#yes junki is laughing in the beanie

[nervou5wr3ck]

*PFFFFT* hey everyone! @lollipopmixclo9 has done it again! this time it's a continuation of mellow's short picture with a comic of their own! And gods I love it so much >w<

Junkki's expression is just S tier at all times man, he's the cutest Kwami in the world and if anything happens to him, I'll kill everybody in the room and then myself.

brb gonna go pester Mellow again now xD

A little comic strip because of this post from @nervou5wr3ck done by @dopesharktree QWQ

Thought of drawing Theo's reaction of his little buddy disappearing outta nowhere! But, honestly, Theo's too chill because Junki is still a minigod. He can do whatever he wants.

Additional doodle just because 🙈:

[sailorchiron]

Day Four! Michael Guerin Week

Okay, I’m well aware that day 5 just ended and I’m JUST NOW POSTING DAY FOUR’S FIC but being a teacher is EXHAUSTING and I didn’t get much writing done Friday or today.  So here’s ‘the tropier the better’ featuring my fav, hurt/comfort.

Read on Ao3

Float On

It was an extremely lazy Saturday morning and they were snuggled up together in Michael’s bed, still in pajamas.  Okay, well, they’d worn pajamas and hoodies to breakfast in the dining hall, but the fact remained that they were still in their pajamas.  They’d fought briefly over who got to wear the incredibly soft pants with hideous palm trees on them, and Michael had won.  Alex’s argument was always that they were actually <i>his</i> pants.  Michael’s was usually just tickling Alex until he gave in.  It was very effective.

“You asleep?” Michael murmured, running his hand through his boyfriend’s silky hair.  

“Huh uh,” Alex answered, sounding like he was teetering on the edge of consciousness.  “I actually don’t want to go back to sleep and waste the entire day.”  To prove this, he pulled away from Michael and stretched before propping himself up on one elbow and giving him a kiss.  “What do you want to do today?  And don’t you dare say get a headstart on homework.”

“That was one time!” 

“It was blasphemy.  What fun things would you like to do today?”

“No idea, really.  I kinda wanna get outside for a while.”  He got antsy if he didn’t see the sky for too long.  “Wanna go out to the desert?”

Alex shook his head.  “It’s too cold.  With nothing to stop the wind out there we’ll freeze.”

Michael had to concede the point.  “Yah, you’re probably right.  Walking around campus sounds boring, though.  Any other ideas?”

“I kinda want to skate, but that’d probably be boring for you.”

Michael shot up.  “I’ve never seen you skate, though, that wouldn’t be boring.”

Alex laughed.  “Okay, if you’re sure.  I could even try to teach you how if you want.”

��Uh, okay.”  

“It’s not that hard, you’re smart and coordinated.  Unless you don’t think you can do it.”

Oh, that was a challenge if ever he’d heard one.  “Watch me.”

They both threw on clothes, or, well, jeans and shoes, leaving on their t-shirts and UNM hoodies.  Michael suspected he was actually wearing Alex’s, it smelled like a combination of lavender and just Alex.  He watched him pull a beanie on over his hair, which had gotten a lot longer since move in.  Michael thought it was gorgeous, and especially liked that it was too long for him to gel it into submission.  Maria wanted him to bleach the ends and die it pink or something, and he absolutely refused.  Alex wasn’t into the rainbow hair that a lot of emo kids liked.

“Are those specific shoes for skating?”

Alex looked up from where he was tying them.  “Basically, yah.  Vans are the original skateboarding shoes.”  He stood and grabbed his board from where it had been propped against his desk all semester.  “Let’s go find somewhere I can break the law.”

Michael laughed and followed him out the door.  “Hey, do you think DeLuca would want to come with us?”

“Actually, yah,” Alex answered with a grin.  “She’s my best cinematographer.”  

“She has videos of you skating?”

He nodded.  “I’m surprised she’s never shown them to you, she’s proud of her photography skills.  If you were on Facebook, you could have watched them already.”  He glared.

“Not gonna happen, I don’t want to connect with people.  Twitter is enough.”  It was a long-standing and absolutely not serious argument.  He pulled out his phone to text her.

Michael: Hey Alex is going to endanger his life on a rolling piece of wood.

Michael: Wanna come watch and film video evidence?

Maria: I was just thinking about how bored I was, so yes.

Michael: Meet us out front.

“DeLuca will be joining us for your escapades.” 

“Awesome.  Man, this place is a ghost town this weekend, it’s like everyone went home.”

“It really is.  There were only three other people in the dining hall.”

The front steps and ramps were completely deserted, which was unusual.  Michael watched Alex drop his board and put his foot on it.  “I can skate here since no one’s around.  I should see if there’s skate park in Albuquerque.”

“Is there one in Roswell?”

“Of course not,” Alex laughed.  “I exclusively skated in places that it wasn’t allowed.  There was an abandoned ranch house out on the edge of town with a huge empty pool, I did plenty of illegal skating there.”  

Michael watched him push off with his right foot and jump on when the board started moving.  I have no idea what the terminology is for this.  Alex stayed on the flat parts of the entryway, doing flip things that were different each time.  He was suitably impressed.

“Are there names for these things?”

“Yah.  Do you want to know them?”

“Not right now.”

He spotted Maria coming out the door of Laguna Hall.  “Hey DeLuca.  My boyfriend is showing us evidence of his juvenile delinquency.”

“Yah, juvenile delinquent that graduated with a 4.0.”

Michael laughed.  “I’m also a juvenile delinquent that graduated with a 4.0 so I guess I can’t judge.”

Maria had her phone out.  “Do something more interesting if you want me to take video.”

Alex laughed.  “K.”

Michael watched with horror has he kicked the board away from himself and ran to jump onto it, then flew down the shallow stairs.  He landed at the bottom without any outward signs of injury.  “What the fuck, Alex?”

“I’ve gone down a lot worse stairs, Michael,” he laughed.  

Michael watched him climb back up the stairs.  “How did you not fall?”

“You’re in physics.”

“Do a rail slide,” Maria called out.

“K.”  

Michael watched him skate from close to the building to the stairs, do some kind of flip with his board that made it go with him when he launched himself into the air, and then he fucking landed on the board on the railing and slid down to the bottom before jumping off, flipping the skateboard again, and landing on it.  

“Holy fuck.”

Alex laughed, breathless.  “It’s more fun if the stairs are steeper.”

“I had no idea you were such an adrenaline junkie.”

“It counteracts my ability to fall asleep at the drop of a hat.”  He carried the board back up the steps.  “I’ve gone down three sets of railings before, it’s a rush.”

“And the only scar you have is the one on your forehead?”

“I’ve had some impressive road rash,” he laughed.  “And a lot of bruises.  But no scars or broken bones.”

“How did you learn all of these flips and moves and stuff?”

“Other skaters and YouTube.  And a lot of trial and error.  Wanna try it?”

“Um.”

“I can’t believe you’re scared.”

Oh, no.  “I’m not scared.”

“Uh huh.”  Alex smirked.

“Okay, fuck you, I’ll try.”  

They went down to the bottom of the steps.  “Okay, let’s start at the very beginning.”  Alex dropped his board and put is foot on it so it wouldn’t roll away.  “There’s no way you cannot do this.”  He just pushed the board forward and settled his foot on it to glide forward a few feet.  “You try.”  Alex came close to him, and kissed his cheek.  “No powers,” he whispered in his ear.

Michael nodded.  He hadn’t planned to use his powers in front of Maria, but he understood Alex’s warning.

“Okay, so, here.”  Alex stepped off his board.  “Put your left foot on it, a little more than halfway to the front of the board.”  He hovered a hand near his elbow in case he lost his balance.  “Now, just gently push yourself forward with your right foot, and once you’re moving, put your right foot behind your left foot.  When you want to stop, put your right foot back down.”

Michael did as instructed.  “Okay, yes, this is easy.”  He put his foot down to stop.

“So now go faster.”

Michael doubted the wisdom of that, but was not going to back down from the challenge in Alex’s voice.  He turned around so he’d be going toward Alex and Maria and away from the curb.  Falling into the parking lot was not part of his plan for the day.  This time he pushed off a little harder, pinwheeling his arms a little to keep his balance.  When he tried to stop, the board went out from under him and he fell on his ass.  

“Graceful, Guerin.”

“I don’t see you trying.”

“I’m a dancer, I can’t risk these legs.”

Alex just held out his hand to help him get to his feet.  “Welcome to how bad your ass will hurt later today.  It’s impossible to learn to skate without falling.”

“Great.”

Michael just practiced staying on the board for a little while, and quickly learned that he had to put more muscle into keeping his balance.  “My abs are going to hurt later, aren’t they?”

“Yep.”

It only took about 20 minutes for Michael to get the hang of it.  Alex had been right when he’d said he was smart and coordinated and should be able to learn fairly easily. 

Unfortunately for Michael, he got cocky.

Alex showed him a ‘basic’ flip off the curb.  It looked easy.  Michael tried it on the flat concrete and had it down when he decided it couldn’t be hard to go off the curb and land on the board.  He’d figured out how to keep his center of gravity over the flexible board.

So he tried it.

And epically failed.

“Fuck, Michael, are you okay?”

Michael looked up from where he was on the pavement to see Alex and Maria running over to him.  Alex was on his knees next to him instantly.  “I don’t think I’m okay.”

“I heard something crack.”  Alex looked a little panicked.  “What hurts?”

He took stock of his body.  “Well, my ass, my hand, wrist, and arm, and my pride.  But mostly my right ankle.”  It fucking hurt.

“Fuck.”  Alex moved and gently pulled Michael’s left foot into his lap.  “I’m going to take your shoe off.”  He was as careful as possible removing it and his sock, then pushing his jeans up.  “Can you try to move it?”

It took a Herculean effort to rotate his foot a little.  “That fucking hurts.”  

“But you can move it, so it’s not broken, just sprained.  Do you usually have bad swelling when you hurt yourself?”

“No idea, I’ve never sprained anything before.”  Good thing it’s not broken, since I can’t go to the hospital.

“Come on, let’s get you up off the ground and upstairs.”  Alex crouched next to him and put his right arm over his shoulders.  “Push off the ground with your left foot at the same time I stand up.”

Maria came over to help.  “Here, use my shoulder for balance.”

Michael didn’t think he was really hurt this badly, but had to admit that it was nice to have people actually care that he was in pain.  “Okay, count of three?”  With Alex and Maria, it wasn’t too hard to get up, but putting weight on his right foot was agony.  “Fuck fuck fuck.”

“When we get upstairs I’ll go get some ice to put on it,” Alex promised.  “And we’ve got Advil, it will help with the swelling, even if it doesn’t really touch the pain.”

“Okay.”  He didn’t know if Advil would have any impact on his physiology, but it was worth a try.

Getting back up the shallow stairs was stupidly difficult, and not for the first time, Michael wished he could use telekinesis to move himself.  He’d tried.  It didn’t work.  

“We should see if anyone has crutches so you don’t have to waste time going to the health center,” Maria suggested.  

“Good idea.”  

They took the elevator even though it was only one floor.  Michael was certainly happy to be wrapped up in Alex’s arms, but wished it was under other circumstances.  Maria didn’t get out.

“You get him in bed, I’ll see if anyone on my floor has crutches.  You know how many athletes are the fourth floor.”

“Thanks, DeLuca.”  

Once in the room, Alex helped him sit on his desk chair, and he groaned.  “Have you sprained something skating?  Because I can’t go to the doctor for obvious reasons.”

“Yah, I couldn’t go either.  Keep the swelling down with ice and NSAIDs, stay off of it as much as possible.  It’s going to hurt to get into bed.”

Michael sighed.  Might as well let his last weird secret go.  “Is your nail polish remover acetone or non-acetone?”

Alex gave him a look like he was crazy, but looked over at the dresser.  “Acetone.”

“Hand it to me?”  He huffed when Alex just stared at him.  “Please, just trust me.”

“Okay…”  He handed him the bottle and watched him unscrew the top.

“Please don’t freak out,” Michael asked before taking a swig of the sharp-tasting liquid.  He’d often wondered what it tasted like to humans, but would never know since it was pretty fatal if swallowed in any quantity.  

“What the fuck are you doing?” Alex yelled, eyes wide.  “You can’t--”

He took another drink.  He could already feel the effects, his muscles were relaxing, and the pain in his ankle was receding a little.  “I can.”  He put the cap back on the bottle.  “I probably still need ice on it for the swelling, but it won’t hurt as much now, I’ll be able to get into bed.”

Alex closed his eyes.  “How the fuck does nail polish remover work as a pain killer and why can you drink it without dying?”

Michael laughed a little.  “It’s the acetone.  It works like a cross between aspirin and alcohol.”  

“How the fuck did you figure that out?  Why the fuck did you try drinking nail polish remover in the first place?”

It was starting to bother Michael that Alex was standing so far from him, like he was a freak now.  He reached out a hand to him, and watched his posture soften immediately.  He took his hand and kissed his cheek before grabbing his own chair and dragging it over to Michael’s.  “Here put your foot in my lap, you should have it elevated.”

Michael repositioned himself before answering Alex’s earlier question.  “I have to assume that acetone smells poisonous to you?”

“Yah, it’s one of the worst smelling things in the world.”

“It doesn’t smell like that to me.  It smells...a little antiseptic, a little bit like fresh apples, and a little bit like mineral water.  Pure acetone, like they use in salons, smells better than nail polish remover, since it has other ingredients.”

“Okay, my mind is blown.”  Alex shook his head.  “So it basically smells like medicine.”

“Basically.”  

“What inspired you to drink it?”

Michael closed his eyes.  “When I was maybe eight or nine, I think it was with my second foster family, I found out it existed when the girls were doing their nails.  They were complaining that it smelled terrible but I told them it smelled nice to me, and they laughed and told me I was weird.”  He gave Alex a crooked smile.  “From a human point of view, it’s weird.  I didn’t know I wasn’t human at that point, but I was already aware that I was weird, so I tried not to let it bother me.”

“Kids are mean.”

“Yep.  That placement was okay, no one was especially awful, but the dad lost his job in Albuquerque and they were moving to like North Carolina and we all got shuffled to different homes.  My next placement was...not as nice.  I was up in the middle of the night because I was starving and miserable, and saw the nail polish remover in the kitchen and just decided to taste it.  I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in a couple days, and I just remembered how it smelled and decided to drink it to see if it tasted good, too.  I wasn’t thinking about how I could possibly die,”  Michael explained, knowing Alex would jump to that conclusion.  He hadn’t been suicidal.  “It actually tasted okay, not exactly good, but not bad, and after about 30 seconds, I could feel the difference in my body.  I was still hungry but it didn’t hurt as much.  After another drink I couldn’t feel the bruises on my back and arms.  I kept the bottle and hid it under my mattress.”

“Michael,” Alex started softly, “I’m so sorry.  I’d kiss you but I’d hurt us both leaning forward.”

Michael smiled at him.  “It’s okay, you can kiss me later.”  Alex was so sweet.  “Over the years I’ve gotten a lot of use out of it.  The big scar on my left shoulder blade?”  He waited for Alex to nod.  “Yah, if I hadn’t had acetone then, I don’t know what I would have done, it hurt like hell.”  

“I’m glad no one can ever hurt you again.  I love you so much, Michael.”

“I love you too, baby.  I think I can get into bed now.”

“Take your jeans off and put pjs back on,” Alex suggested.

“Good plan.”  

Climbing up into his bed was pure hell but Michael was sure it would build character or something.  Once he was settled against the pillows and covered up with all of their blankets, Alex climbed back down.  “I’m going to go get ice, I’ll be right back, sweetheart.”

While Alex was gone, Michael thought about how he was supposed to elevate his foot but didn’t know what they could use, since all three pillows were currently under his head and a stack of textbooks didn’t sound very comfortable.  When Alex came back, he brought that up.

“I’ll ask Maria to bring one of her big furry pillows,” he offered as he wrapped the plastic bag of ice cubes in a towel.  “Once this is on your ankle, I’ll text her.”  He climbed into bed and put Michael’s foot in his lap.  “You’re getting some colorful bruising, and it’s swollen, but it could definitely be worse.”  He gently pressed the ice pack against the side of his ankle.  “Want me to just hold it for you for a while?”

Michael chuckled.  “You’re ridiculous, I’ll hold it there myself.  Come up here.”  

Alex let go of the ice pack and saw that Michael was holding it there with telekinesis.  “When I get some more pillows from Maria, we can keep it from moving without your powers.”

“Okay.  Still come here.”

He moved carefully up the bed to get under the covers with Micheal.  “I’m sorry my idea of fun today was to injure you.”

“Don’t be an idiot, this isn’t your fault.”  He snuggled into Alex.  “It was an accident.  I could have said no at any time.”

“I know, but I still feel bad.”

“Don’t.”  He hummed when Alex adjusted a little so he could play with his hair.  “That’s a good distraction.”

“I’ll keep doing it then.  You’re always taking care of me, I can take care of you for a change.”

“That sounds fantastic.”  The acetone was making him feel pretty good and the pain was bearable.  “Love you, baby.”

“Love you too.”  

Michael was pretty sure no one had ever held him while he calmed down after hurting himself.  It was weird and fucking amazing.  He sighed happily has Alex continued to drag his nails lightly over his scalp.  “You’re the best boyfriend,” he mumbled.

Alex laughed softly.  “I try.”

“You do a good job.”  He lifted his head.  “You said you’d kiss me.”

“This seems like a perfect opportunity.”  He pressed their lips together and they kissed softly for a few moments.  “Want me to text Maria to bring the pillow and see if she found crutches?”

“Yah.  Can you help me sit up so I can take off my hoodie?  I’m hot.”

“Yes, Michael, you’re very attractive,” Alex deadpanned with a sigh and an eye roll, earning a belly laugh.  

Maria was happy to bring pillows and had indeed gotten crutches from her suite mate.  When Alex let her in, she also had a big bag of gummy bears for ‘emotional support,’ an Ace bandage, and one of the gel ice packs you put the freezer to keep it cold.

“I knew I liked you,” Michael announced with gratitude.  He accepted Alex’s help to sit up a little so he could eat the candy and was patient and appreciative when his boyfriend swapped out the dripping, melted ice bag with the blue pack then wrapped the ace bandage around it loosely to keep it in place.  “Thanks, DeLuca.”

“Angelina is about your height, you probably won’t even have to adjust the crutches.”

“She is tall, yah.”

“I’ll spring for pizza so you don’t have to get out of bed to get dinner, Guerin,” Maria offered.  

“Nice try, Maria, I know you have a coupon for a free pizza.”

“I’m still sharing!”

After Maria left to go out with friends, Michael drank what was left of Alex’s nail polish remover.  “There’s no real way for me to get more,” Alex explained apologetically.  “Maria has acetone-free nail polish remover, and the only person I know well enough to ask for a ride besides you is Dean, and I don’t think I could get him to take me to get it without more questions than I can answer.”  Their suite mate was cool, but there was no way that request wouldn’t be weird when at least 200 girls in their residence hall would have it and he didn’t have have polish on his nails right now.

“It’s okay.  Just come get in bed.”

It was still early but laying around sounded like the best option for a boy with a fucked up ankle and his sweet significant other.  He watched Alex strip down to his boxers and t-shirt and climb up.  “We can watch a movie later if you want to.”

“That would be good.”

Michael’d taken the ice pack off for a while.  The swelling was down and he was tired of having his leg stretched out.  He happily wrapped his arms around Alex and kissed his neck.  He loved that with Alex he didn’t feel like he always had to be the strong one.  There was a lot of equality in their relationship and it was the best thing that had ever happened to him.  

“My ankle hurts,” Michael complained after a few minutes.  

“I’m sure it does.  Do you want to see if Advil will help?”

“No point.  Aspirin works a little, but nothing else really does.  And aspirin makes my stomach hurt.”

“I wonder if opioids would work?”

“I hope I never have to find out.  But I’ve found that acetone and tequila are a pretty effective combination.”

“Let’s hope you don’t hurt yourself bad enough for that, neither of us can buy alcohol yet.”

Michael nuzzled against Alex’s neck, kissing softly before nipping.  “Maybe you could distract me.”  He smiled when Alex tipped his head to the side, and ran his tongue over the soft skin.  

“I don’t think there’s a sex position that won’t hurt your foot,” Alex laughed, but he didn’t stop the hands that were sliding under his shirt.  “You probably shouldn’t exert yourself too much.”

“I’m sure you can think of something, you’re really smart.”  Michael grinned when Alex laughed, and enjoyed the little gasp he sucked in when he brushed his fingers over his nipple.  “And you’re so creative.”

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea,” Alex complained, but he was already running his hands over Michael’s body under his t-shirt.  “Wouldn’t want to put any stress on your system.  All the trauma.”

Michael helped Alex pull his shirt off and moaned softly when he started kissing down his chest.  “But this is so comforting,” Michael argued, laughing when Alex did.  “I feel so much more mentally healthy already.”  His fingers gripped Alex’s hair when his teeth closed around his nipple.  “Fuck.”

Alex started kissing his way down his stomach.  “Your mental health is very important to me.”

“You’re such a good boyfriend,” Michael panted.  

“Lift up but only with your left foot,” Alex instructed.  “Don’t push down with your sprained ankle.”

“You’re so smart.”  Michael held himself up while Alex pulled his pants down, then off.  “Oh, fuck, Alex.”  He spread his legs as wide as he could on the twin bed.  “Why’re you still dressed?”

“Because I don’t have to be naked to suck you off.”  He settled between his legs.  “Don’t want you to hurt yourself arching, put your right leg over my shoulder.”  He helped Michael position himself.  “Your health and well-being are of the utmost importance.”

“I can tell.”  He groaned at the first touch of Alex’s hot tongue.  “Fuck.”  Michael let his head fall back against the pillow.  

“Tell me if this gets too stressful,” Alex teased.  Then he swallowed his cock.

“Oh fuck!”  Michael was glad Alex didn’t mind if he pulled his hair a little, because he couldn’t keep his hands off his head.  “Fuck.”  For someone that hadn’t been doing this for very long, Alex was fucking good at it.  He learns fast.  Damn.  “Baby, this, I’m not going to last long,” he panted out.  “So good.”

In response, Alex doubled his efforts.  “Fuck, if you don’t--” 

Alex didn’t pull back so he took that as permission to come, and groaned through his orgasm, fingers tight in Alex’s hair, ankle completely forgotten.  He was vaguely aware of Alex releasing him from his mouth and moving a little to breathe, but it was at the periphery of his consciousness.  He just panted for a while, feeling tingly and floaty and he’d forgotten how it felt to come after drinking acetone and it was so good.  

Eventually, though, he realized he was pinning Alex to the bed with his face in his crotch, and it was at the very least rude, so he started to move his leg.  “Sorry, baby.”

“Don’t be,” Alex answered softly, helping him settle his sore foot on the bed before moving up to offer him a kiss.  “Was that a good distraction?”

“Oh fuck yes,” Michael laughed, breathless.  He waited while Alex got back under the blanket, then wrapped himself around him, head on his chest.  “That was amazing.”

“‘M glad.”  Alex rubbed his face against Michael’s soft, springy hair.  “I love you.”

Michael smiled.  “I love you too, Alex.  I think with a little more of your excellent care I’ll be back on my feet.  Literally.”

Alex laughed softly.  “I don’t know if oral sex really accelerates healing.”

“It’s the emotional support,” Michael laughed.  “My emotional well-being is so supported now.”

“Oh good,” he laughed.  “I know it’s early, but do you want to sleep for a little while?”

“Yah.  That sounds great.”  He reached out mentally and turned off their desk lamps.  “Joking aside, thanks for taking care of me, Alex.  You really are the best boyfriend.”

“You’re sweet.  I like taking care of you.”

“I’ll hurt myself more often, just to make you happy.”

“Fuck you.”

Michael cuddled as close as he could, taking comfort from the warm arms around him.  “Maybe tomorrow.”

“Jesus fucking christ, Michael, go to sleep.”

[kdenbibi]

Endless Chapter 5

Damian Wayne x Reader (x various)

Summary:Some questions are answered, some questions arise.

Warnings: Slight language, war flashbacks to Discowing

Authors Note: Yeet, hope ya like it

Tag List: @mirajanestrauss1999

I walked into the small coffee shop, shaking the snow from my beanie as I trudged towards the very back, my long winter jacket fluttered from the speed I was walking, I silently thanked the Lord they had the heater blasting in here.I peeled off the coat, tossing it in the empty booth in the back I'd been instructed to snag.  I tried my best not to let my nerves show, although to be fair I was meeting a complete stranger all by my lonesome, unfortunately Jon got an urgent call and had to bail, he seemed pretty hesitant to leave but after some reassurance that I'd be okay he dipped. Seconds felt like hours as I waited for the guy to show, my fingers drummed down on the worn down surface to the beat of the Christmas song softly drifting throughout the shop. The cheery atmosphere did nothing to quell the anxiety in my stomach, if the smell of cinnamon in the air and overall warmth the cafe provided couldn't help, then yeah I was definitely nervous. I tugged off my knit beanie, and attempted to smooth out the serious case of hat hair I had going on, thankfully, I braided my hair earlier so the loose curls sticking out looked on purpose, my fingers, now bored with the drumming, toyed with the ends of braid as a means of distraction. I felt my eye wander from the homely decorations hung up and around the walls, to watching the world go by through the window. I took in the sight, the snow had finally started to come down in Gotham so people were bundled up almost comically, and despite it being  below 40° outside, they went about their lives as usual, whenever new folks paid our city a visit, they were always perplexed at Gothamites abilities to ignore the freezing temperatures. I have to admit as sweet as the snow falling was to watch, hands down my favorite thing about this time of year was the city's tradition to string up what looked to be a million Christmas lights above and through downtown, making the usual dim, dark, nights much brighter. I was so in my thoughts I jumped at the sudden body very casually-and very loudly I might add- sliding into the booth across from me, I ended up slamming my knees into the table so hard the salt and pepper shakers knocked over. I whispered a curse under my breath as I rubbed at my newly bruised knee, and before I could roast the unwanted stranger, my head snapped up to see a familiar grin. "Yikes- that sounded like it hurt, you okay kid?" "Besides needing new kneecaps? Yeah just peachy - thanks for asking strange grown man." Said random man gave a warm laugh at my response, I took in his appearance, trying to gage if he was a threat or not, I could tell even sitting down the guy had a few good inches on me, he was wrapped in a brown bomber jacket, underneath was a crisp white shirt just asking to be stained by the grease that came with living here. He simply smiled while I analysed him, familiarity pinged in my head once I laid eyes on him grin. I scanned over his facial features, trying my damnedest to figure out where the hell I knew him from, his eyes were almost the same shade of electrifying  blue as Jon's, his hair fell in tufts of black waves, the few scattered snowflakes atop the waves made the black stand out even more.

All I got from my mini evaluation was this guy was hot, but I wasn't about to lower my defenses because of it.

He broke the silence before I could, suddenly looking confused as he glanced around the building. "Hey I thought you were gonna bring a friend? Or are they just hiding out in a vent waiting to ambush me if things go bad?" He joked, and just like that I remembered why I was even here. "Holy shit you're Ni- you're here." He nodded, the goofy grin ever present.My voice cracked mid sentence, I managed to stop myself from basically screaming 'Well butter my biscuits it's Nightwing! In the flesh!' and cleared my throat trying not to show the heat of embarrassment steadily creeping up my neck. "He uh- had to cancel actually, but don't worry I have a plan in case you turn out to be a weirdo." He laughed again, not taking any offense to my sort of threat. "Smart girl." He leaned back against the booth, thumbing through the menu like we were just two buddies catching up over coffee."I wonder if they serve any food, I'm starving.” He waved over the waitress grabbing himself a coffee, "Want something?" I responded still staring at the man confusion plastered across my face."Coco please." After a few moments of silence he spoke, clearly amused.

"You okay over there?"

"What no, wait I mean yeah why- why wouldn't I be." I internally cringed at my answer, he gave me a look which said he didn't but it, but the conversation dropped there.He filled the time spent waiting for our orders with casual stories about his day job as a police officer and how crazy it could be."Moral of the story, don't try to drive after your eyes have been dilated." I nodded, still, if not more nervous than I was earlier, a part of me felt like I should have been taking notes, he sighed into his palm, a smaller smile on his lips. "What is it? Do I have something on my face?" He picked up the dingy napkin dispenser, attempting to look at himself in the just barely reflective surface. I couldn't help the snort from escaping my mouth. "Nah I'm just trying to wrap my head around," I gestured to him with a wave of my hand. "- all this." He put down the dispenser with a smile. "It's pretty weird huh?" "Just a little." I laughed out pinching my fingers together. "I mean you're so - normal." Just then the waitress brought us our orders,He laughed into the coffee mug, taking a long sip before responding. "Well what did you think we did all day, work on our outfits and plan witty comebacks?" I paused before nodding. He sighed, rubbing his temple, "I can't speak for everyone but I happen to be a very normal guy- mostly." "Well 'normal guy' I gotta get your name cuz’ I'm running out of things to call you." He stuck out his hand,"Richard Grayson at your service, but my friends call me Dick." I took his outstretched palm with a firm shake. "Those don't sound like very good friends,” I joked “ I'm (Y/n) (L/n)." After half my drink was gone and the atmosphere was much lighter than earlier, a question popped up in my mind. "Let me ask you a question Dick." "Shoot." "Why'd you come here- you know, out of your whole 'sparkly' get up." He squinted at me, wiping his face before pointing a finger at my face. "First of all it is not 'sparkly', and let me tell you I know sparkly, one version of the costume had a very, very deep v-neck, I'm talking uncomfortable to look at deep, trust me this is an upgrade." I laughed, nearly chocking on my drink as I pictured him in the world's deepest v-neck, I wiped at my mouth with the back of my sleeve, the nerves finally leaving once I realized he was really just a normal dude.

Well a normal dude who kicks ass in tights at night but that's besides the point.

"Okay well that still doesn't tell me why you showed up all not-clad-in-skin-tight-kevlar. Aren't secret identities kind a big deal for y'all spandex junkies?" "Well yeah, but like I said before, you're a good kid, so I'm not all that worried." He leaned forward, a hopeful smile on his face. "Besides, there's gotta be trust between the people you work with- if you'd like to join us spandex junkies that is." I smiled at the man, a new wave of warmth spread through me as he spoke, I mentally paused, searching for any kind of hesitancy from my gut but all I got was a 50/50 ratio of nerves and excitement. "I'm listening, although I can't promise I'll squeeze myself into anything uncomfortable, even if it looks good." "Duly noted." He laughed. We spent the next hour shooting questions back and forth, most of his were unsurprisingly about what I could and could not do.

Mine were mostly about the tights.

By now the sun had set but there were still plenty of people walking about, apparently the threat of crime wasn't about to deter their Christmas shopping. "So what made you change your mind? About calling me that is?" He asked pulling me from my thoughts. I pulled on the sleeves of my shirt out of habit. "Something happened at the bank the other day-" "Wait, that mysterious hero was you?" "Yes and no," I gave a dry laugh "-anyway something..uh new happened with my powers and I figured if anyone could help me it be a dude who spends all his time around other people like me, can't exactly learn about this in chemistry class ya know?" He nodded with a warm smile, before his face shifted into something more of determination, "Look, I'll be honest here, personally I can't relate to the whole 'ooky spooky abilities' deal but I know a few people who do, and we'd all be willing to help." I gave him a soft smile, a warm feeling of appreciation swelled in my chest. "Thank you- I mean it really, I have no idea where it comes from- or what the full extent of it is." I huffed leaning back into the seat. "It sure be nice not to worry about it any more." "Again, like I said, it's kind of our job to help and protect. So it's not a problem kiddo." 

This felt like a moment from those sappy films where the older sibling figure ruffles the younger ones hair affectionately, but it wasn't.

Because if he tried it, I'd stab his hand with my fork out of reflex.

"So what's the plan here, am I gonna meet up with you in your secret lair and practice?" He chuckled out a no before continuing. "Not exactly, I'll have to finalize things with the big guy and when everything's ready we'll come to you." "Big guy?" He looked at me questioningly, a small smirk curling on his lips, waiting for me to come to my own conclusion. "Oh shit you mean Batman oh. OH." He shushed me with a laugh looking around at the other patrons before turning back to me. "Don't worry he's not at scary as everyone thinks." "Are you shitting me? Hell no." I shook my head with an uneasy laugh."He's on the Babadooks level- He's on that Freddy .vs. Jason level of scary." He barked out a laugh before pulling out the money to cover our bills. "Trust me kid, you'll do fine." "What if he doesn't like me? What if I don't make the cut and he throws me out a six story window?"

"That's oddly specific and-" he looked around for the sake of dramatics and whispered. "You didn't hear this from me, but if it'll make you feel better, you won't be dealing with him much." "Wait- who will I be dealing with then?" He winced out a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck."See now I really can't tell you that."I pouted at the older man,"Dude! You said it yourself, there should be trust between people working together, don't contradict yourself Richard." I spoke with grin. "Damnit you got me there." He snapped his fingers together before leaning in "Okay but I'm only telling you because I think you deserve a warning." My brows shot up in concern at that. "Why would I need a warning exactly?" "Well, you remember that kid I had to stop from turning you to mincemeat?" "Yeah sure, I remember the goblin." He said nothing else, calmly sipping his mug, eyes cast away from me, making me realize exactly who he meant. "Shit."

Damian POV

I easily dodged Jon's incoming fist, his stance was wrong and his punches were sloppy, he was distracted by something. I used this to land a firm kick to the back of his exposed knee, bringing him down with a wince worthy thud.My heel pressed into the center of his back as I leaned down to the struggling teenager, the pressure increased on his back the lower I went. After realizing he wasn't getting up any time soon he tapped on the mat twice, signaling his defeat. "You're terrible at this you know." I offered him a hand after he managed to roll onto his back, he scoffed at me but took my offer, pulling himself into a standing position."Well yeah, thats the whole point of you training me." He rolled his shoulders before setting his feet in the proper position. He motioned at me to come at him, I simply walked towards the nearest bench and took a seat. "Aw come on Damian! You told me to come home and train but you won't even-" "You are distracted, in a real fight that would kill you." I spoke before taking a short sip from my water bottle. "Sort yourself out Jonathan." I watched the boy from the corner of my eye, his face was furrowed in frustration, I could tell he was losing his cool, it brought a smirk to my face. "I'm not distracted-" "You and I both know I'm not wrong, so talk, spew your problems like some prepubescent child, if it'll get your mind in the game."He sighed plopping down to sit on the slightly worn down mat, "I'm just a little worried about (y/n)-" "Why is there an update?" I spoke up interrupting him. He shook his head no. "Besides what happened at the bank? Nothing, I would have told you." He spoke that last line with a hint of bitterness, when I first told him to get intel on the girl, he was completely against the idea. My mind flashed to that first initial morning where they walked off together, a plan had came to my head to get the information I needed without doing much of anything. As the week progressed, I'd ask the Kryptonian if anything interesting happened with her, hoping she'd share with the boy, but unfortunately for me, he began to catch on. "Damian, can I ask you something?" "You just did but fine, go ahead." We sat at our usual lunch table, the everyday chaos of high school chatter blended our conversation into the background. "Why are you so curious about (y/n)?" I looked up from my book to meet his suspicious gaze."Is it wrong to be curious, Kent?" His leaned into his hand, the puzzlement in his eyes never faltering."No there's nothing wrong with that! its just, you don't really take interest in, well anything." I stared at him unimpressed. "No offense! I meant normal teenage stuff, like I only ever see you talk to a few people here, and whenever we talk it's about her." I won't lie, his intellect surprised me, but I didn't let it show. "She's seems like a nice person is all." I watched as his suspicion fell and the smile on his face grow into something mischievous. "So would you say she'd make a good friend?" My face scrunched in confusion."What?- sure yes if it'll shut you up." And with that he suddenly rose before making his way across the cafeteria, to my dismay he came back with the girl in question. (Y/n) looked between us, clearly just as confused as I was."Are you gonna tell me what was so urgent or keep me standing here like boo boo the fool?" "Damian wanted to know if you would sit with us for lunch!" Our eyes met, her's skeptical, mines more surprised than angry that the little shit had it in him to do this. I realized she was waiting for my confirmation, obviously not buying what Jon said. "If you want." I spoke after clearing my throat. An uneasy smile made it's way on her face before she sat down across from me, Jon took the seat next to her."Uh thanks? I mean this is uhm, nice of you and all but why?" Jon spoke for me. "Well we were just talking about how Damian here doesn't have many friends-" I kicked his shin hard under the table, but it only hurt my foot, I held back a wince and the urge to rub my now pulsing appendage. 'Boy of steel, right, I forgot.' Jon looked to me with a smirk before continuing."-and I was telling him all about how you're so nice and cool and yeah, here we are." She looked at me with a smirk stretched across her full lips, a perfectly arched brow rose in question, "That's surprising, who wouldn't wanna be friends with someone as charming and kindhearted as pretty boy over here?" The sarcasm was practically dripping from her voice.Jon, either too oblivious to notice or too excited to care, ignored this. "Great to hear! Well how was everyone's day?" Neither of us answered too busy in a stare off, I tried to analyze her, and she stared right back, refusing to step down from this unspoken glare contest. Jon interrupted us with a cough. "Well my day was great thanks for asking." She turned away to look at the taller boy, her expression much more friendly than the look she gave me. "Sorry, his whole 'children of the corn' thing going on is pretty distracting." she pointed her thumb back motioning to me, "-what'd you do today anyway?" He went on to list all the miniscule things he achieved before lunch. I half listened to their conversation, mostly focused on the novel I had, occasionally chiming in whenever I felt it necessary. Just like that the lunch period was over, and it was time to head back to reality.(Y/n) looked to me before she left, a half smile on her face, I was surprised it was directed at me and not the younger boy by my side. "You're not so bad Wayne, when you aren't talking that is." I smirked at the girl, slapping my novel shut with one hand."I'll admit, the brief moments your mouth was shut were rather nice." She laughed off my insult with a wave of her hand, before returning to her group to finish their day.

When the school day crawled to an end, and I was driving Jon and myself back to the manor, it occurred to me the boy in my passenger seat wasn't one to be easily fooled, it also occurred he may already know of her abilities and is acting stupid to throw off my questioning. I decided to sidestep all the bullshit of my original plan and straight out ask him. "Let's not beat around the bush Jonathan, has (y/n) told you anything strange about herself?" He snapped his head up, away from his phone to stare at me. "Pardon me?" I rolled my eyes at his act. "You know? Her powers, what has she told you of them?" "She has powers?" He practically screamed, I resisted the urge to slam the car into the traffic surrounding me and took a deep breath. "I'd appreciate it if you refrained from screaming like a banshee in my car." I spoke with a roll of my eyes, god the more time I spent with this kid the more I saw the inside of my head."You can drop the act, I know of her powers already." "I didn't!" He yelled, deflating in his seat."You're kidding me right?" He didn't answer."I'll take that as a no then, TT." He groaned tossing his hands up in the air, clearly distraught. The rest of the car ride was silent, him no doubt letting the information sink in. It wasn't until days later did we speak again, after he returned home rather late, looking like he'd been kicked down a flight of stairs. I sipped at the tea steaming in my cup as he sat down at the table, rubbing at his neck, exhaustion clear in his body language. "What's up with you?" His tired eyes lifted to meet mine. He hesitated before speaking, having some sort of internal debate on whether or not to tell me. "Something happened today, something with (y/n)." He gave me a very rough explanation, not wanting to delve into the details too much, before trying to head up to bed, I grabbed his arm stopping him in his tracks. "You saw what happened today, it could get worse if she doesn't get help, but she won't listen to me, so you have to do it." "What- me? I don't even know what you're saying." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the kid before speaking again. "You're her friend, it should be easy to get some information about the extent of her abilities and bring it back to me." He scoffed at me, "I wouldn't deceive her like that- I wouldn't deceive anyone like that!" "You wouldn't be deceiving anyone, you'd simply be using your friendship to gain information for the greater good." I responded with a shrug."It would feel wrong, I don't wanna use her." "No one said you'd use her, you can still keep up that happy go lucky friendship shit once you tell me what I need." "That's not how friendships work." He chewed on the nail of his thumb, deep in thought. I continued, placing a hand on his shoulder. "As a hero, it's your responsibility to protect the public from any threats, or any potential threats." I used my Robin voice, the tone I used to talk to civilians, commanding but nonthreatening, trying to get it through his thick head."She's not a threat." He looked conflicted as he spoke. "Any unregistered meta is a threat, hell me and you both are threats. Power in the wrong hands is never a good thing." "Well it's not in the wrong hands, she saved those people today!-" "Prove it to me, show me she's not a threat and I'll drop it." We stared at one another in silence before he nodded, a fire in his eyes.

"Deal."

I was brought back to the present when he moved to stand, stretching out his body."I think I'm good now, you ready for round two?" I placed the water bottle down before rising, I walked until I was an arms reach away from him, "Let's see if Kryptonian's are all their hyped up to be."

After a good two hours of sparring (aka me tossing him on his ass in many different ways) and getting an idea of what he could do and handle, we called it a day. We made our way up from the cave, into the empty kitchen, he grabbed two water bottles from the fridge, tossing one to me before sitting down at the table.I nodded as thanks and pressed the cold bottle against my warm skin, sure the kid couldn't fight for shit but he was resilient as hell. I leaned against the counter, the cold of the marble bringing some relief to my overheated body. "What had you so worked up earlier anyway?" I asked breaking the silence that had fallen over us as we tried to catch our breaths. He finished patting his face with a towel before speaking."Oh it's nothing serious, I was supposed to go with her to meet someone but she texted me everything's going smoothly." "Why would she need you there?"

Thankfully he learned early on not to take my bluntness to heart, so he replied with a smile.

"I mean who wants to meet some hardcore vigilante all by themselves?" My head snapped up so fast it startled the younger boy. "She's doing what?" He grimaced at me, a nervous smile on his lips. "Meeting up with a vigilante to discuss her powers?" He spoke as more of a question than an actual answer.I felt the urge to slam my hand to my forehead, or alternatively his head into the cabinet. "It just occurred to you to share this with me now?" 

My voice was rising, I couldn't believe the amount of stupidity bottled up into one human. "Hey in my defense I thought you knew! I mean it is Nightwing, you guys are cool right? You have nothing to worry about!." His eyes shifted from me to the doorway, as he inched towards it, his voice had gone up a few good octaves in fear. He held up his hands like he expected me to throw something his way, a good chunk of me thought that wouldn't be a bad idea. I paused, racking my brain for answers to all the questions I had, why would Dick go see her? Why didn't I know about it? Why was I not strangling Jon right now? So many questions with no answers. I looked up to ask him for any other withheld information only to see his body quickly disappearing down the hallway.

"I'm sorry I'm running but you're way too freaky to be around when you're mad!" He yelled over his shoulder, it echoed throughout the hallway. I had now two options, call Dick, demand an explanation and hope he'll give it to me, or take my anger out on my housemate and then call dick.

Option two sounded much more fun, and besides, a quick throw off the balcony would test his flight skills.

[topfics]

Fall Dates with Tyjo and Jishwa

TYLER

Tyler and you would go immediately go get all the blankets you could scrounge up and make a fort.

But this fort wouldnt’ be just a normal fort, no… it would be a fort that included the TV so you could binge watch Netflix or watch movies together. And because Tyler is such a loving person, he would include all of your favorite snacks like: popcorn, skittles, pretzel bites, nachos, a giant soda, crunch bars, and so much more.

The two of you would then watch all the scary movies you could find, and you, being the smart person you are, held the popcorn and spilled everywhere when something jumped out at you. That would lead to Tyler laughing his ass off beCAUSE HE WOULD DO THE FUCKING SAME THING!!!!

After the movie marathon, you guys decided to make fall inspired cookies late at night. You got on Pinterest and found some really cute Halloween shaped sugar cookies. You loved to bake so you thought this would be easy.

WRONG

Baking with Tyler was fun, but it was MESSY AS HELL.

Tyler would turn on the KitchenAid too fast. That made the flour go everywhere. It was almost like it was glitter getting everywhere. But WORSE. He would start laughing even more while you tried to clean it up, then grabbing the frosting you prepared and wiped it on your face.

DID HE REALLY START A FUCKING FOOD FIGHT??? Yes. Yes he did.

So, being the cute and cheesy thing it was, you started fighting back, You threw flour at him and put frosting all over his face. He begins to chase you around the kitchen, trying to give you a hug. Unfortunately, he slips on some flour and falls, causing you to laugh. You try to help him up but he ultimately drags you on the ground with him, wiping his messy face, then placing the flour and frosting combo on your face.

You glare at him and give him a kiss, transferring some of it back onto him.

OKAYYYY SO THAT WAS A DISASTER! Moving on!

Soon after, you wanted to make a fresh apple pie for his family. So he decides to take you to pick your own apples! You both had baskets, and you went through the apple trees and picked out the best ones. Tyler purposely tried to go for the tall ones to see how high he could jump. You took videos of him trying to reach one that you saw and wanted, but he ultimately failed.

Luckily for you, a nice, tall family came to your rescue and grabbed that beautiful red apple for you. Tyler was a bit embarrassed, but you thought it was cute that he wanted to impress not only himself, but you as well.

“I wanted to get you that apple…” Tyler sighed.

“It’s okay, Ty. You tried.” you slightly laugh. “That’s all that matters.”

After the apple picking, the two of you run to the store to get some caramel to make caramel apples. You wanted to “boo” the neighbors with them.

“Boo”ing the neighbors was a tradition in your neighborhood. Someone would start it off by making a flyer that says something like, “You’ve been booed!” and the gist of it was to give that ghost to another neighbor with another treat. It was a fun way to get the Halloween spirit going. Plus, you get free food??? What was wrong with that???

So Tyler helps you melt the caramel and puts the sticks in the apples. You start on the decorations. You decided you wanted to make some Jack Skellington themed ones, as well as the apple from Snow White. Then you made some regular old caramel apples, and placed them on a cookie sheet to dry and harden more. Afterwards, you put them all in a cute little baggie, and printed out the flyer.

You decided to let Tyler ding-dong ditch the neighbor, because you believed him to be a better and faster runner.

But… you were abso-fucking-lutely wrong.

You watched through the window as he placed the apples on the doorstep, ringing the bell and running. But as he was running to hide, he tripped. He was army crawling to get behind the bushes.

You shook your head and chuckled as he got to the bushes unnoticed. He gives you a thumbs up and you shake your head.

After the neighbors grab the apples and head back in, Tyler comes back home. The first thing he says to you is:

“Nailed it.”

“No, Ty. You didn’t. What did you even trip on?”

He begins to blush and looks away.

“I would say I tripped on a rock…. But…”

“But what…?”

“That’s a lie. I tripped on my own foot.”

Okay so after that disaster, you and Tyler would go to a Halloween party.

He didn’t really want to dress up, so you came up with the brilliant idea of him dressing as Josh, and you would dress as him.

So, you grabbed his signature black paint and put it all over your neck and hands, borrowing his red beanie and outfit from the stressed out video. Tyler called Josh and borrowed his red eye makeup and got a spraycan to “dye” his hair. You took pictures together and posted on social media.

THE CLIQUE FUCKING LOVED IT LEMME TELL YA.

Comments were flooding in, and you couldn’t be more proud of this idea. You even sent a video to Josh of Tyler saying, “Hi, my name is Josh dun and… I love Tyler.”

Josh responded with, “This is accurate.”

You got to the party with Tyler, and everyone commented on how genius it was. You simply told them that Tyler was too lazy to dress up as anything else so this was the best thing you could come up with. And it worked.

Whilst there, they had pumpkins you could carve and decorate. So, Tyler decides to go a non-traditional route, and made the “|-/” symbol for the fans. You decided to carve Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas seeing as it was your favorite movie.

You took them home and placed them in front of your door.

After the party, you made hot apple cider and cozied up to Tyler, deciding to finally watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. The night ended with the two of you cuddled on the couch, entangled with blankets.

JOSH

As soon as the leaves started changing color and falling, you know this fucker is going to want to play in the leaves.

You would help him rake the leaves and pile them up, putting them in garbage bags. Josh dumped the bags of leaves on the trampoline, moving it over to where he could jump off the balcony.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” you ask.

“Of course babe! It’ll be so fun! Just you wait and see.”

He flashes you that damn smile of his and you succumb to his dangerous ways.

He gets onto the balcony and looks to you, giving you a big thumbs up.

“Are you snapping this?” he asks.

“Just tell me when, Josh.”

“NOW!”

You start recording, and he does a backflip into the pile of leaves on the trampoline.

“WOOHOO!”

He begins to jump around and roll in the leaves, then sprawls out.

“Come on! You need to get down here!”

You smile and nod, getting on the balcony. You look down and instantly regret it.

He holds his arms out to you and nods, encouraging you to jump.

You jump and scream, and land into a familiar pair of arms. You look up and smile, your heart beating a million miles a minute. He grins, knowing you are just as much of an adrenaline junkie as he is.

“THAT WAS SO FUN!” you yell.

The two of you begin bouncing around the trampoline, having butt wars to just cuddling in the pile of leaves. Josh eventually makes the decision that he wants to sleep out here. He goes into the house and grabs plenty of blankets, and a small tent that he sets up later.

He grabs some flashlights and some snacks, putting them in after the tent is on the trampoline. He swaddles the two of you in blankets, holding you close to his larger and more muscular frame. You take in his scent and kiss him, the two of you falling asleep afterwards.

Alright motherfuckers time for some pumpkin carving.

Josh takes you to a pumpkin patch, wanting to pick out his own pumpkin to carve.

“I’m going to choose the biggest one here.” he states happily.

You chuckle and nod, deciding to choose a smaller pumpkin yourself. After Josh finds one that he is content with on size, you bring it home and wait until evening to carve it.

In the meantime, you two go on a scenic hike, the nice, cool breeze making it the perfect weather to go hiking. You sit at the top of the hike on a bench overlooking the city. The sun is setting and the two of you sit in silence, not needing words to enjoy each other’s companies.

After it begins to get darker and cooler, you head back home and begin carving your pumpkins. You decide to take it a more traditional route and make a simple jak-o-lantern, while Josh makes a pumpkin dedicated to some of his favorite bands and artists.

You set it outside on the porch and decide to go to a haunted house with some friends.

You immediately get scared as you’re walking to the entrance, Josh laughing hysterically in front of you.

“Babe it isn’t that scary!”

You glare and hit his arm, then held onto it for dear life.

“Maybe not to you!” you whine.

“I promise I will protect you. I will lead you through this rough time.”

You glare once more and reluctantly nod, clinging onto him for dear life.

As the two of you enter, you instantly close your eyes.You may have blocked one sense out, but you couldn’t block out the noise. That’s what got you the most. Even with Josh, you screamed until your throat hurt from screaming too much. Josh tried to cover you as best he could, but the workers knew that you were afraid. They used it to their advantage to get some good scares out of you.

Eventually, you made your way out of the haunted house, kneeling over, trying to catch your breath.

“I hate you for making me go through that.”

“(Y/N), I told you, the more you scream the more they’re going to go after you.”

“I can’t help it! You know I scare easily.” you take in a deep breath and grab his hand, leading him to the car.

As soon as you got home, you changed into pajamas and Josh made you your favorite hot cocoa. He adds whipped cream on top with a wafer cookie stick, and puts caramel and chocolate syrup. He hands you the warm mug as he turns Netflix on, putting Stranger Things on screen.

He rubs your arm to comfort you as you drink the warm liquid. It fills your stomach and you instantly feel relieved.

“Are you okay?” he asks quietly.

You simply nod your head and put the mug down, placing your head on his shoulder. You eventually fall asleep. He turns the TV off and carries you to your shared room, placing you under the covers and cuddling up to you.

The next day you head to your favorite amusement park. It was in the spooky season so you expected that there would be people trying to scare you, but at least there were more people so it was less likely that they would come to you.

You took Josh’s hand and dragged him to all of your favorite rides first, the both of you laughing and screaming as the rides twisted and turned, looped and looped.

Josh goes to a concession stand and buys a funnel cake, topped with strawberries and whipped cream, with a chocolate sauce drizzle. You lick your lips and dig in, sighing happily as you taste all the different flavors of the funnel cake.

Josh takes a picture of you and posts it on his snap story, captioning it: “My person.”

You look at him suspiciously, grabbing his phone to make sure it was a good photo.

He smiles and takes it back before you can see.

“It looks good, I promise.” he takes your hand and takes one more photo, posting it to his Instagram.

“I love them more than I love my drums. And that says a lot.”

You check your phone when it lights up with a notification saying that you were tagged in a photo.

You look and smile, swallowing your bite of funnel cake.

“I love you too, Josh Dun. Now help me finish this funnel cake!”

[vegandoughnut]

PART 4: Tall Tails, Rambling Yarns

"Do you offer any gluten free toppings for the vegan ice cream?" A guest wearing a beanie and striped sweater asks at the counter. Harper smiles.

"Yes ma'am. All the syrups, the chocolate chips, dark and gold raisins, nuts and if you want, we can crumble a gluten free cookie on top. But the graham crackers and Pirouline wafer sticks, mostly the unspecified items, are not gluten free" she explains, pointing out the items on the big chalkboard menu above the wall counter with all the kitchen appliances.

"Thanks. Fantastic" says the guest.

Anekke excuses herself and leaves from behind the counter. Pradeep watches as he pulls on a pair of see through gloves.

"These better be the nitrile ones. Boris knows I'm allergic to latex" he mumbles. "You should let Kitt know. You know, just in case" says Harper.

"Excuse me?" Says Pradeep, putting down a measuring cup harder than intended. "What's going on? You keep mentioning Kitt"

"Huh? You said something?"

Pradeep scowls, unimpressed with Harper's faux oblivion. In fact, it was getting under his skin. People must really be jealous that he and Kitt actually have something. That they are real friends and actually enjoy one anothers company. Harper had no right to try and be like Anekke, who was closer to Pradeep and allowed to joke about him and Kitt. Harper was trying too hard to be "one of the guys" and it was ticking Pradeep off.

He prepares a customer's order of rooibos tea and oatmeal raisin cookies on a wooden tray, and decorates the edges of the tray with a few fake Fall leaves. The customer takes the order and pays, then resumes a spot at one of the tables.

He watches Harper hand the gluten free customer their kawaii styled ice cream order in a pretty parfait glass. As usual, the ice cream scoop is decorated with a cat face using chocolate syrup. She always did it the best since she went to art school. He had to give her that. At least she had some kind of talent to make up for her lack of social graces.

He then turns his attention to the thump of Kitt's heavy booted footfalls. Such a tiny girl made such a sound. He smiles slightly, wiping down the greasy wooden counter.

Kitt says something to Carl who then heads to the back and downstairs. Pradeep runs the back of his neck and shrugs.

Anekke comes back to the bar and washes her hands over the stainless steel sink against the wall.

"So Stephen's letting me take the extra hours" she boasts.

"Excellent" says Pradeep. "You can't leave me here with them"

"Oh gosh I know"

"Hmmm..." Pradeep pulls out the folded daily program from his pants pocket. "Kumlyun has downstairs now? No wonder she fell off the map"

"That's the best post if you ask me. Especially for her" she says with a sneer. "I could do 3 whole slots there except having to overhear Boris on the phone yelling at his son gives me a headache"

Pradeep laughs.

"I have break with you downstairs" Kitt says to Carl when he returns to the floor. "If you need to talk" she adds, slowly, wary. "I'm just waiting for Kumlyun and Humbert to relieve us"

"Oh, right, Humbert takes my post" says Carl, examining his daily program, which he only folded in half and managed to fit it in his pants pockets.

"Uh. I wish I had pockets that deep" says Kitt, chewing the inside of her cheek. She throws a glance back at Gary Nygard who appears to be enjoying his relative privacy and lack of attention that Kitt has tried for the past hour to maintain.

"Hi" Carl says to Humbert who steps next to him silently, holding out his hand. Carl goes to shake it but he moves it away and points at the lanyards hanging from Carl's other pocket.

"Those should go in the apron pocket. Did Stephen or Boris give you an apron?"

"I don't have on my half apron, Humbert. It's okay. Its Carl's first day" Kitt cuts in. Humber hurrumphs as Carl hands him the lanyards.

"Protocol is protocl" he grumbles. "Good luck" he says to Carl. Kumlyun appears, poking Kitt in the arm.

"You're good to go girl" says Kumlyun, wiping her hands on her corduroy skirt. She must have eaten something crumby.

"Let's go Carl. We need this lunch more than ever" says Kitt, dating towards the back staircase. "Oh crap, Pradeep" she mutters. Carl awkwardly heads towards the staircase, looking back. Kitt goes to Pradeep at the bar.

"Kittie MacIntyre with the caramel glaze and raspberry on top. Enjoy babysitting so far?" Pradeep asks.

"Pradeep Gupta. Out here looking like a Bollywood snack with those perfect eyebrows...." Kitt teases back. "Carl is really not so bad. He's... bewildered all the time but he's a sweet guy. It could be that he's new"

Pradeep moves his head side to side and shrugs. "If you say so. Let me know how it goes with Mr Carl a.k.a Clark"

Kitt pinches Pradeep's shoulder playfully before taking her hidden box of muffins from under the counter, then striding towards the staircase. She sees Harper grimace in disgust before she disappears down the stairs.

"Hating a*s Buzzfeed looking b---" Kitt stops herself as she bumps into Boris while descending the single flight of steps. "Oh! Sorry!" She says quickly. Boris ruvs his shiny bald head, adjusts his tortoise shell glasses and goes up towards the office, uttering not a single word.

Kitt shakes off her chill and enters the breakroom with its cozy lit scented candles, cat scratching posts and junky arrangement. She takes a seat on one of the couches and unfolds one of the wooden tray tables from against the wall.

She watches as Carl sits on the couch next to her and does the same. They take out their lunches in silence. The sounds of containers opening and tea pouring fills in the thick warm air.

"So, how do you like it so far?" Kitt asks.

"Huh? The veggie wrap?"

"No. The job"

"Oh, I like it so far. Got my allergies under control, getting used to the schedule, and the atmosphere is really something. Everyone is so friendly. The customers are quirky and bring books to read. It's great" he says before taking another big bite of his tofu scramble wrap, picking up slivers of sundried tomato that escaped the filling and popping them in his mouth.

Kitt focused hard on her oatmeal, trying not to ask the invasive questions she had for Carl. Looking at him, he was an above average attractive man in his early 20s, with a small beard, parted dark hair and kind blue eyes. He wore a semi-fitted button down and hoodie with black chinos, and comfortable looking loafers.

There was no reason to fault him for his naivety or clumsiness. It's just quite possible that he's used to being an only child, spending a lot of time with his parents.

"Are you a homebody?" Kitt asks before she could stop herself.

"Yeah, how'd you guess?" Carl asks, sipping coffee from his thermos loudly, concluding the gulp with an impressed "mmmm that's good mocha"

"Just guessing. I'm into MBTI and stuff. I like trying to place personalities going by subtle signs. I guess I read too much Psychology Today in my high school library years ago"

Carl grins genuinely. "I used to too. Mostly looking to see if I could find things I could relate to, and I guess to try to understand people, but, it's still a mystery. The way brains work"

"Right" says Kitt, running her fingers through and pulling her long burgundy dreads over her shoulder. To Carl she looked swallowed by her hair. Which dwarfed her frame more than her scarf and cardigan. Her fingers looked so dainty bringing spoonfuls of goopy oatmeal to her glossy mouth.

He didn't mention anything about earlier. Kitt was a combination of relieved and curious at the same time. Was it true? Was he really.....? She texted Pradeep, asking him if he wanted to drive her to Food Emporium after work.

"I like how eco conscious this place is. Paper straws, cloth napkins..."

The word napkins jolts Kitt out of her slight daze. Her ears perk up.

"Everything being reusable. The takeout boxes being compostable. I mean it's really something" Carl continues. "Hey. Sorry if I'm rambling. I could stop if you want-"

"Oh it's fine, really" says Kitt, scrolling her Twitter profile on her phone, tweeting away about Gary Nygard being gorgeous in real life and how shimmery lip gloss was only found in nude colors.

"Smells like maca. Do you put maca powder in your oatmeal?" Carl asks.

Kitt rolls her eyes but at her phone.

"Yeah. Need the extra vitamins or whatever. Pradeep put me on to it. But he literally puts everything in his oatmeal. I make fun of him for adding turmeric. Like he'll eat pizza flavored oatmeal, no lie" says Kitt.

Carl laughs.

"That doesn't sound too bad. It's kind of like soup right?"

"No. It's like cereal. Gross" says Kitt. She texts Pradeep about that too. Pradeep texts back with,

[Now you're telling him my business? I've got something for you if you keep that up]

Kitt grins widely at the implications.

"Wow time flies" says Carl as his phone alarm goes off. "It couldn't hurt to have an extra ten minutes. 30 minutes is so short. My internship gave us a whole hour"

"Ugh. I wish. But no. We're not that lucky. And frankly, we don't get paid enough to eat into our schedules. Ugh. Life at Cat Cafe" says Kitt, putting her empty insulated bowl, spoon and such into her lunch tote and bringing it to the sink to quickly wash what she could.

"Is it really time?" She asks over the sound of the gushing faucet.

"Five minutes till post" says Carl, folding up his table and tossing his brown paper bag into the paper recyclables bin, and the spotless foil into the glass, plastic and metals bin.

"That was great. Really great" he adds before heading up the stairs. Kitt watches, then puts her washed and dried stuff into her locker.

TBC

[heartslogos]

newfragile yellows [60]

“Who are you texting?” Bull asks as Lavellan grins down at her phone. “It’s not me, and it isn’t Dorian, and Cole doesn’t use his phone.”

“My brother to tell him that I’m pregnant with Dorian’s baby and you back me up on this,” Lavellan says.

Bull doesn’t quite freeze because freezing would make him too vulnerable of a target. The proper reaction to the fear and apprehension Ellana’s elicits in people is to keep moving, to always keep moving, to - in fact - never stop moving because the moment you stop moving he will catch up to you and end you. Alternatively, if you keep moving he may predict your patterns and you may move straight into his trap.

“Yeah?” Bull says, continuing to stir his coffee - but with a newfound apprehension and careful overview of his internal state of affairs. Is his paranoia the normal paranoia, or has it really be Mahanon setting it all off? Has he been actually feeling someone following him or is that leftover Ben-Hassrath training at work?

Did he or did he not imagine the TV remote being just askew?

“I thought your brother was on some deep cover mission for Evelyn,” Bull says, “No contact and stuff.”

“Well yes, but eventually he’ll get his phone back,” Ellana replies, “And when he does, Baby! This way, he can’t say no either - oh, hey, he’s answering. Maybe he was about to report in?”

Bull quickly moves away from the kitchen window, puts his back to the wall and presses himself into a corner of the kitchen. To this day he regrets not talking Ellana out of getting a house with so many fucking windows. Fuck natural lighting.

“Aw, he wants to know if I need him to be here for Baby’s birth,” Ellana laughs, “Silly Mahanon, that’s months away!”

Ellana hums, slowly turning her phone in her hands, “I’m going to say a tentative yes if he can swing it. It’d be close, but if he’s very efficient - “

“Your brother lives and breathes efficiency.”

“ - then he could probably make it in time. Remind me how many people are normally allowed in the room with you when you give birth? Do you think I could have Evelyn use her important person influence to get all three of you? Oh, but I do want Cole to be there too. And maybe Cassandra? Josephine! Herah, too!”

“You can’t fit everyone we know into the room with you when you give birth,” Bull says, “All the people we know barely fit in our house when we invite them over.”

“That’s quitter talk,” Ellana says, “I don’t abide by quitter talk. What if Baby heard you?”

“Baby is three weeks or something, Baby is fine. Are we going to refer to it as Baby the entire time?”

“Jelly bean. Beanie baby. Baby carrot. Carrot stick. Pea pod. Pod person. Ooh, pod person.”

“Baby it is.”

-

“You shouldn’t make pregnant people run,” Evelyn says, “What if you hurt the baby?”

“Yeah,” Ellana says as she hand cuffs the theif, “What if you hurt our babies? Also, don’t steal from the Inquisition. That’s just terrible planning.”

“Just because two of us are on maternity leave and we’re at a pool relaxing doesn’t mean we’re any less equipped to take you down. Petty theft? Really?” Evelyn says, hauling up her catch, “I defeated one of the most dangerous nationalist terrorists this century.”

“Shame, shame, shame,” Ellana muses, “Evelyn, what do we do now that we’ve caught them? I mean - Bull and Cassandra always bring around extra handcuffs but we don’t have one of our cars.”

“The more important part is I need to sit down. Also pee,” Evelyn says. “Ellana can you hold them both and we can switch off?”

“Deal,” Ellana says immediately reaching out and taking the second thief by the scruff of the neck. “I can’t believe we outran Cullen and Cassandra.”

Evelyn groans, putting a hand over her belly and rubbing it, “I think my kid is going to be an adrenaline junky - I can feel it being happy in there. No! No chasing criminals until you’re sixteen! Fifteen if we’re pushing it.”

“Evelyn!” Cullen says, bursting onto the scene, and groaning when he sees Ellana with the two chastised thieves.

“Did you read their rights?” Cassandra asks.

“Yes,” Ellana answers dutifully handing them off to Cassandra. “Also we scolded them. This is good mommy practice, isn’t it? Cullen, go back and tell Bull and Dorian that their baby likes running after thieves. It’s definitely our Baby. I can now confirm that this Baby is definitely ours. Aside from the fact that it’s growing inside me and stuff.”

-

“We are not letting Baby eat dirt,” Dorian gapes at the two of them, “That is bad parenting. Even I know that.”

“No it isn’t,” Lavellan says calmly, “It builds their immune system.”

“Yeah, I ate dirt all the time as a kid. Literally. Aside from the whole getting beat up in super-spy training thing. Kids are curious - they just put shit in their mouths all the time. It’s how they learn, Pavus,” Bull adds on, “It makes you strong and shit. Exposes you to germs. There are studies about how kids who were kept in bubbles do poorly on later in life - health wise in regards to fighting diseases off and all that.”

“Exactly, now look at me. I’m healthy. I’m fantastically healthy. When was the last time I got sick?”

“Last year,” Dorian says, “We had to send you to ICU. They had to re inflate your lungs twice. They were two seconds away from declaring you legally dead.”

“Alright, but that was a super-bug and I almost drowned, too,” Lavellan points out. “In the middle of January. That’s different. I was weakened by forces beyond my control.”

“We are not letting Baby eat dirt,” Dorian repeats.

Bull and Lavellan exchange sidelong glances, the corners of their lips twitching up momentarily before flattening out again.

Dorian glares at them, “Do not let Baby eat dirt when I’m not home.”

“I make no promises,” Bull says, putting an arm over the back of Lavellan’s chair as Lavellan sits back looking incredibly pleased with herself.

“I shall tell no lies,” Lavellan continues, the two of them high-fiving each other while maintaining perfect eye contact with Dorian.

“To borrow one from Cassandra. Ugh.”

[theabominableblogger]

Rewatching “AKA The Sandwich Saved Me“

*Jessica throws rubber band ball at work computer*  Thousand dollar computer, Jess...

“Would you put day drinking under ‘experience’ or ‘special skills?’”  Haha!

“Bullshit!  Hey, you’re [Jessica] good at bullshit!”  Truth, Trish!

Trish snorting on her drink is totally me

Who freaking howls right after punching the bag?

Oh my God that waitress’ face though!

THAT DUDE IN THE BACKGROUND!  PFFFTTT.....

Holy crap Kilgrave has had Malcolm under his control for six months?

God, Malcolm looks terrible...

“Pick up that coffee.  Throw it in your face.”  Well shit!

Nostalgic Critic reviewed the DuckTales reboot and he referenced this scene and I just had to laugh.

The scene is just so abrupt and you can’t help but laugh.

You can hear Kilgrave say to Malcolm in the background “C’mon junkie!”

:(

Take a shot every time Jessica says “Shit”

*Ruben stops by to check on Jessica*  Oh God this dude.

*Jessica interrupts Trish and Simpson mid their booty call*  Jessica’s middle name is C, which is short  for “cockblock”

Jessica, how do you not have a driver’s license?!?!?

“Hey, last night was fun.  Doesn’t mean I want your opinion.”  TAKE HIM [Simpson] DOWN, TRISH!

*Jessica and Simpson trash talk each on either side of the soundproof glass*  Yes.  Comedy gold.

“Hey, get off the road, you stupid sandwich!”  Pffftttt.....

“The sandwich saved me.”  I guess that makes Jess a hero sandwich...

While I do like the fact that Ruben is trying to get away from Robyn’s really strict and really weird rules, he’s still really weird.

Since it’s revealed next episode that Hope’s pregnant, what is the timeline for this show?  I know it’s like January 2015 but does it take place over like three weeks or something?

Oh my God, I forgot how awful Jessica’s comic book superhero suit is.

Like how?  How does she keep it up when she’s doing anything?

Yeah guys, you’re gonna kidnap Kilgrave wearing all black, sunglasses, hoods, hats, and driving a totally not conspicious bright blue windowless van.  Great.

That kid’s dressed like Captain America!

Trish is dressed like a robber in the 80s

Fun Fact:  the name of the coffee shop where they filmed this scene is called... The Coffee Shop.  Yup.

EVERYONE CAN NOTICE THAT LUNCH BAG DISGUISE, SIMPSON.

“Hey!  Hey, shithead!  Over here!”  Pfftttt.....

Kilgrave:  Oh wait, a really loud balloon popped and there’s this shady dude walking near me.  Hmm...

Jessica:  *does her thing*

Kilgrave:  (actually puffing up at the sight of her) Shit shit shit shit shit

Seriously, he just puffs up after Jessica waves at him.  It’s like when a little kid sees his crush at the playground.  It’s so childish.

What doesn’t help is that right before I started this episode, I watched a couple episodes of “Malcolm in the Middle.”  And yes, I watch “Malcolm in the Middle.”

Jess needs to work on not just relying on throwing people when fighting them

Oh my gosh, Trish’s little beanie hat!

“You bore me.  Leave.”  *scoffs*

Notice the first thing that attracted Kilgrave to Jessica was her superpowers.  Jessica herself came second.

“There’s a fantastic Szechuan place around the corner.  You like Chinese.”  Insert Rick and Morty joke here.

On a scary note, in “The Defenders”, when they all hang out in “The Royal Dragon,” Jessica never has anything on her plate.

Where did Jessica get the handcuffs?  Did she ask Simpson for them?

What the heck is this place?

*Kilgrave realizes that Jessica actually knocked out one of his back teeth*  QUIT DOING THAT WITH YOUR FACE, DAVID!

“That is completely unfair!”  Pfffftttttt....

There is so much said within that conversation over the phone and Jessica said nothing.

*Malcolm throws the drugs Kilgrave gave him in the toilet*  Yay!  Good job buddy!