#yes i said fairly twice it was intended

[megatron-is-a-mattereel-gurl]

I went on a bit of a hiatus that is still fairly active because my fairly oddparents au is my priority rn, but chapter 34 is finally up.

[sunnie-angel]

Part 1: The Meeting

part 2 | series master list | ao3 link

jason todd x f!reader

summary: a friendship with jason todd hovers on the edge of something more but there are reasons lurking just out of sight that complicate things.

tags: fluff

rated explicit (mdni) | wc: 2.6k

a/n: this first chapter is fairly light, but this series is intended to get much darker in tone and content. i’ve got most of the series planned out so i’m going to try and be more consistent with updates (but no promises).

The first time you see Jason Todd, he’s chewing on the end of a pen and staring off into space. He’s in your Theories of Poststructuralist Literature class, sitting two rows up and one seat to the left of you. What catches your eye is how lonely he looks. The seats around him are empty and there’s an air of loneliness to him that goes beyond first day jitters. The professor’s at the front, still unpacking her bag, so you’ve got still got a few minutes to stare as much as you’d like. Your friend, looking up from where she’s fiddling with her computer notices your interest, knocks her elbow into you.

“So who’s that,” she says in an undertone, “your new classroom crush?”

“Oh I am not that bad,” you retort, mock offence dripping from your words. “No, I just think he looks lonely.”

“Yeah, and cute.” This time you elbow her, hoping he didn’t hear Danika over the sounds of shuffling chairs and feet. Mercifully, the professor clears her throat to begin class, cutting off whatever else your friend was going to tease you with.

“All right, welcome to Theories of Poststructuralist Literature. I’m Dr. Okafor, and I’ll be…”

Throughout the rest of class, you can’t stop stealing glimpses of him out of the corner of your eye. Danika has to prod you twice to get you to take a copy of the syllabus and pass it along the stack of papers. You manage to pay attention just long enough during the self-introductions to find out that his name is Jason, and that he’s doing a degree specialization in British Literature. Class ends a half-hour early and your head’s already swimming, a list of readings and concepts already tripping up your thoughts. It means that you’re distracted, not paying attention to what your friend’s doing as you scramble to get your things situated back into your bag.

“Hey! Hey new guy!” Your head snaps up at the sound of Danika’s voice, loud and moving away from you. To your horror, she’s walking right up to Jason, and worse, he’s starting to look around for who she’s talking to. With no one else around him, it becomes evident that there’s no one else she could be addressing.

“Yes, you. Hi! I’m Danika. Me and my friend,” she gestures lazily back at you and you can already feel the mortification burning up your cheeks, “were planning to meet up with some other friends in the program for lunch after class. Want to join us?”

“Oh, um, sure? I need to talk to Dr. Okafor first, but I can meet you both right after.” He says, a little bit flustered by the invitation. He runs his fingers through his curls as he speaks, you notice.

“Great! We’ll just wait outside for you.” Satisfied, your wayward friend turns around and grins, giving you a thumbs up from where only you can see it.

“Seriously?! What was that?” You hiss at her when she finally reaches you.

“What, you said he looked lonely. Now, he’ll be less lonely. C’mon, have you texted the group chat yet that we’ve got a plus one for lunch?” Shouldering your bags, you pick your way out of the classroom, hopping over errant bag straps littering the aisle and maneuvering around people going through the motions of first day back greetings. Keeping Danika’s blonde head in sight, you pull out your phone and shoot off a message, slipping it back into your pocket before there’s time for any responses. She’s already waiting for you by the door, one hand twisting the ends of her hair in the way she only does when she’s uncertain.

“Really though, is it okay that he’s coming to lunch with us? Because I can go right back in there and tell him you suddenly came down with a stomach bug and I have to get you home.” Her concern cools the panic and annoyance knotting your stomach.

“No it’s fine.” She gives you a look, the one that says she doesn’t believe you. “Really. I’m kind of annoyed you didn’t ask me first but it’s whatever. Best case scenario, we get a new friend out of this. Worst case, he goes back to just being classroom crush.”

“I knew it!” She crows. “Wait, wait this is big. You never talk to your classroom crushes. Do you need to practice your pick up lines on me?” Faux seriousness drips off of her. Jason appears as if summoned, popping up behind Danika’s shoulder with uncanny quietness.

“Hey Jason, were you able to talk to the prof?” You ask, forcibly trying to keep your voice casual. Danika freezes, mouths sorry at you, before whirling around to face him.

“Yeah, thanks for waiting. And thanks for inviting me to lunch.”

“Anytime!” Smoothly your friend steps in to direct conversation. “We were just planning to head to the food court in the student union.” She starts walking, confident that the two of you will follow her and you do. “So Jason, how come we’ve never met before this class? Between our friend group, I think we’ve met or at least know of all,” she waits for your nod in confirmation, “of the literature and writing students in our graduating class.”

He exhales before answering, taking the moment to gather his story together. “I’m a transfer student. I started my degree a couple of years ago but had to stop for family reasons. I finally got the chance to get my records together so I could transfer to Gotham U and finish the last few credits to get my diploma.”

“But you’re from Gotham originally?” You can’t quite keep the weight of Jason’s full attention on you yet, breaking eye contact but still feeling his eyes on you. “Your accent sounds a lot like the neighbourhood I grew up in.”

“Gotham born and bred. The city called me home.”

At the entrance to the food court, Danika catches sight of your friends first, waves excitedly over at them, before heading off at a rush to the booth they’ve secured. She leaves you and Jason to trail behind in her wake.

“So you’re from Crime Alley then?” Jason takes the chance to ask you.

“Hmmm? Oh yeah, my family lived there until I was maybe 12 or 13. I moved back when I started at Gotham U because it was the only area I could afford without roommates.”

“I’m back in that neighbourhood too. D’you know that place—”

The two of you reach the table with your friends and then there’s no time for him to finish whatever he was planning to say.

“Everyone, this is Jason. Jason, this is Will, Rei, and Catalina.” As Danika introduces them, each person gives a nod or little wave. Will, as always, seems bored by everything going on around him that isn’t related to the book in his hand. Rei’s got one arm around Catalina where she’s curled into his side. He lifts his hand quickly in a sort of half wave, a genuine grin causing his cheeks to push his glasses up his face.

“Please, call me Lina,” Catalina says warmly. “Sit down, sit down, tell us all about yourself and why we haven’t seen your pretty face around here before.” If you didn’t know her any better, you’d say that Lina was flirting with him. Since you do know her, have since your Intro to Creative Writing in first year, you know that this is just what Lina’s like. Always a compliment for everyone ready on her tongue, unafraid to say a good thing no matter how it might appear. Jason, having only been introduced to her seconds before, did not know better. A tinge of red dusts the top of his cheekbones and he rubs awkwardly at the back of his neck.

Trying to ease the moment, you say, “Here, do you want to sit down first before the interrogation begins?” You gesture to one of the two open seats right next to Will, Danika having slipped into the empty spot beside Lina. She must have hurried over to say something to them, because this isn’t your usual seating configuration and it’s got you a bit wrong footed.

“No, no it’s fine. You go first. D’you need me to hold your bag or something?” He offers instead.

“I’ve got it. I’ll just tuck it under my legs so there’s enough room.” You slide into the booth, Jason close behind. It’s a bit cramped with the three of you on one bench. Jason’s pressed up along the length of your side, and you can feel Will’s knobby elbow digging into your rib. In such close quarters, you can’t help but notice just how big Jason is. Your head barely clears his shoulder and unseen below the table you can tell his knee extends far past yours.

“I was just telling these two that I’m a transfer student. Only a few more classes and then I graduate at the end of the year.”

“Any plans for the great beyond yet?” Rei asks, head cocked like a bird to rest on top of Lina’s head.

“Oh give him a break, the poor man hasn’t even had any lunch yet. Let us grab food before you continue the 20 questions, yeah?” Rei looks a little sheepish at your interruption and the reminder that the table in front of you and Jason is conspicuously bare.

“I packed too much for lunch today, first day jitters. We can split.” Jason interrupts.

“I— are you sure? It’s supposed to be yours.” You’ve known Jason less than three hours, exchanged maybe five sentences. It’s not the grandest gesture in the world, but it’s so nonchalantly thoughtful and offered freely. It sends warmth through you as he pulls out Tupperware, brushes your fingers as he hands over a fork.

“Don’t worry about it. And if you hate it, just pretend you don’t.” There’s absolutely no worry about that because it smells amazing. It’s some kind of pasta smothered in a creamy rosé sauce, chorizo and vegetables adding spice and colour. It’s the best thing you’ve eaten all month and he’s offering you half.

“You didn’t say that you were training to be a chef too.” You mumble around your second forkful. Skipping breakfast to catch the bus this morning had finally caught up with you and you’re starving. Turning as far in your seat as you can, you hunch over, left arm resting on the table to defend your excellent lunch from any thieves whose names did not start with J. Jason raises an eyebrow at your positively feral behaviour, satisfaction at your reaction filling his chest.

“That terrible, huh?”

“If you don’t give me the recipe eventually I might actually cry.” That startles a laugh out of him.

“Wouldn’t want that.”

“Why don’t you give him your number, and Jason can text it to you?” Danika interjects.

“Oh yes! Add him to the group chat too,” agrees Lina. Feeling rather cornered, you fish your phone out of your pocket and pass it to Jason for him to add his number one-handed. As he types, you give Danika a look that screams what are you doing. She shrugs, then bites into the foil-lined wrap she’d pulled out of her bag. Rei says something, trying to draw Will into the conversation, but is met with the usual non-committal hum. Giving up with a sigh, he starts talking to Jason, Lina and Danika chiming in every few questions or so. It’s an easy dynamic, far easier than you thought it would be when you first laid eyes on him that morning. Focused on your food, you don’t take notice of most of the conversation going on over your head. Your phone alarm starts to chime and vibrate. Fumbling with the fork and your phone, you manage to switch it off quickly as Jason looks at you inquiringly.

“Sorry, I’ve got another class across campus in Meade Hall starting in 15 minutes. I’ll have to run in five.”

“Is it ‘From Wollstonecraft to Frankenstein’ with Baird?” He asks between bites. “I’m taking that too.”

“Funny story, that. But we’ve really got to go soon if we’re going to make it on time.” He quickly downs the last bite, the two of you gathering your things in a rush to go.

“It was nice meeting you all. Thanks for the invitation Danika.” He throws the farewell over his shoulder, then turns to keep up with you as you speed walk your way out of the building. His longer legs eat up the distance you’d accidentally managed to put between the two of you. It’s completely unfair because while you have to keep up your awkward jog-walk, he settles into a loping walk that’s stupidly attractive, his hands shoved into the pockets of his leather jacket and bag slung over one broad shoulder.

Quickly, the two of you find your way to class. This time, instead of sitting alone, Jason’s right beside you sharing a table for two. His pen scratches over the pages of his notebook, handwriting spiky but neat. He takes care not to bump you with his elbow, aware of the space his body takes up. Class flies by quickly, Professor Baird an engaging speaker despite the long time block. It’s dark by the time the two of you leave the classroom, and it’ll get darker still as the days get shorter. You stretch your arms above your head, lean side to side in an attempt to work out the stiffness of your lower back.

“So what now?” Says Jason’s voice from just behind you. You turn to face him, aware of just how far you have to tilt your head back to look him in the eye.

“For me? Catching the bus home and throwing something together for dinner. What about you?”

“Something similar. You’ll be okay to get home though? Crime Alley after dark s’not the best place to be alone.”

“Yes, mom. I’ll be fine. The bus stop’s only a block from my building.” This is a conversation you’ve had with all of your friends, family, and even casual acquaintances and hearing it again has you rolling your eyes. But it was meant in kindness so you don’t take offence at the implication that you can’t look out for yourself. “But I wouldn’t mind it if we walked to the bus stop together.” Jason’s grin is so bright even in the darkening evening, lit by the campus street lamps.

The walk to the bus stop isn’t far from Meade Hall, but the two of you manage to stretch out the minutes. Feet get placed one in front of the other slowly, heels dragging behind. The night’s a wonderful cool Fall evening, not many people bothering to stay late on campus during the first week back. It’s only the two of you on the path cutting across the quad.

“What about you? Are you back in the Alley too?” you ask.

“Most of the time. Even if you leave, it doesn’t really leave you.” He responds.

“Jason Todd, are you secretly a romantic?” You tease.

“Incurably. Wouldn’t be able to survive Brit Lit otherwise.”

His grin is cheeky as he waves you off on to the bus. There’s something still lonely about him, face drained of colour by the bus stop streetlamp, a lone figure watercolour blending into the shadows at the edges. The bus pulls out with a rough jerk momentarily pulling your attention away. By the time you look back through the window he’s walking away, hands in his pocket and shoulders hunched over with that same unfairly attractive walk.

[am-i-interrupting]

Down in New Orleans | Vox x Alastor’s Child— OATSH

Summary: Vox goes to New Orleans to surprise you. It doesn’t go exactly as he intended.

He’d read the book. He’d read it in its entirety. Once in the span of a week and twice more casually over the span of three and a half months. He had pages marked, words highlighted, notes in the margins.

He hadn’t seen you since you left back to Louisiana but he wanted to. He’d sent you letters and received some replies.

Now he was in New Orleans with the perfect excuse. It was Mardi Gras season and he knew a show-runner whose show took place in New Orleans. Even if he recalled you saying it was completely inaccurate.

Although the celebration was cancelled officially due to the war, he had little doubt in his mind there would still be celebrations. People found a way no matter the circumstances. It was just their nature.

He exited the airport and hailed a taxi.

He had a vague idea as to where to go due to the radio station address he’d been using as he didn’t have yours. When he got there, he just started walking.

You had been right, of course. Though the architecture was certainly differently inspired, it wasn’t so different from what he saw back in California. There weren’t nearly as many outlandishly colored buildings or festive decoration as the show-runner incorporated into his sets.

It was - fairly normal town, much like what he would expect.

When he got to the radio station, he knocked on the door. An older man opened the door, large glasses in his face and tightly coiled, greying hair on his head.

“May I help you?” he asked, with a rasp only a heavy smoker had. He asked if the man knew of your whereabouts. “Are you one of those reporters or one of the fans?”

“Call me a bit of both. I’ve interviewed her before, yes, but I’m not here on business.”

“Uh-huh. Well, you can try The Sherry Diner,” he said.

“Thank you very much for your time and information. Good day to you,” he said.

“Good day to you all!” the man said with a wave and fake smile as he closed the door.

It took some more questions but eventually, he found himself at the diner.

On the exterior of the building was a chalkboard, stating the name and day’s specialties. The inside was mostly lit by the wide windows, the lower half covered with green curtains. The floors were wooden and creaked slightly. The chairs and tables were rather the same but with table clothes covering the tops of the tables, a pale yellow in color. It was quaint. Not what he expected.

The place was still fairly full. People at probably half of the tables. Chit-chat filled the air along with jazz that played on the radio.

“Can you top me off?” a man asked.

“Of course, here you go, Ford. I’ll be with you in a minute, sweetheart,” a woman’s voice, soft and curling around the words with a southern drawl, said as she called the last part out over her shoulder, towards him. He looked over and realized it was you. “How’s your mama doing? I heard she got hit real bad with the flu? She alright now?“

A bell rang and you started walking away but the man still answered, “That was a couple weeks ago. She’s doing better now. Still a bit slow but nothing she can’t handle.”

“That’s good. I’m glad to hear it,” you said as you grabbed a tray with a bowl of soup and plate of bread.

You just placed the food on the table when you turned towards the door. “Sorry, about that. What can I—“

Your eyes widened when you saw him. He smiled and waved at you right before the tray hit the ground.

“You alright, cher?” Ford asked, moving to get up.

“I— I’m fine,” you said slowly, not taking your eyes off him as you knelt down to pick up the tray. “Why don’t you find yourself a seat, sir? I’ve got some. . . things I need to check on in the back.”

Then you were gone. A woman stood up from her seat, dark hair and complexion, extremely tall, and called your name. “Girl, are you okay?” she asked as she followed you in the back which seemed allowed even if she clearly wasn’t a waitress.

That left him alone with many peoples eyes on him. He found himself a seat.

In the kitchen, you burst through the doors and pushed yourself against the wall, tray held close to you like a shield.

“Is he still there?” you asked the cook who looked out the window and nodded as Inez opened the kitchen door.

“What’s going on?” she asked. “Who is that man?”

“He’s the show host,” you told her. “The one I told you about that wouldn’t leave me alone.”

“I thought you liked him,” she said. “Do I need to go beat him up anyway? I’ll do it.”

You shook your head as you grabbed her arm. “I don’t know what to do.”

“How about your job?” the cook suggested.

“Shut up, Lloyd,” Inez hissed through her teeth. The next second though she was soft spoken, “How ‘bout you just breath.”

“I don’t even know how to talk,” you told her. “I don’t use this voice in interviews. I didn’t use this voice at all while I was up there. Ain’t no way they were gonna take me seriously.”

“If he so much as looks at you wrong, I’ll sleep with his wife,” she said.

“The hell?”

“Shut up, Lloyd! Ain’t nobody talking to you!”

“He doesn’t have a wife,” you told her.

“Then his mom.” She cupped your face and pressed her forehead against yours. “Do you need me to go tell him to leave or do you want me to wait on him or neither?”

“I— I can. . . I’m over exaggerating.”

“No, you’re not so what do you need me to do?”

“I can do it. I’ll do it. Just can you not leave until he does?” you asked.

“Of course, honey. Do you want to go out first or me?”

“You can go, I just. . . I need a second.”

“Of course.”

She placed a kiss on your forehead and stood. Lloyd gave her a look and she flipped him off as she left.

As soon as the door opened, she met eyes with the infamous show host. You didn’t talk about him much. Really, you didn’t talk about many personal things but she did know of him. Now that she thought of it, she recalled seeing his face on the television with you.

She sat back down where she’d been. Some now cold and unfinished shrimp and grits in front of her.

You kicked yourself off the wall and followed after her a minute later.

You could do this. It’d be fine. You just talk to him like anyone else. You weren’t in his world right now. He was in yours. You knew the rules.

“So, what drink can I get you started with this evening, sir?” you asked.

“Do you want me to leave?” he asked instead.

That simple question threw you completely off once again but this time instead of causing you panic, it made you relax. You knew this man. It was alright.

“No, you don’t have to do that. You just caught me by surprise is all,” you told him.

“That was half the intention but I was more expecting ‘wow, you’re here’ instead of ‘let me run in the back for ten minutes,’” he said but you could tell from his tone he meant it in good fun.

“Well, it’s not every day a man like you walks in here and I wasn’t prepared for figuring out what in the world I should do,” you said.

“And what are you supposed to do other than be your darling self?” he asked.

You floundered for a moment before just vaguely gesturing. “I can’t be like this on television and be expected to be taken seriously. People expect a certain act, not a southern waitress.”

“I like your accent,” he said simply and earnestly.

You felt your cheeks flush at the words. From a man like him that was. . . it meant something.

“Well, not everybody does. What can I get you started with?”

“I put my fate in your hands.”

You leaned close to his face. “My taste in food’s gonna kill you so why don’t you look at that menu while I get you something to drink. Since you haven’t told me anything, I’ll go with the unoffensive water.”

You were gone before he could reply.

[gallavichpreg]

Yes… I did make a Butthole Chart.

(I swear, I’m sane)

My reasons/HCs:

!!!Don’t argue with me. These are my own personal ideas… things that I’ve made up!!!

Mickey:

Smooth/Hairy: Mickey’s never really been a hairy guy. He hardly has any scruff on him, and that’s just the way that nature intended things to be. Doesn’t make him feel like any less of a man. Overall, he’s pretty smooth… but he still takes the time to trim up between his cheeks, and make sure that his “back garden” is well-pruned. A pretty pink hole is always nice, right? After all… he’s not one for too much friction.

Smelly/Clean: Gone are Mickey’s days of living in filth… letting himself collect dirt and grime like an oversized feather duster. These days, he takes pride in his ability to care for himself and maintain a certain standard of cleanliness — doing everything in his power to distance himself from the slob that he used to be. He styles his hair every morning, brushes his teeth twice a day, scrubs every nook and cranny in the shower, and uses many different fragrances to make sure that he always smells good. When it comes to his backside, he cleans himself very thoroughly… so that he stays ready (if you catch my drift), and gives a good presentation whenever the time comes. Of course, Ian doesn’t mind it whenever he does slack up a bit. That reputation that Mickey used to have, being the “smelly kid”… is long gone.

Loose/Tight: I mean… come on. Need I explain this one???

Ian:

Smooth/Hairy: Every part of me wants to believe that Ian has little patches of red curls all over his ass cheeks, and around his hole… but, honestly, I just can’t see it. Maybe he’s got some sparse fuzz that circles his rim… but I don’t think that it’s anything to really take note of. It’s not like you can twirl it between your fingers, or tug at it, or anything like that. There’s nothing back there to play with.

Smelly/Clean: Ian cleans himself pretty thoroughly, just because he’s mortified of being smelly down there. Even though nobody is eating him out, or playing with his ass, the thought of having any lasting odor scares him… makes him so unbelievably self-conscious. When he’s in the right headspace, he takes him grooming very seriously. Of course, he gets sweaty and musky back there — we all do — but he always make sure to clean it up whenever he gets the chance. Stench doesn’t last long on his backside… especially with Mickey there to help him clean it. Even in his worst moments, the funk doesn’t stick.

Loose/Tight: Ian is fairly tight… as tight as he can be, after the things that he went through in his younger years. He has a complex now, when it comes to having someone show his rear end any attention — a major discomfort, set on by past traumas. It’s like he goes into defense-mode if his butt gets touched… even by Mickey, sometimes. That being said, his asshole doesn’t see much action.

Lip:

Smooth/Hairy: Lip’s got a good amount of hair back there… this nice forest of soft, wispy hair that fills his crack, and coddles the bottoms of his ass cheeks. He doesn’t really care to manscape it… but it’s something that he can definitely appreciate. In the heat of the moment, when all of his cares are out of the window, he does enjoy the feeling of a lady’s fingertips combing through his curls… her digits getting tangled, clinging to his plump bum. It’s a guilty pleasure.

Smelly/Clean: Lip is fairly clean, for a straight guy. He makes sure that he’s not dirty… but he doesn’t like to spend too much time back there. Of course, there’s always going to be a natural musk, if a man doesn’t work hard to cover his scent… and Lip definitely has a musk. His hole is just… slightly fragrant.

Loose/Tight: Now… I’m not gonna say that he’s never let a woman go back there and explore for a bit… but I don’t think it’s too likely. I mean, Lip is a freak, but I think that — in most cases — he draws the line when he gets flipped around himself.

Carl:

Smooth/Hairy: It’s simple… and kind of embarrassing. Carl just has a hard time growing hair down there. Even in his older years, he’s still pretty much smooth… and he hates it. He hardly has any pubes, and there’s virtually no hair on his ass. You’d better believe that he’s spread himself open and taken a few looks back there, just to see if he’s sprouted any new growth. Of course, he hasn’t yet. How is he supposed to get women to see him as a man if there’s no jungle for them to explore? It’s humiliating.

Smelly/Clean: Carl’s a good guy… but he’s still the kind of person that you have to remind to clean up back there, every now and then… maybe give a lesson on how to groom himself well. He uses the toilet… he farts… he sweats. It’s not that he’s dirty, or lazy… it’s just that he’s not as mindful, or thorough, as he could be. The boy’s got an odor. So what? It’s no big deal. He’s still young.

Loose/Tight: He’s still pretty tight. “Intact” is more the word for it. Of course, he’s played around back there before, just to see what it’s all about — stared at it, spread it open, poked around, attempted to insert some things — but a curious mind is only a curious mind. Carl doesn’t get the hype… but he’s not opposed to a little experimentation in the future. For now though, his back door is shut and locked.

Kev:

Smooth/Hairy: There’s no doubt in my mind that Kev has a naturally hairy ass… or a hairy hole, at least. I mean, I do believe that he takes his manscaping seriously, and is very meticulous about how much hair he prefers to keep back there… but when he slacks up on his grooming, I just know those cheeks and hole start to get bushy.

Smelly/Clean: Again, I think that Kev takes his manscaping seriously… but he’s a big guy, and big guys tend to sweat a lot, and that’s a beautiful thing. Despite his best efforts to stay clean and cover his scent, his hole definitely stays pretty musky. It’s a good musk though. A good stink.

Loose/Tight: Kev is definitely getting his ass worked out on the regular, and he loves it! That man’s ass has taken more poundings from Vee than Mickey’s has taken from Ian, easily.

[nickburn]

UFO 50 - First Impressions

I've played UFO 50 for over 30 hours now and wanted to quickly jot down my first impressions of each game included. From the many reviews I've consumed so far, it seems everyone has a unique experience playing UFO 50, due to the sheer variety and quantity of retro games on offer, and it's somewhat difficult to predict which games will click with a player and which they'll bounce off of immediately. I've technically played each game, but some for only minutes while others for several hours. I've earned gold disks for seeing the end of only a handful of games so far, and I'm not close to getting the cherry achievements (the hardest challenges) of any of them. I expect my opinions about many of the games to change a lot after I've finished them all, a task which I'm positive will take still dozens more hours. Also, I suspect many of the games to take on a different tone, difficulty, and flavor once I've found many more of the cheat codes available and tried playing each game with the cheats active.

Up until I purchased the game, I tried to remain as unspoiled on UFO 50 as possible. I am still largely unaware of the grander meta-narrative about UFO Soft that's included and believe that more easter eggs and secrets have yet to be discovered. I expect these to color my opinions of the game overall as well once I've seen them, but regardless I'm confident in saying that UFO 50 is a must-play for anyone interested in retro games or getting into game design, art, narrative, programming, music, etc. Spelunky 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, so I was already primed to enjoy another title by Derek Yu and Eirik Surhke. But still, I'm very impressed with what I've experienced of the game so far and think it deserves a lot of discussion and study. Both Spelunky 2 and UFO 50 seem to have been largely overlooked by the professional games media/podcast machine post-launch and I think that's a huge shame, although a lot of popular YouTubers and smaller podcasts are giving the game its due. So if you're still reading this asking yourself "Is UFO 50 the kind of game for me and worth $25?", rest assured the answer is most likely "yes" and you should go buy it and play it right now. Come back and tell me what you think if you do. That said, let's get into the games...

I originally tried all 50 games in their listed fictional chronological order of release, as I believe was probably intended, and will present them as such here as well:

Barbuta (1982) feels grindy, obtuse, slow, and overly-punishing until you start to make sense of the game's design language and solving its mysteries. As many others have theorized, I think Barbuta was put first in the list primarily to encourage users to try other games and come back to it later. I'll probably have to draw my own map of the layout to finish it, and I'm actually looking forward to that. I really like Barbuta overall, as both a callback to 1980's CGA/EGA graphics PC platformers of yore (none of which I'm very familiar with) as well as a contemporary of games like Animal Well, You Have to Win the Game, and I Wanna Be the Guy.

Bug Hunter (1983) immediately called to mind modern tactical roguelike games for me, primarily Into the Breach. Unlike Barbuta, this game felt easy for me to sink an hour into before moving on, though I've since put twice that much time into Barbuta. It has fun systems, a fairly gentle learning curve compared to many of the other games, and great art and UI that tells you just as much information as you need to make informed decisions.

Ninpek (1983) - I'll be honest and admit I'm not the biggest Contra fan (although I do really like Ninja Gaiden), but I don't think Ninpek's brutal difficulty does its genre of platformer/shooters many favors. That said, I keep coming back to it and find that I do make a lot of progress after I've warmed up a bit. I also appreciate that the game is fairly generous with extra lives and doesn't force a total restart until you've lost them all. It is very easy to get into a death spiral and quickly lose your last few lives though. While it's tough, I think Ninpek will be completable for most players who dedicate a few hours to it; I just don't know how enjoyable those hours will be on average.

Paint Chase (1983) gives me some nagging anxiety in a way that's hard to describe. There are so many things happening on screen at once that it's hard to pay attention to any of them. Trucks and planes barreling down lanes threaten to undo all your hard won progress, right down to the last few seconds of every round. The constantly changing blue and red squares can really mess with your vision too. I think I still enjoy the game, especially the meter that agonizingly ticks up your paint percentage at the end of a stage, determining if you pass or fail. I'm just not itching to finish it any time soon.

Magic Garden (1984) is the kind of game I wish I was naturally better at, but surviving in twitchy, one-hit kill arcade games long enough to rack up impressive high scores has never been my strong suit. Still, it's impossible to ignore this game's charms, and I'll keep coming back to it, even if I never really expect to master it.

Mortol (1984) struck me as one of the zaniest and most interesting game ideas I've ever seen. It's something of a bummer to spend a lot of bodies finishing a stage only to not have enough to finish the next one, but the game is so fun to play that I don't think I'll mind by the end.

Velgress (1984) has been on my mind a lot, distracting me for a few minutes here, a half hour there. It's easy and addicting to play a few runs, in the same way that Downwell or Spelunky are. I'm very confident I'll finish this game after I'm more accustomed with levels 2 and 3 - it's really just a matter of time.

Planet Zoldath (1984) I gave several solid attempts at first but it's not a game I enjoy playing all that much. I like what it's doing as a game idea though, as a procedurally-generated Zelda-like with some off-the-wall writing. The game seems directly influenced by the randomizer trend too, which is a really interesting design space to explore.

Attactics (1984) is one of the only games I really dislike so far, mainly because of its frantic and disorganized nature. I'm not really an auto-battler person, and having to play a Chess-like game with real-time movement just makes me panic and makes the game very hard to learn at first. I'm expecting this one to be a lot more enjoyable after some more practice, but it's very rough at the start.

Devilution (1984) weirdly reminded me of a game in another collection of games: Dungeons & Diagrams from Last Call BBS (2022) by Zachtronics. I enjoy setting up a Rube Goldberg machine of monster attacks and rocket launches and seeing all the dominoes fall at the end, but I can't help feeling there are some missing quality of life features here that could make the game a lot easier to parse.

Kick Club (1984) reminds me of Bubble Bobble, a game I've loved since I was a kid. It's relatively tough as a single-player game, but I imagine it's a lot easier with a Player 2 in coop. I love the sports theming of the enemies and the many different ways you can knock the deadly soccer ball into them.

Avianos (1985) is not nearly as hard to grock as it looks at first, which is something I can't say for a lot of contemporary strategy games. I quickly learned what the different symbols meant and tried to pick the most optimal Ancestor to pray to every round, and I find the core loop really satisfying. Sure, it doesn't have nearly the same depth as a Civilization or a Crusader Kings, but I also dislike having to spend upwards of four hours on a single match of those games.

Mooncat (1985) is meant to be a spiritual sequel to Barbuta, but I don't think I'll end up liking it as much. The gimmicky movement controls are more frustrating than interesting to me right now, and I don't see how even the best level design in the world could help me get past that. I've been wrong before though, for sure, and I want to give the full game a fair shot.

Bushido Ball (1985) is mildly enjoyable but can often be frustrating due to what I suspect is a very quick ramp up in difficulty of the enemy AI. Not only do you need to learn every character's strengths and weaknesses, you also need to react extremely fast or predict where the enemy will hit the ball next, usually long before the ball actually gets there. It's not impossible or completely unrewarding to learn, but I'm not convinced the juice is worth the squeeze with this one.

Block Koala (1985) will probably end up as one of my most-played games of the set, and I'm excited to get back to it. Even the early puzzles are really daunting, though, and I'm not very experienced with sokoban-style games. I'm glad the game comes with an undo button, but it still feels tedious to rewind more than a few steps. There's inherently a lot of trial and error involved in solving a puzzle, which can make individual puzzles take a very long time and make watching your koala slowly navigate through the same areas over and over more annoying than fun or relaxing.

Camouflage (1985) is a cool, logical extension of Frogger with kind of a stealth twist. I wish you didn't need to watch the same long animation of your lizard getting devoured every time you die though. The game is really asking you to go slow and plan your route ahead of time, but it's still easy to mess up and accidentally step into a hungry amphibian's path.

Campanella (1985) is both adorable and challenging as the titular UFO of UFO 50, and I'm still making up my mind about it. Flying the too-tiny UFO around can be physically painful when you have to constantly hold or mash the A button to keep it aloft, and its momentum definitely takes some getting used to. The ship also can only attack nearby objects, making every encounter with an enemy or obstacle a risk. 50 levels seems like a really tall order to complete when any brush with a random wall can end your run. Thankfully, though, it's easy to earn 1UPs in this game and many helpful secrets abound. I've already found one hidden teleporter in the first world that skips you forward a few levels, and I suspect there are others later on. The music, art, and humor of this game are great too, and Campanella is probably one of the more polished games of the set.

Golfaria (1985) is one of those weird game ideas that kind of works despite itself, like Pac Man 2 or the Sonic franchise. I don't love tediously navigating an entire world with limited golf ball physics, but I tend to enjoy golf games and ball-rolling games like Kirby's Dream Course, so I think it'll grow on me.

The Big Bell Race (1985) is Campanella racing and most reminds me of the Top Ride mode from Kirby Air Ride. I'm always down for silly racing games with power-ups like this one, but I still don't understand why the UFOs can only slash and not shoot lasers. This game is probably best played with another player.

Warptank (1985) feels like Blaster Master but with gravity switching and I'm mostly into it. Controlling and aiming the tank upside-down is not always intuitive, but the checkpoints are plentiful and you can retry a section as many times as it takes you to progress.

Waldorf's Journey (1986) is a great idea that's as funny as it is potentially frustrating. I love the idea of a flying walrus in a drug-induced dreamscape, but I don't love trying to land on tiny platforms or watching Waldorf fall to his death due to running out of fish meter. A little more leniency could have gone a long way here, but thankfully Waldorf's dream doesn't last long and focuses more on speed than stamina.

Porgy (1986) is another game that looks more fun than it is to play, due to some tough controls, water physics, overly-aggressive enemies, and punishing stamina mechanics. I keep bouncing off it right after I boot it up and get killed by the shark, but I'm determined to make some real progress.

Onion Delivery (1986) might be someone's favorite game (maybe even yours), but for me it's too annoying to control and too difficult to finish all the deliveries and return home without dying. I really like the cutscenes though and want to see more of the aliens and the story. If you're a Grand Theft Auto 1 & 2 fanatic, this game is probably for you.

Caramel Caramel (1986) might also be on the too-hard side of things for me but I really enjoy playing it. Just don't ask me why this fish-ship thing has a polaroid camera strapped to its face. The camera mechanic is brilliant in gameplay, though, serving the purposes of freezing enemies (making them easier to shoot and blow up in a chain reaction of double points) as well as revealing the many secret caches of orbs hidden in the environment. I don't understand why there are no checkpoints in this game though, when extra lives are so difficult to earn already. The music, art, and gameplay are killer otherwise though, making this one of my favorite games in UFO 50.

Party House (1986) is perhaps the best game in the first half of UFO 50, so it makes sense to put it at the halfway point chronologically. I really enjoy roguelike deckbuilders, and I've never played one with this goofy or charming of a theme. Again, the difficulty is very finely tuned, but you can definitely win scenarios with a little good luck and patient planning. Unwinnable situations still come up, for sure, but it's quick and easy to reset the game and try again if you don't want to play out all 25 days of a scenario.

Hot Foot (1986) calls to mind the Kunio-kun soccer and dodgeball NES games of my youth, but it's neither as ridiculous nor as fun as those. The writing is funny but the bean bags just feel awkward to both dodge and throw, and I haven't gotten a handle on what makes a good team yet. Combine that with some weird NPC AI and needing to manage two characters concurrently and I just don't think this works as a single-player experience. 2-player coop though I could see being pretty fun, so long as you don't chuck too many bean bags at your friend's head (in the game or otherwise).

Divers (1986) I know is one of the longer games included and so I've mostly put off playing it. I do really like the callback to the TMNT NES game's dam level though, and I'm excited to discover the game's secrets.

Rail Heist (1987) is one of the few games I've finished so far and probably one of my favorites. It took about four hours for me to complete all 20 missions (not going for stars or good times) and I was engrossed the whole playthrough. Getting the cowboys to do exactly what you want within your 9-second window can feel a bit random, and it never feels great to be shot from offscreen. But I think Rail Heist is mostly about those panicky moments between certain death and success, teaching you to form a plan and play precisely rather than waste a lot of time, which is what I love about Spelunky too.

Vainger (1987) has a lot to live up to as a Super Metroid clone, but I'm interested to see how its gravity-flipping will be used as more than just a gimmick across the whole game.

Rock On! Island (1987) is the first tower defense game I've played in a long time and one of the best, period. It's hard, it demands a lot of thought and attention, and it will upset you when 10 pterodactyls fly a B-line directly into your base because you didn't think to set up air defenses beforehand. But I really love the core loop of this game and there's something about the theme that feels very nostalgic to me. There are so many interesting decision points along the way to building a winning strategy, with just enough wiggle room for experimentation. There were a lot of NES and SNES games with cavemen-versus-dinosaurs themes too, for some reason, and Rock On! feels very faithful to that tradition.

Pingolf (1987) looks, sounds, and feels great to play but has some truly agonizing level design. I'll often line up a shot and whack the ball, only to watch it ricochet back at me and land further behind than where I started. This can happen very often in the later holes, demanding that you memorize the best routes to win. Getting good enough to win a match of all 18 holes will probably take me a few hours of practice, but I'm not sure I won't be sick of the game by the end of it.

Mortol II (1987) fails to live up to its predecessor's genius for me so far, sadly. The different classes feel stiff and difficult to manuever, and it's very frustrating to lose a man and then have to start over from the beginning yet again, even with 100 of them at your disposal.

Fist Hell (1987) makes a lot of sense and it's fun to play a River City Ransom-style beat-em-up with zombies. It's just very difficult to survive for long. Attempting the game with two players seems ideal.

Overbold (1987) lets you dig your own grave through raising the stakes of each fight with the promise of winning more points. It seems like a false promise, though, for all but the most dedicated of players. Getting killed in one hit here seems overly-mean, and I don't really enjoy this game's brand of Robotron-style slaughter either way.

Campanella 2 (1987) I've heard is the "Spelunky 3" of this collection but I've yet to see how that plays out. I'm not very excited about flying more Campanellas through tiny spaces or moving around as a slow, pixellated astronaut though. At least Isabel can shoot lasers when she gets out of the ship, I guess, similar to Cave Story or Blaster Master. This is yet another game I really wonder about the lack of checkpointing.

Hyper Contender (1988) was surprisingly easy for me and I finished my first run of the game using Elka, which took about 10 minutes including a few deaths. It's very similar to the versus mode in Spelunky 2, and I think it'd be fun to play with friends.

Valbrace (1988) is one of the games I was most looking forward to trying, and so far it's lived up to the hype. It has some of the same navigation issues that many classic dungeon crawlers had, but the automap is pretty helpful and the combat is a lot more engaging than just picking the same old options from a menu.

Rakshasa (1988) feels like Ghouls N' Ghosts or Contra but doesn't seem nearly as hard as those games to me. I really like the death save system turning the game momentarily into something like a shmup. The player's ghost also seems like a callback to Ninpek, and I love when these games are in conversation with each other. You can really see how UFO Soft progressed and developed in a lot of areas throughout the collection.

Star Waspir (1988) is unfortunately too hard for me and maybe needlessly so at first blush. I'm not an expert at shmups but to me this seems to be targeting only the most dedicated and hardcore of arcade grinders who can spell EGG.

Grimstone (1988) is a "Western" Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest clone and I'm super excited to play through it and see how my party develops.

Lords of Diskonia (1988) is what happens when you mix Heroes of Might & Magic with something like marbles or crokinole and it works surprisingly well. There's a lot of strategy and skill involved in how and where you shoot your disks, and sometimes a weaker army can still win the fight through some clever placement and opportunistic bounces. I'm looking forward to playing through the whole campaign.

Night Manor (1988) lives and dies by the quality of its art, atmosphere, scares, and puzzles, and it's mostly successful. I'm really glad there's a puzzle horror game included in the list at all, though, and the fact that it works surprisingly well with a controller with two buttons is remarkable.

Elfazar's Hat (1988) is tough but seems mostly fair so far. I really like this kind of slower-paced shooter and played a lot of Gun.Smoke on the NES growing up. The card pick-ups are a fun sub-objective and keep you exploring the environment.

Pilot Quest (1988) I knew was an idle clicker game going in and so I've mostly left it to its own devices after planting a few seeds at the start. It and the original Planet Zoldath remind me of Pikmin, but the gameplay doesn't seem nearly as fun or interesting so far. It's very cool that the game continues collecting gems even when you're not playing it though.

Mini & Max (1989) really appeals to me as a Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers kind of game with a shrinking mechanic. The opening level seems a bit plain and empty, but I'm hoping it gets more interesting from there. The pixel art and writing so far are top-notch.

Combatants (1989) - or "Combat Ants", if you will - might be the weirdest game on this list, combining the theming and obtuse non-controls of Sim Ant with a hardcore RTS like StarCraft. I'm not sure if it's a joke game with a larger meta-reason for being the way it is or simply just bad, but I'm betting on the former.

Quibble Race (1989) appears to be purely a gambling game, and as such I have basically zero interest in it thus far. On the surface, it reminds me of one too many boring mini-games to want to play it. Maybe it will surprise me though!

Seaside Drive (1989) released the month and year I was born (in the fictional world of UFO 50) and as such I feel some kinship with it. Thankfully, it's got a great, synthwave theme, chill music, and fun gameplay. It plays kind of like Moon Patrol on crack and adds a drifting mechanic, and recalls other nostalgia-fueled indie games like Hotline Miami and Retro City Rampage as well as films like Drive and Point Break.

Campanella 3 (1989) shifts the perspective of the Campanella series from 2D to 3D, in one of the more technologically impressive outings of UFO 50. I mostly enjoy games like Star Fox (when I can survive long enough in them anyway) and I'm looking forward to giving this a real shot.

Cyber Owls (1989) spoofs on the likes of Battle Toads and many, many other NES and SNES team action games, but I'm not convinced it's as good as any of the best of those so far. The gameplay ideas are there but the execution feels a bit lacking, in the case of each individual owl's levels and gameplay.

And that's it! I also wanted to mention the Garden in UFO 50, which acts like a trophy room for your achievements in every game, and I love it. Please don't take anything I've said about the games too seriously, as, again, my opinions are likely to change about many of them. But I hope you've enjoyed reading this if you've made it this far, and maybe I'll end up doing a full(er) review of this game down the line when I've collected a lot more gold disks. Until then, I really hope you go out and play UFO 50 yourself; the devs deserve the support and I know you'll find a game or two you love here.

Cheers, Nick

[youngerfrankenstein]

Alright, who wants to hear me talk about my thoughts on a show made for 9 year olds? Part 2!

I’ll admit, I think part of my issue with Prime is just that I set my expectations fairly high. Need to stop doing that. Ever. Part of it was remembering little about season 1 beyond I liked it as a teen. But as it seems this franchise will forever be, kind of a mixed bag, but glad I watched it.

I will say that bar a few I quite like the designs for the bots in the show. The style was clearly taking inspiration from the Bay films while still keeping the designs clear and distinguishable. That said the animation can be pretty janky at times and the locations often quite bland. The latter of which was probably for budget reasons and the former for both budget reasons and the tech of the time.

I also generally like most of the bot characters. I wish Arcee got more focus, especially as she’s introduced to us first, but she’s fun. Kind of a grouch but there for people when they need her. Bulkhead is generally a lot more likeable in this incarnation than Animated, though I don’t think he’ll ever be a favourite. Bumblebee can’t talk here either but they do a decent job of still making him feel like part of the team. Optimus is generally wonderful, a bit distant but clearly intended to be, someone you immediately understand why people would follow. And I fucking love Ratchet in this show, he’s marvellous, more Ratchet please. Wonder why the main team was almost identical to Animated?

Not sure I liked what they did to Wheeljack, did quite like Ultra Magnus. And holy shit if Smokescreen isn’t the worst character in the franchise so far. I hate him so. much. and he brought down any episode he was the focus of. Is this partly because he’s written more than any other character to appeal to 8-year-old boys, something I am not? Yes. But that’s hardly all. He feels like either the pet character of a writer or a studio mandate, I’m not sure which is worse. (Or if either is true, don’t quote me)

The Decepticons, as per usual, are the highlights though. I don’t think there’s one of them I don’t enjoy watching. Starscream and his sniveling, Knockout and his vanity, Airachnid and her sadism (for science!) and the rest are still so much fun to watch for their evil and, even more so, their dysfunction. That said this show also drove something home for me, and that is DAMN do I love Frank Welker as Megatron. Like it’s been clear the man has talent for a long time but wow. The way he can be both quietly sinister and a raging monster is EXCELLENT.

The voice cast is generally quite good, if a bit odd. Peter Cullen and Frank Welker coming back to the roles they made iconic (twice for Welker technically!) but you also get names like Gina Torres, Jeffrey Combs (who I suppose DOES voice The Question) and even Dwayne Johnson in the first episode.

I will say, as seems to be the usual, I am in Fuck Them Kids mode when it comes to the main human characters, who come in Brat, Kid Genius and Blander Than Gruel flavours. Then again by the later seasons it felt like the showrunners/writers didn’t even want them around much either. Will say they have different amounts of believability in their relationship to their assigned bot. Miko and Bulkhead honestly feel like friends who care a lot about each other. Raf and Bee are fine, but honestly by the end I was mostly thinking of Ratchet as Raf’s bot. Jack and Arcee don’t feel like anything really, and you would think that would be the most important one.

Really the writing is the thing. Some of it is VERY good, clever ideas or scenes that leave me on the edge of my seat. And some of it is very bad, comedy that falls flat and “as competent as the plot needs”-itis for all. Not to mention some of the weird stuff with seasons 2 and three, like putting multiple villains on ice and then bringing them back to not… do much in season 3. Part of me wonders if there were issues with the studio and no one was ever sure if/when they were getting renewed. But I must be clear, I am just guessing and could be way off.

Will say I generally enjoyed the wrap-up movie, cute ending, some nice character interactions. Even if “Satan taking over my body made me learn oppression is bad. I’m heading out.” Is a very silly way to wrap up Megatron. Nothing special (and let’s face it, was probably a rewritten and repurposed three-parter) but fun.

Honestly at times a little awkwardly pro-military but it’s an American action show, what do you expect lol. Could have been a LOT worse.

And now to Earthspark! …Which looks to be focusing even more on humans… Oh well. Guess we shall see what it’s like!

[wolferals]

✨12:35am✨

Henry Cavill x reader

Warnings: none, fluff, Henry being a little bean and helping you through a break up

„Y/n what are you doing, it's..." Henry took a look at his screen just to be blinded by it's brightness as compared to his dark bedroom. He was surprised to see her name on his display since the two had barely gotten to see each other in over 10 months.

„12:35 am." He waited for the young woman's reply but could only hear a sniffling sound. „Hey are you okay?" he sat up in the darkness and turned to his right to turn the lamp on that was sitting on his bedside table.

„He... broke up..." she choked up as Henry felt himself wake up more and more every second.

„Right now??" he sounded more mad than intended.

„Yes. He was with his friend... and he didn't come over. I caught him with... Emma. In the car."

Henry swung his legs out of bed. Through the phone he could not only hear her sniffling and crying but also car sounds. „Where are you?" he firmly spoke as he stood up to put a pair of sweatpants on.

„Outside my apartment. The bus stop."

-„Stay where you are." was all Henry managed to say before he'd already grabbed his car keys and made his way out of the apartment, to the garage to get his car.

Meanwhile, the girl continued crying on the park bench in a fairly cold night, only wearing sweatpants and a little halter top. She was freezing inside and out but didn't seem to be bothered since her emotions were taking control over her.

She didn't know why she couldn't go back inside, something was stopping her. Her now ex-boyfriend was not even close to her at this very moment but he spent so much time at her apartment, she couldn't face the memories right now.

Just as she was thinking about all the things she'd seen that night; her boyfriend in the car parked in front of his own apartment with the girl he told her not to worry about; a familiar car rolled up and stopped right in front of her. In the middle of the street.

The door opened and Henry got out, immediately walking up to her. „Y/n it's freezing!" he grabbed her cold arms and pulled her on her feet. „Come on." He helped her get inside his car on the passenger seat and put the seatbelt on her.

He then turned up the heat to warm her up and turned his face towards her. Thick tears were running down her soft face and the strap of her top had slipped down her shoulder.

He adjusted it and eventually ran his thumb over her wet face to wipe away some tears. „You okay?"

Henry asked, despite knowing the answer.

She shook her head. Then she looked into his eyes for a brief second before he turned on the engine and spoke:"We need to get you warmed up."

He knew she wasn't much of a talker when it came to her feelings, especially not to him since she had had a boyfriend for such conversations. But he'd also known her before she'd met him. She wasn't a talker then either. She'd appreciate good music and a comfortable drive for hours.

So he turned on the radio, put it a little louder than usual and made his way back to his apartment.

The girl leaned her head against the cold window and watched the lights pass by.

She closed her eyes and tried not to cry any more. She knew she wasn't going to be able to talk about it tonight but it meant the world to her that at least someone cared enough to come for her.

Henry had always been a loyal and good friend to her. But when she'd met Matt, they lost each other. Met here and there once or twice but it hadn't been like it was before.

„Thank you." she spoke suddenly, yet not turning to face him. Henry didn't answer but she knew what he would have said. „Anytime". Thats what he'd say when she thanked him for basically anything.

It didn't take long until she recognized the building and the car came to a stop in the garage.

She got out of the car first. She wanted to lay down with a warm blanket. Maybe sleep first and worry tomorrow.

The two made their way up to the thirteenth floor to his apartment. After unlocking the door, she knew where to put her shoes. Despite the fact that she hadn't been there in 11 months, not much had changed. The painting she did for him was still up there on the wall above the record player. She smiled to herself and wandered the apartment while Henry hurried to his bedroom to grab some clothes for the girls cold body.

„Here." he spoke and handed her a sweatshirt far too big for her body. But without hesitation she slipped it over her head and grabbed onto her own upper body to warm up.

Henry walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of juice for her.

She loved apple juice, ever since they'd met a few years ago, he'd always had some at home for her.

Even after they lost touch, he still kept apple juice in his apartment.

„Y/n." he softly spoke and handed it to her. She took it, smiling and plopped herself down onto the big sofa. Grabbing a blanket, she wrapped it around her and continued staring out the window down to the city.

Henry sat beside her and tried to read her. She was focused on the lights while she seemed to be struggling to open the bottle. So he took it out of her hands, opened it with ease and handed it back to her. Then she laughed.

He hadn't heard that laugh in so long.

„Thanks." she said as he smiled at her. „Didn't get stronger I see?" Henry joked.

„Not really." Y/n took a sip of the sweet juice and handed the bottle to him.

He didn't hesitate, took it and drank out of the same bottle.

„How have you been?" she suddenly asked him, sounding awake and genuinely curious. He looked at her tired eyes. „I've been good. Was out of town for a few months, filming."

She smiled. „Yeah I heard. Work still good?" Henry smiled back. „It's amazing. More fun than ever, but draining too you know."

Henry turned to his left to fully look at her.

„Im proud of you, you know. Haven't been able to say that in a while. But I am, you know."

He'd forgotten how sweet she was.

„You're doing great. You are great. I'm glad people get to see that now."

He wanted to give her a hug but he didn't know how appropriate it'd be, considering why she was there.

„Thats really sweet y/n, thank you."

She smiled yet again.

„Are you tired?" He shook his head. „Not anymore. Are you?"

She shrugged her shoulders. „Im not sure why I called you to be honest. I guess I felt guilty."

-„Guilty for what?" He asked.

„Not talking to you for so long. Matt didn't like us being friends and I guess I felt guilty for letting this slip so easily."

Henry scooted a tiny bit closer. „Don't. It was both of us. I didn't call either I suppose." -„Yeah i know but I'm sorry. The only reason I didn't call was him. But since he's none of my business anymore, I felt like I needed to tell you why i didn't call. And now I can do whatever I want and meet whoever I want without him freaking out about it."

Henry nodded. „Im glad you did. Are you warm?"

She smiled and nodded at him. „Thank you."

-„Anytime." There it was.

„If you want, you can sleep in my bed tonight, I'll take the couch." Henry offered but the girl was smarter than that. „We used to share the bed a lot before him. He's gone now. And your bed is big enough. And to be honest, I don't wanna sleep alone tonight."

He was taken back by that. He didn't expect that. But it was true, they used to sleep in the same bed for months before Matt entered her life. Not in a romantic or a sexual way. They simply talked or listened to music before she usually fell asleep before him. In fact, the two had never had any romantic contact. He wouldn't dare to initiate anything, he know that if she wanted to, she'd show him.

„Alright, if you don't mind."

-„No you know I don't."

She eventually got up to go to the bathroom before heading to bed. Henry went back to the bedroom to get comfortable and to wait for her to close the door.

She washed her face before going to the bedroom as well. Henry was laying in bed already, wearing a shirt. He had always slept shirtless before.

„You good?" he asked when she slipped under the covers and cuddled into the familiar soft sheets.

„Yes." she yawned and steadied her breath.

Turning towards him, she smiled and said:"I missed this." Henry smiled back at the girl and replied:"Me too."

-„You know, you're better at cuddling than he ever was." The both of them chuckled at her statement and Henry took that as an invitation to scoot closer.

She didn't seem to mind because she leaned her head against his shoulder instinctively.

The girl felt his breath on her face and for the first time in a long time, she didn't feel like cuddling was one sided. He caressed her arm like the only times when he tried to calm her down or to help her fall asleep. His upper body was much stronger and much bigger than Matt's. She felt comforted and if she were honest, better in his arms. Like he meant it.

„I really missed this." she whispered as he leaned his head against her own.

„Mhmm" He hummed in response. „Henry?" she didn't mean to speak again but she did it anyways.

„Hm?" he asked sleepily. The girl turned her body towards him once again and placed a soft kiss on his left cheek. „Thanks." He smiled at her. She'd never done that before.

She lied back down and cuddled herself into his side, while his hand was still caressing her arm and hand.

She eventually grabbed his big hand and held it tight. He intertwined their fingers and smiled into her hair. He'd wanted this for too long and perhaps, after she'd healed, he might actually have a chance with the girl he'd loved for years.

[bitsy83]

A New Fishbowl

Just a little drabble I wanted to make in honor of the awesome @sketchnwhatevr and their wonderful short, Tiempre de Vals Which can be found here! https://youtu.be/13icsej1i64

Please watch before reading to understand refs. (NOTE: I can't remember if Pezmuerte's first name is Ozma or not, but for now let's just go with it)

"Again?!?" cried Felix, almost dropping the glass he was washing.

"Again," sighed Bruno.

It was Wednesday, which meant it was Felix and Bruno's turn to do the dishes, with the help of Antonio. It was the same arrangement as usual: Antonio allows Parce to lick food off the plates, then Felix washes, Bruno dries, and Casita takes over putting the dishes away. The two Madrigal men always looked forward to these days because it gave them a chance to chat. Today's conversation topic: Bruno's new girlfriend, Ozma Pezmuerte.

"And...and she was sure it was dead?" asked Felix.

"Well, I'm no expert, but I'm fairly certain fish don't swim belly up," said Bruno, setting down the plate while Casita moved its tiles towards the pantry. "This is like the fifth time it's happened."

"Seventh," said Antonio blatantly. "Pico's been keeping track."

Felix just shook his head. "Ay. What is she doing with those fish, bro?"

Bruno flung up his hands, exasperated. "I don't know! I mean, she cleans the bowl regularly, she makes sure they get fed every day. She even talks to them! She treats those fish like they were her own children."

"It's the bowl."

Felix and Bruno turn to Antonio who was holding one of the coffee cups for Parce to lick. The boy said the statement so matter-of-factly that it made the two adult men feel foolish for not considering it, even though they had no clue what that meant.

"Why does the bowl matter, hijo?" asked Felix.

Antonio sighed, rolling his eyes. "It's simple. Bowls aren't natural to a fish. Nature intended them to swim in ponds, rivers, and oceans. You put them in a bowl, you're not only stressing them out by removing them from their natural habitat, you're also putting them in an environment that they're unable to thrive in. Basically, every time Pezmuerte puts a fish in a bowl, she's sentencing it to a slow and torturous demise."

Antonio then handed the cup to his flabbergasted father and took another dirty dish from the pile. The two men just looked at each other, stunned.

"How...how did you know all that, Antonio?" asked Felix, both impressed and slightly horrified.

Antonio shrugged. "The fish told me."

"You can talk to fish too?" asked Bruno.

"Yeah. They're really smart. It's kind of hard to hear them underwater, though."

Felix shook his head and went to clean the cup in the sink. "Well, there you have it. Ozma just can't have pet fish anymore. Problema resuelto."

"No! ¡No problema resuelto!" groaned Bruno. "This isn't fair. She's a good woman; she doesn't deserve this! She loves fish the same way I love rats. She won't even eat them!"

Bruno sighed heavily as he leaned over the counter, rubbing his temple. It had been a month since the festival celebrating the return of Casita and the magic. Bruno was so hesitant to attend on account of his history with the town. At first, it was difficult, even with Mirabel's encouragement. No matter how hard he tried to ignore them, he could still feel the people staring at him, whispering behind his back while he danced with his niece. Just when he felt that things were going to back to how they used to be - him being a lonely, reclusive man - Ozma approached him and asked him to dance. He had known Ozma since they were children and, yes, she did blame him at the time for the death of her first fish, they still held a good friendship. He had always known he had feelings for her, but never dreamed they'd be mutual.

Ever since the festival, Ozma and Bruno had been seen together a lot in the town. Walking to the market, lunch by the river. They were even caught once or twice in a loving embrace. Bruno was thrilled when he was able to give her a new goldfish, but now it seems that fish were never meant to be kept as her pets. He knew he'd eventually have to break the news to her...

"I just...I just wish I could fix this somehow," mused Bruno.

Felix pursed his lips and thought. "Well, let's see. Obviously, bringing fish to her isn't the answer. Sooo...what if you brought her to the fish?"

Bruno cocked an eyebrow at his brother-in-law. "What do you mean?"

Felix gave a sideways smirk to his youngest child. "I think Antonio might be able to help, right hijo?"

But Antonio was hesitant. "I dunno, Papi..."

"Come on, hombrecito!" chided Felix. "Do you it for your Tío! Look at this guy! Can't you see the passion that burns in his eyes for his lady love? Can't you hear his heart beating like drums inside his chest? The man wants nothing more than to cherish the rain that waters the ground Ozma walks upon and..."

"OH-KAY! Let's tone it down at bit!" snapped Bruno. He almost forgot how passionate Felix would get when talking about love. "B-but seriously, Antonio, I could really use your help."

Antonio looked to Parce who just shrugged, wanting to lick another dirty plate. "Ok, Tío Bruno, but first we have to lay some ground rules."

***

"Ok, ok, careful. We're almost there."

"Bruno, where are we going?"

"You'll see; just keep your eyes closed."

Later that evening, Bruno had convinced Ozma to talk a walk with him in the jungle. She inquired as to why and Bruno simply replied "I'm going to show you a new fishbowl I found." When they were getting close to their destination, Bruno asked Ozma to close her eyes as he led the rest of the way. While her eyes were closed, she could hear running water, only heightening her curiosity.

Finally, they came to a stop. "Can I open my eyes now?" she asked softly.

"Yes. Abre los ojos."

What Ozma saw before her took her breath away. Bruno had led her to a gorgeous jungle spring. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. A luscious waterfall cascaded down large boulders into the clear, crystal waters. The foliage surrounding the large pool varied in vibrant shades of greens, pinks, oranges, and turquoise.

"Bruno," breathed Ozma, placing a hand to her chest. "This...this is wonderful!"

But Bruno wasn't done. "Look in the water," he encouraged, bringing her to the edge. She gazed into the pool and her smile grew even brighter. There were fish! Beautiful fish of all different shapes and colors. One looked much like a goldfish, but it was so large it could be the size of a trout! Very slowly, Ozma got on her knees and lightly traced her fingertips across the water's surface. One of the large colorful fish broke the surface, its large mouth opening and closing towards her hand. Clearly, it thought she was food. Ozma withdrew her hand, but still chuckled.

"They're called koi," said Bruno, sitting beside her. "Very similar to a goldfish."

"How did you find out about this place?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the fish as they swam.

"Weeeell, you can thank Antonio for that," Bruno smiled. "He found this place weeks ago. And the best part...." He then went to the edge of the trees and pulled back a few branches, showing a clear view of the town. "It's just a hop, skip, and a jump away. You can come here whenever you like. Just promise that none of the fish are removed? And, uh, check with me first before you bring any outside food. Antonio really wants to protect these little guys from...uh, he just wants them taken care of properly."

Ozma nodded in agreement. "I promise." She then stood and wrapped her arms around Bruno's waist, hugging him tightly. "This is the most beautiful fishbowl I've ever seen." She pulled back and gazed deeply into his eyes. "You truly are a wonderful man, Bruno Madrigal."

Bruno blushed and chuckled nervously. "I'm just happy I was able to - Mm!" Before he could finish, Ozma kissed him on the lips, causing his heart to soar. Melting into her arms, he closed his eyes and returned the kiss.

Meanwhile, a bit upstream, Felix and Antonio watched the two in their lovers' embrace. "That's our cue to vamos, Antonio," said Felix, lifting Antonio to his shoulders and heading back to town. "Thanks again for sharing your secret fish pond with them. I know they're gonna take good care of it."

"I hope so," grumbled Antonio. "I still think she kills fish for fun."

"Okay, we really gotta talk about your perspective on people..."

[gavin-plz-call-me]

The Brothers + Dateables & Luke react to MC owning a cat named lucifer

A/N- To attempt to avoid confusion, the demon Lucifer’s name will always be capitalized, while the cat lucifer’s name will never be capitalized.

~

“Now,” Diavolo said, obviously nearing the end of his speech, “Do you have any more questions, MC?”

You nod, “Is my cat up there all by himself?” you ask, “I don’t want him to get lonely, and without me he wont have anyone to feed him.”

The men, no, the demons in front of you stared, all obviously dumbstruck. You had been ripped out of your home, brought to a strange place, and told you were to live here for a year, and your first thought was of your cat? What a strange human you were.

“We can arrange someone to take care of your cat,” Diavolo said, smiling wide, but your face fell at his words. Diavolo seemed to sense your discontent as he spoke again, “Or we can arrange for your cat to be brought here?”

“Yes, please,” you spoke almost immediately.

Diavolo called for a demon named Barbatos, telling him to go to the human world to retrieve your cat. He disappeared then reappeared in a matter of seconds, your cat laying comfortably in his arms.

“Oh, lucifer,” You cooed, taking your cat away from Barbatos, kissing the cat’s forehead.

The hall went silent once again, before someone, the demon they introduced as Asmodeus, spoke up, “Honey, that’s Barbatos.” He said, a slight chuckle laced within the words.

Confused, you glance back up at the hall of demons, you point to your cat, “No? His name is lucifer.”

Lucifer

Can't decide if he's confused or insulted.

He's confused because, who the hell would someone name a cat of all things after a demon

and he's insulted because WHO THE HELL WOULD NAME A CAT AFTER HIM?

He's one of the strongest Demons in the Devildom, much stronger than a mere housecat, the insinuation that he, Lucifer, avatar of pride, shares anything in common with a cat has him fuming.

Of course, he shows none of these emotions outwardly, keeping his face stoic as always.

And any one of his brothers who dare joke about this cat's name will be hanged from the ceiling in a matter of seconds.

Is fairly annoyed with their shared name in day-to-day life, and not just because it's insulting.

But, many times a day, Lucifer'll hear his name called through the halls and, when he goes to investigate, one of his brothers is cooing over the damned pun intended cat.

Will eventually get used to lucifer and will definitely be seen cuddling with him.

Is like the dad who insists he doesn't want a cat, but as soon as he gets one they're inseparable.

At the end of the day, he loves that damn cat.

Mammon

Laughs out loud at the revelation that the cat's name is lucifer.

Until he realizes now he has to look after the human and the cat.

Will complain about it in typical Mammon fashion, but he warms up to lucifer about as quickly as he warms up to you.

Buys him a bunch of cat toys when he has the grimm, and loves to play with him

especially with a laser pointer.

Also loves to cuddle, but always acts very tsundere about it.

"What is it lucifer? Oh, of course, you want to cuddle with the Great Mammon."

Will either steal lucifer from your room at night, or sleep in your room to cuddle with him and totally not you, of course, but you should be honored he's even sleeping in your room.

Leviathan

Thinks it's hilarious as well.

Though he prefers anime, Levi is well versed in other human media, especially classic Disney films, so, because of Cinderella, he's well aware that lucifer is a popular cat name in the human realm.

That doesn't make it any less funny, though.

WILL NOT allow lucifer into his room.

He has too many expensive figurines to risk it

Plus, he doesn't want to risk Henry 2.0 getting hurt.

Will only play with, pet, or cuddle with lucifer if he initiates it.

"He probably doesn't want to be pet by a gross otaku like me," as if cats know what otakus are.

Will, at some point, sew lucifer a costume that looks suspiciously like what his older brother tends to wear.

He may or may not have been hanged for that one, but it was totally worth it.

Satan

Like Lucifer, Satan is conflicted.

On one hand, cat! He loves cats, he wants to pet this cat all day, and give him kisses and cuddles and love.

On the other hand, Satan would rather his soul be ripped apart than give love to something named after Lucifer.

Will try his hardest to completely ignore the cat's existence.

Has to leave the room if lucifer comes in because he can't trust himself to not pet him.

Is like this with lucifer until he sees him respond to the name luci as well.

After that, you cannot separate Satan from lucifer even if you tried.

Spoils him rotten.

The two are often found reading together in the library, Satan leisurely petting lucifer.

Fights with Mammon at least once a day for lucifer and always wins.

Goes on long rants about how cat lucifer is much better in every way than demon Lucifer.

Asmodeus

Another one who thinks it's hilarious.

Definitely thinks lucifer is cute but hates all the shedding, so he usually keeps his distance.

Like Levi, Asmo doesn't allow lucifer in his room.

Will constantly complain about fur getting all over his clothes.

Has had to buy more lint rollers in the first year you spent in the Devildom than he had bought in the last century.

Constantly posts pictures of lucifer on his Devilgram because, despite being a furry monster, he is just the cutest little kitten around.

Beelzebub

Thinks the name is a bit weird but accepts it pretty quickly.

It's just a name, after all, lots of people who are very different share names.

lucifer's food has to be hidden from Beel because he can, and will, eat it.

"It just smelled so good, and I was so hungry."

Apologizes by buying him some luxury cat treats that took all of Bee's willpower not to eat on the way home.

At first, he won't interact with lucifer unless lucifer approaches him.

Beel is so big, and lucifer is so small, he doesn't want to crush the little cat.

But with enough time and reinforcement, Beel will pick lucifer up himself for some much-needed cuddles.

Before Belphie comes down from the attic, Beel'll bring lucifer up to their room at night when he's feeling a bit more lonely than usual.

Beel will invite you up to his room as well.

Belphegor

Finds out about lucifer after everyone else, due to the whole, being locked in the attic, thing.

Hears Asmo trying to coax lucifer into a good pose from down the hall.

"Oh lucifer, cutie pie, you gotta look at the camera."

Is surprised that Asmo is still alive talking to Lucifer like that.

Is even more surprised when he turns the corner to find Asmo talking to a cat, not his eldest brother.

Thinks it's hilarious, but Lucifer is already over it so teasing him about it doesn't do much.

Won't actively seek out lucifer's attention, but will gladly nap with him.

Beel continues his habit of bringing lucifer up to their room for cuddles when Belphie returns, so the three of them usually end up in a big cuddle pile.

Bonus points if he brings you up too.

Diavolo

Thinks it's very amusing.

Laughs about it, probably for a bit too long.

He can't help it, especially because he knows Lucifer is most definitely a bit upset about it.

Will tease Lucifer once or twice about it, but will ultimately leave it alone.

When he visits the House of Lamentation, he'll give lucifer a nice pat, hello, but won't go very far beyond that.

Barbatos

Read lucifer's name tag while he was collecting him from the human realm.

Wasn't surprised in the slightest because nothing ever surprises him

Is definitely excited to see everyone's reactions to his name, and is not disappointed.

If given the chance, he will spend hours brushing lucifer's fur and pampering him

but doesn't get the chance to do so often, if ever.

Solomon

Has had a cat named lucifer in the past.

I mean, he's lived hundreds of years, it's not out of the realm of possibilities.

Named his own cat lucifer because he thought it was funny, and the humor hasn't faded since.

So he's very amused by this new lucifer in his life.

Will unabashedly cuddle and play with lucifer whenever he's given the chance.

I mean, this lucifer reminds him of his own cat, so he becomes pretty attached pretty quickly.

Whenever he visits the House of Lamentation, he'll hold lucifer until the very last minute he possibly can, and will be pretty sad when he has to leave.

Will joke about stealing lucifer, may actually try to steal him.

Simeon

Like Levi, Simeon is pretty well versed in human media, so the concept of cats named lucifer isn't new to him.

Still finds it a bit funny nonetheless.

Tells Michael right away.

Likes cats well enough, and, when he's in the House of Lamentation, will seek out a few pets from the kitten

but he doesn't venture to the House of Lamentation too often, so he never grows too close to lucifer.

Luke

WHY? WOULD YOU NAME A CAT? AFTER A DEMON?

There are so many better names for a cat!

Like whiskers, or oreo, or simba.

Is genuinely confused, and maybe even a bit concerned.

He's afraid you were consorting with demons before coming to the Devildom and that's why you named him lucifer.

After his brief stay in the House of Lamentation, Luke is absolutely in love with lucifer.

Plays with him constantly.

Wants to pick him up, but doesn't know how to.

Luke will end up getting scratched eventually, but Luke forgives him.

Bakes lucifer special cat treats and hopes you'll let him feed lucifer one.

[kaaytea]

How about being the manager of Inarizaki, Nekoma, Seijoh and Shiratorizawa and how the boys would feel when they finally finally get a manager? :0

New Manager

⤷Includes: Nekoma, Inarizaki, Seijoh, Shiratorizawa

A/n: I haven't written for the HQ boys in a hot minute so I was sUper hyped for this! Thank you for the request, dear 💕

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

Nekoma

Nekoma has been manager-less for so long that literally the entire team was dumbfounded when they spotted you chilling next to Nekomata

Like hello??? Who are you and what are you doing in their gym???

There's a good few seconds of silence when Nekomata introduces you

Despite being cats, they greatly resembled their Fukurodani rivals as they blinked back at you with big curious eyes

That is until Yamamoto slumps to his knees and starts tearing up, blabbering on about how they've been blessed with a manager while a quiet Fukunaga pats his back in an almost humouring manner

Yamamoto's out burst is what loosens up the team and they start making their way to introduce themselves to you

The first is Kuroo, who approaches you with a welcoming smirk which was quickly followed by a gentle smile from Kai and a reassuring pat on the back from Yaku

The first years are VERY eager to meet you! Lev and Inouka are bouncing around you spewing out questions to the point where Yaku has to kick them both and send them off to warm up

Sweet Shibayama very nervously bows at you and thanks you for taking care of the team (what a baby 🤧💕)

The entire team absolutely loves you by the end of your first day (yes even the aloof creature that is Kenma, though he'll never admit it)

Nekoma's inner team dynamic is very familial and you're immediately sucked into the little family vibes they got going on

The first years love to be around you! (Specifically Lev bc you're not as mean to him as everyone else)

The first years are always volunteering to help you carry equipment or water bottles

You once caught one of the jokes Fukunaga muttered during practice so now the two of you bounce little puns and jokes off of eachother to see who can get the other to laugh first (he is currently winning. although, you got him to tear up from laughing so hard once which you've been counting as 10 wins)

The third years tend to mother hen you a bit, specifically Yaku and Kuroo

Kuroo made it very clear to you that you're apart of the team even if you don't play on the court, so as captain it's his job to make sure all his players are ok (mentally, physically, socially, you name it! He's always looking out for you and is basically your big brother)

You and Yaku bond over the fact that you're both the unofficial team moms. The two of you are very organized and have a whole ass check list that you BOTH go over at least twice before the team leaves for a game or training camp

Kai is like your calm in the storm that is Nekoma. The two of you have had numerous conversations about anything from books to cafés and he's always willing to lend an ear if you need to rant

Kenma is a fairly distant person but he warms up to you when he notices how caring you are. He even let's you play his DS on the train rides to and from Nekoma

Inarizaki

You're a brave soul if you are willingly becoming the manager of Inarizaki

Kita is actually the one who asked if you wanted to be the teams manager

He saw you cleaning the board in a classroom during lunch break and was impressed by how well of a job you did

It doesn't matter if you said yes out of fear from Kita's blank stare or because you were genuinely interested bc now you're standing in the volleyball gym, clad in Inarizaki's signature maroon tracksuit

The team notices you instantly, particularly a certain blonde Miya

Before Kita even got a chance to introduce you to everyone, Atsumu had wandered over to you with a lazy smile tugging at his lips

Atsumu introduced himself and then started asking what you were doing here

"Are ya lost?" "Ya here to admire me?" "Ya dating one of the players?"

You didn't get a chance to answer his questions as Osamu lovingly threw a Volleyball at Atsumu, cutting off any moment you had to respond

The only problem was that Atsumu noticed the volleyball rOcketing towards him and scrambled out of the way like a startled cat, leaving the ball to hit you instead of its intended target

The silence that hung over the gym was deafening as the younger team members watched Kita and Aran rush over to assist your now bloody nose

Just as quick as it had started, the silence was broken by Atsumu yelling at his brother for hitting a helpless person in the face and the gym quickly descended into madness

Aran held a towel to your nose and gave you a few encouraging pats on the back as the both of you watched Kita chew out the twins (safe to say Kita was hard on them during practice)

Osamu approached you during a water break to apologize and, to the surprise of the entire team, gave you the extra pudding he had as a peace offering

Since that incident Osamu and Atsumu stopped throwing volleyballs at each other's heads (at least when you were around that is)

The team is also surprisingly protective of you

The glares people get at tournaments if they try to flirt with you are terrifying

You become pretty close with Suna as the both of you tend to sit back and watch Atsumu and Osamu fight (you tried to step in once but they literally only respond to Kita so it didn't do much)

Suna also pats you on the head whenever he passes you

(it's something he does to his little sister to show some form of affection/appreciation and now he does it to you for the very same reasons)

This goes with out saying, but the twins love you

Osamu still feels bad about the whole hitting you in the face thing so he always shares any snacks he's got on him with you

Atsumu truly just likes being babied by you

Any ounce of praise or happy smiles directed at him has him acting like a puppy

(does 'Tsumu have a tiny crush on you? Yep he totally does!)

Kita and Aran are absolute sweethearts!! They are both very grateful for all the work you put in and treat you to boba every other week as a thank you :))

Seijoh

It was a new school year and you decided to push yourself out of your comfort zone a bit

What better way to do that then be a manager for a sports team!

Apparently one of your classmates let it slip that you were looking to be a manager for a sports team because you were approached by a very buff and very attractive guy a few days after asking if you'd be interested in helping the volleyball team

You happily agreed to do a trial day that afternoon, to which the player, who you now know as Iwaizumi-san, breathed a sigh of relief and said he'd pick you up after school to take you to the gym

So the school day is over, Iwaizumi meets you outside your classroom and you're off!

As you walk to the gym he fills you in on some of the tasks the manager would have to do

The job didn't sound that terrible so you were a bit confused as to why Iwaizumi was having such a hard time finding a manager

"Let's just say that the applicants were more interested in staring at our captain than the actual job." He had told you

Ok so first unofficial rule....don't stare at the Seijoh volleyball team's captain? A bit odd but who were you to judge, maybe the guy was shy and didn't like attention

Your thoughts were cut off by the crisp slap! Of a ball hitting the floor followed by a few short yells from the players littered across the court

Your attention was then caught by the sensation of someone draping their arm over your shoulders and a tangy apple smell invading your senses

"Oh? I didn't know you were dating someone, Iwa-chan~"

Iwaizumi shoved the brunette off of you and quickly explained that you were just here to test out being the manager for the day

The player's eyes lit up and he turned to you with a bubbly smile, introducing himself as Seijoh's captain, Oikawa Tooru

Ah, Captain.... Now you knew why they were having trouble finding someone who didn't stare

Your first day went fairly smooth, just a few blunders that were quickly forgotten by the team after Oikawa cheerfully told you: "Everyone has to start somewhere, (y/n)-chan!"

After the first week you had to admit that the Aoba Johsai volleyball team were quickly becoming some of your best friends, you all fit together like a dysfunctional family

Makki, Mattsun, and Iwa would always agree/praise you when you joined in one the daily Oikawa roast session

Oikawa (when he wasn't pouting about how "mean" you are to him) was fairly sweet to you

He spent the first month helping you learn the rules about volleyball and explaining the lingo the team often used during plays

Although, he does jokingly flirt with you about 40 thousand times a week so...

Kindaichi is a nervous wreak around you the first few weeks. Eventually his nervous demeanor melts away. Now he goes to you whenever he needs someone to toss the ball up for him so he can practice his spikes

Kunimi likes you simply because you let him get away with napping during water breaks

Kyotani acts like you annoy him but if anyone made you cry or hurt you in some way he would burn the entire gym down in a heartbeat

Did I mention that Seijoh are also very protective of you?

When at tournaments they travel in a small pack with you in the middle to reduce the chances of you getting hit on

Shiratorizawa

Shiratorizawa is a very nice and prestigious school so you thought why not participate in an extracurricular that would be beneficial for, not only your resume, but you yourself as well!

Out of all the clubs you chose volleyball which you're starting to regret a bit since one of your friends informed you that the team is a powerhouse school

Which means you can't make a bad impression or silly mistakes.....at all

That entire philosophy is thrown oUt the window on your second day as the official manager

You somehow managed to trip over your own feet and slam into a cart full of spare balls AND spill the water bottles you were carrying all over yourself

You were hoping that the team, by some miraculous reason, didn't notice but the stifled giggles from a certain red head said otherwise

You would give anything for the ground to just swallow you up and disappear forever

But then you saw a pair of gym shoes standing in front of you and when you looked up you were met with THE Ushijima Wakatoshi, captain and ace of shiratorizawa, offering you help to stand up

You hadn't seen Ushijima be more than a stoic and intimidating guy so you were even more surprised when he gave one of his spare shirts to change into now that you had spilt water on yourself

I guess you could say your little clumsy episode was what broke the ice for you and the team

Tendou loves talking with you

You're an interesting person to him and he finds great pleasure in teasing you (in his own words it's "out of love")

Ushijima ended up not being as intimidating as you originally pegged him to be. Instead, he was just a quiet guy who surprisingly could say some pretty funny things (whether or not he intended it to be funny)

Goshiki just loves you. Period.

You praise him and give him head pats so he couldn't be happier!

Tendou and Shirabu tease him all the time about how he has a case of puppy love for you (which Goshiki aggRessively denies no matter how red his face is)

Semi is someone who is grateful for your assistance with the team and does his very best to get Tendou out of your hair when you're trying to do your manager work. He also shares his headphones with you on long bus rides so you can listen to music together!

[rogue-durin-16]

AN UNUSUAL YEAR (Part IV/V)

Summary: After having little to no interest on girls for five years, Fred suddenly feels the need to nag the shit out of a certain witch, completely oblivious to the reason behind it.

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Slytherin!Reader

Genre: fluff (+ enemies to lovers)

Taglist:

An unusual year: @natural-hearts @manuosorioh @lumos-solemn @westyywifee @whiskeyn-rain @warlock--protection @gossip-girl-ecr @fandomscombine @birdy944 @28cnn

Permanent taglist: @elia-the-bibliophile @randomparanoid @karlthecat15722 @thebutchersdaughtersblog

Warnings: none

A/N: BOI IS THIS LOOONG. I knew this part would get a bit out of hand since I wanted to write all of this in the same chapter but still damn. Anyway, enjoy <3

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part V

Rogue-durin-16 masterlist

Here's a variety of Yule Ball outfits for y'all 👀:

Outfit 1 outfit 2 outfit 3 outfit 4 outfit 5

"You sure you don't wanna come to the ball?" I asked Mathilda, climbing down the dormitories' stairs.

"No, I'd rather stay..." Her mouth opened in agape when she saw me. "You look... Wow."

"Why, thank you." I replied, walking towards my best friend with a smile. "I'll probably be here before 10:00 pm." I assured her, squeezing her shoulders. "And we can gossip a bit."

"Already looking forward to it." Mathilda patted my hand with a chuckle. "Have fun, will you?"

I nodded and waved her goodbye before leaving the common room.

"Bloody hell, Y/l/n!" George, who as promised, had been waiting for me at the entrance of the dungeons, shamelessly though harmlessly, checked me out. "You clean up nice, huh?"

"Of course I do." I walked to meet him at his spot. "You don't look so bad yourself, Weasley." With his chin up and a proud smile, he offered me his arm, which I gladly took, and we headed off to the Great Hall.

A fairly big crowd had formed at the doors, mostly conformed by people who were waiting for their partner slash group, and some not-so-subtle gossips.

While I intended to go straight into the Hall, George tugged me away from the shortest path, claiming that he wanted to 'have an overall view'.

I reckoned he had something else in mind when we passed by Fred and Angelina, both immersed in their conversation until my friend caught a glimpse of us.

"Damn Y/n!" I held back George, who was playing dumb for some reason, and made my way to the couple. "You look SO good, doesn't she, Fred?" She nudged her partner, giving him a knowing grin.

"I guess you look nice." His nonchalant reply was accompanied with a shrug.

"She looks breathtaking, actually." George's correction left me staring at him speechless. "Just like Angelina."

Oh well. "Yeah" I agreed, clinging onto my partner's forearm, finally getting a vague idea of what was going on —not quite there yet, though. "Angelina, love, you look astonishing, right George?"

"Right." I could see my friend's cheeks reddening ever so slightly whilst making eye contact with George.

"Shall we go in?" I suggested, already heading to the gates.

FRED'S P.O.V

'Breathtaking' was the exact word I was thinking about when Angelina asked me about Y/n, and George knew it.

The girls probably didn't catch how my jaw dropped when I saw her, but my brother did.

He knew it.

"Go with her, yeah?" I requested to Angelina, gesturing at Y/n and at the Great Hall simultaneously. "George, can I have a word with you?"

He nodded and whispered "Go on, ladies." before walking to me. "What is it, Freddie?"

"What's your game?"

"I think I don't follow." The fact that he had the nerve to speak that blantant lie angered me more than I would ever admit.

"Why is she your date?"

"Why is she not your date?" He retorted, triggering a gasp from me, followed by a scoff. "You're not only completely oblivious, you're also a coward."

"Beg your pardon?" Was the only thing I could bring myself to say; I blamed the shock caused by my brother's nonsense.

"AND you stole my date." Oh, so this was about Angelina. "Now if you excuse me," he patted my back a couple times. "I'll go dance all night with MY absolutely breathtaking date."

"Have fun with Slytherin girl, Georgie." I replied, sprinting to reach him. "I'll go dance with our beautiful Angelina."

"Tosser." I could hear him say as I jogged into the Hall to reach the girls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

READER'S P. O. V.

George probably wasn't the best dancer, but he clearly knew some moves, and made me want to stay on the dancefloor for a good couple of hours, having a great time.

That's one of the reasons why I decided to help him out.

"Oi!" He leaned on and I stood on my tiptoes, holding onto his forearms so I could speak directly into his ear. "Wanna dance with Angelina?"

"Maybe" He slightly pulled away and both our gazes spotted the girl, dancing madly with Fred. "Yeah! Yeah I do!" He shouted so I could hear him over the music, now that we were apart.

"Alright, come!" I tugged his hand and together we narrowed the already short distance between them and us.

The timing was perfect, almost as if it was meant to be like that; the moment we reached them a slow song started to play.

"Angelina, may I steal your date for a dance?" I requested, not waiting for Angelina's nod before letting go of George and tugging Fred's hand. "You can have mine." I spared my friend a teasing smile and a wink while I pulled her date away from George and her.

"Stealing me away, huh?" Once we were far enough, I spun around and held up one of his hands, his left one falling on my waist and my right one on his shoulder. "Eager to be near me again, Y/l/n?"

"So I'm not 'Slytherin girl' anymore?" I raised my eyebrows at him with a smirk on my face as we swayed.

"You heard that?" All from sudden he turned somehow self-conscious.

"This may come as a shock to you," I peeked over his shoulder to check on George and Angelina. "but you two are quite loud."

"I didn't mean it." His word had way more regret than necessary for something as stupid as what he was sort of apologizing for.

"I know." My eyes returned to his just in time for him to made me twirl and pulling me back to him, this time a bit closer than we were before. "Asking Angelina out was a shitty move." I pointed out.

"You won't believe me," he began, "But I completely forgot." I snorted. "I swear!" His eyes widened and both our mouths twisted into an amused smile. "She was near me when Ron asked me who I'd be taking, and I didn't think twice."

A soft, genuine laugh escaped my lips; one which made the boy in front of me smile.

"Is he pissed?"

"Earlier? Very. Now?" I gestured behind Fred, urging him to look at his twin brother, now kissing Angelina. "I don't think so, no."

This time it was his laugh that made a smile tug the corners of my mouth.

"You do look breathtaking." He spoke quietly, almost in a whisper. "Dunno why I didn't tell you earlier."

"Because you're a twit." He chuckled, shaking his head with his eyes fixed on our feet. "You look very handsome, though."

"I am very handsome." He corrected me, looking at me again, now with that damn smug face.

Out of every possible comeback, I chose the one that he expected the least. "Yes, you are." His cheeks turned mildly red and his grin fluttered; I counted it as a win.

"You're beautiful." He returned the compliment, after a moment of silence, to which I responded with a confident 'I know'. "So cocky."

"That makes the two of us." I pointed out.

Silence fell among us again. Comfortable silence, though, one that I could get used to.

Another twirl, another pull to stand even closer.

A small lean was enough for my head to rest against his chest. I blamed tiredness for the need to do that, but I didn't find anything to blame for the way his heart was pounding against his chest, nor for that strange feeling in my stomach.

As soon as he took a deep breath, we both eased into each other's arms, giving up the tension that our bodies had held.

We stayed like that for a while, until I looked around and realized most people had left, George and Angelina included; the dancefloor was now almost empty.

"I don't know what time is it," I spoke, letting my fingertips trace random patterns over his shoulder, dancing down to his chest.

"Me neither" he spoke, making me sway.

"I reckon this is the longest we've been together without jumping down each other's throats." I observed. "And it's probably the longest—"

My words died when, without any kind of warning, his lips landed on mines.

His right hand unconsciously gripped mine for an instant with such force, almost as if it was holding onto it for dear life.

Before I could even think about kissing him back, he retreated back to his previous position, offering me a smile I couldn't decipher accompanied by a wink that made him look relaxed an confident.

All façade, I thought to my self, as he said nothing —no teasing, no cracking jokes; he just kept slowdancing, his hands now more loose, seeming like he was prepared for me to run away; his gaze was also casted down and his cheeks flushing.

I would have teased him if it wasn't for the way I felt my own face burning.

I did let go of his hold, and he subtly stepped back, lowering his arms.

Just like me, he didn't have time to react when I pulled him down, cupping his cheeks for a proper kiss, which he returned instantly.

I felt both his hands on my hips as he leaned on, drawing me against him as close as he possibly could, while my hands left his cheeks to circle his neck.

All of a sudden I remembered that I needed to breath; I broke away, leading my hands to his shoulders, where I could feel how heavy his breathing was.

"What's just happened?" I mumbled, my eyes fluttering open to look into his.

"Dunno." He confessed. "Did you like it?"

"Very much." I replied instinctively, not bothering on thinking it through.

"Wicked." He muttered against my lips before going in for the third kiss, this one more heated.

With a hand on his chest i slightly pushed him away, scanning the place around us before asking, "Wanna go for a walk around the castle?"

"Please." His response was so immediate that we both had to chuckle at it.

"Wicked." I mocked, earning a playful push from him. I my fingers interlaced with his and I led the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

FRED'S P. O. V.

"Shhh!" I playfully shushed Y/n's giggles, loosely hugging her from behind with my lips pecking her shoulder as we went downstairs in the direction of her House. "You don't want us to get caught, do you?" I let go of her waist just when we found ourselves halfway through the corridor.

"Merlin's beard—" Y/n, who had turned to face me, widened her eyes at the sight of me under the dim lights of the dungeons. "You're a mess." She whispered between quiet laughs, raising her hands up to my face to try and remove some of the lipstick stains she had left all over me.

"Don't you dare laugh, woman." I feigned pain, only making her giggle more. "You made a mess out of me."

She held my chin and moved my face from side to side, checking if she had made it any better. "What am I supposed to do with your neck?" She huffed.

"Place a couple more kisses there?" I suggested with a smirk, fixing her hair as best as I could. "Or a bite, you choose."

"I'm serious." Her thumb gently rubbed the side of my neck, sending shivers down my spine.

"Let them there for people to see." I was joking. My tone was playful. I didn't really mean it.

It was just a joke, right?

Her hands slid down my chest before leaving my body. "I'd rather not to." She replied absent-minded, making me realize that maybe I wasn't joking; maybe I wanted people to see— to know.

She didn't, though.

"Hey, everything's alright?" She questioned, concern making its way to her face when her eyes found mines.

"Of course." I replied— no, I lied. I lied to her and to myself. "Just tired."

"No wonder why." She laughed at her own innuendo, but the only thing she got out of me was an unenthusiastic half smile. "I'm gonna head back now." She added, probably sensing something wasn't right. "Get some sleep."

"I'll go have a shower." I informed her, stepping back in the stairs' direction without breaking eye contact.

"See you in a couple of hours." She responded, mirroring my moves, but towards her common room.

I nodded briefly before heading up to my own House, craving a cold shower to shake her voice off my mind and detach her touch and kisses from my skin.

[glimmerglanger]

getting up (while you’re down)

So, ah, I was inspired to write some goofy getting-together Codywan. Set during the war. Full of misadventures surrounding Obi-Wan’s clothing (or the removal of it, anyway). Dedicated to @mocha-bear, as an apology aha :D. Ended up NOT actually having any spiciness, just a fade to black because that felt fitting with the tone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The galaxy was punishing Cody.

He didn’t know what he’d done, but, then again, in his experience the galaxy didn’t need a reason to exact punishment on someone. Things just happened, and then people had to deal with them.

Currently, he was having to deal with the fact that Obi-Wan had decided to wear his kriffing meditation leggings onto the bridge. He’d said something about Grievous ruining his last pair of slacks but, honestly, Cody hadn’t been listening.

His boots didn’t look quite right over the leggings, but, to be fair, Cody wasn’t really paying much attention to the boots, either. He’d caught looks at Obi-Wan’s legs before, obviously, glimpses when his trousers tore. And he’d gotten used to seeing those legs wrapped up in leggings, when Obi-Wan meditated and sometimes when he sparred.

But Cody had learned how to brace for those times.

He wasn’t prepared to have to focus on the Senate’s new orders while Obi-Wan was standing right there in leggings. 

It was making it hard to concentrate. He knew Obi-Wan had been forced to repeat a question twice, because focusing on answering him meant focusing on the state of his dress and that meant focusing on strong thighs and--

“Commander?” Obi-Wan asked, frowning over at him, head cocking to the side. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes,” Cody lied, because he felt entirely too itchy under his skin and, also, he wasn’t just wearing leggings. The Kaminoans hadn’t been exactly generous with space, when designing their armor. Things were starting to get uncomfortably snug. They’d pinch, if his condition continued to...progress.

“Are you sure?” Obi-Wan asked, and that was when Tektek came into the room carrying caff for everyone, did a double-take in Obi-Wan’s direction, and the universe decided to punish Cody a little bit more.

#

“I’m really sorry, General,” Tektek said, after he tripped on nothing and spilled caff all down Obi-Wan’s back. “Just--I don’t know what happened.” Cody had a pretty good idea what had happened. He’d been in prime position to see Tektek’s head dip down as he took a good look. 

“It’s quite alright,” Obi-Wan said, for the second time, as though he hadn’t just had scalding hot liquid poured down his back. “These things happen,” he added, which was fine and true, except these things happening had him peeling off his outer tunic and grumbling, “Oh, it went all the way through. Would you hold this?”

Cody took his tunic automatically, consumed with the awareness that his General was, in fact, taking his clothes off on the bridge. Which was not… entirely without precedent. The Jedi, for the most part, didn’t seem to have many qualms about nudity or their bodies.

Which was perfectly alright, of course, except that it meant Cody had missed another question, because he’d been busy watching Obi-Wan pull at his thinner undertunic, twisting to look at his back. “What?” Cody asked, feeling like he’d perhaps taken a stunner to the back of the head.

“I said,” Obi-Wan said, looking back at him and arching an eyebrow, “do you think you can finish this up while I go and change?”

“Of course.” Cody wasn’t entirely sure what he was agreeing to handle. His gut said he ought to be handling Obi-Wan, standing there with his thin tunic half-plastered to him, and his leggings and--

“Thank you, Commander,” Obi-Wan said, turning to go, and oh, the caff really had gone all the way through, painting the undertunic to his back, the dip of his spine and the generous, lovely swell of--

Crys walked into a console on the other side of the bridge, swore, and made a pained sound. “Everything alright?” Obi-Wan asked, hesitating, just standing there, and Cody really, truly needed to get his eye-line anywhere other than where it was, but, well.

It wasn’t as though he didn’t know about Obi-Wan’s….physical attributes. It was just that most of the time they were covered up with layers upon layers. There was a physical barrier there to remind him that the things he thought about in his quarters weren’t really...well. Appropriate.

His General had a dimple, apparently, right on the side of his--

“Fine, sir,” Crys wheezed out, waving a hand a little. “Don’t know what came over me.”

“I could help you down to the medbay,” Obi-Wan said, changing directions, concern written all over his expression. “We could have Bones take a look at you.”

“Not necessary,” Crys said, sounding agonized. Cody could imagine why. He wouldn’t want Bones assessing his current condition, either.

“If you’re sure,” Obi-Wan said, with another little frown, and Cody got a clear look at him from the front, and Prime’s wrinkled ass, but that was really no better, no better at all, but at least he was leaving to put some clothes on. 

And that was when the galaxy decided to kick Cody when he was down.

Proximity alarms started going off and Crys yelled, voice getting sharper, “It’s seppies, sir! I don’t know where they came from, but--” The first explosions started, right around then.

#

By the end of the fight, some hours later, Obi-Wan had lost the undertunic. Cody didn’t know where it had gone. All he really knew, lowering his blaster as the last droid fell in a crumbled heap, was that the thin shirt Obi-Wan wore beneath the tunics was barely staying on.

One shoulder had torn when a droid tried to grapple him. It was sort of hanging off of his side, dipping open a little more each time he moved and--

Cody holstered his blaster, firmly, and did his best to holster the thoughts in his head. It didn’t help that the fight had left his blood singing, thrumming along in his veins. It didn’t help that Obi-Wan’s chest was sheened with sweat, or that he was barely breathing hard, or that Cody could see, when he leaned forward, the shift of muscle all down his back.

“--alright?” Obi-Wan asked, nudging him in the shoulder, strands of hair sticking to his face, his cheeks just a little flushed.

Cody managed not to make an incriminating sound by biting his tongue. He nodded, instead of talking, because this was, truly, uncomfortably close to some of the made-up scenarios he indulged in on particularly flustered nights.

He’d been trained to consider all possibilities. To let scenarios play out, to run through them, but he was fairly sure the Kaminoans hadn’t intended him to consider how he might go about pushing his General against a bulkhead after a fight. 

He had anyway.

“Did you get hit?” Obi-Wan asked, the wolfish grin he’d worn at the end of the fight falling away. He stepped a little closer, tugging at Cody’s armor which...did not help matters at all. 

“No,” Cody said, and cleared his throat, because there were freckles, apparently, out on the curve of Obi-Wan’s shoulder and he didn’t need to know that any more than he needed to know about the dimple on his-- “I’m fine, sir.”

Obi-Wan frowned at him. “You don’t seem fine. In fact, you haven’t seemed fine all day. What’s--kriffing hell,” he snapped the last, looking upwards as the universe drew back its foot to nail Cody again, likely directly in the kriffing balls, and the emergency fire suppressant system kicked on above them.

#

“Well, this has been an adventure,” Obi-Wan said, after someone, somewhere finally got the sprinklers to turn off. He was soaked to the skin, undershirt clinging to his skin, gone sheer from the water. 

Cody grunted a reply. It seemed all he could manage, trying desperately not to watch a droplet of water drip off the end of a strand of Obi-Wan’s hair, hit his shoulder, and roll down over his collarbone. Cody felt, abruptly, parched, mouth gone dry and it would be very easy to lean forward and lick that droplet up, but--

It would also be very easy for Obi-Wan to kick him off the Negotiator, afterwards. Still, he considered, gaze slipping helpless downwards, it might be worth it.

“This is ridiculous,” Obi-Wan said, sighing, walking down the hall a step ahead of him. “This entire day has been one misfire after another.” He turned into a room, reaching a hand back and grabbing the collar of what was left of his shirt as he did, pulling it over his head.

And, really, the water had spread the fabric over him like a second skin. It wasn’t like, a moment ago, Cody had been unable to see the line of his spine, the shift and movement of his shoulderblades. But watching him take his clothes off, the reveal of creamy skin, muscle, and darker scars set like little accents, here and there--

Well.

Cody made to follow - he wasn’t sure where they were going, he was just following along - and misjudged the location of the door frame because he wasn’t looking at it, because something had torn the waistband of Obi-Wan’s leggings, and, apparently, the only thing keeping them up was the water or possibly how lovingly tight there were. He walked fully into the frame, cursing at the sudden and unexpected pain across his forehead and cheek.

“Cody?” Obi-Wan asked, turning back and swearing while Cody brought a hand up. “Are you alright?” Obi-Wan demanded, stepping closer before Cody could reassure him that, yes, he was fine.

The words strangled off when Obi-Wan shifted into his space, frowning, reaching up to bat Cody’s hand out of the way. “What happened?” he asked, adding, “Well, you’re bleeding. Here.” And he pressed the tattered remains of his shirt against Cody’s forehead. “Hold this.”

“I’m fine,” Cody managed to say, belatedly, hoping that no one ever heard that he walked into a door hard enough to split the skin because he’d been too distracted by the way his General’s ass looked - firm, dimpled, and oh, it was so easy to imagine gripping - in some leggings. 

Obi-Wan met his gaze, an eyebrow arched, and said, “Obviously not. Come in, I think I’ve still got some bacta in here.”

Which was how Cody found himself standing in Obi-Wan’s quarters, holding Obi-Wan’s shirt against his forehead. Obi-Wan moved over to the little kitchenette, stretching up on his toes to open a cabinet and, well, on the plus side, Cody didn’t really feel the pain in his head.

On the negative side, he didn’t feel it because he was busy trailing his gaze from the line of Obi-Wan’s arm, down his back, to that dimple that he desperately wanted to sweep his thumb over, or, hell, his tongue, and--

“--listening to me? Oh,” Obi-Wan was, apparently, saying. Cody jerked his gaze up, in time to realize that the universe had delivered a parting blow to his ribs. Obi-Wan had looked over his shoulder and was, at that moment, staring back at him, expression unreadable. After a beat, his eyes narrowed and he said, “Wait, all day, have you been--”

“It’s the pants,” Cody cut in, the words springing onto his tongue quite without his permission.

Obi-Wan cocked his head to the side, turning, still watching him with that sharp, weighing expression in his eyes, though his mouth had started twitching up in the corners. “There’s something wrong with my pants?” he asked.

“No,” Cody said, because, really, there was nothing at all wrong with them, he loved those pants. “Yes,” he corrected himself, because, Force, maybe he’d hit his head harder than he thought. Or maybe the problem was that none of the blood in his body had been making it all the way to his brain for most of the day. “I mean--” He shut his mouth, it seemed the safest way forward.

Obi-Wan mouth curved, just a little. He leaned back against the counter and said, airily, “Oh, well, if they’re a problem, I suppose I could take them off.”

Cody’s gut jerked as he stared across at Obi-Wan, his breath caught and held in the back of his throat, because--

Obi-Wan said, easy, “You could help.”

And Cody decided, abruptly, that mayde the universe wasn’t punishing him at all.

[rhenuvee]

“Your Tip, Love.” (Fred Weasley x reader)

A/N: Can students get part-time jobs...? Idk but just go with it dude.

Taglist: @obsessedwithrandomthings​

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

Why did your mom tell you to get a job? You weren’t poor, nor was this to look good or have work experience. She just hated when you had nothing to do at Hogwarts. It didn’t have to be a good job, but your mom knew that if you didn’t have anything to do you’d die of boredom.

And that’s why you’ve been working at Honeydukes starting this year. On the contrary, standing in the middle of the shop and offering samples of candies seemed to lose your interest very quickly throughout the weeks. At least you got discounts on the candies. 

“(Y/n)! Could you get me a Bertie Bott’s every flavour beans- pretty please?” 

“No!”

Unfortunately, it was highly embarrassing when your friends burst into the shop and demanded free candies from you. Even worse if you see a classmate or someone you worked on an assignment with. Every Saturday, it was a ritual of you crossing your fingers and praying to every great wizard you didn’t see a familiar face and make it awkward.

This Saturday, it seemed to be going fairly well. The customers who were willing to try a sample were very nice, and no one you knew came in. Ahh, today was going to be-

“George hurry up!” 

You froze. You recognized that voice- you definitely spoke too soon. 

Fred Weasley, you definitely knew him, who wouldn’t? Famous prankster along with George and Lee. One of Gryffindor’s star beaters. And you for sure wouldn’t forget him after that one time you were paired with him to do that assignment in potions. 

You remember awkwardly walking to the table for you to work together. You felt sweaty- did you stand too far or too close to him? He did help you which was the opposite of his usual antics. Except you noticed from the corner of your eyes that he was grinning the whole time... why was this important?

You did not realize until your friend flat out told you- they thought you liked him, and that he liked you. They somehow noticed how smiley he was around you- which you did have to admit was out of place because y’all were in potions! And of course they saw your awkward and knew how clammy your hands would get when you were nervous. It was a day of relentless teasing.

But back to a present time problem- Fred, George and Lee had just walked into the store. They were bound to see you, you were practically a sitting duck. 

Your panic mode gave you three options:

Fight - “Hi Fred!” but who were you kidding, your confidence was level 0. 

Flight - Run away and have Mr. and Mrs. Flume scold you? Plus, wouldn’t that make you a tad dramatic?

Freeze - And then you could-

“Are those chocolate frogs?” asked Lee Jordan. You were snapped out of your thoughts and your face started to get hot instantly.

“Um, yeah would you like one?” you said shyly stretching out the tray of sweets.

“Free samples? Wicked.” The boys each took one chocolate frog from the tray and started to browse around the shop for any other sweets that interested them. 

You weren’t able to see Fred’s reaction to seeing you, but knowing that he didn’t say anything made you guess that he didn’t recognize you, or something along those line. You turned your head in the boys’ direction. They were distracted by the shelves of candies and were not making things awkward with you.

You sighed a breath of relief and checked the watch on your left wrist. Your shift was almost done, and you could finally return to your dorm and flop on the bed. 

The three boys paid for their treats and left the store. You took one last glance at them as they exited and then back to your watch.

“Hey (y/n).” You lifted your head to come to sight of Fred, who was in the middle of holding the door slightly open for himself.

“It was nice seeing you.” he said with a wink. With that he left, and you seemed to still be initiating the third panic mode option with your jaw dropped. Did Fred Weasley just say it was nice to see you?! 

The moment Mr. Flume bid you goodbye for the week, you bolted back to the castle immediately. 

---

It was another Saturday at Honeydukes. Fred had not said anything to you about last week, and you were grateful. Little did you know, that older Weasley twin had a plan.

“(Y/n)!” shouted your friend Maya. 

“Oh hi Maya!” you said surprised that she came to Honeydukes.

“Just wanted to visit, wouldn’t want you to be lonely.” she joked. You rolled your eyes playfully. You couldn’t deny it though, you did enjoy when your friends made a bit of time to be with you at your shift.

You were talking for a bit, until you saw who you did and did not want to see. You watched with wide eyes as Harry, Ron, Hermione and the twins entered the store. 

“Hey isn’t that Fred Weasley? The guy you get all nervous around?” she whispered in your ear. 

“Maya!” you scolded attempting to bump into her with your tray of sweets. 

“Oh I see how it is...” she winked in amusement of the scowl on your face. She then went to the shelves in the back.

“Maya where are you going?” you asked almost frantically.

“Hm? Oh nothing, these chocolates look really interesting...” she said clearly putting on an act to seem busy. You were definitely going to get her back for that.

“Are those sugar quills free samples?” asked a voice which made you turn your head back to the front. You came to face Ron Weasley, who you knew as the twins’ younger brother. 

“Yeah, feel free to take one.” You tried to sound less shaky, you hoped it worked. Ron’s eyes widened and started taking a few quills. 

“Ronald!” scolded Hermione hitting his arm. Ron was taken aback. “She said take one, not an all you can eat buffet!” 

“Alright I’m sorry!” Ron said slightly embarrassed.

“It’s okay, really!” you said trying to reassure them, you didn’t want to make it more weird. Hermione shook her head at him as Harry and the twins were snickering. They all parted ways within the store, except Fred didn’t budge.

“Sorry about my brother.” he said sheepishly.

“It’s fine, it’s no big deal anyway.” you said. Your heart was pounding, the fact that you uttered a full sentence to Fred was an accomplishment.

“What’s a girl like you doing, working at Honeydukes?” Fred asked while picking up one of your sugar quills. 

“Oh, my mom doesn’t like when I don’t have anything to do. I mean it’s fine really, I get a discount on candy.” you explained. “W-what about you?”

“Me? Well rumour has it that there’s a really cute girl who works at Honeydukes who displays the sweets every Saturday.” he said smirking. Your face went beet red- he was talking about you?!

“R-really...?” you asked attempting to sound oblivious.

“Yes, and she’s especially cute when she gets all quiet around me.” He was making you more embarrassed than intended. Way for him to call you out sis. You were about to say something, but the trio and George finished paying for their candies and were heading out.

“Fred, stop flirting, let’s go!” called George holding the door open for him. Your brain was going haywire- Fred Weasley flirting with you?? Fred chuckled.

“Be patient you prat.” George rolled his eyes in return. You watched as Fred fished in his pockets for coins and placed them on your display tray.

“Your tip, love.” he said. He bent down to your height and kissed your cheek. You were left with the feeling of his soft lips on your face. You couldn’t utter a single word out. Fred waved at your paralyzed state and left with George shaking his head and laughing at his twin’s romantic gesture. 

“Oh my god...” said a voice behind you. You turned your head slowly and saw Maya.

“Maya! What the fu-”

“Did Fred just kiss you?!” she squealed. She looked more excited than you.

“I-” you couldn’t even English at this point. You knew she was going to tease you for this big time, so you had to change the subject. “Maya, did you really take ten minutes to admire those chocolates in the back?”

“Yes.”

---

Your shift was almost done for today, however your heart was fluttering the whole time thinking of Fred. Oh god, how were you supposed to face him now?

Suddenly you heard a thump coming from the cellar of the store. You didn’t go down there often, so you felt a little uneasy when you walked in slowly to check.

“Mr. Flume? Mrs. Flume?” you called out quietly. No answer. You looked left and right, there was nobody you could see. 

Your whole body did a small jump as you saw a tile on the floor move. The tile kept moving until you saw it lift and move to the side. You were shocked to see Fred emerge.

“Oh hello love.” he said casually.

“Fred! What are you doing?!” you whisper-yelled as you went to help him get out. As soon as he stepped out, he dusted off his clothes.

“I missed you.” he said a smirk playing on his lips. Fred making you flustered twice in one shift? Your heart couldn’t take it.

“S-stop playing with me, why did you- no, how did you come here?! What was that?!” you asked pushing him up the stairs back to the shop. He purposely resisted a little to make your life harder. As soon as you both reached the top of the stairs, he leaned against wall.

“Didn’t know you spoke that much, (y/n).” he teased. You groaned.

“Fred, I already saw you this morning, why are you-”

“Go on a date with me.” You backed into the doorway from hearing what he had just asked you. You noticed that there wasn’t a playful grin on his face, but instead looked almost worried. 

“Okay.” you said smiling.

“Okay?” he asked repeating your reply. You realized how short and blunt your answer seemed. No wonder you’ve been single all this time.

“I-I mean yes! I’d love to go on a date with you.” you said shyly. He walked over to your small form and lightly pinned you against the wall.

“Can I kiss you then?” he asked brushing your jawline with this thumb. You managed to nod in response. With that, he closed the remaining gap between you and locked his lips with yours.

The kiss made you dizzier ten times more than the simple peck from hours ago. And bloody hell was he a good kisser. Your arms went up to link around his neck, bringing him closer and deepening the kiss.

“Um (y/n), it’s the end of your shift you and your boyfriend can leave now...”

You both broke off immediately in embarrassment as you recognized the voice as Mrs. Flume. She was standing awkwardly behind the cashier. Oh god, you were going to get fired for sure.

“...I told him to use the front door but he just had to pull a Santa Clause-“ The three of you turned your heads to the door to see Lee and George mid sentence stopping to see you and Fred with your hands on each other and Mrs. Flume catching you in the act.

“Oh my- Mrs. Flume we’re so sorry!” said George pretending to be scared and apologizing a million times.

“Yes yes it will never happen again!” shouted Lee being just as dramatic.

“You know how couples get..” said George pushing you and Fred out the door quickly.

“U-uhm I’m so sorry Mrs. Flume, S-see you next week!” you stuttered out without even looking her in the eye. As you stopped outside you panted as Fred was giggling the entire time.

“Why are you laughing? Fred!” you said playfully slapping him on the arm as he continued laughing.

“Oh Merlin, (y/n) you don’t know how funny that was- your reaction was adorable!”

“You should be glad, we saved both your arses.” Said Lee proudly with George nodding along.

“Now you can finally go on your date!” Said George cheerfully. “But if I see you both snogging when you get back I won’t be there to save either of you again.”

You blushed at the thought of you and Fred snogging again. Fred scoffed and waved them off. He took your hand in his as you started to walk on your date.

“By the way, I don’t care what George says. There will be snogging, a hundred percent.”

—————————————————

Please message me if you’d like to be a part of my tag list. I write for 3 fandoms so specify which one!

[sleepysnk]

Hey, I would like to request a scenario that popped into my head at 1am so I hope you like it.

Okay reader was in levis scouts for some time but after a good amount of time he starts to treat her like shit. Training her harder than others or giving her suppid task. The reader is really mad at this and at simw point she confronts him about the issue and he explain in some way that he actually likes her but was to scared to tell her and he is very sorry. But reader is really hurt by levis actions and just ignores him for some good amount of time. Levi tries to talk to reader and this time they accept the apologize and tell him that they loved him from the start and were just really hurt by it. Levi promise to make it up to reader in some cute way.

Hope you like this concept and that you have fun writing it. Stay safe and healthy 💙💙💙

oh wow, this was definitely unique and i love the concept!! this would honestly be something i see happening with Levi. i hope you enjoy! <3

Levi x Fem!Reader: Different Treatment

Warnings: None

(Y/N) was considered to be one of the unlucky cadets among Levi's squad. She had been in his squad for a pretty long time, he hand picked her himself, and it was quite the shocker when she saw him point at her that day. Most scouts dreamed to be apart of Levi's squad.

Unfortunately, she didn't find herself to be lucky as everyone made her seem.

For some reason, Levi treated her different from everyone in his squad. (Y/N) always had to do extra training, or he made her do stupid tasks that were unnecessary for him. She always found herself being more exhausted than everyone else, and most people just thought it was punishment for some reason.

Some nights he'd train her until she'd almost pass out. Her body was always sore, and she didn't understand why everyone else didn't have to go through it. It was only her and nobody else.

She always did admire Levi though. She always found herself being attracted to him, and she wasn't sure why. Thing was, once he started doing all this extra crap, she began to find demise in him. Why her? Was she doing something wrong? Even if she did, she never found a reason for him to do all these extra things.

One time he made her do a really stupid task. He made her clean his office twice, and he gave her no reason as to why. That set her off and her whole mood was killed that day, she always found herself being left with more questions than answers.

At the moment, she was in a meeting with her squad. They were all discussing some plans for an expedition, and Levi wanted to make sure that everyone understood the plan.

"Does everyone understand our goal is to make sure that Jaeger stays alive?" Levi asked and looked around at everyone.

"Yes sir" they replied all at the same time.

He nodded. "Good, you're all dismissed. Except for you (Y/N), you need to stay" he said and looked at her.

She watched as everyone exited the room. "Yes Captain?" she asked.

Levi looked at her. "You need to clean the kitchen tonight, it's a disaster" he replied.

(Y/N) could not believe her ears. She needs to have some rest before the expedition. If she doesn't she'll be totally off, and she won't give 100%.

"But why? Shouldn't I be focused on myself?" she asked and furrowed her brows.

He rolled his eyes at her. "I said so (Y/N), now get to it. Now." he replied and crossed his arms.

She exited the meeting room pissed off. Why the hell was he making her do this? She didn't want to do it, but then again she didn't want to get kicked off his squad, or face a worse punishment from him.

It took her hours to finish the kitchen. She was beyond exhausted by the time she was done, and she just wanted to go to bed. She was so mad at Levi right now, she wanted to confront him about why he was doing the shit he was doing.

(Y/N) decided enough is enough, and went to his office. She knocked. "Come in" he said and looked up as she walked in.

Levi nodded. "So you finished the kitchen huh?" he asked.

She crossed her arms. "Yeah I did... I have a question for you though" she replied and furrowed her brows.

He looked up and raised a brow. "What is that? Don't tell me you messed it up" he said and leaned back.

She rolled her eyes. "Why do you give me stupid shit to do? You train me harder, and it's getting annoying. I do everything you ask, and yet you still treat me this way. Why?" she asked.

Levi noticed her tone, he didn't expect her to sound so upset. "You seriously want to know why?" he asked.

She looked at her Captain. "Yes I do, it would help if I had an answer" she replied and crossed her arms.

"Truth is, I have feelings for you (Y/N). I treat you this way, because I care for you" he said and looked at her.

She was super confused, who treats someone like shit when they like them? She didn't necessarily believe what he was saying to her.

"I don't believe you, who does something like that?" she asked and narrowed her eyes.

Levi nodded. "I'm sorry that I treated you that way. I do care for you and have feelings for you, I just didn't know how to tell you" he replied.

(Y/N) was beyond pissed at this point. "Sorry for treating me like shit? I'm sorry but that really hurts" she said and looked away from him.

Levi blinked a bit as those words came out of her mouth. She was hurt? Levi didn't want that reaction at all, he does agree that he did treat her fairly poorly, and it's unacceptable. He didn't mean to hurt her.

"Wait (Y/N), it's not what I intended" he said and stood up.

She shook her head. "Just leave me alone" she replied and exited his office.

Levi stood there for awhile. He just hurt the woman he had feelings for. Levi couldn't get the look she had out of his mind, what he did must have messed her up. He felt extremely guilty, and it practically ate him up the whole night.

(Y/N) was really upset about what he did. What kind of person does that shit because they like them? It made her so confused, but she was hurt, because he treated her like some kind of animal. She didn't like the disrespect, and it really hurt. If she did it to someone else it wouldn't be considered okay.

A few days went by, and things hadn't changed. (Y/N) would try her best to avoid Levi, he tried to speak to her a few times, but she always ignored him.

He felt horrible for what he did. He truly liked her, and for something like this to happen? It destroyed him. Maybe he shouldn't have been so hard on her, and instead he should have just explained everything.

Levi decided he was done with her ignoring him, and he just wanted to talk to her about it. Maybe she would listen this time.

He sent someone to fetch her for him. When he heard the knock on the door, he had to be prepared. "Come in" he said.

(Y/N) entered the room and looked at him. "What do you want?" she asked.

He sighed. "(Y/N), just let me explain. I'm very sorry that I treated you poorly, I genuinely have feelings for you. I will admit my actions were very rude, and uncalled for, but I truly care for you. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, it'd be great" he explained.

She stood there trying to process what was happening. She had ignored him practically the whole week, and maybe she needed to be a little more compassionate.

"I was really hurt by what you were doing, but I think I can accept your apology" she said and looked at him.

Levi nodded. "Now... I need to know how you feel about me. I don't want to force you into loving me (Y/N)" he said.

"Levi truth is, I like you too. I've liked you for so long" she said.

He blinked in surprise at her words. "You do? (Y/N) there's no force I hope you-" she cut him off.

"Levi I don't feel like you're forcing me because you're my captain. I genuinely like you" she replied and smiled.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing, he never really though she would like him back after the way he treated her.

"I can make it up to you if you'd like. You definitely need it" Levi said and stood up.

(Y/N) nodded. "I'd love that" she said and walked towards him.

The night was spent with lots of cuddling, and tea.

[eldrai]

Not Worth It

Whumptober 2021 - day 3 - prompt: insult

Character: Reid

Warnings: ableism, r-slur, brief/mild homophobia

Words: 2.2k

Summary: Spencer isn’t naïve. He is young and he looks young but he isn’t stupid. He hadn’t graduated with the expectation that because he was older, had qualifications to back him up, the world would collectively mature in kind. After all, he’d gained his relative immunity to insults because it hurt less to let them taunt him than it had to confront them and end up shoved in a locker or tied up on the football field.

He had hoped things might be different. Not expected. Not assumed.

Just hoped.

ao3 / masterlist

“—were actually invented in the early fifteenth century, though the first versions were, uh, significantly more spherical and made of a wood like beech. It’s also highly likely they used cows’ hair inside leather—”

The cop – Maciewicz – nudges the officer beside him. “Does he ever stop talking?”

Spencer is fairly sure the jab is intended to be audible. It’s an interesting social convention, that sort of insult, where everyone including the target hears it but the person who said it can’t be called out on it because they supposedly directed it at nobody in particular. Interesting, and very high-school of them: Maciewicz is closer to forty than thirty and beginning to bald, and the stale remnants of cigarette smoke follows his colleague wherever he goes.

It doesn’t offend Reid these days. Attending a public LA high school is its own distinct circle of hell but doing so at nine? University at twelve? He’s been called most names under the sun and petty insults don’t get under his skin like they used to.

Which isn’t to say they aren’t annoying.

What he hates the most is the variety of people who insult him: they all have different reactions, different sore spots, and getting them to go away isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation. Reid has dealt with enough bullies to understand that ‘ignore them and they’ll go away’ is useless, if not downright dangerous advice, but there is a whole spectrum of solutions which may or may not work. Get it wrong, and they just grow more persistent.

Spencer isn’t naïve. He is young and he looks young but he isn’t stupid. He hadn’t graduated with the expectation that because he was older, had qualifications to back him up, the world would collectively mature in kind. After all, he’d gained his relative immunity to insults because it hurt less to let them taunt him than it had to confront them and end up shoved in a locker or tied up on the football field.

He had hoped things might be different. Not expected. Not assumed.

Just hoped.

Of course they aren’t.

He pays them no mind and continues to explain the significance of the golf balls their unsub keeps leaving behind. If they didn’t want him to talk, they shouldn’t have asked for his opinion.

This seems like a fairly straightforward case and with any luck, they’ll only have to tolerate the local police department for a couple of days more.

He may have jinxed it.

(Once when they had come to take his Mom to inpatient, Spencer had overheard someone at the front desk talking lowly to someone else, and her words had stuck with him: see, that’s what you get for saying it’s quiet today!

That was always the gist of what was said on TV hospital dramas too. Police chaos isn’t all that different from hospital chaos, he thinks. There’s always too much of it and it’s unpredictable in its unpredictability.)

The curveball this time is their unsub is not a lone male but a male-female duo – he carries out the kills but under her direction. Classic submissive-dominant dynamic. The thing with pairs is they crack. Bend under the pressure until they break and lives are lost in the collateral damage.

Case in point: Marcy Edgeworth, aged twenty-four, Caucasian female, death by blunt force trauma. She is the first female victim and the first to have been left to lie where she’d died. That isn’t a good sign. No indication of sexual assault pre- or post-mortem but there is an incomplete ring of bite marks just beneath her right collarbone, exposed due to her torn shirt.

“What, never seen a naked girl before?” Jamison – Maciewicz’s colleague – mutters. Just low enough for Spencer to hear as he is trying to get on with his job, unlike a certain pair of officers.

“Woman,” he corrects, for her age, “and yes, I have.”

He hopes the lightness in his tone offsets the brusqueness. Spencer shifts his crouching into kneeling and leans forwards to examine her hair. It’s an artificial red – her roots and her eyebrows are blonde – and their previous victims have all had brown hair.

“Only counts if it’s outside a morgue,” Maciewicz chimes in.

He ignores them but their gaze burns the back of his head, and their presence has his guard raised. They stand behind him and their shadows stretch out over the grass either side of him. They’re going for a reaction, Spencer assumes.

Biting is an interesting thing without an accompanying sexual assault. If nothing else it gives them a good estimation of their male unsub’s teeth. The impression he’s getting from the scene is one of interruption, an impulse kill whose victim he had to leave too soon. It is a public park and it was an early-morning dog walker who found her – likely a jogger or someone on a night shift.

Jamison clears his throat once, twice, then taps him on the shoulder. Spencer rears away from his touch. People never ask, they just do.

“Yes?” he asks.

“Oh, nothing,” Jamison says. “I – we – we were wondering why you do that… thing.”

“What thing?” Spencer asks.

Jamison gestures. “You know, the – you know.”

Is that some sort of punchline he’s missing? Spencer glances over at Maciewicz and finds a mild amusement. Nothing to indicate he should be laughing, nor should he know what they do mean.

Maybe he’s missing the cue. He’s better at it these days, but not perfect.

“No, I don’t.”

With a furtive glance at the precinct’s captain, deep in conversation with one of the forensic technicians, Jamison sighs. “The thing with your hands, the—” He shakes his hands in an exaggerated manner.

Spencer’s hands still. He hadn’t thought it was very noticeable and more to the point, Jamison is definitely overexaggerating it like kids in middle school used to do. Only back then they had his unusual gait and meltdowns to mock too. “I don’t do that,” he says firmly.

(He’d answer it if it was a genuine question. Respectful. He loves people who ask out of genuine good intent. They are few and far between.)

Maciewicz snickers.

“Yeah, you do,” Jamison says. “I want to know why, that’s all.”

“Makes you look like a retard,” Maciewicz adds.

…and there it is.

He goes cold from head to toe. It never fails to make him feel as if someone has just dumped a bucket of water right over him, washing away his enthusiasm and excitement and everything else he values. Leaves the bare bones, the weirdness, each of the hundred ways he never quite fits in.

Spencer hates the word.

Because they don’t care about his IQ or eidetic memory or reading skill when they say that, and they don’t care after he tells them.

Nobody calls him that because they think he is. They say it to hurt him.

He wishes it wouldn’t.

Despite how often he’s heard it, he never has a response. His mind goes blank and all he can pull from it is the roots – re,from Latin: back, and tardus, from Latin: slow – as if they give a damn about etymology. As if that’s a normal person’s response. Today is no exception so it’s a blessing when Morgan wanders over.

“You got anything, pretty boy?” he asks. Maciewicz and Jamison snort. If Morgan hears it, he pays it no mind. “They found a guy’s baseball cap over there. No hair but it looks like it’s our man’s.”

And once again, his mind goes blank. Makes you look like a retard. He’d been thinking about – the bite mark, yes, what does that indicate? Spencer catches his hands moving and shoves them in his pockets before they can. “He was interrupted,” he says. “It explains why the bite isn’t complete and why he didn’t notice he’d left his hat.”

Morgan nods. “The person who found the body didn’t recall seeing anyone else around, so you think he’d just left before they got there?”

“Probably,” Spencer says. “I think the woman might be blonde. If they got into a fight, he’d be stressed, he’d be thinking about her. Maybe she reminded him of her.”

“Could be the hair, could be something else,” Morgan says. “He won’t have talked to her, not if he hit her from behind.”

“What if they did? She could have walked away—”

“Maybe,” Morgan says. “But if her hair was dyed, he wouldn’t see that unless they were up close, right? He’d initially go for her because she’s got red hair, not blonde. And if they did talk, Prentiss says no woman’s gonna just turn her back on a strange man. Especially in the middle of the night with no-one around.”

It’s a valid point, and it isn’t condescending. Nonetheless it hurts. Spencer studies the ground for a long moment and tries to forget (retard) Maciewicz and Jamison. “The unsub isn’t going to be someone he’s sexually attracted to,” he says. “He didn’t assault her, and if the victim reminds him of the other unsub, he’d probably have tried to even if someone interrupted him before he really could.”

A burst of laughter from Maciewicz and Jamison. His cheeks go hot with embarrassment—they must be talking about him, what else is there to laugh about? Morgan follows his gaze. “There a problem?” he asks.

Maciewicz holds up his hands in mock surrender. “No, no. Just… the hell is that about, ‘pretty boy’?”

Morgan shrugs. Spencer isn’t sure if it’s as casual as it looks.

“Well, makes sense,” Jamison says. “Course he’s gonna freak out over a naked girl if he doesn’t swing that way.”

…oh, great.

Spencer doesn’t mind exactly what they say as much as the implication—that they know, that they’re entitled to know his sexuality. How they say it as if gay is equivalent to bad. Once again, how utterly high school it all is. And he knows Morgan isn’t going to appreciate it either, probably more insulted on his behalf than Spencer himself.

“And you care, because...?” Morgan says, looking back and forth between them.

“I don’t,” Jamison says.

“He’s…” Maciewicz stammers, “…you know.”

“Smarter than you?” Morgan suggests. “Better at his job than you? A better person than you?”

“You don’t have to stick up for him,” Jamison says. “Must get annoying to deal with a re—”

“It’s fine,” Spencer interrupts. It isn’t. It really isn’t but it isn’t worth the conversation. How tiring it gets to deal with it, how much easier it is to walk away. These officers aren’t going to change their worldview on disabilities all of a sudden. “Morgan.”

Morgan takes in his posture, the unnatural stillness as he forces himself not to fidget, though the look in his eyes doesn’t fade. “The only people I don’t want to ‘deal with’ are both of you.”

The men share a look – not so much chastened as disappointed their fun was interrupted – but they do back off.

“They already seem to think I’m incapable,” Spencer says irritably. “I said it was fine, I didn’t need you to say anything.”

He crouches down to examine the bite again.

“It didn’t matter,” Spencer says. His hands itch and despite needing to, he can’t bring himself to move. Makes you look like a retard.

“Does if it bothers you,” Morgan insists. “And it did, don’t look at me like that.”

He sighs. They’re not even there any more, the two cops out on patrol and them revisiting the penultimate crime scene. “I’m used to it.”

“And?” Morgan says. “Just because you are doesn’t mean you have to put up with it—”

“It was five minutes at most,” Spencer points out. “Everyone else was fine.”

“Yeah, and they were dicks.”

He shrugs.

“What else did they say?”

Spencer rolls the fabric of his sweater between his fingers and feigns ignorance. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, what else did they say when I wasn’t there, ‘cause they said something.”

“Makes you look like a retard.”

He doesn’t mean to say it – wasn’t sure what he had planned to say, but it certainly wasn’t that – but he says it nonetheless, his tone mimicking the disdain and irritation. And now Morgan definitely isn’t going to believe him if he says he’s fine and it’s going to make the situation worse to explain that he mostly is, he just hasn’t heard it for a while, he’s used to it.

Stupid echolalia.

“Like I said,” Morgan says, “they were dicks.”

Spencer doesn’t point out being rude doesn’t automatically mean lying. “I’ve heard worse.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t give them the right to say stuff like that.”

He rocks back on the balls of his feet. His hands aren’t co-operating but the swaying motion is a good substitute. “I’m okay.”

“You know,” Morgan says casually, “whenever you lie, you stand exactly the same way.”

Spencer looks up. The expression on Morgan’s face falls somewhere between sadness and sympathy but, he thinks, not pity. It’s a nice change.

“Kid, the only thing you’re gonna get from pretending you’re OK is worse,” Morgan says. “It’s not worth it. Not for anyone but especially not morons like that.”

“It’s not worth it,” Spencer repeats. The words catch in his thoughts and he murmurs it again and again and Morgan isn’t even slightly annoyed at him.

(It isn’t worth it—he knows this—but maybe it is. Just a tiny bit. Just for the part where he has friends who tell him things like this, who don’t mind when he’s awkward. Who don’t mind him.

Friends who say nothing about it but when they get back to the station, the pair are getting chewed out by a pissed off captain.)

A/N: I had trouble getting this to flow as well as my other ones, there's something about it I just can't figure out. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it.

[sparklingpax]

(For the prompt th ing if thats ok) Graham and cody + nightmares?

(the prompt for y'all if you wanna ask me smth :D)

Ohhh hello hello! Sorry I took so long to respond, yes I can! <3 I'm assuming you mean their experiences with them individually? And how they deal with it? So....here goes ^//^''

Apologies for any typos or misspellings 😳

Hopefully these aren't cringe or too long-winded....or ooc....aaaa

Graham

Nightmares! Graham actually doesn't have them super often, and as you could most likely guess, they tend to occur when he's stressed about school-related things. Or things threatening the island, that's pretty scary too.

He doesn't get much sleep to begin with, but is working on improving that ^^''

On the occasion he does have a nightmare, he generally keeps to himself about it.

He might jolt into half-consciousness, panicked and completely immobile. Then, he gradually fully wakes up, realizing it was just...a dream.

For a few minutes, Graham sits alone in the dark, trying to be rational and talk himself out of being so shaken by what he saw. He tells himself that logically speaking, he should not be afraid because none of the things in his dream could be real. He repeats to himself, "it's not real, it was a dream and this is reality," and clenches/unclenches his fists as an "awareness" kind of exercise. Sometimes it works and once calm, Graham will just find things to occupy himself with until closer to the time he has to get up and get dressed for the day.

But when it doesn't, he'll slip out of his room and go get a midnight snack, maybe a glass of milk and whatever cracker-type things he can find in the cupboard. Once or twice he'll see someone else up and play his midnight kitchen visit off as just...being hungry.

After the snack, he'll make his way downstairs to find Boulder.

Boulder is honestly the only soul Graham trusts completely (aside from his dad, but he doesn't want to worry him too much, so he doesn't discuss this with him). Therefore, when the green mech is approached by Graham at some ungodly hour of the morning, looking disheveled and uneasy, he doesn't even really need to ask what's wrong. Of course he's worried, but the kind Cybertronian is as calm and patient as he can be with his human partner, respecting Graham's decision to either discuss his dreams or worries with him...or not.

All in all, Graham doesn't like having nightmares--who does? But at least he has somebody who's there for him when they happen. In general, someone to talk to when he needs a confidant or is questioning something. Boulder takes great pleasure in helping others, especially his human partner.

And for that, Graham is rather happy :)

Cody

By contrast, poor Cody actually has a lot of nightmares, or fairly intense dreams that aren't nightmares, they're just way too strange to be called normal or pleasant by any means.

However, that's been the case since he was little. As much as they tend to shake him up, he has worked out ways to deal with them, and is very open to his family members about whatever he's struggling with. Not like he walks out and announces, "I had a nightmare last night!" More that he might seem a little more subdued the next morning, but rather than perking up with an "I'm fine!" when asked how he's doing, he'll express how he's actually doing.

Cody sees it actually as more sensible in his opinion to talk about things when they are bothering him rather than pent it all up. The first person he talks to is his dad. The two of them might talk about it over breakfast the next morning, and he will usually leave said conversations feeling reassured about whatever it was he was afraid of. Dani and Graham can also be good listeners and are there for Cody too.

And of course, the bot will also listen to him and try to give their own advice or words of reassurance. Some of which is actually helpful, a lot of which is...not.... but it makes the boy smile to know the bots are there for him in their own way as well.

The only person he doesn't like discussing these things with is Kade. Mainly because Kade doesn't actually know how to respond to this kind of situation; these kinds of "deep topics" escape him. Kade has nightmares too (I mean, everyone does), but chalks it all up to eating the wrong food too late, and doesn't think twice about it. He isn't mean about it, and doesn't intend to invalidate his little brother's worries and fears (well, most of the time) but it's just....time not well-spent to try and have this kind of conversation with him.

So anyway, back to Cody.

He also likes to keep dream journals and try to figure out the meanings in these dreams. Upon waking up nearly every morning, he instinctively reaches for that little leather notebook by his bedside and half-asleep, begins recounting people, things, events, and places of his dreams in bullet points. On nights nightmares or intense dreams happen, he will calm himself down first, reminding himself he's awake now and the danger is no longer present. Then, he shakily reaches for the notebook and writes down what happened, occasionally flipping to other pages when he realizes he's been in one of these places before, or a similar event occurred in another dream. After that, Cody will go outside and just stare up at the sky, thinking about what he saw. He reflects on the contents of his journal and the events happening in his life at this moment.

So for Cody, though he detests the unsettling nature of the majority of his dreams, it is a source of relief that he has his whole family (human or Cybertronian <3) to talk to about it. And he's also rather pleased with his own ability to find peace after them, which leaves most dreams unable to really shake him to his core, as he can tell himself it was just another unpleasant nightmare, something that couldn't possibly bleed into his real life.

///

.......well then that was....something...........hopefully I answered your ask correctly! And this was fun!! Thank you for sending the prompt in! I hope you have a lovely day/evening....and sweet dreams too! :D

-Kuni 😅😊✨