#yeah yeah the boy outside who generally ignored everything to do with you

[emryses]

watching the dead boys (yk, as one does) and i'm at ep 4 where monty is returning edwin's book to him (valley of the dolls) which he explicitly!! refers to as edwin's copy. but we obviously have not seen edwin carrying this book on him, which can only mean one of two things. 1) edwin had to ask charles to get the book out of the bag of tricks or 2) edwin had to ask charles to go to the office to find the book for him, all just so monty could borrow it. both are frankly hilarious to me when thinking of charles' general distaste for all things monty. boy was probably grinding his teeth together like "yeah mate :) anything for you :)" <- actively withering inside.

[hellfirenacht]

C'mon, It's Just One Night (Part 1)

Summary: After getting a fake love note in your locker, you ask Eddie to help you mess up some bullies plans. 

Tags: Eddie Munson x Reader, smut later, fem reader, reader wears a dress at one point, mentions of bullying, actual bullying, three-shot

Master List

Work Count: 3.7k Words

You ain't seen nothing yet....

The thing that always confused you about jocks and popular kids was that they always assumed that everyone else was dumber than them. Girls would come up to you and give you a compliment that was clearly not sincere and when you thanked them just to get them to leave you alone they would giggle and think that you believed them. Guys would ask you on dates as a joke and you’d roll your eyes and try to ignore them, even as they tried desperately for your attention for their own amusement. 

Thankfully, there were certain perks that came with being in the Hellfire Club. Being associated with Eddie “the Freak” Munson meant that as long as you were standing near your friend, you’d mostly be left alone. You’d sit with him at lunch, try and walk with him to class in the hallways, and in general just tried to avoid any jock that looked particularly bored. 

However it had been quiet over the past few weeks, too quiet for your liking. Honestly, you were almost missing some of the backhanded compliments because it at least gave you a chance to blow off some steam outside of Hellfire. Well, something out there heard your wish and that’s how you found yourself watching from the other end of the hallway as two boys shoved a note in your locker, snickering to themselves. 

Well, this should be entertaining at least. 

They didn’t even try and look around to see if anyone was watching them, too caught up in their own scheme to realize the person who’s locker they were messing with was watching them from just a few yards away. 

“-’s gonna be so funny.” laughed one. You didn’t even know their names. There were so many people at this school that how were you expected to keep up with everyone when you didn’t even speak to them?

“Yeah, she’s gonna be embarrassed and we’ll get a free show out of it.” laughed the other one. 

You were right there. How was it that you could be on their radar for this shit and yet still remain completely invisible? 

The two turned around and you pretended to be throwing something away in a nearby trash can quickly, so that they wouldn’t realize that you had been staring at them. 

“There she is, we gotta go!” you heard one say in a voice that you assumed was his idea of whispering as the two scampered off while trying to hold off their laughter. 

You gave them a generous thirty seconds to get away before making your way to your locker and opening it up, grabbing the note and reading it over. It took everything you had not to burst out laughing right there, and you were just going to throw it away when you had an idea. 

Tucking it into your pocket, you smiled and made your way to the drama room for Hellfire as you started making your own plans for what you’d just read. 

“And with the Dwarf’s golden pick rightfully returned to him, I think this is a good stopping point.” Eddie said, finally sitting back in his chair. He’d been really revved up today, jumping around the table and getting in everyone’s faces as he described what was happening. He’d nearly rammed his head into yours at one point and you had barely managed to lean back enough so he didn’t. 

Eddie was always revved up, always ready to put on a show. He wasn’t afraid to be loud or call out the bullshit of what was expected. Eddie would jump on tables, get in people's faces, declare himself King Freak. 

He was perfect. 

...For your plan. Nothing more. You knew he’d be on board when you explained what you wanted to do. He was perfect for... that. 

As the rest of the club filed out, you stayed behind to help clean up the leftover soda cans and break down the board. You were also stalling because you didn’t want any of the other members to witness what you were about to ask of Eddie. 

“Your Scottish accent is getting better and worse at the same time.” you said, handing him one of the minis. “Sometimes you nail it, and sometimes I don’t think you’re even trying to say anything legible.” 

“It’s better than your character's accent! Is your tiefling from New Jersey or trans-atlantic?” Eddie laughed, shoving his notes unceremoniously in a folder. 

“Why do Dwarves need to be Scottish anyway?” you ignored his question, fully aware that your accents were no better. “I think you should mix it up. Make Canadian dwarves or something.”

This is how Hellfire usually ended, with the two of you joking around and talking about the session and making fun of each other while you tried to get hints about what was to come. He never gave anything away. 

You blew out a few candles and Eddie went to readjust the lights. You reached into your pocket and pulled out the note. 

“So, Eddie.” you started, turning to him. “Remember how last month I helped you study for Mrs. O’Donnel’s midterm and you got a solid B?”

Eddie’s brow furrowed and he stopped what he was doing to look at you. Under the multicolored spotlights he looked... you never had the words to describe it. He just looked like Eddie. The Eddie that should be playing guitar on stage or the Eddie that kept your attention so easily and rapturously when he was running his games. You weren’t ready to say that to his face yet, despite the contradiction of what you were about to do. 

“I remember.” he said, walking over to you and crossing his arms. “I take it you aren’t just bringing up a fond memory of us to reminisce about?”

“Not a chance.” you looked into his brown doe eyes. “It’s time for you to pay up.” And with that you handed over the note. 

Eddie took it with a slight tilt of his head and unfolded it, scanning the contents. 

My Dearest, 

I’ve been watching you for weeks now, enraptored by your beauty. I’ve been too shy to talk to you, but now I want the chance to confess to you. I’m in love with you, and have been all year. I don’t care if everyone thinks you’re some weird Satanist freak because I’m into that. Please be my date for homecoming and meet me at the school at 7:30 pm.

-Your secret admirer  

“It’s not really a secret if you’re handing this directly to my face.” Eddie said, looking up from the note. “And you spelled ‘enraptured’ wrong.” 

“I found this in my locker.” you said, ignoring his comments. “Some jocks think they’re being funny and are clearly trying to pull some sort of prank to humiliate me.” 

“Think it’s a Carrie situation?” Eddie asked, looking over the note again before handing it back to you. 

“They don’t have the guts to get any pig's blood.” you shook your head. 

“So what does this have to do with me? You know that Hellfire doesn’t do school dances.” He said. “I thought we were just gonna blow it off, and Corroded Coffin is gonna do a secret show at the Quarry.”

“Eddie, all your shows are secret.”

“Not true, we have recently gained another groupie. There are now a grand total of six drunks that regularly listen to us play.” Eddie pouted. “Six and a half if you count the cat that’s been hanging around the Hideout.” 

“Yeah, okay, remember me when you’re famous.” You said. “Listen, I need your help. I’m coming to you wanting to cash in my favor. I need the Freak to help me out here, Eddie.”

“For what, exactly?” His eyes narrowed, but you stood your ground. 

“If I show up to homecoming, something's gonna happen. The best case scenario is that I show up and they ignore me and laugh while I wait for this fake person to show up. The worst case scenario ends with pigs blood and me learning I have telekinetic powers.” You explained. 

“So why even bother going? I thought we all agreed that Hellfire doesn’t do school events.” 

That was a good point, and you were making a gamble on this. Eddie didn’t do school events, and tried to make it a rule for his club as well. That didn’t go over well when Mike insisted that he was going to take his girlfriend Jane to homecoming, and everyone finally came clean that Lucas was playing both sides of the field and playing basketball AND doing Hellfire. 

You had to admit, Eddie’s face of disappointment and disapproval was pretty funny. You felt bad for the guy though, he avoided anything school related like the plague outside of this club. Eddie had boasted that he’d never gone to prom or homecoming, and had been skipping any pep rally since his second senior year. 

“You agreed that you didn’t go to events. I never agreed to anything.” you said firmly. “I only agreed to show up every Friday and wear the Hellfire shirt.”

“And again I ask, what does this have to do with me?” Eddie pushed. 

“Be my date for homecoming.” you said. “My fake date. I want you to get to me before they have the chance to.”

Eddie froze for a second, a thousand emotions flashing through his eyes at once. You’d seen this look countless times when one of his players had thrown him a curve-ball and he had to scramble to figure out how to make it work for the game. 

“Your fake date.” he said slowly. “So you want me to- what exactly?” 

“I want you to show up and pretend to be the person who wrote this note.” you explained. “I’ll pretend to be thrilled, you get to be seen with a cute girl at a dance, the gossip train gets something to talk about, and the jocks get their plans foiled. Everybody wins.” 

Eddie rolled his eyes at your plan. “Or you could just not show up at all and just come help us set up for the show.” He said. 

“But that’s not fun.” You pointed out. “Besides, if they think we’re together even just for the night then they’ll leave me alone. Probably”

Eddie looked skeptical. 

“Please?” you leaned closer, making your eyes wide as possible. “Eddie, these dicks have been on my ass all semester. I can’t go two weeks without getting asked out as a joke or having some meat head yell about how his “friend thinks I’m cute”. It’s fucking annoying, and ignoring them has done jack and shit.” 

You saw the stone look in his eyes falter and his shoulders ease up. “You’re really serious about this?” he asked. 

“I am.” you confirmed. “You do this for me, and you can have full creative control. Show up in your Hellfire shirt, hell you could show up in your pjs and I’ll pretend to be thrilled that you’re my secret admirer. We’ll make sure that we’re seen, then we can go to the quarry. We don’t even have to stay for fifteen minutes. Just show up for me, Eddie. Please.” 

Eddie took a deep breath and rubbed his face with his hands. “Fifteen minutes. All I have to do is show up and pretend that I’m your secret admirer and then we leave. Right?”

“Right.” You promised. “That’s all I need.”

Eddie sighed deeply and grabbed his jacket and threw it on. “I am never asking for your help studying again. You drive a hard bargain.” Despite his words he had a grin on his face. 

“I’m going easy on you, if you had gotten an A I’d be demanding that you show up in a full tux with roses.” you teased. “I’m talking about the full cheesy school dance treatment. Corsage, first dance, all of it.”

“Don’t even start, you’d have to get me to completely ace her whole class to get that kind of treatment.” Eddie grabbed your shoulder and started pushing you up the stairs. “I wouldn’t even know where to get a tux.” 

“I think you’re supposed to rent one.” you laughed as the two of you made your way out of the drama room and closed the door. “I, however, will need to actually buy my dress.”

“You’re really gonna get a dress for this? We’re only going for fifteen minutes.” Eddie pointed out. 

“Oh, would you rather me show up looking terrible?” you asked, raising an eyebrow. “You really wanna show up and fake-confess to me looking plain and like I don’t care?”

“You really want to sell this, huh?” Eddie laughed. 

“It’s the only way I can think of for them to stop.” You said. 

The two of you made your way to the parking lot. Eddie walking you to your car. 

“Remember Eddie, you have full creative control over how you want to do this.” you said, getting in the driver's seat. “I don’t care how you show up, just go loud.”

“Eddie ‘the Freak’ Munson would never disappoint.” he said, closing the door for you with a flourish.

You were going to get a dress for this. 

No, you weren’t, you were only going to be there for fifteen minutes at most. 

But your mom would want to take pictures and be thrilled you were even going. After all, you’d avoided it during your first four years of high school. 

And you wanted to. 

That was the real kick in the pants for all this. You wanted to go to homecoming. You wanted to have a night to dress up and look nice and have fun with your friends. Unfortunately, only the freshmen were going to the dance, and as much as you loved Mike, Lucas, and Dustin, you didn’t really think you’d have a lot of fun with some kids a good five years younger than you. Hell, Mike and Lucas had actual dates and Dustin had a long distance girlfriend! 

You’d be the single person in the group and that didn’t exactly put points in your favor for sticking around for the dance. The rest of Hellfire didn’t bother going to these kinds of things, as this town made it clear that school events were for normal people who enjoyed normal things, whatever the fuck that meant. 

As much as you denied ever wanting to go to homecoming or prom, you knew that you wanted to, and you knew who you wanted to go with. 

On the bright side, at least you’d get your secret wish now, even if it was for fifteen minutes. 

Eddie had made it clear since the first time the words “school dance” were uttered in his presence a few years ago that he wasn’t going to even entertain the idea of showing up. Those nights were dedicated to one shots or longer sessions for Hellfire. So for the past few years you had skipped out on any dances in favor of at least telling your beat up journal that you had technically spent prom or homecoming with Eddie Munson. 

You walked into the department store that you knew had a sizable selection of dresses, took one look at the price tags, and walked right back out. It was insane to spend that money on one night of dancing, let alone fifteen minutes. 

Besides, where else would you even wear a dress like that? You laughed at the idea of showing up to Hellfire, with your shirt on over whatever you would have picked. That’d be stupid. 

....

But it’d also be funny. 

You walked back into the department store and ignored the front and center mannequins to hit up the clearance rack instead. Even as you browsed, you were still trying to convince yourself that you didn’t need to buy something for this. Eddie was probably just going to show up in his old faded DIO shirt and some old jeans (maybe the ones that had that hole in the butt that showed his boxers when you stood behind him, if you were lucky). He probably wouldn’t even brush his hair. 

You had a choice to make. How much of an effort did you want to put into your appearance for this? Should you follow Eddie’s approach and just show up as normal, or should you allow yourself an indulgence in the Cinderella fantasy? What did you want, and what did this revenge situation call for?

You wanted to look nice. You wanted to tell your journal that you had a date with Eddie and that you looked good and that those asshole jocks didn’t even recognize you. Wouldn’t it be better that way anyway? No matter what Eddie looked like when he showed up, the point would be made clear; you were off the market (as far as anyone would be able to tell) and Eddie Munson had gotten the girl. No, not the girl; a girl. Being the girl implied that you were someone that Eddie had an interest in. 

Dresses of different lengths and cuts and colors started to blend together as you indulged in the fantasy of matching your dress to whatever Eddie was going to wear. You flipped through the dress rack while you mentally flipped through all the shirts you had seen Eddie wear in the last few weeks. He favored darker colors most times, the main exception being the white Hellfire Club shirt. 

“Dark clothes don’t stain as easily.” he’d explained before. 

You kept flipping through the racks of last seasons’ fashion, trying to find something that you could wear. Halfway through you considered giving up and just showing up in what you would have worn to the quarry if you hadn’t planned this whole thing. 

You need to commit to the bit. You reminded yourself. These jocks are expecting you to look pretty and then try to embarrass you. Don’t half ass it.

Sucking it up, you made your way over to the normal racks. Your mom had given you some cash to buy yourself a nice dress, but you had been hoping to just buy something cheaper and save the rest to buy off of Eddie later. 

You walked out of the store, bag in hand, with a receipt showing a number that made you feel sick. You reminded yourself over and over it was for you, Eddie, and your mom. 

“Are you sure you have the charisma for this?” Gareth asked. “You always roll shit with any charisma roll.”

“Gareth, I don’t know if you know this, but rolling a die and saying that I’m trying to do something is different than actually doing it outside of the game.” you said as the two of you made your way into the Library. You had it on good authority that this was the jocks study hall period, and you wanted to really sell your plan. 

“I still don’t get why I have to be part of this. I’m not even going to homecoming either.” He grumbled. “This whole thing is stupid. You should just come to the show instead.” 

“I can do both.” you waved him off. “All I need you to do is let me talk at you-”

“You do that anyway.”

“Yes, but this time I need you to pretend to be invested.” You explained. “You let me talk about how excited I am for homecoming and to meet my secret admirer and I use my powers of being able to leave school during lunch to bring you McDonald’s tomorrow.” 

Gareth couldn’t argue with that, no teenage boy could resist the sweet temptation of greasy fast food in the middle of the school day. It was more than a fair trade, even if Gareth didn’t see the point in this. You just really wanted to sell your plan. 

“Remember, all you need to do is ask me who I’m going to Homecoming with.” you reminded him. 

The two of you walked over to where the group of basketball players were goofing off and not really studying, and the two who had slid the note into your locker started nudging each other and snickering to themselves. 

“So who are you going to homecoming with?” Gareth asked, his line delivery stiff and unnatural and disinterested. You had to fight with yourself to not roll your eyes at the lackluster performance. 

“I don’t know!” your voice was a little higher pitched at the response, trying to emulate the cheerleaders you’d seen giggling in their groups as they gossiped. You pulled the note that you had been keeping in your pocket. “I got this note asking me to meet them at the dance, so I have no idea!”

You continued to gush to the disinterested Gareth how excited you were to be asked to go, and speculating on who it could be. The entire time, your friend looked like he’d rather be smashing his head against the table than listen to you talk about this, which was honestly more fun for you than the jocks reactions. 

From the table behind you, the normally loud group of boys were attempting to be quiet as they snickered and nudged each other. You wished that Gareth would try and talk a little more so that you could stop talking to eavesdrop on them. 

When the jocks started getting louder again, that’s when you dropped the conversation. They weren’t interested in hearing anymore and so you weren’t either. 

“So what was the point of that?” Gareth muttered, making his way to the exit of the library. 

“I don’t want them to forget about me. If I’m gonna be completely honest, I really just expected them to totally forget they left something in my locker about this.” you adjusted your backpack, following him out. “I’m committed to the bit.”

“Sounds like you’re just asking for trouble.” He shook his head. 

“Maybe a little.” you sighed. “Eddie and I are graduating this year and I don’t want to look back at my time here and think that I just took the bullshit that was given to me. I just want them to get off my ass for the rest of the year.” 

“Do you really think it’ll work?” 

“Only one way to find out.” 

Part 2 It's Gonna Be A Night We'll Never Forget (Coming Soon)

Dividers By: @strangergraphics

Tag List: @somethingvicked @ladysilence @leelei1980 @seexyyprincess @rosebudsgarden @ghcstpyre @crocwork-clockodile

[evilminji]

( o.o) okay... so...

I am loosely basing this of how one of my OCs powers work? But... can Overgrowth make ANY plant? Past, present, future? Possible, probable, hypothetical? ANY any plant?

I ask this, because Humans? NOT born from a plant.

Buuuuuut they COULD be.

Of course they could. The plant would be a dead end. Unable to reproduce or cultivate without humanity. Just? The most costly, ungainly, unnatural plant imaginable.

Which is WHY it doesn't exsist. Why it will never exist.

But COULD it? Oh easily. Child's play. There are countless billions of billions of plants that COULD exsist. From benevolent to world ending. But why would Overgrowth give a shit? Why MAKE such pointless things?

Well... Sam wants a kid.

Full stop.

She wants a kid and is NOT about to do that whole "risk her life and irreversibly change her body with child creation" thing. So? How does one have a child with two fathers, one mother, who was not carried to term inside said mother? A surrogate perhaps?

Naaaaah.

No, no. It's time to get the machete and go Bully God(tm). Specifically THAT God, over there. The plant one. Give her the nonexistent child creating plant or Snippy Snippy, Overgrowth, you fuck!

Sam. Sam, please. Begs her beloved husband's. But until THEY can carry Child, they can shut up and help menace a Deity. Dani, her beloved S-I-L who's just here for adorable future munchkins and general Chaos, agrees. Square up, boys.

She obviously, gets her plant.

It's an abomination.

Just? THE nightmare of a tree. Oozy tar like bark, sickly appearance, bone colored needle like leaves. Single, giant, blood red "fruit". They have to feed it ectoplasm, their own blood, and basicly everything to make a body. Meaning flesh, bones, blood, nutrients and minerals.

Proper horror movie.

Sam? Fucking LOVES her Baby Tree. It's name is Mortica.

Now, OBVIOUSLY, everyone in Amity? Knows to mind their Business by now. The Fenton-Foely-Manson throuple or what ever order they've decided on today, are both terrifying and willing to throw down. Fenton is Phantom. Manson is Samantha Manson. Their husband will laugh at you instead of help. Not worth it.

But OUTSIDERS? Tourists passing through and cousins come to visit?

They see a huge, fuck off, nightmare tree straight out of Poison Ivy's fever dreams. Do the reasonable thing. Call the Justice League Help Line.

So NOW JLA Dark is sitting Very Nervously, in this terrifying throuples home. Trying to ask HOW they got the Tree. Trying to ignore that one of them is a ghost of incredible power, the other an Avatar of the Green, and this nice man is just? Cool with having a nightmare tree baby? Yeah. Of course.

Just... just please tell them if it's gonna eat people. Yes or no.

@nerdpoe @hypewinter @ailithnight @hdgnj @the-witchhunter

[innocentimouto]

Snk ending was beyond awful, but are you satisfied with how Levi's story was concluded?

Ooh boy

No way.

Levi saluting his comrades and being the one to care for their sacrifices was so important, especially to those who think he doesn't care about anyone. His story about being the strongest and thus being cursed to watch everyone die except him followed him to the very end. There's much to explore about his self loathing, his upbringing that imprinted in him to believe he was only useful in strength----something that was always reinforced throughout his life---and to lose that strength, and lose purpose for that strength, when that was the only way of life he knew, and anyone who he could have tried to live a normal life with was dead----Levi fulfilling his promise to eradicate titans, his role as a hero and humanity's strongest actually ringing true---

Except it only makes sense if we ignore all the themes and plot points and just focus on trying to aesthetically end each character's story while ignoring the amazing writing that was there.

Why did no one else care about all the other scouts? Many died saving them. These characters only made it this far because the scouts gave their lives. But they only care about Sasha? What about Marco? You find out how he died but you can't see his spirit reaching peace? Wonder why...

Focusing more on Levi (I've delayed this so much because I keep drifting off into ranting about everything wrong with the ending), how could that be a satisfying ending for all of those deaths?

The scouts wanted to rid the titans from the world to SAVE THEIR HOME. To have a chance for the future generations. They died for nothing with that ending. How hilarious that at the end of it all it's Paradis that's stuck with a horrible history they need to atone for and not Marley who could have just left them.

Moreover, majority of the world was wiped out as well. How could they be happy?

Now the anime has never been that happy and has always been darker so the ending could still have been dark. Sometimes people die for nothing. But the way the fandom perceives this ending as "perfect" as in everyone would be content is just no.

They tried to have such a happy ending too! What was the point? Why not have kept it sad if you wanted to wipe out 80% of the world? What we got was Paradis turning completely evil and being a threat to the world.

Oh yeah the scouts died for nothing a hundred times over. Why was it necessary to make Paradis end like that? Why do animes always have genocides and then sneakily give reasons or try to give reasons that justify it?

Paradisians really were monsters. Now they want to wipe out the world. You could have kept Eren wiping out 80% (still doesn't make sense) but made Paradis good.

Of course that would remove the "both sides have done bad so there's no real villain here to punish war is war I guess" that is always used to justify removing consequences from oppressors. Both sides have evil and both sides can do wrong, but this anime went out of its way to make both sides do bad things even when it wasn't necessary.

If Paradis regretted or wasn't on Eren's side, and obviously after the Rumbling the whole world would fear them, we would see the racism and abuse against Paradis. And for some reason Isayama thought it was a mature theme to not paint anyone as a victim.

Anyway no way would Levi be content with it. He does have some sort of inner dialogue about it. But it contradicts his words to Eren in the manga about the world outside being hell. It also seems very unrealistic that he would think an ideal world would exist, especially since he probably had a rude awakening once getting out of the Underground.

Also it was hinted at for the longest time that Reiner and Bertholdt were sent from outside. So they have an enemy outside who's capable of taking down their walls. Obviously the world outside would have challenges.

Also it was Levi's job to take down Eren if anything went wrong. So many people seem to forget this. He also delayed in killing Zeke multiple times! Yes, for good reasons (I'm looking at you---people who say he was so obsessed with revenge yet would never kill Zeke for the sake of giving his side a better chance at surviving!), but that took Levi out of the game for a while, whereas if Zeke had been killed the Rumbling wouldn't have started.

How can Levi be content when his body count is much higher than Kenny? (so many thoughts on him too and how the fandom casually calls him a serial killer)

The problems go way back for me, though. The ending is just a product of all the writing issues until this point.

Levi's ending is decent what with all these issues, but I can't stand the ending in general. None of the emotional beats touched me at all. I was left upset and in shock of just how bad it was watching it.

[flameo-fanfic]

Ripples of Destiny

Book 1 : Chapter 1 The Boy in the Iceberg

The south sun was rising on the snow-smattered ice and I was once again taking in the view, longing for the days when the rays had shone through vibrant leaves, for the days when my mother would call to me over the rushing river bends and my father would guide me home. The days are long here, and so are the nights, and they’re both just as cold. It has been just shy of three years of living in the Southern Water Tribe and I’m still getting used to the chill.

The voices of the village waking up filled the early air, gentle like the dawning light. Katara and Sokka were already out fishing for food. Knowing their bickering antics, it would take longer than intended, so here I sat in my own peace, awaiting their return so that I could begin feeding the many women and children who were also left behind by the warriors of the tribe. I spent many mornings like this, alone in my memories. Then, everything changed when a beam of light etched through the horizon, breaking my trance.

I wouldn’t have been surprised if the Northern Water Tribe saw that blast of light. The village was worried, we didn’t know what it was. Gran-Gran found me in her concern that Sokka and Katara weren’t back yet, so we waited agreeing if they weren’t back by nightfall that I would go out looking for them. When the siblings finally returned, our concerns ebbed as our questions were answered. It was an airbender.

“He was stuck in the ice?” I questioned my friends as we helped the unconscious boy take a rest in one of the extra tents.

“Isn’t it amazing? An airbender! Maybe he can teach us, Kaida.” Katara beamed almost as bright as that unnatural light at the thought of finally having a master. I had to admit, this was an exciting discovery and it would be nice to have a bending master fall right into our laps, but I couldn’t help but to be a little suspicious considering he bursted out of an iceberg.

“Let’s get to know him a little bit first, yeah Katara?” She didn’t seem to let my tepid response affect her mood. She’s always been a stubborn optimist.

We waited for the boy from the iceberg to wake up, and when he finally did we had all gathered around to meet him. I was actually quite nervous. I’ve always respected the air nomads, at least from what I heard of them through stories, but I never thought I’d get the chance to meet one.

“Aang, this is the entire village.” Katara gestured to our remaining people. “Entire village, this is Aang.” Everyone but me had cowered a bit, not being used to meeting outsiders, let alone one that was thought to have been extinct. A pang rang in my heart as I remembered the day I arrived at the Southern Water Tribe and how hesitant everyone was to accept me, so I decided to respond with my own bow of respect for our new guest.

“Uh, why are they looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?” He was checking his clothes for bison snot when Gran-Gran stepped forward.

“Well, no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct, until my granddaughter and grandson found you.”

“Extinct?” Aang exclaimed. I couldn’t help but think this was a strange reaction considering the general knowledge was that the air nomads had been murdered by the fire nation, but I decided to keep my questions to myself.

“Aang, this is my grandmother.” Katara gestured towards the elderly woman, ignoring his shock.

“Call me Gran-Gran.” The interaction was deadpan.

Sokka walked toward Aang and abruptly snatched his staff out of his hands, examining it.

“What is this, a weapon? You can't stab anything with this!”

“It's not for stabbing! It's for airbending.” Aang snatched his staff back with a gentle gust of wind before revealing the red fans hidden within the staff.

“Wow…” I said, amazed and waiting to witness more.

“Magic trick! Do it again!” The little ones were just as excited as I was, they only expressed it more outwardly.

“Not magic, airbending.” He moved his glider around him, visually demonstrating what he was talking about. “It lets me control the air currents around my glider and fly.”

“Ya know, last time I checked, humans can't fly!”

This comment had me jabbing my elbow into Sokka’s ribs, earning me a baffled look. Aang smiled before challenging Sokka. “Check again!”

Aang grabbed hold of his glider and pushed himself off the ground, leaving Katara, Sokka, and me to cover our faces against the sudden wind. The village stared in awe as Aang made some loops and turns in the sky.

“He’s flying!” Aang made another loop and sped up to soar past the gazing villagers. “It’s amazing!”

Aang's shadow passed over Katara and I, who were smiling at him. Aang, intending to further impress the villagers, flew sideways and closed his eyes while grinning broadly. He promptly flew head-on into the village's watchtower, causing his head to be stuck in its side. Katara covered her mouth as she watched Aang struggle to extricate his head from the icy watchtower. Succeeding, he tumbled downward onto a pile of snow at the base of the tower that crumbled from the building. Katara immediately rushed to his side while Sokka stared in shock at the damage inflicted on his watchtower. “My watchtower!”

Aang lay covered in snow at the base of the partially collapsed tower. Katara and some other girls of the tribe, including myself, ran toward Aang, beaming.

Offering her hand to pull him out of the snow, Katara announced, “That was amazing!”

Sokka ran to his watchtower in an attempt to keep it from being damaged anymore, but ended up getting a huge glob of snow on top of his head.

“Great. You're an airbender, Katara and Kaida are waterbenders. Together you can just waste time all day long.” He wedged himself free from underneath the weight of the snow and stalked off muttering to himself.

Aang whipped his head towards Katara and me, “You’re waterbenders?”

“Well, sort of. Not yet.” Katara sideways glanced at me in what seemed to be embarrassment.

“We still have a lot to learn.” I said.

“All right, no more playing. Come on, Katara, you have chores.” Gran-Gran disrupted the excitement by leading Katara away from Aang and I. The rest of the villagers let them pass but formed a crowd around Aang almost immediately to study him.

Aang started showing off some tricks again before licking his staff, his tongue freezing to the wood. “See? Now my tongue is stuck to my staff!” One of the younger boys started yanking the staff trying to unstick Aang’s tongue from the wood. I couldn’t help but giggle at how silly the interaction was.

Eventually we dispersed, I left Aang to have fun with the villagers as I got to work doing my own chores alongside Katara. As I was bending the excess water out of the laundry I was washing, I overheard Aang ask Sokka and Katara a jarring question.

“What war? What are you talking about?”

“You're kidding, right?”

I stood up and walked towards the group as I began to ask “What do you mean what wa-“ I was cut off by Aang screeching at the sight of an otter-penguin in the distance, and he left my words in the wind behind his back. “Penguin!”

Sokka glanced at Katara and me with an annoyed, dumbfounded look. “He’s kidding, right?” Katara and I began our trek as we attempted to find the exuberant airbender. “We might have to put a bell on that kid.” I said before I began to jog in Aang’s general direction.

“Aang?” We found him in a field full of otter-penguins, chasing the cute animals over the dunes of snow. “Hey, come on little guy. Wanna go sledding?” Aang begs as he jumped on one of the penguins with little to no luck. He belly-flopped on the ice with a grunt before airbending himself back onto his feet to face us. “Heh heh. I have a way with animals.” Aang stretched his arms wide and imitated the sound and movements of the otter-penguins, making Katara and I both laugh.

“Impressive tactics.” I let out a sarcastic tease amid my giggles.

“Hehehe, Aang, I'll help you catch a penguin if you teach me and Kaida waterbending.”

Aang released the tail of a penguin that he had attempted to capture before responding to Katara’s request “You got a deal! Just one little problem ... I'm an airbender, not a waterbender. Isn't there someone in your tribe who can teach you?”

I looked over at Katara sympathetically “No. You're looking at the only waterbenders in the whole South Pole.” She said sadly, looking at her feet. “Kaida is the only one who has been able to teach me, but she hasn’t mastered waterbending, either.”

“This isn't right. A waterbender needs to master water.” He paused, and I knew what he was about to say. “What about the North Pole? There's another Water Tribe up there, right? Maybe they have waterbenders who could teach you.”

“Maybe, but we haven't had contact with our sister tribe in a long time. It's not exactly "turn right at the second glacier". It's on the other side of the world.” It was Katara’s turn to look at me with an understanding look. We’ve all lost people to the war, and it was easy to recognize it in others, even if we were only children.

“But you forget, I have a flying bison. Appa and I can personally fly you to the North Pole. Katara, Kaida, we're going to find you a master!”

Aang’s appearance in our humble lives here in the South Pole may have been a blessing. For once in my sixteen years in this world, hope was the strongest feeling in my heart. I had been yearning to go to the North Pole my entire life, yearning to learn more about my mother’s childhood, my mother’s family, and why she left home. “That’s a great idea, Aang!” I blurt out in a blitz of excitement, earning a smile from Aang.

“That's... I mean, I don't know. I've never left home before.” Katara spoke up timidly.

“Well, you think about it, but in the meantime, can you guys teach me to catch one of these penguins?”

Katara gave me a final look of consideration before turning back to Aang “Okay, listen closely my young pupil. Catching penguins is an ancient and sacred art.” She summoned a hidden fish out of her sleeve. “Observe!”

Katara threw the fish into Aang’s grasp and he stood uncomprehending as the penguins crowded him in a flurry of desire for the fresh treat in his hands.

Soon enough we were all mounted on our new rides at the top of an iceberg that we were using as a makeshift slide. The air was whipping past my ears as Katara, Aang, and I soared through the air before once again meeting solid snow. We raced down the steep slope and Aang used another iceberg as a ramp to propel him into the air, soaring over Katara and me. Our penguins bolted down the hill and we both turned onto the next iceberg, gaining a bit of speed and landing once again next to Aang as we all let out euphoric laughter.

“I haven't done this since I was a kid!” Katara gleefully shouted.

“You still are a kid,” Aang responded.

We all entered a tunnel of ice, Katara in the lead, constantly changing her direction to hold Aang and me back. Aang used his airbending to race over the ceiling past both of us, picking up the lead. There was no way Katara or I would catch up to him, so it was between us to take last place and Katara was still a bit ahead of me.

“If he can play dirty, so can I.” I thought to myself before waterbending a clump of snow into Katara’s face. My penguin flew past hers as she lost her ability to steer for a second, and I cackled in competitive pride as I watched Katara slow behind Aang and me in third place.

“That’s so unfair!” Katara lightheartedly scolded me while wiping snow off of her cheeks and waterbending her own ball of snow at me in protest of my cheating behavior. The ball had missed my face and hit my shoulder before I bantered with my friend and we used our bending to send more snow towards each other. A full-blown snowball fight would have ensued if Aang hadn’t interrupted us. “Whoa! What is that?”

Katara’s expression darkened, “A Fire Navy ship. And a very bad memory for my people.” Aang began to approach the wreckage. “Aang, stop! We're not allowed to go near it! The ship could be booby-trapped!”

“If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear.” I could see Katara taking his remark into consideration before stepping forward to join him. I reached out and grabbed her wrist. “Wait, Katara. This could be dangerous.” No matter how much fun I was having with my new airbending acquaintance and my best friend, I wasn’t certain venturing into an old Fire Navy ship was the best idea, and I didn’t want Katara to get hurt.

“It’ll be okay. You’re with me.” Katara gave me a gentle smile and squeezed my hand before I let go of her wrist.

“Fine. But no messing around in there, okay?” Katara and Aang nodded respectfully, agreeing to my conditions as we all slowly entered the old ship.

There was little life left in the abandoned vessel, only some small hamsters that I spotted scurrying against the edges of the walls. We soon entered a room stocked full of weapons. “This ship has haunted my tribe since Gran-Gran was a little girl.” Katara began as we spectated the weapons more closely. I picked up “It was part of the Fire Nation's first attacks.”

“Okay, back up. I have friends all over the world, even in the Fire Nation.” Aang picked up a guandao to inspect it. “I've never seen any war.”

This is the second time now Aang’s statements have confused me and I couldn’t help but feel a bit questioning of him.

“Aang, how long were you in that iceberg?” Katara asked what I was thinking.

“I don’t know. A few days, maybe?”

“I think it was more like a hundred years!”

“What?! That's impossible! Do I look like a hundred-twelve-year-old man to you?”

“No, Aang. Katara is right.”

“Think about it. The War is a century old. You don't know about it because, somehow, you were in there the whole time! It's the only explanation.” Aang’s expression was dooming as he slumped into the wall behind him.

“A hundred years! I can't believe it.” My heart broke slightly, looking down on this lost boy, one hundred years out of his time.

Katara, nurturing as she is, knelt down beside Aang. “I'm sorry, Aang. Maybe somehow there's a bright side to all this...”

“I did get to meet you.” Aang cheered up a bit, smiling warmly at Katara before averting his eyes towards me.

Katara offered him a warm smile of comfort. “Come on, let's get out of here.”

“Aang, let's head back, this place is creepy.”

“Agreed. This ship feels colder than it does out there.” I shivered, taking in my surroundings and rubbing my arms in an attempt for warmth. The metal walls felt empty and void of love, the complete opposite of the environment I was raised.

As we were heading towards the hole that we entered through, Aang tripped on an almost invisibly thin wire, causing metal bars to slam down and trap us inside.

“Huh?” Aang said as we all ran towards what would have been our exit. “What's that you said about booby traps?”

Just like Aang awakening from that iceberg, the gears of the shipwreck shifted to life. We all watched as the movements of the ship powered a flare high into the sky, exploding and alerting nearby inhabitants.

“Uh oh...” Aang looked up at a hole in the roof of the ship and took Katara in his arms. “Hold on tight!” Katara yelped as Aang hurled them upwards and out of the ship with his bending abilities before coming back for me. The shorter boy grabbed me by my waist in a flurry of incredible speed and suddenly I was being bolted out of the ship.

[all-pacas]

How would nobody's fault work in the babytrapping au? Maybe this is when they both confess the truth? Also what do they do for the year that house is in jail? Does chase even come back for S8? So many questions!

babytrapping cinematic universe lmaoooo

after a while the ripple effects are just going to get worse and worse. on the one hand, no way does chase take a year off to go surfing in this reality: i'm thinking he probably just moved back to the OR as part of a general compromise with cameron, who really doesn't want him working for house even if they're sticking to new jersey.

this would also fuck with chase's dynamic with house (and let's be real, cameron and house's dynamic in this au is absolutely insane too). chase isn't around as much to be promoted into Special Boy, he also very much has a life and family outside diagnostics now… but on the other hand chase is just doing full repression Everything Is Fine and so is cameron, so i think house is like. partially tempted to poke at it but also probably this is a little too rich even for his blood. like he's gotta think the odds are good someone is going to start stabbing.

cameron has never really stopped scapegoated house for dibala in this au, so she's probably done a complete 180: i imagine she's just fully embraced her role as permanent buzzkill, like, house does everything wrong and unethical and this isn't me having a lot of subconscious feelings because if i don't fix chase none of this will be worth it. and chase is just after validation, especially now from cameron, who he feels guilty as hell about, he's ruined her life two or three times over by now. so i think he moves to the OR and avoids house to keep her happy (which is his main priority), and i honestly think house lets him. because wow is this all fucked up. but chase still likes house and doesn't blame him for anything, so they're still talking and working together secretly, he's the on call surgeon for the team (chase is having an affair with diagnostics lmao).

so let's say nobody's fault still happens. chase is in the OR, but he's doing a surgical consult for the patient when he has his psychotic break, let's say.

chase's arc is probably pretty parallel to in canon. it is house's fault, because chase should have been ignoring house and instead he got dragged in, he's taking out his suppressed guilty and unhappiness on an easy target. instead of "you're trying to turn me into you," it's more house reminding chase that he's driving himself crazy: you can't admit you're miserable. chase counters that he isn't, he's just guilty, which is the same thing.

so yeah, chase decides to confess. he was always the weaker link on this. by now their kid is almost two, on one level they're happy and doing well, but whenever cameron frames it as a miracle that brought them back together he dies inside. and now he's feeling post almost-died life changing urges, so he confesses.

but then here's where cameron comes in, right? because she does feel guilty too. it's easier for her, because she doesn't have the family history and because she feels like she's saving chase by doing this, keeping him off a dark path, but that doesn't mean she doesn't feel like shit. she just… can justify it better. she kind of thrives when she can be a little miserable and a little bit of a martyr. she can tell herself she did the right thing for them both, where chase can only tell himself he did the right thing for himself.

i think cameron might have suspected the mutual babytrapping in a way chase doesn't. because chase isn't that good a liar, and uhhh she probably noticed the lack of birth control in the lead up to the divorce lol. and so weirdly??? maybe this works out well for them??? because they're both very fucked up people. cameron is able to tell him it's okay and mean it. she just almost saw him die and realized - one of those blatantly obvious things you don't always articulate - that it isn't about keeping him from being an evil murderer, she actually cares about him and doesn't! want him dead! ever! a lot of the reason she leaves him in the first place is his lack of remorse, and here's chase miserable with guilt. she's won! she's succeeded! they have a probably incredibly photogenic toddler and maybe the past doesn't have to matter! and chase meanwhile is like owo you babytrapped me too external validation +100. so somehow almost dying ends up transforming them into an almost functional couple again (or at least an honest one, which helps a lot), and they have another kid and wilson is in a corner taking notes

[ashes-2-ashes57cba]

The Clone Wars: A Distant Echo

Part 2 of the Clone Wars Bad Batch arc with my OC: Specter! this has been edited *adla'vod: roughly translates to "twin", directly translates to "same brother/sister"

Specter felt surprised and almost betrayed when Crosshair let General Anakin Skywalker inspect his beloved rifle. Usually, he would get fussy if even she touched it. He wouldn’t even let her put her stuff next to his. 

The Bad Batch, Captain Rex, and the Jedi were on board the Batch’s ship—the Marauder—on their way to Skako Minor, following the live signal “Echo” supposedly sent out. Rex watched as Wrecker lifted a gonk droid with one hand and ate with the other. Crosshair observed as the General looked at his gun, and Hunter monitored any planetside activity at the console while Tech flew them to their destination. The female clone sat back, resting and mentally preparing herself for their next mission. 

“So, how many missions has your team been on, Sergeant?” Anakin asked Hunter.

“Honestly, sir, I’ve lost count. All the action sort of blurs together,” he admitted with a shrug.

“I know you work with Cody sometimes, but who exactly do you guys report to?” Rex asked. Hunter hummed in thought.

“Good question. Can’t say I’ve got an answer.”

“Yeah, I’d feel really bad for the one who would have to try and make sense of our reports,” Specter piped up. Wrecker laughed in agreement. “Oh, adla’vod?” The sniper turned to his twin as Anakin handed him his rifle back. “Your taste in music is weird and the songs you suggested are weird, and I love it. I’m adding them to the playlist.”

“I told you,” he said with a smirk. 

“So you’re the first female clone. How does that affect your… dynamic?” Skywalker asked, turning his attention to Specter. She raised an eyebrow.

“If you’re implying what I think you are, don’t worry about it. I’ve heard enough of the whispers. I’ve saved these boys more times than they’d like to admit, so I’m not just a pretty face.”

“What?” Anakin blushed, “N-no, like— gosh how do I say it without sounding crass?” Specter surprised him by laughing. 

“I’m teasing, General, I know what you mean. They’re my brothers and best friends. They respect me and know when to give me my space when I need it. In return, I don’t break their knees. Isn’t that right boys?” she asked aloud to her team.

“Yes, ma’am,” they replied; some enthusiastically, some with disdain. 

“However they don’t always pick up after themselves. Take Tech, for example,” she said loudly, hoping to get his attention.

“What now?” he sighed.

“Just because my bunk was empty and clean, does not mean you get to use it for storage for your projects.”

“You weren’t using it.”

“Because your stuff was on it!” Rex and Anakin snickered at their argument while Crosshair and Hunter rolled their eyes. A thud and the sound of alarms ended their argument.

“We are approaching Skako Minor,” Tech reported. “It looks to be a difficult landing.” The Marauder broke through the thunderous clouds, turbulence rocked the ship. Wrecker went to help Tech man the controls while the others strapped themselves in. 

Once they landed and everything settled, the rest of the team gathered in the cockpit.

“Rex, what do we know about this place?” Anakin asked his captain.

“On this part of Skako, there’s a race of locals, the Poletecs. All we know is that they’re very primitive.”

“‘Primitive’ is being kind. My intel says the Poletecs worship flying reptiles,” Tech chimed in. A thud and screech were heard outside the ship, almost in reply to the Batcher’s remark. A shadow of a creature scurried over the viewport.

“Oh! What the heck was that?” Wrecker exclaimed as the ship rocked and jolted.

“It’s one of those reptiles,” Tech simply answered.

“I want that thing off my ship,” Hunter growled, putting on his helmet. The Batchers followed his lead and prepared to go outside to investigate. 

“Hold on! Hold on! Don’t just run out there,” Rex warned. 

The Bad Batch ignored him, running out to the blowing winds. A creature was on top of the ship, its rider a mere silhouette against the dim golden light peeking through the dust and clouds.

“Hey! Get off of there!” Wrecker yelled, pointing his blaster at them. Anakin ignited his saber but held his arm out to the brute.

“Hey, calm down. We need to talk to them,” he said.

“Why?” Hunter gowled. The Bad Batch wasn’t used to handling confrontations with diplomacy.

“The General’s right,” Rex supported. Two more flying creatures screeched and approached fast, intently flying toward the group. 

“Heads up!” Specter yelled, crouching low. Anakin pushed Rex out of the way as one of them reached out with its claws to grab at the captain. The two flew by, but the one atop the ship jumped down and grabbed Anakin before flying away with the rest of its group. The Jedi’s lightsaber fell from his belt, Rex grabbed it before firing a few potshots at the reptile, hoping to have some sort of effect. Tech looked through his visor, tracking him.

“I have a thermal reading. Point-two-five east, elevation 175,” he reported. 

“Relax,” Crosshair said, readying his rifle and using Tech’s shoulder as a mount, “I’ll handle this.” He fired a grappling line, latching onto the leg of the reptile holding Anakin.

“What are you doing?” Rex asked as Crosshair handed Hunter the base of the line. 

“Going for a ride,” Hunter said, clipping the line to his belt before being yanked away. “Keep the boys out of trouble, Spec.” Specter crossed her arms, and yelled after him.

“Like they listen to me anyway, but sure thing.” 

The group watched as Hunter and the General disappeared into the thick clouds. Silence surrounded the group until Wrecker turned to Specter and asked-

“Should we follow them?”

“Not yet,” she replied. “We can’t be sure of any more of those reptiles hiding among the clouds. Best to trust Hunter to assess the situation before we rush in.” Her fist tightened with anxiety by her side; Hunter often trusted her judgment enough for her to lead the group when he couldn’t, but this time the life of a Jedi General was on the line.

“Tech, I’m with the General. Hone in on my signal,” Hunter’s voice eventually came through the comm. Specter relaxed her shoulders before turning to the others.

“Alright, now we can regroup. Everyone back to the Marauder,” she said, taking charge and gesturing back to the ship, following the others inside just as Tech launched the shuttle and flew to Hunter’s signal. 

They eventually touched down a ways back from the edge of a ridge leading down into the Poletec’s village. Hunter was kneeling down, out of sight, observing the scene. 

“That creature still has a hold of the General,” he reported to Rex, who went to take position beside him. Rex flipped down the antennae on his helmet, looking through the scope to assess Skywalker, Specter mirrored him, tracking each of the villagers.

“We’re going in,” he said, standing up, “but remember what the General said. ‘No casualties, disarm only’.” The reminder was emphasized towards the Batch with a few pointed glances. Wrecker shook his head and slumped in dejection. 

“We’re on it, Captain,” Hunter stood up before giving orders. “Wrecker, Crosshair, rockslide!” The two went to push the large boulder nearby down the ridge and into the village. As it rolled, Wrecker shadowed behind it, using it as cover, while Crosshair stayed behind to take a sniper position. The rest of the team followed suit, shooting to disarm the natives as they scrambled away. Crosshair shot an electric probe at the leg of the creature holding Anakin; it flew off from the shock, allowing the Jedi to roll out of the way of the boulder. Hunter pointed his pistol at the leader of the Poletecs; it spoke its language at him, waving his arms about. “Tech, translate what he said?” 

“He says he does not want our war on his planet. That is why he took our leader,” he relayed, reading the translation off his visor.

“We didn’t bring the war here,” Anakin said, “it was Wat Tambor and the Separatists.” Tech went to translate, doing his best to mimic the Poltec dialect. The chieftain looked between him and Skywalker.

“Tell him we apologize for what’s happened,” Rex stepped forward. “But tell him the enemy is holding one of our men prisoner in Purkoll. As soon as we rescue him, we’ll leave this planet, for good.” Tech nodded, turning to the chieftain and relaying the information. 

Specter couldn’t help but giggle; Rex noticed her shaking shoulders and nudged her side. 

“Hey, what’s so funny?”

“He just sounds so robotic. He’s not even attempting to follow through with the accent,” she explained. 

“Could you do any better?” Rex asked. She scoffed.

“Give me a day and I could even learn the local dialect, Captain. If it helps put things in perspective, I learned Galactic Sign Language in a week.” 

“Wow, Specter, is there anything you can’t do?” Rex wondered.

“Yeah. She can’t reach the high shelves,” Crosshair sneered. His twin stomped on his foot. 

The Poltec leader and Tech continued to speak back and forth in what looked like apologies and negotiations. 

“The chief says he’ll provide us with scouts and lead us to Tambor’s city. From there, we’re on our own,” he reported to Anakin. 

“Any help is better than no help.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two scouts led the team to a rocky outlook with a clear view of the city, or at least the spires hanging down from the clouds. One pointed towards the city and said something in his language; Tech thanked them before they went to return to their village. 

“Hope nobody’s scared of heights,” Anakin said with a smirk. Crosshair, Hunter, and Specter turned to look at Wrecker, who perked up at the attention.

“Well, I’m not scared of nothing!” he assured, unconvincingly. He glanced down the cliff rock, however, noting the height. “I just… when I’m up real high, I got a problem with gravity,” the brute admitted.

“Speaking of problems,” Tech spoke up, “I am no longer picking up Echo’s signal.”

“I don’t understand,” Rex said, surprised, “you said it was coming from this city.”

“I can only speculate, but it is possible there’s a latency issue with the frequency caused by all these atmospheric disturbances,” Tech said, holding up his datapad.

“Or… maybe they sent the signal to lure us into a trap,” Hunter speculated. “And maybe your friend’s actually dead. Well I can’t be the only one thinking of that.”

“But if a clone can come back from the dead, then nothing could stop me from being completely unhinged,” Specter fantasized.

“Look, every mission could be a trap. This one is no different,” Rex argued against Hunter. “I’m telling you that signal is being sent by Echo himself! He’s alive!”

“I think you’re letting your personal feelings get in the way because you left him for dead at the Citadel,” Crosshair sneered, turning his back on the captain. Specter tilted her head back in exasperation. 

“I had no choice. You hear me?” Rex said, his tone dark and on the verge of anger.

“Oh, I don’t blame you. I would’ve left him for dead too. Besides, he’s just another reg.” 

Specter didn’t blame Rex, nor did she try to stop him when he punched Crosshair to the ground. 

“Hey!” Wrecker grabbed the captain by the back of his armor. “Why don’t you pick on someone not your size?” The brute threw him off, but Rex turned right back around and marched up to him.

“You’ll be a whole lot smaller when I’m through with you,” he growled.

“That’s enough!” Anakin ordered, pushing the two men apart. “Sergeant, take your men and scout the area for a tower entrance. I want to talk to my Captain alone.” Hunter motioned for the Bad Batch to follow him, Specter helped Crosshair stand up before smacking the back of his helmet, scolding her twin for his insensitive comment.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The wind howled, blowing golden dust. Specter shifted her stance again, trying to ignore the itch of sand up in her armor. The Batch did their best to peer through the sand and guard the entrance of one of the towers leading up to the city while Tech worked on the door panel. Hunter sensed someone coming, holding up his gun in defense. But it was Skywalker and Rex running to meet them.

“We’re in business, General. Tech regained Echo’s signal,” Hunter reported, shouting over the wind and walking him towards the entrance. “It’s coming from this tower. How’s it going, Tech?” The clone had his datapad hooked up to a console, quietly working through algorithms and firewalls to get past the door. After pushing a few buttons, he was able to gain access.

“Sorry it took so long,” he replied with a shrug. 

“Hey, twins, check it out,” Hunter nodded inside. 

“Ah yes, the noble sacrifices,” Specter slumped before holding up her blaster and following Crosshair, sweeping the inner room for any traps or cameras. They found nothing and turned back to the door. 

“Yeah, it’s a lift,” Crosshair deadpanned.

“How magical,” Specter feigned wonder.

“Well, we already knew that,” Rex said, unamused, walking inside with the others. Wrecker nervously looked up at the tower, most of it disappeared behind heavy clouds. 

“Wait, wait, wait. A lift? How far up are we going?” he growled.

“Don’t worry, Wrecker. I’ll hold your hand,” Hunter teased. 

“Hey! Cut it out, Sarge,” Wrecker said, bumping past Hunter’s shoulder, “Just give me some droids to crush.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Remember, this is a stealth mission,” the General said as the lift neared the top, “no blasting, no blowing things up. Nobody knows we’re here.”

“Pff, don’t count on it,” Specter muttered, collapsing her blaster’s stalk and preparing her pistol. The door opened to a group of droids who abandoned their tasks, turned to the intruders, and readied their weapons. Wrecker dashed out, crashing into the ones closest, throwing one at another group near the back and swinging another at a few near the opening. They fell with robotic screams.

“I told you!” Specter said before running out to the fight with her squadmates. Anakin could only shake his head with a smirk. She fired alongside Tech, covering the corridor that led inside the facility. A pair of droids snuck up behind them, separating her and Tech. Specter let them corner her against some crates; once they were right where she wanted, she jumped up and pushed off against the crates—over the droids’ line of fire—knocking them down with a split kick. A shot flew past her shoulder, striking a lone droid attempting to charge at her; Specter looked up to find Crosshair fired the shot, she returned the favor by blasting a droid approaching behind him.

 Wrecker charged at the remaining droids, firing relentlessly and cheering from the adrenaline once they were victorious. Everyone simply looked at him.

“Uh… sorry. I just got excited.” Specter came around and patted his shoulder while Tech checked his scanner.

“I’ve still got a lock on Echo’s signal.” 

“All right, men.” Hunter readied his blaster and led the way to the corridor. “Let’s hunt some droids.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Droids on patrol marched through the hall, though they didn’t detect the door opening and Hunter peeking out. He motioned Specter forward and nodded; they stepped out, he shot the droids entering the area while she destroyed the ones that passed, clearing the way for Skywalker to step into the hallway. 

“Where exactly is Echo’s signal coming from?” he asked Tech. The clone adjusted his goggles as he looked at his datapad.

“Strange. I just lost the signal.”

“What? How can that be?” Rex asked, removing his helmet. “There’s no ‘atmospheric disturbances’ up here.”

“Well, I have a new theory. I’m surprised I did not consider it earlier,” Tech shook his head. “The signal is only traceable during data transmissions. So until Echo dispenses more intel, I cannot pick up the signal.”

“Okay, we’re splitting up. Search every door,” the General began to order, “If someone finds Echo, contact the others. We go in together, just in case there’s trouble.” Specter and Crosshair split with the General while the others went down the other way. She found nothing in the doors she checked, only storage containers and maintenance supplies. 

Specter had a very hard time believing a clone like Echo could have survived the attack on the citadel, but she knew if it was one of her squadmates, she would be just as adamant to rescue them as Rex was. But like Tech, she was logical enough to know that the chances of Echo actually being alive were low. But not zero. 

A commotion caught her attention: muffled blaster fire and a lightsaber. The clone ran towards Anakin, configuring her blaster into a sniper rifle; she got there just in time, shooting down the droids before they could attack again. The Jedi stood up, calmly walking towards her.

“Thanks for the backup.”

“No problem, General,” she said, giving a two-fingered salute.

“Hey, where did you get that weapon? I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it,” he asked as they walked down the hall.

“I doubt you would’ve. Tech and Crosshair designed and built it after I saved them on a mission from Corellia… and took care of them when they caught Corellian fever,” she snickered.

“You didn’t have to mention that,” Crosshair hissed, coming up beside them.

“Too late, Cross,” she teased, patting the side of his helmet. He swatted her hand away. “But I was the one who helped engineer the reconfiguring mechanism.”

“Clever,” the Jedi complimented. 

“Don’t let it get to her head,” Crosshair warned.

“Hey, how about when you— did you guys hear something?” Specter stopped herself, suddenly perking up. The others heard it too; sounds of droids and blasters being fired. 

“Sounds like trouble. Let’s move,” the General ordered.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It seemed the three had arrived just in time to even the odds against the droids attacking the rest of the team. Anakin used the Force to push a group out of his way, swinging his lightsaber to cut them and deflect their shots. Hunter took the opportunity to go on the offensive, Wrecker, Tech, and Rex joined in. The Sergeant held up a droid by the neck, ready to punch its head off, but Crosshair came in and shot it off for him. A whistle sounded, Specter came running in, taking a position by Wrecker.

“Hey, swing me around,” she said.

“Like on Mon Cala?” he asked, shooting a few droids.

“What? No, like on Ryloth.” They hooked their arms around each other and he spun, swinging Specter around to shoot and kick at the rest of the droids near them. The Jedi stabbed the last one. “Mon Cala… you didn’t swing me, you threw me. Underwater,” Specter mumbled. More blaster fire filled the hallway, even more droids were coming. The team took defensive positions in the side of the room. 

“Tech, open that door for Rex!” Anakin ordered over the noise. 

“Yes, sir!” Tech nodded and ran to take care of the door.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for, Captain,” Hunter said, turning to acknowledge him. “Specter, you’re with them.” Rex and Specter ran to meet Tech who was able to get the door open and enter the room. It was filled with dimly lit panels and other controls. 

“I don’t like the look of this,” Specter heard Rex say— her back was turned, keeping an eye on the door and their other surroundings. 

“I’m definitely picking up a life-form in there,” Tech said, his scanner beeping in rapid succession. He investigated the controls, “It seems to be a stasis chamber. I think I can get it open.” Specter looked over her shoulder, Tech worked at the control panel and got the chamber open. 

The door hissed open and a form fell forward, only caught by the wires attached to—him. It was a body. Malnourished, disfigured, but a clone’s body nonetheless. Specter stifled a gasp at the sight. 

“Echo,” Rex breathed. “Tech, we’ve got to get him out of here. Figure out how to…  unplug him from… from this mess.” Rex frantically undid the line around his torso, laying the body down onto the floor, cables were still attached to Echo’s head. “What have they done to you?” Specter abandoned watching the door and turned to go help Rex, who had taken off his helmet.

“We… we have to get to the shuttle to escape the Citadel,” the soldier muttered. His eyes were open but unseeing, skin sickly and pale, body emaciated and drawn. Both his legs and his right arm were replaced by cybernetic parts.

“He’s stable, but blood sugar is low,” Specter reported, removing her helmet and taking out a small flashlight. She shined it in his eyes, they were dilated and unfocused. “He’s in there but barely. Hallucinating. Oxygen in his brain must be low too, his heartbeat is irregular.” She felt his pulse on his wrist and by his neck.

“No! I’ll go first,” Echo continued in his hallucination, reaching out. Rex gently shook him.

“Echo,” he pleaded. “Echo, it’s Rex. I’m here.” The pale clone calmed down, his eyes came into focus.

“Rex? You, you came back for me,” he breathed, reaching to touch Rex.

“Yes. Yes, I did,” Rex assured. 

“What? What happened? Where am I?” Echo looked around.

“Yeah, he’s coming around alright. It’s okay, soldier. You’re safe now,” she assured.

“Just sit tight, Echo,” Rex said, “You’re going home.”

[ryuatewater]

only sometimes 💔💔💔💔💔 (no the answer to that is all the times unless something specific. mostly with you though im obvious because why not)

also. what happened like who started it first and why and how did your mother react to you being in a fight because of that reason

Uhhh wait i think i had a whole samsung notes page whatever explaining it

Nvm i think its on my other phone

Basically some dude from my class came to me calling me the f slur and just in general cuesing at me bc i had a girlfriend

And fun fact about me i have anger issues and qhen i get too angry i hurt either myself or someone near to me (sometimes even objects too) ssoooo i just... kicked rhe guy in the nuts

After that i just realized what i had done like "shit" and as the guy fell to the ground i ran off to the classroom my gf was in (she ignored it)

After class that guys friends came up to me like were gonna beat you up n shit but i felt safe bc i was with my friend n stuff

And after lunch i went to the restroom stall to do my business when a bunch of girls came in like "wheres ryu i heard theyre gonna beat her up" so naturally im just in my stall staying silent, i donr come out bc theyre literally right outside why would i am i stupid?

THEN a girl noticed it was me in the stall i think so some girls older than me came they were talking stuff outside the stall with a tone n i couldnt understand bc i was crying my eyes out and my mind was racing

The boys sister (who at the time was a 5th grader) started kicking the door and since i was holding the door shut with my body, i felt the kick too, at this point i was screaming crying just like really upset and scared

I think some girls heard abt it and told the principal? Cuz the principal (also a girl) came into the restroom like "everybody out" and she held my hand, walking me to her office where she told me i could walk home

When i got home my mom noticed i was shaking and she was like "what happened?!" I told her everythin and she was FURIOUS

I was already a "special" kid who got bullied so when she heard that they actually tried to hurt me she was understandably mad

She stormed to the police station kinda mad

We went, i told them everything and uuuhh we didnt get in any trouble, the boy didnt get in trouble i mean they literally did not mind anything the boy or his friends did but they just mentioned that id be the one in trouble bc i kicked the boy

They said i was lucky they didnt press charges or whatever

So yeah the law systems fucked, kill everyone, burn shit, do arson <333

BTW I GOT IN MORE TROUBLE FOR KISSING MY GF THAN LITERALLY KICKING A KID IN THE NUTS 😀

[brainmaniaman]

I have been scouring this fucking app for Julian fics, never really occurred to I can just request some lol.

So yeah, if you're up for it I've got a little plot/trope set up that'd id love to see. Outsider(fem)reader/julian.

Something along the lines of a reader moving into the park from the southern us, new to Canada and parks in general. As an outsider, Julian expected you to be trouble or judgemental, so he acts like a dick to you at first. Later on, he starts to see instead how kind you are to everyone, understanding and totally up for doing ppl favors even when there's nothing for you in the end. This makes him feel real guilty for bein an ass to you, and also makes him start to feel other things towards u.. Take the fic in whatever direction you'd I wanna see u work ur magic

( + no pressure 2 write it ofc!!)

pairing: julian/fem!reader fandom: trailer park boys tags: smut (cis man/cis woman), fluff, a bit of angst, idk this is one of my more normal ones, heavy plot some porn (i kind of felt more plot focused with this one), julian is kind of hung (he gives me big dick energy)  author's note: i'm much more of a ricky kinda guy myself but when i got this request, i got really fucking excited. i loved the idea. i will say, this fic isn't structured traditionally. it's very dialogue heavy and kind of leaves some things up to the imagination. i wanted to establish relationships between the reader and other people in the park as well as share some of julian's private conversations about her. i'm really proud of the way this has turned out, though i'm sorry if it's not the interpretation you might have been hoping for (i'm a little insecure about the way i interpret storylines). i hope you like it, though. i worked hard on it and i'm pretty sure it's the longest julian/reader fic currently on the internet so i'm going to take that fucking win rn. also, i actually live in the southern united states. (fun fact: i'm looking to move because i'm a trans man and life here is kind of ass if you're trans), so i gave the reader a backstory that's kind of unique to what a woman in 1999-2000 would have gone through. i'm not satisfied with the ending though, i'm sorry if this fic is a little lackluster, but we can only go up from here i guess. text blocking this shit was a fucking BITCH. word count: 6,442

everything i've ever let go of has claw marks on it.

The cultural climate of Sunnyvale Trailer Park wasn't exactly the most inviting. There were people who lived in the park and then there was everyone else. For the most part, newcomers never lasted more than a few weeks. The bottle kids drove away the weakest among them, but if those kids weren't effective usually Ricky's antics drove away the remaining lot. Sure, there were a few people here and there who moved in quietly, but those were usually the kind of people that minded their own business because lot rent was low enough for them to just ignore Lahey.

But in general, new people were not welcome. Especially know-it-all hipsters trying to live the simple life by casting away their possessions in an expensive storage unit and downsizing to a more humble trailer. Those were the kinds of guys that gave up quickly. Plus, new people threatened the balance of park politics. For the most part, Julian was well-liked and well-respected among the others due to his caring nature and dedication to his loved ones. He protected his own. And if there was one thing Julian didn't like, it was newcomers coming into the park without already knowing someone in it.

"Barb, I really think you should reconsider letting this girl in. I mean, you don't even know who she is." 

"Julian, this is a business, not a family estate. Her credit was just below decent, she has an okay-paying job, and paid three months of rent in advance. From a business perspective, she seems like she'll be a reliable tenant. It's a good thing you've grown close with your community, but you have to remember at the end of the day, this trailer park is here to make money. Whatever fit of paranoia you're suffering through, deal with it on your own time. Next time you come here with a complaint, make sure it's a business one." 

And just like that, Barb had shooed Julian off. What more could he say to that? Well, he had a lot more to say to that but she didn't want to listen. Every time he opened his mouth to speak, she only guided him further to the door. If Julian thought he was the one who ran this trailer park, he had another thing coming for him that's what. This dump needed more reliable tenants - normal folks who didn't like to get into trouble. Barb was trying to turn the park's image around.

"Julian, I just don't understand why you're so against this lady stayin' here. You know I'm no fan of newcomers myself, but she's been mindin' her own. She actually keeps her yard clean, which is pretty fuckin' nice if you ask me. It's nice to pass a yard that doesn't have a million fuckin' pieces of trash thrown all over the front. She even has one of those pink fuckin' yard flamingos in her yard. It's so bright and colorful. There ain't nothin' wrong with a little bit of color, Julian. Ain't nothin' wrong with a little bit of change." 

"Are you even listening to yourself talk Bubbles? Can you hear what you're saying? You're saying change for this park is good. Who knows what she believes in. She might hate dope growers, she may be workin' with Lahey, she could get nosy and bust us for dope and you know Ricky and I are growin' a lot of dope -" 

"- I know, I've seen that big fuckin' setup you got in that fuckin' trailer in that shitty little lot -" 

"- so then Bubbles you should know that new people aren't good. We can't trust new people, especially not now. Especially not when we're so close to selling them to those prison guards and retiring. A stranger could compromise the whole thing. Remember those bible scammers that came through here? I've learned my lesson since then and I'm not tryna repeat old mistakes." 

"Jesus Murphy Julian, you need to calm down. Those fuckin' assholes were obviously scammers, it's not like this lady is goin' door to door scammin' people." 

"Sure maybe she's not taking advanced orders on bibles Bubbles, but she is goin' in and out of everyone's house doin' favors for them. Why does she need to see the inside of everyone's house? Do you think she's lookin' for something?" 

"Have you ever stopped to think that maybe she's just a nice person doin' a nice thing? Nice people exist. You've been dealin' with dope and crime and jail so much that it's like you forgot how to trust someone. All you think about is dope and how you're going to protect it from everyone else." 

"You're only defendin' her because she brings you boxes of canned cat foods for your cats. She's buyin' you off and you don't even know it." 

"So what if she's helpin' me take care of my kitties? My kitties are the most important things to me and unlike you, she fuckin' knows that. If someone's offering to help take care of my precious little kitties, who the fuck am I to say no?" 

"Bubbles, look -" 

"No, no, nevermind." Bubbles tucks a gray cat further into his arms, his posture becoming more rigid. It's clear that he's done with the conversation, no longer interested in trying to hammer commonsense into Julian's brain. He couldn't see past his own paranoia and it was infuriating. In Julian's mind, everyone in the world was out to get him - even the nice lady across the street who helped his friend support his kitties. "You just don't get it, Julian. I'm goin' back home, come talk to me when you get it." 

Julian was still convinced he was right about this girl. If the bottle kids didn't run you out, he'd just take matters into his own hands. He didn't care whether or not Bubbles helped. Julian was a man of many connections, and even if he couldn't find someone else to get the job done he had no qualms with taking care of the situation himself.

"I mean, if you think that lady's dangerous then you know I'm gonna follow you Julian 'cause you got the brains and stuff behind the projector, but I just gotta let you know I'm still workin' on my grade ten so whatever idea you have you got to make sure it's not illegal 'cause I can't go back to jail, not right before Trinity's birthday. That means we can't do any property damage or breaking and entering or any shit like that." 

"I promise you Ricky we're not gonna go back to jail, we're just gonna annoy the shit out of her until she leaves. I was thinkin' maybe you and Cory and Trevor could host like a really loud party across the street tomorrow night, you know - something to keep her awake. If we get a noise complaint, we'll just shut it down, but then once the cops leave we'll start it back up again. We'll do this for a few nights until she finally decides to move out." 

"That's a pretty fucking good idea, that's smart. Plus, since it's a party we can get drunk and high."

It's 2 a.m. and that fucking party is still going. There were several times you considered calling in a noise complaint but you decided that it was a better idea to just wait it out. It had to end at some point and overall, it was never a good idea to get involved with parties like that because sometimes they got out of a hand, and you were too smart to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Though when you stepped outside to 'check your mailbox' - spy on the party still going on into the early hours of the morning - you find yourself tripping over something. You stumble onto your hands and knees and it's only when you pull yourself up do you really get a good look at the man passed out by your mailbox. It's Ricky, and he's mumbling things almost incoherently. He mutters something about dope, bitches, Trinity, more bitches, Lucy, and good booze. It's a pathetic way to be, but you can't help but feel bad for you.

You use the toe of your shoe to rock his face awake. Ricky sputters before waking up in a drunk panic. He's angry and yelling incoherently, but your promise of a hot shower and a hot sandwich satiates his anger. He struggles his way through a shower, though almost slips a few times. He eats hand to mouth, chewing loudly, and drunk conversation ensues. He shares a lot with you - stuff he probably wouldn't have shared sober. He eventually passes out, not remembering much in the morning. That morning you share breakfast and a little bit about each other. He tried to hate you, he really did, but you were charismatic in a friendly way. There weren't any ulterior motives, you just enjoyed conversation.

"I don't know Julian, she seems fine to me. I mean, she's not all that bad. Her yard is pretty clean and you know, she has that pink little flamingo in her yard and honestly it's pretty fuckin' cute. I mean yeah she's kinda annoying and I hate that fuckin' southern fuckin' cowboy accent she fucking has but whatever. I think you're gettin' worked up over nothin'. You've been so busy tryna push out this lady who hasn't done nothin' wrong to you while I'm over here slavin' away watchin' after these fuckin' dope plants and tryin' to study for my grade ten all while play peepin' tom spy guy on some poor fuckin' lady." 

"You're just saying that 'cause she let you spend the night and made you breakfast."

"You know what I sure as fuck I am! She made me breakfast and kept me from sleepin' on the fuckin' ground drunk as piss and let me use her shower and shit and I didn't even have to put out! It's not like I trust her or anything like that - I didn't talk about dope or nothin' like that at all." That was the truth. "It's just at this point anything is better than fucking Cory and Trevor. I'm not sayin' you gotta like her or trust her, but she's not all that bad Julian. Maybe if you actually got to fuckin' know her like I have you'd see that you're just being a paranoid dickbag." 

"You know what Ricky, you don't anything about her. You're just seeing what she wants you to see. But I'm smart, so I see right through it -" 

"Come on Julian don't be like that -" 

"- and since nobody is going to take care of this fucking situation then I guess I'll have to." 

Julian felt like everyone around him was failing him. Nobody else seemed to feel the same way he did about your existence in the trailer park. As each day passed, Julian grew more overtly snide. When approaching Ricky and Bubbles, Julian never took the time to acknowledge you. It was obvious that he was just being an ass, so you opted to ignore it, preferring not to fight. Silence was Julian's strongest weapon. But as the days ticked by, the tension between you and Julian only seemed to mount itself higher.

It's not like you inherently disliked Julian. In fact, you liked to believe that there was good in everyone and you prided yourself in your ability to be able to pull even the toughest people out of their shell. However, Julian was no easy project. Every time you tried to approach him, he simply brushed you off. You weren't even sure that the two of you had even exchanged any greetings. He hadn't even said hello. So when trying to talk to him didn't work, you simply tried to stay out of his way. This was frustrating for Julian because what he wanted you to do was to blow up and make it a big ordeal. But you didn't. You simply kept to yourself and resumed helping others around the park without complaints. 

There were times where Julian thought about approaching you in the way Julian thinks about approaching any pretty thing in a summer dress that talks to him. But he remains strong in the face of adversity. Gone were the days of chasing anything in a dress. He had a dope business to worry about.

But sometimes the thought would creep up onto Julian ever so slowly. Sometimes, he'd get this kind of fantasy in his head - especially on the Sunday afternoons you'd spend gently pushing yourself back and forth in your rocking chair, enjoying the summer sunlight. He could think of a million ways you two could enjoy the afternoon together, but he often pushed the thought out of his head. He had a park to protect. Friends to protect.

"You know, you have some real nerve comin' up here in this trailer park and putting on a show like you're doing." 

You look up from the rocking chair you were gently pushing yourself back and forth in and offer Julian a small smile.

"So you're Julian?"

Julian can't help but be a bit enamored with your slight southern drawl. It sounds like you're somewhere from the deep southern United States - one of those more rural provinces like Texas or Alabama. He can't quite pinpoint the accent, but he secretly finds it endearing.

"And how do you know that?" 

"I mean, with how much you do for the people here it's kind of hard not to know who you are. Plus, Ricky and Lucy both never seem to shut up about you. You know, if I didn't know any better I'd say they're both in love with you or something. Also, yesterday you came to pick up Ricky and he pointed right at you and said well, there's Julian, see ya later. I just put two and two together." 

"I'm not here to make small talk, (name)." 

"Then what are you here to do, Julian?" 

There's silence. What is he here to do. There wasn't anything that he could reasonably do and he wasn't the terrorizing type if he didn't have to be. Fuck, he had even promised that his greasy trouble-causing days were over. But here he was, standing at the edge of the patio stairs, contemplating whether or not he should threaten a woman.

"I'm just here to ask you about your intentions with Ricky, that's all." 

You can't help but laugh out loud at the comment. "Oh, please. There's nothing going on between us." 

Julian knows that because if there was something going on between you and Ricky, Ricky wouldn't shut up about it and the whole park would know. But he's trying to be covert about his intent to interrogate you.

"Yeah, well . . . there better not be . . . Ricky's a good guy and I'd really hate to see him get hurt . . ." 

"Why are you really here, Julian?" 

Julian stands in silence, thoughtfully cradling his glass in his hand as he tries to come up with a clever lie - but it's hard to think when he catches a glimpse of your thighs pressed together underneath your thin summer dress. He squints and then looks away briefly.

"I just wanted to stop by and tell you more about the culture of Sunnyvale. You know, we're really tight-knit. Like family."

"I know." 

"And you know, family protects family." 

"I know." 

"And you know, I'd do anything for my family." 

"I know." 

"Anything." 

"What are you getting at?" 

"I'm not getting at anything, (name). I'm just givin' you a little more info about our park, just trying to get acquainted with you." 

"Oh, you're trying to get acquainted with me? This is the first time I've spoken to you in the month I've been living here." 

"Well, you know, I was busy with the business I'm running -" 

"- that lawn mowing business you and Ricky got?" 

Is that what Ricky is calling it? "Yeah, we've had a lot of customers so I've been having to do a lot of bookwork to keep up with the business you know. But it's been busy, so I haven't had time to talk, but now I do and I want to get to know you." 

"You want to get to know me?" 

"That's what I just said isn't it?" 

"Well I'll tell you what Julian," You push the chair backwards in thought, looking up at the bright summer sky. The sun shines in your face, warming your skin. It's a nice feeling. "If you really want to get to know me, you'll come over for dinner tonight." 

Julian wasn't going to admit it but he was excited at the prospect of dinner. The last time he shared time - much less a meal - with a woman, she ended up stealing his dope plants and lying to him about being in love. In all fairness, most people would have been wary of someone saying I love you within the first week of getting to know them, but Julian (for the most part) was a hopeless romantic. He liked the idea of a life with someone else. 

Julian told himself that this was strictly business - that he was here to set the record straight. This wasn't get-to-know-you dinner, this wasn't a date. He was just here to let you know that he wasn't going to tolerate funny business. He just happened to be wearing his nicest clean black shirt and he just happened to be wearing one of his nicer pair of jeans - the ones that didn't have the holes in them. Julian knocks on your door. The two minutes he waits for you to answer feels like an eternity but when you open the door, he's glad he's waited. 

"You got a hot date you're going to after this?" 

"What, this?" You look down at the pink summer dress you're wearing, "This is casual." You had always been the more feminine type, enjoying softer clothes and pretty dresses. Plus, unlike jeans dresses were more comfortable. You usher him inside and he obliges, being careful to not spill his drink when he steps in. 

"Dinner is served." Dinner being a massive fucking bowl of macaroni and cheese with cheap ass hot dogs. "Sorry it's not exactly the best, but -"

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Julian sets his glass down. He's actually ecstatic. Macaroni and cheese and fucking hotdogs? "You know, I don't know where you're from but around here this is a five-star meal." 

You give a dry laugh. as Julian picks up his fork to eat. "You'll have to forgive me, I'm kind of new to the whole trailer park life and the whole being poor thing." 

"Oh yeah? Where are you from?" 

"Southern United States." 

"What state?" 

"Texas." 

"That's a long way from here, basically on the other side of the continent. Why'd you come up this way?" Julian tells himself that he's not trying to get to know you because he's interested in you - he's trying to get to know you to get dirt on you, to know what he's up against. 

"I needed an abortion." You answer dryly, "And even though it's been legal for some years now, no physician was wiling to perform one on me." 

"Why come to Nova Scotia? Why not just go to another state?" 

"Well, I figured things were just better here than they were there. Don't get me wrong, it's not perfect by any means but it's better than where I was from. At least here I know if I need the service again, it's a little more reliably accessible. Plus, it's not like I had anywhere or anyone I could turn to. So I just kind of . . . stayed." 

"Heavy stuff." Julian sets down his fork, "Didn't have any family to turn to?" 

"No, and even if I did they're not the kind of people I'd want to be around." 

Julian could relate to that.

"So you just came to Canada for an abortion and then decided to stay? You know, when Americans come to Canada they want to go to Quebec. Nova Scotia isn't exactly on the top of the list, let alone Dartmouth. Let alone fucking Sunnyvale Trailer Park. Nobody just moves in here. Come on, (name) . . . what's the real reason why you're staying here?" 

Your mouth runs dry as you consider answering him honestly. "Well, uh . . . you know . . ." You twiddle your thumbs a bit, "I came to Canada with my passport and got my abortion and then . . . I just uh . . ." There's a long pause as your appetite disappears completely. "I didn't have anywhere to go to so I just . . . never left . . . this place was the only place that'd rent to an illegal resident . . ." 

"Holy fuck you don't have your papers?" Julian wasn't sure what kind of story he was expecting but it wasn't that. Now he feels like an asshole. "How did you get a job? How did you even afford this place?" 

"Well, I had some savings so that was a good cushion, but when that ran out I was able to find a job working as a waitress at that little restaurant just out of town. I'm not technically on the payroll, they just don't make me report my tips, and any extra money is kind of . . . earned under the table." You respond sheepishly.

God, Julian feels like such a fucking jackass for being a raging asshole to you. 

"That's . . . hard." Julian doesn't really know what else to say.

"Yeah." 

"Well, I've shared my deepest darkest secret with you. Do you want to share anything with me?" 

You and Julian talk well into the early hours of the morning, swapping life stories, funny anecdotes, and talking about all of the small things in between. Honestly, he feels at ease with you in a way he hasn't felt at ease before. The conversation flows naturally and even the silence you occasionally fall into feels comfortable. It's nearly two in the morning when you both look at the small clock hanging on your wall and realize the time.

". . . well, it's a little late . . ." You stretch in your chair, still sitting across the table from Julian. You don't really want him to go, but you've both run out of things to talk about and you still have some errands you have to run before work tomorrow. "You know, I have some things I gotta do tomorrow . . . but if you're feeling nice, maybe you can pay me back for dinner by making some for me. I'm usually too tired to cook when I get home . . . you know, only if you want to." 

It's hard for Julian to say no to that face.

"What time do you get off work?"

. . .

Julian continues to insist that he doesn't feel some kind of way, that he's just taking the opportunity to really get to know you - you know, in case you ever pose a threat - but the nightly dinner-dates seem to differ. 

"Why is it so hard to admit that you have a hard-on for (name)? It's so fucking obvious." 

"It's not like that Ricky. You know, I have somewhere to be so why don't you just fuck off and give me some fucking space?" 

"Oh yeah I know exactly where you want to be, all up in -" 

The truth of the matter was that even though Julian fantasized about it at night, truly nothing had happened. You were sweet, kind, intelligent, patient, compassionate - a truly wonderful person. And that was the problem. Normally, Julian found himself happy to jump into a relationship, but he found himself afraid of making a fool of himself. Guys like him didn't get with girls like you. Simple as that. Besides, love just wasn't in the cards for Julian. It just never worked out like that.

Tonight was yet another night of disappointment. You had lingered on Julian's doorstep after dinner, hoping that maybe he'd make a move and at least give you a kiss goodnight - but the two of you simply stood there awkwardly until he nodded, saying he was probably going to go off to bed now. It was frustrating because you thought you were sending all of the right signals. Light touches, flirtatious giggles, risque comments - the works. But yet again, you find yourself leaving empty-handed. It wasn't that you weren't satisfied with the friendship, you really liked the dynamic the two of you had. You liked that Julian showed you ways to save money, ways to spruce up the trailer home so it felt more roomy, showed you around town a bit - but it left you feeling a bit stupid because you could have sworn the two of you had something more. You could just feel it. But he never addressed it and it drove you crazy. 

You knock on the door nervously, your hands shaking.

Julian answers the door again. "What's going on?" 

"I don't want to go home just yet. This is about the time J-Roc films his adult films. Can I just sit here for thirty more minutes? He usually finishes up around one in the morning or so." 

"Uh, yeah, sure, come on in. You can hang out here. I have to shower because, you know, I got somewhere to be in the morning -" Tomorrow was the day he was supposed to drop off the product with the prison guards, "- normally I'd wait up but I got some important stuff I gotta take care of tomorrow. I'm about to get ready for bed, so you can just leave whenever you're ready."

"Alright." 

You find yourself sitting awkwardly on the couch as Julian disappears into the bathroom. The trailer shakes a bit when he turns on the water and you can hear the pipes rush before the water falls like rain into the tub. You sit in silence and contemplate. You couldn't keep going back and forth like this, it'd get nowhere. He had hinted a few times at maybe having feelings. Sometimes his hand would linger on the small of your back too long when he was moving past you, or he'd stand too close to you - so close your shoulders would touch - whenever he got the chance. But nothing would ever come of it, and you were tired of it. You think about maybe joining him in the shower but that's too ballsy of a move, so you simply sit there and listen to the shower run until it's turned off. There's more shuffling and you can hear him go into his room. The hallway light turns off and the door clicks close. You should probably get going by now, but you can't bring yourself to just leave.

. . .

You feel like a psychopath drifting down the hallway. You only came down here to use the bathroom, but now you were standing at his bedroom door - contemplating whether or not you should knock on the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Ricky, is that you? I told you to stop picking my fucking lock -" 

"No," You answer meekly, "It's me. I uh, wanted to take that book back I lent you before I went home. I didn't see it in your living room so I figured you might be keeping it in here." 

Julian stares up at the ceiling in thought. Julian is pretty book-smart and it doesn't take a genius to know the game you're running. He's been down this road a thousand times. He wants to say yes, but there's still the lingering fear of ruining the good friendship that's already there.

Julian turns his head to look at his nightstand, the small paperback book sat there. Shit, maybe you weren't playing any games.

"Yeah, give me a moment, I'll come bring it to you." 

"You don't have to go through that trouble, I'll just come get it real quick . . . if that's alright with you." 

". . . that's alright with me." 

You gently push the door open, slipping through before gently closing the door behind you. You can only see the outline of Julian's body in the dark, a few shadows illuminated by the moonlight that drifts in through the blinds. 

"It's right over here." You see the shadow of Julian's hand reach over and grab the thick book. Infinite Jest.

"I'll come get it." You pull yourself up onto the bed, you're knees on either side of his feet. Gently, you shimmy your way up, crawling over him on your hands and knees. Julian shifts a bit. Both of your breaths are heavy and as you sit yourself comfortably on his waist, you watch his chest rise and fall with heavy breaths. Gently, you pluck the book from his hand. "Thank you." 

"You're welcome." Julian's voice is barely over a whisper.

You thumb through the thick book, landing on a page barely illuminated by the moonlight, reading the page you've thumbed to. "Everything I've ever let go of has claw marks on it." Truer words have never been spoken. Like everything in life, Julian has sunk his fingernails so deep into it he's drawn blood. He likes to pretend he can let things go, but he can't. 

Julian's hands gently grip at your hips, squeezing them softly - almost like he's afraid that if he squeezes too tight he'll hurt you. His fingers grip at your waist, gently pushing your hips backwards, guiding them in a gentle rocking motion against him. Your hips follow the movement of his hands, rocking against him with a pleased hum.

"Is that right?" Julian asks in a whisper.

"That's right." You respond gently.

"Me included?" He can't hope that you want him so bad that you'd sink your nails so deep into him that he'd never be able to leave you, even if he wanted to. And even if you wanted to leave him, he'd probably stay around and beg for you to take him back anyway.

"If you'll let me." 

If he wasn't rock hard before he's rock fucking hard now. "I want you." Julian's voice is hoarse, completely contradicting his typically firm and masculine present. He melts under you. Whether he wanted to believe it or not, Julian was a romantic and the touch of a woman he really valued meant a lot to him. His breath is labored as he guides your hips against him, "Please, I want you." 

If this were someone else in the park, it'd be a different story. Sleeping around with people in the park for Julian wasn't about emotions, it was about releasing a physical need, and when you can't keep a boyfriend sometimes you have to turn to your neighbors for some help. Everyone slept with everyone. But you're not them, this isn't just casual for Julian - he doesn't want to fuck it up. He shudders when your fingertips drag across his chest, tracing patterns and circles into his shirt as you rock against him, grinding your hips downwards to create more friction. You're a tease, you take your time, and he hates it but he loves it. Two large hands reach up to cup your breasts over your shirt gently, His hands trail downwards, over your abdomen, grabbing gently at your stomach for a short moment before finding themselves at the hem of your shirt. 

"What are you waiting for?" You ask him between small breaths, still making rhytmic riding motions. It's a softly-asked question but also a plea for action. "Please, Julian. I've wanted this since the moment I saw you." 

"God, fuck you're so fucking hot." It's like a flip switched in his head and he can't hold himself back anymore. Strong hands placed firmly on your hips flip you onto your back. Now he's on top of you, every part of him everywhere. His lips touch yours in a kiss, teeth pull at the skin of your neck, and tongue sooths the freshly bruised areas by rubbing itself on it in small circles. Like always, he can't help himself, and unlike recently, he stops wasting time.

Your shirt is the first thing to come off - Julian helps shimmy it off of you, throwing it to the side. The next thing to come off is your pajama pants, which he also tosses to the side after helping shimmy it off of you. He has half a mind to compliment the pretty color of your underwear and tell you it looks good on you, but he doesn't pay it any mind since it's about to come off anyways. His hands lift you up by the small of your back just long enough for him to unclasp your bra, letting you fall back down onto the bed. His hands hook underneath your knees, lifting them up and pushing your legs up so he can help slide your underwear easily off of your body. You're left naked under him while he remains fully clothed, lowering himself onto you before you can complain that he hasn't undressed yet.

His thumbs roll against your nipples, gently pinching and pulling at them before taking them into his mouth. Julian has never been the most gentle lover, especially when he gets excited, always eager to take matters into his own hands - but that's part of his appeal.

Kisses trail down your stomach, followed by him dragging his tongue along the skin, pushing your legs apart. He takes his time adorning your inner thighs with kisses, sucking on the skin and taking it between his teeth. He likes the way he makes you whimper and moan, it's intoxicating. But eventually the teasing becomes too much even for him, he's growing impatient, so he lends his tongue to you, circling it around your clit, strong nose pressed into sensitive skin.

Your body writhes as you feel a familiar pressure build in your abdomen, thighs tightening around his head so tight he thought he might suffocate. What a way to go that would be. Your fingers curl into his short hair, gripping and pulling at his hair while your toes curl. You whimper but that only encourages him to slowly push his thick index finger into you, followed by a second after you properly adjusted. His mouth and fingers work in tandem, his fingers curling and pressing inside of you in a come hither motion while his tongue continues to stroke your clit.

"Fuck, Julian, god, fuck -" But before you can climax, he's gone - pulling away. If Julian enjoys anything, it's edging. There's just something about bringing a woman to climax and leaving them nearly in tears that turns him on. 

"You look disappointed." Julian catches a glimpse of your lopsided frown illuminated in the moonlight, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it." His shirt is pulled over his head, exposing his bare chest. When you touch the muscle, it's firm from years of consistent working-out. You trace a tattoos that look like they were done with a sewing needle and ink - probably stick and poke tattoos - but Julian frowns. He doesn't like those tattoos, he's not proud of them and he's not proud of his time spent in jail. But you only offer him an encouraging smile and place your palm over the tattoo before dragging your hand down to his belt, pulling at the buckle. Julian offers you a half-hearted smile. "Can't wait?"

Julian pushes your hand out of the way gently, taking his time to unfasten his belt and slowly pulling it through the loops. The belt is tossed to the side, along with his pants and underwear, leaving you both equals. Two hands hook themselves underneath your knees, placing your ankles on his shoulders while he uses his right hand to stroke his cock a bit, helping to harden himself up more. Sometimes the nerves just get to you.

"Holy fuck Julian you're big, you gotta be careful with that thing you're carrying a whole fucking concealed weapon -" 

Julian chuckles a bit at the comment but presses a gentle kiss to your ankles. "I'll be careful with you if that's what you're trying to say." 

The tip is pushed in slowly with great discomfort, pushing himself in. There's a stiff moment of silence as you let out a labored breath. 

"You good?" he asks.

You nod, dragging your teeth over your bottom lip. Julian takes his thumb against your bottom lip, peeling it out from underneath your teeth. His thumb drags your bottom lip down, exposing the inside of it before pushing his thumb into your mouth. Your lips wrap around his thumb, letting your tongue slide against the skin, sucking on the appendage as he pulls out just a bit, repositioning himself before he thrusts back in. Your body pushes upwards with the motion, head pressing against the headboard slightly. His thumb is still pressed in your mouth while his free hand keeps hooked underneath your knee, pushing it backwards so he can angle himself better - each thrust pushing itself deeper inside of you. Sweat coats his chest and runs down the side of his face, abdomen flexing the closer he gets to coming, but he restrains himself - wanting to ride it out for as long as he could. 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." 

"Oh, God, Julian -" 

"Fuck, (name)." 

"Julian -" 

"(Name), (Name), (Name)." 

"I heard you did a real good job of running that girl out of the trailer park last night, Julian." 

"Hey, Barbara, why don't you fuck off?" 

[variablejabberwocky]

Hi! The thought process behind why people think enby is childish is because it was intended to be the equivalent to girl and boy. Theres nonbinary, or just person, which can be used as equivalent to man and woman, but if you have a group of kids it sounds weird to say boys & girls & nonbinary people. Therefore: enby! It's not infantilizing in the same way as calling someone baby/toddler is, its uncomfortable to some people in the same way that some transmasc people want to be called man and not boy bc they want to be seen as an adult. Doesn't mean the word is bad, it just means it's not for everyone!

...can i get a source on that "it was intended to be the equivalent to girl and boy" bit?

cause this just sounds...incredibly goddamn stupid (not you, just that line of thought). shortening a term is a way to make it easier to use if its too long. and 'nonbinary' hits 4-5 syllables as-is. so making the short form some kind of different term with different connotations is just..."what the fuck were you thinking" levels of stupid

especially since outside of formal situations "girl" and "boy" are usually just ways to refer to "lady-people" and "dude-people" but like chill about it with little to no indication of age status

it also does NOT feel at all equivalent to how trans dudes sometimes dislike being referred to as boy because everything i've seen on that is wrapped up in how its VERY MUCH used by assholes with the age connotations of more formal language as a way of undermining the body autonomy and hm...social status (? not sure how to word what i'm going for here) of trans guys. its basically misogyny playing lip service to their actual gender and yeah, thats offensive as shit.

i do NOT see that with 'enby' and nonbinary people. just being nonbinary AT ALL gets you treated like a kid that doesn't know what they're talking about and is playing make-believe with gender. and i am suspicious as shit about the rise of 'enby' being treated as some kind of offensive equivalent to boy and girl because that shit was starting to spread around in circles right when transmeds/truscum were getting a hate campaign going against nonbinary people (and seemingly everyone was joining the bandwagon). specifically it REEKS of the same kind of "you can't use that term" bullshit that "queer is a slur" rose out of. which is just an attempt to get people to STOP USING THAT TERM AT ALL but hiding it in something 'passably' social-justicy so it doesn't sound like the bigoted bullshit it is.

basically i don't get why everyone else has to blacklist a term from their entire vocabulary forever (regardless of personal relevance) because a small minority of people either 1) are bigoted assholes trying to kill off a group (ideologically if no other way) but trying to be sneaky about it or 2) are unfortunate suckers who bought into the first group's bullshit out of ignorance/inexperience and never learned any different for whatever reason. (yes i am aware some people have trauma. its just not relevant here because the solution is the same:)

(general you here) you don't want to be called something? sure, fine. perfectly understandable. you don't want me to call myself (or my community of same identity people) something? FUCK RIGHT THE HELL OFF

[billcyphersballsack]

I think the most utterly baffling response I saw to the Barbie movie was men being confused or surprised that Barbie outsold Oppenheimer by leagues at the box office. Cuz even ignoring the incredible writing stacked cast great message and overall quality of the Barbie movie it had the nostalgia factor.

Barbie is one of the most recognizable cultural staples in history. She’s a household name, she’s touched the lives of every young girl in America at one point or another in her lifetime weather it be good or bad. Everyone knows Barbie, knows what she’s about and thus had already formed a connection with her before the movie came out. It’s Barbie. There’s gonna be a lot of pink and feminine things and a message about being your fabulous self or whatever, it’ll be something feel good and easy to get into. And even when those expectations weren’t met it was because they were far exceeded, the people who didn’t think Barbie could be complex were pleasantly surprised and those who knew her potential were slightly less surprised. It had a great marketing campaign because it had Mattel branding behind it so everyone knew it was coming and when to go see it and spend all their money on it. Last but not least in a time where women are facing challenges and turmoil like the overturning of roe vs wade, the sudden uptic in the dreaded Men With Microphones genre of podcasts creating an entire new generation of misogynist young boys, and just the general feeling of hopelessness facing young girls right now it just sounds like a much better time to consume media with their experiences in mind, a chance to feel seen in heard in a time where they’re attacked and belittled for wanting the bare minimum

Oppenheimer, in contrast, is a historical retelling/drama. It’s not some whimsical fantasy set in a totally made up setting it’s real life. Gritty and awful real life. The real life story about a man who invented the atomic bomb and went on to test it on civilians in New Mexico before famously dropping them onto even more civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing millions of people in the process. But the plot is about how tortured and sad he is about how he made the bomb, and also a little side story about how he has an affair i guess. Unlike the Barbie movie it doesn’t have the same nostalgia factor because most American high schools do everything in their power to sanitize this event when they do teach it, unlike the Barbie movie it had absolutely no marketing done for it outside of being part of Barbenheimer and that’s pretty much it. Unlike Barbie instead of coming out and creating a safe refuge for women to work through their complex feelings regarding their gender identity and expression and experiences while knowing their not alone in their struggle in a time where they’ve never felt so dejected, Oppenheimer is a painful reminder that the people in charge of the kill everyone in the world weapons did not care. In a time where we’re on the edge of war and it seems as though any moment world war three could start up again and we’d all be doomed for another decade it offers no comfort, only the crushing reality or conflict and what governments are willing to do to win absolutely nothing.

So yeah. No duh a bunch more people went to see Barbie. You fucking clowns

[fyodoro]

‘Unspoken Rule’

A quick and short Golden Retriever Yanqing & Black Cat Reader dynamic (kinda)

Fluff, Jing Yuan is watching everything go down from behind the scenes, reader is a Lieutenant Cloud Knight with Yanqing and also his age

Yanqing, the Cloud Knight Lieutenant and Jing Yuan’s right hand man. Yanqing, the short blonde boy who always keeps his locks in a neat ponytail. Yanqing, the energetic boy who always incorporates sword fighting in his daily schedule.

Yanqing, your boyfriend.

To every other Cloud Knight, you two were simply “best friends” or “incredibly close colleagues under Jing Yuan.” Not even Jing Yuan, who trained you both for years, thought your closeness was questionable. But who could blame any of them? Yanqing made it clear on many occasions that…

“Any other interests outside of swordsmanship will only slow my swords down!”

It just so happened that everyone subconsciously categorized dating under ‘any other interests.’ Since that point was made, no one held any suspicions towards your closeness together. Not to mention, your personalities completely contrasted each other.

“Did you hear? The Cloud Knight Lieutenants Yanqing and (Name) were spotted on a date together.” A young woman’s voice said.

“Seriously? They were probably just out for dinner, not a date. Don’t you think they’re both a little young for a relationship anyways?”

“Most people start dating around their age.” Another chimed in.

“Yeah… but those two? Together? Seriously? I can’t see Lieutenant Yanqing and (Name) with anyone romantically! The day Lieutenant Yanqing holds a romantic relationship will be the same day his swords can walk and talk. And Lieutenant (Name)…”

The man’s voice grew quieter and quieter before going silent, worried what’ll happen if he’s caught speaking of you in any way that could be interpreted negatively.

“Well… they’re not the most welcoming, and quite scary.” He finished with a gulp.

The Luofu wasn’t the most populated, but it certainly wasn’t empty. Gossip spread like wildfire, rumors even faster. Yet out of all rumors citizens chose to ignore or debunk, it was the relationship between the two young Cloud Knight Lieutenants.

Perhaps it was out of respect for the Lieutenants, the General, or both. Maybe even fear. But no matter the reason, it came to be an unspoken rule; don’t make assumptions about the Lieutenants’ relationship with one another, no matter how much you believe.

When you see them walking close together?

“Oh (Name), let’s go check that place out! The sword on display looks like one of a kind.” Yanqing exclaimed, holding a hand on your shoulder while pointing towards said shop.

The closeness was more than enough to make you flustered, but you kept a straight face. The nod you gave was all Yanqing needed to take your hand in his. Walking hand in hand, on your way to witness the boy blow through his allowance.

He was oblivious to the stares around you two, or perhaps he didn’t care. You however, didn’t like the idea of Yanqing potentially being judged for his enthusiasm.

Anyone who was staring at the scene before were now awkwardly averting their gaze after a harsh glare from you. All while Yanqing hummed an upbeat tune to himself, spending every last credit he had.

When you see them walking close together? Look away, carry on with your day.

It’s normal for friends to hold hands, walk close together, and glare at anyone who might be judging the other, right? The Lieutenants are friends, therefore it’s nothing out of the ordinary.

General Jing Yuan is no average citizen of the Luofu, so he considered himself an exception to the unspoken rule.

‘Maybe there is romantic feelings or tension between those two…’ he thought, watching as you attentively listened to the blonde’s ramble about his most recent sword.

But if you aren’t an exception to this ‘unspoken rule’ like the general, what do you do when you spot the two lieutenants acting fondly with each other in public?

The pair was off duty today. The general had acknowledged their hard work in recent weeks, and figured they deserved a day off. After all, they can’t spend their entire youth on duty everyday.

Which is why you and Yanqing can be spotted leaning on a railing together, watching each cloud pass by.

The casual clothes threw most passers off, not recognizing either of you outside the Cloud Knight uniforms you wore. But to those who still managed to recognize you both, they were quite bewildered at the scene that played out in front of them.

You, lieutenant (Name), had your head resting on Yanqing’s shoulder. Not only that… for once, you weren’t glaring. One would dare to say you had softened exterior.

Not to mention the stars in your eyes whenever you glanced over at Yanqing.

It didn’t help that the blonde would frequently look down at you, almost as if he was checking on you. While no one could hear the words that left his mouth, you did. And apparently those words were enough to make you blush.

‘Perhaps they just had a bad day, and he was cheering them up’ witnesses forced themselves to believe.

If you spot the two lieutenants acting fondly with one another, don’t go jumping to conclusions. Maybe they’re just helping each other out.

That same day, long after the sun had set, you and your boyfriend returned to your headquarters, hand in hand. For once, you weren’t glaring at anyone staring.

Instead, you were blushing with a small smile on your face. Though the lieutenant next to you didn’t bother hiding his joy. Contrasting you entirely, he was wearing a huge grin on his face with pride, along with light pink dusting his cheeks.

Surely this should have been enough for others to spread gossip, right?

“You must have seen that too, right? They looked like a couple!” A certain general overheard. Usually he didn’t care about the Lufou’s gossip and ‘latest power couple.’ But this time, his curiosity piqued.

…especially after considering who this mysterious ‘couple’ could be.

“But what if it’s not what it looked like? Maybe Lieutenant (Name) embarrassed themselves or something in front of Lieutenant Yanqing. That would explain the grin on his face.” One of the knights tried to reason, but doubt was laced in his tone.

Jing Yuan mentally facepalmed at the conversation. Could these knights not comprehend thinking critically wasn’t disrespectful? It’s become so obvious in recent days that there’s something between you and Yanqing, especially to the general.

Now… after dismissing both lieutenants walking close together and acting fondly with one another, what else is there to dismiss?

Because how in the entire galaxy could you possibly dismiss the lieutenants kissing?

It was like any other day on the Luofu. Warm, a slight wind, and a peaceful atmosphere. At least, that’s what anyone who wasn’t in the Cloud Knight headquarters would think.

While yes, all this was true. It was warm, a tad bit windy, and peaceful. But all this was forgotten after a particular incident indoors.

As always, Yanqing could be spotted with his beloved swords, as well as you. No one could make out the words coming out of your mouths, but apparently the swordsman had made the greatest statement ever.

Your head snapped towards him, eyes widened in disbelief. “What did you just say?”

“Oh come on (Name), you heard me the first time! But I guess I don’t mind repeating it…” the boy took a deep breath, before abruptly standing up.

“(Name)! I would trade my entire sword collection if it meant I could spend an eternity with you!” He declared rather loudly, earning enough head turns to make his face go red.

You couldn’t believe it. Sure, you were his significant other, and he made it clear numerous times he loved you. But hearing that from Yanqing of all people? You were bewildered.

“Oh come on, don’t look at me like that! You know I mean it. Here, I’ll prove it.” He pulled you up off the floor, keeping his hand on yours even as you steadied yourself.

Before you could question him, he cupped your cheeks and placed a short yet loving kiss on your lips.

By this point, everyone stopped what they were doing to witness what was happening. After Yanqing pulled away, he didn’t just leave you stunned. Oh no no no, he left you and all the Cloud Knights stunned.

No one needed to dismiss it this time, nor debunk rumors. This was all the confirmation anyone ever needed.

The Cloud Knight Lieutenants were, in fact, a couple.

-Bonus-

“What do you mean no one knew!?” You and Yanqing shouted in unison, staring at the general in pure shock.

“Well… I suppose the people just respect you two that much. No one wanted to make assumptions on your private lives, not to mention everyone was so sure Yanqing here wouldn’t date anyone that’s not a sword.” Jing Yuan explained.

Jing Yuan didn’t want to admit he was among the group that didn’t think the blonde lieutenant would date anyone outside a sword at some point. At least he realized at some point, right?

“Agh… that’s so frustrating! We tried everything to make people realize. We thought they caught on when we were spotted on a date together!” Yanqing groaned out in annoyance, earning a soft pat on the back from you.

“Well what matters now is that everyone knows.” You stated bluntly, both Jing Yuan and Yanqing nodding their heads in agreement.

“I must admit, you have very contrasting personalities. So (Name), if Yanqing here ever gets on your nerves, let me know. I’m sure he’ll knock it off if I dared to tell you his childhood stories.” The general finished with a chuckle, eyeing Yanqing’s face twist in embarrassment.

“General!”

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #121

What’s the most recent album you’ve been really into? Last year Rammstein released Zeit and it took over my life rip in absolute fucking pieces

Where did you go the last time you were on an airplane? Home from visiting Sara in Illinois.

Do you know anyone who has autism? Multiple people.

Do you have a cat? I sure do, he's my baby.

Do you enjoy riding carousels? I did, when I could actually go on them. Not saying adults can't if it can hold their weight, but yeah I would NEVER be allowed on one lmao and my legs couldn't get me up there anyway.

Do you like elephants? Yes, they're absolutely amazing animals.

Do you know anyone named Emily? I used to. I would still like to, but she understandably left my life when I was a bigoted, ignorant, close-minded teenager.

Do you know anyone who can speak French? Not fluently. My mom apparently took it in school though and she still knows a few words, but that's it.

Do you prefer gold or silver jewelry? Silver.

What was the last flavor of ice cream you ate? Uh, I think it was chocolate at my niece's bday party in February?

Do you use Instagram often? I don't post a lot, but I scroll through my personal one every day.

Have you ever had key lime pie? Yes, and I hated it.

Do you know anyone who is pregnant? Yes. Semi-recently I had a super old friend from like, the end of middle school announce she was having her second child, another boy. A woman I took pictures for a lot is expecting her daughter real soon, too.

Do you have a Pinterest account? Yes.

What is one question you don’t like being asked? My weight and my employment situation.

Who is someone you know who is talkative? My nephew lmao

Have you ever read the Warriors series? bitch I was OBSESSED

Do you prefer skimpy bathing suits or modest ones? For me, I'm covering up as much as I can. If I LIKED my body, I'd maybe be fine again in a bikini, and people can rock revealing clothing of whatever sort all they want, but I'm too self-conscious for that, really.

Do you like the sounds of cicadas in the summer? Okay so the noise itself doesn't bother me at all, I quite like nature sounds, however I associate the noise with when it's way too fucking hot so I have a negative association with it, haha.

Have you ever taken your dog swimming? No, no dog we've ever had... I think. I don't recall ever seeing if a dog we've owned wanted to come in the pool with us. I do know Teddy and Cali (or maybe Dale? idr) got loose outside a couple times when we lived in the woods, and not all too far from our house across the cotton fields was a pond; they'd run over there and would at least wade in the banks. I wouldn't be surprised if Cali truly swam some haha, but I don't remember. Man, I miss those dogs.

Do you drink iced coffee? I don't drink any sort of coffee.

What do you buy most often at a gas station convenience store? A soda.

Favorite food at a cookout? Either burgers or hotdogs. In general I prefer burgers, but I don't like angus beef and sometimes the people who make them use white cheese, which I also don't like, and in those cases I'll do a hotdog instead. OH THIS REMINDS ME WITH HOW I ANSWERED, story about my mom when she moved from NY to NC: she came here used to "cookouts" meaning things like burgers and hotdogs, and the first time she went to one here in the South, she was dumbfounded to find a full fucking pig in the cooker lmfao. I'm not a fan of Southern-style cookouts like these, with pulled pork barbecue and shit.

Most hated food at a cookout? ^ oh, the aforementioned pulled pork. It's just so gross to me, taste-wise and texture-wise. Honestly I will eat almost absolutely nothing at a Southern-styled cookout because I genuinely loathe everything.

You and your SO’s dream vacation? Haha Girt actually doesn't really like vacations, he is such a homebody. We touched on this topic in this fun couples book we have, and I remember him saying he thinks he'd have the most fun at like, historical landmarks, which I'd also love to visit.

Do you go on family vacations? No.

Do you know anyone who legitimately is mentally ill? Yes? You're either mentally ill or you're not. I'm hoping by the use of "legitimately" (still a bad usage though honestly) you mean like, more on the severe end of mentally ill, in which case I think so. Girt's mother suffers with schizophrenia and has been hospitalized in the past for her mental wellbeing, but I don't know how regularly this happened/the last time it did, and she still deals with what's absolutely trauma over her husband dying super fucking suddenly. I don't ask Girt many questions about her mental health because I mean it's not my business and I also don't like making him talk about a topic that ties so heavily into his dad being gone. I just know enough to know she's been through a lot and still struggles.

Right now, would you rather be single or in a relationship? I have zero interest in leaving Girt, so in a relationship.

Boyfriend’s mom asks you to go to church with their family, do you go? Christ this might actually happen one day with how religious Shelia is, but my answer would be no, even if I'd be uncomfortable telling her that. I will never, ever, ever, ever give a church my service. Call it an overreaction, I just have so much hatred built up towards religion because of my own history with it from immediate childhood up through very early adulthood. It was full of nothing but crises of self, denial of my own sexuality, becoming a total shit asshole who couldn't accept people different from her... There's just so much pain and remorse that religion has caused me.

Do you say “love you” to any of your friends (not boyfriend)? Yeah, of course. I am so heavy on expressing platonic love.

Is your SO comfortable around your parents? I know he is around Mom, and I mean, I think he is around Dad. They barely ever, ever see each other, though, so have had few chances to interact since my parents split; he did come over when we were teenagers before the divorce, but that was SO many years ago.

How did you meet your newest friend? She was one of Girt's gaming buds and she learned that we both held a colossal adoration for Silent Hill 2 so she wanted to talk to me, haha. I was really super shy about it at first, but finally decided I needed to actually welcome when new, friendly people want to talk to me so reached out to her. She's lovely.

Have you ever been talked into doing something really uncomfortable? Maybe, I don't remember.

What do you lie about liking? Nothing, that's an awful idea.

What do you lie about DISliking? I also don't think there's anything.

Have you ever lied about something sexual you did or didn't do? No.

What states have you been to in the past year? I haven't left NC in that timeframe.

What year was your house built? I don't know the exact year, but Mom mentioned literally today in a conversation with my physical therapist that this house was built shortly after Hurricane Floyd, which happened in 1999.

Where were you the last time you kissed someone? My bed.

Do you have any uncommon interests or hobbies? Yeah, vulture culture art-type stuff.

What did you have for breakfast this morning? A meal replacement shake that I regularly have.

What is the last song you listened to in a car? It was Rammstein's "Armee der Tristen" this morning.

Do you know anyone who is terrified of dogs? I don’t think so.

What’s something that excites you about the future? The feeling that I'm going to get to spend it with Girt.

Are you going to be getting any new pets soon? Very unlikely.

Would you rather be a panda or grizzly bear? I think grizzly bear. They impress me more and their lives seem more interesting.

Do you like BBQ sauce? No, I actually hate it.

What were you doing at 9 AM this morning? I was at PT.

Do you hang out with your sibling's friends? No.

Do you like to eat cornbread? No, it's gross imo.

When was the last time you saw a deer? Been a long time, idk.

Do you eat turkey on Thanksgiving? No, turkey is just so dry and bland to me. I go for the ham.

Baked macaroni and cheese or regular? Regular, I don't like the texture of baked. I feel like I have put my pickiness with food in the spotlight throughout this survey lmao

Name one of your friends' children: Persephone. CHAMPION parents for picking that name, haha.

What was the name of your 5th grade teacher? Mrs. Whitley, who also taught me in the 2nd grade. It's insane, now her very own daughter, a bit younger than me, is another teacher in the same school literally down the hall from her. She's retiring this year and I'm hoping to visit her one day during like, a school workday or something, because she was my favorite teacher that I've ever had and I want to see her before she leaves. Will almost CERTAINLY cry lmao. No other teacher was more like a mom to me, I love her so much.

Have you ever been to a casino? No, and I don't want to go to one. It's not an environment I want to be in.

Who wrote the last book you read? Tui T. Sutherland.

What’s the middle name of your best friend? He doesn't have one, I'm assuming because he's already a junior. His sister has one, so it's not like his parents were against middle names.

Who in your family has a birthday in January? Off the very top of my head, I don't know anyone. I was supposed to be born in January, but I wasn't coming out for ANYTHING lmao, Mom had to be induced.

What’s your favorite flower? Orchids if we're talking just any flower in any color, but I also really like pink tulips.

Do you use any food delivery services such as UberEats, DoorDash, etc? No, that's not extra money we're willing to spend.

How far away is the closest Walmart? It's barely even like, two minutes from here.

Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell or McDonald’s? I feel like the whole of the world will crucify me for this, but I genuinely really like McDonald's lmfao

Do you know the capital of your state? Well yeah, Raleigh.

When’s the last time you ate any type of sweet? I had some Sour Patch yesterday, actually.

Pizza rolls or bagel bites? The former, I've never liked bagel bites all that much.

What kind of flooring is in the room you’re in? Carpet.

What’s your favorite scent? Cinnamon rolls, fresh baked bread, other baked goods, coffee, lilacs, yada yada.

What kind of pets does your grandmother have? My maternal grandmother had an insanely intelligent maltese named CC for a super long time; his passing was devastating for her. I'm pretty sure that's all that she had; she was insanely allergic to cats and most dogs, so she could only have hypoallergenic dogs. As much as I did NOT like that woman, it's a comforting thought that she really didn't have to live that many years without him. Now I have absolutely zero idea what pets Dad's mom had.

What’s the last show you really got into that you have to wait for the next season of? Extraordinary Attorney Woo!!! Fucking wonderful show that just made my heart SO damn warm, but Season 2 isn't coming for a while.

Have you ever witnessed a car accident? Yes; technically we were supposed to pull over, being witnesses, but the amount of traffic and also being on a highway made it impossible.

Sprinkles or frosting? Frosting, I hate sprinkles on literally anything.

Do you like mushrooms? Visually, absolutely. As food, hell no.

How old is your youngest sibling? She's going to be 25 in less than two weeks, EW.

Have you ever been swimming with dolphins? No, but I'd like to one day. Before meerkats, they were my favorite animal, and I still love them... even if they can be literal assholes haha.

What’s the last thing you ordered from a Mexican restaurant? I get the same thing everywhere: shrimp and cheese quesadilla with a side of cheesy rice. FUCK my period is due and I have been so insanely hungry leading up to it and now all I want is this. 😭

Do you carry a purse or a backpack? A purse.

What kind of soda is your favorite? Mountain Dew Voltage and strawberry Sunkist. I almost positively never drink the latter though because I will drink that shit so absurdly fast that I just don't let myself have it.

Have you ever cut yourself shaving? Oh for sure, on my legs anyway. I don't miss that shit.

What’s your Chick-fil-A order? I will literally only eat at Chick-fil-A if the people I'm with decide to go there, and it'd be an inconvenience to get me something elsewhere, and in that case I'll just always get a regular chicken sandwich with fries.

Regular or pink lemonade? Pink, but both are great.

Do you know anyone who’s lost their house in a natural disaster? In middle school, a classmate's house burned down.

Pizza or nacho Lunchables? Oh, the nachos one reigned SUPREME. I'd eat the pizza one, but it was so underwhelming.

Have you ever been inside of a courtroom? Yes.

Did you ever participate in any pageants when you were younger? Hell fucking no.

What kind of cheese is your favorite? American.

Have you ever had a professional massage? No, don't want one; that seems way too fuckin awkward for me.

What’s your Panera Bread order? I haven't tried that much from there, but what I've had hasn't impressed me? The bread is too hard and the taste is nothing special.

Who in your family has a birthday in April? My aforementioned younger sister Nicole as well as my brother Bobby. His bday is actually Earth Day.

Have you ever had your nails done professionally? Yeah, a few times Colleen would have me tag along to a salon she liked just to hang out and chat. I remember doing it once with my sisters, too.

What color Christmas tree do you use? Green... but when I move out I plan on getting a black one.

Have you ever been published in a magazine? At my last college, I became the school newspaper's official photographer, and there was one play I shot that they loved so much they dedicated multiple full pages to some pictures I took, and of course I was credited. ;_; That was one of the most exciting moments of my entire life, and it was prooooobably a career-building opportunity that I threw away by dropping out...

Is anyone in your family in law enforcement? No.

[ticklishraspberries]

To the Moon and to Saturn (Eddie/Steve)

Summary: Steve and Eddie are...something. Oh, and Steve knows how to braid hair, for some reason, and decides to show off his skills on Eddie. (Commission for the lovely @happyandticklish!! Thank you so much!! Also, the title is from the Taylor Swift song, “seven” - hope y’all enjoy!!)

Eddie Munson knew he liked boys by the time he hit high school, but that didn’t make crushing on one any easier. He already sat at the bottom in the food chain of popularity, so the last thing he needed was for people to discover one more reason to label him as a freak.

So, when Steve Harrington got drunk off of a cheap six-pack, sidled up beside him, and knocked their knees together gently, it was almost too much for Eddie to deal with. They were outside of Eddie’s trailer that evening, joined by Robin, Vickie, and Nancy, who were all sitting on a blanket in the grass, engrossed in some conversation about something Eddie couldn’t be bothered to listen in on.

“Your hair is really long,” Steve said, stating the obvious.

“And you’re really drunk,” Eddie replied, hoping the nervous lilt in his voice came across as teasing instead.

So, yeah, he found Steve hot, but who fucking didn’t? He was all strong, square jaw and fabulous hair and that goddamn smile, how was he supposed to resist? But guys like Steve Harrington were off limits, he told himself. Steve seemed like a nice guy overall, but there was no telling how he’d react to being genuinely hit on by another guy, and Eddie sure as hell wasn’t going to take that chance.

Steve reached out, wrapping his fingers around a few of Eddie’s curls, examining them for whatever reason made logical sense in his intoxicated brain. “Do you do anything to it, or does it just, like, come out of the shower like this?”

“Pretty much,” he replied. “I assume you spend hours getting your hair to sit like that, all perfect and fluffy and shit.”

Great job, Eddie. Totally not gay to call his hair perfect.

Steve gave a little pout, letting go of Eddie’s hair. “Yeah, it’s like a whole process. I’m jealous. Your hair is just…naturally pretty.”

“Pretty?” Eddie asked, feeling his face flush.

Steve nodded. “Yeah, pretty.”

The moment was promptly interrupted by Robin’s cackling laughter at some joke that Nancy had made, pulling both of their eyes over to the girls.

“I feel very left out of the joke,” Eddie said, trying to break the tension.

Steve snorted. “Robin laughs at everything when she’s drunk, I doubt it’s even funny.”

He staggered a few steps over to the cooler, and let out a childish whine at the discovery that there was no more beer left.

“Trust me, you don’t need any more alcohol,” Eddie said.

“Okay, mom,” Steve replied, rolling his eyes.

God, he was adorable even when he was being insufferable, Eddie thought. Then, he promptly tripped over the cooler and nearly face-planted into the dirt.

The girls all turned at the sound, and Robin shrieked with laughter again at her best friend’s plight.

Eddie rushed over to help Steve to his feet, trying to ignore the flutter in his chest as their hands clasped together. “Yeah, you’re definitely cut off, dude. Come inside,” he said, ushering a stumbling, giggling Steve through the door of the trailer.

Steve plopped onto the couch, looking at his scraped palms with a sigh. “Why do I always end up bleeding every time we hang out, huh?”

Eddie snorted. “Because you love to put yourself in danger. I’m just waiting on the sidelines to save your ass.”

He walked over with a glass of water and a towel to press to the surface-level wounds, nothing compared to what he had seen Steve endure, but still worthy of care regardless.

“Thanks,” Steve muttered, taking a few generous gulps of water before allowing Eddie to look at his hands, patting away the dirt and the tiny bit of blood.

“Don’t mention it,” Eddie replied, before sitting down on the couch beside him.

Steve immediately scooted closer, his face so close that Eddie could smell the beer on his breath.

“I don’t just think your hair is pretty, you know,” Steve said.

“Oh?” Eddie asked, voice cracking ever-so-slightly.

Steve nodded. “I think you’re pretty. Like, really fuckin’ pretty.”

“You’re not thinking straight.”

Steve barked out a laugh. “Yeah, I’m thinking quite the opposite, which is ironic considering I thought I was pretty damn straight. But then you came along and all of a sudden I can’t stop thinking about your stupid smile, or your goddamn hair—”

Eddie shut his drunken rambling up with a kiss.

It was quick, nervous, and messy, but it didn’t last long. Their friends were just outside the trailer door, and they were drunk, and the early morning hours were flying by faster than Eddie wanted them to.

As they pulled away, Steve looked happy. Almost at peace. And then Eddie was helping Steve get into his bed, ushering the girls inside and providing them with every blanket and pillow he could find, giving them free reign to sleep wherever suited them best.

Nancy took the couch, and Robin and Vickie took the floor of the living room, all whispering giggly goodnights to each other and Eddie, who chuckled fondly at his friends (which was still a word that felt foreign on his tongue, but he was getting used to it) before shutting the door to his room.Then, he crawled into his bed next to Steve, who had already fallen asleep, and put an arm around his waist, careful not to wake him.

And so, the rest was history.

They hadn’t really spoken about that night since it happened. They just continued to spend time together, and occasionally that led to making out, but there was no label for whatever they were.

Eddie was fine with that. Dating in the traditional sense wasn’t really on the table for them. He wasn’t sure if the mental image of Steve bringing him home to meet the parents was hilarious or severely depressing. Perhaps it was a perfect mix of both.

All he knew was that he really liked Steve, and Steve seemed to like him.

Speaking of Steve’s parents, they were out of town for the weekend, and so Eddie had come around for a movie marathon in the basement. He had expected it to be a group, perhaps Robin or Dustin or anyone else, but no. It was just the two of them, and Eddie’s stomach did somersaults at the realization.

He had brought a few pre-rolled joints, with Steve’s permission, and it didn’t take long for them to be pulled out and lit.

“Won’t your parents freak out if they smell this?” Eddie asked.

Steve shrugged. “Who cares?” he replied, giving a grin.

Be still his beating fucking heart. That twinkle of mischief in Steve’s brown eyes, the stupid grin, the way his lips wrapped around the end of the joint…Eddie was completely and utterly doomed.

They passed the joint back and forth until it was short enough to burn their fingertips, and while Eddie’s tolerance was quite high, he felt sufficiently light and airy, although he suspected that the weed was not the only reason for it.

After bickering about which film to watch, a neck and neck battle between Footloose (Steve’s pick) and Cujo (Eddie’s choice) which ended in a game of rock-paper-scissors, which left Steve victorious, and Eddie pouting.

Barely ten minutes into the movie, however, the two of them were cuddled up and barely paying attention to Kevin Bacon’s face on the screen. Eddie’s heart was beating far too fast for someone who had smoked a depressant, but Steve’s touch was a whole other type of drug. Whatever the opposite of a depressant was. Stimulant? He didn’t know, because he had failed biology, chemistry, and health throughout his high school career. All he knew was that he was sort of falling for Steve Harrington, and no class he’d flunked in school could have taught him how to deal with that.

Especially when Steve began running his fingers through Eddie’s hair, making him practically melt into the couch. It was a fact that very few people knew, but having his hair played with was pretty high up on the list of things that left Eddie Munson completely weak.

“This okay?” Steve asked.

Eddie could barely muster up the ability to nod. “Feels good. Like, really good.”

Steve chuckled and continued, scratching at his scalp as his eyes returned to the movie.

But just as Eddie felt his eyes beginning to droop, sleepy from the relaxing sensation, Steve stopped. He couldn’t contain the little whine that left his mouth as it ceased, and was met with a laugh.

“Can I braid your hair?”

Eddie looked at him in confusion. “You know how to braid?”

Steve flushed. “Yeah, uh, Robin taught me. Her hair is a little too short for it now, but Max let me practice on her. I’m not very good, but it’s fun. I like to do stuff with my hands, it helps me focus. Besides, you seem to like it when I play with your hair.”

Eddie could have cried at how adorable Steve was. Of course he would learn how to braid hair, especially since he apparently wanted children: 3 boys, 3 girls, which was a bit excessive in Eddie’s opinion, but whatever. The mental image of Max making snarky comments as Steve fumbled with her long, ginger hair was simultaneously precious and hilarious.

“Yeah, go for it,” he said, smiling like a fool.

He didn’t mention the way Steve’s eyes lit up when he was given permission, and his fingers quickly got to work separating Eddie’s hair into three pretty uneven sections of unruly curls. And it felt really nice, but there was just one little problem that was keeping him from relaxing.

Steve kept accidentally touching his neck and ears, and another thing that very few people knew about Eddie Munson was that he was extremely ticklish. Or, well, he was when he was younger, and assumed that was something he would grow out of eventually, but years later, the slightest nudge of Steve’s knuckles against the shell of his ear made goosebumps spread over his skin.

He was sort of dreading the day that Steve discovered it, but now that it was so close to occurring, he felt a buzz of excited anticipation in his belly. There was something oddly alluring about the idea of Steve pinning him against the couch and pulling laughter from his lips with some well-placed touches. Still, he wasn’t gonna make it easy for Steve to find out, because it was just more fun that way.

It was quiet, other than the television, although the movie had long since lost their attention. Steve’s tongue poked out of his mouth in concentration as he crossed strands of hair over one another, forming some sort of messy attempt at a braid.

Eddie was about to give himself a metaphorical pat on the back for his composure when Steve lost a piece of hair, swore softly under his breath at being thrown off track, and went to grab the hair again, and ran his fingertips over the side of Eddie’s neck in the process.

Taken off guard, Eddie’s shoulder flew up as he gave a quick shout of laughter.

The basement seemed to freeze that way, Eddie’s shoulder pressed to his ear and Steve’s hands hovering mid-air.

“Are you ticklish?” Steve finally asked.

“Nope,” Eddie replied, a little too quickly. “Not at all, I just, uh…This movie’s funny.”

Steve glanced at the screen, deeming that nothing amusing was happening, and then back at Eddie, leaning in to look at his face.

“I think you’re lying,” Steve said, a smirk spreading across his face. The braiding was suddenly forgotten as he brought a hand to Eddie’s neck and deliberately wiggled his fingers.

Eddie’s reaction was immediate; a stream of uncharacteristically high-pitched giggles poured from his lips, and he tried to squirm away from the touch very unsuccessfully.

Steve just followed, using both hands to tickle his neck, making Eddie scrunch up like a turtle.

“Not ticklish, huh?” he asked, and Eddie could hear the grin in his voice.

“Nohot at all!” Eddie replied.

Steve snorted and let his fingers wander upwards, fluttering over Eddie’s ears. Since when the fuck were people ticklish on their ears? Well, all Eddie knew was that it really tickled, if the squeal that left his mouth was any indication. He folded forward at the hips, which only prompted Steve to scribble his fingers down his back, which felt just as torturous.

Well, it wasn’t really torture. Sure, his nervous system was going crazy, but it was sort of fun. Plus, any excuse for Steve to be touching him was a good thing in Eddie’s book.

“How am I just finding this out?” Steve asked. “You save the world with a guy and he doesn’t even tell you he’s ticklish?”

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Eddie cried. “Irrelevant information!”

Steve wrapped his arms around his middle, pulling him back against his own chest, kneading his fingers into the softness of his stomach. “I think that’s totally relevant.”

Eddie giggled, grabbing at a pillow instead of pushing at Steve’s hands, and tried to not read into that too much. “I doubt the Upside Down has t-tickle monsters!”

That made Steve laugh, too. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But still, I wish I knew this sooner. You’re fun to mess with.”

He felt his cheeks turn red, partly from breathlessness, but mostly from Steve’s words. He leaned back into Steve’s arms, letting his head flop back onto his shoulder, and covered his blushing face with his hands.

Clearly, that was a mistake, because Steve just took the opportunity to tickle beneath his arms, making Eddie’s laughter reach a new octave, elbows shooting down to his sides.

“You trapped my hands,” Steve said, his lips too close to Eddie’s ear, the sensation of his breath enough to tickle. “I guess I’ll just have to tickle you until you let me go.”

God, where did he learn to tease like that? It was really fucking with Eddie’s head, in the best way. It somehow made him feel twice as sensitive, which would have been overwhelming if it weren’t so fun.

“I can’t!” Eddie said.

“Can’t what?”

“Let go!” To demonstrate his point, Eddie tried to lift his arms and immediately snapped them back to his sides as Steve’s fingers wiggled, laughter growing more frantic.

Steve laughed too, and Eddie couldn’t help but think that their laughs sounded quite nice together. Almost like music.

“Come on, I won’t tickle, I promise. Just pick ‘em up a little bit,” he said.

For some reason, Eddie trusted him, stomach doing flips as he slowly lifted his elbows, and Steve surprisingly kept true to his word, pulling his hands away from Eddie’s underarms.

He gave a sigh of relief, flopping his arms back down.

The relief was short lived though, because Steve only gave him a moment to catch his breath before latching onto his hips and squeezing, causing Eddie’s entire body to spasm. Loud, hysterical belly-laughter rang through the basement. It seemed as though Steve had hit the jackpot of tickle spots, and Eddie was sure it was how he’d die: Stoned, in love, and tickled to death. What a fucking way to go, especially considering all he’d been through.

“Woah!” Steve said. “Don’t buck me off the couch, dude.”

Eddie couldn’t even grace that with a reply, too busy giggling his head off. His hands gripped at the couch cushions, desperate for something to ground him, and not really wanting to push Steve away. Sure, the laughing was sort of making his post-smoking dry-mouth worse, but he was having fun!

It wasn’t until Steve kneaded his thumbs into the divots of his hips that he grabbed onto his wrists, a newfound strength overcoming him as he pushed the offending hands away.

“Sorry, did I take it too far?” Steve asked.

Eddie shook his head. “Just needed to breathe,” he said. “That was…Shit, man, I didn’t know I could laugh that hard.”

Steve grinned. “Yeah, I’m surprised you didn’t shake the whole house.”

Eddie gave him a little shove, and Steve squeezed his knee in response, making him giggle.

“You are cruel, Harrington,” Eddie said, but his tone held nothing but fondness.

“And you’re adorable, Munson,” Steve replied, leaning in to kiss him.

Adorable? Fuck, how was Eddie supposed to deal with being called adorable? He was already flustered and giddy beyond belief, but Steve referring to him as adorable had him ready to start skipping around the room like an excited child. But instead, he just kissed back.

Neither of them had noticed that the television was rolling the film’s credits, but it didn’t matter.

“You messed up my half-finished braid with all your squirming,” Steve said when they pulled back from the kiss.

“That’s completely your fault,” Eddie replied. “Now my hair’s probably a tangled mess.”

Steve looked him over, head tilted. He reached out and started fixing the aforementioned tangled mess upon Eddie’s head, his fingers gentle as he returned each strand to its proper place. “There. It’s still messy, but at least now it looks intentional.”

Eddie grinned. “Perfect.”

“So, do you wanna watch another movie? You know, since we paid so much attention to the last one,” Steve suggested, sarcasm lacing his voice.

Eddie gave a snort before a metaphorical light bulb went off above his head. “I have a better idea.”

Steve smirked. “What’s that?”

Eddie pushed Steve back against the couch cushions, clambering on top of him. Steve clearly thought it was going in a more saucy direction, so his shock was obvious when Eddie began tickling his stomach in earnest.

“Revenge!” Eddie cried, triumphant.

Steve’s laughter quickly filled the room, and Eddie knew then and there that he had fallen fucking hard. Suddenly, a boy that was once off-limits had become his…well, something. They would talk about that later, after Eddie was finished getting some well-deserved payback, and maybe another joint. Regardless, Eddie was just happy. Doomed wasn’t the right word for how he felt. Perhaps ‘in love’ would be a better way to describe it. Yeah, that sounded about right.

When he was younger, Eddie never thought he would be able to feel and express love for another boy, especially not to that boy’s face. And then Steve Harrington came around, and changed everything for the better. 

[virtual--hug]

Katsuki Bakugou x Reader - Soft Spot

A/N: I'm not really sure if I like this one or not. It's a lot better than the original (everything I'm posting is a rewrite of an original, older oneshot which is why I can currently post like daily lol), but I don't know if that means I actually like it.

Characters: Katsuki Bakugou x GN Chubby Reader

Genre: Mild Angst to Fluff

Warnings: Body/Weight Insecurities are the main focus. The reader is also described wearing a dress (just a reminder that clothes don't determine gender, but I do understand that people may feel uncomfortable about it!)

Summary: Bakugou finally asks you on a date after a year of growing to like him more and more, but the outift you're wearing slowly becomes an issue for your night.

Word Count: 3k

You met Bakugou Katsuki in your first year of UA. Well, the entirety of Japan met Bakugou Katsuki, but you just so happened to be on a stage with him. It was the UA Sports Festival; A time for the hero course to show off to the pros while everyone else gets ignored.

You were in one of the many General Studies classes, situated in the far back of the crowd of first year students when you heard the blonde utter the words, "I'm gonna' win" before you soon went on to damn near kick his ass. Honestly, the day felt like a messy blur. You kind of struggled through the initial obstacle course and came in at a place only marginally necessary to meet the goal. Followed by that, you decided to boldly ask to join the group with the boy who had won the obstacle course. By all means, you kind of expected the team to place lower with the large target he had on his back in the number of points. Yet, your group reached the winners, and you found yourself in the final 1v1 battle with only one other General Studies student alongside you.

It was a rather big opportunity for you. Although, your interests weren't necessarily to be a hero or join the hero course; the recognition would be kind of cool. The idea of a trophy glimmered in your head for a moment before the bracket appeared for the whole stadium. And, you found your name in place beside Bakugou Katsuki. You lost that fight to almost no one's surprise. The hero course students had such an unfair advantage in these types of fights with their combat and quirk work. No matter how powerful you attempted to make your quirk, it stood no chance against Bakugou. And, you lost.

For a moment, that was the end of it. You fought Bakugou Katsuki, and you two went on your seperate ways for the day and after the Sports Festival. Until one day at lunch, a tray slammed itself before you. "Sorry about that," a voice soon followed, "I'm Ashido! You were at the Sports Festival, right? The one who went against Blasty? Your quirk was so cool!"

"Um- thanks..." You laughed at her comments awkwardly. You recognized the girl (who wouldn't) from said Sports Festival. But, at the time, you had no clue why she would even talk to you in the first place.

"Do you wanna come have lunch with us!" She then offered and vaguely gestured to a table behind her. It was full of more 1-A kids who were also at the Festival. Actually, all of them were in the battles at the end. Most notably, the explosive blonde was there.

"Are they just doing this to make fun of me? If I say no she'll probably just do it anyways. Maybe be nice for a bit more?" You considered it.

"Uh- yeah. Sure." You agreed, grabbing your own tray and following her over to the table.

In your second year at UA, you had become a long-term official member of the unofficial Bakusquad. Needless to say, that one day at lunch turned into several more, then daily, and then you were spending most of your time outside of class with the group. Oh- and you'd fallen in love with the group's most volatile, title member, Bakugou.

Bakugou, despite all odds, proved to be much nicer than you anticipated. He was still explosive, quick to hurl insults at anyone or anything he didn't like, and a bit stand-offish. But, the time you two spent together proved to change that. He was kind to the others of the group: offering training help and advice, homework assistance, a shoulder to cry on or to rant to, and a particularly fierce protector if anyone decided to talk shit. And, at the end of the day (or rather your first year) you'd fallen in love with him.

It was nearing your summer break after one far too long semester of school. And, you were kindly welcoming the cooled dorms during the hot day. Before you could even enter your room, you'd come face to face with Bakugou. Usually, you meet up with the group on the walk back to the dorms. But, during the warmer days, you decided to make your way to your dorm room first before heading to the 1-A ones. So, it was a shock to find the blonde greeting you in the empty hall as the elevator doors opened to your floor.

"Um- hey." You fiddled with the straps of your school bag as you greeted him.

"Go out with me." He quickly replied.

You should have expected something so quick and blunt from Bakugou. He frequently admonished rambling (and refused to do it himself), and hated when people weren't straight forward with him. Yet, despite all that knowledge, the first words to come out of your mouth were, "Huh?"

He scoffed but his eyes quickly shot to the floor and his attention moved towards digging the toes of his shoes into the carpet, "If you don't want to then just say so."

"That's not what I meant! I'd love to!" You reassured him, "I just didn't expect it, is all."

He rolled his eyes before moving towards you, "Don't think bad about yourself." Bakugou didn't add much more to that before continuing, "I'll meet you at 6 in front of the dorms tomorrow."

"I'll see you there!" You met his eyes one more time before he was off to the elevators. His ears were tinted a shade of pink as he made his retreat.

Once you were sure the elevator had closed and began to move off the floor, you let out a happy, "Yes!"

The next day went by with a mystical film over it. You were physically in class, but your mind was at 6. You wondered what the date would be: some secret garden on campus, a picnic, or something chill in the dorms. Soon, you were past the evening and towards future dates outside of the school, your high school graduation, even to your adult years. Needless to say, the end of the day bell smacked you back to the ground as you exited the building for the day and realized just how close this date was.

"I didn't even think about what I was going to wear? Should I have gotten him something? Should I find something? What do I have that he would like?" You wondered as you made your way back to the dorms.

You barely even noticed when you ran into a person as you walked. It was a bit delayed when you paused and apologized to the person, "Sorry, I wasn't-"

"You're coming with us." They replied quickly.

"Huh?" You took a good look at the person you had bumped into. They had a UA uniform, dark sunglasses, and striking pink hair and skin.

"Mina? Where did you get the sunglasses fro- Ah!" You shrieked as a much taller person behind you picked you up.

"Got 'em, let's go." A voice that was distinctly Sero spoke from behind you.

"Sero, put me down!" Sero basically sprinted with you towards your dorm buildings. You were sure that in the blur of people that passed you one of them was Bakugou.

The journey soon ended with Sero unceremoniously asking for your ID that opened your door. Thankfully, he finally listened to your protests to be put down and allowed you to open up your door on your own.

"You've been ambushed by the Bakusquad!" Mina declared once the door had shut behind the group. Sero, obviously, now stood beside her alongside Kaminari, Jirou, and Kirishima who were probably trailing behind the whole time.

"Why? You could have just- I don't know, knocked," You sent Sero a quick glare, "and doesn't Bakugou usually join on these things?"

"No, this needed to be a surprise!" Mina insisted. "It really didn't." Jirou quietly added in between.

"We need to get you ready for your date with the resident explosion boy!" She concluded while sending a glare of her own towards Jirou.

"You know about that?" You muttered. There was silence for a moment before Mina was shaking you by the shoulders.

"Of course we know about it! You guys are so obvious!" She screeched loudly.

"Bakubro said he was going to, too." Kirishima added. You barely managed to hear it over your brain rattling against your skull.

"So, what exactly is the plan here?" You asked.

"Right! We need to go through your closet." Mina declared before she was head first into your closet alongside some of your other friends.

In the end, after a lot of needless back and forth between the group, you had selected an outfit. It was a dress that you had stored away in the back of your closet. You weren't exactly sure when you packed it, but it probably ended up mixed in with some stuff and found itself back where it would have been at home. It was a floral patterned dress with short ruffled sleeves. As you stared at yourself in the mirror, waiting for 6PM, you realized why you forgot about this dress.

It was smaller than you wanted it to be. The sleeves made your arms look too big, and they showed too much of your legs as well. And, with each turn to see the side, it felt like your stomach just made more and more of a bump in the fabric.

"Maybe I should change and apologize to Mina for not wearing it." You thought after another turn to the side. Before you could even execute the thought, a loud knock came from your door.

"They better not be trying to give me anymore advice." You thought. Kaminari had come by at least three separate times to inform you of a new idea he had for something "smooth" you could do. You promptly forgot about all his suggestions once he left.

"Kaminari, I don't-" While you were met by the face of a blonde, it was the other blonde of the group: your date.

"Bakugou, hi! Sorry, I thought you were someone else for a second." You quickly corrected yourself. "I thought you wanted to meet outside the dorms?"

"I didn't want to wait anymore. And I knew you were ready with how much those dumbasses were running around." He explained with a scoff.

Bakugou had on jeans, which you were completely unaware of him owning (and a belt), and a shirt that did not have something to do with skulls.

"Well, I guess you aren't wrong." You awkwardly replied. You looked back into your room for a moment. There was probably a better outfit in your closet that you could find rather quickly, but Bakugou had already seen what you were wearing. He was likely to not stay quiet about it if you changed your outfit now.

"You ready to go?" He asked.

"Yup!" The idea was immediately locked behind in your dorm as you exited with Bakugou beside you.

The walk to wherever Bakugou was taking you was quick. It seemed to just be around the back of the dorm buildings. UA itself was on a large hill surrounded by trees. But, Bakugou had managed to find a spot within the trees that left a perfect frame to see the shining stars in the sky. You didn't see Bakugou as a stargazing guy, but, as you stopped by some blankets on the ground, your perception of the blonde only shifted more.

"Do you do this often?" You asked as you took a seat.

"Kinda', it's a nice place to go when everyone's being annoying." Bakugou sat on the blanket before quickly leaning onto his back.

"Hm- it seems like it." You agreed. You were hesitant to lean backwards knowing that your discomfort in the dress would only further.

"Lay down, it's easier to see." Of course, Bakugou was soon to comment on it and gently tugged at you until you were in a laying position.

"So, why was Tapeface carrying you like some fuckin' potatoes earlier." Bakugou began.

"Oh yeah," you laughed, "They wanted to give me a makeover for this date."

He scoffed, "Dumbasses." After a moment of silence he quietly, very quietly, added, "You look good, though."

"Thanks." You happily accepted the compliment. "Oh hey, thats a shooting star!" You pointed at a small flash of light that traveled a bit across the sky before disappearing.

"Huh, haven't seen too many of those." Bakugou replied.

"Guess I'm lucky." You turned to him. A small smile crossed his face as you spoke. It wasn't like his regular evil smirks but a real smile.

"Yeah, you are." Bakugou replied. His hand moved closer to the inbetween space between the two of you. He wanted to hold your hand.

The thought made you happy, and you wanted to shift your own arm so that your hand would join him. But, the action alone sent a shooting pain of fear through you. Your hands were resting over your stomach and successfully hiding how gross you felt your body looked in this dress. So, reluctantly, you left your hand at your stomach and pretended not to notice. After a moment, Bakugou's hand moved close to his body again with a small scoff.

"So, what else did you plan to do?" You tried to brush off the situation.

"Don't know, thought maybe we'd talk a bit." Bakugou replied.

"Hm- so, why'd you ask me out?" You began.

"Because I like you, obviously. That's a stupid fuckin' question." He turned his head away while a clear red blush still illuminated his ears.

"Why wait so long then? Mina seemed to think we were so obvious." You did a poor imitation of the pink girl's voice as you repeated her words from earlier.

"That pink bitch doesn't know shit." he brushed off the comment first.

"I wanted to focus on hero shit. Didn't see the use for any friends or anything like- this if I wanted to be a hero." Bakugou answered honestly. You two had plenty of these conversations before on a similar topic.

"But that changed, obviously." You replied.

"Yeah." He didn't add much more to that before offering his hand out again. He certainly noticed your quick glance back towards him before once again "ignoring" the offer.

He scoffed much louder this time, "I'm not gonna' blow you up, y'know."

"I know that! It's just something else..." You trailed off.

"I'm not fuckin' sweaty or any of that shit." He added.

"No, there's nothing wrong with you! I- I don't like this dress." You responded honestly. Much like the previous topic, the two of you had talked a lot about your insecurities. So, you hoped the somewhat vague description would make sense to him.

It didn't as he responded with, "There's nothing wrong with it. It looks nice on you."

"It's not that it looks bad on me. I'd love to wear it more, but I don't think I have the right body to keep wearing it. It has nothing to do with you, I promise." You explained further.

"The hell does that mean, your body is fine." He continued to deny.

"I'm fat, Bakugou." You interjected while sitting up.

"You aren't, though." Bakugou followed your actions and sat up alongside you.

"Don't lie to me. I'm a lot bigger compared to even the people in my general studies class. You remember those articles from First Year during the Sport's Festival..." You continued.

"I don't care what you call yourself, but you're saying it like it's a bad thing." Bakugou halted your ranting before you could continue. He seemed to struggle to come up with his next words before settling on, "Stand up."

He stood quickly and barely waited for you to fully get to your feet before he picked you up in his arms.

"There's nothing wrong with your weight. I still lo- like you, no matter what you weigh. The other extras are the same. The people who actually care for you don't give a shit what you look like or stupid things like numbers on a scale. Got it? Besides, I can pick you up just fuckin' fine." He emphasized so by lifting you even higher again for a moment.

He was much gentler than Sero was earlier. His hands support your lower back and side while your legs are wrapped around his torso and your arms keep your upper body weight close to him. And, as true as he was, he held you up without struggle.

"Thanks Katsuki." You replied with a small kiss on the cheek.

"Whatever." His ears flushed the same red as he looked away from you.

[mirrorsblogs]

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲, 𝐖. 𝐔𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐣𝐢𝐦𝐚

𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: 𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙚 (𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙛 𝙞 𝙖𝙢 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜)

“That’s hilarious!” Tendou Satori was a boy of principal. The principle in this sense was committing to calling his best friend’s girlfriend a stupid nickname. Guess where he learned that? 

“I mean my girlfriend doesn’t mind it,” Daichi was rubbing the back of his neck shyly while Tendou looked enamored while he talked. 

Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to tell everyone, Daichi thought. The group text between the captains had been on fire recently with many stories of each of their girlfriends being called the same nickname. Ushijima had merely glanced at the text and quietly scoffed. There was no way anyone on his team would ever call his girlfri-

“Oh, first lady!” Tendou’s voice rang out as everyone was cleaning up after practice. You had stopped by the gym to walk with your boyfriend back to the dorms. Usually, you both would walk to get ice cream when it was Friday but Wakatoshi had been overworking himself at practice thus resulting in tired walks back to the dorm. 

As you heard Tendou’s voice ring out your head snapped to him. 

“Don’t even start!” Your voice in comparison was firm and slightly annoyed which only egged him on further.

“Come on, it’s cute!”

“Cute my ass! Stop calling me that!” You had taken to sharing your frustrations about the nickname with some of the other captain’s girlfriends who all had a myriad of reactions to the name.

Wakatoshi stood off to the side quietly rolling up the volleyball net with Aran who looked to be so over this conversation. He sighed quietly and continued to roll the net.

You ignored Tendou’s remarks and helped to clean up any volleyballs on the ground and move everything into the storage closet. 

“Hm-hm-hm,” your voice was soft as you mopped the ground. It was therapeutic in a sense and helped you tune out the loudness that came with volleyball boys. The coach generally left the boys to do these tasks, something about teamwork and cohesion.

You continued to mop until you knocked directly into your boyfriend.

“Sorry!” More of the damage was done to you as Wakatoshi remained firm in his stance whilst you nearly fell. Fortunately, his arms caught you and he pulled you a little closer to his chest.

A quiet part of him wished for you to always be this close but he never heard nor listened to that part.

“It’s fine.” His voice was as monotone as ever. You smiled and he gave a ghost of a smile at best. When practice concluded you began walking in the direction of the dorms while he walked into the path that went off campus.

“What’re you doing?”

“We always go get ice cream?” To your well-trained ear, you could hear the waviness and question in his voice.

“Yeah but you’ve been getting tired after practice. I figured you would want to get some sleep.”

“But I enjoy our time together.” At this you blushed, even when he was blunt and slightly clueless he still knew how to make me blush.

“Gosh!”

“I was only stating a fact.”

“You really know how to make me flustered.”

“Is that why you're with me?” Sarcasm.

“Maybe.” He cracked a genuine smile while you laughed. 

Hand-holding was never something you guys usually did while walking. If you were sitting or lazing around then sure but walking was a hard no. 

The ice cream was small and run by a grandmother and her grandson who seemed to be invested in your relationship since the first date. When he finally confessed to you outside the shop a couple of months ago you spotted the old lady passing a couple of bucks to the grandson.

“Hello, you two! The same as always?” You both nodded and like always you moved to pay and nearly beat him this time.

“Toshi, I can pay!”

“You said the last few times. It’s not happening.”

“Not if I can help it.” It was a whisper under your breath that he heard. He flashed you a look of amusement.

When you sat down at the usual table he looked to be sitting on a question. It was easy to tell when he wanted to talk about something because he almost looked constipated.

“What’d you want to ask?”

“Does the nickname annoy you?” The cadence of his voice shifted slightly to worry which was difficult to tell considering his voice always sounded monotone.

“No…if it really did I would have already talked to Tendou about it.” He looked worried for a moment before you reached over and grabbed his hands. “You know Tendou is really good about respecting boundaries when it comes to the serious stuff.”

“I know I wanted to check.”

“Ok.” 

Your conversation continued on before your ice cream arrived at your table.

“One small vanilla ice cream for you and one cookie and cream for you, first lady.” You looked up in shock for a moment before realizing Tendou had spread it here as well.

“Not you too Miss!”

“It’s cute, I can't help it!” The old lady blushed and looked bashful for a second before switching to a more mischievous look. Wakatoshi coughed slightly at the name being used before deciding to eat his ice cream quietly.

Once you walked back after finishing ice cream Wakatoshi began to bring out his phone and start typing something. This was unusual as Wakatoshi was a firm believer in never being on your phone when in the presence of company and never doing it while walking.

“Toshi, how come you’re on your phone?” He put his phone away and returned his attention to the path ahead of you both.

“Sorry.”

“Were you texting the captain’s group chat about ice cream today?”

“Maybe.” You couldn’t even be mad instead you started laughing. Wakatoshi was always complaining about the endless notifications from that chat!

“I knew you liked that chat!” He moved to correct you but the both of you had already arrived back at the dorm. “Ok tell me who started it?”

“Karasuno’s captain.”

“Knew it!” He smiled at your excitement and moved to hug you goodbye.

“Bye, my first lady.”

“You are infuriating sometimes.” It was said with a giggle while your face was pressed into his chest.

“Isn’t that why you’re dating me?”

“And cheeky too?”

“Maybe.” You pulled away and began walking up the stairs to your wing in the dorms.

“Night Toshi.”

“Night.”

When you got to your bed you collapsed onto it and squealed into the pillow. This boy was going to the death of you!