#but when they got to ‘another brother’ they were like. so there could have been a FOURTH skeleton we never heard about????

[electricgg]

Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land

Chapter 15: Don't Tell Anyone Or You'll Be Just Another Regret

Masterlist

Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 (Here!) / Chapter 16

Sneaking out of Wayne Manor was pretty easy for Maximoff, actually.

The fact that all the vigilance cameras were down for maintenance (or so she overheard from Tim and Bruce’s conversation that morning while pretending to listen to something on her headphones during breakfast) and that she would be by herself for the afternoon certainly helped.

Adding super speed and help from beyond the grave? Piece of cake.

Besides, who could blame her for it? It had been the most stressful and boorish week in her whole life. She needed the break!

Ignoring the fact that it was just Wednesday, the stressful part was very much real.

The weekend was probably the worst days since she couldn’t get a moment to herself from the moment she set foot on the manor. Bruce had been very serious about things changing from now on, and it was horrible. 

‘You will have breakfast with me and your brothers every morning before school.’

‘You must always answer my calls and texts. Or I will confiscate your phone and consider homeschooling as an option.’

‘No more clandestine practices. I want you home by 5:30. If you wish to try any other clubs or extracurriculars, you will consult with me, and I will consider it.’

‘If you wish to continue hanging around those boys, I need to have your location. I will not budge on this. It’s either this or I’ll tell the principal to change you out of your class.’

‘I don’t want you alone at any moment with Mr. Munroe.’

‘No unlocked doors. That’s final. Not until you gain back my trust.’

‘Any time you want to go out, you will tell me. I’ll decide if you can go or not.’

‘And lastly, I’m taking you to Dr. Thompkins next Saturday. I want to make sure you’re clean and that there are no other health concerns, am I clear?’

Needless to say, Maximoff did not take these new ground rules well.

She tried to work around them, still feeling the need to stick it up to the man despite the cold fear that went through her veins every time he walked into the room and stared at her with what he probably thought was fondness and affection. 

It looked more like those uncanny valley images that Bobby had shown one day during lunch.

The effort was there, but it looked so wrong on him. 

Maybe it was her head, trying to mess with her perception and jumping to conclusions. It wouldn’t be the first time nor the last. Her mind was a tricky place, and her thought process even trickier thanks to her mutation. The number of times that Bobby and Warren had to talk her out of making impulsive decisions, despite assuring them that she thought things through (at 0.5 seconds, but who was counting-), was a bit concerning.

But she couldn’t shake away the sensation of wrongness when Bruce’s gaze refused to stray too far away from her.

As if she would just take off the moment he didn’t have his eyes on her.

(…He wasn’t wrong. She did take the first chance she got to get away from him, but that didn’t stop it from being weird.)

Anyway, this didn’t stop Maximoff from pushing boundaries. Even while scared shitless.

She would wear her headphones at breakfast, making direct eye contact with Bruce while eating. She did answer his texts, but only a dry okay or a thumbs up, and was very glad that he wasn’t the phone call type of person. And she did leave her door open, while blasting her playlist through the speakers that Warren had lent her.

The whole thing with the practices and school? Well, that was more complicated to work around since she hadn’t been going to school due to the emergency that happened on Monday. 

What emergency?

Nothing else than the kidnapping of a student in broad daylight.

──── ∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗ ────

“I’m being serious,” she stressed while Bobby wheezed over his desk, and Warren just stared blankly at her. “Do I really look like I do drugs?!”

Warren blinked as Bobby fought for air, punching the hard surface and rattling his books. The blonde snorted, mouth twitching as he avoided the pointed stare coming from Wayne. “Well, you do act like your adrenaline is on high all the time. So, probably Meth-”

Bobby doubled over, tears coming out of his eyes and red in the face as he fell to the ground. Warren snickered despite the wack on the head he got from an invisible force.

“I hate you both so much,” Maximoff muttered, dragging her hands down her face and sighing with exasperation.

Once Bobby stopped choking on his breath, he stood up while giggling. “It’s just too funny. Out of everything he could think of? Drugs?”

“What are you brats talking about?”

Mr. Logan’s harsh tone made them whip their heads towards him. He entered the empty classroom, noticing how it was only inhabited by the three kids who had switched around the desks in a small circle so they could face each other while eating their lunch.

He also noticed the oddly shaped shadow near them, but decided to keep it to himself. 

At least for now.

“Nothin’,” The girl grumbled, crossing her arms and blowing a curl off her face with a frown. “Just talking about a dumbass.”

“Language, bub.” He warned with a grunt, messing her hair up until she shoved his hand off with a laugh. “Don’t want to give your old man more reasons to visit the school.”

Maximoff snorted, “So you know about that?”

“Hard not to when he talked directly to me and the principal.” He noted, dragging a chair and sitting right beside her.

She couldn’t help the wave of shame crawling from the back of her neck up to her face. Even Wayne made a wincing expression, form becoming lightly translucent. Both of them wished that Bruce simply stay far away from the school grounds before he could interfere more in their somewhat peaceful routine.

He drove them to school that morning. Got out of the car and went to the principal’s office, demanding a reunion with her and Mr. Logan.

Maximoff didn’t stick around for that. She slipped away before Bruce could drag her into the office, almost forgetting to keep her speed as slow and normal as possible.

“So no more running, right?” She muttered, shoes scraping against the floor as she swung them up and down. 

Logan didn’t say anything. He stared at the now crestfallen teen, trying not to growl at the smell of misery and distress that spilled out of her. He couldn’t help but feel even more anger towards the man who was making her look this unsettled and distraught. 

So what if she didn’t tell him about it? Kid probably had her reasons. It was obvious by how the man was acting.

And instead of talking about it and trying to understand her, he was taking it away? Because he couldn’t admit that he had been doing things wrong?

Not on Logan’s watch.

Besides the family drama, Logan couldn’t let the kid go around without letting out some of that adrenaline on her body.

He had seen a restless speedster before, and it was not a pretty sight.

She needed an outlet, and he was more than willing to help her.

Even if he had to reach some middle ground with Mystique of all people.

He was not surprised to see her around here. Logan knew that sooner or later, Magneto would send one of his own to inspect and test things around Gotham. The only thing he was thankful for was that it at least wasn’t Sabertooth.

Lord knows that would have been a disaster.

Mystique was a pain in the ass, of course. Especially now that she was pretending to be the principal and could kick Logan out if she so pleased. But it seemed like Magneto had ordered her to act civilly with him. A small mercy, but he knew better than to let down his guard around her.

He would have to confront her sooner or later about why exactly she was here. Probably that very same day, since she seemed oddly invested in the Wayne girl.

Which could imply many, many things.

But that would be a problem for later. Right now, he needed to get rid of that awful, sad stench away from this room.

“If you’re willing to sacrifice your lunch and free periods, I can make something work.” He offered.

She almost fell out of her seat from the exaltation, face brightening, and arms almost knocking over the desk.

“For real?! You swear?!” She said in a high-pitched tone that got laughs out of her friends.

Logan could have sworn he heard another voice, but he was more relieved that the stench was gone. He chuckled and nodded at her. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you are skipping meals for-”

“Attention, students,” The intercom interrupted. The voice of the Principal boomed through it, gathering the attention of everyone. “Please report yourselves to the main gym along with your teachers. I repeat, report yourselves to the main gym along with your teachers.”

“What’s up with that?” Warren asked, scratching the back of his neck.

“Nothing good,” Logan growled, getting and making his chair screech against the floor. “Leave your things and follow me. No complaints.”

The three of them groaned at the same time, but stopped when Logan glared at them. They quickly scattered to the door, shoving and pushing each other until Logan wrangled them up by the back of their uniforms and walked them like that towards the gym.

Gotham Academy closed early that day and gave the rest of the week off to the students.

Amara Aquilla, from the seventh grade, had gone missing during the first period.

Her bag was found by the main gate of the academy.

No trace. No camera footage. No signs of anything.

She was just gone.

──── ∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗ ────

So, the girls had spent Tuesday and Wednesday inside the manor with no privacy whatsoever.

While also making it everyone’s problem since Bruce decided that it was too dangerous to go out for now.

To Maximoff, it just seemed like the perfect excuse to keep her inside the manor without raising too much suspicion. The act of the protective and overbearing father was getting old real fast for her, and she couldn’t be blamed for taking these drastic measures.

Such as climbing through the giant fence of the manor while taking advantage of the family’s absence on a Wednesday afternoon. 

“How the fuck did I do this while sleepwalking-” She grumbled from up the top of the fence while Wayne hovered over her with her arms extended, probably trying to help out, although it would do little to nothing if Maximoff were to fall.

Damian and Cassandra were out doing god knows what and wouldn’t be back for a couple of hours. 

Dick went back to Bludhaven on Monday, claiming that he was needed on some new case or something.

Alfred was acting as a chauffeur for Bruce and Tim for a business meeting in the city, and it would take a while for them to come back as well.

It was the perfect scenario to sneak out.

Almost too perfect, but she was not willing to overthink it.

Her bones were basically vibrating out of her skin at this point. It was very uncomfortable, and she needed to do something about it. The run from her room to the fence had done almost nothing to keep her speed tremors at bay (it’s what Bobby named them. Those trembles and need to bounce her legs or fidget with her fingers. He came up with it after she tapped a literal hole on the benches.), and she was quickly finding out that heights were not really her thing.

Climbing was easy because you had to look nowhere but up. Coming down, however, was clearly not the easy part.

“Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down,” She whispered to herself, looking down to the side of the fence she just climbed off and feeling her stomach sweep up to her throat.

‘Fuck me and my choices. Oh my fucking-’

“What are you doing?”

Maximoff squealed, feeling her balance wavering for a second and gripping with shaking hands the metal beneath her. She took some deep breaths with her eyes closed before glancing to the other side of the fence where the voice came from.

Down on the ground, looking amused and a bit concerned, was Tim’s friend. 

He was wearing a thick leather jacket with multiple sewn patches and denim jeans. His black hair looked windswept and falling over his forehead. A pair of round sunglasses on the top of his head.

His name was Conner, if she recalled well.

“Um, what are you doing here?” She countered back, trying not to panic over getting caught in this position.

Conner did look taken aback by her question. He scratched his neck and looked around, hoping to see any sign of Tim or maybe Alfred. Anyone who could explain to him why she was up on the fence, but found nobody nearby.

“I’m here for Tim,” He admitted with a sigh. “He hasn’t been answering my calls, so I came to check up on him.”

“He is out. Some business stuff.” She replied. “You could come back later if you want.”

Please leave. Just leave!

Conner frowned, coming closer to the fence and cranking his head to look up at her. “You haven’t told me yet what you are doing over the fence.”

Maximoff could hear the snickering coming from Wayne and the amusement oozing from her presence. She gave her a quick glare and looked back down at the noisy guy. He was even smirking up at her, probably figuring out already what she was trying to do.

The nerve of this guy!

“Just enjoying the view!” she boasted. “It can get stuffy inside the manor, y’know? I need fresh air!”

He laughed, nodding and shoving his hands in his pockets. “Sounds nice.”

“It is!” She flattered for a moment, feeling her hands sweating and her grip starting to tremble once again.

Conner could tell that she was bluffing. He could see her arms trembling from down there and how her heartbeat was going somehow so much faster than usual.

“How about you come down from there?” He offered. “I would like to talk without having to yell!”

“I would rather not!” She argued. 

For all she knew, the guy would probably tell Tim about this and get her into more trouble. It would be better to just ignore him and wait until he leaves. She had had enough of black haired men messing with her life-

A blunt force to her shoulder made her lose balance, causing her to topple over the fence and lose her grip.

Both Conner and Maximoff yelled in surprise. He instinctively opened his arms, floating off the ground for a few moments until her body slammed against his. Then, he stopped floating and let gravity bring both of them down to the ground with a harsh landing.

She lay on top of him, a bit disoriented from what just happened. But then her head snapped up towards the fence while Conner pretended to have the air knocked out of him.

Wayne was leaning over the fence, smiling innocently at them with a pleased expression.

“That’s another way to go down,” Conner groaned from beneath her.

Maximoff gasped, quickly getting off of him and standing up while patting off her clothes. “I’m so sorry for that. My grip slipped-”

She offered her hand to help him up, which he took without much thinking. “It’s fine. I got bones of steel.” He teased.

Despite that both of them were already standing and looked without any injuries, they still didn’t let go of their hands. For Conner’s case, he was wondering about the tremors beneath her skin and entranced by the rapid pulse that had been engraved into his head from the moment he first saw her. As for Maximoff, she was caught off guard by the warmth of his hand and how gentle his grip was despite the obvious difference in size. 

She also didn’t feel any weight when she helped him up. Which was weird because the guy was built like a brick house.

Broad shoulders. Long legs. Big warm hands that brought calm to the energy thruming down her vei-

“Thanks for that,” She yelped, taking her hand away from his and shoving it inside the pocket of her jacket.

“No problem,” He muttered, looking her over and glancing at the fence for a moment. “So, sneaking out while the sun’s still out?”

She shrugged while clicking her tongue. “Everyone is out. Sounded like a good idea.”

“But why?” He pried with a growing smile. “You’re grounded or something?”

“Or something.” She answered with a snort. Her feet started to move forward towards the road, passing by Conner’s side. She would rather not waste any more time before the rest of the family made it back to the manor. Wayne had already chosen to stay behind, just in case anyone tried to get into her room before Maximoff got back from her little walk.

But it looked like a certain guy didn’t take a hint.

“Wait!” He yelled, catching up to her with just a few steps and walking alongside her. “You’re not really walking all the way down to the city? Right?”

“Yeah, I am.” She stated, not stopping her walk.

“That’s thirty minutes by car, you know?”

Maximoff hummed for a second before answering. “I like walking.”

“It’ll probably take you an hour and a half to get there.”

“Then I’ll run.” She countered, giving him a side glance. “Like I’m sure you just did.”

Conner stopped walking, but she didn’t. He stared at her with a frown and gaping. He then caught up to her again.

“How are you so sure I ran over here?” He questioned, touching his elbow against hers.

“I don’t see a car around here, so you either walked or ran here.” 

He hummed to himself. Conner did run all the way here, but he was a special case since he had his superspeed, and he was pretty sure she was not aware of that part of him. He couldn’t recall if she was aware of her family’s night job (he was practically blowing up Tim’s phone with calls just so he could tell him something else about her-), but he would rather play it safe and act normal.

It felt a bit weird. Most people in his life knew about his powers, and it was odd to hide them from people who were not civilians.

Acting normal was not something he really did. He didn’t feel the need to do it, not in a long time.

But he could. Just for a day.

“Mind if I joined you for your walk?” His tone made Maximoff stoop and look back at him, an eyebrow raised. Her gaze was making him a bit nervous since he felt like she was looking right through him.

“Are you a snitch?” She asked seriously, which made him laugh.

Conner put his hand above his chest, right where his heart was, and spoke. “I swear I will not tell a soul about today.”

It took her a moment to say anything. He saw her eyes wandering to the manor, eyes squinting at the top of the fence before looking back at him and nodding with a smile.

“Fine,” She said, starting to walk backwards and speeding up when she turned to face the road. “But you have to keep up with me!”

“Hey, that’s cheating!” He yelled, a grin splitting his lips as he started to run after her.

Maybe he didn’t need to act too normal around her.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Worthington Industries was founded over 150 years ago by the Worthington family. It’s an international conglomerate with holdings in advanced aviation technology, periodicals, experimental alternative fuels, and fancy frozen yogurts. It had an uncountable net worth as well.

But Tim wasn’t surprised by the need of Mr. Worthington to reach out into more fields. Powerful men needing more power was not something unusual in this world.

Mr. Worthington was a charismatic man. Blonde with grey creeping at his temples. Tall and 1000 watts smile that made him grimace at how plastic it looked on him. Always made direct eye contact and stretched hands with everyone in the room, along with a friendly pat on the shoulder that was followed with a small talk that got even Bruce to tighten his well-practiced Brucie front.

It was a mutual and obvious dislike for the man, which made this meeting somewhat bearable for Tim.

If the proposals at the table weren’t interesting enough, he would have probably walked out and pretended he had an emergency.

But they were very interesting, so he stayed.

After all, it’s not every day Tim gets to see up close original documents related to the Sentinel Program.

“Since Mr. Stryker was no longer trusted with the program,” Mr. Worthington explained when he had handed over the files. “The government entrusted me with the files after I had given my proposal for the vaccine I had mentioned in the past.”

“Right, right,” Bruce had nodded with a laugh while directing the documents in Tim’s direction. “I think I remember it. But, would you mind refreshing my memory? It’s been a busy week and-”

Tim didn’t need to listen to that part of the conversation. He knew everything he needed to know about this, and he could leave Bruce to play the ditzy act by himself.

For about two years now, Worthington Labs has been trying to develop a new type of vaccine. A special antimutagenic antibody, created from the DNA of a mutant with the ability to nullify the powers of other mutants when they come near them. The mutant had signed up by free will when the labs had offered him a good sum of money, with only the condition that their identity was never revealed. And now, the vaccine was officially done.

A mutant cure. Right on Tim’s hands.

Tim had studied genetics. Had read many books about the subject and researched even more when it came to the X-gene. He even had several papers and books written by the number one expert in this field, Prof. Xavier.

There was no cure. It is simply impossible. There’s no way around it.

Sure, gene therapy existed. And it worked in certain cases. But not when it came to the mutant gene.

You can’t simply rewrite the genetics and DNA of a being without having extreme consequences.

But Mr. Worthington claims that it’s true. That this ‘cure’ does work, no matter how crazy and unbelievable it sounded.

“Has it been tested yet?” Tim breathed out, feeling his ears ringing from all the blood and thoughts rushing to his brain.

He didn’t even feel Bruce’s pointed stare.

“Not yet,” The blonde man assured, jaw clenching for a moment. “But we have a willing candidate. I just need to mass-produce a few more vials for when the results come back positive. That’s where you come in, Bruce.”

Right. That was part of the negotiations. 

Wayne Enterprises would form a partnership with Worthington Industries to announce the vaccine. 

It was an odd proposal. Why would Mr. Worthington want to share his oh-so golden glory with anyone else? It didn’t make a lot of sense, unless there was some missing factor in here. Maybe the research funds were too much, and he needed more income? Or was he genuinely trying to bring more attention due to the reputation Bruce had? Was it the influence of Wayne Enterprises?

It wasn’t making sense, and he didn’t like it.

“What about the security system you mentioned?” Bruce cut in with a drawl, getting Tim out of his spiral. “I think that’s something more up my alley.”

And definitely more on Tim’s alley as well.

The security system that they had been anticipating certainly didn’t let them down. 

For some context, we will need to go on a bit about who William Stryker is. 

William Stryker is a specialist in undercover operations and a military scientist. He used to be an assistant of none other than Bolivar Trask back in the 70s, where he would enlist mutants against their will to fight in wars and suicide missions. During that decade, Trask invented the ultimate weapon against the ‘mutant threat’. This weapon was passed to Stryker once Trask passed away under mysterious circumstances.

That weapon was called the Sentinels.

The Sentinels were machines designed to hunt down mutants. For the public's view, just to keep them in check. The real purpose? It was a much darker intent. 

Back in the middle of the 90s, once Magneto made Genosha an official country and a member of the United Nations, the production of the Sentinels was banned in all countries, and the project was shut down when Stryker was thrown in jail.

Project Sentinel was supposed to have all the files burned and destroyed, including all data related to it.

And somehow, Worthington got access to them and planned to do a security system with them.

All that Tim could think of was the number of things that could go wrong if this were to fall into the wrong hands.

The Justice League was already on thin ice with Magneto. If he were to find out that not only the government lied about destroying Project Sentinel, but that a billionaire got hold of it and was planning to do a freaking security system with it, while also adding the fucking vaccine on top of it, Tim was sure blood was gonna rain all over Gotham.

But what worried Tim the most was the thinking expression on Bruce’s face as he listened to the plans Mr. Worthington had in mind.

He knew what that expression meant, and he did not like-

“More tea, sir?”

A smooth, soothing male voice got his attention. Tim looked to his left side and found a tall man with kind eyes behind black framed glasses.

He had an odd eye color, a mix between hazel and green. Dirty blonde hair brushed to the side in an old-fashioned way. His suit was brown, combined with a white collared shirt and a deep red tie. 

He looked straight out of an office sitcom.

“Vic, please,” Mr. Worthington cutted in, waving his hand dismissively. “I told you to wait until the meeting was over.”

The man, Vic, fumbled a bit with his tie as he lifted the teapot he was holding. “Sorry, sir. Thought Mr. Drake could use a drink.”

“I wouldn’t mind a coffee.” Bruce offered, giving his signature dimpled smile to both men.

Mr. Worthington took a second before nodding towards Vic. “Bring us some coffee after you're done with Mr. Drake.”

Vic nodded and served Tim some tea into his empty cup before walking away from the office without another word.

Something was odd about that man. Tim could feel it. Something about his movements seemed… off.

“Now, back to business!” The blonde man said with mirth while Tim tried not to sink into his chair.

He was gonna need coffee instead of tea if he was going to make it through the rest of this reunion.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

“You need to let go of the wall.”

“I will not!”

Conner tried hard not to laugh in her face, but a chortle escaped, and Maximoff gave him a deadly stare.

It did nothing but make him laugh harder. It was easy to do so, since she was crouching against the short wall of the roller skating rink, knees shaking nonstop while she glared up at him.

That walk easily became a hangout.

The two of them had taken their impromptu race very seriously and ended up in the city in less than twenty minutes. Conner intended to turn back around, but their stomachs had made it clear to them that they needed to grab something to eat first. So that turned into a fast food hunt and tons of talking.

Conner came to find out quite a lot about her in the span of the last two hours they spent talking.

That she had a huge dislike for cold weather and silence. She felt the need to just fill in those silent moments with random facts and out loud thinking. It usually got her into trouble and a rant from her friend Warren about learning to keep her mouth shut.

That her favorite colors were green and silver. Though she preferred gold jewelry, because it reminded her of her mom. He quickly changed the subject when she slipped into silence for a few seconds. 

He also found out that he liked to listen to her voice.

She also had a wide taste in music because her best friends just kept shoving more songs into their shared playlist. He tried not to feel offended that she had never listened to Simple Plan. 

He would have to change that.

Conner also found out that she hadn’t done a lot of things as well.

She had never been to a beach before. She had never gone to a theme park. Never tried out sushi. Never drove a car. Never gone outside of Gotham. Never gone to the movie theater. Never-

Too many nevers to count.

It had shaken him. Hearing about all of this while she downed her ninth burger like it was nothing, while they sat on a bench in a nearby park.

That was another thing he found out. 

How can the daughter of a billionaire go around with no money in her pocket or a credit card? Tim had around six credit cards, and he was always insisting on paying for everything whenever they hung out by themselves or with the rest of their friends, saying that Bruce had enough money to waste.

So why not her? It didn’t sound right. Lois and Clark had basically engraved into his head the importance of having money on him just in case it was needed. He had an allowance for a reason. Didn’t all families do that?

Rich people are really weird.

“Just hang on to me, you’ll be fine.” He insisted with a laugh as he put his hands over her white knuckled ones.

She shook her head quickly, making her ponytail whip around and hit him in the face, and getting more laughs out of him. “No! I don’t trust you! Not one bit!”

After eating at the park, Conner decided that he could at the very least take a ‘never’ out of her list before walking her back to the manor. Which led them to the nearest arcade on the street block where they were roaming around. 

The beaming expression on her face was bright enough to distract him from the nagging voice on the back of his head that sounded a lot like Barbara, telling him how this was a really bad idea.

Maximoff had been jumping around from console to console, excited and unable to choose which one to use until her eyes landed on the Dance Revolution game. She almost pulled Conner’s arm out of his socket when she dashed directly towards it and insisted on trying this one first.

She used to play this with Billy. She could remember it very vividly. 

And while Conner definitely wasn’t Billy, she enjoyed having just a little moment that felt as close to home as it could.

Not long before Conner tapped out of the game because he was stomping too hard and almost ragging on the machine for not registering his footsteps, he pointed out the roller skating rink on the back of the building.

And that’s how they ended up here. With a half-empty rink and a stubborn girl who refused to trust him.

They had taken off their jackets, leaving them behind at their table since they were still flushed over playing that dancing game. Conner had stepped in first, explaining to her how to stop the skates and small tricks while she got used to it. And she was very confident about understanding it until she set foot on the rink and held onto the wall for dear life.

“Listen,” He inclined to her level, speaking with a light tone. “I promise you won’t fall. Just hold on to me and we will do just one lap and that’s it.”

Her glare softened a bit, biting her lips for a moment before answering. “If I fall-”

“You won’t, because I’ll catch you before you do.” 

Maximoff was still hesitant, but Conner noticed her grip loosening beneath his fingers. He slowly let his fingers interlock with hers as she let go of the wall and straightened up from her crouch, letting him guide her slowly towards him and away from the wall.

“See? Not so bad.” He cheered, pulling her closer until she was right in front of him and gripping his hands tightly.

“Yeah. Not bad at all.” She stammered while looking down at the rink.

To Conner, it looked like she was nervous about skating around the rink. Which was fine since it was her first time. She just needed a little push to lose some of that fear and let loose. All part of trying new things.

But to Maximoff? She was simply nervous about getting caught staring at his arms.

From the moment that asshole took off his jacket, she couldn’t help but look. The tight navy blue shirt certainly didn’t help the case as well. So she tried to stick to the wall and as far away as she could.

How is it possible someone his age could have muscles like that?! It’s cheating! 

And then Conner had to be a good sport and believe she was scared of skating and try to help her out. Why was he such a good person while she was over here having sinful thoughts?!

Oh, I am gonna make you pay, Wayne!

“Eyes up,” He ordered, gathering her attention back to him. “We’ll try one lap, alright?”

She nodded, letting go of one of his hands so he could move to her left, leaving her right hand to hover near the short wall as they began to move forward.

It became easy to grasp the trick of skates when she stumbled a few times. Each time it happened, Conner gripped her hand and checked on her. And each time he grinned when she waved him off and started to move faster and faster.

Soon enough, she was dragging him around the rink while laughing and forgetting about doing just one lap.

They were having so much fun and enjoying the rink for themselves that they didn’t notice someone looking at them from behind an arcade machine.

The man had a black hoodie. Tall and muscular, with a streak of white hair sticking out on the front of his head. He began to approach the rink while stomping towards the couple, who were now shoving themselves around the rink and laughing as they neared the exit.

“I need to try this again! It’s so fun!” She exclaimed with a grin as she pulled Conner by the elbow, rolling backwards as she faced him.

“You should try the one at Metropolis,” He suggested, eyes crinkling as he let her contagious smile affect him. He ignored the heating flush of his ears. “It’s way bigger and we could-”

“Date’s over, Kon.”

Conner and Maximoff snapped out of their bubble and looked at the source of the voice. Blocking the exit, looking more pissed off than usual, was Jason. With his arms crossed and a thick vein pulsing against his neck.

All the easy and fun atmosphere was gone in an instant. Replaced with a nauseating, dreadful sensation as Jason glared down at the two of them.

More specifically, their still joined hands.

Maximoff felt her mouth go dry when Jason’s eyes drifted up to hers. Maybe she was too nervous about getting caught like this by him, but she swore she saw his eyes glint green for a couple of seconds before it vanished.

His words were just the nail in the coffin with her name on it.

“Take your stuff. You’re in deep trouble.”

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

It fell short to say that Tim was beyond exhausted when he reached the manor.

Bruce had decided to have some mercy on him and send him straight home with Alfred. He could face the board of directors and organize the upcoming schedule on his own. If Tim wanted to patrol tonight, he would have to crash for the next three hours before Bruce gets back from Wayne Enterprises.

He could feel his head splitting right down the middle of his head from all the information overload he had from that hellish meeting.

Alfred offered to make him some calming tea as he made his way up the main stairs, but he refused to. He had the feeling that if he drank it, he wouldn’t wake up until tomorrow afternoon.

Which didn’t sound so bad. He could use the sleep, especially if he didn’t have to dream about drowning in green pools.

“Fuck this, man,” He muttered, rubbing his eyelids roughly, feeling them pulse against his fingertips.

Too many things to do. Too many thoughts. 

He just wanted to close his fucking eyes and forget about everything.

Get some damned sleep and no fucked up dreams about choking in murky water.

All that he needed was-

Tim came to a full stop. His hands were covering his face, slowly coming down as his eyes slid open carefully. The hall he was walking on had big windows, the curtains wide open and letting the long and sharp shadows of the trees from the outside move around the space, making it look smaller and darker than it was supposed to be.

Then, he heard it.

It was very faint. As if it were miles away from him.

But he still recognized that melody.

“What's lost is found,

What's fierce is bound

We're broken and we're burned.”

He couldn’t describe the sensation that covered him from head to toes. It came close to that feeling of being wrapped up in a sheet that was so soft, you could barely feel it was there. But it still brought on the sensation of home and comfort.

Sweet, sweet comfort.

He could even feel his headache fading off into nothing! It was like walls crumbling down or falling into the soft mattress after carrying a boulder. He couldn’t get enough. He needs more. He needed it closer. He needed it louder. He needed and needed and needed-

Then, it stopped.

The keys faded into nothing. The melody was soaked up by the walls. Not even a trace of echoes was left behind.

And his headache came back at full force, making him stumble on his feet and grasp the wall for support.

“Hey,” He croaked, wincing at his voice. “Come back. Don’t-”

This time, the song sounded closer. The melody now replaced by rhythmic tapping and humming. His head snapped to the end of the hall, eyes widening at the sight before him.

Standing from behind the right corner at the end of the hall was a head full of long, black hair and dripping with thick, dark liquid on the left side. Its greyish hand with blackened long nails tapped against the wall, giving a slow rendition of the melody.

When the light of the moon hit right at that corner, the figure let its hair show the lower part of its face. A wide, sickly smile split from its lips as a black, greenish liquid stained its teeth and slipped down the chin. 

Then, the hall grew smaller with each blink he took. The figure growing closer and larger, the grin becoming even wider.

Tim almost choked on his breath as he stumbled down to the floor, kicking his feet back to drag himself away from the figure. But he continued to blink rapidly, trying to wake up from whatever the hell he was seeing.

It came closer.

It became taller.

Tim’s back hit a wall. Panting and feeling as if his chest was about to burst from the painful weight that was pinning him there.

He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe.

Too soon, he felt the cold drag of nails against the skin of his cheeks.

His eyes couldn’t move away from the empty sockets that stared directly at him with that horrid grin, making the liquid drip over his clothes.

Then, it spoke.

 “Sleep well, Tim.” 

With a shrieking scream, Tim’s world became dark and black.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Author's Note: God, I'm so sorry for the delay guys. Hope you enjoy this chapter!! First thing, I'm starting the new semester next week and I will be taking a break from writing until I get used to my new schedule. So there will be no chapter until next sunday (The 17). My asks will remain open, and remember that I love seeing you guys comment!! Other than that, we got the sneak peeks through the week of waiting for next chapter! Here's the link to join the tag list! And now we got Conner's Playlist as well! I will be dropping Warren and Bobby's as well so keep an eye out!! Love you all to bits and i can't wait to see how you guys react to all the new information in this chapter!! Lots of tight hugs and love, GG✨

Tag List:

 @bat1212 @kneelforloki @1abi @galaxypurplerose @yhin-gg @cxcilla @momentomoribitch @stargirl404 @welpthisisboring @icefox8155 @bunniotomia @alittlelostmoonchild @devotedlyshamelessdetective @shycreatorreview @nirvanaxx1942 @soulsire @ryuushou @rinkydinkythinky @lithiumval @ithoughtthinks @reeyy0-2 @cssammyyarts @lordbugs @ilovecoffe0 @kore-of-the-underworld @fortunatelydifferentqueen @vanessa-boo @livingund3ad @aelxr @im-so-goddamn-tired @lovebug-apple @staarflowerr @xoxoyukixoxo @whyiseveryuseenametaken @holderoflostmemories @doggyteam2028 @leeiasure @shadowypeachsweets @jjoppees @astraeasworld @wrenbirde @scarletdfox @letsbedragonstogether @exactlynumberonekryptonite @randomlyappearingartist @angwlart @ceramic-raven @vndexd @suneaterscape @initial-ari

Bonus Memes:

[patri56001]

Another fic idea inspired by this video https://youtu.be/q86OzEgTAgc?si=iKLtB0lEv5o5Uor0

Tim likes to dance, he has spent enough time watching Cass and street kids dance on alleys and has learned a bunch of different types of dances. But while Cass' thing is dancing gracefully to ballet and waltz, he is a different kind of grace, his is messy, sultry. He loves moving his body like he is the sexiest person in the room, making people stare, he knows he is good looking. But when you pass your days stuck in an office or beating criminals, you don't have much spare time to dance. Yes he still skates, but dancing brought him closer to Cass (his twin soul) and gave him confidence in his life.

So he enrolled at a dance studio, one that teaches pole dancing and other sexy dances, as a way to learn and have a normal hobby, Cass, Bruce, Alfred, Steph, and Barbara know. But only the girls know what kind of dances he does, Steph teases him mercilessly.

So queue Tim being friends with burlesque dancers, and he has performed a few times, but bc he wasn't 21 yet they didn't let him dance at their club. But now he is a week away from turning 21 and is vibrating with excitement. He has a whole debut routine he has been working on for a year, stage name, y'all get it, the works.

It was Saturday night and he received a panic called by Bella, a dancer friend, that she needed him to cover for one of her dancers ASAP, and he has the off, so he goes to help. They were doing a chair dance to 'I see red' by Everybody loves an outlaw, he has seen them perform it before, and knows the routine perfectly. The place is full, he has his costume, make up, heels (6 inches bc he's cunty like that) and it's ready to go. They go upstage, they do their routine, they killed it, he is enjoying himself, got to dance another two dances before he was abruptly told to get off stage.

"Hey Patty, is everything alright? Why did you call me?"

"Heeyy Tim, I'm so sorry for...umm... This, you were absolutely amazing but um... Your brothers are here... And are demanding to take you home."

"What?! They can't do that?!"

"YES WE CAN! Timmy you are underage! You are a kid, you are not allowed to-to be dancing like that" Jason said not looking at Tim. While Dick was forcefully covering Tim like a burrito (where the hell he got a blanket it's the middle of July?!). "He is coming with us, thank you so much for understanding our concerns about our BABY brother"

"Wha-what are you talking about? I turn 21 on Thursday!- Dick ffs get me off this thing! This is so embarrassing, stop calling me a baby!" Tim was so flustered he was apologizing for the misunderstanding, but Patty was used to this type of situation so she was laughing it off.

In the manor: Bruce and Alfred are chilling in the living room when Dick and Jason come bargging in with Tim on Jason's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He dumps Tim in the sofa, and glares at Bruce who is only raising and eyebrow.

"So I took your advice, and decided to have a night out with Dickie, decided to check a club that does burlesque shows, you know bonding, and we were having fun until act number 3..." Stops and locks eyes with Tim who is glaring at him " when they start dancing again and I see that one of the dancers face seemed familiar..." Turns to glare at Bruce.

"Imagen our surprise when we realized that said dancer was our UNDERAGE BABY BROTHER" Dick finally speaks up

"Oh is that where he went?" Alfred said calmly, un bothered king as always.

"Is that the only thing you have to say??" Jason stared in disbelief

"Um excuse the ever loving fuck out of me, but as I stated several times before, I'm turning 21 on Thursday, I'm not a baby, I'm an adult, who can do whatever he wants!" Tim said tiredly at the ceiling

Dick: "Hush Timmy, why aren't y'all surprised!?"

Bruce: I am surprised, but only bc I didn't know he was performing tonight as a burlesque dancer.

Jason: is that all?? Did you know that he could dance and-and like that?!

Bruce raising an eyebrow at Tim: like a burlesque dancer or in general? Cause I knew he was taking some classes at a dance studio but he never told me what he was learning. I figured he would at one point.

Tim was ready to die: ffs I'm right here! I'm not a child! I can do whatever I want.

Jason: you are our baby brother and you are not allowed to perform at any goddamn club like you are some stripper!

Tim: WOW very ignorant Jason

Jason: That's not what I meant and you know it! You are a kid, you don't need to be dancing like that in front of a bunch of perverted assholes!

Dick: Exactly, Tim! I almost broke a man's jaw bc of a comment he said about you.

Tim: That's your problem Dick! Don't go if you don't want to hear people say anything about how I dance or look when I dance! Y'all aren't my parents to be telling me what to do - and before you even think about it, I am an adult Bruce! I can do whatever I want.

Tim finally got out of the burrito blanket and fled to his room, slamming his door hard.

Jason: Daaad Alfiiiee you can't let him!

Alfred: I understand that you two are protective over your younger siblings, and it makes me happy to see it. But master Tim is correct, he can do whatever he pleases. And may I remind you of your various whore phases and crime lording that all of you did during your early twenties? Master Tim dancing is the most normal thing this household has ever witnessed. So all of you better leave him be.

Bruce just sighs in defeat, Dick and Jason just sulk for weeks on end.

[lvrspiastri]

could you write some sargebon smut where they meet up some time during the 2025 season (after alexs dnf stream) and alex starts to complain to logan and maybe takes out his frustration on him iykwim? thank you :)

idk where this came from, not proofread as always but idk what took over me while writing this, i promise i am not watching gay goon. if you notice any mistakes, please comment them :)

reminder that requests are open just check out the guidelines masterlist :)

Private Debrief ᵃᵃ²³ ˡˢ²

✧. ┊     PAIRING: logan sargeant x alex albon

✧. ┊    WORDS: 2.3k words

✧. ┊    TAGS/WARNINGS: 18+, smut, friends to lovers, absolute filth, oral sex, anal sex, gay sex, coarse language

I figured I'd help Alex. Not that I had any valuable advice to give him. But during those nightmare months at Williams, I think he was the only moral support I got. James didn't talk to me. I had no time or will in between races to phone my brother. Kyle had his own races to worry about. Oscar and I felt more like acquaintances than friends. In a way, I was alone. Alone with Alex. The way I liked it.

I'd told myself I wouldn't watch any races after I got dropped. And at first I didn't. Because it fucking stung. Seeing Colapinto in my seat, driving my car, talking to my engineer, laughing with my Alex. But then I heard about Alex's less-than-fortunate DNF streak. And yeah. I knew how that felt. And he turned to me for advice because i'd been through it. He turned to me for advice as I turned to him when the team who I thought loved me back dropped me. And yeah, Alex knew how that felt.

I wake up the morning of his arrival with a cum stain in my pants and a rock-solid dick. I hadn't been thinking about him on purpose, of course. But it seems no one can control wet dreams. So I shower like nothing happened and wash my sweatpants like nothing happened and clean the house like nothing happened because the last thing I needed today was to be bricked up while seeing my old teammate. Friend. Teammate.

Alex arrives with the dimples that I found comfort in between races and the damned eyebrow creases that complement his warm smile. The very ones I used to look at through blurry eyes and shaky breaths. The ones that came with a hand on a shoulder, a kiss to the forehead and a giggly voice telling me it'd be alright. And in the end, he was right. It is alright. I'm alright.

"There's my favourite American," he steps into my home without me asking him to, already owning the space. His suitcase is immediately forgotten, discarded on the floor like I wish his pants were. He wraps his arms around my shoulders, pulling me in for a hug. He smells like comfort. He smells like burnt rubber and fuel.

"Careful, mate, your girlfriend's American," I don't let go of him. Not until he pulls away, letting out a chuckle.

"You know what I mean. Besides, I don't see her here, do you?" He bends down to pick up his dropped suitcase, revealing the band of his Calvin Kleins. Fuck. Don't get hard, don't get hard, don't get fucking hard- "So this is your place?" His eyes curiously search the room. Like he's not eyeing the decor. Like he's looking for another sign of life. Like he's assessing if I have a secret flame the world doesn't know about. Or a one night stand that hadn't left yet.

"It's not much. But...it's my home. My London home, anyway. I'll show you the Florida one later."

"I mean to visit during this year's Miami GP, actually. You didn't text me back."

For a fucking reason, yeah. I didn't want him visiting my place like I'm some side chick. Didn't want him to gloat about his top 10 finishes. Didn't want him to parade in my home and show his girlfriend off.

"Ah, I was out, sorry. Just clearing the head and all."

"Really? Thought you were out golfing." There's no snark in his voice but I know it's meant to attack me. Biting words disguised as jokes. Classic Alex.

"You keep tabs on me."

"Only because you disappear from the face of the Earth." I can't argue with that. I find solace in his life outside of social media. Golf, surf, sail. Nothing good comes out of being online. Not for me, anyway.

"Sit," I mutter, gesturing to my comfy living room chairs. Alex's eyes travel over me. Slowly, assessing the way I look. It's no secret I look skinnier. A thinner neck. I haven't been to the gym properly in a while, anyway. I don't need to. No G force to withstand anymore.

"Tea, coffee?"

"Oh, save the formalities, mate. You look like a housewife." I manage a little smile. "Just need you." That very sentence makes me throb. In more ways than one. I give him a terse nod and obey, sitting in front of him. His eyes dart down to my abs. So I think. For a brief second. I sub-consciously put my arms over my stomach.

"So what've you been up to?" A desperate attempt to appear normal. Rejected by him.

"Like you don't know what I've been up to. It's no secret I've been fucking shit, mate." Fuck. Knew it. Fuck.

"Eh, you had a good streak not too long ago, it's just a rough patch, it'll pass." I wasn't very good at comforting. Not like he was to me.

"Maybe it will. I feel like all I care is being better than Carlos." His soft eyes meet mine. "You get what that's like, don't you?"

"What, being better than my teammate?" A nod from him. Not the giggly, light one I was so used to from him. One with his jaw clenched, Adam's apple protruding. Like he could burst at any moment. "Maybe in Carlin. Me and Liam used to go against each other a lot. But, not with you, no."

"What, you never wanted to out-qualify me?"

"No," I whisper and it's true. It's true because I was madly in love with him. I could never rob him off the smile that graced his face when he'd get into points. "I just wanted to prove James wrong. Guess I couldn't." I don't elaborate. I don't want to elaborate either. I think about anything else because I don't want to break in front of him.

"You're a better man than me, then. This shit fucking stings." I nod. I know that feeling all too well. Constantly being in the dumps and wondering if it's your place. Stepping into the garage and feeling guilty for existing. Seeing everyone greet you with a smile but having that fear that deep down, they fucking hate you. They think you're a waste of space. "I've tried to let my stress out. By going to the gym like the others do. Went fishing the other day like you do. Didn't work. I just don't know what fucking else to do." He damn near growls.

I just watch him.

I watch his eyes dart to mine. Then drop to my neck. Then to my abs. Then my...

"Logan?" He clears his throat.

"Ye-yeah?"

"Stop manspreading."

"I'm not-"

"Do it or I swear I'll fucking jump you."

The wind gets knocked out of me. Jump me? My Alex? Yes. Yes. God yes. I spread my legs even further.

"I'm warning you, Logan, I've got a lot of pent up tension."

"And I'm yours for the taking." it comes out more needy than I intended it to. But fuck, I don't care. I don't even finish my line of thoughts before he's straddling me, pinning me to the couch with his huge legs. I always loved how Alex was taller than me. Heavier. Many a times, I'd imagined being helpless under him. And I'd seen his cock enough times through race suits to know he was huge. And I wanted to feel it hurt.

"Pl-Please-"

"That's right, you pathetic boy, beg." He spits. It's so different from the Alex I'm used to. The one that could cure your mood with a smile. The one that talks your ear off. But I think I like this Alex more.

"God, Alex, fuck..." He grabs a hold of my hands, pinning them to the head of the couch. My shirt rides up, my v-line suddenly cold and exposed. He thrusts forward, our bulges meeting each other. I let out an otherworldly groan, mind hazy from lust. Love? I can't tell at this moment.

"Are you a blowjob guy or a handjob guy?" He whispers into my ear. I had revealed every bit of myself to him through time. Answering this question will unlock a dark part of myself I'd been denying existed. A part that wanted Alex's cock in my throat so bad-

"Blowjob, definitely," I breathlessly huff, chest rising and falling, dick twitching in my pants. "I jerk off to your photos anyway, I need your mouth."

"You do that, huh?" He lets out a soft chuckle, clenching his jaw as he rolls his dick against mine, earning an eye roll to the skull from me. "I had a feeling you liked me. Just a shame you never told me how horny you were. I would've molded your asshole to my dick shape by now."

"Alex..." I whisper, my head thrown against the headrest of the couch. He slides off me, moving to his knees in front of me. He nudges my weak, failing legs apart. I let out a soft whimper of a plea, brain systems already shutting down. I don't notice when my pants are off. All I feel is my cock twitching when he pulls it out and swirls his tongue around my tip. "Ngh...mmph...."

"Shh, my love, easy does it..." He strokes my cock, a gentle hand tracing my veins, saliva dripping down the length of it. More whimpers from me. I'm a complete mess but can you blame me. He throats me slow at first, with the tenderness that comes from finally having someone you've wanted for a long time and the knowledge of it being your first gay experience.

And then it's harsh.

He fondles my balls, damn near chokes on my dick. I'm crying. He is too. I lube his throat with my cum, sensitive to every touch and every blow of the wind in the room.

"Alex, that's enough, please..."

"Enough? And leave here without nutting inside you? You're crazy, mate." He gingerly flips me over, ass up in the air. His large, slim hands roam over the bare pale flash, kneading and squeezing wherever he sees fit. I can't see much else than the fabric of the couch my face is buried in. My whimpers are muffled too, hands tugging on the fabric for leverage. "Do you have lube?"

"No," I mutter. I preferred fucking my girls raw. We never did it up the backdoor anyway and they were usually soaked by the time their panties came off. Never did I think I'd need it before my asshole got pounded by my old teammate.

"Useless," he scoffs. I turn my head around to get a glimpse of him spitting my cum back into his hand, the one I release down his throat. It's proper slimey and frothy by now. He smears the liquid all over his huge dick (just as I'd predicted), jerking himself a little to let it settle in. I only feel a brush of his tip against my tight hole before he rams himself in me. And I fucking scream. A proper, high-pitched, horror scream. The pain is worse than I could've imagined. He doesn't move for the first bit, letting himself sink in, letting me adjust. He always cared about me a little too much. A hand on my shoulder before he starts to roughly pound. I can feel his balls slapping against my own, the couch creaking with every thrust. My head repeatedly hits the back of the couch and I pray I don't get whiplash.

The pace is excruciatingly fast. He's pent up and needs this. I don't realise my mouth is hung open, saliva dripping down my chin and onto the seat of the couch. Which I needed to clean later. Can't have my parents seeing this shit.

"Alex...!"

"Take it. And just keep quiet, I don't wanna hear your whining."

"It's too much"

"What did I just say, mate?" The use of 'mate' when he's practically ripping me into shreds is a cruel irony.

"O-Okay, Alex. Sorry, Alex." He decides to grab my hanging cock, jerking it off as he keeps thrusting into into into. I can't breathe. I can't think. The space in between my legs is burning. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

My teeth grab a hold of the couch's fabric as he shoots his load into me, feeling fuller and fuller as he leaks his aggravation into me. It doesn't take me long to shoot my own cum, painting Alex's hand and the couch alike.

I don't know what happens after. I'm in an entirely different world. I don't notice when he pulls out and cleans himself up. When he zips up his pants or turns me over. I find myself sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch, head hung, breathing taking it's time to steady. He sits next to me, putting my head on his shoulder.

There's that comfort that was my reason for survival.

My Alex.

"So much better than girls," I manage to pant out.

"I know, right?"

"You've...been with a man before?" The thought fills me with an unreasonable sense of jealousy. The idea of him with his girlfriend doesn't rouse me in the slightest. But to be with a man in the way same way he was with me? It stings. It makes me angry.

"What do you think George and I did in our free time at the shared hotel rooms?" George Russell. Should've seen that one coming. Flashes of their mouths against each other's run through my mind. And I start to get harder.

Against my better judgement, I speak, "Have you ever been in a threesome?"

[animeyanderelover]

So, little update on my DCU journey so far. I have finished all of Batman: The Animated series as well as the sequel Batman: New Adventures. Currently I am watching Superman: The Animated Series. I'd wager that I am going to watch quite a few more animated movies/series involving those characters. It may not be always lore-accurate to the comics but I am still going to offer to write for them. I have decided to avoid too much misunderstandings and the overlapping of possibly different timelines and even interpretations of the characters, that I will keep each work that I watch separate. The Batman movies with Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson and the new Superman movie with David Corenswet are kept separate from other media portraying them such as the Batman: Arkham Series or the Animated Series I have watched for both characters. That is a trend I will continue not only on my DCU journey but also as soon as I am starting to watch more animated shows with Marvel characters. I am back in my superhero area.

I am going to dig deeper into the comics the moment I have quenched my thirst for watching shows/movies. I have slowly started going through the x reader tags and lore though and there is a lot I have to cover up. I never knew that there was another Batgirl besides Barbara in Cassandra Cain and even Stephanie Brown. Damn, I didn't even know that Stephanie Brown apparentls served as Robin for a while. What I have discovered though is that platonic! Batfamily is apparently a huge deal in the x reader tags. Personally I am more for romantic Yandere though I do count myself blessed in the sense that I have a very loving family and good friends and for that my need for that is just quenched whilst I have gone on the other hand over two decades without kissing or holding someone's hand in a romantic way.

Whilst I went through the tag though something did surprise me a bit. I got into DCU by watching hour-long walkthroughs for the Batman: Arkham games and one of the first thoughts that went through my mind that a reader who is part of the Addams family would feel right at home there. Gotham with all its crime and trauma-riddled vigilantes and crazed villains is literally an Addams dream city but most fics lean more towards the helpless trope. Not that I am objecting, I myself love myself a good fic featuring a helpless reader. I just think it would be funny to give the Batfamily a reader who is more unhinged than they are in some ways.

An idea I am especially fond of is that she has been a fan of Batman since childhood and has hoarded all newspapers of him and Robin like others do money. Years later when she's old enough she moves to Gotham and marches right to the Wayne manor in the middle of a stormy and rainy night, knocks on the door and waits until Alfred opens the door with far more grace than a man wearing a sleepyhead should possess. Why is she here? She wants a job interview to join the insanity. Gotham is like a living mausoleum after all and she wishes to be part of it. She has deduced Batman's identity. It was easy. All she needed to look out for after all was someone with the needed money to build all those weapons and the Batmobile, the fitting height, weight and chin and-most importantly-the insanity to do what Batman does. Who more fitting than Bruce Wayne whose parents were murdered and he could only watch helplessly. The unresolved childhood trauma would serve as a good motivator and also explain the lack od self-preservation Batman occasionally shows.

Dick Grayson or Jason could be the love interests and both for different reasons:

Dick Grayson from what I have gathered so far is the heart and emotional glue of the family. The big brother in the truest sense which in itself can be a burden-especially with a family of orphans with trauma, trauma and even more trauma. In that case it could be a golden retriever boyfriend x black cat girlfriend trope only that Dick is slowly getting corrupted. He's in love, he is probably delusional and he is also constantly going through the five stages of grief due to the sheer insanity an Addams!reader exhibits.

Jason Todd would be on the complete opposite. Whether we go with the canon where he was killed by Joker and resurrected via the Lazarus Pit or the version where he was only tortured and escaped together with Deathstroke to become the Arkham Knight, in either case he returns as a man broken and carrying more pain and trauma than anyone should. Reader in this case though would love him for his violence and flaws and not in spite of it because Jason might as well be everything the Addamses would find attractive. It probably isn't healthy because reader enables Jason in his violence but he would fall so hard as a result because she looks at him like he's perfect and not something that is broken which ironically pushes Jason to be better... for reader at least. He'd embrace her more gory love language just as quickly and return it as well. Of course there are roses with thorns still but there are also molars gifted to her from a guy who catcalled her and insulted her only a few hours ago. They'd make nice pendants for a bracelet, no?

[cosmickid-inmotion]

Our Safe haven

Joel, Sarah, Ellie, Tommy & teenage!trans!reader (Gender and sex not described, but trans. They/them pronouns but i try to avoid pronouns as much as possible)

(NO SMUT NO ROMANCE FAMILY DYNAMICS ONLY)

Masterlist : TLOU Masterlist

Taglist

Summary: You are Ellie's friend, you much prefer being at the Millers. You're not out to anyone but Ellie, but you feel more yourself here. Until your parents find out.

Warnings: Abusive parents (Not shown, but reader does get hurt), trans and homophobia. Protective Joel and Tommy.

written for the trans joy event!

AN: I cannot stress enough how this is not a x Joel or Tommy or Ellie or ANYTHING. This one is for those of us who wish we had a supportive parent. READER IS A TEENAGER senior year of high school. My blog remains strictly 18+, Minors DNI. If you are queer kid that needs to read this, I can't stop you, but PLEASE do not interact. If you think it's weird I'm writing this sort of thing when I've written Joel and Tommy smut before, I've written lots of best friend Tommy AND Tommy smut. You can change what dymanics are.

"Cheater! You distracted me!" Tommy grumbles and kicks Joels leg while the other brother collects his card with a chuckle.

You, your best friend Ellie, and her dad and uncle were playing slapjack at the kitchen table, diner of hamberger help scrapped clean by the five of you; Sarah opted to read on the couch, but still chimed in.

"I call bullshit uncle Tommy. That's just your ADHD."

"I don't have- DAMMIT!" He lost another round as you slapped right on top of the blackjack.

By the time another jack appeared, Tommy was distracted again by the house phone. "I give up!" He threw his hands in the air, getting up to answer the phone. He pointed at Sarah. "I'm coming to bug you as payback."

You spent most nights at the Millers, if you could help it. Homework was usually done with Ellie, then Joel would cook diner. he didn't even ask you to stay anymore, you just did. Sarah went to a local community college, and had her own friends of course, but often she'd be here with their uncle Tommy for games or movies. You thought it was a testament to how good a dad Joel was that his 20 year old daughter still wanted to hang out.

You never wanted to be around your parents. Well, sure, you wanted to, but a version of them you didn't get. You didn't have parents who did games nights or tried to help you with homework (Even if they, like Joel, dropped out in the 10th grade). It was the effort that mattered. You didn't have uncles that came around and had fun like Tommy. You didn't have siblings that treated you like a person like Sarah did. You wanted so badly to have what Ellie had.

But at least they treated you like one of your own.

Joel called over to Sarah, asking what she's reading.

Her bouncing curls peaked out from a book cover with a man and a billowing white shirt and a woman with a torn dress. She smirked. "You don't even wanna know."

Joel made a face, and went back to the game, wide-eyed. "I probably don't."

Ellie gagged. Men weren't her choice of romance. At all. Joel, Tommy, and Sarah knew that, and supported her. Joel had a little rainbow sticker on his beat up truck that said "I love my lesbian daughter". Ellie had gotten it as a joke. She thought Joel would blush and fumble, but he quickly ran out to his truck to stick it on, smiling at it proudly with his hands on his hips.

"Hey honey, your mom wants you back home." Tommy looked apologetic, wincing at being the barer of bad news.

You immidietly tense, and Ellie turns to you worried.

"She sound mad?"

Tommy grimaced, and you knew the answer.

Ellie squeezed your hand. "It's gonna be okay."

Setting down his stack of playing cards, Joel looked at you with intense eyes. "Everything okay at home?"

It wasn't the first time Joel had asked this. He'd been asking you variations of this question for years, and you knew he suspected what was happening, but couldn't prove it. Ellie told you that Joel and Tommy got beat as kids.

You put on a fake smile. "Yeah, you know how parents are!" But everyone just looked at you. It was the elephant in the room.

"Ellie, you gotta tell me if you know something"

Sarah had joined Ellie, Tommy, and Joel at the table after you went home. Ellie wrang her hands in nervousness. "Listen, I don't know anything!"

"Ellie."

She groans, LOUDLY, looking at the table. "I'm... not supposed to say..."

Reaching out, Joel takes her hand. "We're not going to just go to the police if you say something, baby girl. That don't help a lot of the time, I know, especially if we can't prove it. I just need to know what's going on so we can protect your friend."

After a moment of thinking, Ellie gave up what she knew. "All I know is theres some kind of physical abuse sometimes. I don't get much information out, but it's something... sorry, I know that's not helpful."

Joel gave her hand a squeeze. "It is helpful, thank you for being-"

The screen door in the back opened, and you let yourself in, blood running down your nose and shirt.

You snuck out. The Millers lived across the street from you give or take so you maneuvered around and figured the back entrance was the safest.

Ellie sat on the porch with you while Joel, Tommy and Sarah argued about what to do. Tommy wanted to go over and beat your dads ass. Sarah thought he should. Joel was trying to keep a cool head.

Ellie had taken you outside away from the chaos to find out what happened.

"My diary" You sob into your hands, trying to stop the bleeding with your shirt. "W-with talking about being trans, they found out! Dad kicked my ass and they threw me out!"

Care of your injuries, Ellie brough you in for a tight, safe hug. "We're not going to let this happen again. I know my dad, he won't stand for this shit. I'll tell him what happened-"

"No!" You pull away, panicked. "He can't know I'm trans!"

"He's not gonna care! He loves the gays! And the gays love him!"

"That's different! Plenty of people support gay people but not trans! Does he even know what being trans is? What will Tommy think? Will Sarah think I'm weird-"

"Stooooop" She grips your shoulders. "They love you. If they don't get it, they will learn to get it. C'mon, lets get you cleaned up."

When the sliding glass door opens, everyone goes quiet and looks at you. "Dad, uncle Tommy, we need to talk." Ellie turns to Sarah. "Can you get 'em cleaned up?" Sarah was getting her CNA, and was a very gentle person. She'd take good care of you. She wrapped an arm around your shoulder and carefully ushered you upstairs to the bathroom and to get clean clothes.

"So." Ellie clasps her hands together, looking between a very worried Joel and a very angry Tommy. "Do either of y'all know what being trans is?"

Sarah was very soft, stopping the bleeding of you nose, icing your face, and putting medical glue on your forehead where you'd hit the counter.

"They hit your ribs or stomach at all?"

You shake your head.

"Good, no worry about ribs or internal bleeding. I assume you hit your head pretty good judging by this cut."

A nod.

She run through some questions to make sure you weren't needing to go to the hospital.

"I think you have a mild concussion. Hospitals can't really do anything with that."

You didn't answer again, staring at the tub.

"Listen." Sarah sat on the edge to ice your face. "I don't know what the plan is but my dads gonna do everything he can protect you, alright? We all are."

You give her a small smile and nodded. You knew Joel would take care of it.

When Sarah walked down the stairs alone, Ellie told her you're trans a lot more bluntly. Sarah knew what it was, and shrugged.

"I kinda figured. I didn't wanna assume but, the clothes, the hair... There were signs."

"I'm a fucking idiot..." Joel mutters.

"They're upstairs, put 'em to bed in my room, I'll take the couch tonight." She turns to her dad. "I assume we're not sending them back home, right?"

Tommy's anger is palpable. "Fuck no!"

"Tommy, relax."

"Enough talking" As usually, Ellie's energy more matches Tommy, while Sarah and Joel are on the calmer side. "what are we going to do? You saw how they looked! If this keeps going they'll be dead before graduation! Do you call the police?"

Everyone, in unison, said no.

Joel raised a hand. "If it comes down to it, we'll call cps. But a lot of the time, when someone calls and there's no proof, the kid stays in abuse and the parents are made they told, so they hurt 'em more." Him and Tommy looked at each other

"So whatdowe do?!" She threw her hands in the air.

Joel turned to Sarah. "They sleep'n?"

She nodded, arms crossed. "Yeah, they seemed exhausted. Lightly concussed-" Tommy muttered something to himself. "-but nothing they need hospital for. They just need to sleep."

He looked at Tommy. "Get the boxes and packing shit from the basement. I'll go talk to 'em."

You wake up to Joel shaking your shoulder. When your eyes open, one awfully swollen, he kneels on the floor a respectful distance away.

"Sorry for crashing here..."

"Hey, no, no, no, you're always welcome here, anytime." A pause. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. You got one year left in school, how about you just live here?" He sees you open your mouth to say no, because you can't possibly burden him like that, but he cuts you off. "We got plenty of room. I don't want you going back there, ever. And I don't want you in the system. We want you here."

Your lips quivers, tears falling on your pillow. "Thank you, Joel."

He whips away a tear tickling your nose. "And... listen, Ellie told me everything. You just tell me what you wanna be called, that's what I'll call you. Doesn't make a difference to me, you're still you. We can get you some new clothes, whatever you need, alright? You get to decide who you are her. That's the deal in this house. No one knows you better than you do, and I trust you to know that."

Barely able to get words out, you tell him the name and pronouns you wanna use, the ones Ellie uses for you in private. He smiles, repeating the name back to you.

"See what I mean? That fits you way better. No one knows you like you do." Joel stands up, tucking the blanket in and kissed the crown of your head. "Get some sleep. Sarah says you need lots of rest for the concussion, Tommy and I are gonna go talk to your parents." He sees your eyes widen. "Trust me, we got this."

And you did trust him, because you were safe here.

When Joel got downstairs, he started calling you by your knew name, and Ellie smiled. Tommy and Sarah fell into line, picking it up and using it and the right pronouns too. A few slip ups with either one happened between Sarah Joel and Tommy (Ellie was used to it already) but as they made plans they practiced so that they'd at least be somewhat used to it for you.

It was pretty simple with your parents. Sarah stayed at the house incase something happened with your injuries, keeping an eye on you while Tommy, Joel and Ellie walked down the street. Tommy and Ellie stayed outside with the boxed and bags, while Joel went inside to talk. he didn't trust them to keep their cool. Joel was pissed too, but all these years as a parent he knew when to not escalate things.

What he had was leverage.

'You let them live with me, don't bother them, I won't call the police and have you arrested for aggravated child abuse.'

They would get the papers signed for an authorization agreement, that way Joel could take care of things for school, get you on his insurance, and importantly, get you on hormones if that is what you and a doctor decide was right.

The three of them packed up your room, Joel making sure he had all the important documents.

When you woke up, it was late morning. You'd slept really late, and had a headache. You went to see if Ellie was up yet, but when you carefully opened the door to her room, you saw not only was she up and out of it, but the whole room was rearranged. The small bedroom had been completetly changed, your things on one side of the room.

Ellie's bed had been traded for a bunk bed (when did that happen? You slept through it all already?) and your posters and pictures on the wall across from Ellies. your teddy bear was on a pillow.

You follow the voices downstairs, listening to the four of them argue. When you see what it's about, they're assembling an IKEA dresser.

"This thing is a piece of shit!"

"I know, I told you I'd get to work on making a real one but they are gonna need something in the mean time"

"Are there supossed to be four screws here?"

"You screwed it the wrong side!"

"I'm getting a beer."

"Ellie walk away from the damn fridge!"

You lean over your the railing to your new home, watching your new family bicker and laugh and tease and poke.

It gets better,

OKAY A FEW THINGS

Don't take medical advice from a tumblr porn blog. All I know is i got mildly concussed driving into a lamp and i was told the best thing to do is sleep. Which i know people used to say DONT SLEEP but now its fine. Call a doctor or a nurse or something, dont look at me

Also dont look at me for whether you should call CPS. I am a mandated reporter, so i gotta call it in. In the US, police are who you DONT wanna call for almost anything, esp if POC or disabled folks are involved. Social services is far from perfect either. Every situation is different. In high school i told my teacher my dad throw a bowl at me, i was 3 months away from turning 18, 2 weeks away from graduation. She made the call that it would be best for me to not have CPS called. In the case of this story, they could offer readera safe home. if the parents didnt allow it, they would have called cps to prevent reader from going into that home again, and they had evidience. Im not telling you what you should do, not even in the US. this is not legal advice. this is just a story.

Dont get weird about joel and tommy in this. My story is strict family, and i ask the comments stay STRICTLY family. no thirst. Reader is a minor in this, a trans kid who needs help. This is for all of us who need our inner child healed.

I love you all

want more found family vibes??

dancing in the dark is reader x tommy

and About a girl is trans fem reader x Joel! (On my masterlist)

@miraclesabound @fulloffeels @missdictatorme @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @sp00kymulderr @pedge-page @stitch-away @qveerthe0ry @perotovar @for-a-longlongtime

[windtoweem]

Being part of the Todoroki family headcannons

Tw! Abuse, spoilers,

Gender and age of reader is not stated, but is stated to be younger than Shoto. Reader has a hydro/water quirk

Platonic

Enji - Endeavor

After creating the child with the perfect quirk, Shoto, he was instant on trying again just in case Shoto failed

So they had a child, you

Enji was eagerly waiting for your quirk to develop

He had such a vision in mind that you’d be perfect, just like Shoto

When your quirk got revealed. He was filled with a wave of disappointment

A water quirk? He at least wanted a fire quirk

After that, you were passed onto your mother, Rei’s care until her accident

Rei

Rei did not want another child. Not after how she saw Enji treat Shoto. How obsessed he got with power, but she had you anyways

You were no doubtably her favorite. So full of innocence and warmth in a traumatic household

When she found out that you had a quirk that wasn’t fire, she was filled with a wave of relief. You would be safe from brutal training Toya and Shoto experienced

Overtime, her mental health started to decline but she kept on going for you and your siblings when unfortunately, she burned Shoto with boiling hot water, leaving him with a nasty scar

She was admitted into a mental hospital

Since you were so little, you could barely remember her. Just small things like how she hugged you, how she smelled, how she did her hair and makeup in the morning. The small things

Toya (Dabi)

You were kept away from Toya your entire infancy

After Toya had attacked Shoto when he was a baby, Rei and Enji refused to take any chances

Toya kept his distance anyways. He had no interest in another child being Enji’s “Perfect specimen”

But as you got old enough to develop your quirk, he started to bond with you due to the differences between you two and the other siblings

Fire and Water in a family full of ice

After Rei’s accident, he stayed close to you, worried that something would happen to you

When he ran away, he made sure to leave you with everything that you’d need if Enji decided to turn on you

Then you were passed onto Fuyumi

Fuyumi

Now Fuyumi was your main caretaker. Enji was focused on abusing Shoto to the bone, Rei was at the mental hospital, Toya had “died”, Natsuo and Shoto were too young to take care of you

She was always so gentle with you, but her heart would break a little whenever you asked where mommy went and why was she gone

She taught you how to control your quirk so that your quirk didn’t cause harm

She went to every school event, every PTA meeting, every sport or fine arts event you did

She was balancing her schooling, taking care of you, your siblings and the house

It was a lot but she would do it over and over again

Natsuo

He was the fun one, the one that encouraged you to play with your food, make messes, sneak out at night

You know, be a kid when others can’t

He was the one that dragged you out of the house to have fun, to distract you from Shoto’s cries of pain

He kept you away from Enji

He played sports with you to help you practice, he listened to your music/lines, very supportive

During med school, he’d always come back home to give Fuyumi a break and check in on you and Shoto

He’d always listen to you, no matter how exhausted he was. To make up for not listening to Toya when he needed it

The only minors were you and Shoto

Shoto

Shoto wasn’t too close to you while he was in his “training”

When he was younger, he adored you. Always wanting to hold you, feed you, be the best older brother he could be like All Might would’ve been proud of

You’d be the civilian he’d save when he played hero since you’d be small enough for him to pick up

During Enji’s abuse, he tried to keep you away as far as possible. Not because he hated you but the exact opposite. He wanted to keep you safe

When he got into UA, he tried to forge a bond with you again like he used to when you two were children

He was very awkward in trying to make a bond with you again, but he’ll damn well try

[trcnscendant]

The reaction to her comparing her brother to their father was partially expected; however, Giselle didn't really know where Cass got off thinking he could still order her around. They weren't kids anymore, and by now, only their parents could still do that, and even their time of doing so was running out. "And let that be the last time you ever use that tone on me." She retorted, matching his tone because she was beyond tired of the men in this family thinking they could run more than just gang shit. "For the record, I was referring to your reaction to me asking if you'd checked in on Neo. Dad said the exact same thing. I didn't expect you both to be assholes about it, but whatever. Guess this is just another matter for the Kingsley women to handle, as per usual." They were lucky Victoria needed something to do right now, so Gigi would just put her on it.

With more important shit to worry about, she downed more of her coffee as he got right down to business, as he should. The whole damn city was probably just as on edge as the criminals were, and the Veil only seemed to be intensifying the chaos ever few days, so all the other shit was just background noise anyway. "I've been on the leak since it happened. Accusing someone of something isn't a crime, and the memo didn't have anyone's actual info on it, so we can't do shit other than press the DA's office to investigate. Which I am, but if none of the gangs have identified the Veil yet, NYPD sure as shit can't." Giselle shrugged.

As her brother questioned her interest in the life they were practically forced into, she found herself laughing in response. She'd been pretty clear on her stance since she was a teen, and it hadn't faltered even while going the law route like her parents had demanded. "I ain't Destinee. I've wanted to be apart of this since the first time dad forced me to sell dime bags in the school hallways." She pointed out. "It's not the cops that have me jumpy, Cass. It's the Veil. It's not knowing if the next time some shit goes down if it'll be one of us in the hospital, or in the ground. We could handle shit before, but this is different. For all we know, the person behind all of this is someone we know and trust. Or worst, this could be some Ghostface shit where the Veil isn't one person but multiple people. Kinda hard not to be a little jumpy when one of us could be in bed or working with a killer that's targeting any of us."

cassius  didn’t  even  bother  hiding  the  roll  of  his  eyes.  giselle’s  endless  stream  of  little-sister  quips  was  just  part  of  the  package—annoying,  relentless,  like  she  got  paid  to  test  his  patience.  he’d  been  wondering  for  years  if  she’d  ever  take  anything  seriously  for  more  than  two  minutes. but  the  second  she  let  that  line  slip—ew,  you’re  starting  to  sound  like  your  father  now—his  entire  demeanor  changed.

“that,”  he  said,  voice  low  and  deliberate,  each  word  carrying  the  weight  of  a  warning,  “is  the  last  time  you  ever  compare  me  to  him.  you  got  it?” there  was  no  playful  older  brother  in  his  tone.  no  space  for  her  to  think  he  might  be  joking.  he  loved  her—would  take  a  bullet  for  her  without  hesitation—but  there  were  some  lines  he  wasn’t  going  to  let  her  cross,  even  in  jest.  especially  in  jest.

while  it  didn’t  thaw  him  entirely,  his  focus  shifted.  cassius  leaned  back  in  his  chair,  fingers  curling  around  the  handle  of  his  empty  espresso  cup  before  setting  it  down  with  a  quiet  clink.

“cops  are  what  they’ve  always  been,”  he  said  flatly.  “a  pain  in  the  ass.  noisy.  clumsy.  easy  enough  to  deal  with  if  you  know  where  to  push.”  his  eyes  flicked  toward  her,  sharp  again.  “and  you  know  me  well  enough  to  know  i’m  not  letting  this  slide.  that’s  part  of  why  i  wanted  to  see  you  today.” he  brushed  a  hand  over  the  table  like  he  was  clearing  crumbs  that  weren’t  there.  “if  there’s  any  legal  angle  we  can  use  to  bury  them,  i  want  you  on  it.  levi  and  nat  are  handling  the  mess  in-house—figuring  out  which  dumb  fuck  in  our  ranks  fumbled  the  bag  and  dealing  with  them  accordingly.”

cassius  paused  there,  studying  her.  something  in  her  manner  didn’t  sit  right.  not  the  words  she  said,  but  the  way  she  carried  them.  he  might  not  have  been  the  brother  she  remembered  from  years  ago,  but  blood  was  blood,  and  he  knew  her  tells. his  gaze  stayed  fixed  on  her,  unreadable  but  searching. “what’s  got  you  so  jumpy  about  the  cops  anyway?”  he  asked  finally,  his  tone  dropping  softer  but  not  losing  its  weight.  “i  figured  you’d  be  like  des—want  nothin’  to  do  with  the  colorful  side  of  our  lives.  you  good?”

[reginas-toy]

Sick day

Wednesday x Enid

Warnings: none?

Synopsis: Willa gets sick

Brought to you by: Big soup (idk I'm writing about soup a bit)

On with Day two where Wednesday is sick and has a terrible feeling! good reading!

[A/N also, before we begin I should mention that these stories are also showcases for series I might write!! So if you like one please do show your support in the comments and it'll be a series.]

Side A- Wednesday's side

 Wednesday got sick. She never did as a child or a teen, but now she was laying in her bed with barely a voice and not too much will to do anything.

 Thankfully the school year was wrapping up and Crackstone and that whole business was taken care of what felt like ages ago now.

 Enid's scars have been healing along nicely which was a relief for Wednesday, because she saw what they did for the werewolf's less than stellar self-image. Wednesday cursed getting Enid involved in this as much as she was, even if she was grateful for her help. Wednesday's mind rushed with ifs and could have's and should have's but in the back of her mind there was a nagging feeling. Something so terrible and unpleasant that she didn't even want to consider it as an option. After a half hour her mind gave in.

 Enid was, well Enid, probably the best friend she never asked for or deserved, but got. Over the semester Wednesday started feeling more and more bats in her stomach every time she and Enid did something together and it was horrible. Was this love or just a deep care for a friend?

 While she was often really rather good at discerning what her mind needed when it came to love for a friend as opposed to romantic love she didn't know what the hell was happening. To be honest she'd never been in love before (she thought she was the only time she went to summer camp, but came to her senses). And if she was, how would that go? Would she just be another person in the string of unsuccessful relationships for Enid. Supposing that Enid liked girls and supposing that she liked Wednesday which is too much supposing, but would Enid grow weary of Wednesday's weird habits and rituals and ways of showing affection?

 As Wednesday lay in bed, Enid returned from the town.

"Hi, Willa, I'm back, I've got some soup from the Thai place we went to a while back and some medicine and whatever else I could muster up on a short notice to make you feel better!" Enid said as she smiled at Wednesday.

 God damnit of course Enid made sure to take care of me. Willa thought as Enid gestured for Wednesday to sit up so she could take her medicine and have the soup. The soup was surprisingly hot for it being a half-hour old at least take-away. It was really rather nice too if for the fact that she had to be fed it, Enid taking her time and attentively feeding Willa.

 "Now, the medicine, it's nothing much, but it should help with the pain and uhhh it says here you might get a little sleepy drowsy and out of it." And with another spoonful Enid's extensive procedures were over. Not for it to sound like a good thing, Wednesday rather liked all the attention Enid was giving, but that was how friends acted wasn't it?

 With all those thoughts swirling around in her head she fell asleep for a good five hours dreaming of all sorts of stuff. Horrible stuff like Enid leaving and being hurt and other more…, well more touchy stuff with them in one bed. Even with all those different dreams it seemed like five minutes when Wednesday woke up.

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

Side B- Enid's side

 Willa was sick and that was not something Enid wanted to see. Not because she was afraid of that stuff or something it was more seeing Wednesday lying about and unable to do anything, of it all that was bothering her. Well, luckily for both of them, Enid grew up with brothers that got sick quite a lot so she knew more or less what to do.  That part was easy, howeverrrr the part where she was madly in love with the goth was harder. It had been months at this point of her hiding it from her roommate out of… fear? Mostly a fear of rejection, cause lately her life was well, a lot. Her mother wasn't the most supportive and Wednesday almost dying (or maybe actually dying for a bit? Enid wasn't entirely sure as Willa didn't talk much about that night). She didn't know if she could take a rejection from Willa. Surely Willa didn’t even like girls like that, cause like what are the chances of two queers being put in the same room and no, Divina and Yoko don't count, cause they chose to be like that (Even if it was kinda weird they allowed it with how strict schools are about relationships). And EVEN if she was what were the chances that the queen of emo alt goth Addams would like a bubbly and colourful person like Enid. Enid wasn't major into maths, but not great she thought, ANYWAY, getting back to their room and helping Wednesday, that was what she should be focusing on.

 As she entered their room, Willa's eye's opened, which  was a rare sight, cause they rarely ever closed. Wednesday looked a little scared and even more terribly her face looked almost of a normal human shade. Enid wanted to hold her little bat tight in her arms and tell her sweet nothings late into the night, buuuuttt she reminded herself, they weren't that close, also little bat? fuck was she deeply in the deep end.

 After the soup and medicine Willa's eyes seemed to calm down as she fell asleep, Enid going over to her side of the room and scrolling on her phone as she often did. She wasn't proud of it, but it got her through the day.

 After a good few tens of minutes Enid heard Willa muttering something in her sleep. She couldn't quite make out what it was, but it didn't sound too pleasant, but then with Willa you never know, maybe it's unicorns and rainbows.

 A few moments later Wednesday's mumbles became more intelligible, something along the lines of '… and ever since that day my dear Enid I have loved you'

 Fuck, she was in for it this time.

To be continued

Hello dear reader, coming to you from like a day in the past!  Soooo I wanted to write seven stories to release between Wednesday the 30th and Wednesday the 6th, but very soon I understood that seven was a lot so three then! That's manageable to do in like a month, surely! It would be if I wasn't away for half of it! So now, I'm writing like I've never before! This was half written for months and I finished it today so yay, 2/3 done.    Hope you liked this sweeter story which followed as I said one of the more depraved I have personally written. And as with the last do tell me if you wanna see a series from this fic!!! see u Wednesday with a story yet unkown

[dorkyteenagedirtbag-ks]

Synopsis: Trapped in the Maze, Y/N found love before even knowing what it meant. However escape didn’t bring the happy ending they needed.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

It has been 1 year since I got up in this cage. A whole fucking year.

At first it was really scary because I couldn't remember my name. I also didn't know the place I was in nor the people in front of me.

I wanted to run far away but I caught big walls around me and before I could see the way out, I saw him.

He had blond hair, he was rather skinny and he had such beautiful eyes. They were brown. I got lost in them and my mind just went blank.

After that they explained me everything: the jobs, the rules and most importantly what the maze meant for us.

A part of me wanted to go behind those big walls that had caught my eyes, but another part of me wanted to stay with this guy.

His name was Newt, a name as beautiful as him. Maybe I got lucky because I ended up working with him.

I was too shy to talk to him back then but being the way he is, he just began to talk to me. At first it was small talk until it wasn't.

I don't know why we became so close, maybe because he was there when I remembered my name. Or maybe because I was there to held him when another glader died during our time there.

Back then, we didn't have words for the kind of bond we had. We just knew it was different.

Why was it so different from how we felt for the others ? I didn't saw Newt as a just a friend nor a brother but I didn't know what else he could be.

We knew brothers didn't kiss each other. And friends didn't fall asleep holding each other like we did.

But even without knowing what kind of relationship we had, we still loved each other deeply.

When we finally escaped together we were so fucking happy. Of course everyone was but thinking about living peacefully with Newt somewhere made my heart so full of joy.

The joy we both felt was short because WICKED wasn't as good as they said. And we weren't as safe as we thought.

We had to run. Again.

And suddenly everything felt so hollow because all I wanted was that quiet, peaceful life with him.

We ran into a warehouse and started searching. I was with Newt and Teresa. For a few minutes, everything was strangely calm. We were just looking for anything that might help us reach the mountains, where the Right Arm was supposed to be. But then Minho and Thomas came running toward us-and we all knew that meant trouble.

Infected people were chasing them. We had to run. Again. And just like before, someone didn’t make it. Winston got infected, and we had no choice but to leave him behind, alone in the sand, in the middle of nowhere.

I glanced at Newt and saw how much it was affecting him. I moved closer until our shoulders touched. There was something comforting in that-something we both needed.

The journey was long. For days, we trudged through the sand until we finally stumbled across another warehouse. That’s where we met Brenda and Jorge.

Things didn’t start well between us, but in the end, I owed them my life.

We decided to look for the Right Arm together. Eventually, we found the alliance. I thought we were finally going to be safe for a bit but Teresa betrayed us.

I was sitting beside Newt, my head resting on his shoulder. My eyes were closed. I just wanted to enjoy the peaceful moment.

Even though he didn’t say a word, I knew Newt felt the same. But then we heard the sound of helicopters. I opened my eyes to a blinding light.

We tried to fight back-fired at them-but it was useless. They were too powerful. They captured all of us.

Everyone except Thomas. He surrendered willingly. I couldn’t understand why-until he threatened to blow us all up with dynamite.

I was terrified, but Newt held my hand, and somehow, I knew it would be okay. Then Jorge surprised everyone by crashing in with the car, giving us the distraction we desperately needed.

Thinking back on it now makes me laugh. Who would've thought Jorge would pull something like that? Definitely not me.

Even though we fought with everything we had, they still managed to recapture Minho. He was like a brother to me. I owed him Newt’s life.

Watching him being taken away made me angry. I wanted to go after him, but they stopped me.

I was annoyed at them. But then Thomas suggested to get him back. Everyone agreed, and that’s how, a month later, we found ourselves stealing a train full of Immunes.

We worked tirelessly to save Minho, but luck wasn’t on our side. Even though we rescued a wagon of Immunes, Minho wasn’t among them.

Vince didn’t want to go back. And he was right-we had already saved so many people. But for us-for Thomas, for Newt, for Frypan, and for me-saving a hundred, even a thousand people, didn’t matter if Minho wasn’t one of them.

Without thinking, we took a car and ran. Maybe it was our greed that killed him.

On our way, we got ambushed by Cranks. For a moment, we thought we wouldn’t make it. But then Jorge and Brenda came to our rescue, again.

In their car, we drove along what was left of the road and stumbled upon a city. Not a ruined one, but a brand-new one. WICKED clearly had resources…

However, we couldn’t get in. While searching for a way inside, Thomas got us spotted by Janson.

But Janson wasn’t the only one who found us. Gally did too. It was a surprise for all of us. Thomas wasn’t happy about it-to be honest none of us were-but Gally could help us get in, and that was all we needed.

Newt and Thomas followed him through the city walls. When they came back, their brows were furrowed.

It was because of Teresa. She was inside the WICKED building-she was supposed to be our key inside. But Thomas didn’t want to use her.

Newt got angry and pulled Thomas on the wall.

I gently placed a hand on his shoulder and eased him away. We stepped outside together and sat in silence.

I knew him. Probably more than anyone else. And I knew… violence wasn’t like him. Not really.

I slowly reached out and took his hand. “What happened out there?”

He squeezed my hand before slowly rolling up his sleeve. Thomas appeared just as he did-and we both saw it.

He was infected.

In all my life that was the most terrifying thing I’d ever seen. Even the Maze wasn't as terrifying as that. My heart pounded, but not in the good way.

He tried to reassure us, and we carried on with the plan. We kidnapped Teresa and infiltrated WICKED from the inside.

We made her help us. Disguised, we searched for Minho among the Immunes while stealing the serum.

That was the plan-but again, Minho wasn’t there. Luck definitely wasn't on our side.

Even if we had to look into the building and got spotted by the security, we finally found him. When we did Janson was right behind us. Our only option to escape was to jump out a window.

Once we were out of this shitty building, we ran-but the people outside of the walls had gotten in which made everything harder for us.

Newt was in a really bad shape.

We found another way out and sent Minho get the serum to save him because Newt couldn’t run anymore.

“Newt, look at me,” I said, turning his face toward mine. “We’re going to make it. You’re going to make it. You’re not dying here.”

A few meters on, he couldn’t even walk.

Thomas and I tried dragging him, but the infection was faster than we were.

Then… he started convulsing.

“Newt!! You can’t do this to me! You said we’d stay together until the end. This isn’t the fucking end, you hear me?” I was shaking him, crying, desperate.

He didn’t answer.

And then-he got up and attacked us.

I didn’t have the strength to fight him. How could I? He was the one I loved-loved like a lover-even if I hadn’t realized it back in the Maze.

The others weren’t back yet. And just before they returned… Newt killed himself.

My heart shattered in that moment. I knelt beside his lifeless body, my fingers entwined with his.

“Newt…” The words were caught in my throat.

Even though I wanted to stay with him, Brenda forced me toward the plane.

After that, everything became a blur. Maybe it was the tears, or maybe it was the image of Newt’s death etched in my mind.

And now… here I am. In the Safe Haven-or whatever they call it. Even if this isn’t hell anymore, without Newt, it could never be heaven.

I stood by the sea, a flower in hand. I’d read your letter-the one Thomas gave me from you. It warmed my heart.

“After everything we went through, I've never said it. And even if you probably can’t hear it where you are, I just wanted you to know that I love you.”

I threw the flower into the ocean and turned to join what was left of the Gladers.

- 𝐊𝐒

The fact that I had to rewatch all of the movies to make this os and watch Newt die again :') I really hope you like it 'cause I really do.

[crustyfloor]

Luka is very good at keeping himself composed on stage, mostly with the help of maintaining track of his heart rate, but during Mizi's attack in ROMH he seemed to slip up, not only was the red background a tell-tale sign of Mizi's violent intentions but it was a more symbolic way of showing Luka in quite visceral fear. Even if for only a second.

I'm not convinced Luka will be as continuously calculated as he normally comes off, it all seems too fake to me. Because it is. It’s a similar case to Ivan who can't feel, isn't normal, isn't human enough so he makes a persona to blend in. So Luka, whoever he is, makes this version of himself to cope with what he has to live through, pretending like he's on top of it all to survive in this world.

So in round 7, I think something drastic will happen to make him 'snap' in a way.

It's safe to say that we don't know Luka. We don't know who he really is. We don't know his real desires. But we do know one thing--he is scared. he is afraid of the aliens. That's why he appeases them--being their trophy. He's only kept around for his purpose as an entertainer and nothing else and he's very aware of that. He knows very well that a dented trophy will be discarded; with that mindset, he's been able to get so far, and he's scared of losing. That's why he holds any little thing he can get his hands on close. And an important extension of that fear is his fear of losing power.

Till should be the more likely in this position, given he's such a rebel. But isn't that just too predictable? Keep in mind, that Till is a strong person. Even after all he's been through, even after he's been beaten into something more manageable for the aliens--He still hasn't lost his spark. Till is a raging storm. subdued but nonetheless a force to be reckoned with.

Round 6's effect on Till is greatly ambiguous for now but at this point when the time for round 7 comes, Till has been put through so much hell. Whatever Luka does to provoke him probably won't work, he and Luka are equally talented individuals and will make for an intense battle, and at the end of the day, the numbers won't lie. Exactly that is what Luka is ready for but scared of--a worthy opponent for the throne. Someone capable of stripping him of his power. (Is fear what makes Luka so dismissive?)

It would be so aggravating that this 'pest'. who is so indignant, so rebellious (in a way Luka envies.), could so easily destroy everything Luka has worked for, disregard every pain Luka has been through to get to this point, and Till doesn't value this throne as much as Luka does, and Luka doesn't want to feel the pain of death anymore. If his facade is as destructible as I think it is, that will be what ultimately brings out Luka.

This idea may be flawed. Luka is so perfect, too perfect and confident and experienced for something as little as that to break him, just think of all the training Luka went through to get to this point. I'm positive he's very aware of what playing unfairly will lead to. But isn't there always room for a wild card?

Just remember what happened to Hyun-woo.

What happened here isn't fully explained (and probably will be in round 7) but imagine Luka: "Trophy child, goody two shoes" Luka possibly killing another human. Whether by accident or not, what happened?--what and how did Luka feel in the moment for the repercussions of whatever happened to be that bad?

A Luka that is secretly greatly insecure, pliable, and defensive enough that in a spur of emotions, he can’t help but lose his cool in a way he hasn’t in a while because he’s afraid—just to try and prove he is still valuable. That is the type of character I theorize we'll come to see in round 7.

[borealing]

love it when they turn down the lights on long haul flights it really puts into perspective that the stewards are babysitting u and desperate for adult nap time

[bonestrouslingbones]

that one scene in atbb where russ is being a tall asshole to karma on purpose but instead of squatting down to his level he pulls this shit

[atlxolotl]

Transcript and links to Reddit under the Read more at the end

I miss my husband so goddamn much

February 27th, 2025

I (35M) divorced my husband (36M) three years ago. And God, I miss him. I asked for a divorce for a few reasons, most of which being that his depression got exponentially worse day after day and he refused to seek treatment. Sometimes he wouldn't even go into work and ended up getting fired from his job. I stayed with him for so fucking long, praying that one day he would start trying to get better. It was all I ever wanted, but that day didn't come. I sobbed the entire time signing those papers, and when I handed them to him and asked for a divorce, he just gave me the emptiest, deadest look and signed them without a word. My heart felt like it had been shattered with a hammer, anger and sadness and fear tied together in the world's tightest, ugliest knot and inset deep into my chest.

I put on a brave face for my friends, tried to frame it as shackles coming off and a new beginning, but it was a lie. It just hurt, and it keeps hurting, and it will never stop hurting. He was my soulmate. I'll never love anyone like I loved him. He used to be so sweet and loving, so passionate and happy and every other wonderful thing a man could want from another.

They say each day gets easier, but it isn't for me. It's been three years and I'm still reaching over to the other side of the bed in the morning to pull him close, and it always stings when my hands touch fabric and not his skin. It's been three years and I'm still expecting to see his car in the driveway when I get home from work. It's been three years and my heart isn't any less broken than the day he left.

I've been stalking his socials, I'll admit. He's been getting back to the gym, started meds, and I see him smiling so genuinely in these photos. He looks so incredible. Maybe if I had just waited, he would have changed his mind and went to a doctor like he is now? Or was it me that held him down? Was I making it worse?

I hope not. I wanna go over to his place and just fall into his arms and beg him to take me back. Maybe he's wishing the same thing about me. If there's even a chance I could have my boy back I feel like I should try. I'll never know otherwise.

EDIT: One: I am a homosexual man. My husband is a homosexual man. I am not a woman. Yes, I know I'm effeminate and kind of emotional. Get creative.

Two: my husband was a binge drinker. He refused treatment no matter how much I begged. We got antidepressants but he wouldn't take them. I know he's started meds now because he's posted about them and his 2 yrs sober chip that he got last month.

Three: I never stopped loving him. I never loved him any less. Near the end of our marriage, I started drinking to cope. The second I realized I was, I realized he was dragging me down with him, and I couldn't help him anymore. I didn't dip the second it got hard. Many of you are being kind of rude. I'll accept that I wasn't the perfect husband, nobody is. But claims that I never loved him are just wrong and make me feel sick to my stomach.

EDIT 2: No, I am not the catalyst for this. His depression started when his young brother died terribly and unexpectedly. It's not because he just hated me so much. We were childhood sweethearts and had been together for years when this happened.

[UPDATE] I met my husband that I divorced 3 years ago

March 2nd, 2025

Well, with Reddit's advice, I did it. A few days ago, I called my (35M) ex-husband (36M) whom I divorced after 6 years when he refused to seek treatment for his depression.

I called him later in the evening. It was the first time we'd spoken since a bit of trouble he'd had while he was still drinking 2 1/2 years ago. He picked up on the second ring. Our conversation was a little stilted at first, as to be expected, but he said he was really glad to hear from me. We ended up meeting up for coffee yesterday as so many of you suggested. I'll admit: it was kind of hard to see him, but in a good way? He looked so much better than the last time I had seen him, but he looked exactly like the man I married. He had put off a ton of weight (he gained like 75ish pounds during his struggle with depression, and before some dick says so, I didn't leave him because of his weight gain), he looked way healthier and very put together. I'll just say it: he looked incredibly hot. What made it hard was that I couldn't kiss him hello like I used to. But God, the way his eyes lit up when he saw me, I barely needed to.

We got our coffee and sat, and he updated me a little on his life in the last 3 years.

What really turned his life around was in part the divorce but moreso a DUI (nobody was hurt, he was caught a few blocks from his apartment). He's since gone to rehab and AA, gotten his license back, and had to use a breathalyzer whenever he started his car for a while. He hasn't had a drop of alcohol since and I told him I was so fucking proud of him. He's also started antidepressants, and made a point of telling me that they're not SSRIs, but when I asked what that meant he got embarrassed and told me nevermind (???). Bottom line is that they've been helping him, he's back to being a gym rat, and he's almost completely turned his life around. This was around the point I started tearing up. It just felt so good knowing he was okay. Better than okay, he was *good*.

I also apologized to him for not sticking by him. He cut me off and said I had nothing to apologize for. He was a wreck, and I was being dragged down with him. That also felt good to hear. I apologized for not contacting him much during the last 3 years. That apology, he accepted.

He was dating someone for a few months, too. He broke up with him once he tried to get him to drink on New Year's. He seemed dismissive of the guy. Guess it wasn't too serious.

We got up and went on a walk after a few hours, and I think we both realized it felt like a first date. I had to stop myself from trying to hold his hand at a few points, I'll admit. We ended up sitting on a bench in a nearby park, and I confessed.

I told him I missed him more than anything, how I never stopped loving him, and how if he wanted to, I'd love to try again from the beginning this time. We'd go to couples' therapy, keep our heads above the water, and take it slow. He was quiet for a minute before he told me something. He said he was doing better now, but there may be a time where he sunk low again. Depression isn't easily cured, and he was far from cured. He still had bad days, but he said there would be one difference: he promised he would never stop trying to improve. He was never going to give up like he did before, and refused to neglect me like he used to. If I was willing to accept that truth, he was willing to try again. I agreed, and he pulled me into an embrace and snuck a kiss to my temple. You know when it's the first warm day of spring after a cold, harsh winter, and the soft breeze and basking sun hit your skin at the same time? It felt something like that, to the 1000th degree. After a while he walked me back to my car and squeezed my hand goodbye, and the second I got inside I started sobbing like a baby. Happy tears, though.

I'm currently sitting in bed, kicking my feet like a teenage girl, texting him back and forth to schedule an actual date. He said he'd plan everything, and try his best to make up for the birthdays and anniversaries he missed. He said it would "knock my socks off." What a dork. I love being in love. Not gonna lie, this is gonna be a bit hard to explain to my friends and family. Not looking forward to those conversations, but right now I don't care. My man loves me.

Thank you to everyone who had kind words to say, and all the people that messaged me with sympathy and advice. I hope we all find happiness, and love if we want it. I never would have made the leap if y'all hadn't encouraged me. Best of luck to all of you, and sorry for the overly flowery language <3

EDIT: we've scheduled a date for tomorrow evening. I'll let people know how it went two days from now in my final (unless something big happens) update.

EDIT 2: at his place presently. Shame me not, reddit.

[FINAL UPDATE] I went on a date with my ex-husband last night

March 5th, 2025

My (35M) ex-husband (36M) and I recently reconnected. I won't go over the details of why we split or our reconciliation since I'm sure the average redditor can click buttons and most likely read. He was the one taking me out, and promised that it would, in his words, "knock my socks off" to make up for his neglect of me. He sure as hell delivered.

A little backstory, we've been together since we were 15 and 16 respectively, and have never moved out of our hometown. This year would have been our 20th anniversary (of getting together, not marriage). We were dating secretly for about five years before our parents caught us one day during summer break. The fallout from finding out their son was gay actually made his parents split. His dad wanted to send him away to conversion therapy. He's seen his father maybe once per year on average, and every time he's incredibly cold towards me. Would never refer to me as his son-in-law, only my husband's "pal." I wonder why. Anyway, not what you're here to read. I'll get on with the lore.

He picked me up from the house and wouldn't tell me where we were going, but told me to dress warmly. He ended up taking me to the place where we met: a run down ice skating rink in our town. He used to do hockey, and I spent some time trying to learn figure skating until people started beating me up for it. Both sports would practice at the same time and I remember barely being able to keep my eyes off him. We went skating, I tried to pull off a few of the moves I remembered (he only had to catch me from falling on my ass once or twice, and I won't complain about an attractive man that I love hooking his arm around my waist), and we spent an hour or so there until our feet hurt. At one point I said that my face was getting cold, so he skated around in front of me and placed his gloved hands on my cheeks to warm me up. I just about burned a hole in the ice from how hard I was blushing, I swear to God.

He wasn't done then. We left and went to dinner, specifically the restaurant where we had our first date. It's a cheap hole-in-the-wall place, seeing as we were poor teenagers when we first met. We chatted and ate food that probably took 5 years off our lives, he was an incorrigible flirt, and even held my hand underneath the table like he did all those years ago. I know I said I never stopped loving him, and I stand by that, but I think I somehow fell in love with him a thousand times over again during that meal.

At the end of dinner, he asked if I had energy for one more simple thing, to which I agreed. He took me a while out of town to a dark sky zone park, specifically the one where he proposed to me ten years ago. He set out a blanket to sit on and another to cuddle under, and we went stargazing all bundled up together. You never know how much you miss the sound of someone's heartbeat until you haven't heard it for so long. We shared a bottle of sparkling grape juice in plastic champagne flutes and dumb, giggly kisses. It felt so similar yet so different. He told me in a moment of quiet that he loved me, and oh, God. It took everything I had not to cry. I barely hesitated before asking if he wanted to change venues. He seemed surprised, but eagerly accepted.

I ended up at his place, as some of you may have seen from my edit on my second post yesterday. I wanted to take it slower than this, but it was so hard to. I was so starved of affection and hadn't been intimate with anyone for just about six years. I'm gonna keep what happened at his between us, but all I'll say is that his medication was no issue and all of you should be jealous. I woke up in his bed this morning, reached over for him, and pulled him close just like I used to do. I haven't been this happy in a long time. We had a sleepy discussion and decided to get back together, but we're not using the term boyfriends. It just feels weird after all this time. So he's my partner, or my lover. He's mine.

Thank you, reddit. Wouldn't have done it without a little push from the internet. Let's see where all this goes.

[harryssecretmessages]

🥹

[gutsby]

Bigger in Texas

Pairing: Joel Miller x Reader

Summary: Joel won’t fit.

Warnings: 18+. Unprotected p-in-v. Size kink (seriously, don’t read if you hate big dicks / disgusting descriptions) Penis and pussy pronouns. Virginity loss. Age gap. Praise kink. Daddy kink. Joel ‘hung like a fucking horse’ Miller is a soft dom and also a good teacher. Competence kink (?)

Note: Somebody made a fic challenge to use penis pronouns, and I can’t for the life of me remember who it was. If y’all find them please show them this and tell them I love their brain 🫠

Update: @sp00kymulderr you’re a legend for this. Dick pronouns are engrained in my brain, and I’m forever grateful.

Word count: 2.3k

This wasn’t the life Joel Miller had pictured for himself.

The dead coming back to roam the world and eradicate most of its population, for one. The cold. Finding his baby brother way out here in Wyoming with a wife and a child on the way. The looks he was getting these days. It’s not like he’d asked to get mixed up with a girl your age. It just happened. And since damn near every-fucking-thing that had “happened” to him since outbreak day fifteen years back had been bottom of the barrel, full-blown nightmare territory, the second he saw a good thing fumble across his path, he’d seized it—you.

You, who were young enough to be his daughter.

You, who’d never seen a man fully before meeting him.

You, who hadn’t squeezed so much as a finger in herself.

But much like his past, Joel Miller was a sordid and sick kind of man, and he had the cock to prove it: presently weeping precum at the site of your softest, tightest hole, smearing the pearly-white slick through your folds with a sound so sweet it was nauseating. Begging for entrance.

“Oughta have a boy your age pop your cherry, kid.”

It was simple.

“Ain’t right havin’ a man my age all in your guts.”

And true.

The head of his cock made another wet, sickening noise through your folds, and as though instigated by the sound, your eyes flitted to the source. You smiled.

“Probably. But I want you,” you answered. Soft.

Joel got harder, and he hadn’t thought that was possible. His gaze joined yours, and the sight nearly finished him.

Beneath him, your legs had spread wider, showcasing that perfectly glistening seam alongside the head of his cock. He looked huge. Or you looked small. Or perhaps it was both, and he was old, and he really shouldn’t be doing this at all, but then his hips stuttered a bit and his length pushed in. Joel hissed and seized the headboard.

It wouldn’t even go in. The tip just stretched the rim.

“Baby, fuck—” Joel whimpered.

“He’s so big.”

Three little words from your lips, and it almost did him in.

Again.

You wriggled your hips and flashed another happy grin.

“He wants in, daddy. I can feel him pulsin’ like I am.”

You volleyed a look up to Joel as if to say, ‘So that means we’re ready, right? Will you let me have him?’

And, strangled by guilt as he was, Joel couldn’t resist.

He let his big, bulbous, leaking head sink in the tiniest bit, and he let out a groan. Your walls were so tight. This was him, too—his tip was oversized, just like the rest of him—and when it notched in an inch, Joel could see the pain flash quick in your eyes. His hips moved to retreat.

But then your heels were lifting and digging in his ass, and though strained, your voice made it out, weakly:

“Don’t, daddy. I want him.”

Joel couldn’t dream of refusing.

And his vision blurred more at that word, him.

“I-I know. He wants you too, baby—”

Another quarter-inch.

“—so, so bad.”

“Daddy!”

Joel had to blink to try and wake from his daze. His tip was so warm, hugged so perfect and snug and wet, that he didn’t even realize that was all that fit. He was stuck.

You whimpered again.

“‘S’too big, daddy. Just make him go in.”

Your eyes rolled with indignation and overwhelming pleasure alike, and your hips squirmed again. This time, you tried to nudge him in deeper, but your body simply wouldn’t budge; you’d reached the widest part of him.

“Honey, it’s—”

“Hurtin’! I need you inside me.” you cried, impatient.

“Just takes a little time to get there, darlin’—”

“Well, get to it, then. A tip ain’t enough.”

Joel’s face flushed. He might’ve been forced to bite back a laugh under any other circumstances, but this was your virginity. His bed. Your naked bodies, together, tonight.

He wasn’t about to rush it now and fuck everything up.

“This tip’s about to paint your pretty insides white and make you wait til next week to try again if you keep it up.”

That made you go still.

You shook your head while Joel released the headboard from his grip and took your hip in it instead. He grunted.

“Sweet pea, you gotta see—” he resumed, voice low, “—it won’t feel good for you or me if I just…push right in.”

You sighed, feeling his hold tighten.

“Tongue and fingers only do so much. You gotta learn.”

You whined, digging your feet in deeper when his tip drew back to your entrance. Looking a bit squeamish.

“Be brave…and patient for me.”

From the look in your eyes, Joel could tell you probably hated him right now. That was just fine. He adjusted his hips to a more comfortable place, and then he pinched your hip bone. He nudged you back, and he let you wait.

Then, right when you opened your mouth, he sank in.

Joel thrusted with only his tip, the size of a small lime, and he fucked your hole gently. Back and forth. Shallow.

It did enough. You squeezed both his forearms.

“Oh, daddy.” Your bottom lip trembled as you said it.

With his free hand, Joel smoothed your hair back.

“Yeah, what is it, baby?” he murmured, dulcet as ever, “Thought you said the tip ain’t enough for you, sugar.”

His words came slow. His strokes were delivered quick, though tenderly. Your brain appeared to be in a fog, or a trance, as your chin dipped down toward your chest, and you watched him breach the first inch of you repeatedly.

“Curious little thing.” Joel couldn’t fight the chuckle now.

“He’s so…” you trailed off.

You squeezed his arms, and he squeezed your hip back. He let you watch him fuck you with only his tip, and when your head began to tilt back from the strain, he reached up with his other hand and held the back of your neck. He felt you clench at that, and you both groaned.

“So…big,” you finished, eyes glazed.

“I know.”

This went on for the longest time: Joel stretching the first precious inch of your pussy with the head of himself, you watching and breathing deeply, whimpering occasionally, and him holding at the nape of your neck like a softer touch might lose you to him forever. Was this teaching? When you clenched again, he reckoned it was.

“That’s it, honey. Watch her swallow me.”

“Stretches real pretty for the tip, doesn’t she?”

“Bet she can’t even fit another inch of this cock.”

Suddenly, your head was jerking up under his hold.

Eyes flaring with a hot, juvenile kind of anger: “I can!”

Joel clicked his tongue against the backs of his teeth and pretended not to hear. He also had to feign indifference when your walls tightened and all but choked his head and a wave of new pleasure surged up through his body.

“She can, Joel, I’m serious!”

Another two seconds of this and Joel sensed he might see tears. Though his gaze had trailed up to yours, and the look in his appeared stern, deep down, he was just as quick to want to cave. He just hid it better than you did.

“You think so, sweet pea?”

“I know so. I need it.”

“Need him?”

“Y-Yes.”

How sweet you seemed. How naive you must be.

Joel might’ve been mean, but he wasn’t cruel. He also liked teaching lessons as much as he enjoyed showing you the way, so in the next second, he obliged. He took the last shallow thrust of his tip and sank into your cunt.

As he filled you, you whined. It only took an inch or two.

“Da-a-ddy. Please.”

You must’ve been begging for lenience. Joel retreated.

Then, much to the man’s surprise, you kicked your feet. Not in relief but in protest, shaking your head up at him:

“Put him back. Please. D-Deeper.”

It was as though Joel’s brain had exited through the back of his head and all rational thought escaped him, for the moment. The only voice he heard was yours. It was pleading. And in between your legs, you were soaked.

So drenched to allow him another inch. Then another. Then another. Joel fucked in gently and felt a seismic wave of pleasure seize his limbs—and likely yours, as well. It was as though in two blinks, you’d forgotten the pain altogether. You were suffused with need instead, eyes wincing and lips curling and sounds leaving your throat like an animal in heat. Want him deeper, please.

Joel sawed back and forth with just those five or so inches and made you writhe underneath him. Felt you clamp down on his thick, slippery cock and heard the remnants of your shared arousal making sounds as your body accepted him. Stretching wider. Getting wetter. Bringing him closer to the edge with every breath.

“She’s doin’…so good f’me,” Joel told you, brainless.

His thumb drifted to your clit. He rubbed it gently. No sooner had he finished the first circle around that nub when your hips were stirring again—this time incensed.

“Daddy.”

“I know, baby. I know.”

Joel kissed the top of your head, thumb insistent. When his eyes met yours, he was surprised to find them wet this time. Tears pooling and streaking down to your temples while your body bounced gently beneath his thrusts. A whimper trembled out, and Joel slowed.

He could tell from that look you didn’t want him to stop, though. It just felt so good. So, instead of dropping his pace too much, Joel cupped your chin in one hand, and with the other, he kept thumbing at your clit. Humming.

“Poor thing’s never had something this big in ‘er, huh?”

You shook your head. Cried a little more.

Joel kissed the tears on one side, lips smiling as he did.

“I can tell, baby. But she’s taking it so well.”

“Y-Yeah?”

His hips sped up a little. The thrusts were still shallower than they normally would be, given your state, but they seemed to be working well enough. You winced again.

Joel kissed the other side of your face to take more tears.

“Uh-huh,” he answered, “Openin’ up real nice for daddy.”

It was like his words worked as well as his thumb on your clit. You whimpered again, lips parting a little wider now, and the sound that came out was as desperate and feverish and fuck-drunk as Joel had ever heard it.

“S-Say it again,” you pleaded.

“Say what?”

“That he’s…stretchin’ me open. Makin’ me his.”

The soft, slick resonance between your body and his seemed to amplify even more—you were getting wetter, and Joel’s thrusts all but shook the bed with their force.

His eyes darkened when he felt you tighten again.

“Yeah? You like hearin’ all the filthy fuckin’ things your daddy’s doing? The way he’s breakin’ you in for him?”

You nodded. Your throat constricted with a moan.

And, just when a fresh set of tears seemed to be close on the horizon, Joel lowered himself to you. He held you to his chest, hips working relentlessly, and he watched your face screw up in pleasure. A trace of pain surfaced again, but it was soothed with a kiss. Joel grinned against you.

Between your thighs, his cock was throbbing with a feeling just as big. He knew he couldn’t keep this up much longer. Hurting and aching and needing as you were, he had to make sure that you would cum first.

When his cock grazed a fleshy, sensitive patch inside your walls, he knew it wouldn’t take much. He went on:

“C’mon, sugar. Daddy’s split you open on his cock so nice, least you can do is cum for him. Can you do that?”

His nose brushed yours. His thrusts sped up. You nodded, quickly, and when he shifted in the bed with his thumb still on your clit and his lips and his stubble grazing your mouth with every push of himself, he felt it.

It was a small pulse, at first.

Joel thought you might be adjusting—clenching—again, when the lips that were trembling against his own parted more. Your arms wound around his neck, and suddenly the throb of your walls around his member got tighter and tighter and tighter. One more second and your cunt might’ve squeezed the hot, sticky seed right out of his body and flooded your insides with it, but then came release. The ‘o’ of your mouth let out a shriek, at last, and your body went soft around him, beneath him, whining in turn, ‘Daddy, daddy, please’ while the muscles once taut and unflinching gave him reprieve. Fluttering repeatedly.

Joel fucked you through it. He talked you through it.

He stroked your hair, and he held you tight. Called you his sweetheart, pretty thing, perfect girl, you’re doin’ so good f’me. Keep going. That’s right, cum all over daddy. He told you to take what you needed, and without another word, he felt just that. Your cunt spasmed around him, and you consumed every inch he gave and drank every drop of spend shooting out in thick spurts.

You fell boneless on the bed when all was said and done.

You looked happy, and that made Joel even happier.

He stroked your cheek, and you leaned into it, clearly drained while your gaze held his in a weak sort of look.

It was soft. Loving, even. It could’ve been romantic.

Then Joel’s hand slipped down to the nape of your neck again. Your muscles were limp, like all the rest of you, but somehow, he was able to hold you up. Tilt your chin a bit.

Make you peer down between your shaking legs, where his cock was still sheathed inside you—partly, anyway.

Your eyes widened. Joel grinned.

“You did great, baby. Ready for the other half of him?”

can y’all believe this image is what inspired this fic HA

it’s only Thursday i’m sorry 😔

[wwinterwitch]

first introduction – johnny storm x fem!reader

summary: they finally meet johnny's new girlfriend

pairing: johnny storm x fem!reader

word count: 3.8k

tags: minor F4 spoilers (just regarding the dynamics between characters but nothing that involves the actual plot of the movie!), a bit of angst, johnny gets a bit overwhelmed sometimes, johnny and sue being cute siblings, reader owns a bakery, fluff, he's down bad!!!!, shy!reader

notes: i watched the movie yesterday and oh boy do i love joseph as johnny, he's amazing!!! i hope all the ones in dying need of some immediate fanfics enjoy this one

a comment and/or reblog is very appreciated!

main masterlist | marvel masterlist

No one has said it out loud yet, but it's painfully obvious that there's something going on with Johnny.

Everyone has been noticing he seems to go out a lot more and his demeanor has been...weird. There's days where he leaves the tower absolutely drenched in cologne. Other days, he doesn't even return at night. He's been wearing a specific knitted sweater that no one knows where he got it from, and he's often returning home with a bag filled with delicious pastries he claims he just randomly bought somewhere.

The clues were all there from the start, but it wasn’t a topic of discussion until that particular Sunday.

"Where's Johnny?" Sue asks, taking a seat on her usual seat as they all gather at the dining table to eat.

"Out," Ben points out, his tone insinuating what everyone's been thinking for weeks now.

Reed looks at both of them with a confused expression, and perhaps a bit offended too. "Again?"

Just before anyone could say anything else, Johnny rushes out of the elevator, moving towards the kitchen to leave the usual bag of pastries he always carries back with him.

"Sorry, I know I'm late," he quickly says, slightly out of breath, throwing his jacket towards the sofa by the lounge area before taking a seat. "My bad."

No one moves, simply watching as Johnny fills his plate with food and acts like absolutely nothing is going on. Like this isn't like the millionth time he's been late for dinner. Like it's not obvious that his head has clearly been elsewhere these past few weeks.

"Johnny," Sue calls his name softly, a playful grin inevitably appearing on her face.

As he looks up, he realizes everyone is looking at him almost in expectation, which immediately disturbs him. "What? What did I do?"

His sister shrugs innocently, leaning forward on the table, apparently determined to find out the truth about his secret getaways. "Is there something you would like to tell us?"

He sits completely still for a few seconds, not really knowing what to say at first. A flash of panic appears on his face before he focuses back on his plate to start eating. "Not really." Johnny takes a few bites of the food, immediately nodding in approval. "This is really good, little buddy!" he says, turning towards H.E.R.B.I.E. who offers him a cheerful series of beeps after his comment, beeping a bit more when he affectionately scratches the top of his robotic head. "I was starving."

Ben laughs. "I knew it."

Johnny frowns immediately, turning to look at him. "What?" he insists, mouth full of his last previous bites.

"Come on, Johnny, we're not dumb! It's obvious you have a girlfriend."

He almost chokes on his food, drinking a big gulp of water before giving his friend a look in complete disbelief. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You tried to change the subject and now you're getting defensive," Ben insists, letting out another laugh. "That means it's true. You have a girlfriend."

"I'm not being defensive!"

“Are you sure?” Sue asks this time, as calm as ever.

“Very!”

There's a brief silence before Reed decides to join the conversation. "You do sound a bit defensive."

"So what's her name?" 

Johnny lets out a tired sigh after Sue’s question, leaning back on his chair as he considers what to do next. She clearly looks interested. Finding out her little brother might actually try to settle down for once in his life is certainly something she wasn't expecting to happen anytime soon.

Is he really capable of keeping his relationship a secret anymore? It's not like he has done much of an effort in hiding it, anyway. Perhaps he has been waiting for them to bring it up so he doesn't have to be the one to do so. It’s much easier if they pressure him to talk, isn’t it?

Before he even registers the consequences of his actions, your name slips out of his lips in a soft whisper. It's not like he's embarrassed to reveal your existence to his family, but it is a bit...scary. He's never been in this position before. Never had to inform them about anyone remotely meaningful in his life. Although, it’s not like he has ever been this committed to anyone else before.

Letting his family know is only further confirmation that he might actually be falling harder than he could've ever anticipated, and that's a terrifying realization for someone who's never felt like this before. It's a whole new level of vulnerability and exposure that he's beginning to get familiar with.

Reed looks beyond surprised to receive actual confirmation that this 'girlfriend' really exists. "Oh, so it's true?"

Johnny immediately starts shaking his head, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Nope. Don't look at me like that."

"I'm not looking at you in any way."

"Yes. Yes, you are. All of you are. And it's making me very uncomfortable."

"Hey, can you really blame us?" Ben says this time, as if all of their reactions are more than justified. "You've never talked about any girlfriends before. I was starting to think you were allergic to the term 'commitment' or something."

"Ha-ha, that's so funny", Johnny replies sarcastically. "There hasn't been anyone worth talking about before."

That last comment makes Sue smile. A genuine smile this time. "Can you tell us more about her?"

Johnny seems to be very much done with this conversation, but his sister looks really hopeful to gather at least some information about you, so he eventually decides to keep talking. Even when the look on their faces makes him feel incredibly exposed, there's something oddly comforting about finally being able to talk to them about you. It feels like he’s finally introducing you into his life for good.

"She's...uh, well, we met like a month ago. She owns a bakery that's about four blocks from here. Insultingly gorgeous, beyond patient if she manages to put up with me all day."

"So she made those?" Reed asks, pointing at the bag he left on the kitchen counter as soon as he arrived earlier.

"Those...uh, yeah. I always tell her it's not necessary, but she likes sending them to you guys."

"Oh, Johnny, and all this time we haven't said a single thank you to that poor girl!" Sue snaps back at him, sounding completely horrified that he hasn't told them before. "We have to send her a gift someday."

"It's really not–"

"Yeah, H.E.R.B.I.E. and I can figure something out," Ben interrupts him. "There's this pumpkin pie recipe we've been meaning to try."

"Guys–"

"Great! And Reed and I can help."

"We can?" Reed asks in a confused whisper, knowing absolutely nothing about cooking. "Yeah, sure. Of course we can," he corrects himself when Sue turns to give him a look.

"No need to do that," Johnny insists, although he can't hide his smile right now. The fact that they're willing to send you a gift does really spark something in him. Like they're already fully accepting you into their lives too.

"It's the least we can do after getting free pastries for weeks!" his sister insists. "And perhaps you could invite her over sometime. I don't want her to think she's not welcome here."

Johnny is finally starting to feel a bit more comfortable now. So much so that he starts to genuinely consider Sue's proposition. What's the worst that could happen? It's probably time that they finally get to meet you.

But before he can get too comfortable, Reed decides to intervene. "Can I ask just one question?"

The atmosphere slightly shifts. Johnny's smile falters, Sue stops eating and Ben just looks down at his plate. The fact that Reed has been so quiet all this time is not really a good sign. It means he's been lost in his own head for way too long, evaluating and deciphering. That can be his biggest skill but also his worst flaw.

"I just want to know if you're...well, genuinely committed," he starts a bit uncertain, hoping his worries don't cause a misunderstanding. "This girl sounds very lovely. I just want to make sure–"

"What, that I'm not dumping her for the first woman that walks down the street?" Johnny interrupts him, his tone showing how displeased he is with his insinuation.

"No, I didn't mean–"

Before he can screw this up even further, Ben decides to intervene to help him out. "I think what Reed is trying to say is that you tend to be a guy that likes to keep things casual, so if that's the case, it's fair for her to know where you stand."

"No, I get exactly what he was trying to say. Johnny just has a really unhealthy relationship with women, right? He couldn't possibly be serious when he talks about this random chick he just met."

"Hey, I wasn't trying to insult you."

"Really?" he snaps back at his brother in law, offering him an ironic smile as he stands up from the table. "Too bad, Reed. Just because you don't mean it as an insult, doesn't mean it doesn't feel like one."

"Johnny," Sue tries, wanting to mediate the argument.

"Lost my appetite," he announces abruptly, right before storming to his room.

Sue sighs, immediately turning to her husband now, looking at him in complete silence. "I didn't mean it like that," he insists, sounding genuinely apologetic.

"We know you didn't," Sue reassures him. "But like he said, that doesn't mean it won't hurt him."

"You don't always have to say what's on that clever mind of yours, you know?" Ben adds shortly after, sounding sympathetic as well.

"Should I go talk to him?"

Sue gives his hand a tiny squeeze. "Give him some time to cool down. I'm sure he'll be open to listen to you later."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Johnny really fought against his initial instinct of running back to you for comfort, because he couldn't bring himself to lie to you about what happened, and he really didn't want to drag you into this.

He knew something like that would happen if he were to talk about your existence. They would all assume he's just being overdramatic over some girl he'll probably get bored of in a few more days. That his feelings aren't really that serious.

But that's only because they don't know you yet, and they have no idea how deeply you have impacted his life. Johnny never really understood that whole 'love at first sight' bullshit. He has claimed to be in love in the past, but he never really meant it. It was just Johnny being Johnny. But now he feels like a complete dumbass because he's pretty sure he experienced that the first time he laid eyes on you and now he can’t joke about it. His feelings are terrifyingly real.

Despite really wanting to be with you right now, he decides to stay locked up in his room with a pair of headphones on as a way to keep the outside noise away, simply lost in his own head.

That is, until a loud banging on his door startles him. Annoyed, he leaves his bed to head towards the door, opening it to meet Ben and Sue on the other side. “What?”

"Reed wants to apologize."

“Oh, does he? Because I don’t see him.”

“He’s in his lab. You know he likes to be there when he’s stressed. I’ll go find him.”

As Ben walks off, Johnny can’t help but let out a sigh as he walks back to his bed, half-regretting his outburst earlier during dinner. "He doesn't really have to. It's not like what he said isn't the truth, anyway."

"Don't say that."

"I'm sure you were all thinking the same thing. I don't have the best reputation. My longest relationship has been...what, two days? I'm not really a father's dreamed son in law."

Sue can't help but let out a soft chuckle at his absurdity. He leans back on his bed while she takes a seat next to him. "Don't be too hard on yourself. You're very clever, way too charming for your own good, and unbelievably kind. You have many great qualities,” she says in a soft, comforting voice. “Well, and let's not forget you're the Human Torch."

"You're obligated to say all that because you're my sister."

"I say it because it's true and I mean it. You're so special, Johnny, don't ever think otherwise."

Johnny stays quiet for a few seconds before offering his sister a soft smile. "Thank you."

She opens her arms and waits for him to get closer. Johnny rolls his eyes, as if the idea of hugging repulses him, but he's immediately sitting up and moving closer to her. Sue keeps her arms wrapped around him while he cuddles closer to her, and she can't help but think back on little two year-old Johnny seeking comfort in his big sister's arms after waking up from a nightmare.

"You really like this girl, don't you?"

"More than I'd like to admit," he replies almost immediately. "I swear, there's absolutely nothing casual between us."

"I'd really like to meet her, if you're okay with introducing us. Perhaps the two of us can visit her? If meeting everyone is too much just yet."

"No, no. I can bring her over. She's been dying to meet all of you too. I was the one making excuses all the time. I was just afraid, I guess."

"Afraid of what?" she asks softly, moving back enough to be able to look at him.

"Of allowing this to get as non-casual as it can get?" he says, not exactly sure on how to put his insecurities into words, but thankfully Sue seems to understand him perfectly.

"Oh, you really like her," she teases with a little smirk, making Johnny roll his eyes again.

"Alright. Enough," he says jokingly, trying to get away for her hug.

"Let me enjoy this please. I've waited so long for this moment," she replies, finally letting him go. "But seriously, I like seeing you like this. And I’m happy you found someone."

Johnny offers his sister a smile, reaching out to grab her hand to give it a gentle squeeze. Their little moment is abruptly interrupted when they hear a light knock on the door. Reed is standing there, with that same troubled expression he had when Johnny had walked away earlier.

"Relax, Reed. We're all good, buddy," Johnny says before he tries to blurt out awkward apologies at him. It's honestly better to just forgive him than to try to sit through a week-long monologue about how terribly sorry Reed is. He wouldn't hear the end of it. "At least for now. Don't get too comfortable."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

"A teaspoon, Reed! How do you not know what a teaspoon is!"

Reed looks beyond stressed, his apron filled with flour. He's practically sweating at this point. "Well, this isn't exactly my area of expertise!"

"Clearly," Ben replies right after while H.E.R.B.I.E. quickly pours the mix on top of the pie crust, ready to put it inside the oven.

Sue gives her husband a quick kiss on the cheek, offering him a smile. "You did your best, babe."

The elevator rings not too long after, announcing your arrival. Sue practically rushes towards you and Johnny to be the first to welcome you.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," she says cheerfully, giving you a hug.

Being in the presence of all four of them in their infamous tower certainly is nerve wracking, but Sue's embrace is a warm welcome that immediately makes you feel more at ease. "Oh, the pleasure's all mine, really," you immediately reply, your voice betraying you as it reveals how nervous you really are.

"She brought you flowers," Johnny says this time, noticing that in your panic state you totally forgot about the bouquet you’re currently holding in your hand.

"Yes, right! Sorry. These are for you," you quickly say, offering your boyfriend a soft smile in appreciation for his help.

"They're lovely, thank you," Sue keeps smiling at you, before her eyes briefly drift towards Johnny, letting him know she already likes you. You don’t really notice their silent exchange, focusing on the little robot that stands next to Sue instead, his tiny mechanical hands extended to receive the flowers. "Thank you H.E.R.B.I.E., but I'll find a place for them on my own."

The robot replies with a polite beep, turning his head to you now. He takes you in, offering a friendly wave before rushing back to the kitchen.

"See, even he likes you already," you hear Johnny whispering, his arm gently placed around your waist before leaving a delicate kiss on your cheek.

Then, Reed and Ben are approaching you. The sight of Mr. Fantastic covered in flour certainly is a hilarious sight, but you pretend to ignore it as you offer them a shy smile.

"Welcome," he says politely, extending a hand for a handshake, immediately realizing it's filled with flour. "Oh, I'm sorry," he whispers in embarrassment, trying to wipe his hand in his apron.

"We were doing a little something to repay you for all those free pastries you sent us," Ben explains with a soft laugh. "Hopefully it turns out decent enough. I’m Ben, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

You quickly introduce yourself, finding it amusing that he feels the need to introduce himself. As if they’re not the most beloved group on Earth. It’s a nice gesture though. "It's already starting to smell good, which is always a good sign," you point out regarding whatever it is that they attempted to bake, the faint smell of pumpkin slowly invading the room.

"If it fails, you might have to give us the instructions next time."

Reed nods. "I'm sure you'll yell a lot less than Ben here."

"It’s just mindblowing how you don't know what a teaspoon is. It’s in the name."

The interaction makes you giggle, and Johnny can't help but smile when he looks at you to catch you laughing. It's like the entire world around him disappears when he manages to capture even just a glimpse of your smile.

The pair walk back to the kitchen, but before you could follow them, you feel Johnny’s hand gently grabbing your purse, intending to slide it off your shoulder. "Let me take your coat," he offers. 

You quickly thank him before allowing him to grab your purse and coat, placing them at a nearby hanger before returning to your side, like there's some magnetic pull inevitably pulling him towards you.

"Are you okay?" he asks when he's next to you, his arm finding its way around your waist again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," you nod, turning to look at him. "They're really nice."

"I never doubted they'd like you." There's a hint of playfulness in his tone that you catch almost immediately, feeling your face burning in embarrassment when he pulls you closer, wrapping both arms around you. "How could they not?" he whispers, looking deep into your eyes with nothing but genuine affection. "You're perfect."

"Johnny," you half-warn him in a shy voice, barely able to keep eye contact with him anymore.

"What? You are perfect," he insists, searching for your eyes with a soft smile. "And I'm so incredibly lucky you're here. In my life, I mean."

You really appreciate his words, but it's becoming a bit too much to handle. It's always too much when he starts saying things like this. And it’s especially mortifying when his family is just feet away.

"Stop it," you insist, and he immediately pulls you in for a tight hug that takes you by surprise, making you giggle as you almost lose your balance.

"Sorry, I just can't help myself," he mutters into your hair, as if it's genuinely impossible to stop showing you so much affection. "I think you might become the death of me, you know?"

From the kitchen, the other three watch the scene unfold in silence, expressions mixed with curiosity and surprise at the sight of Johnny looking so infatuated with you.

"I never thought I'll get to see this side of him," Ben comments in the lowest voice possible. "I wasn't sure it even existed."

"He looks really...happy."

Sue smiles after her husband's comment. "He really does."

"Poor girl can't catch a break." Ben's statement comes right after Johnny mutters something else into your ear, immediately grinning to himself after you start laughing.

"Oh, she enjoys it just as much as Johnny does," Sue points out in her brother's defense. "It's cute. They're just starting their relationship. It's normal to be all over each other."

"I don't think I'll get used to this Johnny that easily," Reed comments.

"I love this Johnny," Sue comments right after. "And this is still our Johnny. We just hadn't had the chance to see this side of him before."

"Wish I hadn't seen it," Ben frowns in playful disgust, watching as his friend gives you a quick kiss on the lips before finally letting you go to finally join the others.

Johnny turns around, noticing the three of them looking at their exchange from the kitchen. "What a bunch of creeps," he calls out.

"You were the one all over her, pal," Ben replies shortly after.

"Well, she's my girlfriend, so I'll be all over her as much as I want."

"And we're the creepy ones."

Sue decides to ignore their banter, walking towards you to steal you away from Johnny's side. "Would you like anything? Tea, coffee, water? Perhaps something to eat?"

"Uh, tea would be nice," you reply, immediately following after her.

"Boys?" she calls next, awaiting for them to say anything.

You help Sue get everything ready after everyone announces what they'll be having. Reed quickly excuses himself to go get rid of as much flour remaining on his hands and clothes as possible while Johnny walks straight to one of the cabinets to retrieve a box of cereal.

Ben starts bickering with Johnny after he keeps attempting to throw cereal at his head. Reed returns with a small machine that makes a faint beeping noise, seemingly lost in his own little bubble with one of his many researches, briefly joining the argument when one of the cereals land on his head instead, distracting him from whatever it is that he’s checking. Meanwhile, Sue strikes up casual conversation with you in order to get to know you better.

Despite this being the first introduction, there's something oddly comfortable about this. Like you fit right in. Like you’ve already found your place in their dynamic. Perhaps you and Johnny's family will get along even better than any of you might’ve anticipated.