on his thigh, reminding him of how different, in the bad way, he was compared to everybody else. He rolls his eyes at the unnecessary reminder.

“I’m not using that,” he tells him, taking another bite of his (actually Ganke’s, who was already full from the totally allowed and not-against-the-rules outing for breakfast they took) lunch. It was a good thing Ganke naturally liked to separate his foods a lot too.

“Too bad. You can’t keep self-cannibalizing yourself-” 

“Okay wow, that’s a little much-“

“-and expecting to be fine. Isn’t your mom a nurse? What about long lasting nerve-damage, or if you bite into an artery? Or if you start biting random people because your own self isn’t enough? You ever thought of that?” Ganke asks him, not looking up from his… whatever he’s doing on his laptop.

I don’t have to think about it if I already did that, thank you very much , Miles thinks. He keeps chewing, his frown growing more and more prominent by the second. “I’m not gonna bite people. I’m not like…” he tries to save some face with the lie, but trails off. He doesn’t wanna think about Miguel.

Ganke side eyes him. “Like what?”

Miles shakes his head. “Nothing. Nobody. Just go back to threatening random people in a children’s game or something,” he says, finishing up the last of the lunch. He’s probably going to have to eat really soon again with the stupidly enhanced metabolism.

“Dude, just take the necklace and try it, because if you start biting me, I don’t care how cute you are, I’m kicking your ass,” Ganke tells him with no real heat in his voice.

Miles cracks a smile against his will, and puts the necklace in his pocket. 

___

Dear Diary,

I’ve been looking online for some stories people have about their autism and how they figured it out, and apparently my organizing and oversensitivity is like a number one sign??? I thought it was just a little habit i picked up from mami and dad? And the spider senses is probably causing those other issues. And I don’t think i’m autistic but I could probably use the things they do to calm myself down or make life a bit more bearable. 

-organizing things

-a lot of stimming

-speech issues 

-hearing issues

-pressure ← try and finally ask for weighted blanket or save money

It’s a start i guess, and then I can bring it up to my dad as Spider-Man THEN mami THEN dad (important order don’t mess this up Morales). Anyway good note to end the entry on: Ganke kissed my forehead and he does that a lot but this time he said he was proud of me out of nowhere and said he’s getting a gift for us????? Hello???? I think it might have to do with Spider-Man stuff but he usually doesn’t care so its gotta be something else but WHAT!!!!

___

“Dad, I’m just saying,” Miles begins, holding his hands up in a surrendering way, as his father washes the dishes. He’s sitting down on the counter, lightly swinging his legs. “Give Maria’s a chance, you’ve never even tried their sandwiches! How do you know it’s bad?”

“I know what I like, and I don’t see a reason to suddenly chan-”

“Oh, wait, someone’s calling,” Miles interrupts him as he pulls his phone out, seeing Ganke’s name on the screen. What could he want? Ganke usually didn’t call him, opting to text, and definitely not before 12pm on a weekend.

“How can you even see? Your brightness is set to negative levels,” his dad said, trying his best to scrub some dried food off a plate. Miles never liked doing that, or even thinking about it, because it always made him feel like his fingers were some dangerous foreign object that he needed to rip off or felt the urge to dig his nails into his skin and tear his hair out. 

“You know the light hurts my eyes,” and makes me mad, he doesn’t say.

“Ganke? You need something?”

“No, was just checking on you,” the boy sleepily mumbles into the phone.

“Before 9am?” Miles loudly gasps, placing a hand on his chest.

“Shut up. I also got a package today and you’re gonna wanna check it out.”

“Mmmm I don’t know,” Miles says, fiddling with the string of his hoodie. “What is it?”

“It’s a surprise,” Ganke tells him, and Miles can imagine him rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and blindly patting the bed in search of his glasses. His hair is definitely sticking out wildly, a few strands stuck to his freckled cheeks. 

“You know I don’t like your surprises,” Miles grumbled into the phone. His dad gives him a slightly alarmed look, neither of them liked them. Ganke’s surprises usually involved someone being scared out of their mind, a wild animal (though he tends to blame Miles’s influence on that), and some piece of tech that might take over the world should he set it loose. In fact, the last time was all of that, and Miles had to call his dad, Hobie, and then Peter to solve the raccoon-with-an-atom-vaporizer-gun issue. And Miles was the one that got grounded longer, for some reason.

Anyway, he doesn’t like really Ganke’s surprises.

“No no no, you’ll like this one. I had to buy it,” Ganke tells him. “It’s kind of for us to share since I know I won’t use it as much.”

Miles can hear his soft footfalls on the wooden flooring as he left his carpeted room. 

“I’m asking you to come over,” Ganke clarifies, “it’s so safe that you can bring your dad. Trust me.”

“Man…”

“Dude, c’monnnn. If you come over I’ll…”

“You’ll what? Do my homework for me?” Miles jokes, ignoring the way his dad lets out a questioning hum.

“Nah man, I do that enough. I’ll let you take me to those weird abandoned places you like to paint at,” Ganke comes up with. Miles can hear water running and a toothpaste cap opening, and takes this as a sign to hang up.

“Deal, man. Love you, bye. We’ll be there in like twenty,” he says rather quickly so he doesn’t have to hear gross mouth noises and spitting. 

“We?” His dad lightly pushes at his shoulder on his way to dry his hands and get his glasses from the table.

Miles nods and gums in confirmation, “Stop acting like you don’t love Ganke, we’re just going see something real quick.”

His dad crosses his arms and looks down at him with an unimpressed stare, tilting his head to the dirty floors.

“And I’ll clean immediately when I get back.”

More staring. Miles looks down, unable to handle it.

“No messing around.”

Jeff nods and walks them both out the door.

An hour later, Jefferson sits on the Lees’ floor next to Miles, who’s fully covered in a fluffy white weighted blanket with only a small hole for his face, which reveals unfocused half-lidded eyes. It’s the calmest Jeff has ever seen his boy in a long time, maybe nearly two years, and it saddens him slightly to realize this, but he’s glad the blanket is helping.

Ganke sits next to Miles with his legs crossed and his elbows on his knees, gazing at the timer he set on his phone forlornly. 

“Dad,” Miles’s voice is barely audible.

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m autistic.”

Jeff blinks once. Twice. Three times. Takes his glasses off and cleans them before putting them back on again. He opens his mouth, closes it, and furrows his brow a few times. As he processes and tries to come up with a response.

On Miles’s end, he wonders, in the back of his mind, if he made some mistake and should have just stuck with the plan he wrote, but he’s too content right now to care. He hears Ganke exhale a bit forcefully through his nose, something he’s come to recognize as another laugh he has.

“Right. Uh, right. We’ll talk about this. At home. With your mother,” Jeff decides to say in an extremely halted and forced-confident tone.

Oh well. Probably won’t change anything.

A/N: The end!!! I still have things that weren't important to say in the fic or Miles just wouldn't know them; Gwen has ADHD and is in denial, Pavitr has Autism & ADHD but hasn't told anyone, Hobie has autism but wouldn't know and doesn't call it that, Jeff is also autistic and doesn't know (the fic is originally called Autism BLAST for a reason), and that "Ms. Spider-Man" is entirely on purpose bc of the spores <3 All ooc thoughts is when the autism beast broke through. get the tranq darts

<<< Part 1

[noonaishere]

Music of the Heart [J.YH] - eleven | the fight scene at the end of the count of monte cristo

Dei’s daughter ran in front of both of you on her way to the hotteok stand.

“Dani! Slow down!”

You and Dei jogged over so she wasn’t waiting in line by herself.

Dei laughed and ruffled her hair. “You should become a track star, you're so fast.”

Dani giggled and leaned so she could catch your eye. “I won the relay race in grade three,” she said proudly.

“Wowww. That’s impressive. I don’t think I ever won a race in school.”

“I’m sure you could, you just have to practice.”

You chuckled.

“Honey, t/n isn’t in school, she’s a few years younger than me.”

“Really?”

You nodded.

“Oh, I thought you were in high school.”

“Do I look that young?”

“You look cool.” Dei gave her a playful tap on the shoulder and then kissed her on the head.

You laughed.

After getting so much food you thought you might become a snake and hibernate to sleep it off, the three of you took a bus ride to the park. Dani ran around chasing birds, while you and Dei talked.

“How old is she?”

“She’s almost in grade five.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, pretty soon she’ll be a teenager and I won't be able to get her to listen to me, and she’ll tell me I’m uncool and stuff.”

“Aww. I mean, not all kids are like that.”

She nodded. “I was like that.”

You laughed.

“Were you like that?”

You nodded slowly. “I guess… but only because my parents and I didn’t see eye to eye at all.”

“You mean outside of general teenage rebellion?”

“Yeah. They had one idea of what my life should be like and I had a totally different idea.”

“I’m sorry.”

You shook your head. “I don’t talk to them anymore so it doesn’t matter.”

Dei looked at you like she wanted to say something else, but she nodded instead. “As long as she’s happy, I’m happy.”

You nodded back. “Then I don’t think she could ever think you’re a bad mom.”

She smiled. “Do you want to know how I had her?”

“...I would think in the normal way, no?”

She laughed. 

“Are you an alien?”

She laughed again. “I mean, it’s the weekend and her father isn’t with us.”

“I did notice you were a little cagey when you asked if you could bring her, instead of just asking if you could.”

“I was a little worried you might judge me.”

You shook your head. “I would never.”

She smiled.

“So… where’s her father? If you want to tell me.”

“He was my high school boyfriend. We got married right after graduation. I was in love with him and he seemed resentful that I was pregnant--”

You raised an eyebrow. “Maybe he shouldn’t have gotten you pregnant then.”

She nodded matter-of-factly. “It turns out I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did. Or maybe… I continued to grow up and he didn’t.”

You nodded.

“Not even a year after I had Dani I divorced him when I found him cheating on me.”

“Holy shit,” you gasped.

“Yeah. She sees him once a month.”

“Was it a messy divorce?”

She chuckled. “At first it looked like it was going to be, but then I told his mom what he did to me and she screamed at him for so long… well, she could be the singer of a metal band, I have no idea how she did it. The lungs on that woman.”

You laughed.

“I’m serious, I went and stood outside with her--” she gestured to Dani who was doing cartwheels as she chased the birds “--so she wouldn’t cry from hearing it. But she stopped him from trying to fight me on the divorce.”

“That’s good at least. You’re lucky she was on your side.”

“Yeah, his mom loved me since the first moment he brought me home to meet her but I was still a little surprised. Dani actually sees her grandmother a bit more than she sees her father.”

You nodded. “He doesn’t deserve her. And he didn’t deserve you, good on you for divorcing him.”

She nodded. 

“Dani!” A little boy yelled as he ran over, followed at increasing distance by Mingi.

“Chunyoung!” Dani screamed as she ran in his direction.

The two of them collided in the middle and fell to the ground laughing. Mingi helped them up and dusted them both off. Dani said hello to him and then grabbed Chunyoung so he could chase birds with her. Mingi walked over to where you and Dei were sitting.

“I didn’t know you two would be here.”

Dei gestured for him to sit next to her. “If I knew you were taking Chunyoung out today, I would have invited you to the market with us.”

“You went without us? Don’t tell Chunyoung, he’ll cry.”

You and Dei laughed.

“Is Chunyoung your son or…?” You asked.

“He’s my nephew,” Mingi corrected. “My sister works on Saturdays so I normally take him out somewhere so he’s not sitting inside by himself all day.”

You nodded.

“Dani and Chunyoung go to school together, they’ve been friends for…” He looked at Dei for a moment as he thought. “Since they were four?”

“Wow,” you nodded.

“I don’t think I’ve known anyone that long.” Dei admitted.

“Neither do it,” Mingi laughed.

“I used to…”

“Do you not talk to them anymore?” Mingi asked.

“Nah, we fell out a long time ago.”

“Aww!” Dei said as she turned to you. “That’s so sad.”

“Yeah, it was.”

“If you ever see them around, point him out to me and I’ll beat them up for you!” She brandished her fist.

You and Mingi laughed.

“Come on, Dei, you wouldn’t hit someone,” Mingi said.

“I did when I caught my ex cheating! And I would if someone hurt my friend.”

You looked at her for a moment. “We’re friends?”

“Yeah. Shouldn’t we be? We get along well.”

You thought for a moment and then laughed. “Yeah, I guess we are. If you want to be.”

Dei smiled. “I do want to be.”

You smiled back.

“Am I your friend too?” Mingi asked.

“Well, I guess if I met Dei through you, you’d have to be.” You chuckled.

Mingi smiled, self-satisfied.

You chuckled to yourself. “I didn’t know making friends could be so easy as an adult.”

Dei waved the thought away. “Maybe if you worked in some stuffy office where it’s all ‘sunbae’ and ‘hoobae’ and who’s older than who by a few months and ‘oh no, we have a staff dinner and the boss is going to get drunk and flirt with all the female staff again’.”

You laughed.

“Not when you’re a producer who knows a bunch of dancers. We don’t have time for that shit.”

“I’m not a producer.” “You work with them though.” Mingi added.

“Yeah… but I’m not one.”

Mingi and Dei shared a look.

“Do… you two know something that I don’t know?”

“No. But I figure that Maddox and Hongjoong would end up training you at some point. The other studio musicians don’t spend nearly as much time with them as you have.”

“Oh… really?”

“Yeah.” “Oh…” you thought for a moment. “Maybe it’s just because I’m new. And I’m transcribing the back catalog to sheet music, since no one ever did. So maybe they want to keep an eye on me or something?”

Mingi shrugged.

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luvvvx • iamthehotdemon • 

[pencey-pea]

would we read an almost famous inspired rayrard fanfic or am i just being autistic

(more info under the cut)

quick disclaimer uh no i didnt make bert evil like the 12 year olds on wattpad do, and tw for drugs, alcohol, and slurs but this is tumblr what did u expect

Summary

Its 1978, and Ray Toro is an aspiring rock journalist, someone who is absolutely in love with music, but is decidedly uncool. He's an awkward teenager, and doesn’t know his way around the scene. But since his idol, legendary writer Reagan Campbell, gave him an assignment, he hasn’t lost faith.

It’s 1978, and Gerard Way is the it-boy of the rock scene, and he isn’t even in a band. He just lounges around and looks pretty, loves the music, and pretends like he doesn’t care that everyone pretends they haven’t slept with him, even though they definitely have. He’s the epitome of cool, the definition of carefree. He’s been around since he was 16, but to be fair, that was only two years ago.

When Ray is assigned to report on the up and coming band Stillwater, will he be able to write his article, or will he be distracted by the eccentric “band-aid” and the drama of the scene?

Prolouge

The blank page sat on the cluttered desk, with hastily taken notes falling off the edge and drifting to the floor. Textbooks and jam-packed notebooks with post-it notes sticking out had been moved to the floor as well. Not enough room on the desk. Records and magazines and cut out articles surrounded him, making little skyscrapers of paper and vinyl. In the middle of it all was a typewriter, slightly shimmering under the hot desk lamp and untouched by the boy in front of it, who was chewing on his cuticles as he stared down the blank page like a formidable foe. In the back, “The Prettiest Star” by David Bowie played softly, skipping slightly at some points

He knew that it wasn’t really that big of a deal. He realized— as he ran a hand through his long tawny curls—that he was probably gonna write this one little assignment and then be told that his writing wasn't good enough or special enough, and he would go back to becoming a lawyer or whatever his mom wanted him to do. He knew that Reagan probably just gave him this assignment to get him off his back, to get the crazed fan with wild dreams of becoming a journalist far away from him. But still. If he did this right, he could possibly get published in Cream magazine. Or maybe just get a little closer to it. He thought a little too hard and but down on his cuticle, making it prick with a little droplet of blood.

“Shit,” He cursed as he unfolded himself from the pretzel-like position he was in and speed walked his way into the kitchen. He stretched to reach the top of one of the cabinets, grabbed the first-aid kit, and wrapped a band-aid around his finger. Just as he was putting away the kit, his mother walked in.

“Sweetie! Why did you have the First-aid out?” She asked, concern lacing her tone. Before he could answer she grabbed his hand and examined his finger, eyebrows furrowing. “I told you, you’ve gotta stop chewing on your fingers like that!” She sighed, dropping his hand and turning to the stove. “What made you hurt yourself like that anyways? You only do that when you’re nervous.” He shrugged.

“The journalism piece i was given,” He mumbled.

“What? You know I don't like mumbling, Ray,” His mother scolded, pouring something into the pot on the stove.

“It’s just that journalism piece I was told to finish. The one about Black Sabbath? 700 words due on Tuesday, and I haven't even started writing.” Ray lamented, pinching his nose bridge as he talked. All he got in reply was a petty and tight-lipped “hm.”

“Well, honey, just remember that writing articles about rock bands is a very hit and miss economy. Don’t bank on making it,” His mom pointed out, clearly trying to discourage her son. Ray tried to calm himself, taking a slow breath in.

“I know.” He said shortly, fists clenched a bit. He stormed back to his room. Back to the blank page.

—

Everything was a bit hazy as he stumbled around the room. Someone shoved another bottle into his hand and he happily chugged it down as he tried to remember if that was his 7th or 8th beer that day. Somehow a giant pink feather boa had made its way around his shoulders, and he strutted around as best as he could, given the fact that he couldn’t really walk straight.

He felt all eyes on him, the skinny young boy with a girlish stare and a tiny waist and long black hair, who nobody cared to ask the age of. The fag. The unspoken beauty, the ultimate edition trading card of the rock scene with a little voice of sweet bells. The one they were all too afraid to admit to sleeping with. He smiled as he spotted Bert, who he made his way over to.

“Hey Gee, are you enjoying the party?” He asked, tired eyes and faraway voice high off of something. Acid, Gee guessed.

“Yeah! I think it’s the best one ever since I joined you guys!” He yelled over the loud music, giggling and shooing away a girl next to Bert and taking her place. He instantly felt at home by his side, settling into the garish green velvet couch that gave way beneath his small figure. Bert didn’t talk to him, instead focusing on a group of girls, but he did let him sit next to him like a little accessory. Gee didn’t mind, he knew that Bert had to kinda pretend like he didn’t care, like he wasn’t sleeping with the fag. Gee was greeted by groupies and roadies and singers and guitarists and tech guys, some who offered drugs or alcohol, or simply just a friendly face. He responded to them, bubbly as ever, even though the slight vertigo had started to settle in.

A bag of white powder was suddenly thrown onto the coffee table in front of the two, like a fresh carcass dropped right in front of starving hyenas. Gee was never one for cocaine, he didn't like the sensation of it going up his nose, and the nosebleeds were far from desirable. But Bert held up the bag, so Gee held up his arm, and they both did two lines. Gee felt funny afterwards, and said so to Bert, or maybe just the room.

“Just give it a moment, darlin’, it’ll settle,” He reassured him, patting Gee’s thigh discreetly as he leaned over to grab a half finished beer. Gee did just that, but when he tried to stand, he couldn’t.

“Bert… I don't think I can stand,” He slurred, leaning back against the couch. Bert looked down at his watch and glanced around.

“That’s alright, I'll take you back to your room. You think you’ll remember this tomorrow?” How sweet, Gee thought, he’s checking to see how wasted i am. He cares.

Gee thought for a bit, and then slowly started to shake his head. “Mmmm… Probably… Not.” He decided, smiling and giggling, eyes red. Bert smiled back.

“Jeez. I’ll make sure you get back safe, don’t worry,” Bert assured, hooking his arm under Gee’s and hoisting him up. Gee thought he might’ve heard him and Bert say goodbye to people, but his mind was too fuzzy to decode things like words. Once they got out of the suite, Bert picked Gee up bridal style, and took him to his room, as promised. He stumbled through the door, immediately heading for the bathroom. Bert followed after him and held his hair back, rubbing his back and shushing him sweetly.

The last thing Gee remembered was hurling his guts out, his nose bleeding, then Bert’s eyes.

“God you’re hot when you’re wasted like this,”

idk if i want to go through with this idea, so feedback and rb’s are greatly appreciated!!!!

[scribblestatic]

Chubby Boy vs Gremlin Bomb Part 2

(blanket warning for possible fat shaming...ah

and injury description time)

---

"Bakugou?! Tell me what's happening!!" Tenya yells into the com after hearing explosions down below.

Did he encounter Midoriya-kun? Or was he fighting with Hagakure-san?

["Shut up and keep guarding! I'm really pissed off right now!"]

"Since when did I ask about your feelings?! Hey!"

But there's no response. There's not even any background noises. Tenya realizes then that Bakugou hung up on him, shutting off their com connection.

He huffs, irritated, but it's not as though he never expected this to happen. Bakugou's attack would make sense to try and target the person you think is weaker. But he knows that's not exactly the reason he left. So, despite being a temporary acting villain, he can't help but hope Midoriya-kun lasts it out.

Well, with that out of the way, he has to focus on Hagakure-san making her way there. Because of her invisibility, it would be incredibly difficult to tell where she is. Still, there's boxes and such in the room, so he'll move those things out of the way.

The cleaner the room, the easier it will be for him to find her...

Probably.

--- ---

Izuku is, compared to some other people, not the fastest person in the world. He can run fairly quickly back and forth, but side to side movements tend to be more difficult for him. If he thinks about it in game mechanics, he runs, to an extent, on tank controls.

To make up for reduced bodily mobility, he reduces the amount he has to move in the first place. He uses the shield as Kacchan continues his assault, blocking increasingly heavy blows. The room begins to smell like burnt dirt and caramel, the walls trembling at times from how many explosions he does.

Aren't they supposed to be protecting a bomb? Wouldn't these explosions potentially set it off?

But, of course, Bakugou's thoughts aren't quite on the assignment. He's made one of his own:

To bury him under the building and ensure he wouldn't get up again.

"You!! And!! This!! Fuckin'!! Shield!!"

Kacchan suddenly jumps up, running off the walls and flying over his head in the tall hallway. If he tried to turn around, he wouldn't be fast enough.

With a quick glance, instead of turning, he crouches and rolls forward, using the shield to protect his arms against the debris on the ground. It's apparently a good decision as another explosion goes off just behind him.

After rolling, he turns, shield out front again as he peeks around it.

Kacchan growls, running forward to keep attacking.

But if he keeps this up, the building's structure could be in danger...

So, Izuku turns back around, quickly attaching his shield to his back.

And although he knows he's slower, he starts running back toward the stairs. The best thing he can do right now is make sure that no theoretical person would get blown up because of all the tremors.

"Yeah, this is the you I know best! The one that should be running the fuck away!"

The insults never stop hurting, but right now, he doesn't feel the need to defend himself. Instead, he needs to give Hagakure-chan the best chance of either capturing Iida or capturing the bomb.

Maybe his actions look cowardly, but the goal isn't necessarily to look the best. The goal is to win.

--- ---

Tooru is having so much fun!

Given, the whole thing with, errh...Bakugou? Yeah. The thing with Bakugou seems really uncool, but Midori-kun said he wanted to take care of it. In the meantime, she's being extra stealthy!

Speaking of which, Midori-kun is super cool, too! She still wonders how on earth she hadn't ever thought that her quirk was to reflect things rather than invisibility when the things she put in her mouth didn't show to the outside world. Anything inside her body wasn't visible to others.

While it does mean she's definitely brushing her teeth right after everything's done -- the tape and a few other things she decided to put in her mouth do not taste good -- she's also ecstatic.

Midori-kun's also super smart. Just as he suspected, she finds Ii-kun in a large room in the middle of the fourth floor. Hiding just outside the room, she peers around, looking for anything to hide behind. There's a bunch of pillars, but all the boxes and such have been placed against a wall. She can't use those...unless...

She steps a bit away from the entrance to the room, then spits out the haul in her mouth:

Capture tape, her ear com, and a few concrete rocks from the walls Baku-kun exploded. She's so glad she cleaned her ears, otherwise the ear com in her mouth would be torture.

Briefly, she puts it in, and she keeps her voice low as it sparks to life. Seems the thing's spitproof. Perfect.

"4 mid," she murmurs. "Over."

The other side of the com is filled with explosions and expletives.

["Roger! BC! DNC! Over!"]

"Yuh. Over."

His com doesn't turn off, but she silences it so it won't make sounds in her mouth. Then, she puffs her cheeks out as she starts filling them, hoping the few concrete stones she'd picked up would be enough.

They'd planned a few codes, including verbal and visual cues. BC'd stood for "Bakugou Captured" (which, WHOA, good job, Midori-kun!!) and DNC stood for "Divert and Capture," so she had free range on her target. Whether she chooses the bomb or Ii-kun, they'll win.

She feels herself get pumped, knowing it's up to her. Though...judging from the explosions she can still hear downstairs, despite being captured, Ba-kun's cheating. Knowing this, she'll have to be quick.

Tooru carefully sneaks into the pillar-lined room, very used to hiding to snoop on others. Even though Ii-kun seems to be hyping himself up to be a villain -- which is utterly hilarious and she so wants to laugh, mind you -- she keeps quiet.

"Bakugou is naturally rotten, but that fits with this exercise... So, perhaps I should try to emulate the behavior of a villain. Yes... This is just another step to becoming a spectacular hero in the future! I must get into the mindset of a villain!"

Ii-kun turns around, his visible eye wide and villainous.

"I am now...quite evil!"

SHE REALLY WANTS TO LAUGH!!!

But she resists, keeping herself together. If anyone could see her face, they would see how forcefully stoic she is. She's proud of herself. Go Tooru-chan!

There are several pillars from up to down -- down being the entrance -- and left to right. Fewer L-R pillars (maybe six?...yes, six) than U-D ones (nine). She makes it all the way to the third pillar from the door close to the fourth and fifth ones near the bomb. The boxes Ii-kun moved around are close to the ninth pillar.

Ii-kun, in his determination to find her, paces around the bomb as he looks around in a way he believes looks menacing.

It should be easy to take him out of the game...but what if he notices her? He already suspects that she's at least nearby, or is prepared in case she gets close. So, it's likely best to try distracting him.

She slinks behind one of the pillars, silently pulling a rock out of her mouth. It tastes pretty bad, but she can deal with it. She's also pretty confident in her ability to throw, so if she tosses the rock toward the boxes, he'll likely think she's over there!

So, she rears her arm back and prepares to throw it--

Ah. But. Can't he just pick up the bomb and move it to another room? And since he has such a speedy quirk, he'll outrun her for sure.

But by the time she thinks of that, the rock has already left her hand, sailing in the air.

It's at a higher angle, so it won't hit the ground just yet.

She abruptly opens her mouth and lets the remaining rocks fall into her hands. Just as the rock she initially threw hits the ground and Ii-kun's head swivels quickly over, she runs full-tilt at him. She tosses her remaining rocks at his mask, toward the eye holes in his mask.

Now, Tooru can admit she doesn't have exceptionally many talents. But if there's two things she's good at, it's sneaking, and throwing. She was a pitcher on her middle school softball team, after all!

"Agck!"

He cries out, his left eye closing after being hit. Tooru quickly spits out the capture tape and pulls it open. She only has a few seconds to act quickly and wrap it around him!

But Ii-kun recovers quickly and he tries to look around. Thankfully, her gloves are still invisible, but he catches sight of the tape heading toward his leg.

His foot lifts, prepared to kick.

Aah...I'm in such a bad position right now! Tooru thinks warily, prepared for a very, very fast foot to the face.

However, Ii-kun hesitates.

He can't get into the villain mindset enough to kick her like that. While he's used to sparring with his family, he's not sure how much punishment she can take. She's still a stranger to him, but one who clearly isn't villainous and is aspiring for heroics, just like he is. Moreover, if he kicks her away at his usual speed, couldn't he very well snap her neck if he hits the wrong spot? She's invisible, so he can't tell where to aim.

Feeling the weight of his fellow classmate's life over his head, his leg stills.

That's enough.

He holds mostly steady as an invisible body collides with his leg. In mere moments, before he can move away, the capture tape wraps around his calf.

"Hah! Gotcha--"

Suddenly, a loud, almost deafening explosion.

The building shakes so severely that he almost loses balance. Tooru cries out in shock as she wraps her arms tighter around Iida's leg.

The floor starts to give out under him.

With his left eye stinging, he calls out.

"Hagakure-san! Jump up!"

"Ehh?! O-Okay!!"

He feels her weight leave his leg, arms and hands trying to find purchase around his chest armor. Immediately calculating what proportions he remembers her having, he grabs her around the waist and flees from the spot, no longer thinking of the papier mache bomb.

It falls through the floor, crumpling under the weight of more building as it, piece by piece, lost support. Due to the construction of the rest of the building, the part Tenya fled to didn't collapse, the rest of the floor holding up.

For a moment, they just stand there, shocked by the collapsed hole in the floor. Some sort of weight-bearing wall had been utterly destroyed, causing some of the floors upwards to fall apart. Tenya holds Tooru as they process what they're seeing, and they both snap to attention at the same time.

"Mii-kun!!"

"Hagakure-san, hold on!"

"Second floor!"

Immediately, still holding onto Tooru, Tenya jets from the room and heads toward the stairs. As she'd yelled, he heads directly for the second floor as quickly as he can, finding stairs and pathways that aren't destroyed.

--- ---

Izuku can't manage to get him to the first floor.

Try as he might, taking twists and turns to head toward those stairs, it's as if Kacchan reads his mind. Being unable to move as quickly, he has to try reducing as much damage as possible, both to himself and the building.

He manages to stay on his feet for the most part, only relying on rolls when necessary and using his shield to block Kacchan's persistent assault.

If it keeps up like this... Izuku thinks, glancing toward a crumbling wall.

He doesn't know a whole lot about construction work, but he does know what support walls are. One wrong explosion could take out a whole section of the building. He's been drawing Kacchan toward an exit of some kind, but it's slow-going.

But then, the explosions stop.

"You... You're goddamn annoying, you know that?"

Izuku peers from behind the shield, watching as Kacchan moves his shoulders, rolling them.

"You plod your weak ass to hero school, and this is the best you've got? You think you can just absorb a bunch of punches and that's that? Villains'll give up cause they get annoyed at you?"

Kacchan glares strongly at him, a grin spreading on his face.

"What do you take heroes for, asshole?"

"...I take them as protectors, Kacchan. That's what they've always been. And, if I can't fight, then... I'll protect. That's all I can do."

The two stand, staring off quietly.

"HAH." Kacchan eventually replies. "That's some beautiful bullshit, Deku."

He then raises his right arm.

"Well, since you always wanna shield someone..."

The hairs on the back of Izuku's neck stand on end immediately.

"Wait--Kaccha--!"

But he slides back a latch on his grenade-shaped gauntlet, sticking his pointer finger of his left hand into the pin hidden under it.

"Then try shielding from this!! If you don't get hit, you won't die!"

He pulls the pin.

And Izuku's vision lights up with bright white and yellow before he ducks, hiding his whole body behind the shield.

Even then, he still gets blown back, the force of the explosion lifting him off his feet. For a few seconds, he's airborne, his ears ringing as the wall behind him succumbs to the force, bursting outward. Through his gloves, his hands burn from the heat blown onto the shield, though not hot enough to get him to let go.

Then, he hits his back hard, gasping as he lands.

The change in lighting shows that, clearly, there's no more wall behind him. But there's also substantially less wall beside him than there should be. The support walls--

A loud creak sounds from above.

As quickly as possible, he rolls himself up and hides underneath the shield, steadying himself.

Then, with raucous cracking, piles of concrete from above break off from the other floors, breaking and sloughing off the steel beams. The pieces start falling around him, denting and cracking the ground below him. A very large slab lands on his shield, almost winding him from its sudden weight.

More pieces keep falling, and he can just barely hear the sound of someone's voice over the com, but he can't--

The floor under him gives way, unable to take both the burst damage and sudden onslaught of collapsing ceiling.

Izuku falls through the floor.

As he lands, a sharp, tearing, terrible pain rips through his left thigh and he screams. But he still holds his shield up as more weight piles on top of it.

...

As the dust settles, Katsuki coughs, his right shoulder smarting with the blowback from his grenade. Shit, those smartasses really managed to do it, but the pushback was pretty serious. He'd have to do better with his strength training.

Katsuki waves his left arm around, getting through the smoke as he grinned, waiting to see how terrified Deku would look. He purposefully aimed higher than necessary just so the quirkless bastard wouldn't take too bad of a hit.

He knows how sturdy the lardass is, the explosion wouldn't kill him. Plus, he stress-tested the fuck out of that dumbass shield.

He stomps forward confidently, seeing the light from outside shine into the building.

"What's the matter, Deku?! Too shocked to speak? Or did you manage to crawl away into some rat hole and--"

["SESSION HALTED!!"]

Instead of All Might telling him not to use the grenade in his ear com, it sounds out over the building, echoing from megaphones in the upper corners of the walls.

Katsuki stops, frowning.

"What the hell? Why are we--"

["Young Bakugou! Are you alright??"]

It's in his ear com this time, making him stiffen up. His aching right shoulder hurts more with the movement, irritating him.

"Yeah, I'm fuckin' fine! I told you I wouldn't kill him, didn't I?!"

But All Might doesn't respond immediately. It's quiet for a moment, so Katsuki continues forward to find out where Deku was hiding.

A few moments later, the No. 1 hero's voice returns.

["Young Bakugou, I cannot reach Young Midoriya! Confirm his status!"]

"Hah?? What the hell, I said I didn't hit him! He's right..."

But Katsuki trails off.

Because, had he not been carefully watching his feet, he would've stumbled into a gaping hole in the floor.

The...floor?

But he'd aimed upwards. Why was the floor damaged?

He gazes up, more dust and smoke settling as he starts to see the full extent of his explosion. As he does, his eyes widen, and a cold sweat starts budding at his hairline.

Katsuki knew enough support construction that he could roughly guess the parts needed to make his gauntlets. Of course, he gave the nerds the liberty to do what they otherwise wanted in order to improve the blast radius and speed. Since it's new to him, he figured he'd test the thing out at least once.

...Perhaps he'd underestimated the amount of force the thing could produce.

No... No, he for sure did.

He can see the ceiling of the fourth floor. And the floors weren't small, instead larger than usual, giving more ceiling space. So, he really shouldn't be seeing the ceiling of the fourth floor.

Except its floor collapsed.

His gaze returned the the hole in front of him, and that...

["Young Bakugou! I said to confirm Young Midoriya's status!"]

His eyes widened painfully, suddenly feeling very, very cold.

"Mii-kun!!"

That invisible girl and robot kid showed up, kicking up a dust cloud as they stopped in front of the hole. Katsuki doesn't look at them, staring down at the rubble piled on the first floor as numbness starts curling up from his fingers and toes.

"Oh my God--Midoriya-kun!!" she screams, and he hears her run off somewhere.

"All Might-sensei! We need emergency assistance now! Midoriya-kun is... He's somewhere under the rubble! I don't see him!" Robot Boy says to his com. He's quiet for a moment before he says, "Yes sir!" and dashes away.

All the while, he stands there, frozen.

...Did...

Did he just...?