#yeah he's an asshole but that's a wild response to have to someone being rude to you i'm sorry

[wildflowercryptid]

kieran seems to unfortunately be joining my collection of faves that get treated real fuckin weird by parts of their fandoms for being ppl who exhibit their struggles with mental illness in less than appealing ways.

[cazimagines]

Born to be wild - Chapter 4

Synopsis: Joining F1 as one of the first female drivers you knew was going to be a challenge but you weren’t prepared to deal with one particular asshole on the tracks. With the urge to win so strong within each racer, will romance pave the way? Or will it destroy everything?

Word count: 1.7k

Author’s note: To make up for the lack of Niki last chapter, I'm hoping to get these chapters out more regularly!

Warnings: Swearing

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Previous chapter

You twirled your spanner in your hand, feeling the harsh metal catch on your skin as it grazed over it. You were eyeing up the car before you, determining all the ways you might improve the machine to your liking. You wore your blue jumpsuit which had already obtained oil stains without even getting near the car yet. Today the garage was empty, most of the crew having the common sense to take a day off unlike you. You knew from driving it that the car needed to be improved and instead of telling your team and risking offending them, you took matters into your own hands. Plus you were just itching to get your hands dirty.

You climbed down onto your knees and then onto your back, pushing yourself under the car to observe the underside. The thing needed a clean, rust and grime underneath it making you grimace but at the moment that wasn’t what you were focused on. You started to loosen a few of the screws in order to access some of the wiring. If you were able to get to the inner part of the engine, you might be able to rewire some of the boosters improving your speed.

As you got to work you were humming to yourself a tune you had heard on the radio this morning and so you didn’t hear the sound of footsteps approaching you. As the top half of your body was under the car, you didn’t notice the man approaching and then leaning on the wall beside you, observing your movements.

“You’re just wrecking the engine.”

A groan left your lips as you heard that Austrian accent ring out across the room, sending a wave of irritation straight through your body. Of course, if anyone would be here during the off day, it would be Niki Lauda and seemingly he was still pissed about the other day and had come over deliberately to test your patience even further.

You grasped a hold of the panelling and thrusted yourself out from under the car to glare up Niki who was looking down at you.

“You really have nothing better to do than come and ruin my day?” you spat out to him.

Niki tilted his head as he observed you, his eyes narrowing for a moment in a way that always made you feel self-conscious as you wanted to know what he was thinking about you.

“I am merely doing you a favour and correcting your mistakes,” he finally revealed, raising his voice in a light hearted manner though you knew it was really cover for his mocking tone. Knowing this, in response you snort, shaking your head at the man as your lips twitch into a smirk.

“Yeah right, like I’d believe that.”

“You don’t trust the word of one of the best drivers?” he asked, his lips dipping down into a frown.

You placed your hands down on the concrete floor and steadily pushed yourself up to your feet so Niki was no longer standing over you, instead you stood face to face with the man.

“I don’t trust the fact that an asshole would want to help me at all, especially with how rude you were to me previously.”

“I was justified in my actions. You made a stupid move,” he stated as if it was obvious.

You groaned again in amazement, throwing up your hands, shaking your head as you spun away from him for a moment, not wanting to even look at him but the pressure to get the last word made you turn back around.

“There it is again, your arrogance is astounding.”

“I am merely stating what happened, I can’t help the fact that you can’t accept the truth.”

“You speak about accepting the truth.” Niki scoffed, looking away in thought, looking perplexed by the mere idea of it. His angry eyes quickly snapped back to your own though when you say the next words. “You can’t accept that there are better drivers than you.”

“What, like you?”

“I could beat you in a race!” you exclaimed without thinking. All you could feel was the anger towards Niki creeping up in your veins again, making you be irrational.

“You didn’t last time.”

“Yeah well, why don’t we test it out again? Just me and you on the track.”

Niki rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his body. “Why would I waste the tires, fuel and risk my life for a petty race?”

“Fine if you want to be a pussy and back out of it...”

You turned your back to Niki to polish the front of the car but you knew that the remark would make him frown at you, his ego damaged. You could feel his eyes burn into your back, his gaze apparently unwavering until after a few minutes of thoughts racing through his mind he came to a decision.

“Fine, if you really want me to prove to you again that I am the better driver,” he states as he quickly turns and walks out of the garage. You run after him to shout out and get the last word,

“You’ll be eating my ass!”

He turned around again at you, briefly a smirk appearing on his thin lips.

“We’ll see.” he shouts back and then saunters into his garage, once again taking the last word.

You weren’t prepared to take the car out and you knew the team would not be happy with you for doing so but Niki made you so mad you had no control over your own decisions. You were irrational and hot-headed around him and now that led to you driving the car out onto the track and waiting for Niki to pull the car up beside you.

Niki sent you one last sarcastic look with a raised eyebrow through his helmet. Driving over to the starting line, the two of you agreed on a count down. When ready the two of you started to count down from three and as you both hit zero, the two of you shot forward, speeding side by side as you started the race along the straight line of the first part of the track.

Soon however the two of you reached the first turn of the track. Niki once again took the underside and pushed forward on the accelerator he took the lead. As he turned the corner he slammed the break making the car drift as he made a sharp turn, quickly getting around the corner. He ensured the car took up most of the track however to make sure you wouldn’t try and get past him again like last time.

You quickly pushed around the corner as well but you weren’t able to pull off as sharp of a move, therefore not being as quick as him and subsequently finding yourself stuck behind him. Pushing down on the clutch and turning the wheel, you were able to reach back up to Niki’s side, who had been driving at a leisurely pace, his arrogance already believing he would stay in front. So when he saw your car drive past his left side, his head quickly snapped to you in surprise and then back to the road, clutching the gear tighter.

He caught up to you again, and this time he started to drift slowly left cutting you off the track. You instantly had to pump the brakes to slow down and avoid a potential collision as he pushed over. It was a dirty move on his part, from someone who was mad at you for less and the thought of it had you fuming.

Once again you pushed forward in the car, attempting to catch up with Niki but he was able to push the car further, keeping the distance between the two of you. Another turn came up and Niki was able to make a smoother and more closed in turn whereas you had to go wide which cost you a few more seconds of time.

Still putting everything you got in the car, you slammed the accelerator and rushed forward again to get side by side with Niki as the two of you turned another corner together. Now it was the final straight strip of track and the two of you were neck in neck. Both of you were pushing on the accelerator trying to get the car to go faster, however, Niki had obviously worked on his car improving it’s speed as he shot forward and past the finish line first.

He pulled up ahead of you as you slowed down and stopped on the track, hitting your head against the steering wheel to let out your frustration. You had been so certain you could beat Niki and yet once again he won against you and you knew he would be holding it against you. As you looked up now you could see the very man had taken off his helmet and was strutting towards you with a very self-serving smirk.

You knew you couldn’t hide away from it, that would just be cowardly and something he certainly wouldn’t forget so instead, you gathered the strength to pull yourself out of the car, yanking your helmet off and turning to Niki.

“I told you-” he began and instantly made you roll your eyes.

“Yes, go on and brag about it. I know you will be for the rest of the year.”

Niki chuckled and looked away for a moment, flicking his tongue over his lip then glancing back at you.

“I don’t need to brag, you will always remember how I beat you fair and square today.”

“You’re such an asshole” you murmur, starting to turn away from the man but still he continued to talk to you.

“Can you think of any other insult apart from an asshole?”

You shot back around to him, your eyes glaring.

“Yes, motherfucker, wanker, jerk, twat, pain in my ass,” you paused for a second, “Rat.”

Niki just crossed his arms, his eyes gazing over you as his tongue flickers out again. “Not creative enough, James already calls me all of those.”

“Are you just determined to criticize everything I do?”

“You’re angry, that’s good. Use your anger to focus your driving.”

“Why would you want to help me?”

“I don’t, the worse you are the better for me. However, if your driving improves, you are less likely to cause an accident next time.”

Heat flared up inside of you realising his alter motives but before you could shout any words at him, he had already turned around and was walking away from you without looking back once.

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[sup-hoes-its-me]

A Hero (Shinsou x Reader)

A/N: okay so shinsou is such a cool character, kinda relatable tbh, so here we go. Friends to lovers, lots of fluff, cuteness. It took a lot of strength to take a break from writing my fav bakugo lol.

tw: you almost get assaulted

word count: 4400

Part One/ Part Two/ Part Three

So technically, Y/N wasn’t related to the Bakugos at all. She was the orphaned child of a family friend, who died a horrific hero’s death when she was only a couple years old. Without any other relatives in the area to adopt her, Y/N’s mother’s best friend took in the two year old, despite the trouble of raising two toddlers being quite daunting. Yet, her quirk wasn’t very dangerous nor special like Katsuki, so she wasn’t hard to manage in that area. Just a shy little girl, confused at the transition after the loss of her parents.

Y/N was never very strong willed like her new family. She was passive, the perfect representation of type B personality. Dependent, reliant, and fearful of adversity. The only reason she was never mercilessly bullied in her primary days was a result of her “brother’s” unrelenting defensiveness. He was an asshole, very much so, but he never let anyone pick fun at the girl. Not only did he kinda, sorta love her unconditionally as a silbing should, but his mother would murder him for not standing up for her.

But when they both got into U.A, suddenly the two weren’t equals anymore, nor would he always be by her side to watch out for her. Y/N was left behind in class C, while he soared into the top hero course. Y/N was support for the soon-to-be pros, not that she minded. The girl knew how weak she was, and unless she had a change of heart and decided to work harder on her quirk, she would never be able to succeed. She wasn’t motivated like those in Class A. Y/N never wanted the responsibility of being so good people relied on her, civilians putting all their faith into her. It was nerve wracking.

On the first day of class, Y/n said goodbye to her parents and walked to class with her brother. He carried both their bags, one on each shoulder, eyes staring straight ahead, brows furrowed with irritation as per usual. She kept her hands clasped behind her back, wandering slowly next to him, head hung. 

She was scared, admittedly. This school was huge and so prestigious. How could she ever compare to the others there? It was impossible.

“Stop being such a baby.”

“Katsuki-”

“You’re gonna be fine, and you know it. You’re more powerful than those losers anyway, if only you tried,” he grunted, turning the corner to see dozens of other students in their uniforms walking around and entering the school. She bit her lip and sighed, wringing her fingers out of nervousness. “Seriously, don’t make yourself out to be a weakling. People will target you if you do.”

She paused, not taking another step as she confessed, “I know what I should do, it’s just putting that ideal into practice that gets me everytime.” 

Time was running close to class starting, and he rolled his eyes down to her slightly quivering form. Handing her her bag, he told her calmly, “Listen, if anyone bothers you, I’m two doors down anyway. Just call me right after class if something happens, got it?” With a nod, he patted her on the head and walked away to the main entrance. 

Her eyes drew up the high building, taking in all the shiny windows and the huge shape of an H made out of the numerous floors. This place was bigger than she had ever imagined, and that only scared her more. Yeah, it was bigger because it housed a lot of students who needed room to exercise their quirks, plus they were a very wealthy institution. 

She had to tell herself that just because the building was scary certainly did not mean that the people inside were just as bad.

So she held her head a bit higher and walked through the crowds of students. She tried to remember where the counselor told her her classroom was, so she didn’t embarrass herself by getting lost on her first day. 

Yet, that was exactly what she did. The school was just too big, and she was too anxious about her first day to think properly. So, with tears gathering in her eyes, she watched at the time ticked by on the clock. Her nightmares were filled with this scenario. Showing up late on her first day and everyone in the class laughing at her. 

“Are you lost?” a voice deep and smooth spoke up behind her, and she jumped a couple inches in the air, placing a hand over her heart after it started to rapidly beat with shock.

She turned her head, brushing her loose hairs from her eyes. He stared down at her with an almost bored expression, just as his voice had sounded. He was tall, and very purple. Dark undereyes, wild violet hair in every direction. She didn’t really know what to think of him other than he was unique, dare she even say attractive in a strange way. He looked older than her, probably 16 or 17 even, based off his height and old soul aura he radiated. One thing she did notice about him though, was he felt gentle, passive and even a bit dismissive. It wasn’t the least bit intimidating, and she relaxed. 

“Yeah…” she mumbled, a bit embarrassed.

He nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Seems we’re in the same boat.”

“Where are you headed?”

“Class 1-C,” he hummed, beginning to walk forward again. She told him meekly that she was going to the same class, and he raised a brow. “Really? What’s your quirk?”

“My quirk is kinda lame.”

A small smile crept at the edge of his lip, her embarrassment and shy attitude amusing him. “And what would that be?”

“Well, it’s kinda weird so don’t make fun of it. I can um- well, my blood is highly basic and burns any skin issue it touches,” the girl mumbled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. Her cheeks burned so much she felt like she had a fever. This is why she never liked to talk about her quirk. It was just plain absurd and kinda disgusting. Every time she used her quirk she had to slice her skin and sprinkle blood everywhere. “But, like, it does so much damage to me to lose blood that often I can rarely use my quirk.”

He nodded. “That’s definitely strange, you’re right,” he stated bluntly, and her heart stopped beating for a moment. “But useful. Really don’t know why you’d be embarrassed about it. Just because you don’t have endurance doesn’t mean strategy and technique can’t make up for that.”

Y/N caught up to him, walking at his side now although his strides were longer and harder to keep up with. She looked up to him, feeling a bit at ease seeing as he wasn’t rude about her quirk. “What’s your quirk?”

He didn’t miss a beat, his gruff voice sounding bitter and angry with his next words, “Something I’d rather not talk about. Don’t want you to spread rumors and lies about me.” 

She had never heard someone so visceral about their own quirk. It couldn’t be that terrible, not to mention she wasn’t rude like the people he must have encountered before. She felt a pang in her chest, knowing that this reaction was no doubt from prior experience being hurt. 

With a short shake of her head, she replied, “It’s okay, if you don’t tell me, but I wouldn’t judge you for your quirk, and definitely not gossip about it. I don’t have the social skills to do that kind of thing.” She laughed awkwardly. The bell rang overhead, signalling the beginning of the first period. They were officially late. “Oh, crap. We better hurry.”

“For what? We’re already late, doesn’t matter if it’s by a minute or ten.”

“I-I don’t know about that one.”

As they entered the stairwell to head up the stairs, he turned to her and paused, staring into her eyes deeply. She blinked, seeing so much purple looking in her direction. Quickly, she averted her gaze, and tucked her hands behind her back out of nervous habit. 

“I’ll tell you about my quirk if you promise me one thing.”

She opened her mouth to agree but then shook her head. Don’t just make promises to strangers, Y/N, so stupid. “Um, depends on the promise.”

He took a deep breath, never taking his eyes off of her own averted ones. Waves of pain radiated from his form, hitting her square in the chest. “Just don’t call me a monster or shit like that.” And that was the moment she felt her entire heart crumble in her chest for this boy she had just met. He expected her to think of him like a monster for something as silly as his quirk? She wanted to cry for him, being as sensitive as she was. 

“I promise.”

He started walking up the stairs again, done with his intense observation of her face, except it felt to her like he was examining a portion of her soul, her compassion. It seems he saw something he liked in her. 

“My quirk is brainwashing, or mind control, if you want to call it that.”

Her eyes widened at the words, not believing that someone so powerful was right beside her, in the same class as her even. “Like, what do you do?’

“If a person verbally responds to me, I then have complete control over anything they do.”

“That is so sick,” she whispered under her breath, but he still heard her. His brows quirked up, and he gazed down at her.”Sorry, I just think that’s a really amazing quirk.” She smiled sheepishly, her eyes reaching his. He almost had to look away once he saw the sparkle of excitement and admiration in her gaze. Those emotions were directed towards him…

As they walked past a classroom, a loud voice called from inside the room. “Bakugo Y/N and Shinsou Hitoshi. I believe you’re late to my class.”

She rushed into the classroom in front of him and he followed. They conveniently were directed to the back of the classroom, two seats directly next to each other. She took a seat in hers and he slumped down in his, rolling his eyes at the glare the teacher had given him. 

He looked over at the girl beside him, who he now knew as Bakugo Y/N. She peeked over at him, and a small smile grew on her soft lips, the bit of sparkle still present in her gaze towards him. He smothered down the urge to smile back, just lifted the corner of his lip in return. 

Shinsou wasn’t exactly interested in making friends. He didn’t need them. This girl, though, he wouldn’t mind if she stuck around.

______________________________________

“So, uh, Y/N, do you need someone to walk you home?” Shinsou asked as they shuffled out of the nearly empty classroom save for a few stragglers. “Not that you aren’t capable of walking yourself home, it’s just that-”

“It’s fine. And actually someone already walks home with me, so no.”

He cringed, feeling awkward now. He shouldn’t have been so forward with this impending friendship. They had just met, she probably didn’t want some weirdo knowing where she lived either. “Oh, gotcha.”

“In fact, there he is,” she smiled, waving to a particularly angry blond walking down the hall with his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his sagging pants. Shinsou cringed even harder at this point, not expecting her to already have a guy walking her home. She probably didn’t have much room for another good guy friend in her life, he thought, obviously overthinking things. “Katsuki! How was class?”

He frowned, shaking his head. “Deku made a fool of himself as usual, but it wasn’t awful,” the boy replied as his eyes slid from his sister to the daunting guy beside her. “Who’s this?”

“This is my new friend, Shinsou. He helped me find the classroom this morning since we’re in the same class.” Katsuki blinked in surprise, definitely not expecting his shy little sister to already have made a friend. It took her years of middle school just to have a few close acquaintances. 

“I gotta get going. My mom is expecting me home soon,” Shinsou told the girl, even if he was lying. He could go home at any time he wanted, he just didn’t want to feel awkward anymore. This guy was obviously close to her, and was giving him the evil eye for a minute now. Possessive much?

“Wait, before you go, let me introduce you to my brother.”

“Brother?’ he asked aloud. They didn’t look alike, like, at all. Nor did their personalities seem to resemble each other in any way.

“This is my brother Katsuki. He’s a class 1-A hot shot.” A pang of relief turned his stomach.

“Yeah, uh, nice to meet you.”

The blond rolled his eyes, gruffly brushing off the purple haired boy’s greeting.“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Y/N, are you ready to go?”

Y/N sighed, waving softly to Shinsou, a smile ever present on her lips when she looked at him. She mouthed as she walked away, ‘sorry’, and he just waved. 

Maybe he was a creep for watching her as she left, waiting for her to turn a corner before he let out a breath of air. All he knew was that he felt as if he was sucked in a trance. His heart felt heavy in his chest, as if it were about to explode. The feelings were so foreign but pleasant, some of the best he had ever experienced.

It just felt so good to see someone’s warm smile directed at him, not an ounce of malice behind a guise.

Yeah…He really, really liked her. 

_____________________________

The pair were friends. Honestly, Y/N was the only person you could get him to admit, albeit begrudgingly, that she was his friend. They trained together, and he assisted her a lot with her quirk. There were times when they were training alone and she lost too much blood that she would pass out and he would carry her to the infirmary. Time and time again though, teachers told him in private to monitor her. It was unhealthy to constantly lose pints of blood, and she wouldn’t be able to do it on the daily even if she wanted to. Since he and her brother were the only people she truly listened to and appreciated advice from, Shinsou recognized it as a sort of duty to take care of her.

Yet, with a bit more encouragement at the new school from dozens of teachers and other students, she actually improved on her quirk quite a lot. It wasn’t as if she had a useless quirk; it was very powerful in fact. She could burn directly through someone’s skin and the bone if enough blood was spilled. Therefore, the quirk could only be exercised in moderation.

For the first time in his life, someone actually trusted him. Not once did he consider using his quirk on her. Not only was she perfect on her own, but if he betrayed her trust like that, he might lose his closest friend. She was kind, but he wasn’t sure where her limits lied.

“Are you sure you’re okay walking home alone?” he asked his friend, who sat beside him packing up her books. Katsuki was out for the day with the flu, so she would be walking back home alone. He was kinda worried about her. She never walked by herself, always having the protection of her brother. 

But she was a strong girl. There was nothing to worry about. He had seen her fight and she was definitely capable. It was just overthinking that sent his anxiety through the roof.

“Yes, I’m totally fine,” she laughed, finding his concern humorous. “You live in the opposite direction. I’m not gonna make you walk me 20 blocks out of your way.”

Although he nodded in understanding, he definitely did not agree. He would walk all over the city for her if she needed him to. Still, when it came time to part ways on the sidewalk, they waved and went in opposite directions. It was only after five excruciatingly long minutes that the lanky boy turned and started walking in the direction of her home. Even though he shouldn’t have, and easily could have texted her, he wanted to make sure she made it home. He knew the general direction of her house, and if he walked moderately fast, he could catch up to her. 

So what if she didn’t want him walking an extra 30 minutes? If that made her annoyed, so be it.

Y/N walked slowly down the street as she usually did, her feet tapping lightly against the sidewalk. If she were being honest, she was a bit disappointed in herself for refusing Shinsou’s offer to walk her home. They would have a lot more time to talk in person before the weekend, and she never wanted to miss a beat with him. 

Maybe it was stupid of her to be so attached but she thought of him as her best friend, practically the only true one she ever had. Dozens of people came and went from her life, but this friendship felt so special. It would last a long time she thought, and hopefully she was right.

Unfortunately, she was too lost in her own dreamy thoughts to notice someone standing right at the edge of the alley she walked by in a particularly deserted area of town. A hand reached and snatched up her arm swiftly, yanking her into the darkness of the alley and covering her mouth with his other grimey hand before she could make a sound.

Her back hit the cold wall behind her, feeling the rough bricks scratch her shoulder blades through her uniform. Her wrist felt like it was on fire, burning from the harsh grip of the snatcher. Using his knee, he pinned her other hand to the wall at her side,  completely immobilizing her. She could have used her quirk, if she was able to produce some sort of blood-pouring injury, only she was trapped.

“Don’t fucking scream, you hear me?”

He removed his hand from her mouth for a moment to reach for his pocket, and as he did so, she let out the loudest scream she possibly could. Just as the sound came from her mouth, a cold object pressed against her throat and her heart stopped beating in her chest from sheer terror. 

To think she was a hero in training at U.A., and she couldn’t even defend herself from a quirkless criminal on the street. She felt like crying, feeling a knife against her throat, wrists held down. If only she was just a little smarter or a little stronger; anything to get her out his mess. The air was tense and heavy, and she could barely get a breath in without feeling the bitterness of the blade against her skin. 

She prayed, closing her eyes and letting the hot tears drip down her cheeks. If only someone would come and help. All Might was always there to help people, wasn’t he? Where was he? She couldn’t hope for her brother to back her up as he was sick at home, and she definitely couldn’t text Shinsou to come get her. Her phone was tucked safely in her backpack where she couldn’t dream of reaching.

God, she was hopeless. 

The thug opened his mouth to say something else no doubt cruel or vulgar, but just as the first syllable fell from his chapped lips, a shocked voice echoed down the alleyway.

“Y/N?”

Her eyes widened at the voice, relief running throughout her entire body. 

“Dumb punk, kid, just run off now.”

“No.”

“You don’t want to mess with-”

That reply was all it took for Shinsou to take control. The thug felt all control of his body lost in the air and a sort of tenseness to take over. “Drop the knife,” the student commanded, and the man indeed dropped the rusty knife to the ground, a metallic clang rang out in the darkness. “Now back away.” And so he did. 

Tha man sputtered, not knowing what was happening to his body or why he was doing these things. His face turned a bright shade of red and he threw a dirty glare at Shinsou Hitoshi, hating him with every sense of the word for making him look this pathetic. 

“Now stand still right there like the piece of shit you are. Move, and I will kill you,” he said calmly. Before turning to Y/N. “I’ll be right back with someone to help. I saw an officer go into the coffee shop across the street.” 

When he left, she inched away from the man, watching as he couldn’t do more than just stand there and look completely bewildered. A mind control quirk definitely wasn’t something you see everyday. Plus, he probably was facing the realization that he would be arrested and sent to jail to get his ass kicked by quirk users there.

He came back with a couple officers and pointed out the situation, explaining what he saw when he came to the alley. They asked Y/N for a quick statement and she just reaffirmed what Shinsou had told them and added how she was walking home alone and he grabbed her when no one was looking. And so they took him away, thanking the kids for helping catch the guy, who apparently had tried to assault and rob other women in the area recently.

That was a close call, the closest one she’d ever encountered actually. 

As they exited the alleyway, she felt sick to her stomach from what had happened, stress filling up her chest and threatening to burst out in the form of tears, only she composed herself the best she could to be strong. There really was no need to be strong. Shinsou was her friend. He was kind and brave and very intelligent, but most importantly he was kind to her. If she cried, he wouldn’t shame her. But she still felt the pressure to keep them from falling. “Shinsou-”

“I’m so glad I turned around to follow you. I swear, it’s almost like I knew something bad was going to happen, I just knew it,” he mumbled more to himself than her, really. He looked down at her finally, his eyes searching hers for any sign of distress. She looked terribly shaken up, but no tears were falling. “Are you okay? Did that guy hurt you or anything?”

“No, nothing else happened,” she told him. “I-I can’t believe you came to save me. I’m so grateful, I don’t even know what to say. I felt so helpless back there without my quirk at disposal.”

“It’s okay. It’s over now, and you’re alright. That’s all I could really hope for.” He looked down the street and then back to her, flashing a weak grin. “You wouldn’t mind if I walked you home from here, would you?” he asked, to which she silently shook her head. So, he began walking and she followed very closely behind, so close that he could feel her arm brushing against his. He figured she was scared enough, a little bit of  friendly comfort was going to help her out. She obviously didn’t want to speak, too shocked to say anything much.

After a minute or two of walking, he felt her hand slip its way sneakily into his own, tightly grabbing on as if he was going to yank it away from her. Although he could feel how shaky her hand was, it was so warm and soft against his cold and rough hands. Her fingers fit perfectly between his own. It was sappy of him to think, but jeez, it felt like those hands were meant to interlock. It just felt so fucking good. 

He shoved down those selfish feelings. Y/N was just attacked, and he was thinking about how he felt. He shook his head subconsciously, knowing that he was being rude. She was holding his hand because she desperately needed to feel safe and comfortable, not because it necessarily felt nice. She would probably hold the hand of any random dude that saved her like that. Jesus, Shinsou, so dumb. Get a damn grip, you sap.

He squeezed her hand back reassuringly. He wasn’t sure what she was feeling, but he hoped he was helping.

Her house was relatively close to the spot she was grabbed, so it was a short walk. Part of him wished it had been longer so he could have spent more time with her hand held in his. As they stopped at her doorstep, she dropped his hand and went to grab the strap of her bookbag anxiously, eyes hidden from his view. 

“Shinsou, thank you for stepping in back there. I really can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate that.”

With a wave of his hand absentmindedly, he brushed off her praise and thanks. “Don’t thank me. Anyone would have done the same, you know.” he didn’t feel like he deserves any thanks. He barely did shit back there except say a few words, and she was thanking him. Anyone would have done the same. He wasn’t special. He wouldn’t be special with the quirk he possessed. 

But god, the way she looked at him in that way, adoration and admiration staring into his eyes, completely entranced with him; it made him feel invincible, like he was on top of the world for a lifetime. He would never forget the shine in her beautiful e/c eyes in that moment, he swore it. That was a memory he’d hate to lose.

“I-I know- It’s just that…well…” Her words trailed off into silence before he felt her reach up abruptly to wrap her arms around his shoulders, falling to rest against him. He caught his balance last second, not expecting that of all things. Her head rested snuggly in the meet of his shoulder and neck, hot breath tickling his skin there. He tensed at the sudden embrace, but nevertheless wrapped his arms around her shoulders, bringing her closer. He could feel her shaking once again, and her rapid heartbeat pounded against his quickening one.

“Hitoshi,” she whispered, “You are my hero.”

Shivers ran down his spine at those simple five words, laced together by the most angelic voice he’d heard before.

That took his breath right from his lungs. He was her hero. A real hero. That was all he wanted in his life, to show people that he could be someone’s savior. The feeling of the one person he cared for more than anything saying those words to him. The feeling was unbelievable.

She pulled away after a silent moment, and waved to him gently, taking a step up to the entrance of her house. “I’ll see you on Monday, okay?” she said sheepishly, feeling something weird herself after that hug. Her skin felt all warm and gooey, like she was going to fall apart at any moment or her knees would collapse beneath her.

“Y/N, if you need anything, you know you can call me night or day, I don’t care,” he called after her. “I swear, anything for you, Y/N.”

“Thank you, Shinsou-kun.” 

“Bye, Y/N.”

“Bye.”

“You’ll call me sometime, right? So I can make sure you’re feeling better?”

“If you want.”

“Of course.”

“Okay. I promise I’ll call.”

“Yeah, well, bye then.”

“Yeah, bye-bye.”

She shut the door finally, catching the eye of her brother immediately.

Katsuki stood in the living room of their home, sipping some soup with a spoon, blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He raised a brow when she peered over at him, obviously having seen what happened outside through the front window. “What was that about, Y/N? Care to explain why that boy was all over you?”

“Shut up, Katsuki.”

He grunted, rolling his eyes at her reply. “Hey, I’m just worried for you. You can’t trust teenage boys. Take it from me since I am one. ”His voice was quite hoarse from the sore throat he had that morning, and he sounded like a frog whenever he spoke. How could she possibly take him seriously? 

“He’s just my friend. You really don’t have to lecture me on anything,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Sure, sure.”

She waved off how annoying he was, and walked down the hall to her room. When she shut the door behind her, she finally felt herself heat up with embarrassment. Shinsou Hitoshi held her hand the whole way home. He saved her like the glorious hero he always wanted to be. The feeling of relief she felt when she heard him enter the alleyway and call for her, it made her heart melt. She would definitely take up his offer and call him over the weekend, just to hear his soothing voice in her ear. Just hearing him, or even thinking about him made a smile grow on her cheeks. 

She wasn’t sure what she felt for him. If it was simply a friendship or if her attachments were growing into something more.

Y/N just really, really liked him.

_____________ 

 Part two coming later this week. Should it be angst or fluff? I’m torn

[stradlingmrstradlin]

So I enjoy writing and I this is the first story that I wrote with the intent of being posted. Constructive criticism is always welcome ♥️

Here's the story

Steven x Duff

Reader x Izzy

(No warnings, maybe swearwords if that counts, also I don't promote underage drinking)

I think I managed to stay gender-neutral

Words: 2794

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You were on a road trip with the guys, how did you end up here? Oh well, you've known the guys for a few years as you were good friends with Steven since you were kids, but you had a falling out because he moved around quite a lot and your family did too.

When you were 14 your family moved to Seattle and stayed there for 4 years. In those years you met a blond-haired dude whose name was Michael or as you and a few other people called him, Duff. You and Duff met at a corner store when you were 15 and tried to steal a bottle of vodka. Duff was also lurking around the alcohol section, also probably trying to steal some alcoholic beverage.

But he was, according to the store manager, a suspicious punk guy...so he got kicked out before even getting his hands on anything. You felt bad for him so after sliding a bottle in the inside pocket of your denim jacket and throwing a wink and a charming smile towards the cashier you walked out.

So there you were at eighteen having to say goodbye to Duff because your family was moving away... again but now to Ireland. You had a huge argument with your family about always moving and you losing all of your friends because of them so you made a decision, to run away. Ok, I know that's a stupid idea because how the fuck will you survive on your own?

Your family was well off so you decided to take a bit of money with you, they probably wouldn't even notice.

You lived in quite a few places after that, from the back alley of the theater to Duff's place, his family loved you so it was ok. When Duff decided to move to LA to pursue his dream of being in a band you of course followed him.

You moved into a small one-room apartment together, but it was great. Living with Duff is fun. But he always moved stuff on the top shelf to mess with you, and also money was tight. You guys both worked a lot but it was alright.

He joined a few bands and played a few gigs in shitty bars but none of them worked out. You played guitar so you tried but it was the same with you, never being able to keep a band together for more than a month. Also being a girl didn't help, because many bands thought that it'll ruin their image if a girl is in the band.

Eventually, he put an ad in the paper looking for a band and that's how he met the other guys. You were super surprised to see Steven there but also happy to see him. Also, you remembered Slash from meeting him with Steven maybe a couple of times. The only new people were the two boys, who, as you later found out were from Indiana. The one who looked a bit like Johnny Thunders was hot, but you ignored that fact for now.

The first thing you noticed between your two blond friends was a bit of jealousy, at first you thought maybe they liked you and were jealous of each other, but after a while, even before they knew it, you caught onto the real reason. They didn't like you, at least not romantically, they liked each other. But for about four years they didn't act in their feelings...(later on about that)

Eventually, in 1985 they formed Guns N Roses. The guys liked you, and Axl tried to fuck you, but after a big smack on the head and an angry talking to by Duff he quickly forgot that idea.

So now in 1988 here you were sitting in the back of a van, that Izzy was driving because he was the only sober one...today. Tomorrow probably you'll have to drive.

Your pov.

We were in the car for about twenty minutes and everything was calm...for now. Led Zeppelin was coming from the radio and Axl was softly singing along, in the front seat and Izzy was driving. Duff sipping something from a bottle, probably something alcoholic, and slowly falling asleep and leaning on Steven's shoulder. Steve was smiling per usual, but if possible his smile got even bigger when Duff's head landed on his shoulder. But as all good things come to an end, the comfortable silence got broken.

"I have to pee!" Steven suddenly yelled out, causing Duff to lift his head off of Steven's shoulder and look around in confusion. "The fuck is going on?"

Axl just grumbled "Steven is a fucking baby and can't go and use the toilet before road trips...no he has to use them when we are in the middle of a fucking highways"

Slash snorted at Axl's response but didn't say anything as he didn't want to get into this argument, surprising.

Can't the guys stay still for one second?

"Izzy, can you please stop the car at the next rest stop?" I asked, as kindly as possible not wanting to further upset Rosie and listen to him throwing a temper tantrum for the next hour or so, he's annoying sometimes.

Anyways we stopped at the next stop, and Steven almost ran to the restroom. I switched places with Axl because he was tired and wanted to sit in the back, so he could stretch out a bit. Now Axl was sitting next to Slash, and Steven came back jumping in next to Duff. We're on the road again.

"Can I switch the music?" Izzy looked at me with almost puppy dog eyes, well I didn't think that was possible.

"Of course, what do you have in mind?"I replied almost laughing because of the face he was making

"Maybe Hanoi Rocks?" He again looked at me with the same stupid face.

"Fine, just stop making that face because I'll probably die from laughter" At this point, I just straight up burst out laughing and he just threw a cute lil smile my way. I was super proud of myself because I made THE Izzy Stradlin laugh.

A little background on me and Izzy. When we first met I ignored that he was hot because I didn't want to mess anything up for Duff with the band, but in the next two years that feeling grew from "oh, he's hot" to "I want to fuck him". No, we never fucked, but at a party in 87' we had a really hot make-out session which was sadly ended by a drunk Slash passing out on top of me...that was a wild party. There were no awkward feelings between us but we never took it further either. We sometimes cuddled and kissed when we needed human contact but nothing else. I always wanted more, but Izzy...Izzy is a mysterious guy, hard to figure out, the only person who somewhat is able to figure him out is Axl...but you don't go to Axl asking for advice, because Axl's advice is usually bad advice.

..My thoughts were interrupted by the opening cords for Don't You Ever Leave Me, which's one of my favorite songs. Izzy glanced at me and seconds later we were quietly singing because we didn't want to disturb our four friends who were asleep in the back. Axl and Slash were leaning on each other and Axl's face was barely visible because of Slash's hair. Duff was leaning on a window and Steve was cuddled up to him.

As I was looking at my friends when Iz asked me a question "When do you think they'll realize that they like each other because you have to be an idiot to not realize it, I mean Steven always smiles around Duff, and Duff is so cuddly with steven?" Oh boy, the problem was, that our friends were indeed stupid, at least on the topic of love. "I don't know Iz, they are after all a bit ignorant when it comes to love" As I said this I saw something in Izzy's face change, but I couldn't identify it because it was gone pretty soon. After that we didn't talk much, only glancing at each other a few times but it wasn't uncomfortable or anything, we just didn't have anything else to say out loud.

However, my thoughts were really loud... Ignorant with love? That sounds like us, maybe after all Duff and Stevie weren't the only stupid ones.

...It was around 6 pm when we got to our destination, a fairly large cabin up in the hills, between a shit ton of trees. Nice, finally we can rest without reporters, fans, and annoying paparazzi asking about the private life of the guys.

Everyone had their own room as nobody really wanted to share, we specifically looked for a cabin with 6 rooms, we love each other but sharing a room is annoying. In the beginning, when we didn't have much I shared rooms with probably all of the guys.

Axl is an annoying little fucker, he kicked me in his dream a lot of times, my back hurt a lot after. Slash is nice, he let me have my own space on the small bed we slept on and didn't bother me, well he accidentally woke me up when he fell off the bed, but that sucks for him, not me. Steven and Duff both love cuddles, Steven almost suffocated me once but other than that it's nice sleeping next to them. Izzy...He doesn't hug you or cuddle up to you when you're going to sleep but somehow you always wake up tangled together.

After we brought up our luggage to our assigned rooms Slash had the awesome idea to watch a film. Steven wanted to watch something funny but Axl quickly told him to fuck off.

"Axl, that's very rude" Duff quickly came to the help of Steven. "Yeah, well I ain't watching some shitty comedy, that's for pussies" ..Axl is an asshole sometimes

Slash had enough of arguing and just put on a horror movie and told everyone to shut up and watch the movie.

Halfway through, Steven was cuddled up to Duff, hiding in his chest.

Axl laughed every time someone died, and Slash always shushed him.

Outside pov.

As the movie went on Steven was buried under his hair, two blankets, and most importantly to him, in Duff's arms. How can they be so stupid? Not noticing something that's there?

But they weren't the only stupid ones, no there was a black-haired boy, and you. Also stupid... too stupid in love to notice what's there.

After the movie ended you made food for the guys. Duff decided to help, as the others were pretty incapable of cooking or didn't want to help.

Your pov.

"You know y/n you're blind for not noticing how Izzy looks at you." Duff stated bluntly. "Well McKagan then you're pretty blind for not noticing how Steven looks at you"

"What do you mean?" He asked with...hope? His eyes got wider and you could hear his voice shake a bit.

"Duff, are you serious? Steven likes you, he always tries to be close to you, looks at all the groupies you fuck with so much anger in his eyes, I never thought he could be so angry. And don't think I don't see you staring at him all day" I said with a sweet smile on my face.

"I don't get it y/n..he..he likes me?"

"Yes Duff, he does, he really does, so please don't mess this up, promise me you'll talk to him while we're here"

I really hope he'll talk to him because it's probably eating them up from the inside to keep these feelings locked away.

"But! Y/n, you should talk to Izzy too, you have something between the two of you" Duff looked at me with pleading eyes

"Duff, things are complicated, we.... well, we know about each other's feelings but, I don't know, I guess we're just too afraid to fuck it up"

I don't know about his feelings, to be honest, but I'm definitely scared to fuck up because I really like him. For a time I never thought I'd be able to love someone, and I know that's a strong word to use, but when he came along, stuff changed.

By the time we were done cooking the guys were all hungry and basically ran to the kitchen, I was really conflicted inside from our conversation with Duff. Should I mention it to Iz? Probably should. Whatever, I'll think about it later.

Night came around and everyone retreated to their own rooms to sleep, or in my case think.

Outside pov.

Slash and Axl were fast asleep in their rooms, but the others weren't.

Duff was sitting in the kitchen, head in his hands muttering to himself about being a coward and stupid. Steven however noticed someone downstairs and when he saw Duff and what he was muttering to himself he got sad. How could this perfect human being think that he's stupid? He tiptoed behind him and pulled Duff in his arms from behind. Duff was sitting so the back of his head was pressed into stevens chest. At first, Duff was scared but as soon as he smelled the familiar and calming scent of Steven he instantly felt comfortable, like he was at home. Steven turned Duff around and carefully put his fingers under the taller man's chin and leaned down to press a love-filled kiss onto his lips. At this moment both of them understood everything without words. Duff stood up hugging Steven and lifting him up to take him to his room. They didn't do anything else besides cuddling and a lot of kisses, but both of them felt safe and eventually, they fell asleep with Duff on his back pulling Steven close to him, almost on top of him. This is how they'll be found when you walked into Duff's room in the morning to tell him something.

What was that something?

Well after a lot of thinking you got up and went to Izzy's room. It's now or never you though.

Your pov.

My fingers softly collided with the wooden door and a rustling noise inside told me that Izzy heard it. This seemed like a really bad idea all of a sudden. Well, can't do anything about it now.

A soft "Who's there" could be heard from inside the room "Just me, can we talk?" I replied really quietly wondering if he heard me.  "Yeah, come in"

"Iz, look I'm going to tell you something, ok? Please don't interrupt me."

"Alright"

"So you know when we met, I immediately found you extremely hot. Well, those feelings grew a lot since then, and when we kissed at the party, it just, felt so...right? I know you'll probably tell me that you were just drunk all of the times you kissed me, or just felt lonely. But Iz, I like you, a lot." Silence, that's all, he said nothing. Just staring at me with his signature poker face.

"I knew it, sorry for disturbing  you, I'll just go now, forget it please!"

As I turned to walk away he grabbed my arms and pulled me back into a hug that soon turned into a kiss. When I opened my eyes again we were cuddling on his bed. This is where I felt home, felt alright, in his arms.

"I'm sorry for not responding love, it was just shocking to hear that you liked me. I thought you kissed me all those times just to anger Duff or Axl. I guess I just never thought you'd want to be with a junkie " Izzy whispered looking down at his arms sadly

"You thought wrong Iz, I don't give a fuck about what you do, well yes I don't like you doing drugs, but also you can get over that and to me you are perfect" 

"Maybe it's too soon to say, but I love you y/n, I really do."

"I love you too Iz"

Outside pov.

Maybe they weren't so stupid after all, just scared of their feelings. The two blond boys, who understood each other without words. Izzy and you, on the other hand, needed words to understand each other fully.

But what matters is that in the end, everything was alright.

[backtobackbakubabe]

I am the Alpha Now Part 3

Bakugo X Reader 

Words : 2733

Reader is from America and somewhat of a delinquent with an alpha quirk that allows her to turn into a wolf as well as bond with dogs. She is sent to UA to straighten out her attitude. She ends up in a power struggle with none other than our favorite hot head. Words in Italics are words said telepathically

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

Bakugo trailed behind you as you entered the classroom with Mercy hanging out  by the door looking nervous. “Are you waiting for permission or what? Get your ass in here.”

Mercy jumped ahead to catch up with you, tail wagging with excitement.

Bakugo just shook his head at how goofy Mercy was for how powerful he was.

He could hear his dumbass classmates practically squealing over you and he figured you might need help. Not that he necessarily wanted to help you, in fact he thought it’d be pretty funny to watch you squirm. But he had a job to do and that job was to help the new kid.

He was surprised when All Might had pulled him aside after class one day. He gave him a long winded lecture about how he needed to learn how to work with others. Seeing as your quirk gave you a pack mentality he and the other teachers thought maybe it would rub off on him. Make him understand team work or whatever.

So here he is stepping in to help you as his fellow classmates swarmed you. “OI! BACK THE HELL UP A SECOND!”

Everyone froze for a moment before resuming their questions. You looked to him with wide eyes, “My Japanese isn’t great to begin with, but they’re talking a mile a minute. I have no idea what anyone is saying. Someone keeps touching my hair and pinching my ass but when I look no one's there. Please help.”

He groaned, “I can help you with the translations but they’re just going to keep bugging you.”

You threw your hands up, “So what am I supposed to do?”

He walked over and thumped you between the eyes like you had done to him earlier, “Do that weird glowy eye thing you do. Tell mercy to crowd control, I don’t know. Just get the point across that they need to respect your personal space...” He looked back to the crowd of people who were now directing their questions to him to translate. He spoke Japanese and even he found it hard to figure out what was being asked. “SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN!”

When he had every ones attention he gestured to you, “This is Y/n. She’s new. She’s from America. She Doesn't speak Japanese that well so be fucking patient. She’s got some weird alpha wolf quirk and we all know what happens when you corner a wild animal so back the fuck up and let her breathe.”

He looked over and your eyes were a bright electric blue and Mercy was standing in front of you in a defensive position. He wasn’t growling but that didn’t mean he didn’t mean business. “Easy Mercy. We’re not looking for a fight or anything but Bakugo is right. They need to know we’re not here to play.”

Bakugo gave you a nod and your eyes slowly went back to normal. He then pointed to Mercy, “This is Mercy, he’s her beta and he..”

Some guy with yellow hair rushed to pet him, “Ohhh who’s a good boy? Is it you? Are you a good boy?”

Mercy’s eyes looked murderous but he knew wasn't supposed to hurt your new friends so he just let the weird boy talk to him as if he were a baby.

You opened your mouth to tell him off but Bakugo was already dragging him by the ear to his desk, “Kaminari you idiot! Mercy isn’t some ‘good boy’ he’s her fucking beta, he is smart, probably smarter than you and he will tear you to pieces if you talk down to him again!” He looked to your other classmates who now looked a little scared, “You all got that?”

A few people nodded some just stared at him. They all knew he had a temper but they had never seen him actually defend someone else before. Hell must have frozen over because Bakugo Katsuki looked like he gave a shit.

Bakugo didn’t even look back to you as he made his way to his desk and took a seat. There was an empty desk in front of him, and you assumed that was meant for you.

You snapped and Mercy fell at your heals as you took your seat. “Can I look around a little bit?”

You rubbed his head, “I don’t know, maybe wait until class is over. I don’t want anyone to freak out.”

He wined and plopped down rather dramatically in the isle next to you.

“What’s his problem? I thought he wanted to come.”

You tuned to face Bakugo who was already getting his notes out, and they looked very well organized. Was he a secret nerd? “He did want to come. He just wants to take a look around. Learn the room. He likes to do this every time we go someplace new. I just don’t want anyone to freak out.” You shrugged and turned back around just as a man… in a sleeping bag… popped up out of nowhere.

“Good morning class. I see you have already met our new student from the United States, y/n. I know you all have a lot of questions but there is plenty of time for that after class. Please be patient with her as she learns our language and routines. In most cases you will see her with Bakugo. Please consider him her translator, tutor, and guide while she is here.” He turned to look at you, but you were already spaced out. This language barrier was going to be a bitch. “Y/n is there anything special you would like to say before we begin our day?”

You heard your name. You knew he was asking a question. But you had no idea what was going on. The teacher softened and spoke again but this time in English, “Forgive me, it seems even as I was giving a speech about you being from America I still forgot to speak English. Was there anything you would like to say?”

You shrugged, “Uh… sure. It’s nice to be here and I can’t wait to meet all of you. Thanks in advance for putting up with my bullshit.”

You looked at a smirking Bakugo who started shouting out a translation. But what you didn’t know was what he translated that to was, “She says she can’t wait to meet you all in training and her dog Mercy needs to sniff out the room. Let him do his job and don’t bother him. You can meet him later too…” He patted Mercy’s head switching back to English, “Hey go do your thing they wont bother you now.”

Mercy jumped up and looked at you with his tongue lolling out the side, “Oh can I? Sparky said I can. Can I please?”

You narrowed your eyes at Bakugo, “As much as I appreciate it, please don’t make a habit of telling my beta what to do. I’m the alpha here, not you.”

Bakugo just leaned back in his chair, “Yeah we’ll just see about that.”

He made your fucking blood boil but you knew you would get your chance to slap the smug look off of his face later in the gym.

You nodded at Mercy who took off and started sniffing everything. He did it for most of class just pacing around the isles. Trying to learn faces and smells.

You spent the rest of the class trying to keep up, but it was just too much for you. You only knew every other fifth word or so. In the end you resorted to writing down words that were said frequently so you could look them up later.

Finally, after what felt like years you were dismissed to get lunch before training.

You stood up and stretched. You heard light snoring and that’s when you noticed Mercy had fallen asleep in front of your desk. “Typical.”

You leaned over to wake him up but before you made contact someone was behind you. One hand on your skirt the other around your waist. You’d panic but that familiar scent invaded your personal space just like it had done earlier. Bakugo pulled you to him while trying to pull your skirt back into place. He leaned in and whispered into your ear, “What did I tell you about bending over. Are you stupid or were you trying to give our classmates a show?” A shiver ran down your spine and your witty response died in your throat. “Next time I see your ass like that I am going to slap it.”

Your eyes began to glow and you could feel your wolf instincts kicking in. You are an alpha and NO ONE challenges you. You were going to tear him a new asshole, but before you could even get a word out he let you go and started walking towards the door, “Hurry up brat I’m hungry.”

You were fuming now. How could he say something like that and then act so nonchalant as if nothing ever happened. You used your foot to nudge Mercy awake. “Come on man. You just had to be asleep when Bakugo threatened to slap my ass huh?”

Mercy stood and shook himself to wake himself up, “Sparky spanked you?”

You caught up and were now walking behind Bakugo and some red headed guy who seemed to be friends with him. Odd you didn’t think he was the friendly type. “NO! He didn’t spank me, but he threatened to if he saw my ass again!”

“Well why did he see your ass? Did you moon him or something?”

You rolled your eyes, “No! I bent over to try and wake you up and I guess my skirt rode up a little.”

“Well he did tell you earlier not to bend over… You used to spank me when I did things you told me not to…”

“Who’s side are you on?!”

“Oh wow you’re right. She does talk to her dog. That’s so cool!”

You saw Bakugo had stopped with his red headed friend who was currently beaming a mega watt smile at you, “Hey sorry! I don’t mean to be rude, My name is Kirishima! My English isn’t the best but I’m going to work on it.”

You returned his smile, “Nice to meet you Kirishima. I’m y/n and this is Mercy.”

“So cool! So were you two having a fight or something? You sounded pretty mad earlier.”

You narrowed your eyes at Bakugo, “Not at all, just discussing proper punishments for pack members who don’t fall in line.”

Kirishima rubbed his neck, “Oh wow sounds intense.”

You returned your gaze to Kirishima and gave him a sweet smile, “Only for those who don’t behave.”

Kirishima chuckled, “Oh.. sounds kinky!”

That earned him a slap to the back of the head. “Tch. She doesn’t want to hear your perverted bullshit alright now get us a table!”

Kirishima rubbed the sport Bakugo had slapped as he scurried off to the cafeteria.

You crossed your arms over your chest, “She really doesn’t want to hear your perverted bullshit either.”

Completely ignoring you he leaned down and started rubbing Mercy’s ears. “It sounds like your alpha needs an attitude adjustment. Is she always this high strung?”

“Oh he’s funny. Tell him I said he’s funny. But also tell him to be nice or I will eat his homework… no one will ever believe him”

You snorted, “I’m not telling him that.”

Bakugo cocked his head at you, “Tell me what?” He stood up and was now facing you with his arms crossed. You hadn’t noticed how tall he was. He probably had half a foot on you.

You shouldered past him to enter the cafeteria, “It doesn’t matter what he said. I’d watch your back though, someone might mistake you for a chew toy.”

You saw Kirishima had found a table and headed in his direction but before you could take a seat Bakugo came up behind you with his jacket in his hands. “Please for the love of god tie this around your waist before you sit down. I’m getting you a new fucking skirt today if it kills me.” You blushed as you yanked the jacket roughly from his grasp. “Tch be a pouty bitch all you want just take it. I’m going to go get us some food.”

You quickly tied the jacket around your waist and felt monumentally better as you took your seat. The others were busy talking amongst themselves. Everyone once in a while they would make an attempt to include you in the conversation but they were busy stuffing their faces for the most part.

A guy with red and white hair came and took a seat across from you, “Hello, my name is Todoroki. I have pretty high marks in English so if you ever need help please feel free to ask.”

He seemed genuinely nice, and kind of cute if you were being honest. You smiled and reached your hand out to introduce yourself, but you had to yank it back to keep it from being crushed by a tray of food. “She doesn’t need your fucking help, that’s my job icy hot.”

You glared at him, “SHE can speak for herself thank you.”

He groaned as he yanked two notebooks and a tape recorder out of his backpack and slammed them on the table. You picked up the one you had seen him writing in earlier and was actually impressed in what you found. “All your notes today… they’re in English.”

He rolled his eyes, “How perceptive of you.”

You bumped his shoulder with yours, “You did this for me?”

He pulled a pair of headphones and some pencils out, “Don’t look too much into it. It’s literally my job.” He plugged the headphones into the recorder and handed you a pencil. “Now I recorded the lecture so we can listen back. I can retake my notes in Japanese, and you can follow along with the notes in English and try and learn something.”

You took one of the earbuds and stuffed it in your ear as he hit play. You hadn’t realized how hungry you were until your stomach growled and as if he read your mind Bakugo pushed a plate full of chicken and rice towards you. “Eat up. We have training after this, and I’d hate to beat you because you didn’t have enough food on your stomach.”

You put down your pencil and picked up your fork, “So do you want me to take notes or eat? Because I can’t exactly do both at the same time.”

Bakugo was finishing his bowl of ramen before pushing it away, “I mean I already took the damn notes for you. Just eat quick and catch up.”

“But what about me! I’m hungry too! Did he not get me anything?”

“Shit.. I guess I didn’t feed you this morning huh?”

Without glancing up from his notes Bakugo put his tray on the floor so Mercy could have what was left of his chicken and rice. His mood swings were going to drive you crazy.

When it was finally time to go to training you were practically buzzing with excitement. Mercy was too, “I get to help this time remember! He said I could train later! Do I get to fight sparky?”

You stopped mid-stretch to poke Bakugo who was warming up next to you, “Hey, Mercy wants to know if he gets to fight you yet?”

His nose scrunched up as he looked over to Mercy, “I know you’re not like an average dog, but I still feel bad trying to blow you up..”

You laughed, “Well at least we know you’re not hiding any signs of being a serial killer.”

“Tch, I just don’t want to hurt him! You, I have no problem with. You’re a pain in my ass. But Mercy’s cool!”

You rolled your eyes, “Oh shut up. You won’t hurt him. I’d be surprised if you could even hit him. He may look lazy but he’s really fast and his fur is super thick. The longer we are bonded the stronger he gets.” Your eyes started to glow as you started your shift, “What are you scared of a little two on one?”

His palms started to crackle, “Bring it brat. Time for round two.”

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

Tags : @tspice283

[comradelup]

fuck it. balance youtuber au because i’ve been thinking about it

(modern au with no magic but still elves/dwarves/etc)

the twins have a joint channel but they post things together as often as they make videos on their own. they do vlogs, story times, and challenge videos both together and not, but do stuff with fashion/makeup together. taako does cooking on his own and lup does chemistry experiments that involve fire more often than not. if someone says they like the twins’ videos it’s a wild card as to what they watch them for, but everyone ends up liking all of their content because who can hate the twins? they have a lot of “annoying influencer” energy but are actually really nice to fans/people in general and donate a lot of their Youtube Money to charities and stuff (all of the ipre does this too because fuck rich people except for them)

magnus’ channel is mostly woodworking/construction projects. he does occasional story times and in every one he’s carving and/or painting a wooden duck. he does vlogs too and half of them are him buying more woodworking stuff (idk shit about it so idk what he’d get lol) and the other half have a part where he sees someone walking a dog and him going to meet them. almost every video includes/mentions julia and people make “magnus talking about julia” compilations bc he loves his wife and talks about her all the time. he’s very positive in general and everyone loves how he’s a human golden retriever

merle’s channel is 99% gardening, 1% collating with the others. he made one joke along the lines of plant fucking and it was not serious at all but his subscribers/followers made into such a big joke that he makes at least one joke per video except for when his kids are in the video, which is when he makes it suuuper educational and fun and wholesome. mookie tries to eat the plants and play with the soil and mavis tells her dad about what she’s learned about biology in school. also he puts “(emotional)” and “(not clickbait)” at the end of video titles randomly despite knowing what they mean

barry’s channel is science-centric (yes he collabs with lup frequently) but about more feilds of science. sometimes he goes on rants about theoretical physics like a madman a la bdg’s unraveled series and sometimes he makes videos titled “making the volcano kitchen experiment but the size of a kiddie pool (emotional).” he also has a series about paranormal activity/cryptids, stuff like “why ghosts should be and are real” and “my top five favorite pieces of bigfoot evidence” and like i said this is a no magic au but he once was asked in a q&a about what he’d do if he was a lich and gave a surprisingly detailed response? people were really confused but intrigued?? did barry invent magic???

lucretia 100% has an art channel, but she also writes prose and poetry in her free time and sometimes reads them for videos. she posts speedpaints of her work (digital and traditional) with her telling her process/inspiration or doing story times as the background audio. she had a period of time where she started writing a whole novel in her spare time (basically the balance story but different characters) and all her videos were her making concept art. her fans loved it and boosted it to the point where it actually got published, so now she’s a best selling author with a seven book series. now she keeps making videos of her concept art for other book ideas (the other arcs) with her infodumping about the characters/plot/etc

davenport doesn’t actually have a channel, but has been in the background of all the others’ videos to the point where he’s treated like a cryptid and has a small fanbase of his own. he’s mostly in merle’s videos (because they’re dating) and magnus’ vlogs (because magnus Loves His Friends) but he’s been in at least a handful of everyone’s videos. he makes a twitter and instantly gets thousands of followers. he tweets the most random shit at the most random times and half of them become memes. people find out he’s a professor at the college the rest of them met at and everyone looses it

kravitz is in a similar position as davenport, but he was convinced to start a channel. he mostly does stuff involving antiques because he collects them, so he does haul videos of what he bought or thrifted and videos of him restoring them as he looks up how old they were and what random shit they were used for and stuff. people make compilations of him getting off topic and going on a tangent about taako then realizing he just rambled for ten minutes and getting flustered. he also plays a handful of classical instruments and makes occasional collabs with lup + barry

despite having completely different channels they’re all friends??? people didn’t know at first but they found out through davenport and kravitz “this one guy who i think is dating taako but i’m not sure and idk his name” showing up in everyone’s videos. from then on they started collabing more often and it’s really fun to see them outside of their element. lup once almost burnt down magnus’ workshop while making a chemistry video with him. taako tried to teach kravitz how to make macaroons (keyword: tried) and kravitz talked about this new antique shop he found the whole time. barry went on and on and on about biology while gardening with merle, who tried to follow along but failed and ended up making fun of all the scientific names for plants

they call themselves the red robes after the main characters in lucretia’s novel (they’re not similar to the characters but there’s seven of them and six youtubers + one davenport)

they once did a big group collab where the twins dressed everyone up in high fashion outfits and lucretia painted a big portrait of all of them. it was very wholesome but also had a lot of lup and taako arguing over what accessory fits who and “no this person should do their hair like this!” and at one point magnus and kravitz just dipped to go play cards and talk about dogs

speaking of wholesome angus has a channel of his own which is mostly booktube with him getting halfway through a mystery novel, predicting the ending, and being 100% correct. he’s done videos with the others and is kinda associated with them but not totally, and is often lovingly referred to as the nephew to the rest of them

killian and carey don’t have a channel but are in the bg of magnus’ videos often. they were referred to as “magnus’ lesbian friends” until they got popular on instagram and became an internet power couple. johann has a small channel and a soundcloud he plays violin on and did one (1) collab with lup and it made him blow up overnight. avi has a semi-popular twitter and is mostly known as johann’s bf. sloane and hurley have a channel about drag racing/cars in general and don’t show their faces and go by the raven and ram

i was trying to think of who’d have a gaming channel and it’s 100% graham, who casually mentions that he’s friends with Pro Wrestler Jess The Beheader

lucas has a science focused channel similar to barry’s where he tries to be educational and ends up being annoying/kind of wrong about it. barry has a mini series called “lucas miller is a bitch here’s why” and it’s him disproving lucas’ theories with a deadpan expression and generally being better at science than him

remember when i said taako and lup have influencer energy despite being nice? yeah, lydia and edward are like that but they’re actually annoying. they have a popular makeup/fashion channel and lup and taako have gotten into slight drama with them over how the wonderland twins have been rude to them and the how the red robe twins are “jealous.” the internet is divided over who likes which pair of twins better

lup learns that greg fucking grimauldis (who the twins knew in high school) has a popular twitter/insta platform and tweets the “i am to collect” speech out of nowhere from everyone’s pov. taako tweets the video he took of him telling her and her immediately going “no fucking way that ASSHOLE is getting away with what he did to me” and opening twitter. it becomes a meme and he pays her back and changes his social media handles to “gregfuckinggrimauldis”

i can’t think of anything else because i don’t know enough about youtube but yeah.

[winterscaptain]

how do our favourite ajf couples handle The Talk? and also, how do they start talking about lgbtq+ things? we love communication and education in this house ✨ - 💙

alRIGHT we are going OFF under the cut about good parenting (and also aaron’s the best dad on the planet change my mind)

this is litcherally almost 1.5k words because not only are we inclusive and educational in this house, we are comprehensive and honest with our kids!

they start with consent and boundaries really early. its always “can you ask you sister if its okay to use her tablet” or “honey you're standing a little close to me and i need some space right now. can you step back?” or “i don't really want to do that right now, can we do something else?”

its easier to understand boundaries with the addition of isaac in their home environment. he needs and has very clear boundaries for his siblings and his parents, so its very clear cut from the get-go what is and isn’t okay without permission. mom and aaron are good about knocking on doors and waiting for their kids to invite them into their space, and they’re awesome about privacy and open conversations.

auntie emily has a girlfriend or two and spencer has a boyfriend, a non-binary partner, and a girlfriend over the course of the kids’ lives, which is a really neat segue into the lgbtq+ conversation. very simple - 

“when you’re older, you might start feeling things for people, or you might not. there are different words for people who are attracted to different people, and those are called sexualities. for example, your aunt emily is a lesbian because she likes girls, and your uncle spencer has dated people of different genders, so he’s called bisexual.  

“there are also different words for people who don’t really fit in to the ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ category. some people are a lot of one or the other, some people are a little bit of both, and others aren’t any at all. 

“it’s really important to use these words respectfully, and only use them for someone if you have heard someone use them for themselves. this is a really private thing for most people, so we have to be respectful of people’s boundaries when we talk about the feelings we have for other people.

“if you ever want to talk to mom or me about feelings you’re having, we will be here for you to love you and accept you no matter what.”

(these kids are either gen z or whatever the fuck comes after them, so they’ll probably all be a little queer in one way or another, or at least explored a bit, lets be real)

they are very age-appropriate, as well. so there’s a conversation about how our bodies change when the kids are about nine or ten, and they have a lot of books for the kids to read in private, so they’re not so put on the spot. 

mom and aaron do their best to tag team, but there are some things that are better to hear from your dad than your mom and vice versa. 

this is also around the time the kids get the conversation about what is and isn't appropriate touching, peer pressure, and social norms (”sometimes, people will say that they’ve done something that you hadn’t thought of before or aren’t ready to do, and it might feel like everyone else has done it, too. however, you are you and you are not them. you are the only person who gets to tell you what to do, and never feel like you have to do anything for any reason.”)

jack, of course, is first, and is having these first conversations with aaron right around the time isaac is born.

when he gets further into middle school, he and aaron go for a walk and talk more specifically about consent and new feelings that might come up. idk about yall, but i knew way more than i should have in middle school and the internet has only gotten worse since then, so i’m sure jack has a vague idea of the mechanics. jack and mom also talk about values, like respect and compassion and empathy, and how those values link together with those feelings. 

when they're older (late middle school, early high school), they get the conversation about stds and safety and risks and that stuff. (that’s another easy conversation with real-life examples because isaac, while very wanted, was somewhat unexpected, and so was their cousin henry.) everyone is really clear about all the ways to engage in these activities that won’t get anyone hurt, pregnant, infected, or all of the above. (all of course, with the understanding that “this is for your knowledge, not for you to just know how to go off and sow your wild oats. you’ll have plenty of time for that later, i promise.”)

the segue for isaac’s first on-topic talk comes due to a question about how jack has a different mom than the rest of them. there was a comment at school that made isaac feel a little weird (”well jack’s not your real brother. he doesn't count because he's your half-brother” - that kind of thing) so he asked mom and dad about it. he already knew that jack has a different mom, but he doesn't really know what that means. 

aaron’s like “well, jack is made of different stuff because he didn’t come out of mom.”

“what kind of different stuff?”

(and of course mom thinks its hilarious and later says “you walked right into that one, honey.”)

so because isaac is isaac and loves to learn, aaron goes and grabs one of the books he got for jack, and he and mom walk through all the “stuff” that makes up a person and how it gets there. they’re a little more detailed with him than the other kids, because he really likes to know the science and mechanics of it (”dad, people are kind of like machines!” “yeah, bud, a little bit!”)

hes fascinated, of course, and he’s the easiest of the five. he also does really well with more abstract ideas of consent and boundaries as well. 

when it’s the girls’ turn, they not only get the mechanics conversation (for both sex and owning a uterus) but the safety conversation. because consent was so drilled into all of them, the boys are like “aight got it, don’t be an asshole and always ask about everything all the time. cool.” but the girls are dealing with some different stuff on multiple fronts. 

mom tells them about periods before they get them, so they’re not thinking they’re dying when their first period arrives. they actually help their friends a lot when they freak out, which is super sweet. 

aaron reiterates this one to every kid, every time: 

“there will be times where people, usually men, do not listen to you and do not respect your boundaries. i am giving you my permission to do whatever you have to do to get out of that situation. you can lie to that person, you can trick that person, and you can hurt that person if that’s the only way to get out of that situation. you can always call us and it doesn’t matter what time it is. we will never ever be mad at you. we love you unconditionally and we just want you to be safe.” 

“sex, for some people, is about fun and getting some exercise in, or just another way to spend time with people. that’s okay, but just make sure you’re taking care of yourself and being safe. for other people, its a physical way to express your love to someone you really care about.” 

(“oh, so that’s why there’s so many of us.” “soph don’t be rude.” “it’s true isnt it?”)

so its less of like The Talk and more of Yeah, We Can Talk About This Anytime, because mom and aaron do their best to normalize talking about this stuff so the kids won’t be embarrassed to come to them with stuff in the future. 

jack usually goes to mom with more...specific questions. caro ends up going to dad more often than not, and soph and elliot split the parents pretty evenly. isaac usually goes to mom, too. 

aaron’s favorite Jack Asks About Sex moment (relayed to him that night, in bed with mom) is as follows:

mom and jack are out on a walk, and jack’s like, 15ish. he just looks at her and is like “mom. hey, uh. what’s a blowjob?”

she tries not to laugh and succeeds, for the most part. in the spirit of honesty, and with the understanding of “you aren’t to do this until you are comfortable and ready and nobody else can tell you when that is,” she kind of loosely outlines oral sex and how to conduct it safely and responsibly. 

“is it like...good? fun? like ugh, god, how do i put this...do you and dad...do people...nevermind.”

with a laugh - “jack. you really don’t want me to answer that. i will scar you for life if you push.” 

“ugh. yikes. alright.” 

aaron thought it was HYSTERICAL. 

at the end of the day, they just want their kids to feel safe and loved. all five of them know that they were built and made with love, and know (within reason) that their parents love and enjoy each other. 

whew. thanks for coming to my ted talk, and you can thank my parents for some of these gems lmao

[inkdemonapologist]

Okay but I do actually want to know both the things you love and the things you could rant about from DCTL?

OH BOY UHHHHHH okay lets see, I'm gonna see if I can do the "add a readmore after you post it" thing and see if that'll keep it stable.......

But also, much like Sammy, I am incapable of shutting up unless you strike me in the head with a blunt object, so uh, forgive my wordiness:

THINGS I ENJOY:

- DCTL gave us Sammy's ink addiction and like, if you had asked me before all this "what would you most like to see in a franchise?" I would not have answered "one of the characters drinks ink accidentally and then discovers that he can't stop" but boy that sure is my favourite concept that I LOVE to see handled literally any other way than how the book handled it!!!

- I like what it added to Tom and Allison and Norman!! Like, it's not big twists on their characters or anything -- we already knew Tom felt he was doing the wrong thing, so getting to see his CRUSHING GUILT over creating the machine isn't New Information, but it's nice to see and understand more of him; for all of them I feel a lot more attached to them after getting to see more of them as people.

- Like 90% of the "I LOVE IT" category for me is how the book handled Joey, and Buddy's relationship with Joey. The way Joey isn't a Sinister Mastermind Who’s Just Screwing With Everyone but just manipulative in a more mundane way -- someone who thinks of himself as just the guy with the vision to call the shots; he wants what he wants and this is how he's learned to get it; he exploits people not through devious schemes, but just by offering them something that they want or need and asking too much in return, expecting their loyalty for his favours. And the way he interacts with Buddy, making Buddy complicit with him and keeping Buddy off-balance and insecure while making him a favourite and treating him as Special is just PERFECT --  gives a lot of content to kind of extrapolate off of when pondering what must've drawn the others in and convinced them to ignore the red flags. I was initially frustrated with the idea of Buddy not being an artist and jUST DECIDING TO LEARN TO ANIMATE ON THE SPOT ("I've never done this before but I'm sure I can just do an artist's job" is a weirdly common throwaway thing in media and as an artist iTS A PET PEEVE) but actually the way they use his plagiarism to make him trapped in a lie in ways Joey doesn't even realise ends up being a neat echo of other employees (coughTOMcough), who were involved in much graver sins but suddenly felt they couldn't object or they'd lose their one chance, just like Buddy. There's a lot here that I think is really great.

OKAY THATS THE GOOD STUFF, LET'S COMPLAIN ABOUT SAMMY:

- Uncomfortable Bigotry Vagueness that we all knew was gonna be in this list -- I dunno man, a guy committing a microaggression and getting startled and defensive when he's called out for it doesn't necessarily completely ruin his character I GUESS, but the way this was handled is just SO WEIRD AND VAGUE that it's uncomfortable and it doesn't seem to serve any real purpose. "Is Tom black?" is a question I actually have to ask because the text sort of implies he is while also dancing around it and apparently Word of God said he's not??? which makes Buddy's comment nonsensical???? And I mean, you could go that route, since Buddy wonders to himself if Sammy talks to everyone like this -- HE ACTUALLY DOES!! Even within the text of the novel, he uses "Joey" instead of Mr. Drew, which is consistent with his audiologs in the game -- but that makes the writing suggest "this character THINKS this guy might be racist but actually they're reading too much into it and it wasn't racially motivated at all, he's just a jerk!!" wHICH IS SOMEHOW EVEN MORE ICKY??? Anyway like yeah I guess it's not inconsistent with his character that while Sammy Lawrence may not have any specific grudge against minorities he has probably not checked his privilege or done the work to challenge his own internal biases, but “Your Fav Probably Contributes To Systemic Racism In Ways He Hasn’t Considered, As Do We All When Our Assumptions Go Unchecked” is still a wild thing to wade through in a fun story about demonic cartoons

- but yknow so is T H E   H O L O C A U S T

- Sammy's voice is wrong. I'm actually okay with him being a weird awkward asshole, I already kind of assumed he was and that's part of why I like him!! but there's so many places he doesn't quite... talk like himself? And not just in terms of word choice, like -- so in his monologue at the end, he's described as talking so quickly that his words are "tumbling out faster than he can speak them," which initially seems fine; like yeah, that's a Standard Scene we're familiar with, the person who's been Driven Mad With Insight becoming more and more manic as they try to convey it -- until I tried to imagine it and realised that Sammy doesn't talk like this. That's a really consistent quality I always notice about his voice; whether he's almost giddily excited in prophet mode, or he’s his irritated and overworked human self, or he's violently angry and his voice has that echo effect -- he always speaks very deliberately. He enunciates carefully. There's some circumstances where I'd buy this as showing that he's Not Himself, but I feel like those would kind of need to be in the middle of his transformation, not at the end of it.

- In fact a lot of the scenes with Sammy kind of have this feeling -- that it's not necessarily an exploration of Sammy as a character, but that he is filling a trope or archetype role here. Once he's fully transformed he excitedly describes the process as more of a mental compulsion, which is in contrast to his weird yeerk-infected behaviour when trying to get ink from Miss Lambert. Both of those scenes don't seem wrong on their own because they fit tropes we know -- but they feel weird when you try to fit them together.

- I also just in general am not a fan of the ink acting like a weird yeerk. It can be a parasite I guess but when it starts overwriting and puppeting people and crawling around to enter their body that's just a completely DIFFERENT kind of supernatural story and it’s not what im here for!!!

- THE FREAKIN!!! HE WILL SET US FREE!!!! WHY????????? SAMUEL LAWRENCE WHAT IS HE SETTING YOU FREE FROM??????? Sammy has No Motive for any of what he's doing, other than just Ink Made Me Do It. The whole thing that was INTERESTING about Sammy as a character is the contrast between this frustrated, ornery musician with no specific love for the cartoons he works on, and the manically devoted cultist he becomes. What happened in the middle there? What made him desperate enough to shift his mindset so much? "Something supernatural made him do things that don't benefit him in any way" is a very boring answer to this question!!! Susie was a victim who implies that her transformation has forced her to do things she didn't want to do, but we can still see her motive -- she wanted to be Alice, so she took a sketchy offer to try to get what she wanted. Even now, her violence echoes that goal -- to be a more perfect Alice. What did Sammy want? WHO KNOWS. Even in his ink-addled state at the end, we don't understand what he hopes the Ink Demon will even do for him, and in fact he seems to be responsible for creating the very scenario he's begging Bendy to reverse in the game.

- [sighs loudly into my hands]

- Overall I'm left wondering if the author just..... didn't like Sammy Lawrence? And I don't mean that in the sense of him being a rude jerk -- like, Joey is not a good person, but the author seems to be interested in him and in what makes him tick. There doesn't seem to be that same interest in Sammy. Sammy's role in the story is that of a monster, transformed into something murderous, unable to prevent or choose it. He's not a victim of anyone but the ink, no one had to manipulate him or figure out how his brain worked or what he wanted or what he feared or give him any reason to do the things he does -- ink got in his mouth and overwrote his personality. And we don't even get to see that change, not really. He starts out angry and defensive and continues being angry and defensive up until his very last scene, denying his ink-stealing but not really much else. We see all his prophetic sketches but we never see hints of this in him, we never see him start to act more excited and hopeful, we never see him seek out the demon he desires to please. Why do we never see Sammy struggling between his dismissive angry front and a building religious fervour he can't quite suppress? We don't get to see any of the in-between. There's no interest at all in why or even what it looked like as Sammy became what he became, when, to be honest, I suspect interest in precisely that is one reason he's such a big fav.

- It's funny, in a "cries into my hands" kind of way, when Sammy is just knocked in the head while monologuing and immediately removed from the story without further mention, like...... that sure is the pattern with him, isn't it, he just tries very very hard and never actually gets to matter, but it also fits right in here, too, in this book that doesn't want to think about his motives -- he rambles nonsensically, explaining nothing, gets one trademark phrase, and then is hastily removed so the story doesn't have to think about him anymore.

...................I think that's most of it.

...

Y'all............ I'm not ready for Sent From Above.......... I'm just not.... I'm not emotionally ready...... like..... Sammy has to be in that right..... he’s Susie’s boss and she has that big crush on him..................................... I’m not ready

[criminalromantic]

Cornelia Street - Chapter 8 (Billy Russo x Fem!Reader)

Summary: You and Billy have a heated conversation and a lot is revealed.

Word Count: 1759

A/N: This one was a wild ride to write, hope you enjoy it and it heals your broken heart

Warnings: swearing

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

He was there. He was actually there. Looking handsome as ever. How dare he?

"Hi.” He said when he noticed you, but you didn’t say anything. Instead, you just started making way to your car as if he wasn’t even there. You walked as fast as you could, nearly ran, but he was much taller than you and with his long legs it was easy for him to catch up. „Hey, why won’t you talk to me?“ He finished his sentence as he watched you unlock your car.

“I’m not worth it, am I?“ You asked him bitterly. He seemed to be taken aback because he literally took a step back like the harshness of your voice could physically hurt him.

“What? What are you talking about?“ Unable to move from where he was standing he watched you walk around the car and put stuff in it. 

“Now listen to me, Billy Russo. I understand if I am not someone you don’t want to be with. So can you please stop acting like you do?“ You were surprised that you managed to get that sentence out in an even tone without a voice crack. It was also the first time you were looking Billy in his eyes that morning. 

“Where the hell did you get that from? Because that’s bullshit.“ He was getting angry, it was clear from the way he spoke. There was something else in his voice – he sounded impatient like he wanted the situation to be over as soon as possible because he had no control over what was happening. 

“Is it? Because tell me, why do you spend so much time with me? Wha-what could I possibly have that makes you stick around? I have nothing that you might need that could be useful to you. So why are you still here after all this time?“ You mentally kicked yourself in the shin for every involuntary voice crack – this time you couldn’t stop it. After saying the words you couldn’t look Billy in his eyes. Not at that moment and maybe not ever.

The next time he spoke you were almost startled by his voice – how calm and hurt it was. „That is what you think? After all this time, after getting to know me, that is what you think about me? You think that I come to see you because I want something from you?“ He slowly took a few steps towards you and you were thankful when he stopped, leaving quite a lot of space between you.

“I...“ You were positively speechless by his words. “We are two completely different people. Someone like you does not hang out with someone like me.“

“Then you am I supposed to hang out with, huh? Am I supposed to pick my friends from a list that’s sorted by the number of digits in their bank account? Because let me tell you, that I can’t stand those rich assholes and it hurts that you think I am in any way like them.“ You already knew all that. You figured out by yourself. 

“I already know all that, I just...“ You didn’t want to tell him the real reason that lead to you avoiding him. A small part of you hoped that you could just push him away some other way, but it didn’t seem to work.

“Then what’s the problem? I thought that you... liked spending time with me. Less than a week ago I was happily taking care of you and you seemed okay with it.“ Successfully you stopped an automatic smile that was starting to form on your face at the thought.

“I know, I ju-“

“What is it then? Do you... Is there someone else?“ Is he for real right now? That sentence. That one sentence made you see red and you had a hard time keeping your emotions under control.

“Are you seriously asking me that?“ You mentally patted yourself on the back for how threatening you managed to sound. “How was work on Wednesday? Because from what I know, even with your immense workload you managed to find time to go on a date with some other woman.“ It took your brain a few seconds to catch up with your mouth and when you realized that you said, you wanted nothing more than to disappear from the surface of the earth.

“What are you talking about? I wasn’t on a date.“ He spoke the words very confidently and he seemed sure in what he was saying. 

“I know someone who saw you, so stop denying it.“ You crossed your arms on your chest and looked down at your feet as you started swinging back and forth from your heels to your toes and back.

“The only recent date that I was a part of was when we went for a walk. And when I left your place I...“ Your eyes carefully watched as his expression changed. Like something just dawned on him. “I had a meeting. With a friend. She works at Homeland and asks for my help sometimes.“

“Yeah, right, nice try, Russo.“

“Y/N, I swear that I am telling the truth right now.“ The look on his face was nothing you’ve seen before. It was a mixture of sadness, defeat, and a hint of determination. „If you don’t believe, I’m going to call her right now, okay?“ He must have taken your lack of reaction as a yes and reached into a pocket for his phone. Seconds later you heard the voice of a woman.

“Hey, Dinah, how are you?“ 

“You just woke me up, idiot, this better be important.“ This whole situation was beginning to feel more and more absurd to you.

“Y/N is here. You remember Y/N, right? I told you about her.“

“If by “told" you mean “talked about her every time I had the chance“ then yes, you did tell me about her. How could I forget? You barely talk about anything else these days. Oh, how rude of me, hi Y/N.“ You raised your eyes to look at Billy and uttered a quiet response to the voice coming from his phone.

“Do you remember the meeting that we had? On Wednesday? The one that wasn’t a date?“

“Billy, what is going on? Yes, I remember. And the next time you say the word date in any connection to me, I’m going to kick you in the balls.“ You began to feel idiotic as Billy hung up and put his phone away.

“See? It wasn’t a date. As if I would ever want to go on a date with anyone besides you.“ Billy took a few slow steps in your direction and stopped right in front of you.

“I’m sorry. I guess I should have asked first before kicking you out of my life.“ You felt him flinch at the thought.

“I want you to listen to me very carefully. I don’t ever want you to think that we don’t belong together because we’re from different social circles. And for god’s sake, don’t you ever dare to think that you’re not good enough for me.“ He was never this close to you before. His hands cupped your cheeks gently and you thought that he might be staring right into your soul, that’s how intense the look in his eyes was. You caught yourself staring at his lips when his tongue darted out to wet them. He noticed and his face came close enough for your noses to touch. His lips lightly brushed over yours and he was ready to dive into the kiss when suddenly a loud honking sound startled both of you. 

You looked around slightly panicked and then your eyes landed on your cat. With his front paws on the steering wheel of your car. When Billy noticed what you were looking at he wholeheartedly laughed. You couldn’t help but laugh too and opened the door. As soon as you tried to reach for your cat, he ran out straight towards Billy, so excitedly that he got himself tangled in his leash a little. The sight made you think about a certain ex-boyfriend of yours and how your cat always avoided him when he was around. Here was Billy, with Benjamin is his arms who was happily purring.

“I guess he missed you.“ You said standing awkwardly next to your car, not knowing what to do as you watched the reunion.

“I missed him too. And you. What are you up to today?“ Billy said pointing to your clothes.

“Oh, we were thinking of going on a hike.“

“Can I join?“ 

The hike was fun. You spent a solid portion of time making fun of Billy for not being dressed for the occasion. He wasn’t in a suit, but he was dressed to impress, like always. During the drive back you made fun of him every time he complained about the state of his shoes.

“Oh come on, city boy, you can just buy another pair, it’s no big deal.“

He navigated you through the city to where he lived and you dropped him off. It was a tall building and at the sight, familiar doubts started circling your mind, until Billy brought back.

„Hey, remember what we talked about?“ You nodded and took the cat from his lap so that he could get out. “Listen, I don’t want to keep secrets, so I’m just going to say it. Yesterday, when you texted me, I was worried that something had happened to you and with my job, all kinds of bad scenarios flashed through my head. I asked a friend to come over and check on you, just to see if everything was okay. So, feel free to get mad at me, I probably deserve it.“ The whole time as he spoke he didn’t make eye contact like he was ashamed.

“I’m not mad.“

“Oh... okay, good. Well, I guess I better go change and wash up. See you.“ He got out of the car in a swift movement and you watched him enter the building. When you got home, you felt too tired to do anything. Slowly you stumbled into the bathroom, took off the dirty clothes that were clinging to your skin, and jumped into the shower. The warm water helped relax your muscles and clear your head so you took your time – you had no idea how long you were in the shower. 

After you got dressed, you reached for your phone and saw a text from Billy.

Wanna come over?

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

Tags: @1-800-heartbreak, @elfmama

[lostgirlrewatch]

1x10 - The Mourning After

Written by: Michelle Lovretta

Directed by: Paul Fox

Original Air Date: November 21, 2010

What the fuck happens in 1x10 again? I can’t even see straight. *wine sloshes in glass*

Oh.

Okay, so the premise of this one is that some Fae is making a bunch of women write horrible slut-shaming things about themselves on walls and then commit suicide. Pretty touchy subject, and not pleasant or comfortable. The villain is also, shocker, a really creepy misogynistic slut-shaming asshole. It’s all pretty yikesy.

But this one’s good. A classic. Lotta classic lines. Lotta good character moments. Lotta big plot stuff making a dramatic entrance.

Bo is forced to go talk to Lauren for information on the case, and oh my god you can cut the awkward tension in this scene with a knife.

“She had sex about an hour prior to her death. It appears consensual,” says Lauren.

Oh. OOF. The look that Bo gives her at that last comment is fucking scathing. Then Bo says, “Not so sure I trust your judgment on sexual matters.” 

Ha. HAHA! Oh my god. Fuck yeah, Bo. Throw that shade exactly where it belongs.

The fact that Lauren making an innocuous comment about sexual consent, specifically, is what triggers Bo’s anger, is really telling. Because Bo doesn’t really see her sexual encounter with Lauren as consensual anymore. It was consensual at the time, at least in her mind, sure. But Lauren’s lying, emotional manipulation, and ulterior motives have clearly complicated her memory of the experience. She feels betrayed on a much deeper level than just, “Oh, she lied,” if we’re bringing up the topic of consent.

Lauren was the one who made the first move; she nudged Bo into it. And Bo said “yes,” but she was consenting to sex with Lauren that night on the assumption that she and Lauren had a genuine emotional connection, and that Lauren was super eager to pursue it. Finding out that that’s not what was going on on Lauren’s side renders that consent null and void. This was not a simple misunderstanding on Bo’s part--this is misinformation that Lauren was deliberately feeding her. Regardless of whether Lauren actually has feelings for Bo, those feelings are not why she lured her into bed that night.

This is not the last time the topics of Lauren and dubious sexual consent will be brought up together. Shocker. 

She’s a piece of shit. But anyway--

Bo and Kenzi head to the bar to find clues about who the victim had sex with right before she died.

And--oh. 

I love her entrance. As Bo and Kenzi slip out of frame, we see “Saskia” just casually walk towards us. Bold, dramatic, clearly important. The framing of this shot is so cool.

Subtle, Bo. Also, I notice that Bo is just “Bo,” but Kenzi is “Astra” at one table and “Svellana” at another.

“Oh, my favorite literary quote about regret! Wow. Fun. Um, well, I think it was the great poet, uh, Ludacris! Who said, ‘Regret is for suckas, for suckas, for suckas. Regret is for suckas...bitch."

Saskia: *sits down*

Bo: “Oh, wow. I didn’t know this was girl on girl too.”

Gross. No. Please don’t say that. (About her.)

OH. OH NO. THAT’S CURSED.

ME TOO, KENZI.

Later, Saskia is like, “You should have marked your territory.”

Kenzi: “Like what, pee on it?”

Bo wants to stay and talk with Saskia, the first succubus she has ever met, so she can ask her all sorts of stuff about their kind, and so on. Kenzi, meanwhile, feels a little neglected. She goes to the Dal to hang out with Trick, but Trick is just rude to her. I’m starting to notice Kenzi feels neglected really easily.

It’s a mood, though. I know exactly how she feels.

Just look at how excited she is when Trick asks for her help, and specifies that he wants her help, not Bo’s or anyone else’s. When Trick asks for help initially, Kenzi’s kneejerk response is, “Should I go get Bo?” When Trick tells her that it’s her help he needs, she is genuinely surprised. Kenzi craves being valued as an individual and seen.

Saskia: “Your mom is probably a succubus.”

Ha. Yeah.

Seeing Bo and Saskia tag team this creep is kind of badass. Too bad it’s short-lived.

HALE. HAAAAAAAAAAALE.

I miss Hale. Why isn’t he utilized more? For fuck’s sake.

They beat the bad guy, and Saskia almost kills him. Bo, of course, is mortified by this, because she’s not a murderer. Saskia, on the other hand, is like, “Um? This guy is a serial killer who has violently murdered a ton of women and almost killed you? He can die?”

Look, I’m no advocate for murder. But I can’t lie and say I don’t relate to that energy.

Bo dramatically hugs Dyson in front of Lauren just to piss her off. Gotta love the passive aggression.

In the end, Bo and Saskia massively disagree over the morality of killing someone, and Saskia skedaddles out of town. Bo is crushed over this; Saskia is the first person she has ever met from her own kind, and worse, Saskia left before Bo got to learn better chi control from her.

She hugs Kenzi when she comes back and tells her that she missed her. Then she does something really nice and asks Kenzi about her day and problems instead of immediately diving into venting about her own. It’s a nice moment. One step forward, before we go through the next couple seasons and proceed to take two steps back.

*rubs hands together* *whispers* But I love the drama.

So we met Saskia this episode! Who is surely not a really important character and is surely just a one-off character who will never appear again!

I have to say, I enjoyed this one. Saskia and her actress bring a really intense, chaotic energy to the show. She’s dangerous. But also weirdly likable? Right off the bat, we know that we can’t trust her, because she’s sketchy and has massive chaotic energy, but she brings an edge that the show was seriously missing, and carries with her some incredibly valuable knowledge that makes it hard for Bo to resist letting her in.

She’s interesting. She’s a wild card, thrown in at just the right time in the season.

She strikes you as existing in a kind of moral gray area, rather than being an outright villain. But we will just have to see.

[thoughtfullyyoungduck]

Shadows in the dark

A/N: this was requested by anon, I hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you think! If anyone has any requests, please let me know! 

Summary: can you do a reddie x teen daughter where she thinks she sees a shadow figure but it’s just bc she watched a horror movie, n she screams so richie n eddie come n automatically assume it’s IT n go into fight mode but she reassures them she was just seeing things, but then she’s suspicious af bc of their reactions so they try to like explain the whole pennywise thing but rlly vague and like half bs so tht they don’t scare her n they acc get away w it.  

The thunderstorm pours heavily outside of Raina’s bedroom window, drenching everything in sight. It was the first night of the year that this happened, and she had forgotten just how scary it is, to be faced with this kind of . The horror movie she watched a few hours prior doesn’t help her case either, the images of dark figures stalking girls outside in their backyards flashing through her mind every time a bolt goes off.

The window is located on the left side of her bed, above a cozy seating arrangement Rania uses to read and indicate that she requires alone time. Though it usually symbolizes her calm, it now appears ominously, something she should be scared off.  

She fumbles with her phone, trembling impatiently until the screen lights up, illuminating the room so she can see. She groans in frustration when she looks at the time, barely three am, falling back into the bed and burying her head in her pillow.

The storm croaks outside, loud and un-bothered in it’s intensity, making Rania wonder if anyone else is awaken by the weather phenomenon.  ‘Shut up’, she mumbles stupidly, as if it’s going to listen to her, but it reminds her of the times when her pops used to stay up with her when she was little and afraid of the storm, and that causes her to chuckle.

She’s older now, and not so easily spooked, except when she watches a scary movie. This particular movie was called hush, and even in the light of day it frightened her. The idea of not being able to hear whether or not someone was breathing down your neck, or calling out for you seemed manifested straight out of one of her nightmares.

The storm rings loud enough to drown out any other sound that might emit, but that’s only her brain talking, tricking her into being queasy of nothing. There’s not a thing that’s going to happen, and logically she knows that, so she tries to shut her eyes and will herself to sleep.

It’s not going to happen, the three am hour sign burned on the back of her eyelids. She taps her fingers against the edge of the bed restlessly, shifting and twisting in her blankets until sweat starts to build above her eyebrows and she frustratingly kicks the comforter off of her.

Glancing at the window, firmly shut and the curtains drawn over it, Rania debates if it worth opening her window to let some cool air in. The hot summer sun is unforgiving these days, so scorning hot that it feels like your skin will burn right off the flesh if you stay outside for too long.

A bit of relief of the heat would be welcome, yet she almost falters, then curses herself with how foolish she’s being. Her pops is famous, and they’re living in an expensive neighborhood with a security guard, no one can harm her. She opens the window up an inch, and before heading back to bed, Rania shuffles towards the living room to grab a glace of water.

It isn’t uncommon for her to wake up, usually around the same time too, so she learns to deal with it, eating or drinking something or trying things like yoga. Though rarely helpful, Rania does discover new things and interests, so she takes it as a win.

An explosion of lightning brightens up the room, so she leaves the lights off as she shambles towards the fridge. It’s dead quiet, everyone having gone to bed, which makes her feel like she’s alone in the house. Another thunder crack causes her head to whip up from where she was ducked down to grab the water, eyeing the room twice, but coming up empty handed.

Rania hurries to pluck a water bottle and run up the stairs back to the safety of her room, peeking over her shoulder multiple times to ensure that there’s no one watching her. When she reaches her door, she throws it open, duks into the room, and then promptly shoves it closed with a loud bang.

She winces, the noise way too loud, though thankfully neither her dad, nor her pops stir. The rain ticks away on her window, some of it slipping through the opening and spattering in her room, resulting in a wet puddle being formed.

‘Fucking great’, Rania mutters when she notices, the pool extending right before her eyes. She turns halfway to her closet on the right side of the room, a wooden terra cotta colored one that uncle Bill got for her when they moved in, searching for an item that is allowed to get wet.

Towels aren’t at her disposal right now, and she’s not jumping at the idea of leaving her room again to go get one, so she improvises, by using a cloth that will be washed in the morning.

She takes hold of an old sweater that’s non usable right now anyway, and then circles in the direction of the window. A scream tears from her lips as she does, a shadow looming by the window leering at her as he sits on the window seat.

Screeching, Rania trips over her feet and falls on the ground, the sweater dropping from her hands, then scrambles back towards the door in an effort to get away from the silhouette. Her hands cover her face, like she wants to protect herself even if there were no visible weapons or the person preparing to attack her.

With burning eyes, tears that threaten to push themselves over the edge, she squints one eyelid open at the lack of movement. The room is empty.

Rania’s heart beats a mile a minute, her breathing fast and erratic, yet she manages to laugh manically. It was only a catch of the light, induced by her own imagination, petrifying her within an inch of her life.

She inhales and holds, then exhales slowly, controlling her breathing so she calms down. Several footsteps thunder on the laminate flooring in the hallway. Not fast enough to dodge the unlatching door, she receives a blow to the head, knocking her down once again.

‘Auw’, she complains, cupping the back of head in one hand and rubbing over the bump.

‘Rania, are you okay?’ Her dads pile into the room, switching the light on, searching frantic until they see her, and scurry beside her.

‘Rania talk to us, are you hurt? What happened?’ Eddie, her dad, clutches her body, half hanging over her, and pulling her as close as possible.

Richie, her pops, is standing on her other side, holding a lamp tightly in his one hand, while the other one latches on to her shoulder.

‘Nothing dad, I thought I saw something, but it’s not real.’

Up close, she can detect the tremors originating from her dad, and the hand of her pops shakes too.

‘You need to tell us alright, even if you think we won’t believe you, we will,’ Eddie promises, Richie nodding along vigorously.

The strangeness of their responses causes an alarm bell to go off in the back of Rania’s brain. She tilts her head sideways, peering up at her dad’s with a quizzical look in her eyes.

‘Okayy..’, she draws up, her voice taking on a questionable tone. She makes an attempt to inquire why they’re acting the way they do, but Richie and Eddie engage in their own conversation now.

‘She won’t tell us, we never told anyone either.’ Eddie says, still keeping Rania close at bay.

‘Well Eds, all the adults in our town fucking sucked, especially your mom.’

‘Fuck off Richie. Do you honestly want to joke about this right now? What if it’s IT asshole? What if the clown returned?’ They’re rushing through the sentences like they are hunted on by the devil himself, complete with wild gestures and raising voices as panic and hysteria seem to control them more and more.

‘I didn’t intend for it be a joke Eddie, I mean it. She was a fucking bitch so yeah, you obviously weren’t going to tell her shit,’ Richie responds irritated.

This wasn’t the usual bickering her parents did on a day to day bases, this time both were annoyed with the other, and Richie being vexed was a rare thing.

The storm rages on outside, three crying out thanks to the wind that blows strongly, but entirely the last thing on Rania’s mind right now.

‘Dad, pops it’s fine, leave it.’

‘It’s not fine, stop saying it’s fine.’ Eddie snapped, staring at Rania with poorly concealed terror. Her dad never snaps at her, ever, furthering suspicion in Rania that something was really, really wrong.

‘Sorry, sorry’, he relented, ‘that was rude.’ It is, but Rania is more concerned than angry anyway. She’s anxious that her dad might have a panic attack, even if he hadn’t had one in years. His face is red, and his hand digs in his pockets, aiming to find his inhaler.

‘We have to call Stan’, Richie distracts, seizing both Eddie’s, and Rania’s hand.

‘Wait what? why?’ Rania asks, pulling her hand out of his grip. Uncle Stan lives in Atlanta, which is a plain ride away, he’s not easily accessible.

‘And Bill. Maybe Mike too.’

‘Guys’, Rania yells out, frustration getting the upper hand. Why won’t anyone listen to what she has to say?

‘I watched a horror movie, I just got spooked. Nothing happened. I opened the window and the curtains moved in a way that looked like there was someone sitting there. But there wasn’t.’ She pointedly fixes her gaze on both Eddie and Richie, to get her point across.

‘Is someone going to tell me what this is all about? Why would we need anyone to come here?’ The tension dibs out of Richie and Eddie, albeit slowly, and they nervously communicate in silence.

‘Hello, is anyone gonna fill me in?’ Rania repeated, as she is not used to being kept in the dark. She thought Eddie and Richie told her everything, so it comes as a shock now she reckons that there’s something hidden.

‘There was a clown.’ Eddie starts, despite the shaking of Richie’s head. ‘And every year at the carnival, he scared us half to death by mean pranks.’

Rania blinks once, then twice. ‘That’s it? That’s what terrified you guys enough to want to call your friends?’

‘I guess we’re just traumatized’, Eddie chuckled uneasy, flatting a curl on the top of her head to keep his hands busy.

‘Psst,’ Richie draws her attention, ‘your dad is spooked because we’re the clowns in high school too. He’s just afraid to admit it.’

Rania giggles, always counting on her pops to make light of a situation, making her instantly more calm.

She misses the thumb Eddie gestures at Richie, gratitude flowing through him that the topic has been avoided, mostly.

They’re both still on high alert, the trouble Pennywise cost then a long way from forgotten, but outwardly they come across as composed.  

A tree branch slaps against the window, starling all three people of the family, although they all pretend that it didn’t.

‘Is anyone up for watching a movie?’ Richie suggests, shoulder shimmying to draw the attention his way.

Rania wisps her head towards her dad, applying the puppy dog eyes her pops had taught her to convince Eddie to do something he most likely won’t approve of.

This time, he relents without any type of resistance.

‘Yeah, come on, I’ll get the hot chocolate milk.’  With a last, lingering hug, Eddie releases his hold on Rania, getting up from where he’s sitting on the floor.

Richie hugs Rania as well, smiling brightly at her with the giant smile. ‘Come on,’ he says, then ushers Rania out of the room.

The suspicion still lingers, the story her dad made up not making much sense, but Rania allows herself to follow them downstairs anyway. It’s late, and though she’s aware that no one hung around her room, she’s apprehensive all the same.

She’ll find out what all of this is about, for example by exploring and question one of her uncles or her aunts, but that can wait. Right now, all she’ll watch a movie, and slip off to sleep under the watchful eye of her parents, who outside of her knowledge, don’t dare the blink away from her once.  

[fairymadnessyeah]

The Day Shouto discovered his sister is a Girl

Notes: Fuyumi needs more love. That’s all

Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia

Genre: Fluff

Pairings: Fuyusei (FuyumixTense) Huwumi (FuyumixHawks)

Summary: Or the four times Shouto Todoroki saw someone flirting with Fuyumi and the one time he did something about it.

WARNING: Mineta being Mineta

The first time it happened it took him by surprise and it left as soon as it came. He was also not prepared.

The whole class had just came back from winter break and were all sharing stories from their time apart in the common room. Mina had gone ice-skating, Jirou, Kaminari and Momo went to a concert together, Koda had gone to a rally in the park, Hagakure and Ojiro were now officially dating.

“What about you guys?” Asui asked, looking at him, Midoriya and Bakugou. “Did you do anything apart from the internship kero?”

“Well, I spent a lot of time with my mom. And my dad came back for two weeks, so I also spent a lot of time with him.” Midoriya said as his cheeks turned pinkish for being in the spotlight. “Oh, and I had dinner with Kacchans family.”

Bakugou growled at that as everybody chuckled at the image. They sometimes forgot how close the two actually were. Then all eyes turned to him. Guess it was his turn to talk.

“I…. I learnt how to make snow cones with my sister…”

“WAIT,” Kaminari interrupted him. “You have a sister?”

“Yeah, her name is Fuyumi. She’s a teacher…” He said, taking out his phone and displaying a photo of her on the screen (a selfie Natsuo took with him and Fuyumi squished to his side) and passed the phone for his classmates to see.

Their reaction were… wierd. At least for him. Fuyumi was like a second mom to him. She cooked for him, cleaned, took care of him, she even helped him in some subjects to enter U.A. So other people calling her thing like, cute, nice, or other was not what he was accustom to.

“Man, I sure wish your sister gave private classes….” Mineta slured with drool dripping out of his mouth. He was stopped by Jirou and one of her earjacks.

“What….”

“So, IIDA,” Shouto got interrupted again but this time by Sero “What did you do on winter break?”

.

The second time lasted longer. And Fuyumi was there. Sort of. He wasn’t prepared this time either.

They had just left the hospital after an evening with Mom and were going to their now usual hangout, a small french cafe. They had come so many times that the staff already knew their orders by heart.

He went to the register as Fuyumi picked a table for them. But as he was waiting in line to order, he couldn’t help but listen part of the conversation between two men in front of him.

“You saw the hottie that just entered… the one sitting alone in the back,?”

"Yeah, what do you think her bra size is?”

He stoped listening after that. He was not going to pay attencion to two pigs without manners. Soon they left with their order and Shoto received his minutes later. When he turned to find his sister, he saw the two pigs were next to her table while she was looking at her phone, completly ignoring them.

He didn’t understood it. Why would they do that? And with Fuyumi no less.

Yes he knew his sister was pretty and polite, but that didn’t mean that guys should go after her. Yes, she was in a dateable age, but… but… Fuyumi didn’t date and that was it.

He was marching there with every intencion of roasting the two pigs, when they left on their own. But not before giving her a flimsy piece of paper and throwing her a kiss.

When he sat on the table, he asked her what happend to which Fuyumi responded: “Nothing I couldn’t handle, don’t worry. Besides, it happens all the time.”

Oh, okay. His sister could handle it…..

Wait, what does she mean by all the time?

.

The third and fourth time happened so close to each other that he was not able to react to neither of them. Even though he was prepared.

It was during an open class day. Kind of like a culture festival, but only two people per student. Natsuo wasn’t able to come due to a tournament, so Fuyumi came alone.

The day started as a normal school day, except when the heroics class came, the students guest’s were able to watch and or participate. During his hero class, he saw Fuyumi chatting animatedly with a guy on a wheelchair. Most likely Iida’s brother.

That was okay.

He was okay with that.

Iida Tensei was respectable, polite and hard working…. and if anything did went wrong, he was in a wheelchair…. a little push and it was over….. so, yes…. he was okay with it….. he was…

Okay, he wasn’t. Why wasn’t he?

And apparently he was starring too. Because Midoriya asked him what was wrong. “Nothing, I just…. nothing” He responded turning his back to his sister and watching her laught with the ex pro-hero.

"Todoroki, why are you glaring at Iidas brother?" Asui asked him bluntly as always. He could feel how everybody was waiting for his explanations to why he was rudely starring at a disabled man.

"Hey, pay attention half and half bastard!" To be honest, he has never been more grateful for Bakugou's crude language.

When the exercise was over and class A and B joined their guest, the first thing he noticed was another guy talking to his sister.

This one was blonde and his laught was just like Monomas. He looked like an asshole.

"Why is everybody flirting with my sister?" He asked himself with a sigh quietly.

But apparently not quiet enough, since Mineta decided to answer him.

"She does have a great size of knockers"

Judging by how fast Minetas face had turned white, he must of not have reacted well to that.

.

The fifth time he saw it happened he did something. He was prepared. Or so he thought.

He was just arriving home for the weekend when he heard it. Laughter. From his sister and somebody else. He pressed himself against the tatami wall to hear better.

"... and somehow we ended up in the roof of the Empire State"

"You have the wildest night out, Takami"

Who the hell was Takami?

"Well, we are always looking for another partner in crime. We loved if you come"

Once he heard that, he automatically slided the door open. And in the couch, way too close to Fuyumi, holding a cup was the number 2 hero, Hawks. The door opening made both adults look up and, thankfully, separate a little.

"Hi Shouto" Fuyumi welcomed him with a smile "How are you? How was school?"

"Fine" He responded as he sat in between them. "My scar itches though, do we have something for it?" He turned his back to Hawks to ask his sister.

"I think we still do. Wait here" With that she left the room.

"Your eye okay, Shouto?" And now to deal with the bird infestations.

"No. You should leave" He told him looking at him dead in the eyes. He only got a confused stare as a response.

Time to bring out the big gun. "Does Endevor know you are here flirting with his only daughter?"

He doubted his old man would care. But from his reaction, he didn't know that. Perfect.

"I have the cream for your scar Shouto." And just in time for his sister to come back into the room.

She handed it to him and asked if he needed help applying it. "No, I'm fine. Thank you, sis". He smiled at her and then returned to stare at Hawks.

She smiled in return and turned to Hawks, who jumped back to his feet when he felt her gaze. "Is everything okay, Takami?"

Suddenly, Hawks grinned at him but changed it to a smile when he turned to Fuyumi.

"Yeah, I just didn't realise what time it was. But..." He took out a napkin and a pen from the pockets of his hero costume and scribbled something down. He then gave the napkin to Fuyumi. "If you want a wild night out, call me."

His sister turned red like a tomato while he saw red. He chased Hawks out of the house and once he left, he went back to Fuyumi to see her staring confused at the napkin with Hawks number.

The end.

[whereisthecd]

Magnolia Riders: SuperM/Saddle Club AU ✨

CHAPTER FIVE

masterlist

Key Terms this Chapter

Bridle: The equipment that goes on the horses face when riding. Contains the bit which goes in their mouth, and has the reins which are used to control the horse when riding.

Lead changes: A lead refers to the foot the horse is throwing forward when cantering. It is important to be able to quickly change the lead depending on the direction the rider is going. A lead change kind of looks like the horse is skipping. https://youtu.be/MTmc5SPzhiI

Transitions: This is the act of changing your horse’s gait. For example changing from walk to trot, canter to walk, trot to canter. It’s important to practice transitions so you can have a quicker response time when asking for something from the horse.

Ground poles: Poles laid on the ground equally spaced apart for the rider to trot or canter their horse over. It’s a good beginner or warm up exercise before jumping. 

Ten precariously pulled the bridle over Frida’s head, slipping the metal bit into her mouth. He fastened each buckle slowly, trying to prolong the minutes before he had to be in the outdoor arena. It was Wednesday, the first lesson where the entire team had to be present, meaning Baekhyun would be there. There was nothing Ten dreaded more than having to share space with his enemy, the boy that ruthlessly reminded Ten of all his insecurities. All of the other boys had already left for the arena, and Baekhyun always arrived at lessons insanely early. These last few moments with Frida were the only moments of peace he knew we would be getting for the rest of the afternoon.

After giving Frida a few pats on the neck, and stalling as long as he could, Ten slowly made his way out of the barn. He dragged his feet, nearly causing Frida to pull him along. As they approached the wooden gate to the arena, a knot formed in Ten’s throat. He tried not to make eye contact with anyone, and pretended Baekhyun didn’t exist. He threw his leg over Frida and pushed her on into the arena to begin warming up. Taemin sat on a mounting block in the middle of the arena, Moon patiently sitting next to him. Taemin shot Ten a soft smile, which only made him more nervous. He especially hated riding with Baekhyun because Ten only ever wanted to impress Taemin, but Baekhyun brought out the worst in him.

Meanwhile, Lucas, Mark, and Taeyong were walking their horses along the rail in a line, chatting over each other. Taeyong was solidifying himself within the group and brought a soft side to the team when they needed it most. Baekhyun on the other hand, was busy working Galina up into a hyper frenzy. It didn’t take long for all the boys to notice.

“Baekhyun just let her walk for a bit, there’s no need to get her worked up,” Taemin shouted from the middle of the arena. Without saying a word, Baekhyun slowed her down. There was no question that Baekhyun was a good rider, he was one of the best at Sunset Magnolia. The boys just wished he didn’t know that. Taeyong, now seeing Ten warming up, trotted Flower to match their pace.

“Hey, you okay?” Taeyong asked quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear. Ten stayed focused on the path ahead of him.

“As best as I can I guess, I just hate riding with him. Just watch and see, he’s so rude about everything,” Ten murmured. Taeyong shot him a reassuring look and moved forward.

After a few more minutes of warming up, Taemin ran his riders through several exercises: lead changes, transitions, even ground poles. With every task the boys put in their all, only to be overshadowed by Baekhyun and his drama. Nothing could be done without a snide comment or sarcasm. If Ten rolled his eyes any more he was sure they were going to fall right out of his head. Taeyong had never seen someone act so ridiculous in public. Even worse, he picked on the riders he knew were still tightening their form. Mark and Lucas were used to this beat down by their bully, but today was especially brutal.

By the time course practice was to start, everyone was feeling put off by the vibe of the lesson. Taemin could tell his riders weren’t enjoying each other, but he knew they needed to start somewhere. Taemin’s job was always about balance. Whether it was the barn budget, schedules, or managing the feelings of each student, Taemin felt like he was walking along a tightrope. To mask the discomfort in the arena, he put extra effort into coaching today. As Lucas went forward to jump the practice course first, he tried to pump his riders up.

“Alright we’re all gonna pay attention to Lucas and Gus right now, watch his eye contact on the course. He’s the example to follow here,” he yelled, shooting a smile to Lucas before he took off. Lucas needed the encouragement, it was already hard enough feeling like the circus act of the riding team. He and Gus rallied through the course, keeping a steady pace. Gus easily had the best stride of all the horses, he was long and bulky and desperately wanted to please. It was a nearly perfect ride, except for two consecutive poles down in the last line of the course. Lucas heard the poles sway in the hooks before clunking onto the ground. He let out a sigh as he slowed down to a walk.

“Hey you did great,” Mark encouraged him.

“Yeah, a couple poles is nothing!” Taeyong cheered.

“Too bad you could have avoided that if you just would have had better eye contact, such an avoidable mistake,” Baekhyun mentioned while Taemin was busy fixing the fallen poles. The words stung against Lucas’s ears.

“God you’re such a fucking asshole,” Ten murmured, rolling his eyes before turning back to the course.

“Excuse me?” Baekhyun whipped his head in Ten’s direction. Before Ten or Baekyun could say anything further, Taemin interjected.

“Hey, both of you. Knock it off,” he directed. Ten’s face went pale. He hated disappointing Taemin. He lightly nodded his head. Meanwhile Baekhyun soured his face but kept quiet.

“Mark, it’s your turn. I want to see you confident! Annabelle may know what she is doing but so do you. Relax your hands, guide her with your leg. Tell her where YOU want her to go,” Taemin said. Mark nodded, moving Annabelle forward. He knew his riding was only getting better, he just hoped he could impress at today’s lesson. As Annabelle popped over the first jump she began to gain speed. Mark tried to hide his nerves, relaxing his hands as best as he could but trying to hold on.

“Give Annabelle her head, Mark! Remember, use your leg to guide her!” Taemin yelled from the other side of the arena. Mark tried to follow direction, adding pressure from his leg as best as he could. He and Annabelle arrived at the last set of jumps, soaring over each one. Mark rode his wild white horse in small circles to slow her down at the end, relieved he cleared the course and didn’t fall off.

“Hey nice job, that was fast but I can see you putting in work,” Taemin walked up to Mark and patted his horse’s neck. Mark’s cheeks were red both from exhaustion and embarrassment. He didn’t need Baekhyun to say anything, but he could tell by the shaking of his shoulders that he was holding back laughter. Mark walked back into line, where Lucas gave him a reassuring fist bump. He just wanted it to be over.

Baekhyun was up next. He walked Galina forward, barely pausing to let Taemin give direction.

“Don’t rush her, Baekhyun. She works hard for you, remember to ease up on your leg and open the reins up when you go into the turns. It’s about teamwork, don’t forget that,” he said as Baekhyun cantered Galina down the rail. The two went off, hitting each jump with ease. Galina’s timing was impeccable, and together the two really did look like a championship team. As they came into the final line, Baekhyun pushed Galina through, finishing a clear round in the quickest time.

“Nice work, next time try to slow her down a bit, but great work through those corners,” Taemin said softly. Baekhyun threw the boys a condescending glare as he walked back into line. Taeyong couldn’t dismiss the abilities of Baekhyun and Galina in the ring, but even he was getting sick of the attitude. Ten was ready to go next, he stopped by Taemin before beginning. Taemin put his hand on Ten’s knee, hitting right at Taemin’s shoulder.

“This is a simple course for the two of you, push Frida through it. She loves a challenge and you have got to remind her even the easiest of courses can be rewarding,” Taemin said before nodding to Ten. He tried to hide his nerves, not wanting Taemin to be suspicious. He squeezed his leg on Frida’s side and began. Frida was a lot hotter under Ten than normal, she could feel his nerves radiating off him. He hated when he did this to her, it wasn’t her fault Baekhyun got to him so much. He tried his best to calm her down and move into the first jump, but he missed the stride and Frida’s back leg knocked down the top pole.

“It’s alright, good girl,” Ten said under his breath. He looked on to the next jumps, easing Frida back into the course. She cleared the next jumps, finding her flow again and calming Ten back into the confident rider he knew he was. When the two were on, they were such an easy pair to judge. Ten and Frida cleared the rest of the course, even removing a stride in the last line. Ten let out a soft smile at the end of his ride.

“That was a great recovery! And even removed a stride, nice job you two,” Taemin said. Ten felt on top of the world, he impressed his idol and made it through his part of the lesson. It almost seemed too good to be true. He got back in line at his spot between Baekhyun and Taeyong, but before he could turn to Taeyong, Baekhyun insisted on starting a fight.

“Hey nice job, number two,” Baekhyun sneered.

“Dude come on,” Mark said from the other side of Baekhyun. Ten tried to keep his words down, but Baekhyun kept pushing.

“What, I’m just reminding him of the work he needs to do,” Baekhyun sarcastically replied.

“No, you’re being a fucking asshole. Will you ever shut up, I mean my god,” Ten snapped. Baekhyun began to lean forward over the side of his saddle to get into Ten’s face.

“Oh, I’m sorry? Did I pick on you in front of your boyfriend?” Baekhyun pressed. Ten’s face went completely red.

“He’s not my fucking boyfriend why are you acting like this you piece of shit!” Ten began to yell, he couldn’t take this anymore. The rest of the boys wanted to interject but didn’t know how. They were watching a train fly off the rails.

“Hey, knock it off, now!” Taemin yelled, but it was no use.

“No, but you wish he was! I see the way you look at Taemin, we all know you’re just here to impress him -” before Baekhyun could get another word out, all hell broke loose. Ten swung his right arm at Baekhyun, hitting his shoulder and shoving him back in the saddle. In a rage, Baekhyun shoved Ten with all his force, releasing him from his saddle. Ten tumbled down the side of Frida, now tangled in between her and Flower’s legs on his way to the ground. Taeyong immediately hopped off Flower to provide space, the other boys jumping off their horses as well. Taemin tried to move forward, now visibly frustrated. Simultaneously, the thud of Ten hitting the ground spooked Frida, causing her to kick out. The edge of her hoof crashed into Baekhyun’s knee before sliding across Galina’s stomach, ripping open the skin. Taemin paused in horror at the chaos in his arena. Ten crawled forward trying to hold back tears before getting onto his feet. Baekhyun, in a screaming rage, got off his horse and limped towards Ten. Taemin then pushed his way in between the riders.

“That’s it, I am fucking DONE! Both of you are done today, this lesson is over. I am not tolerating this immaturity in my ring. Both of you get out, now!” Ten looked up at Taemin, the words cutting into him. Before anyone could respond, Ten turned and ran off to the barn. Baekhyun stood furiously in the ring.

“You too, Baekhyun. Get the hell out of here,” Taemin ordered. Baekhyun marched off, trying to avoid showing a limp.

“Fuck all of this, all of you!” Baekhyun yelled, completely forgetting Galina in the ring. He disappeared down the path to the far off pastures. Taemin took a deep breath and walked over to Galina, analysing the gash on the side of her stomach.

“Guess I’m cleaning this up,” Taemin said quietly. For a brief moment he forgot the three other boys were still in the arena. Lucas and Mark stood there, staring at the aftermath. It was then that Taemin realized Frida was still here too, and that all the boys had a mess to clean up.

“Shit, I’m so sorry guys. Ahh Taeyong you didn’t even get to jump -”

“It’s fine, I’m not upset. Please don’t feel bad,” Taeyong tried to reassure him. Taemin stood in between the two riderless horses, trying to game plan.

“I need to take Galina to the wash rack and clean this wound, Baekhyun’s a lost cause at this point in the day, but I need to get Frida back -”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll take her,” Taeyong said as he pulled the reins from over Frida’s head and into his hand, “Mark and Lucas, will you guys clean up the arena? I’ll take care of Frida.”

The two boys nodded and tied their horses up to the arena fence before making their way to the other end. Taemin nodded in thanks towards Taeyong as he began to walk both Frida and Flower down to the barn. He knew Ten was in there, and he didn’t want him to be alone.

Inside the barn, Taeyong slowly walked both horses down the aisle, hoping to see Ten sitting somewhere. The trio moved down each stall, not seeing him in the aisle way. As he approached Frida’s stall, he noticed a thin figure perched in the doorway, facing away from them. Ten was covered in dust down his backside from the fall he took, his helmet now sitting on the floor next to him.

“Hey,” Taeyong said quietly, not wanting to startle Ten. He approached the stall with both horses, pausing outside the door. The two boys were now standing in between the horses. Ten turned to look up at Taeyong. He was only a couple inches taller than Ten, but at this moment he seemed towering. Taeyong put Frida’s reins in Ten’s hands and held on for a moment, squeezing his palm in sympathy. Before he could say anything further, Taeyong watched the tears well up in Ten’s eyes and overflow down his cheeks. Taeyong caught Ten in his arms as he collapsed forward, now sobbing uncontrollably.

“I’m so sorry, Ten. Love hurts…so much,” Taeyong said softly, holding nearly all of Ten’s weight in his arms.

“What am I supposed to do,” Ten cried in between intense bouts of weeping. Taeyong, reins still in hand and horses surrounding them, wrapped his arms even tighter around Ten, lightly rubbing his back.

“Just stay here for a moment, we can solve problems later,” Taeyong answered. Ten looked up, his eyes swollen and cheeks raw. Taeyong lightly wiped the tears off Ten’s cheeks before catching him in his arms again.

____

Kai pushed the wheelbarrow to the pasture across the path. He had been out all afternoon, doing his weekly routine of driving out to the back pastures. They were easily a half a mile from the closest pasture to the barn, and in the early spring heat, it was no easy task. Kai stopped the wheelbarrow to unlock the pasture gate, but noticed a figure walking vigorously towards him. Kai squinted his eyes to focus.

“Baek?” Kai said as he moved closer. Baekhyun approached Kai and grabbed his hands, a few tears had dried onto his cheeks. Kai squeezed his hands, trying to keep him still.

“What’s going on? Is everything okay -” Kai was interrupted by Baekhyun’s lips smashing into his. Kai, shocked but accepting, pulled a hand from Baek’s and placed it on his cheek, tasting the salt on his tongue from the tears that had soaked into Baekhyun’s lips. He pulled back and looked Baekhyun in the eye.

“Seriously, what is all this, what happened -”

“Just shut the fuck up and get in the backseat,” Baekhyun said, a bit angrily but calm. Kai knew there was more to the story but knew not to waste any time. He took a step sideways towards the back driver’s door of his pickup truck, fumbling for the handle as Baekhyun pulled up the ends of Kai's white t-shirt. His abs, covered in a light coat of sweat from the day’s work, only urged Baekhyun forward. As the door opened, Kai pushed himself farther into the backseat, pulling Baekhyun on top of him. He quickly helped Baekhyun pull the black polo from over his head, revealing his small yet built frame. Kai planted small, sloppy kisses along Baekyun’s neck and into the crook of his collarbone. Baekhyun let out a soft moan, only to push Kai down onto his back. He placed a hand on Kai’s chest before leaning forward and whispering in his ear.

“Take me away from here.”

[thisismandee]

The Rebel and The Criminal

Chapter 6) Are you a Virgin?

The time was 7:45, I noticed that Bender still seemed a bit steamed from the exchange that happened earlier. I was debating whether or not I should say anything to him or not. He had been nothing but a prick all day, but that doesn’t mean that he deserved the treatment that he was getting. I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to try to be nice to him. I took the piece of paper that was in front of me and crumple it up. I threw it in his direction, but I missed hitting him and instead it landed on the table in front of him. Either way it still got his attention.

He turned around to look at me. He had an annoyed look, but I was already in this deep I might as well go for it. 

“Are you okay?” I whispered to him. Trying to make sure I didn’t grab the attention of the others in the room. He just looked at me for a second before he responded.

“I don’t need your sympathy, sweets.” He then turned back around. I was a bit annoyed. I went out of my way to try to be nice and it bite me in the butt. Oh well, at least I could say that I tried to make everything better.

***

I watched as the clock just ticked by. It seemed like it was going by at a snail's pace. I looked around the room. Claire was daydreaming, Andrew was playing with his sweatshirt, the Brain was messing around with his stuff. The girl in the corner was drawing on the desk. And Bender, well Bender decided to light his shoe on fire, and then proceeded to light his cigarette with his shoe. I watched as he slapped the flame out. 

I decided to take this time to zone out and maybe day dream a bit. I took the jacket I had and put it under my head to use it as a pillow. After what felt like ten minutes, my eyes began to get heavy. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

***

I got woken up to hearing Vernon coming into the room. I didn’t bother opening my eyes. 

“Wake up!” He said, but I refused to move, and I don’t think anyone else moved either. “Who has to go to the lavatory?”

My hand shot up and I also heard everyone else move, so my best guess we all raise our hands. I was glad to be able to finally get up and stretch my legs. 

***

 The time was now 10:22. Bender was sitting at the front desk ripping pages out of a book. The Brain was leaning on a pillar close by. Andrew was stretching his legs out on the railings that was nearby. Claire and the other girl remained sitting in their seats. I decided to sit right on top of the table that Bender was sitting at earlier. 

Bender continued to rip out the pages in the book and he threw them in the air. “That’s real intelligent.” Andrew commented.

Bender replied, “You’re right, it’s wrong to destroy literature.” He continued to tear out the  pages in the book. “It’s such fun to read and,” He looked at the pages of the book, “Molet really pumps my nads!”

“Mol-yare” Claire says from her seat looking over at the group of us. 

“I love his work” The Brain said from his spot by the pillar. Bender threw the rest of the book over at him for that comment. John then takes a draw full of catalogue cards and begins to mix them up. All I have to say is I am glad that I don’t have to work in the library after Bender has been in here. I would not want to have to pick up this mess. 

“Big deal, nothing to do when you’re locked in a vacancy.” Bender says.

“Speak for yourself.” Andrew responds.

“Do you think I’d speak for you? I don’t even know your language!” 

Andrew ignores Benders comment and instead turns to face Claire.”Hey, you grounded tonight?” Claire gives him a shrug.

“I don’t know, my mom said I was but my dad told me to just blow her off.” She says.

“Big party at Stubbies, parents are in Europe. Should be pretty wild.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, can you go?”

“I don’t it” Claire sighed.

“How come?” Andrew questioned

“Well, cause if I do what my mother tells me not to do, it’s because my father says it’s okay. There’s like this whole big monster deal, it’s endless and it’s a total drag. It’s like any minute, divorce.” 

Bender decided to speak up. “Who do you like better?”

“What?”

“You like your old man better than your mom?”

“They’re both strict”

Bender shook his head. “No, I mean if you had to choose between them.”

Claire shrugs and looks down at the table, “I dunno, I’d probably go live with my brother. I mean, I don’t think either one of them gives a shit about me. It’s like they use me just to get back at each other.”

“HA!” We all whipped our heads around to find the source. It was the girl in the back of the room. She blew some of her hair out of her face. She gives all of us a grin. I was shocked, she did speak.

“Shut up!” Claire snapped at her. I couldn’t help myself I glared at Claire. She didn’t even know this girl and she was being rude.

“You’re just feeling sorry for yourself.” Andrews says.

“Yeah, well if I didn’t nobody else would.” I couldn’t believe she was saying this.

“I doubt that. If you told your friends, they would feel sooo sad for you.” I spoke up from the table. Claire gave me a mean look. She was about to say something when Andrew interrupted. 

“Aw, you’re breaking my heart”

“You guys are one to talk. Hey Newbie, do you get along with your parents?” Bender decided to ask me.

“No, and before you get to ask me. I would choose my mom. Correction, I did choose my mom. My parents got a divorce in December.” I snapped right back at Bender. I don’t think he was expecting that type of answer. He gave me a blank expression. I was not going to deal with this kid anymore today. I had tried to be nice to him, and then he came in and started to single me out. I was not going to play this game. I think he caught the hint because he turned his attention to Andrew.

“What about you sporto? You get along with your parents?” Bender then jumps down from the desk he was sitting on and jumps over the railing to face Andrew.

“Well if I say yes, I’m an idiot, right?”

“You’re and idiot anyway, but if you say you get along with your parents, well you’re a liar too!” Bender starts to walk away then all of a sudden Andrew pushes Bender.

“You know something man, If we weren’t in school right now, I’d waste you!”

Bender pints his middle finger to the floor. “Can you hear this? Want me to turn it up?” He begins to flip his finger around so he is now flipping off Andrew.

I see the Brain stand up and get in between the two boys. “Hey fellas I mean, I don’t like my parents either. I don’t, I don’t get along with them, their idea of parental compassion is just, you know, wacko.”

Bender turns to face the Brain, “Dork”

“Yeah?”

“You are a pren’t wet dream, okay?” Bender starts to walk away, but the Brain was not going to stop there.

“Well that’s a problem!”

“Look, I can see you getting all bunged up for them making you wear these kinda clothes. But face it, you’re a Neo-Maxi-Zoom-Dweedbie! What would you be doing if you weren’t out making yourself a better citizen?”

“Do you have to insult everyone?” Andrew asks Bender.

“I’m being honest, asshole! I would expect you to know the difference.”

“Yeah well, he’s got a name!”

“Yeah?” Bender said while raising one eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Andrew looks over to the Brain. I am not going to lie I was a bit excited to finally learn this kids name. “What’s your name?”

“Brian” The Brain responds.

“See”

Bender looks over at Brian. “My condolences”

Claire speaks upf from the front of the room. “What's your name?” She directs towards Bender.

“What's yours?”

“Claire”

“Ka-Laire?”

Claire seemed offended by his response. “Claire, It's a family name”

“No, It’s a fat girl’s name” I couldn’t help but hold in a chuckle. I knew exactly what he was talking about. I had a friend in the past and she also had a fat girls name.

“Well thank you”

“You’re welcome”

“I’m not fat!” Calire yells at Bender.

“Well not at present but I could see you really pushing maximum density. You see, I’m not sure if you know this, but there are two kinds of fat people. There’s fat people that were born to be fat, and then there’s fat people that were once thin but they became fat. So when you look at them you can sort of see that thin person inside. You see, you’re gonna get married, you’re gonna squeeze out a few puppies and then uh...” Be fills his cheeks with hair and makes a fat noise. Claire flips him off. “Oh obscene finger gestures from such a pristine girl”

“I’m not that pristine”

Bender bends down and gets closer to Claire. “Are you a virgin? I’ll bet you a million dollars that you are. Let’s end the suspense, is it gonna be a white wedding?” These comments were actually starting to get me pissed off. I didn’t like the populars that much, but I think someone's sexual life is not a topic that should be talked about in front of a bunch of strangers. 

“Why don’t you just shut up?” Claire exclaimed.

“Have you ever kissed a boy on the mouth?” I felt my blood starting to boil. “Have you ever been felt up? Over the bra, under the blouse, shoes off, hoping to God your parents don’t walk in?” I began to stand up from the table. No one deserves to be harassed like this. 

“Do you want me to puke?” Claire asked him. I could see on her face that she was getting upset.

“Over the panties, no bra, blouse unbuttoned, Calvin’s in a ball on the front seat past eleven on a school night?” Before I knew it I was right next to Bender. He hadn’t noticed, but I was fed up with his shit attitude, and at this point I was blinded my rage. Before I knew it, my hand was in a fist. In a blink of an eye my fist had made contact with Benders jaw. Oh my god, I just punched John Bender. 

| Chapter 1| Chapter 2| Chapter 3| Chapter 4| Chapter 5|  Chapter 7|  Chapter 8| Chapter 9| Chapter 10  | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14

[lexthemondo]

Dirty Dancing {1}

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Park Jimin; Radio-host!Yoongi; Fem!Yoongi; Translator!Jimin; Alternate-universe!AU; Non-Idol!AU.

Warnings: Language, mentions of smut, violence, transgender character, mentions of suicide, eating disorder, talks of mental health, mentions of self-harm, talks of racial discrimination; POLITICS

Other Notes: V-Hope, NamJin, Sana of Twice is in this story, SanKook, Lisa of Blackpink is in this as well, Liskook, Trans!Hoseok

Summary: Local radio talk show host, Min Yoongi, has been running from his past for years, but when his closest friend Jung Hoseok introduces him to a handsome translator from Korea, Yoongi thinks he might have found something- or someone- to run to.

Song of the chapter: You’re So Cool, Jonathan Bree

Word count: 3,507

“Now I’ve had the time of my life…”

Yoongi sang along happily, letting his eyes close slowly as the lyrics flew out of his mouth. His body slowly started grooving along to the music, and without a second thought, he got off the couch and started dancing along with Johnny and Baby. Yoongi twirled around the living room without a partner, and barely missed trampling his precious Holly by mere inches.  

“You’re the one thing, I can’t get enough of…”

Yoongi continued to sing as his not-so-perfect dance moves made him feel invincible. He was on cloud nine, and it wasn’t until something cold and wet splashed on his feet that Yoongi snapped out of his daze. He groaned loudly, Holly’s water bowl was upside down and the freshwater was now soaking his carpet. Yoongi ran a hand through his hair and looked at the tv to see that his favorite part of the movie was coming up. Baby ran as fast as she could towards Johnny, and his strong arms lifted her up into the sky. Yoongi sighed and looked at the floor. Holly was licking his foot.  

“Holly,” He said sadly, “You’re lucky you’re a dog. You don’t have to find someone who can beat 1980s, Patrick Swayze.”

He got a small whine in response. “I know girl,” Yoongi bent down and picked up the toy poodle, “They don’t make them like they used to.”

Yoongi walked back to the couch, completely ignoring the mess, and plopped down. Holly curled up in his arms while he finished watching the last few minutes. Dirty Dancing was easily Yoongi’s favorite movie, he could recite it word-for-word at this point, and even being a hopeless dancer, he managed to engrave the choreography in his mind. It was at the part where Johnny is mouthing the words of the song to Baby when his phone chimed making Holly let out a squeaky bark.

“Hush, it’s not the doorbell,” Yoongi scolded, mentally reminding himself to change his notification tone.

Hobi [11:43 PM] Bonjour hyung!

Yoongi smiled fondly at the screen. Hoseok had been his closest friend since middle school. The pair were never apart, and even when Hoseok had come out to Yoongi and told him of their gender crisis, Yoongi had never turned his back to Hoseok. They had formed a bond, and when Hoseok had fallen in love with a foreign man during college, Yoongi did not feel anger when the two of them did not see one another as often. If Hoseok was happy then so was Yoongi.

Me [11:44 PM] Salut. What’s up? I thought you were with Tae.

Hobi [11:46 PM] Oh, I still am! He’s such a dreamboat, hyung! Propre sur lui, charment, tres beaux.

Me [11: 49 PM] Are you just going to talk about Tae because I’d like to know how your doctor’s appointment went. I’m sorry for not being able to come. I had to finish my script for tomorrow night’s show.

Hobi [11:55 PM]

No worries! Well, the surgery is going to cost a shit ton of money which I was expecting. That’s not really a problem. I have the money for it. The weird thing is… the doctor was kind of rude once I told him that I didn’t want breast implants

Yoongi felt his ear heating up. Most doctors reacted the same way. Hoseok’s decision to keep their flat chest was a popular topic at their support groups and therapist office. To keep it frank, it pissed Yoongi off. He knew how much it hurt his friend when someone downplayed their gender identity solely because they did not want fake breasts. Hoseok had explained to Yoongi that they had thought about it and realized that it was a decision that they were very firm on. Hoseok did not want implants, not because they were confused or having second thoughts, but because they were a professional gymnast. Hoseok was constantly surrounded by muscular women who had a chest like their own. Of course, this did not stop the weird glances at them once they let this little fact about themselves be known.

Me [11: 58 PM] Did you tell him your view on that whole situation? Maybe he was trying to see if you were serious because of how expensive a vaginoplasty is?

Hobi [11:59 PM] No…kind of seemed like he didn’t take me seriously after that.

Me [12:01 AM] Are you for real? What the hell happened?

Hobi [12:03 AM]

Yeah. He went from being supportive to trying to talk me out of the procedure. I just told him I would go somewhere else.

Hobi [12:06 AM] It wasn’t a great feeling at all

Hobi [12:15 AM] Kind of like I wasn’t woman enough to be getting a sex change. He even commented on the fact that I’m still going by my “male” name. I had to share personal shit with the guy. Then he misgendered me twice and even said it was odd that I wanted a sex change even though I don’t go by female pronouns. Like dude what the fuck?

Yoongi stared at his phone and felt the heat from his ears spread across his entire body.

Hobi [12:17 AM] Anyway, Taehyung’s friend from Korea is coming to France for a few weeks and he wanted to know if you were down for dinner with us. From what I’ve seen of him, he’s super cute 😉

Me [12:19 AM] Are you seriously trying to set me up with some dude right after telling me about some fucking asshole treating you like garbage when he’s supposed to be helping you? Really Hobi? Are you okay?

Hobi [12:21 AM] Yeah, I’m great. I’m used to this kind of shit by now. I don’t completely blame the guy for being hesitant. It is a life-altering surgery. I won’t be able to go back afterward. I didn’t appreciate the comments about my sexuality or the misgendering, but my entire transition has been a wild ride for everyone involved. Even you. I promise you that I’m okay. I would’ve called you crying by now if not and we both know it lol. Are you coming or not?

Yoongi felt himself cooling down. His heart filled with adoration for the woman Hoseok had become. It had been a very confusing and hard journey to get where they are now, but Yoongi was so proud of his friend. Hoseok had gone from ‘Henri,’ the only other French-Korean kid in Dijon, to ‘Henri’ the “flaming gay” in middle school, and finally Hoseok, the professional gymnast in their woman’s league during their freshman year at university. Yoongi would always cherish those memories. Though they had been the hardest times of his life, and even harder for Hoseok, he would not change a single thing. Those were the days that gave him the most important person in his life.

Me [12:26 AM] Yeah, I’ll be there. Is it just me, you, Tae, and his allegedly cute friend?

Hobi [12:27 AM] Those are the definite ones, yes. Kook said him and Sana might drop by before they go back to Japan

Me [12:29 AM] Great.

Hobi [12:31 AM] I’m not happy about it either. I don’t like her any more than you do, but Jungkook is Taehyung’s best friend and I’ll put up with her so they can see one another.

Me: [12:32 AM] I miss Lisa. Kook seemed happier, and he is miserable in Japan. Jungkook misses France. Jungkook misses Lisa. I wouldn’t be surprised if he snuck out to see her.

Hobi [12:34 AM] Everyone misses Lisa, hyung. If Kook’s willing to deal with Sana, then let’s let him be happy. We can’t bring up his ex every chance we get just because we don’t like Sana. But that doesn’t mean I’m not team Lisa all the way.

Hobi [12:37 AM] Oh, he hasn’t...yet. We did make reservations at the most wonderful Korean restaurant in town though. Who knows, maybe a certain Kim Namjoon’s little cousin will be waiting tables... and our table just might be in her section as told to me by the uncle’s husband himself. Apparently, Lisa got a phone call last night and ran out during closing. I think she was running after her white rabbit.

Me [12:38 AM] Team Lisa > Team Sana

Me [12:47 AM] I do love Jin’s lamb skewers. I don’t know Hobi. That seems like we’re stepping over certain boundaries. Jungkook is a grown man. He’s not our little bunny boy anymore. You know that. Whatever is going on between him and Lisa is between them. Sana is his girlfriend. I don’t like her, I don’t think I ever will, and you just said you were going to play nice. All this is going to do is stress out Kook, piss off Sana, and really hurt Lisa. So, please don’t make her wait our table and give Sana another reason to keep Jungkook as far away from Dijon as possible.

Hobi [12:40 AM] I hate it when you’re reasonable. Look, I understand that and all, but Sana is hardly a girlfriend. Kook doesn’t even smile when she’s around. I don’t want them together. I want him to dump her and get his head back on and get with the most perfect girl. I’m going to make this happen Yoongi, one way or another I always get my way. Anyway, I’m tired. What are you talking about tomorrow? Make sure to message me when you’re about to start. You’re my only source of entertainment when Tae’s at work. Get some sleep, you need it. No more all-nighters. Thanks for being wonderful and supportive. Don’t worry about me so much! I love you~~~~~~ niiiiiight!

Me [12:41 AM] I know you’re trying to help him, but please just let Jungkook figure these things out on his own. I’ll talk to him if that’ll make you feel better... just don’t put Lisa through that. You know how she feels about him and seeing him there with a supermodel on his arm is going to destroy her. Do you really think Jungkook deserves Lisa after all he did? Do I miss them? Yes, but I understand that everything changes. Let her move on and let Jungkook become an adult on his own. We’re talking political parties and shit. Namjoon’s idea. It’s about as exciting as watching paint dry. You’re going to pass out within the first two minutes. Sadly, I don’t have a funny or entertaining story to tell, and Joon really wants any excuse to rag on the communist party. I don’t blame the guy, but I hate talking about the same shit repeatedly. I’ll text you. I’m out of my pills and melatonin doesn’t work. Not a problem. I’ll always worry about you. You too. Night.

Yoongi tossed his phone on the coffee table in front of him. Not even flinching when the impact made a loud clang. Holly jumped, suddenly startled, and hid her face in the crook of Yoongi’s neck. He laughed, although he didn’t make a sound, and began to soothe his puppy.

“It’s alright Holly,” He said, lightly stroking her curly hair, “It’s nothing. I’ll protect you from the vicious sound demons. I promise.”

Then, without a second of hesitation, Holly turned her head and gave Yoongi a big lick on the mouth.

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“Good show tonight,” Yoongi said, flipping his hair behind his shoulders in search for a rubber band. “I can’t say the same for my hair, though. I have to go to dinner with Hoseok and Tae tonight, they’re trying to hook me up with some rando.”

“Tragic,” Najoonn replied, raising an eyebrow and picking up his duffel bag from off the floor.

“Cool it with the whole ‘being an asshole’ thing you got going on,” Yoongi looked at Namjoon and then the coffee cup in his hand, and then back again, “What’s the matter? You’re not usually this pissy.”

“Fucking Jin. He keeps on saying that Jungkook and Lisa are getting back together. It’s pissing me off. The guy is in Japan with some model now. Lisa was just starting to get back to normal and now I hear this prick is coming for a visit. I don’t get it. If he doesn’t want to be with Lisa, then why won’t he leave her alone?”

Yoongi pursed his lips and looked at the ground. He was not sure how to respond. He loved Namjoon dearly, and Lisa as well, but picking sides was not his style. He knew that Jungkook had hurt Lisa, which in turn, turned half of their old group against him, but Yoongi was aware of Lisa’s faults as well. He was a bad listener, but she was a control freak. When Lisa would make a mistake, Jungkook would be uncontrollably angry, but when the roles were reversed, she was spiteful. They were not picture-perfect, but for every bad thing that had ever happened at least a hundred, good things did. They were happy until the very end. Until Jungkook abruptly ended things and moved to Japan. Until he was on the cover of magazines. Until he was with Sana.

“Joon, look,” Yoongi began, finally finding his hair tie and wrapping his hair up haphazardly. “Lisa and Kook are grown, and for your information, it wasn’t just your husband making all this planning. Who do you think put the bug in his ear?”

Namjoon rolled his eyes and wiped his hand down his face, “Hoseok.”

“Bingo. Don’t worry, we’ve been talking about this for the past three days. I convinced them to let me handle the situation and just talk to Jungkook. I just want to see where his mind’s at. They’re just trying to help.”

“Help?” Namjoon stood up hastily, fumbling a bit, his cigarettes falling out of his lap. “Do they think any of this is going to be good for my baby cousin? No, of course not. All they care about is Jungkook and how he feels. He left Lisa. He hurt her. Why are they so worried about him when he’s a rich model with a rich model girlfriend?”

“Because he’s miserable, Joon.” Yoongi replied.

Namjoon’s expression fell. Yoongi could almost hear the “you may speak now” when he looked into his friend’s eyes. Namjoon was getting defensive, and when he gets defensive there is nothing you can do but let him get it out and move on. If you do not leave it alone, then he becomes excited and angry, a real hot-head, and when it is all over, he will not speak to you for at least two weeks. Luckily for Yoongi, however, he and Namjoon work together every day. He could not escape him even if he wanted to.

“I know Lisa is your cousin, I get it. You need to remember that you used to be the one that would talk to Jungkook when he was down. You were his favorite. He looked up to you like a God. You were the big brother he never had and the father he always wanted. He is miserable. Miserable enough to call Lisa the first night he gets to Dijon to meet with him. Miserable enough to come back home knowing that his best friend hates him. Miserable enough to sit at a table with half of the people he cares about not there because of him. Jungkook is not happy, and Sana is nothing more than a distraction. You know that as much as I do.

“I agree with you, Joon. Lisa deserves so much better and I have tried time and time again to reach out to her, but she won’t answer my calls. You and Jin are the only two people who she speaks to, she avoids us like the plague and didn’t even have the decency to tell Hoseok she wanted to switch gyms until the last minute when she knew they needed her for competition. But the second Jungkook is in town she drops everything she’s going to see him. She is a grown woman. I’m mad at them both. Stop making the boy feel guilty for breaking up with someone.”

“Lisa is not ‘just someone’ Min Yoongi,” Namjoon picked up his cigarettes, slung his duffel bag over his shoulder, and walked away, roughly shoulder swiping Yoongi on his way out. “Have a nice time at dinner. Hope your new boy toy doesn’t end up like the last.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Yoongi replied, but the door was already slamming shut.

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Yoongi checked his appearance in the car mirror once again. His hair had been tied up to hide how awful it looked after wearing a beanie for the entire show, and he was still skeptical of his makeup. He never did the best job when he was angry. After touching up his eyebrows and mascara that he had put on that morning before going to work, he lightly concealed his under eyes and the small acne scars that dotted his cheekbones, powdered, and applied a generous amount of lip gloss to his lips. He was nervous that the small light in his car was deceiving him into thinking he looked better than he did, but it was too late to fix anything. He was already running late.

He stumbled out of his truck, ankles almost giving out and he could not figure out if it was a bad hop or the heels, he picked out specifically so he would not bust his ass.

“Of course, I fall,” He said to himself, “I should know that always happens when I try to look cool.”

He knew Hoseok was there the second he walked in. He did not have to see them to know they were there. That laugh was distinct and the Korean flying out of their mouth only solidified that fact. He followed the sounds to a little booth in the back of the restaurant, a small divider giving the party some privacy. Yoongi gave it to Jin, at least they would not bother the entire restaurant…hopefully.

“Hyung!” Taehyung exclaimed, his smile widening in a cute box shape, and it reminded Yoongi just how boyish he was. “You’re here!”

“I said I was coming, didn’t I?” Yoongi replied, finding a seat at the floor table.

“Well, you were late so I wasn’t sure you would show up.” Hoseok added, giving Yoongi a dirty look.

“Don’t look at me like that. I can’t control traffic or Namjoon’s bitch fits at the end of the day. I’m sorry I fucked with you OCD, though.”

“Geez,” Hoseok rolled their eyes, “What was his problem this time?”

“The whole Jungkook situation. He got pissed off that I was coming to dinner with you guys even though Kook would be here. Things escalated from there. He brought him up, too.”

“He did what?” Hoseok’s eyes widened, and slammed their drink on the table, “Are you serious? That bastard.”

“Eh, this is Joon we’re talking about. The most melodramatic person on the planet. It’s no biggie. Anyway,” Yoongi looked around, “where’s this ‘attractive’ friend of yours, Tae?”

“Oh, he went out for a smoke. He should be back in a minute.”

“You’re hooking me up with a smoker? Really? That’s gross.”

“Smoking is the dirtiest thing that boy does,” Hoseok defended, “Just give him a chance. Jimin’s your type. Small, fair, funny, sweet, and his butt is nice. He used to be a dancer before becoming a translator for advertising companies in Seoul and let me tell you… you’re going to change that tone when you see him.”

“See who?” Someone suddenly piped, making Yoongi flinch and turn his head.

He turned around and there he was. The small, fair, funny, sweet, dancing angel. His lips were full and plush, his nose small and slightly flat, but still buttoned enough to frame his face, his eyes shined a warm, chocolate brown, and his hair was a charcoal black. His skin almost glowed and not a single imperfection was insight. Yoongi suddenly felt very insecure. He was hyperaware of the coffee stains on his pants and the fact that he was wearing a five-year-old thrift store shirt with small holes in certain spots, while Jimin was dressed to the nines in the most casual way possible, black jeans, a black button-up, and some worn black dress shoes.

“Oh!” He exclaimed, and Yoongi melted at the sound of his voice, “Pardon me. I’m Jimin Park. You must be Yoongi. Hoseok has told me so much about you.”

Yoongi almost laughed out loud at the awful accent Jimin had when he spoke French, but simply smiled and shook his hand.

“I speak Korean. Don’t worry, it takes a lot more than going out for a smoke break to get me worked up.” 

He was shocked, the words falling from his lips completely backtracking from what he has just told Hoseok.Yoongi could only imagine the shit-eating grin on their face right now. I told you so. Yes, yes you did, he thought.

Jimin sighed and returned the smile, “You know, those two kept trying to tell me that you were cute, but they didn’t do the best job at explaining just how cute you actually, are.”

[flightyrock]

The House Knows

My fill for the Fall Multifandom Challenge hosted by @sporadic-fics and @helplessly-nonstop . Thank you both, this was a lot of fun!

Prompt: They were roommates

Rating: T

Words: 3k

Pairing: Steve Rogers / Bucky Barnes

Other Characters: Sam Wilson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff

Tags: minor injury, stitches, swearing, questioning sexuality, no powers au, there’s no plot, cuddling, cute, roommates au

The place is perfect.

Too perfect.

Enough that Steve Rogers--a guy known for more bad luck than good, who habitually drags himself back to his feet after being kicked down by life and circumstance over and over again, a guy who can’t help but think the best of people--is suspicious. By all rights, he never should have responded to the Craigslist ad. The location, the interior, the number of rooms, even the profession of his potential roommates is the very definition of too good to be true, especially for the listed rent. And it’s in one of the better neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

Except it was so nice, that he couldn’t resist responding. A guy could dream, after all. No one was more surprised than he was when he got a response from a real human being. Or when that same human being answers the door of the gorgeous brownstone that matches the pictures online almost immediately after Steve knocks.

“Hey there, I’m Sam. The landlord,” the guy says, then shakes his hand with a friendly grin.

“Oh,” Steve says stupidly, blinking, willing it all to sink in. Someone actually answered the door. Then he realizes he’s still holding Sam’s hand. He releases it quickly, and rubs the back of his neck, trying and failing to dispel his embarrassment. “Sorry, it’s just. I didn’t think this was actually real. It is real, right? You sure you didn’t mean to throw a zero on the end of that rent?”

Sam throws back his head and laughs. “Oh, it’s real. Don’t worry, we get that a lot.” He steps away from the door. “Come on in. Don’t worry about taking your shoes off, it’s Clint’s week to clean.”

Steve snorts in spite of himself, but takes Sam’s word for it. He follows Sam through the house, and his disbelief grows with every feature. Washer and dryer included. Each tenant has a private bedroom. Landlord pays all utilities. “Even Wi-Fi?” he asks, mouth agape.

Sam clutches his chest like Steve has gravely offended him. “What do you take me for, Rogers? A monster?”

A terrible thought strikes him, and he’s certain his face goes white, because Sam gives him a funny look. “You’re not involved with the mob or something, are you?” Steve whisper-asks.

Sam laughs so hard, he has to bend over to catch his breath. When he’s recovered a bit, he claps a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “I like you. You’re going to fit right in here. If you want it, that is.”

Steve gapes. “If I want it? Are you kidding?”

Sam’s face falls. “Yeah, I get it,” he sighs. “Look, if it’s the bathroom thing, Barnes and Clint have offered to share. You can take the upstairs one.”

“What? Why would you think. No,” Steve sputters. “No, I mean, of course I want it, it’s perfect. I love it, just. Why me? I’m sure you’ve gotten tons of applicants.”

Sam looks at him, his eyes piercing. Steve shifts in place. “You have an honest face,” he says eventually. “And you’re safe. I can tell. At the risk of sounding crazy, I’m particularly good at reading people. The other tenants will love you.”

“Wow,” Steve says. Because how do you respond to that. “So that’s it? That easy?”

“Well, almost,” Sam says.

Steve shouldn’t feel as disappointed as he does. He knows better. There’s always a catch.

“Clint and Barnes have to approve,” Sam clarifies. “They’re both vets, and gay to boot. Last thing I’m going to do is make this kind of decision without their input. They deserve to feel safe in their own homes.”

Steve’s not sure why he’s so surprised that Sam is as considerate as he is. The man has been nothing but friendly, but that kind of empathy isn’t something you see everyday anymore. “Wow, that’s. That’s amazing of you.”

“I admit that I have ulterior motives,” Sam smiles at him. “We gay military types have to stick together, you know?” Then he sobers. “That’s not a problem, is it?”

“Oh no, not at all!” Steve says quickly. Maybe a little too quickly, because Sam eyes him suspiciously. “Sorry, sorry. I don’t have any problem with any of that, I swear! Let people be who they are. It’s just. I know I’m fit, but I never actually served, and I’m straight, so I don’t know if I’m what you’re looking for? I don’t want to make anyone feel unsafe,” he says earnestly.

Sam’s staring at him. Steve feels himself shrinking unconsciously under that scrutinizing gaze. Steve’s fumbling for an apology for wasting Sam’s time, because why would he ever accept Steve now, when Sam says.

“Huh. Well, shit. I could have sworn...”

“What?” says Steve, bracing himself for rejection, already resigning himself to another late-night stroll through the housing and roommate pages.

Sam shakes his head. “Nothing, don’t worry about it. Just, you’re probably going to be the first straight person to live here, ever. It’s actually pretty weird; it’s like the place knows. But yeah, the offer stands.”

“Wait, really?” Steve asks him. “You’re sure?”

“Of course I’m sure,” Sam grins at him. “I may have guessed your sexuality wrong, but I know I’m not wrong about you getting along with the other guys. You’ll like them, I know it.”

“Wow, uh, great! When can I meet them?” Steve asks.

“How about in twenty?” Sam grins at him. “It is about dinner time. I’ll order pizza.”

Sam is an excellent host. He doesn't even blink when Steve politely declines wine and beer, getting him a fancy bottle of mint-infused ginger ale instead. Sam waves off his stuttered thanks. “Don’t worry about it. Barnes doesn’t drink, either.”

Barnes, amazingly, also doesn’t mind when Steve stares at his prosthetic. The man had dropped heavily into an armchair after shaking Steve’s hand and introducing himself as something that starts with a B, but Steve doesn’t quite catch because holy hell, the guy is gorgeous. He has soft-looking dark hair that falls in gentle waves past his shoulders, a jawline perfectly highlighted by five o’clock shadow, and grey blue eyes that shimmer in the light. Steve can’t take his eyes off of him. It only gets worse when he pulls off his baggy sweatshirt, revealing a broad frame and the shiny, intricate limb. The guy clears his throat, and Steve’s eyes shoot back to his face, embarrassment setting his face aflame.

Steve stammers out an apology. “I’m so sorry, Barnes,” Steve says miserably. “It’s rude of me to stare. It’s just that I’m an artist, and the design is stunning.” It probably makes him a terrible person, but Steve’s glad the prosthetic gives him such a good excuse for staring.

The guy just laughs, grinning at Steve. “Don’t worry about it, pal. Everyone does.”

“Doesn’t make it right,” Steve says.

“You’re right, it doesn’t,” Barnes says amicably. “But I’m more offended you’re calling me Barnes, to be honest.”

Steve flushes. Can’t he do anything right? “Sorry. Sam calls you Barnes.”

“That’s because Wilson’s an asshole!” Bucky yells into the kitchen. He cackles at the disembodied profane gesture he receives in response. “Nah, but Sam’s the best,” he grins at Steve. “He’s never in town for very long, but it’s a great time when he is.”

“Aw, shucks,” Sam grins at him when he reenters the room, setting a stack of plates and a roll of paper towels on the coffee table. “I guess you’re pretty okay too, Barnes.” Bucky lets out a dramatic wounded sound, and Steve laughs along with Sam. Sam pats Bucky on the shoulder apologetically. He looks around. “Where’s Clint? At this rate, the pizza will get here before he does.”

Bucky shrugs. “Who knows? Don’t worry, he’ll be here. There’s pizza, and you’re buying.”

“True,” Sam chuckles.

At Steve’s questioning eyebrow, Bucky explains with a smirk. “Clint has a sixth sense for pizza. It’s wild. Just you wait; he’ll be here between the time we pay and the time the pie gets cold.”

The pizza comes, Sam pays, and a guy with short blond hair and chunky hearing aids comes strolling in the door a minute later. “Hey, Sam. Bucky. Ooh, pizza!” he grins, and makes a beeline to the box, rubbing his hands together.

Steve laughs, and Bucky winks at him, a mischievous spark in his pale eyes. Steve blushes in spite of himself.

“What?” Clint says, looking around. His eyes land on Steve. “Oh, hey,” he waves, then goes straight for the food.

Sam laughs. “Barton, put the pizza down for a second and meet Steve!”

“What? Oh, hi, Steve,” the guy smiles at him, then takes a bite of the slice he’s holding. “Ow! Hot!” He makes a grab for his burnt tongue, fumbling the slice. It lands on the throw rug, cheese side down. “Aw, pizza.”

Sam shakes his head long-sufferingly, and Bucky rolls his eyes.

Steve grabs the roll of paper towels and starts to pick it up. Clint shoos him away with a grin. “Don’t worry about it, man. I’ve got it. Happens all the time.”

Steve carries the messed up paper towel into the kitchen to throw it away. “Isn’t he sweet?” Sam’s saying to Bucky when he comes out, and Steve flushes.

“Oh yeah,” Bucky says, turning to face Steve with a grin. “He’s perfect.”

Bucky, as it turns out, is the bane of Steve’s existence. The man’s always smiling at Steve, inviting him to go grab some tea, or come watch a movie. They often stay up later than they should talking about everything and anything. Steve feels like he’s known Bucky forever. So why does the man make him so anxious? At least, that’s what he thinks the fluttering in his chest is. It can’t be anything else. It is distracting, though. Steve catches himself thinking about the guy and that strange anxiety at all hours. It’s really cutting into his drawing time.

Anyone else would have guessed that if any of Steve’s roomates would be the bane of his existence, it would be Clint. The guy is always tripping on the last couple of stairs, or spilling soup on the carpet. Not to mention he’s probably broken more dishes in the time it’s taken fall to turn to winter than Steve has owned in his life.

“You’re the physical manifestation of the term ‘gay disaster,’” Bucky complains at Clint as he helps Steve pick up the shards of the latest casualty, a nonsensical ‘World’s Best Best” etched clumsily on a cheap wineglass.

“I resent that!” Clint pouts. “If anything, I’m the physical manifestation of ‘bi disaster.’” Clint, of course, is banished to the couch. Bucky explained that the last time the guy helped clean up broken dishware, their last roommate had to take him to the local Urgent Care for stitches. “That’s bi erasure!”

“You can hardly blame me. It’s so long that you’ve taken anyone home that I forgot,” Bucky’s saying to Clint, a grin in his voice. Steve’s studiously ignoring them, concentrating on the shards in front of him to try to stop the blush that wants to creep up his neck at Bucky’s smile. It’s just as gorgeous as he is. Steve’s never seen a person so beautiful before, and it’s a daily battle to keep him from humiliating himself. The man was funny, and charming, and Steve has never felt this way about another person before. But they’re roommates, so Bucky’s off limits. And, after all, Steve’s straight. Isn’t he?

The glass, he reminds himself. God, it really had scattered everywhere. Steve has no idea how Clint managed it. Bucky’s laughing. Then something soft but firm hits his face hard, and he’s falling. He sticks a hand out instinctively to catch himself, and is hit with deep regret a moment before a sharp, burning pain.

Clint’s yelling a belated warning.

“Oh fuck, Steve,” Bucky’s voice is saying, and hands are helping him to his feet, guiding him carefully around the glass. Steve chances a glance down, and his stomach lurches at the piece of material he sees sticking out. He fights the haze that’s creeping into his brain, and tries to concentrate on Bucky’s voice, murmuring comforting things as he gets Steve settled onto a kitchen chair. Steve’s mortified at the way his eyes burn as Bucky gently works the shard out, then holds a kitchen towel to the wound, applying firm pressure.

“Oh, Stevie, I’m so sorry,” he says, bringing a spare towel up to dab at Steve’s tears. Steve lets him, still frozen from the event. It’s kind of nice, actually, underneath the embarrassment. “I shouldn’t have been teasing Clint while we were cleaning. Or ducked that pillow.”

“Sorry,” Steve echoes, feeling very small. “I shouldn’t be crying.”

“Sure you should,” Bucky says, putting down the towel and patting his arm. “It was a shock. Completely normal.”

“God, Steve, I’m so sorry,” Clint says miserably from the doorway. “Anything I can do?”

“Grab the first aid kit?” Bucky requests, and Clint nods.

“I can take care of it,” Steve says, embarrassed.

“With one hand?” Bucky raises a skeptical eyebrow. “Just let us help.” The man frowns suddenly, and lifts the edge of the towel. Then his face goes carefully blank.

“Clint?” he calls.

“Yeah?” the man calls back, voice muffled.

“Call a Lyft please!” Then he turns to Steve, and smiles reassuringly. He guides Steve’s free hand to grasp the towel. “Can you hold pressure for a minute, Stevie? I’m going to go grab your shoes.”

“What’s going on?” Steve says, afraid of the answer. But Bucky’s already hurried out of the room. He braces himself, then lifts the towel. Oh, shit.

He ends up getting stitches, Bucky never leaving his side. Underneath the humiliation, Steve feels something warm ballooning in his chest. It’s amazing. It scares him. That feeling only swells when Bucky guides him firmly to the couch when they get back, and settles a throw over him before pulling up Joy of Painting on the TV. They sit together, shoulder to shoulder, and listen to Bob Ross calmly walk them through blocking out sky and ground, then making the space come to life.

They’re three episodes in when Bucky pulls him into a hug. “It’s alright, Steve,” he murmurs, and Steve realizes he’s shaking. “Let it all out.” And Steve does. He’s not sure if he imagines Bucky kissing his temple, but he hopes not. He really hopes not.

He wakes up alone on the couch, eyes sticky, and hand aching. He stares at the ceiling blankly for a minute, before it all comes rushing back to him. God, why is he such an idiot! What was he thinking, crying all over Bucky like that? Now Bucky would never want to go out with him!

Steve’s eyes shoot open. Wait, what?

As he normally does in a crisis, his first instinct is to call Natasha. He hurries to his room, and dials her number.

“Are you in danger?” Natasha asks him, voice tense.

“What? Why would you--no!” he says.

She lets out an exasperated sigh. “What the hell, Steve! It’s almost 2 AM!”

“This is important! I think I like guys,” he says hisses.

“Yeah, I know. So what?”

“You know?” Steve sputters. “What’s that supposed to mean? I didn’t even know!”

“Oh Steve,” Natasha says, fond amusement in her voice. “I’ve known for years. Remember that TA in our Gen Chem Lab?”

Steve does remember. His name had been Brian, and Steve had wanted to impress him so bad. But that was only because Steve wanted to pass, right? He’d conveniently forgotten that he’d lost all interest in the subject as soon as the guy transferred to a new school halfway through the semester. And oh, that would probably explain a lot.

“Oh,” he says faintly. “I never realized.”

Natasha snorts. “Of course you didn’t. So why the call?”

“I’m pretty sure I like this guy, but I just ruined everything,” Steve says miserably.

“Why, what happened?”

“I cut my hand on some glass, and Bucky cleaned me up and took me to get stitches. But then he sat with me on the couch afterward and I cried all over him like an idiot. There’s no way he’s going to want to go out with me now. Not that it matters; there’s no way he feels the same way, he was just being nice,” Steve says in a rush.

“Steve—” Natasha starts to say, but then the door swings open, and Steve jumps, dropping the phone to the floor with a bang.

Bucky’s standing there, face faintly pink and a small smile on his face.

“Buck,” Steve says stupidly. He wishes he could sink straight through the floor. How much did Bucky hear!? “Um. How long were you out there?”

Bucky walks over to him slowly. “Long enough.”

Steve feels himself turn red. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’ll move out, the last thing I want you to do is feel like you’re being oggled in your own home and I—”

Bucky pulls him into a firm hug, and Steve falters. “I like you too, Stevie,” Bucky murmurs in his ear. “I have for a while.” He presses a gentle kiss to Steve’s cheek and releases him. He smiles. “Want to go cuddle on the couch? We can talk about it over boba tomorrow.”

Steve’s cheeks ache with the force of his responding grin. “Please.”

They’re so wrapped up in each other that neither of them hear the exasperated yelling echoing from the phone with a freshly-cracked screen laying forgotten on the ground.

~~~

Natasha forgives Steve eventually, especially once he introduces her to Bucky. The two of them bond over classic Russian Literature, and Steve couldn’t be happier. Clint teases them relentlessly, and takes credit for getting them together. Of course, he also pays for pizza the next month as an apology for Steve’s hand. And as for Sam…

“I called it!” their landlord crows during his next visit, pointing at the two of them where they’re cuddled together on the couch watching a movie, neither of them wanting to move to let them in. Steve and Bucky look at each other in confusion. “The streak is still alive! I’m telling you, no straight person has ever lived here. The house knows.”

“Maybe,” Steve concedes, with a grin. “I’m really glad to be here, all-knowing house or not.”

Bucky pulls him closer. “Yeah?”

Steve pecks him on the cheek. “Yeah.”