neptoons1998

[neptoons1998]

I need a gifset of every scene of Johnny giving Herbie head scritches ASAP

[neptoons1998]

Brighter than Fire

Okay I finally got a chance to actucal write this fic! I hope guys enjoy! Summary:

Tony first hears about Riri Williams through a buried S.H.I.E.L.D. file a fifteen-year-old who built her own suit, alone, out of scrap. She reminds him of himself, painfully so. Brilliant, self-destructive, guarded. And more than anything, alone.

Tony doesn’t show up with fanfare. He doesn’t even knock. One night, Riri’s suit crashes during a test flight, and Tony’s the one who catches her midair. "You know," he says, voice crackling through her comms, "you really oughta put a safety override in that repulsor core. Or maybe not test fly alone at 2 a.m. like a reckless little genius."

Mentor! Tony and Mentee! Riri found family and angst.

The suit sputtered and died beneath her. Red warning lights flashed across her cracked visor as Chicago’s streets rushed up too fast, gravity pulling hard.

Damn, Riri thought. It can't fail! I double-checked the math this time!

She braced for impact, jaw clenched, breath caught in her chest.

Then a sudden jerk yanked her back mid-fall. Thrusters roared somewhere above her, and steady hands caught her just before she could crash through a rooftop skylight.

“You know,” a voice crackled through her comms,dry, amused, annoyingly calm,“you really ought to install a safety override in that repulsor core. Or maybe not test-fly alone at 2 a.m. like a reckless little genius.”

Someone was holding her.

Riri’s heart thundered in her ribs. She blinked through the cracked HUD. “What the hell, who is this?”

Before she could twist out of their grip or fire off more questions, she felt herself being set down gently in a patch of grass. Grant Park. Soft landing. No damage.

A second later, a man in sleek armor touched down beside her. The paint was chipped and scorched around the edges. The arc reactor pulsed low and steady, like a heartbeat. She recognized the suit. Everyone did.

“Tony Stark,” she said flatly, stepping back on instinct.

The helmet opened with a hiss. Tony Stark raised an eyebrow. “In the flesh."

He pointed his finger at her, “And you just gave me one hell of a scare. I know it's way past your bedtime."

Riri’s eyes narrowed. “You—how did you find me?”

He gestured vaguely at the sky. “Let’s just say you made some noise. And not the fun kind.”

“You hacked my suit?”

“No,” he said, tilting his head. “You hacked my old suit. Which I then had to hack back. So technically, we’re even. But yeah, I’ve been watching it. Watching you.”

d. “That’s creepy as hell.”

“Mm. Not wrong,” Tony admitted, folding his arms as his HUD flickered off. “But when a fifteen-year-old reverse-engineers my designs in a garage with scrap metal and a stubborn death wish, it catches my attention.”

“I don’t need your attention,” she snapped. “Or your approval.”

“Good,” he said easily. “I’m not here to give either.”

Riri stepped back, fists clenched. “Then what are you here for?”

Tony paused. His face shifted, not soft, not hard, but something caught in between. His voice came quieter this time, nearly drowned out by the buzz of traffic beyond the park.

“You’re not my responsibility,” he said. “I know that.”

She stared at him, suspicious.

“But that didn’t stop me from keeping notes,” he added, almost like a confession. “Since the first time your name showed up in a buried SHIELD file.”

Riri’s throat tightened. She looked away. “I didn’t ask for that.”

“No,” Tony said. “But maybe you needed it.”

Riri’s jaw clenched, but she didn’t say anything. The suit on her back hissed and released a weak puff of steam, fried and sputtering, like it couldn’t take the weight of this moment either.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” she muttered. She wanted

“Trust me,” Tony said, “I’m not great at the job.”

He didn’t mean it as a joke, but it landed like one. Riri flinched.

Tony studied her a second longer, then stepped back and deactivated his helmet. His face was bare now, older than she expected. Not the glossy billionaire from the headlines, just a man who hadn’t slept enough in years.

“You built this because you had to,” he said. “Not because someone gave you permission.”

Her eyes snapped to his.

“I know that feeling,” he continued. “Too much in your head. Too much pain behind it. You start building things because it’s the only time the world makes sense. And then people call you dangerous.”

Riri’s lips pressed into a line. “You think you know me.”

“I don’t,” Tony said. “But I know what it looks like when someone’s running. I’ve worn that look. Still do, some days.”

She wanted to fire back, tell him he didn’t know the half of it, but her voice cracked instead. “They died in front of me,” she said, low. “M-my stepdad and my-y best friend Natalie. It was a drive-by. Wrong place, wrong time. They both got hit.”

Tony didn’t move. Didn’t interrupt.

“I keep thinking,” she went on, barely a whisper, “if I’d just finished the suit sooner... maybe I could’ve done something.”

Tony’s voice came quietly, almost like it cost him to speak. “You’ll carry that ‘maybe’ forever. Trust me. Doesn’t matter how many people you save later. It'll stick.”

She looked at him, raw and uncertain. “Does it get easier?”

Tony hesitated. “No,” he said. “But you get better at standing up anyway.”

They stood in silence. Her suit’s power core blinked faintly in her peripheral vision, low battery warning flashing, like a heartbeat.

“Let me help,” he said finally. “Not because you need me to. Because you shouldn’t have to do it alone.”

Riri swallowed hard. The words wouldn’t come, but her shoulders eased, just a fraction.

Tony didn’t push. He just stepped to the edge of the grass and looked up at the sky like he was scanning for stars.

“First lesson,” he said, with that half-smile she was already starting to recognize. “Next time you crash, land somewhere not above a Chick-fil-A. You nearly took out the drive-thru.”

Riri snorted. It surprised both of them.

Tony turned to go. “You coming or what, genius?”

She hesitated then followed.

[neptoons1998]

Against bullies since ‘30

[neptoons1998]

[neptoons1998]

i can’t get over duster being cancelled. UGH. it was so good and there’s so much more i want to know. the second season was set up so well. i can’t believe there will never be more of those characters :(

[neptoons1998]

ideas for future fics with riri

Mentor!Tony & Mentee!Riri — “Brighter Than Fire”

Tony first hears about Riri Williams through a buried S.H.I.E.L.D. file a fifteen-year-old who built her own suit, alone, out of scrap. She reminds him of himself, painfully so. Brilliant, self-destructive, guarded. And more than anything, alone.

Tony doesn’t show up with fanfare. He doesn’t even knock. One night, Riri’s suit crashes during a test flight, and Tony’s the one who catches her midair. "You know," he says, voice crackling through her comms, "you really oughta put a safety override in that repulsor core. Or maybe not test fly alone at 2 a.m. like a reckless little genius."

Riri is furious. Embarrassed. Intrigued.

They start working together. It’s awkward. Tense. Tony is haunted by too many failures — Peter, Afghanistan, his parents — and Riri doesn’t trust anyone. She’s used to people stealing from her, doubting her, or trying to “handle” her. But slowly, the two start healing each other. He teaches her to refine her engineering, to slow down, to live. She reminds him why he ever became Iron Man. Tony sees a mirror of his worst tendencies in Riri.

Shuriri — “Echoes in the Metal”

Set post-Wakanda Forever or in a slightly AU timeline. Shuri’s investigating how the U.S. military managed to detect vibranium traces on the ocean floor. The only tech capable of doing so was supposedly destroyed. But fragments of the design match something... familiar.

She traces it back to Chicago. To a makeshift lab. To a girl running with the crew.

Riri Williams.

Riri doesn’t trust her at first. She’s burned out trying her best to keep up with the crew. ( I'm thinking of making her a runaway) Keeping a tight lid from losing her dad and her best friend.

Shuri offers her a way out. Not as a weapon, not as a Wakandan project but as an equal.

The two clash, constantly. Riri calls Shuri out for her privilege. Shuri calls Riri out for closing off her heart. But slowly, they soften. Shuri shares her grief over T’Challa. Riri shares the story of losing her father.

Sam Wilson & Riri -" Breaking Point” When the government pressure is trying to Riri make more tech to find more precious metals. Sam, not liking bullies, takes her before the government does. I see sam and riri on the run. I think uncle & niece dynamic.

That's pretty much it on my ideas that I am kicking around. I'll try to start writing them once I see Ironheart part 2. Tell me what you guys think.

[neptoons1998]

Finished all three I have some ideas !

[neptoons1998]

me listening to the ironheart end credits song

[neptoons1998]

The angst!!!!

My poor baby

[neptoons1998]

Today's the day y'all!!!!

[neptoons1998]

less than TWO days IRON HEART will be OUT!!!! I can't wait!

[neptoons1998]

Just like I promised. ( My mom doesn't seem to trust Awan because he's too adorable. Now I have to write an undercover Awan.

Beneath the Silence

Summary: Nina discovers that Awan is hiding something. The man she thought she had a crush on had been lying to her the whole time.

Nina knew she had a thing for Awan. It started with the way he smiled that rare, quiet tilt of the mouth that felt like it belonged only to him. The way he watched the room like a blade sheathed in velvet, making space for no one… except her. Against every instinct, every lesson learned about trust and betrayal, she felt herself pulled closer until she refused to walk away. Not when every glance felt like a whisper brushing down the curve of her spine.

But tonight? Tonight felt like a bullet buried deep in her chest.

She pressed herself flat against the steel door of the warehouse, breath shaking as the sting of midnight air mixed with the sharp tang of gasoline. Somewhere beyond those steel walls, the city kept its quiet hum, deaf to the sound of heartbreak about to explode within.

Awan stood near the open bay door, brushing ashes from a cigar he hadn’t smoked in ten minutes. Too sharp. Too composed. Too… confident for a man buried in lies.

Then she spotted it the documents laid out across the table. Photos. Plans. Everything that confirmed every suspicion she refused to accept. He was one of the reasons why she always found small bread crumbs. Just enough to give her hope. The sting bubbled deep in her chest until it felt like acid burning its way out.

“Awan.” Her voice cracked sharp across the silence.

He spun, brushing a hand down to the holster at his side. But when he met her gaze, the hard edge in his voice faltered. “Nina… you weren’t supposed to be here.”

Her voice shook as she pulled the pistol from the waistband of her jeans and leveled it at him. The sting bubbled in her voice as she stepped closer, brushing hair from her eyes with the hand that gripped the weapon tight. “I was wrong about a lot of things,” she said, voice like steel brushing silk. “And you? You’re one of them.”

Awan set the documents down slowly, rising with a faint sigh,“It’s not that simple,” he said quietly, voice low, rich, brushing the silence like a plea.

“Not simple?” Nina scoffed, brushing hair from her eyes as she pressed closer, brushing the tip of the pistol down until it settled just over the beating heart she refused to forget.

“Then what am I supposed to call this? You played me, Awan! We're supposed to be partners!" The sting bubbled darker as she pressed closer, brushing steel until it sank into crisp fabric.

“So tell me… am I supposed to call this a betrayal? Or is this how you ruin someone and walk away like it’s nothing?”

Awan sank into a slow, wary stance, brushing a hand down until it came to rest palm open and empty at his side. Not a threat. Not tonight. Not for her.

“Nina,” he said quietly, brushing closer until the tip of the pistol pressed harder, brushing the beating heart she refused to forget. “I came here for a job. At first.” He drew a long breath, brushing closer still until the brim of his hat tilted out of the way, until the sting of betrayal and belonging shimmered between them like a live wire. “But you? You weren’t supposed to matter.”

A faint, dark smirk tugged at the edge of his mouth as he tilted closer, brushing down until the sting of whiskey and betrayal wrapped itself in the silence. “You weren’t supposed to be the one in Arizona. You are the one thing that made me forget every line I drew before you came crashing through it.”

Awan stepped closer still, brushing the tip of the pistol like it didn’t matter anymore. His voice sank lower until it felt like a whisper pressed to the edge of ruin.

“If this is where it ends, Nina, then make it count. Put a bullet in the man I was. Put a bullet in every piece of me that doesn’t deserve to walk out of this room tonight.”

Then, brushing closer still, brushing the space between ruin and belonging until every breath felt like a plea, “But if there’s a part of you that can still feel this… that can still feel that I meant every word, every night, every moment I pulled closer when the rest of the world fell away?”

Awan tilted closer, brushing the tip of the pistol until it pressed harder, brushing the sting of betrayal down until it felt like a flame ignited between them. “Then don’t walk away tonight, Nina. Not when every line we crossed started and ended with one thing you.”

For a moment, she shook. The sting bubbled sharp and bitter in her chest, brushing down every instinct telling her to run, every rule warning her to end this tonight. Yet the warmth brushing between them felt too tempting to kill. Too tempting to forget.

Through the ruins and the lies, the sting of betrayal and the whisper of belonging, one thing refused to move from the center of her chest:

Awan was the blade pressed to her heart. And tonight? The only thing more dangerous than pulling the trigger was putting the weapon down.

A/N: Tell me what you think. Cause I want to post an actucal fic for the Duster tag.

I am now into duster fandom. I want to write fanfics about it

[neptoons1998]

I am now into duster fandom. I want to write fanfics about it

[neptoons1998]

THEY DID THIS FOR ME 🥹

[neptoons1998]

[neptoons1998]

eggheads | twa

Shuri/Riri Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Summer Camp Teacher!Riri, Auntie! Riri, Auntie! Shuri, Plot Device Rainstorm, Sexual Content, Missed Connections, Riri Williams is a Hot Mess, Shuri's into it

Summary: Sometimes smart people can be a little dumb when it comes to matters of love.

-

Shuri picks up her nephew from summer camp and meets his rather interesting teacher. Sparks fly--or at least they could, but it'll take a little more effort for them to get to the first date.

en / de

ao3

-

It only takes a second.

The rain enveloped them--cold and demanding. Wind cutting into skin. Each step slipping, frantic. Their bodies staggered from the force of the wind as they raced across the parking lot. Shrieks and choked, fear-riddled laughs were swallowed by the storm. They circled the car--quick-- fumbling with the door and climbing inside.

Riri slammed the passenger seat door close. She sunk into the seat, breathing heavily as she collected her thoughts. Heart jumping, blood hot--body fighting against the bone-deep chill that was only worsened by her clinging, wet clothes. Around her shoulders, the stolen sweatshirt hung limply. She pulled it closed around her body, trying to salvage some warmth.

Shuri pressed her head against the steering wheel. She let out short puffs of air as she caught her breath as well.

Outside the rain poured on, unrelenting.

After a moment, Shuri finally raised her head, finally taking note of her companion. Riri was attempting to clean herself up. She raised the bottom of her tank-top and wiped her face clean. As she did, raindrops darted down the divots of her strong, lean stomach, skin dewy--almost glowing.

Shuri swallowed, mouth dry. She moved to turn on the ignition.

Riri exhaled, rubbing at her sore neck. The sound was soft, careless. Shuri committed it to memory. Riri let out another gasp as the heated seats switched on, completely unaware of the other woman's turmoil. Her eyes stuttered closed, relishing that comfort, the hum of the engine--that new car smell, before they reluctantly opened again.

Riri sent Shuri a curious glance. That turtle graphic t-shirt was drenched and didn't leave much to the imagination. Miss turtle more-so resembled a sad, misshapen rock now. Shuri's hair was slick against their forehead, making her resemble a wet cat.

Riri flipped down the mirror and saw she looked no better. She snorted. Once, then again, breaking the silence with her slow-building, hiccupping laughter. That sound--soft, then not. She laughed with her whole body, clutching her stomach, shoulders shaking.

Contagious. So much so that Shuri found herself laughing as well, sides aching, body terribly cold, yet her heart was warm--relieved.

Riri wiped a tear from her eye, “We--we look ridiculous,” she said, making a half-hearted attempt to stifle her snickers.

“It is a rather ridiculous situation,” Shuri agreed, clicking her seatbelt on. She was unable to stop herself from glancing over every so often.

The urge was almost novel. Sneaking looks, trying to see if her heart would quicken each time--it always did. She wondered if it would ever stop. Puppy love--that’s what they call it right? If Riri disappeared, would this feeling leave with them? “Are we certain our nephews hatched this nefarious plan and not some other conspirator?” Shuri asked, only half joking. She swept back the curls from her face, frowning into the mirror, although it more-so resembled a pout.

“Nobody else would have the audacity."

Shuri let out a breathless laugh, a small, pleased smile on her face. She slowly pulled out of the parking space, “Feel free to pick to pick the music,” she offered, attention shifting to focus on the road.

Riri obliged.

She navigated the screen on the car's dash with ease, picking her way through the menu. She had quickly decided against the radio, poking around on the music streaming services instead. That's when she stumbled on what appeared to be a never ending collection of playlists, “Damn, you made all these yourself?” she asked, faintly impressed as she mulled over the titles and genres.

Xavier loved music, but going through his playlists was like playing Russian Roulette for her ears. The titles—vibe—and mixes were good, but they were entirely based off his own internal set of logic. Shuri seemed to take a more straightforward approach. The other woman wasn't picky—her music taste eclectic, spanning across many genres. The playlists themselves were well curated—the title, mood, and songs all neatly encompassing the decided theme in an efficient, but thoughtful way.

“I travel quite a bit,” Shuri explained, squinting out the window as she watched the cars pass, waiting for for an opening, “Making them keeps me busy without the hassle of actually being busy.”

Riri nodded, understanding the feeling.

That was what a lot of her tinkering early on was like. A mindless, compulsion to create. It was meditative in a way, seeing an invention only through screens and then spending an afternoon picking it apart. Building it anew all in her own garage.

She shooed away that lurching feeling she always got thinking about that time of her life. She clicked on another playlist. The name caught her attention, it read like a half-formed poem. It was rather...romantic.

“You made this for your girl?” Riri asked, finger obnoxiously hovering over the playlist title for emphasis.

Shuri glanced over, then did a double take, “—No."

Not very convincing.

Riri decided to try again, “Does anybody think they're your girl? Any fiancé, wife, or co-parent I should know about?” she more pointedly asked, scrolling through the songs featured in the playlist. Some were more relaxed, others a little playful, but they were all slower, sensual songs, fitting the title well.

Shuri looked amused at her interrogation, “Not at the moment, no,” she said, then tacked on, “I’m single. I assume you are too, right?”

Riri hummed in affirmation, before another thought occurred to her, “So,” she started, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper as she leaned across the center counsel, “You be fuckin’ to this playlist, right?”

Silence.

Riri’s eyebrows raised to her scalp, a wicked grin stretching across her face, “—So I was right.”

“…Shut up,” Shuri muttered, neither confirming nor denying it.

“Then again, I’m always right—“

“Where am I taking you, again, Ms. Williams?” Shuri curtly interrupted, grateful that the heat gracing her cheeks wasn’t visible.

“Oh, so I’m Ms. Williams now, huh?”

“Uhuh.”

Riri thought this over, “I kinda fuck with it,” she decides.

“Of course you do,” Shuri said, rolling her eyes. She then inputted the offered address into her GPS. She decided not to comment on how Riri ultimately chose—that playlist. The music filled the car, tension ebbing away slowly, “Toussaint mentioned you went to MIT,” she said, conversationally.

Riri exhaled, folding her arms and leaning against the window. She watched the raindrops race down, her eyes lingering on the water pooling at bottom, “I attended for a while, yeah,” she answered, dryly. For some reason Demetrius was obsessed with hearing stories about her time there. He was always telling everybody about it.

At that, Shuri sent her a side-long glance, hesitating before asking, “What’d you major in?”

Riri closed her eyes, pressing her head against the window--attempting not to groan, “Guess.”

“Was it….” Shuri made a show of thinking, clicking her tongue as she smoothly changed lanes, “Economics?”

Riri snorted.

“Oh then what about, “ Shuri hummed, before gasping like she had a revelation, "Theatre Arts.”

“I don’t even think I can carry a tune,” Riri muttered, equal parts baffled and amused at the suggestion, “Those your guesses?”

“No, no I have one more--” Shuri said, sounding far too invested in the game, “Mechanical Engineering.”

A far more serious guess, but it was still--

“Wrong,” Riri said without batting an eye. Although she hated this game, she was a little pleased to see they were taken aback, “I did AeroAstro,” she supplied, with a bitter smile. She turned away from the window, tucking her legs underneath herself, “Though you weren’t that far off. I almost did Mechanical Engineering, but I changed my mind last minute,” she picked at the invisible lint on her seat, “My folks thought Mechanical Engineering would give me more flexibility in the long run--just in case I changed my mind, but….” she sighed, feeling a little silly remembering her reasoning, “I always wanted to be an astronaut…go to the moon and all,” she trailed off, lost in thought.

Shuri’s expression softened at her admission, “Do you still want to?”

Riri blinked, startled, “...What?”

“Do you still want to go to the moon?”

And at first, Riri wanted to laugh, but that quickly dissolved once she realized how serious the other woman was being, “--Uh I got bills to pay. Doesn’t really matter what I want anymore.”

“I don’t agree,” Shuri said, annoyingly blunt, “And… that wasn’t what I asked. Do you still want to go to the moon?”

“What? You gunna take me there?” Riri shot back childishly.

“I’d rather see you get there yourself.”

Shaking her head, Riri scoffed, “You have no idea what I’m capable of, you barely know me,” she said, snippy. She fiddled with the strings of the sweatshirt, briefly wondering if it was too late to tuck n roll.

Shuri was either unaware or completely unbothered by the ire directed towards herself. Her thumbs slid alongside of the wheel, absentmindedly tracing circles, vaguely in sync with the music, “I know a few people who were in your graduating class and they had nothing but good things to say about you and your work,“ she said, hesitating before adding, “Apparently you’ve lived a fairly interesting life. I’m--jealous they got the chance to know you so well.”

“...You’re not missing much,” Riri deflected, but she couldn’t deny the kernel of…pride.

What did they say? What did they say that made Shuri so damn interested in her? She couldn’t deny the fact that she was curious. She wanted people talking. She wanted it so badly it fucking hurt, but she’s grown content with the background. With sitting, festering--a ghost waiting to join the world of the living.

“Just humor me then,” Shuri said, gentle as ever with her words, “Do you still want to go to the moon?”

Out of spite, Riri didn’t want to answer.

She wanted to let them sit in silence. She wanted to drop the whole thing. It didn't matter. It didn't matter because she failed. She didn’t even get her degree, didn’t even get a chance to walk. It didn't matter because she can’t even blink towards a blow-torch without the feds beating down her door. She can’t do shit or plan shit without it being the government's business. And without that—her inventions, her plans, her legacy —she was nothing.

She didn't matter.

But Shuri still treated her like she did and as much as it pissed her off, she craved it—desperately. She coveted that attention and wanted to hold on tight.

“—Nah, it’d be too easy,” Riri said, caving in to the urge, the impulse. She stared out the window, hard. She watched the rain fall even harder, hoping for even a second Shuri glanced her way again, “…But it’d be a start.”

-

The hardest lesson in life to learn was when to call it quits. Everybody and their mother wanted everything to be possible, but sometimes what you wanted just wasn’t possible in that particularly moment. And today was one of those moments.

Despite Shuri’s best efforts, it was fucking impossible to navigate the storm. The wind blowing trash everywhere, that slip ‘n slide ass road, the fuck-ass traffic. Roads were blocked off, people were using their ass cheeks to steer and their earlobes to signal, and all in all it was a nauseating headache to endure. They weren’t even close to Riri’s family home.

And worst part about it—Shuri was trying. She was trying so hard it hurt to look. If the woman was anything, she was persistent,

“We might need to pull over at some point,” Shuri reluctantly admitted, brows knitting together in concentration. The windshield wipers weren’t doing shit.

“That’s fine—“ Riri's face scrunched up suddenly. She sneezed into her elbow, body shuddering hard.

She winced, pulling the sweatshirt around her tighter, but it didn’t do much. She was warmer then before, but she was still soaked to the bone. That perpetual chill gripped her body tight. She tried to hide it, but it was clear it was overstimulating. She'd been picking at the fabric and fidgeting with increasing fervor.

Shuri frowned, “...But it’d most likely be best if we find somewhere to get dry and wait it out—“

Riri’s mouth twisted at the suggestion. She didn’t want to deal with hotel surge prices.

“My flat is close by, you can stay there until the storm dies down,” Shuri offered, then belatedly tacked on,“—if you want.”

Riri blinked surprised and found herself nodding in agreement. It was the most reasonable solution, but why was she….hesitant?

It went beyond the typical reservation you’d have from being stuck in a strangers home. She was comfortable with Shuri and she certainly was easy on the eyes. This could end up going pretty well, so why was she so nervous then?

Riri chewed at her lip, sneaking glances at Shuri. She scrutinized that mess of emotions inside. First— that warm, fluttering feeling. Strong jawline, rich, even skin that she now knew was as soft as it looked. Nimble hands, clean cut nails, long fingers. Then—there was that craving. That need to be closer. To puff up and impress them. That urge to slide her hand across the counsel, trace their pant leg, squeeze their thigh and sink her teeth into their—

Riri blinked hard. She cleared her throat louder than intended, missing the confused look Shiri sent her way. She bit down on her lip harder, tasting copper as she searched deeper, but was frustrated each time. At the bottom of that well—curiosity, infatuation, lust—were nerves. It was like touching a too hot stove—like shaking her lungs in water desperate for air—like everything all at once.

It was too much. She kept grabbing and scanning the feelings, but she couldn’t identify any of what she touched.

Riri decided to redirect her attention to Shuri. They were a stranger, but the longer she’s around them, the more it feels like she’s known them forever. It didn’t feel like a mystery trying to guess how Shuri feels about her—about this—because Shuri never hid it.

Shuri was attracted to her. She was interested. She thought Riri’s life was interesting. She entertained the flirting, but she wanted to get to know more. She wanted to ask her annoying questions and pry and pick at Riri’s mess of a past and—

That felt distinctly more serious then a hook up. Thinking on it--she hadn't felt this way about the prospect of a casual date in a long time.

It was then she had recognized where they were driving. The streets getting wider and cleaner, the buildings taller.

Noticing this, she came to a realization immediately.

Riri knows how Shuri feels. She knows their intentions, but—-

She hardly knows anything about Shuri.

She brushed off the nice clothes, the nice car--anyone could have credit-card debt nowadays, but the apartment? That was harder to fake. It was the type of area you had to be 'comfortable' to live in. What did she even do for work? Did she work? Why was she interested in Riri? She was someone with an admittedly eyebrow raising past, but virtually no prospects. She wiped boogers on the regular and helped kids get into programs to be far more successful then her—it just. It didn’t make sense. It was a fleeting feeling after all. If it came fast, it would leave just the same.

Even if she does get a date out of all of this—it could all end with that. It didn’t immediately mean commitment, it didn’t mean a relationship, but….

There she found something else. That drop in the dark, a burgeoning feeling so small you could miss it, but it was there underneath the noise of emotions.

That hope for more—it made her sick.

[neptoons1998]

never had a bad hair day in her life 🤭