#Like. It's not uh. Obviously externally noticable I guess but like. When I started noticing my issues it like. Maybe that could be a reason

[trans-soapberry]

post. Post-posting clarity where you're like "wtf was I talking about". But also post-posting confusion where you're also like "wtf was I talking about" but it's less about your mental state While Posting and more about "okay. I've written many words. I remember. Approximately 20% of them. What the fuck are the rest of these?"

[frostgears]

officer's ball

If there was one thing that eventually turned you against the aristocracy, it was the yearly humiliation of you, your handler, and your entire ground crew being forced into beribboned beyond-antique pre-starflight fashion every year for the Officer's Ball. They insisted. They said the nobles needed the human element. They said it'd justify your funding.

"Ammo doesn't grow on trees," the woman who directed your every combat action said. "And if it did, they'd be found growing only in First Landing family gardens. I hate this. I hate these people. Every fucking year, just to keep the program running. Don't they get bored?" and then she burst into tears and you had to do her makeup again, from the beginning.

You didn't mind it so much for yourself. The entitled fat old perverts of every gender trying to grab your ass and catching a handful of hoopskirt were entertaining. So was being forced to sample a continuous mix of canapés, sherry, cocaine, chocolate, PL-2141, and further canapés. If you really worked at it, you could approximate a slight buzz, the faintest echo of what interface drugs did on an average mission day.

But your poor mechanic wasn't used to being groped by the nobility or plied with anything stronger than hangar coffee. By two hours in, she was looking green around the edges and ready to puke in the nearest potted palm. Your avionics specialist, parted from her usual headphones and overlay glasses, was rigid with sensory overload and unable to dissociate because some third son of some electronics bureau minister had her cornered about a harebrained idea and wouldn't let go.

Your handler was worst of all: thoroughly miserable in her tightly corseted dress and constitutionally unsuited to any kind of discomfort inflicted upon her own person, rather than yours. She jumped at the slightest touch, gritted her teeth even more noticeably with every introduction. Your signed or whispered attempts to quietly reassure her that the "mission" was on track and would be over soon caused her to twitch and on one occasion even yelp, startling the admiral responsible for your fuel allocation. You smoothed it over as best you could, insinuating something about "combat nerves" — the old fool might have actually thought she was a pilot! But you didn't feel the need to explain, not that night.

The next day, as you hunted down a rebel tactical element in the hills above Seyan's Folly, she was still hung over. Not hung over enough to not notice when the pinned-down rebel lieutenant started in on an honest-to-God "you're not so different, you and I" speech, but hung over enough that she told your comms operator to cut the audio feed to Command, not your cockpit speakers.

"We're listening," you boomed over external PA speakers, forwarding her orders. "Wait? We're listening? Apparently we're listening."

"Shit. I mean. We're not that different, really, but obviously there's, uh, you're part of a system, and there's, redemption is on the table, I guess, maybe you'd like to, uh… honestly, I was just buying time."

"Don't get cocky, I've had your reinforcements bracketed by smart mortars for the last two minutes," you said. "You never had any time to buy. But… tell me about your side's command structure. Does it have a yearly ball?"

"Are you fucking joking?"

Things got complicated after that, with the improvised extraction, but what the hell, your team already worked well together.

You've had to work for every round and every joule and every mole of active nanomachinery since (much of it wrested from lesser units sent from your homeworld to drag you back) and you share a tiny, noisy cabin with your handler above the large bay of a rebel assault transport.

Maybe you're on the right side. Maybe there isn't one. But they're still letting you pilot, and your handler has happily returned to a tank top, fatigue pants, and what's left of her battered leather jacket, restoring her confident growl over the tactical link. The liaison officer they've got watching you has assured her that there's not a single brocade ball gown in the entire fleet. □

[a-monsters-love]

Hi! Can please request some spicy headcanons for Tamaki, Hawks and Shoto losing their virginity with a fem reader ? Thank you!

Oh man yES, ahh I love these boys, I will do my best for the ✨spice✨

[Master List]

Amajiki Tamaki (Sun Eater):

boi that anxiety

Realistically it would take a long term relationship to get to second or even third base

He understands sexual desire but god if it only makes him feel more anxious

You need to become his wall

Literally

Instead of him putting his head into a wall he will start putting his head against your head or shoulder or back (idk how tall you are)

He LOVES your body

Claims you’re soft in all the right places

Loves the way you feel pressed into his embrace not that he could ever admit that

With that in mind

It would start with just embracing him

You’d offer your lap and play with his hair

He feels safe in your embrace

So

The two of you are cuddling

You’re both facing each other

You’ve pulled him into your bust like it’s a pillow and start playing with his hair with your arms wrapped around each other

And then it happens

Your breath hits his ear

You move slightly to adjust

It happens

You feel his grip tighten around you, forcing you to stop moving

“Maki? Are you okay?”

He’s hidden his face and you can feel the heat radiating from his blush

“I, uh, well… I d-don’t know…”

You’re obviously confused

Then you feel it

“We can stop if-“

He cut you off with a sudden burst in confidence and has you on your back while hovering over you

“I-I don’t want to…” His eyes slowly glance over you

Your shirt is loosely pulled down your shoulder exposing your collar bone and the top of your breasts and racked up your stomach slightly exposing your skin

His face was beat red

Yours was heated

You reach up for his face and pull him in for a kiss

When you start touching him something snaps

He’s almost feral with need for you

He has no idea what he’s doing

You have to tell him what to do

If it’s your first time too you MUST tell him when you like things

Greedy for how you taste

He’s needy

Praise kink

JeSUS THE PRAISE KINK

You must tell him that he feels good or what he’s doing is great etc

Will eat you out like you’re his last meal before death

*Ahem.*

Will 100% ask you what you need during/after

He will not know how to look at you afterwards but will cuddle tf out of you

Takami Keigo (Hawks):

So, on a real note

He probably didn’t lose his V card until after he got his own agency

He was raised and monitored by the HPSC since he was 6, I highly doubt they gave him the time

As much as we all agree he has a rut I doubt having one would make a difference in him popping his cherry

He got his agency at 18 and rose the ranks to being a top ten hero by age 20

So I high key doubt he had time to relax and take care of his sexual needs until about 20

The boi also doesn’t actually have friends

He wasn’t raised to make friends, only connections

Realistically you were probably a sidekick at his agency

You found him attractive sure but knew he never gave himself ‘personal time’

You made it your mission to give him the break you knew he deserved

You’d finish all his paperwork that didn’t need his signature

You’d manage to help make sure all the documents he’d have to submit daily would be quick and easy to go through

You’d kick him out of the office to make sure he went and got lunch

You bring/order him lunch when he refused

You kick him out to go home early when he could afford to

At first he didn’t notice

After a week he was confused

After a month he’d start to understand

He’d take time to thank you and make sure you were doing well with all the extra work you decided to take on

The first time he complimented you and your work you blushed a shade he didn’t even know you could get

It was over for you

He made it his goal to see that again

It started with flirty comments

Then he took you on a date

He researched everything he could on dating and what is ‘required’

He was aware of sexual intimacies

He had a sex-Ed class with the HPSC

What he wasn’t prepared for was having to use that education on someone he cared for (not that he’s ever used it before)

He watched you work at the office one day after doing his research like a predator would watch a prey it’s been stalking

Without realizing it he started fantasizing about how your thighs would feel in his hands

How your bust would taste

He wondered what you’d look like under him

He was curious to know what you’d sound like crying out his name

“-wks? Hawks?” Your voice calling him snapped him out of his perverted fantasy

His face blushed brightly as you stared at him with an eyebrow raised

“Can you come look at this for me?” You pointed to your computer

He nods and goes to stand up but quickly sits back down with his legs crossed “N-No I can’t, can you send it to me?” He give a nervous TV approved smile

Did he just stutter?

You give him a once over and he refused to make eye contact with you

You smirk when you see his ‘problem’

“I guess I can just take it home tonight” you shrugged nonchalantly and give him the side eye, ���You’re welcome to come help if you’d like.” You crossed your arms under your bust making it more eye catching

He just nodded furiously

Never had he ever finished paperwork so fast

He nearly crashed into your patio’s sliding glass door like a concussed bird as he arrived

When you let him in he smothered your face with kisses as he kicks off his shoes and sheds his jacket and goggles

They were messy and needy

His usually accurate hands fumbled with the fabric of your clothing

You walk backwards and usher him to your room

You only pull away from the sloppy make out session when you fall back on your bed and pant for air

What he’s actually doing doesn’t hit him until he sees you under him

Clothes disheveled, skin and bra exposed, blushing and panting from his attention

A nervous blush set in on his face

You cupped his cheek, “Is this your-“

He nods before you can finish the question

What a cute baby

You didn’t press him any further but helped him with the clothing removal

You told him you can stop at anytime

He refused every time

The whines this boi makes when you first touch him

He’s a quick learner

You make suggestions and he quickly finds out how to please you

Before you’re even close to finishing you’re nearly certain that he wasn’t a virgin

Nearly

He seems to get harder when you praise him

He has the stamina of a god

He makes sure to memorize everything about your body

Memorizes what makes you cry and melt in his grasp

Stays inside you when you both finish

Buried his face into your bare breasts afterwards

Makes happy noises as he dozed off to you combing your fingers through his hair

Happy birb

Todoroki Shoto:

oh man

This fuckin’ guy

Realistically never cared for the topic

Not that he doesn’t feel the urge but just thinks nothing of it

He probably never realized he even liked you until someone pointed it out

Similar to Hawks he never really got the opportunity to think of such matters

Also same as Hawks would research the shit out of the topic

Boi didn’t know the word for ‘concert’ you really think he’d know shit about dating at first?

*ahem*

He’d take you on dates

He’d realize quickly how much he likes touching you

Touch starved babe

He’d go out of his way to touch you after he noticed how much he likes it

He’d initiate holding hands

He’d hug you randomly

Lay his head on yours or your shoulder or lap

One day he’d hug you from behind as you were doing something in your room

He’d wrap his arms around you under your bust

You’d smile and look up at him

You’d adjust yourself to holding his arms but you’d rub against him just right

Then it happens

The shock of the situation would cause him to freeze

You can feel his temperature control go haywire

“Sho?” You’d ask quietly

Then you’d feel it

To be fair it would be low key stabbing you

N E WAYS

You’d blush loudly

He’d blush and bury his face into the crook of your neck

You’d make a soft noise in surprise

He’d only get harder and more embarrassed because of said noise

You’d ask if he wants to do anything about it

“What?” He asks

I swear this boy doesn’t understand real life you can’t change my mind

You’d whisper what you meant

His grip on you would get tighter

He’d agree

He had a basic understand of how it works

You’d sit him on your bed and you’d sit on his lap

The two of you would make out and remove articles of clothing

The best at unhooking a bra clasp out of the three

Calm externally

Internally freaking out

You can tell by the crazy fluctuation in his temperature

“We don’t have to if you’re not ready” you’d say pressing your forehead to his

He smiles softly and kisses your collarbone

“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready but I want this”

You blush loudly at the comment

He moves you so that he’s hovering over you

You pull him into you and run your hands down his muscular frame

He’s surprised at how easily he melts in your touch

Like Hawks he’s a quick learner

Makes a point to ask if you like how things feel

Could get off on just making you feel good

Uses his quirk unintentionally to make you feel good

Leaves marks all over you without meaning to

Low key wants to mark his territory subconsciously

Kisses all the marks he’s left in the end

Does everything for aftercare without being asked

Pulls you into his chest and smiles into your hair

Snuggle bug

[painted-crow]

Hey I hope this isn’t awkward but that post about your burned badger (lion?) secondary really hit home for me. I’m pretty sure I’ve had the same burned model in the past - I think I started off with a healthier badger/lion model (I can’t figure out which and am still figuring out my sorting anyway) and some external life stuff going on later, I’m really just pushing through and getting stuff done with all the delicacy of a brick. And same here with the emotional rollercoaster ... 1/2

And same here with the emotional rollercoaster of it between panic/apathy. And the burnout. And the ignoring physical pain. And I can see now how this was uh. Pretty unhealthy actually but it really was just so. effective especially given the circumstances and I kind of miss it in a way. It would be nice if I could get back a healthier version of whichever model it was. Anyway I love reading your blog you always have such insightful things to say thanks for reading this ramble <3 2/2

💙💙💙 :D

Not awkward! I'm glad that was useful for someone, rather than just being an angst dump on my part lol

Emergency secondary mode, Badger or Lion?

Links to previous posts:

- post describing my emergency secondary mode (cw for burnout stuff)

- the worst version of this post (cw for terrible memes)

So, after a lot of consideration and chatting with some lovely SHC people (looking at you @mooglesorts and you @magpie-of-a-birb), I've come to the tentative conclusion that I have a Lion secondary performance.

Which is not something I ever expected to say! I've long had a knee-jerk "aaaaa scary!" reaction to Lion secondary, but actually I think that's because I have this performance and I've had to use it in unsustainable ways.

I should probably put a trigger warning here for self harm through overwork... yeah.

So, I found this song:

(While it is a bop, it is also x2 trigger warning combo for self harm ahaha)

This song's primary is exploded Glory Hound Lion--that's not what's relatable about it to me tho. What I wanted my friends' opinion on was the secondary that's displayed here. Sounded familiar. So I brought it up on the SHC Discord server (which is out of beta, dm me for an invite link if you wanna join!).

I was thinking it might actually be the fully Burned "anything that works" secondary, but Magpie was like "no, that's a Lion sec with a Snake model" and I went "huh..."

...and then Moogle was like no that's a snakesec with an unhealthy Lion model, the masks aren't working so they're busting out Lion--and especially there's the focus on the character feeling powerful because they can hurt themself with it and keep going anyway

And I was like "oh shit that tracks more than I was expecting it to... whoops"

Badger hits different without unhealthy pressure

I do have and use a Badger secondary model, and I used to think my emergency secondary mode was just my Badger model taken to unhealthy extremes. But I don’t think so now.

First, because I actually think that my emergency mode is/was often a product of my exploded Badger primary model, which itself idealized Badger secondary.

I'm still picking through that thing's shrapnel and finding its influence in old memories and automatic reactions I still have and stuff like that--not to mention rooting it out of my system. Which is to say, now that I know what I'm looking for, I'm still discovering how far back this thing goes! Turns out I've been trying to whack this piñata for years, and it used to be so much worse.

The self-destructive "I'd rather run myself hard into the ground than fail" nature of my emergency mode makes a lot of sense in retrospect. When you tie your self-worth to achievement... well: the lyrics "I'll never lose / I'll never die" from the song seem less "I have achieved immortality!" and more "I basically equate failure with death." This song really straddles that edge of relatable but also obviously messed up. It's... something.

Second, my Badger secondary model is very different when it's not under pressure from the 'splodey primary model. I'm kind of having to figure out what it's like without that and it's weird. It seems to be a whole lot more chill and also I'm getting more Courtier than I'm used to?

Yeah, turns out if you dig out "you should help other people to justify your existence, but don't accept help back or it cancels it out" from your system (because damn, there's a system piece I didn't look at closely enough) it might have been holding up Courtier potential you haven't been using.

What's the difference?

I don't know who pointed this out first, I think I read it somewhere, but Badger secondary is very process focused and Lion secondary is very results focused. (Bet you this was from @wisteria-lodge. I'm not sure, though.)

Badger usually shows up as a few main things for me: mirroring, chipping away at big projects, picking up life maintenance and self care type tasks (especially when Bird secondary is burned), and caregiving/service stuff. It can also Burn on its own, which is its own brand of "motivation is a cryptid" exhaustion. None of this looks like Lion, so where does the confusion come in?

The only time my Badger model starts to look like Lion--and here the line really blurs with the performance--is when I've tried to get it to do tasks it's not really meant for. There are things I need Bird unburned in order to tackle (perhaps it's the presence of burned Birdsec that gets in the way? That injured confidence can be really debilitating) and I can't do them with just Badger.

I'm sure actual Badger secs know how to, say, learn Adobe Illustrator's unbelievably complicated controls while under deadline using Badger, but I have no clue. I powered through using probably the least efficient controls possible. (If you're using the nudge tool as a form of measurement, you're probably doing it wrong. I'm guessing.)

Needless to say, that's exhausting. I think there's some point in the project timeline where it stops being "well it's not efficient but at least I'm making progress!" and starts being fueled by raw stubborn determination and a little bit of spite. The contentment with the process goes out the window. I'm fighting my own perfectionism (and usually losing) because I just want this thing done.

Which, that's not necessarily a bad thing! Sometimes it's really useful to be able to go "screw it" and charge. It becomes a bad thing when you ignore all your other needs to do it, possibly because you've tied success and/or productivity to your self worth, and also you're still clutching your perfectionism and hissing "my precioussssss."

also:

It's not always obvious, but I sometimes use Lion secondary in ways not connected to the splodey Badger primary model.

(Occasionally it is obvious though... haha)

I do have this one story about realizing my younger brother might be in danger and charging off to find him, armed with a heavy wooden coat hanger against potential assailants. I went from Bird situational analysis to "this is the best weapon I can find on short notice" in like 30 seconds. In my defense, I was very sleep deprived at the time.

(It makes more sense in context.)

(Sort of.)

so.

I think the emergency secondary mode is a Lionsec performance.

This post took me like a month to write even after figuring it out. And then another few weeks collecting dust in my drafts, because how do you edit something like this

But I've been sitting on it for way too long and I'm tired of saying I should finish/post it, and tonight I'm feeling bored and a little impulsive... so, screw it--I'm calling this done.

(can you hear it? it's there... fighting my Birdsec/Badgersec model perfectionism again.)

(this time, I will listen.)

[mor-beck-more-problems]

Death Rings Twice || Morgan and Eilidh

TIMING: Current

PARTIES: @braindeacl @mor-beck-more-problems

SUMMARY: While searching for answers, Morgan and Eilidh realize the situation is worse than they realized.

CONTAINS: conversations with dead people

They came and went in waves. The first time, only the first time, Eilidh believed them to be just a part of being a ghost. James had done so many times—go in and out of view like the watts on a bulb. But those changes had been consensual, come upon by his own will, and he never truly left. Not like she had, and did, and still do. Moments of nothingness. Blink and she was gone, truly and ultimately gone. Blink and she was back, not even left with a memory. Just a faint recollection, a faint feeling of a blank. Like trying to recall a blackout. You knew it was there, you felt it too—pages torn from a book. But you also didn’t, couldn’t, for nothingness was all that remained. Nothingness that seemed to be her destination. Those blinks got longer, longer, longer. With no sign of slowing.

Eilidh knew Morgan was facing her own bouts of strangeness. Maybe they were connected. Morgan believed them to be—magic set loose like a wildfire, with them in its path. Consumed in its flames, would it burn them all the way to the ground? Or would they come out the other side, for the better? This curiosity, and a gnawing worry, compelled her forward, right into Morgan’s residence. She ventured through those great and winding halls, as if she already haunted the place. She ought to haunt at least one. Before it became too late. Passing by an open door, that familiar face was finally seen. Eilidh stopped, stared. Felt that nothingness threatening to claim her again. Visage flickered—like a light on its dying breath. But the feeling passed, leaving her there, shining on. The motion, or her very presence, must’ve caused a stir. The two women met each other’s eyes.

“Boo.”

Morgan just needed to find the right book. Zombies had been around for ages and so even if whatever was happening to her was obviously very rare, it must have happened to someone else before. And that someone must have wanted to write it down. Because magic directly affecting a zombie body at all was worth writing about; doing so in this cruel, backwards way defied everything she understood about magic and living matter. So, Morgan sat on the floor in the library, swimming through a large haul from the scriberary, searching. When Macleod appeared behind the volume she was holding, calling boo, Morgan yelped with surprise.

“Oh! Stars! That was--” she laughed uneasily. “That was something alright.” She sat back and looked at the other woman. She had believed everything Macleod had told her but seeing her friend, so wild and earthbound, so connected to her flesh, floating and transparent was uncanny in a way her mind struggled to process. “I wish I had good news on the funky magic boogaloo front, but there’s just lots of dead ends so far. But that can wait. Are you...okay? At least, relative to our situation?

Good-hearted chuckle lept out of Eilidh—breaking the illusion of the spooky ghost in the corner. She closed the distance between the two, eyes curiously scanning the cover and pages of the book nestled in Morgan’s lap. More were strewn across the room, circling Morgan in a protective barrier, or perhaps a tomb—either for future study or determined unsuited. Where one group ended and the other began, she wasn’t sure. Mouth parted to offer assistance, her hands and mind well-versed to such a skill, but the words quickly died just as her flesh had. Wouldn’t be much use when turning a page was a difficult endeavor. She had learned that fact rather quickly.

When attentions were placed on her, Eilidh perked. “Aye. Convinced this guy his cereal was sentient. And some lady she could control plants.” Snort of delight shot out her nose as their faces returned to memory. But as the chuckles faded, so too did this delight. That lingering worry remained. A hand brushed her lips, seemingly in thought. “Also…” In absence of external stimuli, she bit on a knuckle. But where a prick of sensation, a prick of life, would usually awaken her hand, only a mere acknowledgement greeted her. Fucking hell, how has James not gone mad by now? A low growl rumbled, and at least it felt nice in her chest. Familiar. “Been going in and out. Kinda like blinking. If you did that with a soul. James says it isn’t normal. And they’re getting longer.” Another knuckle met her teeth; that same hollow impact replayed. “Guess it’s soon time.” Her eyes scanned Morgan, transferring the focus back to the other woman. Wandering gaze found the darkness under her friend’s eyes. “What ‘bout you?”

For what seemed like a long time, Morgan could only stare at her friend. Or rather, through her friend. She could see every title on the shelf behind her if she concentrated enough, because Macleod, despite speaking and smiling and grinning and mischief-ing as much as she had ever done, was incorporeal and transparent. Like a ghost. A baby undead ghost. Which wasn’t supposed to exist. “..Blinking? What? Uh, that sounds bad. And weird. I’ve never heard of ghosts doing that before. They cross over, and they have some kind of teleportation thing, but they don’t play peek-a-boo with a whole plane of existence. That’s…” Another very strange, logic defying twist of magic.

Morgan cleared her head and tried to answer Macleod’s questions. “I woke up at the beginning of the week able to feel again. All my physical senses that went dull were back. It took some adjusting, but I think it was more or less how they were when I was alive. But then my body started decaying even when I was full, or more than full, and healing was fading and now it’s basically gone! So I’m basically rotting away for no discernable reason, and I get to be super physically aware of all of it. Also, I smell, so maybe it’s a good thing you don’t have any senses right now. When did your stuff start? I mean, none of this should be happening at all, because the undead are immune to spellcasting magic that engages with our body’s energy, as far as I can tell, and we’re immune to most drugs and toxins, and I haven’t found anyone else in town being effected like this, so it’s not the big cosmic town bullshit--but if we can get a timeline, maybe that will tell us...something.” She sighed and closed the book in her lap, staring off into anywhere but Macleod’s face. The whole world was slipping through their fingers, just when she’d thought it really did want them after all.

Curt laugh escaped Eilidh. “Yeah. You’re telling me.” Just her luck to be subjected to the worst game of peek-a-boo in existence. Maybe her soul truly did want to pass over, but this supposed magic was keeping her here? Maybe the universe was trying to remedy the fact she shouldn’t have remained—at least not in this form—but the magic tried to go against the very will of the cosmos? Thoughts followed that tangent until it caused a dizziness. Bah, there’s too many maybes and what-ifs. She snapped a finger, sharp noise bringing her back to the present. Mind focused on Morgan’s words, her own story. As such a tale unfolded, her face fell, allowing that worry bubbling inside to find itself in her eyes, her parted mouth. Just as quickly, her eyes tightened, mouth closed, jaws tightened. Resolve overcame the worry, gave her goal new fire. “Aye. That is real bad.” Especially when it started so promising—the worst kind. “Best we hop to it prompto, then. Know anything I can look over? Double-check? Triple-check?” The ways of magic, the ways others shifted the energies of the world to their will, was not a strong subject of hers. But perhaps there were other pieces of the puzzle her ever inquisitive eyes could find. She needed that hunt, after all. Needed something to do—when all things physical brought boredom at best, her mind frequently rushed into restlessness.

Eilidh recalled the start of this plight. “I died beginning of this week.” The same as Morgan’s own unfortunes; a fact that did not escape her. “Or alchemied this way. Or some other magic.” At this point, she wasn’t sure which was true. Death was more reasonable to her. Familiarity always felt more reasonable, and she was very familiar with death. But Morgan seemed convinced its cause was magically induced and, well, she was the expert in that regard. Not Eilidh. “Blinked out the first time a few days later. Didn’t think too much of it. ‘Til a few more days later when it kept happening.” How much longer would this affliction let her speak with Morgan? Would it rip her away mid-sentence, as it had with Milo? Sharp snap of fingers returned. Temptation to bite the nagging thoughts away surfaced—to subject another knuckle to her teeth. But the snap sufficed. For now.

Morgan sat back, thinking. The town had already been shifted in the cosmos by the time she and Macleod were affected. And no one else she spoke to, dead or undead, was feeling anything strange in their body. So why them? And how? It didn’t seem right that the universe should literally change its rules just to be cruel to them. And if an alchemy break-through was responsible for Macleod, it didn’t explain her progressive deterioration. She would have to be confined to a circle in order for that to be the case, and the energy required to continually re-write her body would be outrageous.

She looked over at Macleod, aching to give her an answer. “I only have a few general compendiums on the stuff, but maybe there’s some kind of sickness, or some kind of critter that can affect people like us. Like, bookwyrms and brain biters mess with people’s brains, and there’s plenty of necrophages out there maybe…” Some magic, universe defying critter happened to chomp on both of them without their noticing on the exact same night? Morgan could hardly stand to hope for the idea, it sounded ridiculous enough in her head. But she had to try. If she stopped trying, this thing would take her. “Maybe there’s one that can explain this. Weird abilities that make people incorporeal or mess with their magic composition. Um, it’s those thick ones back there--” She pointed. “Or you could check out the area, see if anything unusual is sniffing around. Every critter’s gotta eat and sleep somewhere.” She smiled feebly. “We’ll figure this out before it’s too late. We’ve got too much to live for, right?”

“Critters!” The word shot out like a bullet. That was more Eilidh’s forte. A hand returned thoughtfully to her lips, though a bite did not come. Her mind was moving far too fast to focus on anything physical. Feet began to pace without her knowledge, beating against the air as if they contributed to her movements anymore. “Those bees cause hallucinations…” What were they called again? Those dick-hive bees. She had still yet to encounter them personally—such a treat will have to wait when she finally visits… that woman. Knowledge was acquired specifically for said venture, so she really should remember… “Eintykara.” But as research came tumbling back into her mind, so did an issue. “No. Cold.” Such weathers would cause them to grow sluggish—springing into action now would make no sense. “Hm. Caballi?” Her encounter with one had been very brief, but James’ was much more intimate. And she had certainly heard stories that mimicked their own. Of ghosts being attacked by them. Or more accurately, being fed upon by them. Could be the cause of their deterioration, those astral feedings. Perhaps they can affect zombies too? “But never saw…” They weren’t exactly invisible, to people like them. But much of them was left unknown, on this world at least. Could be a special sort?

More ideas flowed into Eilidh’s mind. And just easily flowed back out—conflictions and contradictions found in every sort. Though the universe was vast and wide and full of exceptions. Hardly anything could be said with certainty. And hardly everything was stored in her mind—that vastness refusing to be contained in just one thing. Or even in one world; creatures not found in any book had laid just beyond those cracks in the air. One, or two, or more could’ve slipped through. “You could be onto something.” Her feet stilled, and it was only then she realized she had been on the move at all. But they already missed that constant motion. Focus turned to the mentioned books, causing a chuckle to stir. “Would. But these guys do whatever the hell they want.” She wiggled her fingers and they blended and meddled together, like waves crashing into each other. “I’ll look ‘round. You focus on the books. We’ll see this through.” There was an attempt to turn and leave, but something held her there just a moment longer. Those hints of decay sprinkled on Morgan’s form—some grown worse over the course of their conversation. “Think you’ll manage?” The question spanning far beyond just Morgan’s research capability.

With the way Macleod lit up at the suggestion, Morgan could actually start to believe they were onto something. The world was full of strange things and there was so much they didn’t know. Of course if it wasn’t someone it had to be something. Maybe even a creature from another dimension. Some of the critters in those portals had probably gotten stuck on this side when Adam closed them, too, and maybe that was why they couldn’t understand the rules this infection worked on.

Morgan met Macleod’s eyes bravely. They were looking for a needle in a haystack. It might take weeks to comb through all of White Crest and identify the exact creatures they were looking for, especially if they turned out to be beyond sapient record on this world. But they would figure it out, wouldn’t they?

Somewhere beyond them, bewildered geese flapped their way to the sky and called to each other for safety, snow crunched under tired feet, a wind blew through the hollow tunnels of the world. Morgan took it all in, staring through the frosted windows. This was a world that buried its secrets better than its dead, but it was also one where life persisted in the most bitter cold. If anyone was proof of that, surely it was her and Macleod. And Morgan had a future to get to; Macleod probably did too, and if she didn’t, she deserved to stick around long enough to come up with one. So she had to be okay. There wasn’t room in this scenario for her not to be.

Morgan summoned her best smile and hoped with all she had that Macleod believed it and let some of the warmth rub off on her. “I’ve got this. And so do you. Death cut us a break once, right? Twice should be just as easy.”

That smile filled the air, found its way on Eilidh’s face, lifting her spirits in turn. Hell yeah. They had this. That implication hung in the air, threatened to bring it all back down. The one where she died. This soul she carried certainly had—will again. And technically death had touched her a few days prior. But the implication ran deeper than that, tied her to an assumption she kept getting chained to. But she did not let that weight touch her; only a twitch of a brow, a tighten of lips, betrayed these thoughts. Resolve kept her steady—kept them both just the same. Fate may try to give them a losing hand, but she’ll keep playing until a full house. And if not, well, seems she’s had her time then. Her soul will enjoy more, if these pesky blinks didn’t consume her in totality. For fate was hungry this week—eating away at her very soul, at Morgan’s very flesh. Was it feeding on others? How far did this hunger spread? She had no mind, no time to worry about passerbyers on the street. Those teeth readied to pierce again, steal more of them away. But she’ll try her hand at dentistry and rip them out before all was taken. “Good to hear! Let’s give this a–”

She vanished.

[peebleswrites]

Can I pleaseeee request something with Ulquiorra!? It's difficult to see him being sweet or romantic but I'm ready for whatever he can give 🤣

GASP. YAY. FIRST REQUEST. THANK YOU. Gotta say, this was a challenge! But it was always really fun and I enjoyed writing this piece. I hope you like it!

ULQUIORRA X FEMALE!READER

About three months had gone by since the Arrancars mysteriously appeared in the world of the living, sans the previously deep seeded hatred of humans and Shinigami. In short, they had no evil intentions whatsoever and seemed curious, some more than others, over the lifestyle of humans.

Everyone was of course wary, worried they’d fly off the handle and a war would once again loom on the horizon in the minds of both the soul society and the world of the living. Until Y/N was the first to offer an extension of goodwill to the once evildoers, thus triggering a snowball affect of successful communication between the three parties.

And so, the former Espada remained in the world of the living, assimilating into the culture and assuming somewhat normal lives!

“Say Y/N,” Orihime began one afternoon during lunch upon the roof. All eyes trained to the busty bubble of joy as she posed a question in Y/N’s direction.

“What’s your type? I mean, what sort of guy are you interested in?” Pretty much everyone was equally surprised as they were curious which included a certain arrancar who’d normally find such drabble ridiculous and an utter waste of time. 

Since his arrival, or rather, since those of his kind had been accepted in this world, Ulquiorra had taken something of an interest in Y/N. She was the first to accept him, all of them, and he’d always been curious concerning her reasoning. Surely, she intended to gain something by having them as allies, right? Y/N was just a human. It would make sense for her to align herself with the strong.

Yet…she didn’t appear to him as the type to use people for her own advantage. This only made her all the more interesting. As such, he used any and all opportunities afforded to him. All in efforts to garner what her true intentions were.

This was one of those opportunities.

“My type? Mmm…I guess someone who’s smart.” Y/N started before considering the rest of her response.

“Heh, that excludes you, Shinigami.” Grimmjow was first to comment, roughly punching Ichigo in the shoulder with that snarl of a grin covering his feral features. The jab nor the remark was taken well by the aforementioned male who soon retaliated with an equal amount of force.

“What the hell?! That means you too, dumbass!” And of course, that triggered the beginning of their usual bout which everyone had gotten so used to, it was pretty much ignored.

“I do like the strong, silent type, too. Oh! And a bit of spontaneity! You know, keeps things interesting!” While everyone seemed to agree, secretly they began to wonder just who among them she might be interested in. Meanwhile Ulquiorra was on an entirely different wavelength.

If Y/N found these qualities to be appealing, perhaps he could gain her trust by assuming these roles and therefore fulfill this self-appointed purpose of discovering her true intentions, thus deciding for himself if she were truly someone worthy of his trust.

No, it didn’t sound at all crazy in his head.

He has the smart part down and feels sufficiently confident in his intellect. Nothing to worry about there. The same can be said of his strength and more so of his silence. He is neither loud, nor boisterous. And while he wouldn’t call himself antisocial, he is prone to speak when he feels it is necessary to speak. Silence with a purpose.

That leaves the spontaneity.

In order to tackle this trait efficiently, he took to the human world dictionary!

“Performed or occurring as a result of a sudden inner impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus…” This may be something of a challenge for him. He never acts without thinking, without purpose. In fact, he is hard pressed to believe he could start. But not entirely convinced…yes, he could do this.

He would start by following Y/N. Not in the creepy stalker sense but more along the lines of trying to get to know her likes without actually asking himself. He would use the ever talkative Orihime to do his bidding.

“What sort of candy do you like, Y/N? I like something sweet and tangy but also sour and a little bitter with a fluffy kind of texture!” Dear gods, what could she possibly be describing was the expression that Ulquiorra currently wore while listening to the conversation. Y/N assumed a rather uneasy expression before responding accordingly.

“I like F/C. Not really a fan of much else.” Y/N’s response was simple something Ulquiorra could appreciate and perhaps do something with.

“So that’s what she likes…”

The next day, all eyes were on the former fourth espada when he strolled into class, dragging a large sack behind him which he dumped onto Y/N’s desk without a word. She stared at him then the sack partially obscuring her vision before opening her mouth to respond

“Uh…Ulquiorra? What’s this?”

“Don't ask useless questions.” And that was all he said before casually walking to his chair like he didn’t rouse the entire class with a cloud of confusion. With furrowed brows, Y/N peeked into the sack, only to spot copious amount of her favorite candy! It looked like a whole year’s supply of it! What the heck…

Who could’ve known that he’d been listening in on her conversation with Orihime? Or that he’d continue to do such in order to exercise this growing need to display his spontaneity. Which, he realized at one point, wasn’t really spontaneous at all because he was thinking about these acts way too hard!

Like when she expressed a desire to have more rice in her lunch, so he proceeded to give her extra portions the next day. Or when she grew tired during gym and he suddenly picked her up over his shoulder to run the rest of her laps. Or when she complained over the lack of sleep she was getting due to the neighbor’s dog barking all night so he insisted on training the canine not to be noisy.

Okay so…maybe he was being spontaneous, but Y/N had grown suspicious enough and needed some answers.

“Ah…Ulquiorra? Could I talk to you for a moment?” Y/N approached him after class one day, appearing somewhat nervous. He agreed with a simple nod while teeming on the inside with anticipation. This could quite possibly be the moment he has been working for so diligently. His efforts were at last being acknowledged.

“Uh so…listen, it’s about uhm…how you’ve been acting recently…” If it wasn’t obviously, Y/N was having a hard time expressing what she really wanted to say. Ulquiorra, of course, noticed this.

“Speak, woman.” A curt response that Y/N honestly should’ve expected prompted nothing more than a sigh.

“What’s your problem?!” Which triggered an explosive response that Ulquiorra honestly didn’t see coming if the sight of his eyes widening were any indication.

“Elaborate.” Eyes that soon softened to their normal size while gleaming with hints of mild apprehension for he never expected her of all people to express feelings of displeasure with him.

“You keep doing these weird things! First it was the candy! Then all the rice! Then you carried me around the track even when I told you to put me down! Now my neighbor is telling me you trained their dog! Are you making fun of me? Is this some arrancar way of bullying?!”

“You believe I am bullying you?”

“Yes!”

She was yelling at him. And calling him a bully, of all things. How could his intentions have been so horribly misinterpreted? How could she misunderstand him to such a degree? Could he have been wrong? Were his methods misguided or incorrect? It would seem he would need to evaluate his form of spontaneity and employ a different tactic.

“I see. I will try something else, then.” Yes, he would go back to the drawing board, reconsider his options, his resources, and try other ways of being spontaneous.

“Wait!” Y/N name suddenly grabbed onto his arm. His eyes instantly fell to her hands. Her touch triggered a slither of a response, a tingling sensation that was unfamiliar. When’s the last time anyone had laid non-threatening hands on him, he wondered.

“What?” Visibly she flinched back but maintained her countenance alongside the ever-present confusion.

“What are you trying to do? What’s all this about? I want to know!” This expression. The raw emotion on her face. He remembered it well. It was this stubborn, foolish disposition she maintained that played a key role in the Shinigami taking their presence as a non-threat. It was this expression that led him to find a purpose through her.

It was this very same gleam that triggered perhaps the most spontaneous act he’d committed thus far, the cupping of his hand upon her cheek. He wouldn’t be able to explain what caused him to do it or why his hand stayed. He just knew her cheek felt soft and warm and he sort liked the way her expression shifted as his hand remained.

“Your ‘type,’ as you humans refer to it, is someone who is spontaneous, is it not?” He brandished his usual emotionless façade, awaiting a response from her aside from the stunned silence she seemed to be trapped in.

“I…you…ah…you want to be my type…?” Dumbfounded. She was utterly dumbfounded. And he couldn’t understand why she was behaving so shocked. Wasn’t he being obvious?

“In a manner of speaking, yes. I see now that my actions are ineffective.” How ridiculous. For him to fail at such a task was unprecedented. He could hardly fathom such a thing. As such, he needed to take time away, regroup, and think of different ways to convey this message to her.

“If you’ll excuse me.” His hand fell away from her cheek only to be grabbed by one of hers. A second extension of contact and a second shock that shot up his senses. He eyed her once again with his empty stare, but she didn’t appear at all perturbed by it. In fact, she offered a rather hopeless smile.

“I…I think it’s working. I mean, you’ve got my attention.” Once again, she stunned him. This time, not with her gleaming determination but with a meek smile and subtle, gentle, squeezing of his hand. He couldn’t have imagined such a small gesture could be so impactful. How strange…

“Oh? I will continue, then.”

“Wait, no—.”

It would seem he was at least on the right track to deciphering her true intentions while simultaneously gaining her trust. Surely, he’d get it this spontaneous act right eventually.

A/N: Poor Ulquiorra. He means well. Again, hope you enjoy! Also this is my first time doing this so I hope the format isn't weird? Thanks!

[rogueninja]

gonna type up my thoughts on mando season 2 and the finale for anyone who’s interested and so I can process it....... (this is gonna be mostly negative thoughts sooo... thats your warning haha)

the mandalorian season 1 is something that brought me an immense amount of joy a year ago. i’ve always “liked” star wars but i’ve never really “loved” star wars, but I loved the mandalorian.... something about it. the small, western vibe, the mysterious main character with sexy armor, dad vibes, and a heart of gold. THE BABY YODA. the mandoLORE. the fact that it was completely its own little thing without having to be majorly connected to the massive star wars universe that we’re used to. and for sure it was a little clunky at times, but i loved it so much that i overlooked those things easily and even found it to be endearing.

i loved that it was created by people who knew star wars, had a passion for it, and a story they wanted to tell. they weren’t expecting to make a ton of money off it... like obviously it’s star wars, but i don’t think anyone truly predicted how majorly baby yoda would blow up or how popular the show would be with star wars fans. but of course.... then it did. and i hate to be that person but i think that’s when it all started to go downhill. like as soon as something becomes more about money and popularity than the story you’re actually trying to tell, you’ve already lost.

i won’t lie that just leading up to the mandalorian season 2, a lot of my excitement had fizzled out, but this was mainly due to the fact that other things have caught my attention in the meantime... but i was fully prepared to embrace the mando brainworms again. and like. the episodes were good! they were fine. i got enjoyment out of them. but something honestly felt.... missing? and it wasn’t until chapter 15 that i realized what that was.

season 2 is barely about din. it’s about... whatever else. boba fett. bo katan. ahsoka. luke skywalker. and these characters are fine on their own! and like... i honestly expected boba fett and other mandos to show up at some point (and i enjoyed boba’s time on the show, plus it makes the most sense for him to be there). but..... every episode became that thing that i hate that star wars and every other stupid reboot of every franchise does where they’re like. LOOK! look at this thing!!! u know this thing! well WE know this thing too!! and HERE IT IS!!! and it honestly upset me because YES there were a ton of star wars references in s1 but it was tasteful, yanno? it was more like easter eggs that the really dedicated star wars fans could appreciate and everyone else who didn’t get them weren’t really missing anything important and could still enjoy the show. but apparently now you also need to be familiar with hundreds of star wars tv show episodes so you can understand ahsoka and bo katan and it’s just ??? literally what is this even about anymore because it doesn’t seem to be about a mandalorian and his adoptive son. (dont get me wrong im fine with it referencing other star wars shows but i didn’t like the way it centered on these characters the majority of the time)

and then chapter 15 happened. you’ll notice that chapter 15 had no references to external star wars media (aside from boba fett, who was barely there), and was about din. it was about din and how far he would go to protect the child. doing the one thing they’d been building up to for almost two seasons by removing his helmet in order to accomplish this. it was awesome and i loved that episode so much and it really hit me during that episode how much i missed the show being about that. so yanno, i had high hopes for the finale....

which WAS... yanno..... fine.... like honestly i was having a good time there for a while. I liked seeing din go up against gideon... the buildup with the darksaber and the spear..... his only priority being the baby.... like, even seeing luke fight the bad guys i was like oh! ok neat i’m not against meeting luke right now and obviously he won’t run away with the baby because how would that make sense? there’s still definitely gonna be at least one more season and it would be insane for din to give up the baby and heck, we KNOW how luke’s jedi school went, after all  🤡...    🤡 🤡 ....🤡 🤡 🤡

so uh yeah. we get bad CGI luke (this is a whole other rant but like.... can we stop CGIing actors like just get a lookalike i am happy to suspend my disbelief save ur fx budget i promise it will suck no matter what). and we get.... we get a moment that i know others have already talked to death about but like.... din taking off his helmet in front of the entire room.... means what exactly?? he’s not a mandalorian anymore? he’s just gonna forsake his creed? that’s what we’re leading up to?? and it makes you realize that the helmet buildup they were going for this entire show really was that surface level. to the writers it was just about “yeah lets get din to tear down his walls! he loves his son so he’ll remove his metaphorical mask!!!” and not taking into account like. how they could have set that up so he wasn’t just straight up forsaking his creed....That should have been a private moment. Mandalorians are about family, and they could easily have made it about that. Grogu is his family. Din is accepting that at last. but.... nah

And then yeah he just yeets baby yoda off to luke skywalker who just like.... have i mentioned i really liked that this show wasn’t about the skywalkers..... it was a nice streak we had goin.... like if he had just come and gone without taking the literal lifeblood of the show I honestly would have been fine with it but.. nahhhh

and of course seven minutes left at that point had me hoping they would show din changing his mind but nope LOL they just were gonna tease the next star wars show..... and like last week when they announced like ten different star wars shows everything really clicked into place for me. like, oh, so that’s why this season felt more like an ad than a show about the mandalorian. we don’t even know if there will be a season 3 and honestly like... even if they do how would they go from here.... like without grogu what even is this show. either he’s totally gone which would be a huge mistake for obvious reasons, or they have to contrive some reason for din to get him back from luke, which will feel cheap. the only other option is... the show is over lol. neat. i guess they could make it about din becoming the mandalaore but uhh... pass.

overall just like. i was pretty disappointed with this season overall and for a while i thought I was just being grumpy until the last 2 episodes made me understand exactly why i haven’t gotten the same enjoyment i used to. FEELSBADMAN!!

[azenta]

"Oblivious, simplistic and unaware" - i've never seen so blinds described this way.Could you elaborate on what you mean? Oblivious as in what, they're not aware of social cues as opposed to outright ignoring them or not caring about them??

They are both unaware of social (Soc) cues, and won't really care about those social cues if a soc user point them out what they omited. I mean, a blind spot is as simple as being indifferent to this instinct. It's not hate, belittleling, reacting or opposing it. But that's mostly overfocus when it does fall into reactivity toward the blind spot. However, overall, it's simple indifference, and even obliviousness. You don't see it, or when you do, you interpret it solely with your instincts and then lead you to unfitting behaviors (since you are clueless as how it works) and so, cringe or surprised response from others. So, in general, Soc blinds are just your oblivious dude, doing their life the best they think and just either poorly soc or totally miss the point, thus obliviousness. Present Soc to an IRL soc blind and they'll just ??? at you and wonder why you care about this. If they are close to you and care about you, of course they'll try their best to accomodate you in their way, but you'll see that they really don't know how Soc actually work. Or well, they can guess, but they will be "clumsy" with Soc ways, will end up exhausted rapidly by it and fall back on Sp and Sx to maintain any interaction.

So, uh... That's what i meant by this. I'd add it's important to distinguish Soc cues from Je "cues", since Fe and Te are not dumb and judge from general set of rules that are not solely born from their ass. So, they rely on external rules, but Soc actually comes with a need for belonging, so it's important to note if this need is present and notice if the individual use their Je to gain that sense of belonging or not. Je is a tool to orient people, Soc is a need and an instinct in "how to get this need met".

Last point, about overfocus, Soc blinds can also start to overuse Soc, like Sx blinds and Sp blinds with their blind spot, as a desperate mean to attain their dominant. So, that's where you'll either see a soc blind go on a Hate rant about soc and being shitty about it or even starting to be soc try hards, but obviously doing it wrongly, not like unhealthy So/sp tho, for the actual sake of Sp and Sx. So it makes them actually be shit at soc and actually emphasize how socless they are.

Idk why i have seen this misconception that soc overfocus is resumed to HATE soc when both sx blinds and sp blinds have been acknowledged at doing either overusing or rejecting their blind spot. Or well, I tell you, all variant stack can lead to both of those overfocus, and no, Contra doesn't imply more one or the other overfocus, I have seen both Syn and Contra do both overfocus. The tendency toward one overfocus is related to the cognitive type (MBTI) and ennea core/fix, not being fucking contra or syn. 

[serendipitykpop]

hypothetically

Pairing: lee jihoon x reader

Summary: “Hypothetically though.”

“LEE JIHOON.”

“Oh, no.”

“I AM HERE!”

“Ah, headache.” Jihoon feigned pain as he held onto his head, groaning to add effects to his actions. He glanced at you from the corner of his eye, and smirked when he saw the reaction he wanted. Your lips fell into a frown as you stomped down your foot.

“Lee Jihoon!”

He quickly hid his amusement when you stomped over, and plopped down beside him. You crossed your arms, shooting a harsh glare his way. Except, he wasn’t even looking at you to notice your gloominess. You huffed, and bumped your shoulder into his. No reaction. He was too immersed in the video game to bother with you.

“No hello? Just going to ignore me now, Lee Jihoon?”

He turned his head to look at you, then went back to his monitor to defeat his enemies. Your jaw dropped.

“Okay, okay. I see how it is. I thought I could be a good friend today by dropping by to hang out with your lonely butt, and bring you food. I see I’m not needed though.” You said as you peeked at him to see his reaction while grabbing the seat beside him.

His finger came to a stop for a second when you mentioned food. You smirked. You had his attention now. You bit down on your lip, mentally counting down to one until you knew he would give in.

“Y/N,” He groaned. You giggled, and pulled him into a side hug. You rubbed your cheek against his, making him whine. You really did love bothering him.

Seeing as how you made it your life mission to bother him, Jihoon saw no use in playing his video game for the rest of the night. Not that he minded since he was hanging out with you after all.

While he externally expressed his discontentment about it, he couldn’t stop the happy, and fuzzy feeling inside.

“So? What is it that you want?” Jihoon fell back into his chair, and spun to face you when you let him go.

“Why do you assume such a mean thing? Can’t I just come here to see my dear friend?” You gasped, jabbing your straw into your drink. He raised an eyebrow, and scoffed.

“Well, that’s because you’re being weird for one. Two, you brought food, which is the only time you try to get me to do something for you.”

“I would never!”

He stared blankly at you.

“Busted,” You sighed, then nodded. He knew you too well, and let nothing slip by him. “All right, you were right. There is something.”

“I’m always right.”

You snorted, and rolled your eyes. “Uh huh.”

Ignoring your reaction, he waved for you to continue while he ate the food you brought him. For some reason, food tasted better when he was with you. But he would never admit that to you.

You looked down at your straw, pushing it around.

“I guess I have some questions for you.”

“Oh? What about?”

“You. Me. Us.”

Jihoon’s heart dropped. His hands trembled so much that the food nearly slipping through his fingers. His throat tightened as he gulped. His eyes shook with nervousness.

“W-What about us?”

“Ah! It’s not like that! It’s not what you’re thinking, or I mean kind of, sort of,” You chuckled nervously, and scratched the back of your neck, avoiding eye contact.

“So what would happen if I were to tell you that I fell in love with you?” You asked, waving your hand as if it was some nonchalant question to you. “Hypothetically though.”

Jihoon’s eyes widened, and the food successfully fell to the floor.

“Huh?”

You stared at him.

“What are you doing asking me a question like that?” He argued. Did you even realize what your words meant to him? Do you understand the effects of asking something like this?

“It’s, it’s practice for when I find someone I really like! It’s just a question! Don’t make it weird, or think too much of it.” Wow, what a nice save.

“Then, why was I tossed in there specifically?” He yelled. He wasn’t sure what to say, or do to your question. His cheeks were burning, and he was sure an embarrassing shade of crimson.

“It makes it more personal! I don’t know!”

“Idiot, do you even know what you’re asking me?”

The two of you went back and forth arguing. Him being flustered, and mouth agape out of astonishment while you were embarrassed to even be doing this. You had made a stupid plan last night to do this to see how he felt about you. Obviously, it exploded in your face, and now, you were to face the consequences.

After repeating to calm down in his mind, he was able to at least look you in the eye. He sat back down in his chair, and took a deep breath before releasing it. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“If you were to tell me you fell in love with me-”

“Hypothetically.”

“Hypothetically fell in love with me, then I don’t know what I would do.”

You frowned. “That’s not helpful, Jihoon!”

“Well.”

“Then, say you hypothetically fell in love with me too, and we started dating.”

“You saying hypothetically each time is not helping.”

You waved his objection away, and continued with what you were going to say.

“What would you do?”

“If we started dating?”

You nodded, and he placed his chin on top of his folded arms in thought.

“Well, if given the chance, then I’d spoil you. I’d want to shower you with lots of affection, cuddles, hugs, kisses. When I’m on tour, I would always get you a gift from each place we visit. I’d probably want something of yours to keep me from missing you too much. Maybe a video? Perhaps a voice memo? How about video chatting every night? Who knows. I’d be more than happy to stay up with you to talk about anything, and everything you desired. I’d want to hear all about your days, and nights.”

He bit his lip in thought.

“I’d make sure you were happy, and laughing because your smile is the most precious treasure to me. I’d make sure you never feel lonely, even when I’m buried with work. Nothing is more important to me than you.”

His words were so sweet. 

“It’d be quite an honor to be loved by you, and would make me extremely happy that I can even call you my partner after so long.”

Goodness, he was still embarrassed by this. This was not at all what he was expecting when you came in today. Thus, he stopped exposing himself anymore. He had already confessed so much. He wasn’t sure if he could even look at you in the eye anymore.

Realizing you haven’t said anything in response to his whole spiel, he looked up at you from his folded arms.

“Are you satisfied now? Did you get the answers you wanted?”

You innocently smiled at him, and nodded.

“Thank you! I will make great use of this knowledge!”

He sighed, and shook his head.

“You dork.”

[seabasstrash]

Music to my Ears~C.E.

Word Count- 2250

Warnings- fluff (do i write anything other than that?? lol) 

A/N- I’m sorry this has taken me so long to get up!! My cousin was with me for basically two weeks and then I managed to get sick yesterday and basically laid in bed and didn’t move lol. ALSO this is my first Chris Evans imagine so hopefully it’s good!! Anywho I hope you enjoy this!! I wasn’t too sure about the ending and then I added some more once I typed it out and I think I actually do like it. Had to use this gif because of the ending lol 

*PICS/GIFS NOT MINE* 

You were sitting in your apartment with the windows open because it was actually nice outside. You had just gotten off work and were relaxing on the couch. You had decided to put your all time favorite Disney movie on, Tangled. This was a movie you had seen so many times, enough times that you could quote the movie and sing along with all the songs. You weren’t even embarrassed that you were a full grown adult and could sing along and quote a Disney movie. It was your favorite way to de-stress after a long day at work so you did it a lot.

So your apartment was on the third floor so you figured no one would really hear you singing along to the movie. My how wrong you were. You were in fairly busy part of town which also happened to be where they were filming a new rom-com movie, which was starring Chris Evans. One of your favorite actors ever. You were hoping to, at some point, run into him and at least get to talk with him for a little bit.

You were NEVER expecting to see him standing at your door that night. You had heard a knock on your door so you paused the movie and went to look through the peephole to see who it was. Your breath caught in your through when you saw THE Chris Evans standing there. Your heart starting pounding because you were nervous, but you also thought that it couldn’t be real and that this was just some dream you were having. You thought maybe you feel asleep on your couch and your brain was just helping you de-stress by having Chris show up in your dreams.

After what felt like ages, you finally opened the door. And yes it was Chris Evans standing there. You still thought this was a dream, there’s no way that he could be standing at your front door right now. Like what could this possibly mean??

“Hi, uh, hello?” you stuttered out, trying not to show how excited/nervous you were.

“Uh, hi, so this is really random, but I couldn’t help but overhear you singing along to your movie and I just wanted to say that you have a lovely voice.” he smiles at you.

Internally you were screaming because “OH MY GOD THE CHRIS EVANS JUST TOLD ME I HAVE A LOVELY SINGING VOICE!” But externally you smiled and said, “Uh… thanks, I guess.” Then you realized he was still standing outside. “Do you want to come in?”

“I actually have to get back to work, I just wanted to tell you that you have a lovely voice.” he smiles and starts to turn around.

“Oh, ok, well thank you again.” you say before he turns all the way around to go back down the stairs.

You slowly shut the door, still not believing that that just happened. Your heart was still racing as you sat back on your couch.

“You grabbed your phone and went to text your best friend.

“So...I just met Chris Evans…”

“UMMM WHAT???”

“I’m not even sure if that was real life or if I’m still dreaming”

“Wait, what happened though?”

“I got home and was watching Tangled and I had my windows open. So I was, obviously, singing along with it and I hear a knock on my door. I open i and he’s just standing there. He told me I had a lovely singing voice and then I left.”

“Woah… That doesn’t sound real.”

“It doesn’t feel real! Lol”

You couldn’t get over what happened that day. You didn’t see him again for the next week, not that you thought you’d actually see him and get to talk to him again, but a girl could dream.

You kept leaving your windows open and blaring Disney music in hopes that he would come to your apartment again. Sadly it never happened. So, you started looking around the sets just to see if you could see him, but you could never find him anywhere.

You were bummed about it, but you tried not to let it get you down too much. After a week and a half passed you got back to your normal routine of things and kind of forgot about that meeting.

Then one day as you were walking home from work you hear, “Hey! Disney girl!” You turn around and look to see who was yelling only to see Chris making his way towards you.

“Hey yourself!” You grin as he gets closer to you. “Haven’t seen you around recently…”

“Yeah, I had some press releases that we had to record for Avengers, so I was gone for that.” He breathes out as he finally makes it to you.

“Oh ok!” You say with a big smile on you face.

“Were you worried or something?” He grins mischievously at you.

You blush and look down trying to think of something to say but you were too worried about him seeing you blushing than anything else.

“I’m just kidding! Are you busy right now?” He asks, placing his hand on your arm.

The spot where his hand touched your arm sent sparks throughout the whole left side of your body, which made you blush even more.

“I...uh...I’m…not doing anything. No. I was just on my way back from work. Why?” You look up at him questioningly.

“Perfect! I’ll meet you at your place in about 15 minutes. Sound good?”

“Uh...yeah, I guess!” You respond.

“Great!” He squeezes your arm and then turns around and walks away.

You were so confused on what happened, then it hit you that you had clothes and other things just thrown everywhere in you apartment. If Chris was coming to your apartment you at least needed to make it look halfway decent. You rushed home and threw your bag and purse down and got to putting away all your clothes. You put on some Disney music while you did that to help ease your racing heart.

Soon enough Chris was knocking on your door. You ran and opened it with the biggest smile on your face.

“Hi” You said breathlessly. “Come in.”

“Hi to you too…?” He kind of questions.

“Oh my god! Y/N,my names Y/N!!” You exclaim completely forgetting that he still didn’t know your name.

“Y/N… pretty name for an even prettier woman.” He walks into your apartment and starts looking around. Not noticing what he did to you by saying that.

You were speechless, one, because Chris freaking Evans was in your apartment and, two, because he just called you pretty. You could have sworn that your cheeks were as red as tomatoes.

You watched as he looked at all the pictures you had up on your walls. They were mostly pictures of your family with some of your friends mixed in as well.

“I love all these pictures. Makes it feel more homey in here.” Chris looks over at you.

“Yeah it’s one of the first things I did when I moved in. It makes me miss my family less too.” You reply.

“Is this your family?” He asks pointing to a picture of you and your brothers with your mom.

“Yeah, my three brothers and my mom. All some of my very best friends.” You say excitedly.

“Oh yeah? Are they older or younger than you?” He asks about your brothers.

“Well, Y/B/N is 3 years older than me, then it was good ol’ me, then came Y/B/N, who is 5 years younger than me, and last is Y/B/N, 7 years younger than me.” You point to each one as you say their names.

“And if you don’t mind me asking, where’s your dad?” He looks at you quizzically.

“Well, we don’t really have a great relationship. Haven’t really since my parents split in 2013…” You trail off not really wanting to get into that whole story right away.

“Drink?” You ask changing the subject.

“Water’s fine!” He says noticing how you shut down a little. He didn’t want to push anything so he let it go.

You came back in with two cups of water and handed him his glass. Once he grabbed his you motioned for him to have a seat.

You both sat on the couch and talked about your lives. You talked about how you went to school six hours away from your family and fell in love with the new city and ended up staying. Chris told you about how he started his acting career and how much he loved it.

Then you guys talked about your likes and dislikes and anything and everything else you could think of. As the night went on you found yourself leaning closer and closer to Chris. You weren’t doing it on purpose, it was just a natural response.

Eventually it was late enough that your eyes were getting heavy and listening to Chris talk about Dodger was making it easy for you to just close your eyes. Which is what you did. You fell asleep on Chris. That was not your plan at all, but you couldn’t help it, he was just so comfy and relaxing.

Chris kept talking and then eventually he realized you had stopped responding so he looked down to see you asleep. He smiled at how cute and innocent you looked. He didn’t want to move you too much because he didn’t want to wake you up. So he slowly got up and moved you so you were laying on the couch. He looked around for a blanket to cover you. He found your Harry Potter blanket and draped it around you.

He found a pen and some paper and left you a note along with his cell number. Then he grabbed his jacket and as quietly as possible opened the door and walked down to his hotel room.

As he walked down the street he thought about how well the night went. He couldn’t believe how much you guys talked about. It felt like he has known you for years with how easy it was to talk to you. He hoped that you felt the same way and would call him.

*NEXT MORNING*

You woke up wondering where the heck you were. You didn’t really remember falling asleep on the couch last night so you were really confused. Then you remembered that Chris had come over last night.

“Oh god! I must have fallen asleep.” You say out loud to no one in particular. You got up and went to grab something to eat when you noticed a note on your table. You reach over and grab it.

It reads, “Y/N, I had the loveliest time tonight with you! I hope we can do it again soon!” Followed with his phone number.

You smiled as you read the note. Well at least he enjoyed it even though you fell asleep. You grabbed yourself something to eat and then decided to text Chris. You weren’t sure if he was working now or not so you figured texting would be easier.

*LATER*

You were just sitting on your couch watching TV when you hear a knock on your door. You get up not expecting anyone to be here. When you open the door you see Chris standing there.

“Hi.” You smile up at him.

“Hi, yourself.”

“Come on in,” you gesture, “I’m so sorry for falling asleep last night! I was not meaning to do that!”

“It’s alright, it was late and you were tired. It’s not your fault!”

“I know, I just feel bad. And I was having such a good time, I didn’t want you to think I was bored or anything because I didn’t…” you kept mumbling until you felt Chris’s hands on your cheeks. You stopped mid-sentence and looked up into his eyes.

“It’s alright Y/N. It’s not that big a deal.”

“OK.” You breath out.

“Can I… can I kiss you?” he asks hesitantly.

You just nod, not sure you’d be able to get the words out with your heart beating as fast as it was. Chris leaned down and soon enough his lips were on yours. You move your arms so they are wrapped around his neck and your fingers go to his hair at the nape of his neck. His hands moved down to your waist to pull you closer to him as things got a little more heated. Before things could go any further you started giggling.

Chris pulled away and looked at you funny while he tried to even his breathing.

“What’s so funny, giggly?”

“I’m sorry...this isn’t that funny….I just…my friends are gonna flip when they find out I just kissed THE Chris Evans!” You can’t hold in your giggles, which in turn makes Chris start to laugh.

He couldn’t get over how cute your laugh sounded. It sounded like music to his hears and he wanted to listen to it forever.

“Well, we can’t have them telling you it didn’t happen.” He says and pulls his phone out and leans over to give your cheek a kiss and snaps a picture of the two of you. He sends it to you and you just start giggling even more as you send the message to your friends. Then before you know it his lips are back on yours again.

[phoenixplume117]

Today's Decisions, Tomorrow's Consequences Chapter 14

Alya called for Trixx while Nino dialed Max's second line. To be expected, it just rang, as Pegasus was fighting on the live feed of France 24 from Paris. Suddenly, he grabbed his head and started screaming. Queen Bee rushed to him, and they fled.

Suddenly, the scene switched to Nadja who looked… off, "This is Nadja Chamack, TVi anchor reporting for France 24 international news. Thank you for tuning in. This is an Emergency report; please stay inside and take cover. The akumatized victim known as Painreign has invaded Paris once again."  She looked intently at the camera as if reading a teleprompter.  “Painreign's akumatization is psychic in nature; he telepathically makes his victims believe they are hurt.  He does not physically harm them, however, some doctors believe if the pain is strong enough, it could lead to seizures or heart attacks.  I cannot stress the need for Parisians to stay indoors!  As you can see, Pegasus has been rescued and taken from the battle by our Queen Bee.  So far the list of victims has been Forte, Monkey King, Viperion, Fidélité, and now Pegasus.  We still have not seen Ladybug or Chat Noir." Her iris' shifted the slightest bit and herface implored the camera, "Chat Noir, Ladybug where are you?  Please, come help us!" She looked like she was about to say something else, but suddenly, the scene shifted to three anchors behind a desk.

"That was live from Paris. This is France 24, international news from France, for live coverage of the attack on Paris.  Thank you Mme. Chamack," the North Asian woman in between the men said and snapped the pile of paper in front of her on the desk.   "We will be returning to Mme. Chamack after a word from our sponsor." Suddenly, a Renaun zipped across the screen, taking the anchors with it and showing a race track.

Nino tried calling Pegasus again, but no answer.

Adrien transformed while Marinette called Queen Bee.

"Marinette!  Where the hell are you!?"

Ladybug looked at everyone else, "I got QB!" She spoke back into her phone, "Are you still with Pegasus?"

"Yes!  I'm trying to get him as far away from Painreign's influence as possible.”

"Just find a safe place and take off his glasses."

"What?"

"Trust me, I know you already know who he is," she could hear them in the background.

"It's okay, Max, it's okay. I promise, you're not actually hurt. LB said to take off your miraculous."

Marinette couldn't hear what he said, but she did hear the anguish in his voice.

"Give them to me, or I'll take them off you myself.  We don't have time for this bullshit.  I don't care what you're wearing."

Marinette heard laughing and grumbling.

"I'm sorry, but next time, put something on. Thank god it's summer."

Marinette couldn't help herself, she had to ask, "Um, is he naked?"

QB's laughter came through the line but Max's deep voice cut her off, "NO!"

QB snorted, "He's wearing boxers and a white t-shirt."  Max groaned.

Kaalki had had enough of the Bee torturing her chosen and flew close to the phone, "Ladybug, as always, Max is fabulous. I only need to know: if he transforms again, will he be fine or…" she let the sentence hang.

Marinette smiled. It was terrible timing. but Chloe and Max needed this, they never really healed after their breakup.  "I'm not sure. I hate to make him try it.  Kaalki can you hear me?"

"Yes, of course I can, I have superb hearing, who do you th-"

"Kaalki, focus. Are you hurt?"

Kaalki seemed to be assessing herself, "No, I don't believe so."

"Alright then. I would say try. Chances are he should be fine."

Max transformed, and for a moment, everything seemed fine. Then the screams started again, and Queen Bee snatched his Miraculous off his face, abruptly tearing his transformation from his body and pulling Kaalki from the Miraculous.  QB wasn't laughing anymore as she leaned over and tried to comfort Max. She spoke into the phone, "Did you hear that?"

Ladybug nodded and spoke softly, "Yeah… I did.  Now, I'm going to have to ask you to do something you aren't going to like."

"It's fine, I already knew you were going to," Queen Bee said. Handing the phone to Max, she held his pince-nez glasses to her face as she called out, "Pollen-"

"Chloe?  Don't detransform," came the tinny voice over the line.

Queen Bee's hand touched her miraculous.  "Okay?"  She said unsurely. After all, only Adrien and Marinette were actually capable of powering multiple Miraculous without being too overwhelmed.  

Max's voice came through loud and clear now; he was obviously holding the phone now, and his voice seemed to carry a world of worry, "Ladybug are you sure?  Couldn't it cause brain damage or something?"

Marinette honestly didn't know what it would do, but she had a sneaking suspicion Chloe could handle multiple miraculouses. She knew if Kaalki was carrying the compulsion that Max believed he was hurt, then Chloe would need Pollen to combat it.  Ladybug's authoritative voice reassured him, "The best we can do is try, but I have the utmost belief in Queen Bee's abilities." She turned to Adrien who had transformed while she'd been on the phone, "I need the coordinates for this location," she said and was about to say more but heard Queen Bee in the background.

"Kaalki,transform me!"

"How is she?" Marinette asked Max.

"Woah," he said.

"Max!" she insisted.

"I'm fine!" Chloe replied.

"Alright, then Royal Rider, come get us at 45 Boulevard De La Garoupe, Antibes," Chat said.

"Uh," came Chloe's voice from the background.

"It doesn't work like that," Max said, "Do you have the coordinates?"

"7.137133 by 43.561014," Chat said looking down at his stick's GPS screen. 

"Give me that," Royal Rider said and suddenly her voice was louder. "Go home, get some rest, I'll check on you later, okay?  Actually, we're really close to Kim's; go there."

"Are you kidding?" Ladybug heard in the distance. "He'd never let me-"

"Enough!" Ladybug interrupted, “We don't have time for this. Max, stay wherever you are. If you want, Rider, come get us. Carapace and Rena are here too."

"Hold this," there was some background shuffling then, "Okay, I'm here, where are you?" 

Carapace, who'd been tapping his foot impatiently, looked at Rena, who had been avidly watching the news. Rena saw Nadja, who was back on screen, slowly and emotionally deteriorate before her eyes.  "She's here," he said holding his hand out to her.

Rena held his hand and stood as they all ran up the stairs and out of the house. Chat called out a verbal command for the alarm to engage.   "Guys," Rena called out as they ran through the garage, "I think Nadja was hit! When we get there, I'm going to take care of her first."  

Ladybug nodded, "Sounds good.  I can tell you from experience, though, journalists will usually fight you."

Rena blushed, "Sorry," she said as she shut the external garage door.

Royal Rider stood arms crossed, tapping her fingers on her opposite bicep, looking at the Mediterranian waters.  Her suit was very similar to Pegasus' with one exception, all the leather straps were gold.  Her black hair was braided the way Chloe always wore it now, across her head falling in front of her shoulder.  What was most stunning was the tiara of gold horseshoes at her brow with Pollen's comb proudly in the middle of the crown, acting as an anchor and holding it into Rider's hair. While Pegasus had short wings at his ankles, Rider had thin gold folded wings from heel to knee.  Her venom filled spinning top was strung from shoulder to hip while her fighting horseshoe was on the opposite hip. Most noticeable, though, was her skin. She was white.  Not human white, but paper white. As Queen Bee, she was black from her hair to her toes with only three stripes of yellow around her middle and one stripe through her hair and completely blue sclera with yellow irises. Her appearance showed people where she stood even if it were dark.  It had been necessary when Ladybug gave her a second chance at the bee miraculous, and it worked; no one realized the black hero was Chloe.  Chloe hoped with the pince-nez sunglasses, people still wouldn’t guess her identity. She spoke up when she felt everyone had investigated her suit long enough, "Took you long enough.  Chat, you guys really need to repaint your fence. When was the last time it was painted, the 90's?  You're going to bring down the property values.  'Very tacky,' " she finished in English.

Rena, who'd been about to compliment her or at least thank her, rolled her eyes, "Seriously?  Let's go!"

Rider put her hands on her hips, cheeks warming. "I have a little problem; I'm not Max, and I can't just calculate locations in my mind. Even with the miraculous' abilities, I can only get the basic idea of Paris' coordinates. I have no idea how to get down to the specific location."

Chat sighed with irritation, pulled his stick out and snapped his GPS app open. After a few moments, he gave the coordinates of the Eiffel Tower.

Rider opened the portal, and Carapace hopped through first, running to help the civilians crippled with pain, followed by Rena who ran to help Nadja. Chat turned to Rider, "Are you okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

He nodded back and walked through the portal.

Ladybug looked her up and down. "I need you to tell me the truth, are you hurt or tired?"

Rider shook her head and laughed, "I'm seriously fine. Let's go; Paris needs help."

Ladybug looked unsure, but looking through the portal, Chat was staring at her with a worried look on his face, so she hopped through to him.

Rider walked through last and the portal snapped shut behind her.  

"Ladybug! I missed you!" Painreign said, floating over to them.  

He was dressed like a horror version of a doctor.  Most terrifying was the replacement of his head mirror with a rusty rotary saw blade. Suddenly Ladybug realized he must have had negative experiences with mental healthcare before they met the first time, because this had been his costume the last time, too. After he'd been de-akumatized, he'd been taken to Saint Anne's and diagnosed with acute schizophrenia with moments of paranoia and delusions of grandeur.  She never thought about the fact that he had probably been diagnosed with something before their first encounter.  She didn't think she could hate Hawkmoth more before, but this.  This was horrible. Who could do this to someone so deeply and mentally ill?

Hawkmoth stood behind a chimney with Mayura by his side.  "Those fools!" he said, "They should have just stayed away!"

Mayura peeked around his shoulder and around the chimney, "Do you really think getting closer will make a difference?"

Hawkmoth reached down and held her hand, "Him having that akuma is pointless. I can't control him, and he has no intention of bringing me their miraculouses."

Mayura nodded, but he still hadn't answered her, "Do you-"

"Yes, I believe if I get close enough, I'll be able to rip the akuma from him since I wasn't able to pull it away before or even communicate with him."

"Have you tried communicating with him?" She asked.

He tried again, but it was like standing in an empty room filled with white noise. He shook his head, "Nothing."

Mayura shook her head, "How did he get the akuma?"

Hawkmoth looked down at her, "It was supposed to go to nurse who was tired of being used as a weight lifter by everyone in the building." He sighed, "He wasn't even in the building; he'd left for the day. I'm just out of practice.  That or this man's will was just that strong.  I just thought it was a perfect opportunity-Adrien would be safe since he was out of town."

Mayura nodded; she'd thought that before.  If people wanted an akuma, they would go to them regardless of if Hawkmoth had intended that person to be the original user or not.

"How are you?"

Mayura, who'd been staring off into space as she thought, snapped her attention to his face, "I'm fine," she said, and she was. Now.  It had taken a while for her body to fully heal, but since Gabriel had fixed Duusu's Miraculous, she was fine when she used it.  It never kept him from worrying, though.

Hawkmoth looked down at her deciding if she was telling the truth. He settled on yes. Yes, she was telling the truth based on her posture and smile.  "Okay," he said. He turned back to the man and commanded his akuma to return to him, but nothing happened.  He tried again, but no positive result.  He tried to communicate with the akuma, and yet again, even though he felt like he was speaking to no one, he spoke anyway, in case his commands would be heard.  "Painreign, do you hear me?!"

Mayura held his hand tight as if somehow she could lend support to him and strengthen his connection to the man.

He shook his head.

"Nothing?"

Chat held Ladybug tight, feeling her shivers and hating that they'd been forced to come; she wasn't ready to be here.  She probably wasn't even over last night's ordeal, and now, she was supposed to do this?  He leaned forward, "I'm right here, Ma- M'Lady."

She nodded once, and in her head, she repeated, We're not alone, We're not alone, We're not alone. Maybe if she repeated it enough. the memories would fade.  He was one of the most intelligent villains they'd ever gone up against.  He'd used his ability to make her think her arms were broken in different places to prevent her from using her yo-yo.  Ultimately, she'd done it but the pain had been astronomical.  And he'd 'broken' one of Chat Noir's femurs, literally forcing him to bow to him.  Once incapacitated, he'd easily been able to tie them up and take one of her earrings.  But he didn't know how to work the screw backs, and he'd eventually just ripped it out.  Ladybug's eyes glazed over at the memory that woke her up sweaty and chilled at the same time for months after.  She had to treat him fairly. She had to say to herself, remember he is a victim! Desperate to keep the tremor out of her voice she spoke, "Painreign, this is not the way to get my attention.  You are hurting the people of Paris."

He spoke as if he never heard her, "Ladybug, may I have your earrings?" He floated toward her as if on a magical zipline.

Ladybug's reflexes were slow. Chat jumped down from the tower and slid down his pole with her in his arms, but Painreign was faster and was ready to meet them at the bottom. Chat quickly extended his pole again, and they quickly jumped to another level, running apart from one another along the side of the tower. They were grateful they occasionally climbed the famous landmark for fun, giving them the advantage of knowing the structure's design.

Painreign screamed his fury and flew up toward Ladybug, but suddenly, a fog engulfed the level Chat and she were parkouring through.

Chat suddenly heard a cry. "I can't keep up," Ladybug said as she fell. She had managed to throw her yoyo and safely dangled from it a little over a meter from the level below.

Chat scooped her up and continued running and leaping, trying to assess the situation but not finding any clues. His mind raced. Just seeing the man made him see blood, so much blood, Mar- no, Ladybug had been covered in blood the last time they'd seen him.  Seeing him didn't make him angry; it made him scared.  He didn't want her here. He wanted her far away and safe.  Once he'd taken care of the situation, then she could come. That would be much better.  He never wanted to see her suffer like that again. 

"Ladybug, do you have any ideas?" He asked.

Ladybug looked over his shoulder at Painreign, trying to assess him and watching for any type of clue, but she didn't get anything from the man. 

She shook her head, "None." 

Everywhere Painreign looked, there were Ladybugs.  He reached for the closest, "Gotch-" but she disappeared in a poof of smoke.  He spun around; she'd been real, he knew it!  He'd seen it!  He saw her again and flew after her. "Ladybug wait!  I won't hurt you," he said reaching for her hand as she ran from him, but once he touched her she blew away.  "No!" He yelled then twisted and ran for another, but every Ladybug disappeared as soon as he touched her, and soon, he was screaming. 

He saw Chat Noir at that moment.  "You!  How dare you touch my Lovely Bug!"

Chat started moaning with his lips pressed together.

Ladybug looked over her shoulder. "What did he do?  What hurts?" She jumped out of his arms, not paying attention to the greater threat.

"LB!" Chat yelled at the same time she felt Painreign's hands at her ears causing her to stiffen in fear.

"I'll be gentle this time. I know how to take them off properly. Or if you like, you can take them off," Painreign offered reasonably.

Before she could say anything, Chat crawled around her legs and panted up at him, "No, stop, don't, you can have my ring. Stop, just stop, touching her!" He gasped between nearly every word.

Painreign shook his head, pitying Chat who was beginning to sweat. "I don't want your ring, silly." He turned to Ladybug, "I want 'the pretty bug,' and I will be Mr. Bug!"

Chat looked up to Ladybug with a stunned look in his eyes; he'd been Mr. Bug only a handful of times, but it was kind of shocking that it would be anyone's life goal.  She looked terrified.

"How's your back, Kitty Cat?" Painreign asked with a wicked look on his face, clearly punishing Chat for touching the woman he loved.

Chat tried to remember he was fine, that it was all a trick. Unfortunately, he kept remembering an article he'd read that said there was no such thing as mind tricks when it came to pain. Pain was part of the nervous system which was powered by the brain.  So no matter what, the pain was real. This was why addicts who needed pain killers were never lying about their pain.  Thinking that way wasn't helping him at all, but he couldn't help it. He tried to remember how in some countries, people would get up and walk home after having a major surgery.  Pain was literally all in the mind, or at least the nervous system.  After their last battle with Painreign, he'd researched pain and nerves.  Everything he'd learned just made the situation worse.  

"It's fine!" he gritted out, but by now, he was laying on the floor at their feet, watching Ladybug's eyes fill with tears of fear.  Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a brown leather suit with yellow stripes coming, and then, her venom filled top shot out.

Suddenly, Royal Rider was on her hands and knees screaming, and her top fell uselessly at Ladybug's feet.  Rider's head was hanging down, and she was looking at her legs as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.  

Chat twisted the best he could with his "broken back," and saw the look on her face, "Thighs?"

She whimpered and nodded. "I can't move."

"He did the same to me last time."

"And you carried her?!"

Chat would have shrugged if he could have.

"Must be love," she said between whiny breaths.

Painreign snuggled Ladybug, holding her arms down and preventing her from using her lucky charm. "Here we are, darling. Now as I was saying, please let me have your earrings.  I did say 'please'."

Ladybug shivered she saw a flash of purple from the corner of her eye, then heard Hawkmoth's commanding voice.

"Painreign, you're in grave danger! You've had that akuma too long, and it becomes poisonous to the carrier after so many hours. You must let it go."

Painreign looked at him, "No! You're trying to trick me!" But the last time he'd only had the akuma for an afternoon, this time he'd had it over a day already.  What if he was right…?  Painreign let go of his tight grip on Ladybug to scratch his arm.  

Ladybug threw her arm up shouting, "Lucky Charm!" and her yoyo came down with a purple purse. "Huh?!" She'd never gotten anything other than red polka dotted items.

Ladybug looked at Hawkmoth. He had a frown on his face, but then he smiled. "Mayura, get their miraculouses!"

Mayura jumped from out of nowhere on top of Chat, and Ladybug kicked her in the side.  She grunted from the impact, then bounced back, going for Ladybug's ears. 

Ladybug twisted, hitting the woman with the purse.

Hawkmoth went back to persuading Painreign that the Akuma was slowly poisoning him.  Logically, he knew it was the best way to set off the man's paranoia, but it made him feel ill to hurt someone already so mentally ill.  He told himself he was doing it because if he didn't, the man would harm more people.  The unfortunate truth was this, something needed to be done.  "Painreign?  Are you starting to feel itchy?  That's not a good sign."

Painreign looked at him with fear and he felt like a monster, "Get it out!" the man screamed and clawed at his arms, but thankfully, the white lab coat saved his skin.

Ladybug had Mayura tied up with her yoyo and brought her over to Hawkmoth, "I believe this belongs to you."

Hawkmoth looked at the purple purse trying to figure out what clue the purse was pointing to. He knew it was meant for him, but all he could think of was that it looked like the old pockets he'd learned about in college when he'd taken fashion history.  He turned to the lab coat and realized lab coats had double pockets.  Exactly like historical pockets.  He kicked the man, but the akuma had made Painreign quick.

Painreign whined, "Why isn't this working?!  Why aren't you hurt?"

Hawk Moth laughed, "I am the one who owns those powers. They won't hurt me unless I give them permission and I didn't."  While he spoke he kicked out again intentionally missing but following through with his cane and hitting his mark, stunning him long enough that he was able to reach into the lab coat's pocket where he found a puzzle piece. He tried to gently pull the akuma from it, but it wouldn't budge.  He tried again, this time without being gentle. He imagined ripping it from the cardboard side with a force strong enough the wings could tear off the butterfly, yet it still didn't work. He turned to his enemy in red and held up the puzzle piece to her, shocked at his own action. "I can't get it out."

Ladybug looked at him as if he'd grown a second head. "Are you helping me?"

"Give me Mayura."

Ladybug snapped her yo-yo back and pushed Mayura to Hawkmoth. He threw the puzzle piece at her, and she picked it up and snapped it in half all the while watching Hawkmoth distrustfully. He had his arm around Mayura's waist and bent to pick up Painreign. Before Ladybug could stop him, he'd picked up both of them and jumped from the tower.  Ladybug cleansed the akuma before Hawk Moth could call it back, then she looked at Chat and Rider, who were still in pain. Would the purple Lucky Charm work as compensation?  She looked down at the purse and tossed it high, hoping for the best as she yelled, "Miraculous Ladybug!" She nearly wept with relief when they swept across the city, starting with Chat and Rider.  

She fell to her knees and kissed Chat Noir. "Thank god."  She felt his hand on the back of her head and his arm around her back, and wrapped herself around him. She could faintly hear Rider speaking to her.

"I hope you know the whole world is watching," Royal Rider said plopping onto her back and laughing in joy at not being in pain anymore. She looked at the drone recording the embracing heros and snapped her top at it, causing it to crash to the ground beneath the tower. She smirked; the world would never catch her making out with her boyfriend while they were in disguise.

Nadja Chamack was being carried away from the Eiffel Tower in Rena's arms as fast as she could run, trying to get the reporter outside of the circle of influence.  Apparently Nadja had suffered multiple "injuries."  Yesterday, Painreign had 'broken' her leg and today he had 'broken' both of her clavicles, which was why she was in tears and why her hands were in her pockets.  She told Rena she had refused to go home last night, saying she didn't want to scare her teenage daughter. Nadj stayed at work and when she'd been hit with another psychic blast today, she refused to go off air, telling her cameraman to put her hands in her pockets for her. 

Rena kept running, listening to the story in awe of the woman.  This was what she wanted to do.

"Aaah!" Nadja sighed in relief and went limp. Apparently, they were out of Painreign’s area of influence.

Rena looked down. "No more pain?" she asked.

Nadja shook her head. "I feel fine now," she said.

Rena set her down. "Okay, I'm going back to help," she said and turned back to run toward the tower.

Nadja chased after her.

Rena turned around, "No pain at all?"

Nadja looked up and said, "Ladybug must have fixed everything."

Rena agreed and bounced forward.

Nadja yelled, "Can you take me back?"

Rena turned around running backward, "Sorry! One way trips only; I'm not an UBER."

Nadja jogged toward the tower irritated with the heroine.

Ladybug pulled away from the kiss and rested her head on Chat's shoulder, running her fingers through his unruly hair.

"It went a lot better this time," Chat said.

A laugh burst from Ladybug's lips, and she nodded against his shoulder.

He ran his hand up and down her spine, calming her frayed nerves. 

"Let's get out of here guys.  I'm about to lose Kaalki and I don't know how it affects Pollen," Rider said, jumping up and tossing her top to let it pull her away from the tower.

Chat looked over the side and saw Carapace arguing with the news crew. He called down to his friend to notify him they were leaving.  Ladybug wrapped her arm around him and tossed her yoyo after Rider, following her to wherever she'd left Max.

On the street below, Carapace watched the footage of Ladybug and Chat Noir's embrace being broadcast on France 24's international live feed.  "You cannot broadcast that!"

The cameraman laughed, "We've been waiting 10 years for something this juicy!"

Carapace groaned, "They haven't even been fighting crime for 10 years."

The cameraman laughed with joy at being the first to catch the couple in a romantic situation in years.  "Besides, it has already been shown."

"Once!" Carapace shot back. "No one needs to see it again!"

The cameraman shrugged. "The feed is saved at the office. Sorry, Man," the cameraman said without remorse.

Carapace looked up seeing Rider and Ladybug leaving, "Sorry not sorry is more like it," he said, then ran after them.

The cameraman shrugged and replied to no one, "True."

Rena watched the Paris rooftops as she ran toward the Eiffel Tower and once she spotted the two women's cords pulling them in the other direction, she turned to follow them.  After a couple streets she caught up with Carapace.  "Oh, babe, what happened?"

"You won't believe it."

"I'm sure," she said, scooping him up and bounding up structures until she was on top of the buildings where she could more easily catch up with the rest of the group. "Nothing surprises me anymore."

Carapace wrapped his arms around her neck like a princess. "Dude, trust me. You will not believe what happened today."

"Carapace!  What happened!"

"Hawkmoth saved the day."

She would have stopped, but she needed to get wherever everyone was regrouping before she lost her powers.  She'd created a field of Ladybugs before she ran to help Nadja, hoping she could do it all in her allotted 10 minutes, but her time was dwindling down.

"Rena?" Carapace asked.

She kept running, "Why?"

"The only thing I can think of is guilt."

"Guilt?! The man has terrorized this city forever!  He's akumatized babies!"

Rider yelled, "Rena! Over here!"

Rena jumped two buildings then set Carapace down. Looking around to see if it was safe, she pushed past her friends and stood against the chimney, feeling her disguise fall and along with a disgruntled Trixx into her awaiting hands. "A little close, don't you think?" the kwami snapped.

"Sorry," Alya said checking her pockets realizing she had nothing for her exhausted friend. 

Everyone else looked guilty; looked like no one was prepared or had spare.

Ladybug sighed. She listened, but her earrings hadn't started beeping yet.  She tossed her yoyo skyward using her second Lucky Charm hoping for kwami goodies. "Lucky Charm?" The yoyo came down with a box from her parents' bakery, and once she opened it,Trixx zoomed inside, tearing into a pink macaron.  

Moments later Ryder's pince-nez sunglasses and tiara beeped their final warning, and Kaalki and Pollen both went directly to the treat box, ignoring Chloe who blushed as she was exposed, wearing her pajamas after torturing Max. 

"Nice outfit, Chlo," Max commented.

"Shut up," she replied not unkindly, feeling her face warm, and she crossed her arms.  "I was with Zain, we were watching a movie." 

"If you say so," he replied.

Her head snapped up, and she turned to him, "You know what I was doing!  You came and got me!"

He burst out laughing then reached into the box, but Kaalki snapped his fingers with her tail, "Not for you," she said after swallowing a bite of Les Galettes d’Avoine.

Chloe smiled at him, and said in a haughty voice, "Those are only for real heros.” She reached forward for a treat but was interrupted.

"No, my queen," Pollen said nibbling a croissant that smelled like honey.

Max smirked. 

Suddenly, someone climbed up the side of the building. "Oh, my gosh, are you guys alright?!  Chloe, Max, where are your clothes?" Fidélité asked. She was Barkk the dog kwami's chosen.

Chloe smiled at her old best friend, "Yeah. Are you alright now?"

She nodded then looked at Ladybug and Chat. "Everyone saw that, you know?"

They both looked confused.

"The kiss."

Ladybug blushed and said, "It was bound to happen eventually."

Alya spoke up, "Yeah, but was it bound to happen days after Marinette went to a ball with him?"

Chat spoke up then, "There weren't any cameras inside."

"Plenty of people were there though,"  Max said.

Ladybug shook her head, "Marinette danced with Adrien too."

Max turned to her, "That makes it worse Marinette, not better."

Ladybug swallowed. It was one thing to be told everyone knew, but it was another to have it confirmed.  "Maybe everyone will think he's cheating on her?" She said in a small voice.

Chat looked at her a bit hurt; she was throwing him under the bus, but was it the only way she could save her identity?  "How is that a solution?"

Chloe looked at him, "How isn't it?"

Alya nodded, "He's right. Chat Noir might be a flirt but he has good character.  He'd never cheat on his girlfriend."

By this time, Ladybug's earrings were beeping insistently, and she was looking around for a place to escape to.

Chat whispered in her ear, "Might as well let it go. Everyone already knows anyway."

She turned, finding comfort in his features, but she just couldn't agree. "Guessing isn't the same as knowing."

Chat shook his head, "You know Alya and Nino will confirm it."

Her shoulders fell, and she nodded once, letting him hold her as she told Tikki to de-transform her.

"Told you," Chloe said to Max.

"I didn't disagree. I just said, ‘she was a statistical anomaly,’ " he replied.

"Can you speak like a human?"

Tikki looked around at all the people then back at Marinette. "Are you sure this was a good idea?"

Marinette shrugged her ignorance. "If it's bad, I'm sure Bunnyx will yell at me. But honestly, they already know, and I'll be gone soon anyway."

Tikki sadly floated down to her friends and grabbed a macaron, settling down to listen to the latest kwami gossip.

Max turned to Chat Noir and said, "I suppose you actually are Adrien then?"

Chat shrugged without answering.

Max smiled, "Kind of hard denying it considering the four of you were at Adrien's house."

Chat smiled, "Mari invited me since we're dating."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Nice try, Adrikins. I heard you verbally lock your house on your way out, and I know Gabriel has all his homes set up with biometrics.  If you weren't Adrien, you couldn't have verbally locked down the villa."

Chat narrowed his eyes at the blond. "Who do you think you are telling Zain about us?"

She looked surprised then a little ashamed, but she did have her reasons. "It's sma-"

He wasn't finished, yet. "No! You don't get to make those choices, and you certainly don't get to make them alone.  No one is allowed to make choices without the group taking a vote, and I'm sorry if you guys don't like it, but LB’s vote and mine will have more weight."

Everyone looked surprised, and most of all Marinette, as she took a step back out of his arms but still holding his hand.  His face showed a frustration born of years of being left in the dark, just expected to soldier along.

Trixx nudged Alya's shoulder, and Alya nodded.

Chloe nodded to Chat. "I understand; I should have discussed it with you two first.  You're right, but when he told me he'd been chosen, or whatever, since he doesn't have a kwami, my first thought was, ‘He could help us!’ "

"How?" Chat replied. "He's in the US, we're in France, and there's an entire ocean between us."

Chloe held one arm toward Max and the other toward Kaalki who was still enjoying her oat cakes with Tikki.

Chat blew out a frustrated breath. "Chlo, why?  You lost your miraculous once because of this, why would you tell him?"

Chloe shook her head, "He knew."

Chat was taken aback, "How?"

Chloe shrugged, "He said he always loved superheroes, and when he found out Paris had real ones, he followed the stories.  When we first met, he knew I was Queen Bee."

Marinette shook her head, "That's not possible."

Tikki swallowed, "Actually it is."

Chat looked at the red kwami, "How?"

"The reason no one here knows isn't because your suits are such good disguises. It's because there is a magical glamour that prevents people from guessing your true identities," Tikki told him.

Fidélité looked as confused as the rest of them felt. "So why did he know?" she asked.

Tikki looked up at the redhead. "I think he lives outside our circle of influence.  I'm not sure how big it is, but that is the only thing I can think of."

Fidélité looked at Marinette and Chat, "That's not good, especially with France 24 broadcasting us internationally. It doesn't matter for most of us, but Chloe and Adrien are all over the internet. Chloe yawned and said, "So are Nino and Alya, and now Marinette is going to be all over the internet."

Pollen smacked her sticky lips and turned to Tikki and Kaalki. "We should do this again."

"Indeed," Kaalki said, taking another nibble.  She was so ladylike that she took forever to eat.

Tikki nodded and watched Pollen float to Chloe.  "Pollen, what did you think about Chloe's decision to tell him about us?"

Pollen smiled and said, "I trust him.  He reminds me of Wang Yong, remember him?"

Tikki nodded. "Ziggy's chosen, that was a long time ago."

Pollen agreed, "I would say more, but I don't think Chloe should hear it."

Tikki hummed her agreement, then said something in their language.

Pollen replied, and they conversed back and forth for a few moments.

Tikki looked thoughtful, "We really need to talk to Sass and Plagg about this."

Chloe looked at the two kwamis, "What, can't I know? What's that supposed to mean?"

There's more on AO3

[nightwing-is-babe]

Batman and the P.I.

Relationship: Batfam x Reader

Summary: You’re a private investigator and you were hired to get insight into the Wayne family.

Key: Y/N= your name, L/N= your last name

Warning: Language, mentions of abuse

A/N: This is like, fucking long bro. Have fun!

You sat in your office, going through old photo sets and deleting the bad pictures and enhancing the better ones then downloading them to two external hard drives. Hey, you never know what’s gonna happen and what you may need.

This is how you spend your off time, the occasional appointment popping up, but day time wasn’t when you did your work. You were a private investigator and you knew that most dirty deeds happened in the darkness of the night. You were decently well off, Gotham always seemed to be in need of a P.I., so you weren’t terribly worried when you had a more quiet day.

That was when he busted into your office.

“Are you Y/N L/N?”

Not bothering to look up from your computer, you yawned and replied, “Who’s asking?”

He slammed his hands on your desk. You lazily lifted you head to look at the man. He was a average looking businessman, his hair a little wild, his shirt was not tucked in and his tie was loose around his neck. “Are you, or are you not Y/N L/N?”

“Yeah,” your voice expressing your disgust, “And who the hell are you?”

“I’m Cole Roman and I need to hire you.”

You snorted, “Why else would you be in my office?”

“I’m not here to kid around. Listen, I know there is something up with Bruce Wayne, something weird, and I need you to figure out what it is.” You were about to laugh again, but his face was deadly serious.

“You’re serious about this, huh? Alright, sure. I’ll follow around the most important man in Gotham, but it’s gonna cost you. Big.”

Cole nodded solemnly and handed you a bag. You peeked inside. There was quite a few bundles of Benjamins. You looked back up at the man, nothing in his eyes wavered. 

“This’ll do. What information are you looking for?”

“I work at Wayne Enterprises in accounting and I’ve found some discrepancies in finances. I want to know where that money is actually going. I want to be able to expose him. Whatever he’s using that money for, it’s gotta be big and obviously expensive.”

“That’s a start.”

You infiltrated Wayne Enterprise three days later as a mail room attendant. It wasn’t too difficult and it gave you access to Cole Roman’s computer on an unrestricted basis. Every chance you got you would slip into his office and hack further into the Wayne Enterprise system, trying to get as much information as possible. That afternoon you made some big progress.

Tim noticed it first. Someone was getting further and further into the computer system, and one of his alarms triggered. Whoever it was seemed to be looking for the “Batman Expenses”, the nickname Tim had given to the expense reports that went to gadgets Bruce and Lucius worked on for Batman.

Slightly worried because of how close the person had gotten to the reports, Tim decided to pay a visit to Bruce’s office.

Tim approached the receptionist, “Hey Becca, Bruce in?”

Becca looked up from her computer and smiled. “Hi Timmy! Yes, Bruce is in, but he did ask to not be disturbed until lunch.”

“Well, can you let him know that it’s really important. Like, terribly important.” Tim gave her a pleading smile.

“Okay, okay! Give me one moment,” she held up a finger as she used the phone, “Yes, Hello Mr. Wayne. Mr. Drake is here, he says he has something important to discuss with you. Uh huh. Yes, I know. He was very insistent. I’ll let him know. Thank you!” She nodded to Tim and he thanked her then walked in.

“Tim,” Bruce stood from his desk and approached him, “What’s wrong?”

Tim explained the situation. As he talked, he watched Bruce’s face get more and more concerned. When he finished, Bruce had sat back down at his desk and steepled his fingers.

When Bruce finally spoke, his voiced was strained, “This is not good Tim.”

“I know that, why else do you think I came to you?” Tim’s hands flew up to his hair. “Bruce, what the hell are we gonna do?”

“We aren’t going to freak out. We need to figure out who is doing this. Come here,” he motioned for Tim to come to the other side of his desk, “We need to look into the usage data, see if we can track the IP address.”

Bruce began pulling up the advance computer accessing programs and Tim borrowed Bruce’s laptop and did the same, they both looked for irregular IP’s that may have broken into Wayne Enterprise’s systems.

Hours passed and they could find nothing irregular. Getting frustrated, Bruce leaned back in his chair. That was when he noticed the pattern.

“Tim do you see that?” Tim looked at Bruce confused. “Right there, and there. And again a few rows down.”

“Holy shit- yeah Bruce. But that’s...that’s one of ours.”

“We need to figure out who that is and fast.”

Your “shift” ended just an hour before sundown, when the real work begins. You left Wayne Enterprises, much more informed than when you entered and made your way back to your office. Once you go there, you wrote down all the numbers from the expense sheet you memorized, not that you really needed to, but sometimes it was helpful to be able to match the numbers with the pictures.

You got your camera and stealth supplies together and made your way to Wayne Manor. Slipping through the gate, you tip-toed over sensors and motion detectors to place yourself in a tree not to close to the building itself, but far enough to be able to get pictures of all the floors. You were slightly surprised that Bruce Wayne didn’t seen to have any blackout curtains on any of his windows, but you guessed he assumed no one could get past his security systems.

You waited patiently until you could see a fancy car pull up to the house around the corner. The driver exited and opened the passenger side door to release a boy, no more than ten, you listened to the boy complain about school as he walked into the manor. Damian Wayne, you thought, Not connected to the data, moving on. You took a closer look at the driver, he was an older man, well dressed. Alfred Pennyworth, probably connected, closer investigation. Not long after those two had enter the manor, another even fancier car pulled up. Bruce Wayne exited the driver side and Timothy Wayne exited the passenger side. Strong data connections, investigate both, you noted as they walked inside.

It was midnight before anything else of informational value happened. As you were scouting the manor, you noted two more men and two girls inside. You noticed Richard Grayson immediately, noting he probably has a strong connection. The other man wasn’t a normal associate of the Wayne family, he was a bigger guy with a white streak in his black hair. The girls were Cassandra Wayne and Stephanie Brown, girlfriend of Timothy, Cassandra was noted as involved but Stephanie was noted uninvolved. Weirdly, all of the people in the house appeared together in what seemed to be a study. You watched them through your camera trying to understand what was happening. It was hard to make out, but then something even more strange happened. They all walked behind the only thing obstructing your view and never returned.

It was bizarre. Every last one of them, gone. Even Alfred Pennyworth. This piqued your interest. You slowly made descent from your perch and slipped into the manor. Stepping lightly, you weaved through the maze of the manor and found the study. Looking around the door frame carefully, you found it was completely empty, like no one had ever entered. You wandered into the room and looked around, taking a few pictures here and there, and tried to find the spot that was obstructed from your tree view. You found it as the grandfather clock against the wall. You studied the clock, the time was wrong.

Carefully, you reached out and pushed the minute hand slightly. The clock shuttered and began to slide aside, revealing a hidden staircase. Refusing to let yourself back out, you began silently descending to a secret level.

“-breach is from within.” You could hear the tail end of someone’s conversation. You pressed yourself against the rock wall at the end of the staircase. You took out you camera and flipped the screen so you could see what was going on beyond the wall. In the screen, you saw eight people, but not the people you witness disappear. These eight people were in uniforms: Batman, Robin, Red Robin, Nightwing, Red Hood, Batgirl, and Spoiler. But then you saw him, Alfred Pennyworth and you put it all together.

The expense are withdrawn by Bruce Wayne to make gadgets for Batman.

And Bruce Wayne is Batman.

Your camera clattered to the ground.

*Clunk*

Everyone’s heads whipped around to the sound and found a camera at the base of the stairs to the Batcave. Cass ran over and ran up a few stairs before she returned, grabbing you by the arm. They watched as you struggled to escape her grasp, doing so a couple times, but Cass would fix her grip and pull harder. When she reached the group, you stopped struggling and looked Bruce right in the eyes.

Bruce used his Batman voice, “Who are you?”

You stood taller, “Y/N. Y/N L/N.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I was hired to investigate Bruce Wayne. Or I guess I should say Batman?”

Bruce’s mouth turned down into an even deeper frown. In the blink of an eye, his hand was around your throat. You didn’t gasp, actually the look in your eye intensified. “Who hired you!” He shook you a little. “Who?”

You smirk at him, which surprised Bruce causing him to loosen his grip. You slipped away from him, but not before the rest of the vigilantes surrounded you. “Just some accountant. No one important or dangerous, I promise.”

“Why?” Dick spoke up, “Why did he want Bruce investigated?”

You turned to face him, “He noticed a discrepancy in the numbers, wanted to figure out what was going on. Flashed me some Benjamins, so I took the gig.” You looked at the ceiling in thought, “$150,893.43, $471,990.21, $1,004,561.08 to name a few amounts that disappeared.”

Dick’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, “H-how did you know those numbers?”

You shrugged, “Saw ‘em, memorized ‘em. Took about five minutes after I found the spreadsheet.”

Dick looked at Bruce in surprise, noticing the Bruce looked just as shocked himself. Tim and Bruce locked eyes, the same question going through both of their heads.

Tim was the one to ask it aloud, “How did you get to that spreadsheet?”

You shrugged again, “I got a job in the mail room. Whenever I got a chance, I got onto the accountant’s computer and wiggled through some firewalls. It wasn’t too hard, part of why I became a P.I.”

If Tim didn’t know any better, he would’ve guessed the look on Bruce’s face was one of admiration. Actually, Tim himself felt a certain admiration for Y/N. Not many people had your abilities. Actually, no normal people should have your abilities.

Bruce finally spoke up again, “So what are you going to do now that you know about all this?”

“What do you think I should do?”

Steph spoke up, “What do you mean by that?”

“You could tell the world who we are, what we do. You have the proof right? Why not? What could stop you?” Bruce didn’t sound worried, but he wasn’t sure what you would do.

You sighed, “No, I won’t tell. Listen, my work...it ruins lives. I’ve seen it happen, and it’s not something I want to repeat. I’ve also seen what you guys do,” you shifted from one foot to the other, “You guys do good, I’ve seen that. I can’t interfere with your work. No, I won’t tell anyone.”

Everyone studied Y/N carefully. Damian was sure you were lying, but he couldn’t detect deception. Dick was slightly amazed at your response, and Tim was in awe as well. Steph and Cass began whispering their doubts to one another. Jason couldn’t help but scoff, he could believe you wouldn’t tell anyone, but not without a price.

“You wouldn’t do this without a price,” Jason got up in your face, “What do you want?”

Y/N didn’t shrink back. You actually got closer. “I don’t want shit.” Your eyes didn’t waver.

Bruce approach the two of them, he grabbed Y/N and took you aside. “I could use a brain like yours.” He watched your eyebrows shoot up. “You’re smart Y/N, there’s no denying it, and I can always use fresh eyes.”

“I would be honored, but...I mean...I’m not all that special. I mean... I can’t see what you see. When I think of myself, all I can see is an asshole that abuses people’s weaknesses and hate for a quick buck.” Y/N’s head fell for the first time in that cave. “I almost got her killed,” your voice no more than a whisper.

Bruce grabbed your shoulders, “What are you talking about?”

You raised your eyes to meet his. “This guy hired me, one of my first gigs, wanted me to figure out where his girlfriend was going. Easy, yeah?” Your shoulder tensed under Bruce’s hands. “She was going to a reproductive care clinic. I didn’t bother looking into why, and I told him. He got furious, right there in my office,” your eyes began to well up with tears, “He screamed ‘That bitch’s body is mine, she’s going to regret ever thinking otherwise.’”

Bruce watched as you took a deep breath. The tears spilled over your cheeks. “But you stopped him,” he asked softly.

You nodded, “I found her, before he could, told her what happened. I will never forget the fear I saw in her eyes, and that feeling of powerlessness because I couldn’t change what I had done.”

“You fixed it though,” Bruce noted, “You did good in the end. That’s why I think you’d be a good fit around here. Remorse, it can be used for good, motivation to do better in the future.” Bruce then did something everyone else in the cave thought was unthinkable, he hugged Y/N. Bruce felt as your arms tightened around his waist, and felt you shaking as you leaned into him.

Bruce gently pulled you away from him. “Y/N, I don’t know know how you feel, but I can tell you I did things I’m not proud of when I started out, just like you. The thing is...are you looking for a second chance?”

You took a moment to process what he said. Bruce watched as your tears disappeared, and a determined look settled onto your face. “I am.”

“So, what did you find?” Cole Roman paced around your office after waiting all morning for you to return.

“Sorry to disappoint Roman, but Bruce Wayne is not particularly interesting. The money went to a charity and charity auction item which, subsequently, was a fraud and the money disappeared.” You showed him some staged pictures you and the Wayne family had set up as added proof. “Nothing exciting going on in Wayne Manor.” Then you got out his bag of money, handing it back. “Full refund.”

Cole Roman grabbed the bag hesitantly, looked through it and nodded. “Fine. I guess it’s just weird to have a normal rich guy in Gotham.”

You smiled to yourself, “Yeah. Normal people in Gotham is rare.”

You bid Cole goodbye, and watched him leave the office. When he was out the door, you began packing it all up: external drives, cameras, lenses, notebooks filled with dirt on all kinds of people. Before you packed up your computer, you erased your business and yourself from the internet. 

You found yourself in Wayne Manor the second time that day, now a welcomed guest. Bruce had set you up in one of the many rooms in the manor. When you walked in, you were in awe. The room was three times bigger than your office and looked like it was fit for a king. You began to set up all of your stuff when a knock came from the door. You turned to find Jason Todd, the only one you hadn’t know from before.

“Settling okay?”

“Yeah, just setting up my computer.”

Jason looked at your computer confused. “I’m sorry, what century is that computer monitor even from?”

You snorted, “I know, its a box. It’s all I could afford and I hadn’t been to keen to lose my office space or, you know, food by spending my income on a new monitor.”

“Bruce will have no problem getting you something better, he’ll want you working at a hundred.”

You nodded and continued setting up. Jason crossed the room and started helping you unpack. “Thanks.”

“No problem...” He trailed off. Then he turned to face you. “Y/N, why are you doing this?”

“What, unpacking?”

He chuckled, “No. I mean joining the life. It’s not easy and people get hurt.”

You looked Jason in the eyes. “I’ve already seen people get hurt. I know unease. I’ve been looking for a second chance and Bruce gave it to me.”

“Okay...alright. I get that.” Jason laughed to himself, “It’s probably better than the second chance I got.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I died, I was twelve. Bruce’s mortal enemy resurrected me. It was one of the worst times of my life.”

You looked at Jason like he was joking, but nothing changed in his eyes. Your eyes widened, “You serious?”

Jason shrugged, “Yeah.” 

“Oh.”

“Well,” Jason set down a camera and walked to your door, but before he left he turned to look at you, “Welcome to the family.”

You watched as he walked away from your new room, processing his story.

“The hell have I gotten myself into...”

[vvtaverenvv]

Shouto has a girlfriend?

Hey guys this is a short fic that explores a conversation I had with some other people in the todomomo discord server! What happens when everybody assumes a couple is dating, but the couple doesn’t know they’re “dating?”

Ao3 

Word Count: 1639

The clamor of class 1-A filled their homeroom as all the students got ready for the end of their day. The bliss of a friday afternoon was theirs for the taking and the ultimate freedom from any school-related activities would carry their feelings of elation until the illusion of freedom came crashing down Sunday night. Students grouped together and spoke about what they were going to do over the weekend as they packed their things.

Todoroki zipped up his bag and looked up as Midoriya approached his desk, “Todoroki are you doing anything tonight?” Behind him Uraraka lingered and so did Iida, idly chatting as others filtered out of the room

Todoroki stood and slung his bag over his left shoulder, his head nodding slightly. “Yaoyorozu and I are going to a cafe tonight.”

“Oh on a date? Are you two finally together?”

“Finally?” Todoroki blinked and then shook his head. Unlike Uraraka or Midoriya whose faces would have been dusted at the prospect of having a partner, Todoroki’s complexion remained unchanged. “No, Yaoyorozu and I aren’t together. Why do you say finally?”

“Well, I mean, you guys are always doing stuff that couples do.” Midoriya explained and again Todoroki’s expression didn’t change.

“I don’t really see what you mean but,” his eyes shifted towards the door and Midoriya turned his head. Yaoyorozu, accompanied by Jirou and Tsu, were walking out the door. Todoroki raised a slight hand and waved as Yaoyorozu left, an action she mimicked as she passed through the door. He turned his gaze back towards Midoriya and shrugged. “Yaoyorozu and I aren’t dating.”

“I, uh, sure. Well I’ll see you later at the dorms?” Todoroki nodded and walked past Midoriya and out of the room. Midoriya then turned towards his friends and scratched his head. “Hey guys, do you know if Yaoyorozu and Todoroki are dating?”

“I don’t think so, but it’d be cute if they did. They’re always doing things by themselves.” Uraraka said and turned towards Iida. “Didn’t you see them together one night?”

“Yes, they were coming back from the school while I was on my run. I didn’t linger long but I saw them holding hands and laughing, Todoroki must have said something funny.” Iida turned back towards the door where Todoroki had left. “I’m sure they’re dating, they have to be considering everything.” “Why don’t we ask Kaminari?” Uraraka asked, “He’s around Jirou a lot so he’s bound to have heard something.” She walked over to where he was standing and was followed by Iida and Midoriya.

Kaminari stood next to Sero and Kirishima in a small circle around Bakugou’s desk, where the aggressive teenager was trying to pack up. Kirishima turned towards the approached group and waved his hand in greeting. “Hey guys, how's it going?” Bakugou raised his head and glared directly at Midoriya then returned towards arranging his backpack.

“I’m good, hey so I got a question for all of you since you’re here. Are Todoroki and Yaoyorozu dating?” Uraraka asked and immediately was greeted with a chorus of agreement.

“Anybody can see that they’re dating, I mean they tend to hang out a lot and I hear they went out on a date.” Sero said rather excitedly.

“Jirou was hanging out with Yaoyorozu once and Todoroki called, apparently they were obviously flirting with each other.” Kaminari commented, one hand rising to scratch his chin.

“Does it matter if they’re dating?” Bakugou asked as he stood with his bag over his shoulder. “Half-and-half and tallsy have both been hanging out together since our first finals, they’re dating already. It’s just like pikachu over here.” He gestured towards Kaminari who began to shyly smile while a red blush spread across his face. “Anyway, are we going or not?” He walked past Uraraka and out the door, followed by a smiling Kirishima.

“I hope they get together, I think it’d be cute.” Sero picked his bag up and turned towards Midoriya and his group. “Do you know if they’re dating or not?” They all shook their heads and he shrugged, “Well, they probably are.” He left the room then alongside Kaminari, whose blush still had not faded away.

“Maybe I should ask Yaoyorozu.” Uraraka mused as she started walking out, flanked by Iida and Midoriya. “I’m sure she has an answer.”

Fuyumi Todoroki was visiting the local christmas market that night, wearing a sweater and jeans to protect against the autumn chill. Around her many other people were walking around, visiting shops or the various stands in the market. To one side was a rather nice looking cafe, with windows and the entryway reminiscent of feudal japanese architecture. She stopped and looked over that cafe for a moment, before walking forward and entering it. The interior matched the external decorations; lights disguised as lanterns hung from the ceiling and chabudai tables were spread around the main room and in the air that was a hint of mint incense.

“Hello ma’am, take a seat anywhere.” The host said with one hand outstretched to gesture to many of the free tables. For such a beautiful establishment not many people seemed to visit. As she scanned the room, her gaze abruptly focused on a couple in the corner of the room. Shouto Todoroki, her beloved brother, was sitting across from the other recommended student in class 1-A, Momo Yaoyorozu. Her eyes widened and she took careful steps to remain unnoticed as she took a seat on the opposite side of the room, but could still watch their interaction.

“What can I get you ma’am?” Her waiter asked when he arrived.

“Just a chai tea please.” The waiter nodded and turned back towards the kitchen and Fuyumi focused on the couple in the corner. They didn’t appear to have noticed her, and she was completely fine with that. Shouto appeared to be enjoying himself. There was the slightest hint of a smile on his lips and a different light in his eyes. Momo shared the same type of expression; a smile, a warm and colorful light in her eyes, and in addition there was a light red color dusted over her cheeks. When her tea came she thanked the waiter and resumed watching her brother and his newly found girlfriend. This was the first time she saw them together and even thought about it, after all before now he had made no mention of even having a crush.

It was thirty minutes later that the two paid their bill and thanked their waiter before they left. Fuyumi, by then, had already paid and was discreetly watching them to see if anything would escalate. When they left, she hesitated for half a minute before following them out. She caught sight of them again further down the market; Yaoyorozu had her arm linked with his left, and warmer, arm, and he didn’t seem to mind how close she was. They were heading towards the center of the market, where a tall pine tree rose above the shops and tents. Fuyumi watched for a moment before she turned around and returned back home. Questions could come later.

Todoroki entered his dorm after he dropped Yaoyorozu off at her own dorm and pulled out his phone. He saw a text from Fuyumi which read, “Call me when you get the chance!” He unlocked his phone and slipped off his shoes, then sat down on his bed. A moment later he was one the phone with his sister.

“Hey sis, what did you need?”

“I saw you at the christmas market today, I didn’t know you had gotten a girlfriend!” Fuyumi’s voice pretty much shouted at him from the speaker.

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” Todoroki replied in a flat tone, while wondering to himself why everybody seemed to be so concerned with his relationship status.

“What I saw tonight says something different, why were you at that nice cafe with Yaoyorozu?”

“We just decided to go to it? She found it the other day and said it was nice.”

“And afterwards you linked arms and, I’m guessing, went shopping?”

“Yes?”

“You’re dating.”

“We’re not, I haven’t even asked her out.”

“So you like her then.” Came her reply and a sharp pain speared him through his torso and heart.

“Maybe I do, but nothing’s going to happen probably, we’re just friends.”

“Shouto...you are one of the smarter people that I know but sometimes you’re unobservant as hell.” He could hear her hand hitting her face in frustration and shook his head, sometimes his sister was too dramatic for her own good. “Just ask her out and I’m sure she’ll say yes.”

“...I’ll think about it. Is that all you wanted to talk about? I have to study you know.”

“Oh I’m sure you want to study mmm, have a good night Shouto.”

“Goodnight sis.” He hung up then and fell back onto the bed so that he could stare up at the ceiling. Fuyumi’s words flew around his mind as he focused on the very blank ceiling; did it really seem that he was dating Yaoyorozu? Sure they happened to spend a lot of time together, and do a lot of work together, and she was the person he texted the most, even though he hardly texted anybody. Plus she always smiled when he was around, and he tended to feel happier when she talked to him. He put his hands over his face and rubbed his eyes as that spear of uncertainty pierced his body again.

His phone buzzed and he reached out to bring it into view. Yaoyorozu had texted him, “I had a great time tonight! We should do it again!”

A red blush flashed across his face as he read the message, maybe he’d have to take his sister’s advice after all.

[a-gay-bloodmage]

—Tradition Would Always Get in the Way—

Pairing: One-Sided Gorim Saelac x Male Aeducan

Pairing: M/M

Words: 2,261

Warnings: The Pining is So Obvious It's Painful, External Homophobia and Internal Shame, They End Up Happy Okay I Swear, Eventually

Hundir could feel eyes on the back of his head again. He turned away from his book, hooking an arm around the back of the sitting room's couch.

"What do you want?" Of course it was Bhelen.

"Ooh, what're you reading?" He asked, standing on his toes and leaning over the couch, very obviously trying to peek at the cover.

Hundir pulled it close to his chest. Despite being the elder brother of the two, Bhelen never had a shred of respect in his body for Hundir. "None of your stone-damned business."  Trian was the only one who got an ounce of his due elder-sibling privileges. Perhaps it was because Hundir and Bhelen were only a year apart. Perhaps it was because Hundir was an easy target and Bhelen was an annoying ass.

"Let me guess," he smirked, "another stupid romance novel?"

Hundir huffed and shoved him back as he stood. Bhelen never listened, but in the rare case that he actually fucked off when he was told, it was always because Hundir had to physically push him away. "Sod off, Bhelen."

Bhelen rolled his eyes, taking advantage of a split-second breath Hundir took to yank his book out of his hands. "Really? A surface novel?" Hundir didn't bother to pull punches as his idiot brother soldiered on and started reading off a random page. "His hands are strong and calloused, but tender as he pulls me in by my waist, so close I can feel his heart beating from his chest into mine. I can see my shocked expression in his bright blue eyes-"

"Shut up, Bhelen!" Hundir yanked the book back as Bhelen winced due to a particularly hard punch to the side. I hadn't gotten to that part yet!

"Really, Hundir? A romance novel?" He snorted out laughter despite still slightly wheezing. "Trying to find your dream girl in a novel?"

"You're an ass."

"Let me guess," Bhelen laughed, following Hundir despite his attempts to leave. "She's got ginger hair, blue eyes, uses a sword and shield, has a beard and a- Hey!" He nearly fell forward as Hundir hit him on the back hard with the hardcover novel. "Sensitive poncy sod."

Hundir didn't dignify him with a further reaction. Well, he supposed the little prat got some satisfaction in annoying his brother so much he had to leave before he threw a punch that would get their father involved. That happened far too often for Endrin's liking. It usually happened after Bhelen took an obvious, painful stab at Hundir's alleged affections. It felt like Hundir spent every waking moment fighting to keep his brother from not only telling all of Orzammar about Hundir's apparent love for his male servant, but from telling Gorim himself. Hundir was always an impulse away from asking his father for a diplomatic banishment to Kal-Sharok, as the newly rediscovered, reclusive, likely tainted kingdom to the north would be favorable to the hell of living in what counts for broad daylight in Orzammar.

"Good morning, my Prince!" Hundir jolted at the sudden voice. He looked up from the nook he had found himself in, staring slightly wide-eyed at his upbeat servant. Well, servant was hardly an accurate term. Gorim Saelac was his only friend, his greatest strength, his greatest weakness, and a million other things he'd be mortified if anyone knew of.

"Ah, good morning... Gorim," he said, smiling a little sheepishly. Gorim was the only person he smiled at.

Gorim sat down on the stone floor next to him, his casual armor making quite a bit of noise. "Let me guess," he started, chuckling softly. "Bhelen?"

Hundir nodded. "Annoying little blighter," he muttered, huffing into knees, which were still folded close to his chest. "I... He noticed the book you got me." He twisted a piece of his blond hair around his finger, a nervous habit he couldn't kick. 

Gorim laughed, shaking his head. "Of course he did," he said, rolling his eyes. It was damn near treasonous how casual Gorim was with a Prince of Orzammar, but Hundir loved it. "Are you enjoying it?"

Hundir was thankful that his thick blond stubble and the shoddy lighting hid any colour rising in his cheeks. "It's... intriguing thus far," he said.

Gorim looked incredibly proud of himself. "I actually read it about a month ago, and I was... a little hesitant to give it to you," he said, running a hand through his beautiful red hair. "I wasn't sure if it was, well, appropriate to gift a Prince, uh, surface-written smut..." 

"It was very much appreciated, regardless of any... appropriate... ness," Hundir said, his shy smile just a little more pronounced.

"Thank the Ancestors," Gorim sighed, smiling.

They fell into easy silence for a while, the both of them content to simply sit away from the rest of the palace. Hundir should be working on the several little projects his father wanted him to look over. As disliked as he was by his elder and younger brothers, Hundir was certainly the most competent one. Trian just had a few more years of experience, and people only thought him to be smarter because he was far more mild-tempered.

"Shouldn't there be a celebration today, my Prince?" Gorim asked, looking over.

"There should be," Hundir sighed, shaking his head. "I had to beg father to let me bypass any festivities."

Gorim tilted his head, his thick eyebrows pushing together. The soft orange light looked beautiful in his grey-blue eyes. The question he wanted to ask was obvious. Why?

Hundir paused, taking a deep breath before he spoke, gently yanking at his abused lock of hair a little. "Sod tradition," he said, staring at the floor. "Is it so wrong to not want attention one day of the year?" His stout legs pulled closer to his body, the hardcover book pressing between his stomach and thighs. "I would... I would much rather spend..." He swallowed hard before starting over. "I would much rather spend time with you than nobles who resent my very existence." His eyes flickered over to Gorim for a second before returning to the smooth floor. "I'm acting like a duster, preferring to hide away in the dark instead of just facing the world."

Gorim's light laugh made Hundir look up at him, bottom lip trapped beneath his teeth. "Hey," he smiled, reaching over and gripping Hundir's shoulder tight. "You're the Prince of Orzammar. Do whatever you feel you need." Heat seemed to bloom from his touch, spreading throughout Hundir's body. "Don't let tradition keep you from, well, being a prince, eh?"

Hundir nodded, drinking in every second of Gorim's touch. Ever since they turned sixteen, it seemed everyone had them beneath a looking-glass, trying to determine whether or not the prince was defective. He was, but they didn't need to know that. Ever since Hundir had noticed that looking-glass over his head, he'd gotten far more scared of such casual touches, terrified that someone would slam their hands down in the Assembly chamber and demand Endrin do something about his shameful second son. What if something were to happen to Trian? Could Orzammar really have such a quote-unquote man on the throne? One with no heirs and eyes that spent all their free time staring at manservants? The notion would've been laughable if it wasn't such an embarrassment.

"My Prince?"

Hundir let out a sigh, shaking his head. "Just thinking," he said, refusing to elaborate. He said that a lot, truthfully, and never did elaborate.

"You nobles are always thinking," Gorim chuckled, shaking his head. He scratched the thick red stubble on his cheek. He was probably going to grow it long and braid it like his father did. Hundir was sure he would look incredibly handsome with it done like that. "I'd love to see what's going on inside that head of yours."

Hundir couldn't help how red his ears got at the horrifying thought of Gorim looking inside his head. Far too many images of his best friend's naked figure and deep pits of self-loathing next to every one. "Uh, state secrets in there," he said, laughing a little awkwardly. "Can't have anyone poking around."

Gorim laughed, tossing his head back a little against the stone wall. "Fine, fine, keep your secrets, my Prince," he chuckled, looking over at Hundir and smiling. "But remember, I took an oath to keep anything you wish a secret," he whispered, grinning.

Hundir knew that oath. He knew it well. He couldn't count the amount of times he wondered if he could use any agreement to keep a possible relationship between himself and Gorim a secret. But no, it may have been feasible in the terms of an oath on dwarven honor, but he doubted it would hold well against a relationship between a prince and his manservant. The shame would be too much to hide from the public and the nobility's prying eyes and any secrecy would be futile.

He tensed a little as Gorim scooted as close as he could, shoulder pressing against shoulder. "My Prince?"

"Yes?"

"I can't believe we've been together for..." His eyes widened a little, and his smile grew. "A decade! Can you believe it?"

"Hardly," Hundir said back, allowing himself to smile despite the fact that by Hundir standards, the two of them were basically cuddling. "I'm surprised I didn't scare you off."

"Of course you wouldn't have, my Prince," Gorim smiled, shaking his head. His growing ginger hair moved ever so beautifully with the motion. "Even if I wasn't assigned to be your bodyguard, and if I could be wherever I wanted-" He let out a soft breath, looking over at Hundir with genuine admiration and friendship in his blue-grey eyes. "- I wouldn't want to be anywhere other than your side, my Prince."

Hundir's mouth was dry, and he could feel a headache coming on from all the nervous tugging of his hair. "I-" He wasn't sure what to say. Sometimes, the foolish, optimistic idiot in his brain wondered if—in times like these, where Gorim looked at him so softly and near lovingly—his treasured friend may have feelings for him in turn. But of course he didn't. Why would he? He'd expressed his love for the pretty female servants dozens of times. Hundir stood no chance compared to their beauty and their womanhood. "Thank you," he choked out, staring at the floor once more. If he looked back at Gorim, he was sure he'd burn up in an overwhelmed fluster.

"Oh, don't act as if this is some massive confession," Gorim chuckled, leaning heavy against Hundir's shoulder.

Of course it isn't, Hundir thought, with a sort of bitterness that made him burn inside with shame. He had no business cursing his only example of friendship just because said friend wouldn't spit on tradition and kiss him.

"Come now, anyone who knew you as well as I do would love you, my Prince, truly. Ancestors know I do."

Hundir looked over with a shy, hesitant smile, unable to utter a single word. Gorim likely didn't know that Hundir hadn't a single memory in which someone had told him they loved him. He was never good enough for father to bless him with such a word, his mother had died far too early to leave any such a word in his mind, and his brothers wouldn't be caught dead telling him he was loved.

"Come on," Gorim said, dragging Hundir from his thoughts. "I doubt you ate anything yet this morning. Would you like to go to the kitchens, my Prince?" His hand was back on Hundir's shoulder, that blooming warmth spreading further and hotter. He could only nod in response. He'd been too engrossed in Gorim's gift to think of eating. "Here," Gorim offered out his hand as he stood. Hundir held his book to his stomach and took the warm hand in his, standing up as well. "I'm sure the cook prepared something for your birthday, and is simply heartbroken you didn't eat earlier," he chuckled, making Hundir smile. She probably was rightfully outraged her meal wasn't eaten hot. Well, that was if Trian or Bhelen didn't get to it first. They probably did.

"Will you be eating with me?" Hundir asked, cursing his own shyness. He had to slip his hand from Gorim's before his sweaty palms became painfully obvious.

"When do I not?" Gorim asked, grinning. "I believe we got that scandal out of the way when we were children."

Hundir smiled and nodded. He remembered the outrage from his father, elder brother, and the Assembly when a young Hundir has insisted a boy from the warrior caste be allowed to eat at a table with nobles. Gorim's constant place by his side, despite his caste, was one of Hundir's few treasured victories over tradition.

As he looked over at Gorim, his book clutched tightly against his chest to hide his fiercely beating heart, he found himself surprisingly content. If he had to pine forever, that was alright, so long as Gorim stay by his side. Tradition would always get in the way of anything more, but the poets always claimed that love involved sacrifice. And he was willing to sacrifice his own personal happiness for Gorim without hesitation. This was all the happiness he needed. Even as they entered the dining hall, the servants bustling around with a clear view of his face, he couldn't hide his smile.

[golddaggers]

chemistry // part one

pairings: teacher!dylan o'brien x student!reader.

warnings: just some cursing.

a/n: I am really really excited about this new series, so I hope y'all like chemistry teacher O'Brien just as much as I do.

word count: 2k+

While taking a seat at the back of the classroom, due to the fact I had arrived fifteen minutes later than I should have, I couldn’t help but think this day had had an awful start. First, I woke up half an hour past from my normal timing, which got me rushing to shower, brush my teeth and snatch an apple from the huge bowl at the kitchen table; Second, my mother’s car broke down, meaning I had to wait ten minutes to get a cab, then, third, once at my school, I had to face the embarrassment from walking in late on Mr. O'Brien’s chemistry class, who, in the matter, hated being interrupted after his lecture had started, which made me earn to myself a stink eye for doing exactly that.

To my luck, the twenty-six year old teacher liked me quite a lot, due to my success on his class, therefore I wouldn’t get a detention or have my mother wandering at school; on the other hand, it was the third time it happened this week, not on purpose, obviously, but still… Urgh. I could bet he would give me a warning.

Sighing, I grabbed a pen, scribbling down at my notebook the formulas noted on the chalkboard, in hopes I wouldn’t be so lost on the new subject. I was so absented minded lately… I honestly didn’t think my parents getting divorce would affect me so much.

“Miss Emerson, would you do me the favour of stop chewing that gum?” O'Brien said, dropping the chalk over his desk, directing a cold gaze to the blonde girl sat beside me. “No one can focus on me, or in chemistry, when someone doesn’t know who to do that quietly.”

A couple of laughs spread across the place, causing the mighty Briannah Emerson to pout, clearly pissed at the teacher’s remark. She was used to having everyone around her finger; however, when this gorgeous, I am forced to admit, man walked inside the class and didn’t give two shits about her, I guess it hurt her pride. Also, his sarcastic comebacks didn’t do much to sooth her feelings either.

I’m not going to lie, I sort of enjoyed see that blonde being put on her place like that; the girl was a freaking nightmare to everyone who didn’t belong to her little squad. Yes, me included. Nothing that, after years of putting up with her, I hadn’t grown used to.

“Okay, Mr. O'Brien, if that’s your wish. Sorry to bother you so much.”

If this girl didn’t go into the acting business, Hollywood would be missing out on a great actress, because she actually stood up, eyes slightly glassy, and spat the the thing into the bin, returning to her seat afterwards. In the meantime, I was damn sure she unbuttoned her white blouse, for her big, siliconed breasts were almost popping out of it. Fuck, does she really think he’ll pay attention to her like that?

“Alright, shall we come back to gas behaviour now?”

As soon as everyone nodded, he gave his back to us, providing me with a great view of his ass. Oh bite me, it wasn’t wrong to admire your teacher’s physic, was it? Either way, damn, that man was handsome. The growing scruff, the toned muscles, the eyes… Shit, everything about him was purely sexy. No wonder every girl was dying to be on his class. Even some of the boys were interested as well. It was pretty crazy.

I bit my bottom lip, moving uncomfortably on my chair, hoping that distracting myself with external activities would take those dirty thoughts out of my mind.

“Is everything okay, Miss Smith? Do you have any questions on the subject?”

“N-No.” I stammered, eyes wide. “I’m okay.”

It was then that my chemistry teacher shot me a reassuring smile, which, since we’re in the subject, did not help getting the wrong thoughts out of my head. His deep voice calling me ‘Miss Smith’ wasn’t helpful either. Fuck, my entire body reacted to him and suddenly I realised I had a question indeed:

When would he lose his morals and look at someone nine years younger who happened to be his pupil?

The next thirty minutes went by really fast, like most of O'Brien’s lectures. He was a really amazing teacher, the kind that got you hooked on what he was saying, eager to learn. Therefore, it wasn’t a surprise I only came down to my senses when everyone was already leaving to their next class. However, on Thursdays I had a free period before European History class, so I didn’t have to hush out and could perfectly finish my notes. Mr. O'Brien never really cared about my presence, he would just sat at his table and grade some papers. A good, peaceful silence amidst us.

Yet, Karen Williams, also known as my best friend, wasn’t in the mood to leave me alone so I could do my stuff quietly. Matter fact, she was dying to fill me in on her date with Brett Michaels the night prior; and I swear I wanted to hear, but chemistry sort of sucked me in. I loved the subject with all my heart.

Yes, a passion entirely unrelated to the fact I had a hot teacher. I swear!

“Are you going to stay here?”

“Just a little bit longer, yeah. I’m polishing my notes.”

“Such a geek.” The brown haired girl chuckled, pulling a chair to sit next to me. “By the way, last night was incredible. He took me to-”

“Excuse me, but, uh, may I have a minute, miss Smith?” The mole speckled man interrupted my friend, earning to himself two confused gazes. “In private, preferably.”

“Fine. Would you do the kindness of waiting for me outside, Karen? Or you can go to your next class if you want.”

“Saved by the bell. Or the teacher if you will.” Her green eyes were playful when they met mine. “I’ll go, but don’t think it’s over. You’re still listening to the story.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Karen trudged outside without any further words, slammed the door shut and left me, for the first time ever since we began this semester, I must stress, completely alone with Mr. O'Brien. I mean, of course he and I had had a few conversations after the lecture hours, still, not one of them were by ourselves. Nevertheless, it wasn’t exactly the time for me to acting like a child; it isn’t like he’s going to murder me then dump my body on the ocean, right?

I sighed, swiftly dropping my blue pen and watching as the man took my friend’s seat, his knee touching the side of my thigh carelessly. His eyes were now melted honey, staring me so strongly I even lost a breath there.

In the end, my teacher’s blazing look made me feel a bit intimidated, and hot, so I scoffed, getting him to look away, clearly embarrassed to be caught gazing at me.

“What did you want to talk about, Mr. O'Brien?”

“I wanted to ask you, actually, what has been going on with you.”

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I saw myself crossing my arms tightly against my chest.

“Excuse me? Why are you asking me that?”

“Well, you have always been an excellent student, but, lately, you have been a tad reckless. Coming in late, your grades dropping slightly… I wonder if you would need, or want, a tutor.”

Without me even noticing, I pulled my bottom lip to be between my teeth whilst my eyes narrowed. I knew I wasn’t at my best in the past couple of weeks, yet, it never occurred to me that I would need tutoring. Well, maybe or twice I may have had dirty dreams about him offering to teach me off-class, but never thought it would actually happen.

“Uh, there's some personal stuff going on, but it's not-”

“You’re my best student, Miss Smith, and I would love to see you blossoming in the area, which means I’m willing teach you further than our foretold hours. Be here at five, tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to. I can-”

“It’s not a bother, as I said, you’re really good at it. I just want to help you get straightened out.”

“Oh, okay, then, if you insist. So, I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess.”

He smiled at me gently, nodding, and patted my knee, erupting a series goosebumps to crawl over my skin. Then, the brown haired man licked his lips, stood up and went to his desk while I quickly threw my stuff back into my bag, leaving the place in hopes he hadn’t seen the flush that spread across my cheeks.

Stepping outside, I noticed that Karen had already left to her Biology class, because I probably took longer than I should have talking to him. Nonetheless, a huge fuck to that, for I needed to vent with someone about the fact my extremely hot teacher had just invited me to a private class. Not that anything was going happen, hell, he was just being nice, but still… I was nervous.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Lord help me get through this day, otherwise I think I might experience spontaneous combustion and blow myself up.

“No way!”

Karen was sitting on one corner of my bed, a thick notebook lying on her lap and a pencil marking the page where our homework was. However, neither of us was actually studying. Instead we were shamefully gossipping, mostly letting one another updated on the newest things happening. God, I loved our chats.

The girl babbled to me about her wonderful date, how Brett was marvellous etc, etc. Part of the time things were so adorably sweet I felt like throwing up. I was definitely not one of those girls who is into cheesy, romantic stuff. On the other hand, the thought of being alone with Mr. O'Brien had been chewing my brain. I needed to tell someone, therefore, my friend was now staring at me completely stunned, her eyes wide and mouth parted.

“Yes, and the worst is I can't help but be nervous.”

“Why are you nervous? Do you think he’s into you?”

“No!” I exclaimed, shaking my head effusively. “He’s my teacher. It’s wrong!”

“Which means you want it.” A smug grin pulled the corners of her lips. “I’m not judging, Mr. O'Brien is really hot.”

“That’s not what I meant, you dirty hoe.” Rolling my eyes, I threw a pillow at her, causing a fit of laughter to spread across my bedroom. “But still, do you think there would be a problem if I went to the meeting?”

“Well, I’d keep my eyes peeled, because he’s obviously into you, but I think we had that established.”

“He’s not into me.”

“Of course he is!” Williams shrugged, opening her book one more time. “This is perfect and I really think you should go forward. What do you have to lose?”

“‘What do I have to lose’, are you serious?” A small huff slipped past my lips. “I have my future scholarship to lose. Plus, he could get fired. I could get expelled. A lot of things could go wrong if anything happened between us.”

“Don’t be such a pessimist.” She mumbled, giving me a comforting smile. “That is only if you two get caught.”

“Why am I still friend’s with you again?”

“Because I am an extraordinary friend.” Karen joked, another chuckle leaving her throat. “I’m just kidding, you know it. But I bet Mr. McHottie will be disappointed.”

“Shut up, Karen!”

We exchanged a couple of more laughs then returned to our school duties, a silence hovering over our heads whilst a soft jazz music played in the background. Still, no matter how hard I tried to focus on the calculus exercise I needed to get done, the image of his liquid honey eyes refused to leave. Almost as if it was etched to my brain, haunting my thoughts.

Any normal person would not be fantasizing about their teacher when all he has done was be a nice pea and help out. However, I, apparently, am not normal, because the more I thought about, the more excited I got to be with him alone.

Damn, I really needed to get a grip on myself, if not, I would probably end up ruining everything in my life.

[evadingmytaxes]

Contrast - Archie Andrews

Ayyyyo whaddup it me. This is a shoddy thing I wrote that I don’t really like but whatever. Thought id share cause sharing is caring. Also first time posting my writing on here so pls be nice. Thanks enjoy lol.

I stared at him unnoticed, for the moment at least. I watched as he scanned the room without lifting his head before retrieving his pencil from between his teeth and continuing to jot down line after line.

I couldn’t help but become encapsulated with the way that his stained purple flesh revealed its depth in colour with each tilt of his head. It was much easier to stare at people during detention, I’d found. Although the bruise surrounding his right eye might be seen as unsightly to others, it captured my interest.

Did it hurt? I’d imagined so, though I’d never gotten a good idea as I’d never had a black eye before.  How had it happened? I’d wondered briefly if it was the result of the brawl in the debate meeting a few days previous. I’d dispelled that theory though; he didn’t seem the type to fight another. Although I didn’t know him and, how else could it have happened?

I’d found his form the definition of contrast; his hair ablaze, the purple stain beneath his eye, the bright yellow and blue of his letterman jacket and, what I’d found most enticing, was the contrast of his light to my dark. I’d had no idea how I’d missed this before. He was perfect and I needed him in my portfolio.

Detention had hardly begun before Mr. Fryer had announced our time was up. I suppose he’d wanted to suffer his loneliness in solitude. He didn’t hesitate to stow his belongings in his bag before fleeing at top speed. I was almost unable to catch up, almost.

“Archie!” I called to him down the hall while attempting to reach him. His footsteps ceased as he pivoted to witness my arrival.

“Hey,” He’d obviously not been expecting a conversation as I could tell he’d wanted nothing more than to continue running far away.

“Um, I just wanted to ask if you could help me out with something.”

“Depends on what that something is.” He couldn’t seem to maintain eye contact with me for more than a few moments.

“Can I draw you?” That drew his brown eyes to mine.

“What?” I’d had no idea why he was so surprised, it wasn’t unusual for me to be drawing students. He’d seen me on campus. Heck, I’d drawn Betty a number of times.

“Can I draw you?” I’d asked again, although the question he’d meant to ask was ‘why?’

“Uh, I guess. I-I mean yeah. Yes.” When he’d smiled and his eyes had shined, I wondered again why I hadn’t asked before.

“Awesome!” As I gathered my thoughts my eyes shifted between his, “When are you free?”

“Um – I don’t have practice tomorrow, so how about then?” He was wringing his hands.

“Okay, how about we go to Sweetwater? I’ve got a car; I can take you home after.”

“Uh yeah, cool. Look, I’ve really got to go but I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” He kept looking toward the doors.

“Alright, see you later.” I muttered to his back as he jogged to the end of the hall and through the doors.

“Sit!” The tartan of the cheap blanket was dark and distracting, spread out over the bright green of the grass on the bank.

“Okay.” He seemed intimidated, though I had no idea why. “How do you want me?”

“However you like.” I hadn’t time for specifics, now how was this gonna work? I hummed quietly while trying to match his shade of ‘Weasley Orange’ to my limited array of colours. I settled on ‘Blood Orange.’

As I raised my gaze to him, his shifted to the river. The water was flowing smoothly, softly gliding over the stones on its shallow floor. It was marvellous.

“Would you explain your process to me? I’m curious.” His voice was quiet, a beautiful contrast to the, frankly, loud sunset painted on his left cheekbone.

“Uh – Sure. But keep facing the river for me, okay.” I was only half-way through the rough outline of his profile.

“So, I start with a rough outline.” Starting at the chin as a central point I began to stage the rest of his face on the page. The ridge of his eyebrows and the slope of his nose, all dotted out carefully, if slightly disproportionate.

“Then I add the other smaller stuff, like ear and eye shape and hair placement.” There was a silence as I added a few smaller details from memory. I was so engrossed in the work that I hardly had time to notice Archie’s stare grazing my face.

I shaded the soft contour of his jaw and cheekbone before attempting to study the shape and hue of his black eye. I smiled shyly after catching Archie’s warm gaze, he smiled back.

“Face the river, I’m nearly done.” I sketched a rough shape in a shade named ‘Deep Purple’ before adding depth in lighter colours, scattering patches of yellow-green around his cheek.

The result could be considered ‘Abstract’ or even ‘Unfinished’ but it was perfect.

“Here.” I thrust my sketch book into Archie’s hand and he viewed it silently for a few seconds before a smile adorned his face.

“This is amazing! I love it.” His tone was bright as our eyes locked on each other.

Archie’s shyness had gone now as he placed a warm hand on my cheek as I shivered in the autumn wind. The sketch book now rested forgotten on my knee as I leaned closer into his warmth. It wasn’t until our lips brushed that I realised my reason for being so drawn to Archie’s beauty. Our contrast was in fact not a contrast at all it was a mixture.

We mixed both physically and emotionally, we were one in the same. Archie’s bruise did fade but our connection was wired, internal not just external. We melded like the pigment of his bruise melded back into his creamy complexion.