#{{ I dont think i need to explain that but if anyone has questions go ahead i guess lmao 😭 just know it's gonna be a long ass answer-

[acoldsovereign]

Hi, Guillotina! I know you're still in the midst of setting up your blog and all, including new rules for followers (as you've said already), but I hope it's okay for us anons to still send you random IC & OOC asks! If not, you can delete-- I'll understand. ;w; I won't comment on recent dash stuff but I just wanted to check in and see if you/the people involved were okay???? I know you care about Saiyans a lot. Like, a lot, a LOT-- maybe more than anyone I know or seen so far. (In case I sound like a creep, I swear I'm not!) I was here when you first had Google Docs and had a really cute section about relationships/shipping stuff with Bardock. (Was also here when you first set up your Sites page and had an even *cooler* section about the diversity of the Saiyans' gene pool, explaining why Maiz looked so different! Not to mention your cultural & biological headcanons as well but that's neither here or there). So, I just wanted to check in on you. 🥺 I also say this because of your recent Toriyama post (didn't know he said that about female Saiyans omg! Everything makes so much sense now, haha. I was confused for years man 😭 ). Point is, I see how much Saiyans mean to you overall and I think it's rad to see as a fellow female fan of the series! Can you explain more of your muse choice to me? Like, what went into making her? I know you said she came from a fanfiction but I remember on your old blog, you also said she predates it?? Sorry If I'm misremembering! I just think you and your blog are cool! Keep on trucking!

{{ Heyo! Yes, that rule is still in place, anon! I will ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS enjoy receiving random asks (IC or OOC) from mutuals and anons. Though I'm private nowadays, I will extend this courtesy to non-mutuals as well! (How else am I supposed to know we're a potential match as writing partners if I don't extend that olive branch, y'know?). With that said-- awwww, you were here for all for that?! 🥺 My pre-Sites days too and during them?! That means you've kept an eye on me ever since I stepped onto the RP scene here.... You're an OG, you know that right?! I didn't expect this sweet and heartfelt message, so thank you so much for taking the time to write this out. I'm smiling so much like a goofy goober. This means the world to me. But yes, I'm okay. I got two new good friends out of said dash stuff (though we were mutuals already, anyway/had already been interacting). Anyway, yeah, I'm good! They're good, too! Thanks for checking in with us!! I'll tell them you sent good wishes, granted if they don't see this beforehand. :3

About Saiyans meaning a lot to me-- yeah. I wish I could remember the interview it was revealed in, but he was asked about it at some point to where he said something to the effect of "I didn't know how to design them/couldn't figure out their appearance", something like that. It stuck with me because like I've mentioned in my Toriyama post, many toxic (as in sexist/misogynistic fanboys and overall creepy ass people) tried to make DB a thing I wasn't allowed to participate in, all because I was born a girl which was and is-- bullshit. Women aren't a different fuckin' species, man. We like the same shit as men sometimes and that's alright. Trying to put me into a girly girl box is what made me into a rebellious ass tomboy (much like Videl who I somewhat related to, growing up). Only in my late teens/early adult years did I embrace my femininity (yes, I was vain and shallow like Bulma at times. I was also a bit too loose with money when I had some, so I understand her casual attitude regarding her wealth, but that's neither here or there). Point is there was and always have been room for female fans of the series, so when I heard that from the horse's mouth himself? Yeah, it was a wrap. That was it. Nobody could tell me SHIT. That's one thing about me: If I learn something is true and it makes my life easier, I will not listen to anything else. I'll do my own thing. I'm a bit stubborn like that but trust me, it's a good stubborn. Otherwise, I'm very open-minded about many things and I'm a good listener.

As I stated on more than one occasion, I started RPing in a chatroom of an anime-pirating website, while I watched DBZ Kai. After I finished the anime (and lost my original RP group of friends), I coped by scouring the Internet for more RP forums and platforms, of which eventually led me to Facebook. I ran into some mishaps here and there in the DBZ RP space but that aside, the highs were worth it and I stayed for a long while. I mostly specialized in Android/Cyborg OCs and Saiyan OCs. So yes, you are right by saying Maiz (as in RPC!Maiz's template) comes from my 2018 fanfiction but also predates it by SEVERAL YEARS because every female Saiyan I had from the age of 12 and up was essentially a prototype of who Maiz would become. Long story short, Maiz grew with me, even when her names before were: Rayearth (my og username on the chatroom/anime website), Beats, Serori, Celeri, and later Jinjā. Rayearth was able to go Super Saiyan and she was the angry-punchy type. She was closer to Vegeta in temperament and haughty as all hell. Beats was a bit more humble with a hint of cockiness. This was around the time I started playing around with morality and all that, so she was less of a Vegeta type but still rough around the edges. I think I implied she could go Super Saiyan but can't remember if it happened in any threads. Serori was much more humble and quiet-- introspective. However, she could be hostile if approached too quickly or suddenly. She was the first low-class Saiyan I ever made. Celeri was a jump off of that because someone had the same name as my OC so I changed her around*. She was extroverted, but not too much. I guess you could call her a quasi-Goku type, if Goku was Mid-Class and a woman. I changed the rank because I wanted to explore the classism aspect of the Saiyans and my OC's relationship between her and her inherent power. She was morally gray, if I remember correctly.

*A bit petty of me, I'm sure-- but I was immature and a moody teenager who only had her creativity to express herself with. Anything too similar to me back then felt like an attack on my personhood and individuality. Thankfully, I'm a mature adult who's grown past that trauma response from childhood.

Jinjā came in 2015. I was 16 going on 17, about to enter college. Stopped RPing some time before this, because well, I had to focus on school and life stuff. This is what she originally looked like:

She has no story, because she wasn't made with one in mind. I just missed having a female Saiyan to think/write about. She was truly random, a burst of inspiration that heavily looms over Maiz's current design. Jinjā has red, short, choppy hair because Seripa/Fasha was her base design. I wanted something different to make her stand out, or else she'd just look like a clone or twin. That's all. Fasha being the base is also where the earrings comes from, since she had them. (This was just before I started embracing cosmetics and accessories). While she didn't really have anything to her, the basic idea was to go back to my roots: a rough-and-tumble Saiyaness who can pack a mean punch and rock your shit even if it kills her-- even if she fails. Hence my attempt at blood and making her look badass/intimidating. Muscles and female anatomy was hard for me, still is slightly-- but I'm getting the hang of it. Anyhoo, I believe my intentions-- if I fleshed her out more-- would've been for her to be a Bardock-type. Fun fact: Battle of Gods came out a month before this redesign did, so I got some confused looks when asked if this was SSG (Red) and I said no. I wasn't a huge fan of the movie so I didn't really see it until later. Only clips and such on YouTube. I warmed up to it eventually.

While going back to college for the second time (2018-2019), I got into Super properly with the introduction of Broly in DB Super: Broly. I enjoyed the Future Trunks/Goku Black Saga but the narrative nightmare within the anime's climax (and the manga's middle part) was a tough pill for me to swallow. The movie though-- despite the minor grievances I have with it-- hit all the right spots: Saiyan lore! Saiyan culture! POLITICS!!! Space-Opera! Sci-fi!!!!!! Around this time, I was finally inspired to do something else for this fandom I've had a tumultuous relationship with-- write a fan fiction. Jinjā's redesign was imminent:

She got renamed in reference to her mom, who was now Seripa/Fasha's older sister as a nod to the latter being a design base. Karne comes the Japanese spelling of karnels (kaneru, if I have that correct) because she's frustratingly slow to anger like popcorn-- the pun she's based off of. (Fasha in other media, such as the games has always been described as the opposite: short tempered, fierce and feisty. She's staunchly loyal to her crew too, as implied in the movie and in those same games if you pay attention to her dialogue). With this, it only made sense to have the updated version of Jinjā follow the pun as:

To summarize: Maiz became Maiz in 2019, in the wake of DB Super: Broly. (It came out that year in the U.S). In the fanfic she originates from, she is the last female Saiyan, and that weighs on her all the time. Incidentally, Story!Maiz is much more sympathetic while remaining a frosty a--hole. Her trauma is much more apparent and while she's not exactly the nicest person in the Galaxy, it's much more clear to see why: she has attachment issues, which makes getting to know her difficult, she has trust issues, anger issues from surviving a bloody and rather violent/sudden genocide of her people at a young and tender age, she can't remember the last time she slept well, has frequent nightmares of being abandoned by her mother (she was the one who shoved her into an escape pod). She thinks there's no value to her life because she's been traveling through outer space with Turles for six years consecutively and there were several planets/galactic sectors who didn't even know what a Saiyan was. They were lucky to find remains. (Cut tails, boots, bones, dust/ashes, name tags, etc etc. The sights were very, very grisly. And she kept seeing the same things for six. Years. Straight). All of this turned her into a very bitter, negative person who became a straw nihilist. She kind of just wanted to pass away quietly in some corner somewhere, not because she felt remorse for being a Saiyan/the effects of her kin but because she had her entire life upended on a sadistic whim. There was nothing to live for in her eyes. She thought Turles was stupid for having hope after a while and became jaded. While she was stronger than Turles in terms of raw power, she had a issue with not wanting to preserve her ki for important situations. He constantly had to watch over her like a big brother and she absolutely resented him for it (misguided anger, anyone?). It didn't help that he remembered more of Saiyan life than she could. All in all, she was tragic and a bit too edgy probably, but she would grow out of her frosty shell with the introduction of Broly. She reluctantly bonded with him over time on their ship as Saiyan Squad (what I called them out of text) made their way to Earth to settle the score with Vegeta. Paragus didn't do anything for her but make her angry at first-- all this time she's convinced herself there were no more Saiyans and then she sees this old man still kicking somehow? Of course she'd be livid. (Paragus, over his short presence in her life until his death at Vegeta's hands proved to be effective; he became a makeshift father figure and imparted some words of wisdom of which she'd take to heart, post Broly fight. Turles was pretty devastated too and they would finally be the brother-sister duo he's always known they could have been. It's bittersweet and sad, tbh).

Anyway, that's the evolution process. As for why she looks like this in universe-- I'm gonna be honest and say I got it from Father of Goku. There were different looking Saiyans in there, two women have blue hair. Super Saiyan has green eyes and blonde hair. Who's to say there aren't natural green eyed Saiyans who existed? Or blondes? Dark hair can mean black and/or brown, so why not both? Same with dark eyes! Make them brown, hazel, chestnut, almost black or straight up black. Etc etc. (As a reminder, Fasha has purple eyes! PURPLE). If you look at official artworks/some colored manga covers and whatnot, Goku's actually tan. Hell, Future Trunks is basically apricot or a peachy skin tone. If you want a triple whammy??? Read the manga. No, seriously. There are OFFICIAL scans that has Trunks with red hair instead of the Super Saiyan blonde. And those are mistakes from Toriyama himself. Look at Z Broly and all his in between stages-- blue hair, greenish-yellow hair, etc. It's really not that hard to create a unique looking Saiyan, or justify it-- so I feel like the whole dark hair and dark eyes should be overlooked/not a big deal. I also just don't like how restrictive it is from a narrative/in universe standpoint. It's not fun to play with.

Anyway, thank you so much. I know this was long. 😭 My bad. I enjoy talking about Maiz very much and her concepts.

[doukeshi-kun]

a promise is a promise

daddy's home 😘

🌃-anon here ^^ hooray!!

okay okay phew it's been so long i forgot how to write anon ask but, a comeback is desperately needed to save the day. I'm here to talk about professor!nikolai agenda. your girl started uni and i need to cope.

while collegestudent!nikolai has been eating my brain like crazy, professor!nikolai is as needed. i might hit you up with college student nikolai someday tho cuz my classmates are all weird and i need that daily dose of delusion that someday, i'll meet a student as awesome and as fun as nikolai is in my head

little disclaimer to anyone reading this: dark content ahead. we dont do any of that irl it's just fiction, so if you're sensitive to prof x student shit keep scrolling. i say reader is 20-ish and papi nikolai is pushing 30 😁

random prof!nikolai headcanons ahead 🗣️

prof kolya is definitely one of the cool teachers on campus yk? the type that's loved by all of the students because of how laid back he is and how much he doesn't give a shit yk??? like "prof we didn't study for the test tomorrow can we postpone it?" "we will. i havent put the text either" 💀 that type you know?

BUT simultaneously, he can also be really strict depending on the context yk? while he's chill, he can't tolerate disrespect like, not at all. he jokes around with his students but with limits and boundaries.

clothes-wise i feel like he dresses super well 🤔 as opposed to headcanons I've seen, i dont think he dresses weird or in an eccentric way like canon nikolai is, he wears casual clothes :3 fashionable? yes. but nothing weird. he's tall, broad with really unique features (i imagine nikolai with one of them typical european noses and plump looking lips. this part is totally up to you tho)

prof kolya was a really unproblematic physics professor (yk in canon he has teleportation abilities so uh) that is until y/n took a course with him,

we're met with two cases: y/n is calm and quiet in class, y/n puts herself out there. now let's be for real, teachers love good students so the higher the grades the better the sex more you'll get attention from him (god imagine nikolai praising you😮‍💨)

now if you're quiet- OMG since he gets along well with students i feel like he'll openly joke around with students except for you (if you're quiet) he'll just talk with you in a low voice (btw i imagine classes like, small classes not amphitheaters or any of that) let me elaborate: you're in class yk he's explaining quantum physics or some shit and occasionally interacting with his students. his gaze falls on you once he's standing right in front of your desk and lets a small question slide like "is it ok?" "do you get it?" or flashing you a small smile or so 🤭 he's not mocking you or anything he's being genuine (for once) bc you're openly his favorite

and by that, and as someone who's a favorite for nearly all my professors so far the privileges i get isnt anything like grades or whatever but more like validation? im a good student i dont need their crusty dusty extra credits. one of the privileges i get is for example, during exams, the prof tells me "so, [name], we're scoring an A+ in this test too?" yk and it's genuine so nikolai i that type too.

(i leave anything sexual or suggestive for you to develop bc im really bad and awkward at that)

conclusion: he shamelessly favorites you in front of other students.

though you two would become a thing faster if reader is on the more loud type in his class: always participating, asking questions, joking around maybe.... i feel like when you have a question thats a little long to explain, he'd ask u to come to his office and what happens there is up to your imagination dear bean

will quickly become your number one emotional support throughout college 🥱 imagine not doing well in the exam and you go to his office to talk to him about it and he comforts you by [redacted]

anyways i could go on and ramble forever. i'd love to hear your dirty thoughts on this nikolai au :3 what i wrote is hella long and messy but we're mere disciples beanie, you're the writer here hehe

as usual, have a good/day night!!

I REALLY LOVE YOU SO MUCH *sloppily kissing slop slop*

first of all, yeeee goodluck with college and don't die bcs i almost did 😎👉 and secondly, no let's NOT get nikolai pushing 30s. HE IS 35 ATLEAST IDC HAHAHA im gonna reply to each one headcanon bcs you deserve it girlie 💋✨

yes! he totally gives me the vibe to be laid-back at his work. he's so gonna do something like that lmao. also, despite his laid-back persona and he's always like “ehh~ just answer this easy ass quiz and i'll take it as your assignment mark”, i do think he does his job greatly. there's a time where he needs to get things done and while it doesn't seem like he's doing shit, he actually GETS. SHIT. DONE. that's why he isn't fucking fired 💀

strict prof. nikolai.... ugh *spreads legs*😝 i agree. he does have limit and i feel like he wouldn't scold people or raise his voice but certainly when he's being colder and quieter, oooh you fucked up big time

i do think he wears classic style to go to classes! i'm thinking... dark academia. and yes, he's tall and broad and so big✨ i feel like it also depends on the subject. if prof nikolai is teaching theatre or drama... those kind of things, he will wear something maximalist, if that makes sense? imagine a mad hatter-themed suit but formal. unfortunately, i can't draw for life.

physics professor hmmmm why don't he come here and expand the space of my quantum pussy😏😏

i can imagine raaaaaaa :barkbarkbark: him praising you in front of the whole class because you got quite high marks for physics ahakss😝

HMMMMMMM SOFTY :feral: i can't fucking breathe😩 yes he'd totally be loud to those who are loud with him but if you're quiet and serene, he'll be soft as fuck rrrrrrrrr imagine him noticing you not understanding something and he takes the initiative to come to your desk, teach you with the softest (yet deep) voice ever. NOT MOCKING ME TOO? woah what a green flag 💚

lmfao i can totally relate with you😭 honestly, validation is too pressuring, stressing and overwhelming for me. i hate when teachers are like “so, elie, you can score A for this right?” bih i just barely got the B-grade fym (burnt-out gifted kid be like;). anyway, i'm half-half on this. but i do think if he makes such comments, and he notices you aren't uncomfortable, he wouldn't go put his way to directly say that. maybe he just makes comment that implies he does have certain expectations on you

(i'll develop the sexual things myself *takes off his pants and develop his wood*)

conclusion: he becomes my favourite subject😝❤️

i'm honestly thinking that he prefers it if you are an active student. idk, for me, nikolai (in general) likes challenges and fun. so if you're actively questioning this or that, he'd take interest in you really quick. also, i will invite myself into his office tyvm

definitely get emotional. lmao imagine ranting about other professors with him and he just supports you

well my dirty thought is that he becomes my private tutor. HA HOW BOUT THAT HUHHH but in all honesty, i love the thought of him riling and teasing you instead of yk, playing favourite and get you alone in his office. he likes edging people and he'd surely likes it if you tease him back too ayy papi😝

[moonshynecybin]

ommgg kayaker rosquez? ❤️❤️❤️❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 yes pleaseew

POSTS FOR AN AUDIENCE OF MEEEE. as always lemme know if you need any weird terms explained.

thinking about rosquez in this context. chewing. okay so i think vale branches out from kayaking to open a rafting outpost/elite instruction clinic at some point that tracks pretty close to reality tbh. still one of the best kayakers in the world but the grind of constantly doing portage/first descents/big water is taxing (and well. dangerous. this is a sport where at that level its not IF you lose friends but how many.) so he starts concentrating on teaching/doing rivers he really loves etc... shows up at the green race/north fork championship once a year clears the top 5 every time and the crowd goes NUTS hammering those stupid ass cowbells and shotgunning beer. a fun time!

marc would be an expedition hair boater like red bull is always sending his ass to random rivers in nepal to run like. 100 foot waterfalls and schill for gopro... genuinely one of those boaters that is always beat to shit from bad swims and has a million terrible stories about almost drowning and getting caught in undercut rocks and sieves that make you question why anyone steps into a hard boat EVER. so yeah he swims a lot BUT! he has an even better roll/handroll so he often slithers out of any shady spots.... paddles a lot with his brother so they set safety for each other... but like. vale used to do a lot of big water and is FAMOUS for never swimming. last time he had to do a swim beer was sometime in the late 90s lmao...

anyways marc tags along on one of vale's river trips with the academy. maybe a limited release river where the dam only puts enough water in it to paddle like once a year for three days so trips bunch up. throws dart uhh the royal gorge out in california. it like 5 big ass waterfalls a bunch of steep walls all around you (NO escape) and multiple days of camping. only really good kayakers paddle it and you have to be VERY safety aware. not marc's strong suit. so maybe marc sends it on a waterfall before he gets the go-ahead from the guy below (cele? some academy boy) and then his skirt implodes and he has a nasty swim and dislocates his shoulder (happened. to my brother.) and vale is um. REALLY pissed bc he's out here with a bunch of young kayakers that he's responsible for and he KNOWS you dont fuck around with safety stuff like that. he also. does put his vlog of the trip/situation on youtube. (happened. to my brother.) and calls marc dangerous. which marc does NOT appreciate seeing in his instagram comments. and they fall out that way....

[mihai-florescu]

Hello there tumblr user Mihai-floresuco.

I would like to ask of thee which stories you’d recommend of fine? I do not like the unit but I would like to like them so perhaps a better understanding of the characters shall aid me in this quest, thank you in advance and have a truly lovely day.

Yours truly,

Secret mutual :3

I am going to assume you've read the war era reminis, you are familiar with ex fine, what and why things happened, and your question is regarding current fine. I will also hope you've read Daydream and Blackbird as they explain a lot about the moments right after the war, from Eichi and Wataru's perspectives. Plus Eichi calls Yuzuru sexy, never forget.

Now, let's see, from the beginning. Flower fes is the first story with fine as we know it (minus Eichi as he was in the hospital), it's about Tori and Yuzuru meeting Wataru for the first time (among other things. It's also a good look into the state of things in the beginning of the next year right after the war. There's a good bit with Valkyrie as well)

Then other early ! Era stories would be Circus (fine perform at a circus, the scene that stood out the most to me is that of Eichi and the lion) and Quarrel Fes (Eichi Keito showdown mostly, it's good for understanding Eichi better)

Then Milky Way (fine and valkyrie, personally i'm due a complete reread), Jingle Bells (the one where Tori's illusions of fine as a perfect savior unit that can do no wrong and that hasn't done wrong in the past start dissipating), EP:link......i assume that if you follow me you've read eplink, but if not, i will not spoil it. The last story before the change of eras and it deals partially with fine's future.

Then for other stories i recommend when you have time: Magnolia (the best bridal enstars story imo, focused on Tori working around the school to buy Eichi a brooch for a gift exchange event), Dance Floor (they go to the park and then do karaoke at the end...), Triumph of the Emperor (an old story where Tori takes lead to prepare for a future where Eichi wouldn't be in fine anymore. This is all before we or they knew we'll have !! Era where the units stay together), Summer Live (undead and fine. Very unfortunate a good story is overshadowed by orientalist cards)

From the !! Era... um. I think there are some good one off idol stories, like the one with the parfait i remember seeing a tl for, but i dont know the name of it (i suspect it's somewhere in tori or eichi's idol stories). The best fine story in !! imo is Tempest. I also recommend if you end up enjoying fine Fist of the shangri la idol. And Sanctuary.........i feel like you should only read it after you already like Eichi or you might not have the best time... If you want to read anything else go ahead, but I can't guide you (I was unsatisfied with Primavera, and haven't yet read Ghostic. I enjoyed the livetweets for Atlantis but you can't find a full tl of it anywhere yet afaik and I'm not gonna recommend the !! climax to someone who is just getting started with fine as a whole anyway)

I hope I haven't talked for too long... if you need ex fine recs too, i'd say Element first and foremost, Checkmate for Eichi & Tsumugi's early relationship, and Wonder Game. Oh and Altered Origins. It's still a fever dream of a story to me personally, i haven't fully wrapped my head around the fact that we are getting the remini animes and extra stories yet. I mean I have, but you know, it still feels a bit surreal.

If anyone feels like I forgot any important fine stories please add to the conversation. If you end up interested in Wataru and Eichi in particular I'd also recommend Diner Live, but it is not a fine story. I've heard Toyland is good for Tori (Yuzuru too?) but I haven't personally read it yet. If you want more Wataru and Tori interactions, Amusement Live has some good scenes, but it is not that much about them, the story's about Ra*bits and 2wink. A story i enjoyed of fine members shenanigans sans Wataru is Noble Game. We shall see when White Brim gets translated, I know it has some good bits with Tori&Eichi. Hm hm hm. That's all I can think of at the top of my head rn, but I think I've already said more than enough...

[saturndivine]

The Ferality of Mars

»»————-　➴　————-««»»————-　➴

Feral: "Existing in a wild or untamed state"

When I think of Mars, I think of the Greek god, Ares. I think of the heart pumping blood throughout the body to keep it alive. I think of passion, ferocity, and rawness. Mars is the planet of emotion, similarly to the moon but with a more sinister twist. Mars wants you to feel everything and create with that energy, Mars wants you to be overwhelmed with emotion, so much so it consumes and guides you. Mars wants you to feel everything. It is known as a Malefic Planet because of its inability to be tamed and controlled but Mars isn’t about having control, its about intuition and allowing yourself to be guided by the invisible force that encourages you to nuzzle into your most primal and authentic state and honor that part of you. 

[Yes I will be using Hozier lyrics that represent the ferality of each sign]

Aries Mars [Mars in 1st]

When I picture Aries Mars at its most feral state, I visualize a forest fire consuming everything in its path, absorbing nature to feed as fuel. With Mars in its rulership, Aries Mars has no issue releasing, guided by their heart throughout it all to overcome whatever may stand in their way. They move quickly and harshly, striking first and questioning later. You mold life into what you want it to be so there is no need for you to even plan right? As an unstoppable force, you have to let your heart take control. 

“There's no plan, there's no race to be run

The harder the pain, honey, the sweeter the sun

There's no plan, there's no kingdom to come

Sit in & watch the sunlight fade, honey, enjoy its getting late

Theres no plan, theres no hand on the reign,

...As Mack explained, there will be darkness again”

Taurus Mars [Mars in 2nd]

When I picture Taurus Mars at its most feral state, I imagine a bear tearing its way through a beehive, grasping at the honeycombs and devouring it in a matter of seconds. With a venus-ruled mars or mars in detriment, you all look for the sweeter things in life and insist that you are worthy of goodness and don’t mind taking it for yourself. Conflict is stupid to you because you have your own morals and studies and firmly believe in what you desire and if anyone steps to you, you have the power to throw it right back in their face. You are the raging bull, undefeated once you’re committed. But you represent the tamer, earthy side of Mars.

“I have never known peace like the damp grass that yields to me.

I have never known hunger, like these insects that feast on me.

A thousand teeth, and yours among them, I know.

Our hungers appeased, our heartbeats becoming slow.” 

Gemini Mars [Mars in 3rd]

When I picture Gemini Mars at its most feral state, I picture the rebirth that spring offers. The energy of this mars sign matches the intensity of the rising sun and falling rain that causes the flowers to blossom and fill the earth with its aroma. It is quite impossible to stop a determined Gemini, they want to leave their mark on this earth and do so in many different ways as they are indestructible, powered by the combination of their mind and their heart which creates an explosion upon collision. To get in the way of this placement is to stand in the way of the changing seasons, impossible. 

“Each day you'd rise with me, know that I would gladly be the Icarus to your certainty.

Oh, my sunlight, sunlight, sunlight.

Strap the wing to me, death trap clad happily, with wax melted, I’d meet the sea,

Under sunlight, sunlight, sunlight.”

Cancer Mars [Mars in 4th]

When I picture Cancer Mars at its most feral state, I visualize the crumbling of the earth into itself, only to grow back in a healthier form. A resilient placement that can have the worst thrown at them and come back only more beautiful. In the introduction, I discussed how both Moon and Mars share a common goal but the Moon goes about it a different way, as Cancer Mars goes about martian energy in a different way as well. With mars in fall, Cancer takes the soft approach to ferality, embracing the harsh energy and converting it into tenderness. 

“And I love too, that love soon might end, 

be known in its aching, shown in the shaking,

Lately of my wasteland, baby. 

Be still, my indelible friend, you are unbreaking,

Though quaking, though crazy

That's just wasteland, baby.” 

Leo Mars [Mars in 5th]

When I picture Leo Mars at its most feral state I see a blinding white-hot light overcoming anyone and everyone in its path, forcing others to bend to its will simply by doing what it does naturally. As a fixed mars, Leos energy is continuous and bold, quite difficult to escape if a Leo Mars has you in their eye line. They are everywhere, they rule the heart so they rule ferality in a way, diving back into their lion roots and fully delving into the fact that they are the rulers of the jungle and rulers of the world.

“Be love in its disrepute, scorches the hillside and salts every root 

And watches the slowing and starving of troops

And, lover, be good to me.

Be there and just as you stand or be like the rose that you hold in your hand 

That will grow bold in a barren and desolate land

Oh, lover, be good to me.”

Virgo Mars [Mars in 6th]

When I picture Virgo Mars at its most feral state I can clearly gaze upon an open field, a deer nosing at grass only to be pounced on by a random predator, yet Virgo represents both the predator and the prey, enforcing balance and really honoring nature fully. Virgo Mars is one of the most ferocious and determined martian placement because they understand how to use the life around them to their advantage. Failure is impossible because they are always ten steps ahead of everyone else. They understand balance, both aggressiveness, and peacefulness. 

“With the war of the fire, my heart moves to its feet

Like the ashes of ash, I saw eyes in the heat

Feel it soft and as pure as snow, fell in love with the fire long ago

With each love I could lose, I was never the same

Watch it still live in roofs, be consumed by the flame

I was fixed on your hand of gold, laying waste of my lovin' long ago”

Libra Mars [Mars in 7th]

When I picture Libra Mars at its most feral state, I see a person walking into a mossy lake only to never come out again. There is a slight underestimation when people first get to know the Libra Mars.  This martian placement matches up with tricky Aphrodite, Libra mars has secrets they dont want unturned, they have a hidden past that they want to be kept to themselves because they are never the people they were a few moments ago. They are evolving and healing, rubbing soil on their open wounds to grow into a new version of themselves. 

“I had a thought, dear, however scary about that night, the bugs and the dirt.

Why were you digging? What did you bury before those hands pulled me from the earth?

I will not ask you where you came from, I will not ask and neither should you. 

Honey, just put your sweet lips on my lips, we should just kiss like real people do.” 

Scorpio Mars [Mars in 8th]

When I picture Scorpio Mars at its most feral state, there is a black burning tree in the middle of the falling snow, crackling and popping and falling to the pieces onto blankets of snow only to keep burning. Mars takes a different approach in this rulership, it is calculated, ready, and sure of whatever move is to be made as if it has been practiced for quite some time. There is no defeating a Scorpio mars, only succumbing, bending to its will, and praying that they will take mercy on your soul. 

“If I was born as a blackthorn tree, I'd wanna be felled by you, held by you

Fuel the pyre of your enemies.

Ain't it warming you, the world gone up in flames?

Ain't it the life you, your lighting of the blaze?

Ain't it a waste they'd watch the throwing of the shade?

Ain't you my baby, ain't you my babe?”

Sagittarius Mars [Mars in 9th]

When I picture Sagittarius Mars at its most feral state, I see the serpent in the garden of Eden sliding on its belly and offering an option of freedom, going against the grain of submissiveness. Sagittarius Mars tends to ooze this raw sex appeal that stems from their confidence & their need to question the life around them, never satisfied by what is given to them, instead they leave their own mark on the world before them by embracing individuality and moving along their own path. 

“I'd be the voice that urged Orpheus when her body was found. 

I'd be the choiceless hope in grief that drove him underground.

I'd be the dreadful need in the devotee that made him turn around.

And I'd be the immediate forgiveness in Eurydice,

Imagine being loved by me.” 

Capricorn Mars [Mars in 10th]

When I picture Capricorn Mars at its most feral state, I imagine the fall of an empire, a civilization, a society, forced to come to terms with the fact that its reign has come to an end. Mars in exalt, arguably one of the most powerful placements to have in the natal chart, there isn’t a way to prevent the energy of a Capricorn Mars, they are backed by Saturn, two malefic energies combining to create an unbeatable power and manifesting as strength in the native who claims this energy. 

“It's the light, and it's the obstacle that casts it

It's the heat that drives the light, It's the fire it ignites,

It's not the waking, it's the rising.

It's not the song, it is the singing.

It's the heaven of a human spirit ringing.

It is the bringing of the line, It is the bearing of the rhyme

It's not the waking, it's the rising.”

Aquarius Mars [Mars in 11th]

When I picture Aquarius Mars at its most feral state, I visualize a group of nude women, dancing around an intense fire, the full moon shining only for them as they howl out into the wind. Aquarius Mars is a placement that understands how to honor their roots and get back in touch with themselves to move to the future. They use their past to propel them into new opportunities and to become a higher version of themselves. There is no obstructing this futuristic placement, eyes steady on the prize that remains up ahead. 

“When you move, I can recall something that's gone from me

When you move honey, I'm put in awe of something so flawed and free.

So move me, baby, shake like the bough of a willow tree,

You do it naturally, move me, baby.” 

Pisces Mars [Mars in 12th]

When I picture Pisces Mars at its most feral state, I envision a floating sailor, sinking in with each song that leaves the siren’s voice only to realize that it is too late as the last of air leaves their lungs and they now become one with the siren. Pisces Mars has the gift of “innocence” that people project onto them and they understand how to use it to their advantage and come out on top. Deception is a mastered tool but doesn’t negate the fact that they are simply seductive and persuasive and hold power that many are unaware of. They should continue to move carefully and use their “faults” to their benefit. 

“Feeling more human and hooked on her flesh, 

I lay my heart down with the rest at her feet.

Fresh from the fields, all fetor and fertile

It's bloody and raw, but I swear it is sweet. 

In leash-less confusion, I'll wander the concrete,

Wonder if better now having survived.

The jarring of judgment and reason's defeat. 

The sweet heat of her breath in my mouth; I'm alive.”

Link to Website [Services, Blog, & More!]

[twodimecastle]

fifty bucks & six months.

spencer reid x gender neutral reader new relationship, secret keeping nonsense, 4.5k words, ao3 a/n; turns out i love writing texting fic but tumblr destroys the formatting rip

zero months.

You smile conspiratorially, extending a pinkie towards Spencer and he gives you a skeptical look.

“You know the odds of being found out immediately are-” he starts, but you cut him off.

“Astronomical, I know. I know. But don’t you think it’ll be fun to see how long we can push it?” you wheedle, not caring that your voice sounds more like begging than is strictly dignified because seeing the way Spencer’s nose crinkles in amusement at your heavy handed persuasion is too adorable to pass up. You scoot closer on the couch, tapping the end of his nose with your pinkie finger, letting him catch your hand between his as you continue “I think we’ve got a good shot at hiding it for a little while. It would be like a game.”

Spencer draws your captive hand to his lips, brushing them across your knuckles and watching fondly as you forge ahead in your campaign to persuade him, enjoying the show and the attention too much to tell you he’s already on board. Your eyes are shining with the prospect of the caper, and you’ve made no move to take your hand back from him, and Spencer’s pretty sure he’d be more than happy to sit with you in this moment forever. “I mean-” you go on, gesturing animatedly with your free hand, “you’re like-a really good liar when you want to be. And everyone else always forgets how good you are at it.”

He snorts at that and the sound makes you light up, eyes tracking the arch of his brows, the warmth in his soft brown eyes, memorising the way he looks like this; utterly unbothered, completely at ease. It might be your favourite version of him, but that race has always been a tight one with no clear winner in sight. You have lots of favourite versions of Spencer. Twisting your hand in his, you tangle your fingers together, savouring the way you feel his thumb glide delicately along your skin and the unhidden joy in his face at the simple show of affection.

Time to play your trump card.

“$50 says we can hide it from the whole group for at least six months. If everyone figures it out before then, you win. But if not everyone has worked it out by then, I win.”

The mischievous shine in your eyes is irresistible, and Spencer smiles, disentangling one of his hands from yours to extend his own pinky finger.

“You’re on.”

The words barely make it out of his mouth before you’re colliding with him, pressing your lips to his.

two months.

“So, how long has this whole thing been going on?” Derek’s question catches Spencer off guard, and, based on the way he can see you freeze in his peripheral vision, takes you by surprise as well. Sliding into the driver's seat of the SUV, Derek continues “I hope you didn’t think you were gonna be able to keep me in the dark for long, pretty boy. You should know better than that.”

Following mechanically after him, Spencer takes the passenger seat, trying to frame his next statement as carefully as possible as he hears your door close and the car start. “We were-going to tell you guys-” he begins uncomfortably, glancing back to you for support, but you look just as on edge as he feels. “We were just gonna-keep it to ourselves for a while-before telling Hotch and everything-” he tries again, the mounting tension levering his shoulders higher and higher with every passing moment, but then Derek just laughs, shaking his head.

“Hey, I’m happy for you, kid. For both of you.” He spares a look at you in the back seat through the rear view mirror, and you can feel the tension in your jaw relax, the furrows in your brow straightening out at the note of approval in Derek’s voice. “I’m glad you two finally figured it out,” he says, fondly, and you laugh.

“I bet Spence we could keep it from you guys at least six months,” you explain, reaching forwards through the centre console to link your pinky with Spencer’s, and the touch of your hand releases the last of the tension he had been harbouring as he covers your hand with the other one of his own. He knows Derek clocks the motion, filing it away in his mind somewhere, but he doesn’t care about the scrutiny so much right now. Not when your hand is so warm and comfortable in his.

Derek reaches for the dial on the radio and flicks through the channel, thinking about something, and as you watch, a slow mischievous smirk spreads across his face a moment later before he glances first at Spencer and then at you.

“I’ll tell you what,” he says to you, and Spencer can feel a familiar grin tugging at his own lips as he watches a plan take shape in his friend’s eyes. “I’m happy to sit on this information for a while for a cut of the winnings from whichever one of you comes out on top.” He snorts good naturedly as he continues “I have my own bet to win with Prentiss, so if you two help me win that one, I’ll cut you in too.”

“A quid pro quo of sorts,” Spencer says slowly, and he feels your fingers tighten around his, as you snort softly, and he knows instinctually you’re grinning the same way you always do when you’re winning a game. “I think we can do that.”

Derek grins, turning the music up as he nods, eyes on the road. “Then you two love birds have got yourselves a deal.”

two months and two weeks.

PG: youre not as slick as you think you are ;)

YN: ???

PG: ;))))))))) you should invest in some concealer for your work bag sweetness or tell the good doctor to pay more attention to whats visible in your work clothes

YN: oh my fucking god wait how do you even know thats how that happened

PG: im all knowing and all seeing im like the omnipotent goddess of the fbi

YN: derek blabbed

PG: he sang like a canary but also im an omnipotent goddess im also totally clued in on the whole bet situation with em so for the low low price of every single juicy detail about how this adorableness went down you can buy my silence :)

YN: im getting derek decaf coffee on all coffee runs from now on >:( traitors dont get caffeine

PG: darling sweet angel i need deets all of them like immediately

YN: >:( fine ok so. after that case down in georgia a few months ago? the weird one? with the creepy mother son thing?

PG: omg yuck pls dont remind me im here for the CUTENESS not the MURDER

YN: sorryyyyyyy anyway so spence was like being super weird about it all on the plane and whatever but he was doing that super annoying thing where he ignores it and says hes fine so everyone leaves him alone

PG: YEAH why does everyone here do that ALL THE TIME its SO annoyingggg

YN: ikr its insufferable and like super not subtle ANYWAY. spence was being weird and whatever and i just. refused to let him sulk on his own or whatever like i could tell there was something bothering him and so after work i insisted that we were gonna get like shitty diner food or whatever and watch a movie and he knows better than to say no to me

PG: smart boy

YN: so we got fries and milkshakes and then went back to his place to watch a movie and he was still like weird and silent and like brooding yknow? but whatever just figured hed talk about it when he was ready so i put on a movie and offered to make popcorn and then he was just staring at me and he looked so SAD and TIRED and i thought id done something wrong like the poor guy looked like he was gonna cry and i was panicking over fucking popcorn and then he says ‘why are you always so nice to me?’

PG: oh my god hes like if a sad victorian orphan was actually a triplicate phd holder

YN: i was SO thrown off i was like spencer. spencer were best friends. ive been forcing you to hang out with me for years now why do you THINK im being nice to you its bc i care about you asshole and then. like after another million years after letting me sweat it out over whether hes about to cry for like fucking years the asshole grabs my hand and says. i shit you not. ‘you know im in love with you, right?’ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PG: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YN: anyway hes my boyfriend now :’) dont tell anyone tho gotta win the bet

four months.

Lingering by the elevator, you glance around at the uncharacteristically silent office building, waiting for Spencer to leave the bullpen. The sound of his footfalls drawing nearer makes you smile and you mentally applaud yourself for suggesting the two of you remained behind after disembarking from the plane, taking advantage of the manufactured privacy to take the same car home, back to his apartment.

When he sees you waiting for him, he can’t help the soft fond smile that tugs at his face, as he reaches for your hand, sliding his fingers into yours with a gentle squeeze, the quiet of the building allowing him to indulge in the show of affection. You return the squeeze, leaning your head on his shoulder with a yawn and as he presses a fond kiss to your temple he’s rewarded by a sleepy hum of approval from you that sends a rush of quiet joy shooting through him.

“At least we won’t be sleeping in hotel beds again tonight,” you say, voice weary, and Spencer nods as he shuffles you into the elevator. The doors slide shut and the elevator starts to move and in the moment of absolute privacy, you steal a kiss, tilting your chin up to catch his lips with yours, revelling in the soft huff of surprise he lets out, even as he smiles against your mouth. Even after months, the simple act of kissing Spencer still feels new and thrilling somehow, like you can’t quite believe it’s something you’re allowed to do.

His nose brushes yours and he breathes “unless something big comes up, we get a sleep in tomorrow too,” and the way you beam at him sends his heart racing in his chest, unable to look away from the fondness shining in your eyes.

As the two of you exit the elevator and make your way through the Bureau car park, you tuck yourself against his side, wedging yourself under his arm with a happy sigh, eager to get yourself horizontal and asleep as fast as possible. Spencer brushes his lips against your temple again as the two of you close in on his car, almost free and clear of the office when a voice behind the two of you brings you up short.

“Reid?”

Spencer is reacting before his mind catches up, turning on his heel towards the sound of Hotch’s voice echoing through the parking lot, conscious of the incriminating way you’re still tucked against his side, even as his brain is rifling frantically through any possible excuses for the current circumstances.

“Hotch-” you step away from Spencer, cheeks flaming, not wanting to chance a look at him. “I-we-thought everyone else had gone home,” you trail off lamely, trying your hardest not to balk under Hotch’s ominously impassive scrutiny. A second passes, then another, and the short silence feels like months, or years even as the three of you stand locked in a stalemate.

“I take it the two of you would prefer to keep this under wraps?” He asks, finally, and it registers with Spencer, somewhat belatedly, that Hotch’s tone isn’t admonishing. It isn’t enough to dissipate the tension coiling in Spencer’s muscles just yet, but he spares a glance at you as he nods, and a moment later, Hotch gives the two of you a curt nod of his own. “I’ll tell you what,” he says, a shade of irony colouring his voice. “If you two fill out the paperwork for in-team relationships for me, I’ll keep it to myself. I understand privacy is hard to come by in our office.”

The words take a while to fully sink in, and you’re conscious that you’re standing there blinking and gaping at your boss like a bemused fish for a good few seconds before you’ve composed yourself enough to say “absolutely, sir. Of course. Thank you.”

Hotch nods again, heading towards his own car, and as he passes the two of you, a brief smile flashes across his face.

“Congratulations, you two. Get some sleep.”

four months and three weeks.

Spencer isn’t sure how late it is, but he knows you’re not asleep yet, the faint glow of your phone screen casting faint distorted shadows across his room as your free hand rests lightly on his chest. In the dark blue twilight of his room, the space feels undefined and dream like somehow, the line between his mind and his surroundings blurry or indistinct somehow, and as you huff out a near silent laugh at something on the screen in your hand, a thought rises to the surface of his thoughts like flotsam on an unwanted tide.

The more clinical part of his mind notes the autonomic response in his body, the way his heart lurches unpleasantly in his chest, heart rate rising with an influx of cortisol through his nervous system, automatically rifling through ways to control the anxiety response. Age old instinct surges forwards, starting to push his spiralling anxiety down out of sight so as not to bother you with it, but then your hand shifts infinitesimally on his chest, fingers curling in the soft fabric of his pyjama shirt, and for once his body is miles ahead of his brilliant mind, your name is leaving his lips before he’s really aware of it happening.

Your gaze flashes up from your phone at the sound of his voice, soft and hesitant, and you let the screen go dark as you set it down. You can feel Spencer’s heart hammering against his ribs under your palm, and your brows knit together in concern as you shift closer to his side, tracing gentle circles over his shirt with your fingertips, the repetitive motion intended to soothe, though you’re not sure if it’s for his benefit or yours.

“Yeah, baby?” You ask softly, working hard to keep the rising worry from your voice. After three years of friendship and almost six months of dating, you know him well enough to sense when his propensity for overthinking and catastrophizing is slipping out of his control. You can feel his chest rise as he inhales sharply, whatever he’s about to say cut off by second guessing, doing nothing to pacify your concern. “Spence? Is everything okay?” You ask again.

“This-bet-hiding our relationship-it’s-” he trails off, throat tight as he rolls onto his side, facing away from you, and smushing his face into the pillow, already wishing he hadn’t said anything. You’re the kindest person he’s ever met, but offering up this kind of raw insecurity feels like pulling teeth. Even if it’s you. Especially if it’s you. He doesn’t know if he’s ready to find out if you care about him enough to stay when his racing mind gets the better of him. The pillow muffles his voice as he says “never mind.”

You feel your own heart rate tic up in response to that, matching the wild beat of Spencer’s that you could feel under your palm only a second ago. “Baby, talk to me. What’s on your mind?”

He shakes his head, face still hidden in the pillow. “It’s stupid.”

He can feel the rush of your breath on his back as you sigh, and your voice is almost achingly patient as you say softly “it’s not stupid if it matters to you.” There’s a long pause, and you press yourself against his back, settling close and letting your hand slide over his side to rest on his chest, the heat of his skin sinking into yours even through his thin shirt. In spite of his height, he feels so small as you wrap yourself around him, drawing closer, trying to reassure him without yet knowing what he needs to be reassured of. “Spence?”

“Are you ashamed of-being with me? Is that why you want to hide it?” The words are almost whispered, the sound almost lost against his pillow and your heart sinks, plummeting faster and further than if you’d dropped it off the side of a skyscraper. You should’ve known he might worry about that, should have realised it might have felt that way. Remorse rises hot and bitter in your throat and you swallow it down, trying to steady your voice.

“Spencer. Sweetheart. No. Never. I could never be ashamed. I love you. I’m so sorry.” Your arms wrap more tightly around him and you bury your face against the crook of his neck, the tension you can feel in every inch of his body making you feel more cruel and short-sighted than you already do. “I’m sorry I didn’t realise it might feel like that. I could never be ashamed of being with you, Spence. You’re my favourite person.” He takes the kind of shaky, shallow breath that comes with trying not to cry and your heart breaks a little more as one of his hands slowly moves to cover yours where it rests against his chest, just over his heart.

As his hand rests over yours, his thumb strokes lightly along your knuckles, and he knows you know him well enough to notice the way his hand trembles, just a little, because then your hand is shifting against his, turning to clumsily tangle your fingers with his, holding tighter to him as he tries to collect himself, drawing in a deep, shuddering breath as his eyes squeeze shut. He can hear the contrition in your voice as you say softly “I’ve never really liked having people know everything about what’s going on in my life. And I love our friends but-something like this, that’s so-special? So new? I wanted to be able to keep it to just us for a while.”

“I’m sorry.” His voice comes out a little shaky, scarcely more than a whisper, and it’s more than you can take as you pull back and gently force him to roll over to face you. He’s not crying, but his eyes are glassy and you recognise the fight to keep the tears unshed in the tight set of his jaw and the hard line of his lips. Leaning on your elbow, you lift your free hand to gently smooth out the furrows of his brow, letting your fingers linger along the planes of his face.

“Why are you sorry,” you ask gently. “You don’t need to be sorry, baby. Not for talking to me about things that bother you. We can tell everyone else tomorrow, if you want? We can call off the bet. Derek will live. If he’s got a problem with it I’ll turn all his shirts into crop tops.”

He can tell the joke is a last bid attempt to make him smile, to ease his fear, and it works. In spite of the anxious weight in his chest that feels like it’s pressing him into the mattress, Spencer laughs weakly, meeting your eyes, and he watches as a relieved smile breaks across your face, releasing your lower lip from where you’d trapped it worriedly between your teeth. The unmitigated affection that floods into your eyes renders him momentarily breathless as he takes in the moment. You’re still here, still trying to take care of him. Just as kind and steadfast as ever.

“No,” he says eventually, wrapping his arms around you, pulling you down on top of him like a living weighted blanket, letting your warmth chase the bulk of the tension from his body and luxuriating in the way you curl into him, one hand sliding into his hair. “We shouldn’t call off the bet. We still have to take Emily’s money, remember?”

Your sleepy laugh is the last thing he hears before his eyes close and the feel of your body wound around his lulls him to sleep.

five months.

SR: Can I talk to you about something?

DM: you dying or something? that’s a really fuckin ominous text to recieve out of the blue

SR: I’m not dying, why would that be what you assumed? I just have a question.

DM: just a figure of speech but what’s up?

SR: It’s about your bet with Emily. What’re the terms for it?

DM: wym?

SR: What exactly did you two make the bet about? What needs to happen in order for you to win the bet?

DM: does this count as collusion?

SR: Technically yes, but calling it collusion implies a certain degree of illegality.

DM: whatever anyway the terms i made with em were that you’d make some kind of move before your birthday but she reckoned you were gonna need some kind of near death experience to do anything about your crush why?

SR: I’m just making sure I have all the information.

DM: what’s going on pretty boy? you planning something?

SR: Maybe.

DM: not a helpful answer reid is everything good?

SR: Everything’s fine. We’re just figuring some stuff out. Nothing to worry about.

DM: is there something you’re not telling me?

SR: Don’t worry about it.

five months, three weeks and six days.

In the chaos that was the scramble from the briefing room to the jet, you haven’t yet had the chance to speak to Spencer about the outcome of his most recent thesis defence panel. By the time you’ve got a moment to breathe, the jet is underway, coasting across the country towards Montana, the whole team settled in for the six hour flight. You corner him in the tiny kitchen area of the jet as he’s making a mug of mediocre coffee, fingers tapping out an absent minded rhythm on the countertop as the coffee machine whirs, clearly not paying attention to anything outside of his head.

“Hey, boy genius.” He jumps, whirling around, eyes wide with surprise, and you smile fondly. “So?” You demand, and Spencer raises an eyebrow in confusion. You snort, rolling your eyes as you elaborate. “Your defence panel. Did it go okay?”

You’re shifting your weight and fidgeting restlessly with the belt loops on your pants and as he studies you for a moment, it occurs to Spencer that you’re nervous for him over this outcome. The thought brings an almost giddy smile to his face.

“You know this isn’t my first thesis defence panel, right?” He says mildly, deliberately burying the lede, enjoying the way you scowl in irritation too much to answer your question right away, too enamoured with this display of concern on his behalf.

“Don’t be difficult, Doctor Reid. It’s still a big deal.” He just shrugs noncommittally, and you huff, swatting his arm lightly. “So did it go well?” You ask again, eyes narrowing as you try to dissect his microexpressions, trying to discern the answer he seems determined to keep from you for yourself. A few seconds later, he relents.

“I can now add degree number six to my wall.” He confirms. Getting degrees doesn’t hold the same rush of pride for him now, the accomplishment feeling somewhat less exceptional as he acquires more of them, but the way your face lights up with pride for him reminds him how special the things he’s capable of can be. You’ve always made him feel like more than the sum of his parts somehow, like something infinitely more precious than he always assumed he is.

“I fucking knew it. That’s amazing, Spence,” you say, chest warm and full with pride and love, and his almost shy smile in return is enough to make a decision for you in a split second. Your hand dips into your back pocket, drawing something out, and you carefully hide it from view in your palm as Spencer tracks the motion curiously with his eyes.

Your eyes are shining with affection and something that looks like mischief and the way you’re smiling at him is more than enough to divert his attention as you step closer, just barely noticing as you slip something into his hand. You’re dangerously, distractingly close now, and he’s conscious, if somewhat distantly, that neither of you is concealed from the rest of the team, scant meters away in the seating area of the jet. But you’re smiling and close enough for him to feel your breath on his face and suddenly your lips are on his, and even after nearly seven months of being able to touch you like this, it’s enough to make him forget everything else as he melts into the contact, savouring the warmth of your skin and the faint smell of your shampoo.

You pull back a second later, the kiss over almost as soon as it started, but it’s enough to attract attention, and you can hear a belated ‘oh SHIT’ from Emily in the main cabin of the jet. In your peripheral vision, you can see money changing hands, your friends scrambling to react, but you don’t look at them, choosing to enjoy the bemused, affectionate look on Spencer’s face as his brain catches up to the events unfolding around the two of you.

“I was tired of keeping it a secret,” you say fondly, loud enough only for him to hear. “You win.”

Blinking in confusion, he finally tears his gaze away from yours, fingers uncurling to reveal the fifty dollar bill you had pressed into his palm right before you kissed him. The penny drops and he snorts with laughter, shaking his head in half hearted indignation as his other arm loops around you, pulling you in, letting you rest your head on his shoulder, hiding your face from the rest of the team as he kisses your temple, revelling in the way you wind yourself around him in response.

“I was gonna do this in like two days. I wanted you to win,” he murmurs against your hairline, and he can feel your faint laughter.

“Too bad, baby. I’m used to getting my way,” you say, pulling back to steal another quick kiss before peeling yourself out of his arms with a wink, turning to face the onslaught of ‘care to fucking explain that’ and ‘I fucking told you so’ from the rest of your friends, tugging him with you by your joined hands.

[littlemissnoname13]

Three Days With You - Part Two

Summary: Draco has a rather interesting day planned for the two of you. Joined by familiar faces, old wounds resurface leaving the two of you with more questions than answers.

Warnings: smut,mature language and scenes, drinking, a fair amount of angst, mentions of blood

Word count: 3000

A/n: it’s 4am and I’m sleep deprived. This series is a bit plot heavy as opposed to WOS. I tried so very hard to fit everything under the 3000 word limit I’ve set for each part.

Song that plays as they dance: Fade into you by Mazzy Star

Part one | Masterlist

~~~

Sometime around Umbridge’s reign of terror, 5th year, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry

With his arms folded, Draco casually reclined against the wall and he watched you write lines with Umbridge’s quill. He tried to keep a straight face but it was hard not to wince as he watched the words etch themselves onto your skin.

It seemed that Dolores Jane Umbridgde wasn’t really fond of you. In fact, he was certain she despised you just as much as Potter.

This was your third consecutive evening in detention and as a member of the inquisitorial squad, he was tasked with the duty of keeping an eye on you.

And while you did a moderately decent job of keeping a straight face through the searing sensations, he could sense that you were clearly in pain.

“Murtlap essence.” Draco said quietly and you dropped the quill and turned around to look at him. “It should help with the abrasions.”

“Why are you talking to me, Malfoy?”

Draco arched a brow at your question but internally, he too was pondering why he was talking to you.

Nobody talked to you.

You always spent most of your time scribbling furiously into what looked like a diary of some sort. You barely had any friends and most of his so-called friends were very upfront about their disdain for you and your muggleborn heritage.

“Why can’t I talk to you?” He finally asked, walking up to where you were seated.

“Are you asking me or are you asking yourself?” You quipped and went back to writing lines with that wretched quill. You always seemed so unbothered by everything.

A part of his brain was telling him to shut up and another part of his brain was trying to come up with a witty response just to impress you.

“I’m asking you.” He sighed in defeat before crouching down next to you to look at the gashes on your hand. “Why can I not talk to you?”

“Hm, let’s see..” You said with a bit more salt than you intended to. “Your Pure blood ideals that classify people like me as mudbloods, the prejudice, not to mention Umbitch who wouldn’t be very pleased to see you talk to me while I’m writing lines for her.”

His fingertips ghosted over your cuts, barely making contact with the blood as he contemplated running outside to look for some murtlap essence himself.

“Dont.” You winced when his skin made contact with the cuts. “Just don’t. I don’t need your pity.”

His eyes caught sight of yours as you pulled your hand away and he immediately felt uneasy at the sight of them. It was a kind of wistfulness, a type of yearning and nostalgia for something that never was. Something that never could be. And it somehow made him want it even more.

Draco lifted his hand, letting his fingers brush against your cheek and he heard you reflexively draw in a sharp breath.

He found himself leaning in to capture your lips in his but you hesitated.

“It wouldn’t be justifiable if something happened in between us.” You whispered, leaning an inch away from him. “It would be highly inconvenient for you if someone found out.”

“Then I guess, no one must know.” His voice was hoarse before he crashed his lips into yours.

How was he ever going to explain himself if anyone found out? His whole life, he was taught to be repelled by your kind. He was, however, anything but repelled.

He was swallowing all of the little whimpers that you made and he was revelling in the feel of your smooth skin underneath your shirt.

How was he ever going to justify the way he was slowly allowing his fingers to trace your inner thighs before pushing your panties aside to press his finger into your wetness.

Gods, the sounds you were making when he pushed a finger inside of you.

Why were you allowing him to touch you like this?

Hair tousled, shirt unbuttoned with your breasts falling out, legs spread open for him to see. For him to claim.

“Is this okay?” He asked before taking a slow lick up your soaked cunt and you raked your fingers into his hair and gripped hard as you nodded eagerly.

One taste of you and instantaneously forgot everything that was expected of him. It didn’t bother him what type of blood ran through your veins. The way he wanted to kneel and worship your pretty and wet cunt was more sacred than the entire bloody sacred twenty eight.

When he finally lined his hardened erection up against your entrance, he noticed that you had suddenly tensed. Your hesitation was notable in the way you tilted your head and stared at the floor like your life depended on it.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, using his index finger to tilt your face back to him. “Tell me, y/n. Do you want me to stop?”

That was the first time he’d used your given name and saying it made his ears turn hot.

“No—No I don’t want you to stop.” You whispered, still refusing to look at him. “It’s just that—I’ve never..”

How could he have been so dense?

The way you were digging your nails into his arms, your whimpers, and the way you winced when he pushed his fingers inside you should have told him that you were a virgin.

He caressed your cheeks slightly and dipped his head lower to press a kiss onto your forehead before backing away.

He didn’t want your first time to be with someone like him, during Umbridge’s detention of all places with your cuts still bleeding and seeping into the cotton of his white shirt.

“Draco don’t.” You whispered his given name softly and grabbed him by the arm before he had the chance to walk away. “Don’t go.”

“But y/n—”

You pulled him in and pressed your lips on his before he could reason with you.

He had the choice to walk away from you, from all this but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. It felt different with you.

He asked you one more time before lining himself up against you. And when you gave him a soft and breathy “yes”, he pushed.

Your walls clenched him in and you tried your best to repress your tearful whimper by biting down on the exposed part of his shoulder.

He made sure to be gentle with you when he made the first few thrusts.

Soon enough, your grip on his arms loosened. Your cries morphed into tiny little gasps and moans of his name and you began to kiss the same place you were previously biting.

And at that very moment he knew you had surrendered yourself to him.

Wholly. Completely. Entirely.

At the particular moment, you belonged to nobody but Draco Lucius Malfoy and he—

~~~

Present day, Pilgrim’s Inn, 9:27 Am

Draco, fixing you both a cup of coffee, stilled and snapped out of the flashback inside his mind when you let out a small grumble in your sleep and reached towards his side of the bed.

He couldn’t help but smile to himself when he noticed the visibly annoyed look on your sleepy face when all you felt were pillows and sheets.

As much he wanted to sit and watch you sleep like a mega creep, it seemed like a good time to wake you up.

~~~

He was still wearing the same trousers and black shirt from the previous night when your eyes fluttered open. Only this morning, the shirt was buttoned halfway, exposing most of his chest and torso. The sleeves had been rolled back and you felt your stomach twist into a knot at the sight of his dark mark.

It served as a constant reminder that you only really had three days with him.

Before you could delve deeper into your thoughts, Draco stood up and walked towards the bed with a ceramic mug filled to the brim with coffee causing your lips to twist into a grateful smile.

“Drink up.” He said as he sat down on the chair next to you. “We have a long day ahead of us.”

After a big gulp of the coffee, you put the mug on the bed side table and looked at him.

“We do?”

“Of course we do.” He motioned towards a turquoise box on top of the dresser, sounding giddy and excited. He almost sounded like the carefree and careless Draco you loved to hate from the first few years at school.

You quickly threw the duvet off your body and scurried towards the dresser; the floorboards of the inn creaked as you did so.

“What’s in the box?” You turned your head back to look at him.

Draco’s cheeks were flushed and he was watching you with darkened eyes. His firm grip on the mug made his knuckles turn pale and you only realized you were standing in front of him naked when you saw the growing bulge in his pants

You ignored your own blood rush to your cheeks while you unwrapped the box to see what he was so excited about.

It was an oxblood red dress, with the softest fabric you’d ever touched. Long flowy sleeves and a plunging neckline, it was strikingly gorgeous.

“A Dress Draco?” You raised a brow at him.

“For our very first date. And for later..” he smirked and you scanned the entire dresser to find an appropriate object to throw at him.

“That’s some way to ask a girl out and must you always think about sex?!” You accused even though you were thinking about it too and reached for a book he’d left on top of the dresser to throw at him.

Before launching the book his way, you paused to examine the book on your hand that read Advanced Potion Making by Libatius Borage. It was only then that you realized that more than half of the books he had in the inn were about potions and alchemy.

How could you have not realised? Potions was the only subject he really seemed to enjoy at school.

Even during the nights you spent together back in school, you’d prop yourself up on his bed, wrap a sheet carelessly around your bare body and watch him stay up late to work on his Potions homework.

You’d always encourage him towards a career in potion making and he’d smile wistfully at the idea before turning to look at the snake and skull tattoo on his forearm. With a vacant look in his otherwise mercurial eyes, he’d remind you that he would have liked that if the circumstances were different.

You dropped the book back on the desk and instantly flung yourself into his arms.

~~~~

When he felt you wrap your arms tightly around his torso, Draco stiffened.

The way you were holding him made it seem like you were already saying your goodbyes and he felt as if someone had repeatedly used the cruciatus curse on him. He couldn’t bring himself to think about his life without you in it.

He wasn’t ready.

Draco quickly sorted out his scrambled thoughts and placed his oculomancy walls up as high as he could.

“As sexy as you are naked, I’d very much like to see that dress on you.”

You slightly sniffled before walking back towards the dresser to slip the dress on. The way you struggled with the zipper was adorable to him and he helped you zip it up with a crooked grin on his face.

Considering the present situation, taking you outside of the inn was risky so he’d taken it upon himself to arrange a perfect little lunch at the inn itself. Complete with vintage wine, a lavish main course and a decadent dessert to top it all off.

Sure, it took another huge wad of muggle cash, and coaxing the owner but the look on your face when he fed you a spoonful of chocolate mousse was worth it.

He was going to be the best fucking boyfriend on the face of this planet even if it was only for three days.

Draco took your hand, kissed you on the knuckle, guided you to the table, pulled your chair out for you and tried his hardest to not stare at your cleavage for more than thirty seconds.

Thank Merlin for all of the etiquette training he had to undergo when he was younger!

~~~

The two of you didn't really get around making much progress on the rest of the items on Draco’s itinerary filled with cliched tripes like reading poetry to each other and slow dancing to a song playing on the vintage turntable in the far corner of the room.

You’d never taken him for a romantic but he was adamant on the idea of finding “your song” from the tracks on the record that was spinning round and round.

When the both of you finally stopped bickering and agreed on a song, he stood up in front of you and offered you his hand.

Fade into you. Strange you never knew…

The chorus went as he took the lead and swayed you slowly across the room, careful not to trip on furniture.

Both of you barely made it to the end of the song and you weren’t even surprised.

~~~

“Gods you really do look beautiful in this dress..” he let out a low growl when he stopped dancing to pin you against the mattress and attach his lips to the pulse point of your neck.

To his utter surprise, you wasted no time in yanking his belt buckle.

“I need you…Draco Lucius Malfoy.” You pleaded as you started to pump his length in your hand. “I need you now.”

Urgency was dripping through every syllable that left your lipstick smudged mouth. Arousal was seeping through the fabric of your panties and Draco was afraid he’d come just by watching you like that.

“Say it again..” he whispered as he attached his mouth to your firm nipple. “Please—y/n, just say my name like that again..”

“Draco…”

With no hesitation or remorse, he pried your legs apart and pushed his cock right where it belonged inside of you. The way your body reacted to the motion drove him insane.

He often questioned his place in the universe, it was a constant battle between light and dark, between right and wrong.

But with you, he always felt like he belonged.

“You’re going to make me come…Draco..”

He buried his face into your hair and continued to fuck you like there was no tomorrow.

It was never like this with anybody else for him. And it was never going to be.

“I love you.” You whispered as you succumbed to your orgasm, heedless of the way your words would affect him.

How could you say those words out loud so often and not care about the consequences that came along with it?

“Don’t be selfish..” He groaned, feeling his own high approaching at the sound of those words. “Don’t you dare…”

“I love you.” You moaned, louder this time. “I love—”

He silenced you with a kiss before you could say it again. The weight of those words were always too much for him. Especially when he knew he had less than seventy two hours with you.

Draco began to think about all those years of childish games and wasted time as strong stinging sensations prickled up on his skin.

First, at the pit of his stomach. Then, on his left forearm.

He’d been called upon.

~~~

“Do not leave this inn. You understand?” He warned as he quickly redressed. “I’ll have someone sent over to look after you.”

“I’ll be fine. I promise.” You protested as you wrapped the sheets around your body and got out of bed. “I don’t need a babysitter,Draco.”

His eyes darkened and his expressions hardened as he heard your words and you gulped when he stormed over to where you stood.

“Listen to me carefully.” He gripped hard onto your shoulders and shook you. “Stay put and only open the door if you hear three knocks.”

It took a second for you to let his words sink in but you slowly nodded.

His cold hands cupped either of your cheeks and his forehead pressed up against yours; desperate and frantic eyes stared back at you.

“I have one more thing on my itinerary for us.” He said, conjuring the best smile he could give you before leaning in to press a slow and soft kiss on your lips. “I’ll be back soon.”

You held onto his words, dressed yourself in one of his sweaters, paced back and forth in the room, made yourself a cup of strong black coffee and even read through his extensive collection of books.

After what seemed like an hour, you heard it. Three very precise knocks on your door.

Very anxiously, you opened the door to find a brunette boy giving you a Cheshire Cat kind of smile.

He casually leaned forward to squeeze you into a bone crushing hug as if you were a long lost family member and you scrunched up your nose, awkwardly hugging back.

“I believe a proper introduction is long overdue.” He said as he let go. “Theodore Nott.”

“I know who you are.” You mumbled as you stepped back to let him in. “I have seen you in class.”

“Great.” He smiled as his eyes danced around the room to look at the books, the coffee pot, the turntable and the remains of what used to be the dress Draco got you.

A bright pink flush swiped across your cheeks as Theo disapprovingly shook his head. “I know you both spent half of the day shagging but please tell me you managed to do at least five activities from the itinerary!”

“How do you know all this?”

“Because I had to unfortunately sit and watch him put the blasted itinerary together.” Theo sighed, as he poured himself a cup of coffee from the coffee pot before reaching for a tiny flask inside his jacket. “Occulumancy aside, Ferret is also rubbish at hiding things from me.”

You let out a snort when you remembered Draco the ferret.

After your laughter simmered down, Theo took a rather cautious step towards you before offering you his flask.

“Nothing happened between him and Pansy that day y/n.”

Your heart started to ache as your mind started recollecting that day. That goddamned day.

“And you’re telling me this now because?”

Theo sat down on the floor and patted the empty space next to him with a sad little smile on his face.

“Closure.”

(To be continued….)

~~~~~~

Part three preview:

The two of you laid peacefully next to each other one top of a picnic blanket he’d conjured, somewhere in the middle of a forest clearing

The stark black sky was littered with a million shimmering stars. Protective wards were in place and the air was saturated with the scent of pine wood and moss.

From across the blanket, Draco reached for your hand and gave it a little squeeze and you turned to your side to get a better view of him—his silver hair giving the moonlight a run for its money.

“Lyrids.” He smiled, pointing his index finger at the sky as meteors started falling from the sky, one after another…

TDWY tag list: @nicofiliac @emma67 @kimberlyxmalfoy @palecaramel @letoof @ameliasbitvh @sycathorn-slush @dr4cking @malfoyswifeyy @arzfia @icedlattewithalmondmilk @alisslahey @lieswithoutfairytales @dracoslittlesunflower @dmalfoyswhore @serpentesonagli @dracomalfoys-wh0re

Join the series tag list here.

Love,

A very sleep deprived and delirious vi

[killalluchihas]

good vibes/bad juju - 50

While on a mission overseas, Gojo gets K-O’d by an unknown person. Within a week, every sorcerer in Japan has heard about it. (A JJK OC story - Rated M)

[Chapter One] [Ao3 link] [Previous][Next]

A/N: thanks for making it to chapter 50! This is... a big boy chapter. about 9k+ compared to the 1k-5k range I've stuck to. Things get a little twisty in this chapter, and it's not entirely chronological. Also, a lot of unreliable narration.

chapter fifty - how did we get here? It's not the ending anyone was hoping for. (tw: gore & blood)

I want your silence. You will tell no one, communicate nothing about this domain or this technique. Do we have a deal, Miwa Kasumi?

—/—/—/—

Starting is always harder than stopping. The domain burns as it leaves her, and the world rushes back in.

The exhaustion hits as instantly as the technique, and it very nearly knocks her out cold. Just because Yoshi can use a lot of cursed energy at once doesn’t mean her body has no physical limits. And usually—before joining the school, before she met Gojo—she would know when and how much cursed energy she’d need to do something.

Yoshi hasn’t misjudged a situation this badly in a long time. Not since she was a child, too stubborn and rash to think ahead.

But she stays awake. She’s still trapped under some unknown veil. And despite how frayed Yoshi feels, it’s overpowered by the fierce, raw relief of watching Miwa Kasumi stir awake like a blue-haired bear out of hibernation.

“Eep!” Kasumi yelps, noticing the fungus-like curse next to them.

It’s exorcized, but still in the process of actually disintegrating. The situation has changed, but no time has passed.

“Oh. Ohhh man…” Kasumi sits up on her knees, registering the blood soaking the ground beneath her. She looks at her right arm, naked and whole, and exhales a thin, wavering laugh. “For some reason I thought my suit would be fixed too…”

The student is in one piece, but her blazer and blouse remain in bloody tatters.

Yoshi unzips her jacket and hands it to her. “Be grateful you didn’t lose your pants, ‘cause I’m not generous enough to let you borrow mine,” she says, firm enough that Kasumi doesn’t notice how weary she is.

The girl smiles meekly, wobbling on her feet like a newborn foal. “R-Right. That’d be embarrassing…”

Yoshi turns her gaze upward, pensive. She doesn’t know what the veil does. There could be more intruders outside, or worse—the veil could let her escort Kasumi out, but stop her from re-entering. Without any information about the veil or the attack, she’s stuck.

Idiot. Check your phone. Yoshi takes it out, faintly remembering that it buzzed a while ago. But there’s only one message, and it’s from Gojo.

omw, dont let any of them die (*¯ ³¯*)♡

“Tch,” she scowls at the text. For fuck’s sake. Could he be any more useless?

But Yoshi can extrapolate from that. Gojo still has her seventh bracelet and she knows exactly where he is—flitting around the exterior of the veil, doing fuck all. The veil is barring his entry in some way, and apparently he can’t spare two seconds to explain to Yoshi what’s going on.

I have my instructions, no need to wait.

Yoshi takes out a talisman for Kasumi. “The school buildings move around, but you should end up near Shoko’s office,” she explains. “Stay alert. I’m not going to save you twice.”

That’s not true, but what’s one more lie to Yoshi, when she balances so many?

Kasumi’s eyes flicker over Yoshi’s arms, arms stained red by blood and stained black by ink. There’s a thousand questions swimming in her gaze, but she knows better than to ask.

Why does it have to be a secret?

You have nothing left to trade for that answer.

“Thank you,” Miwa Kasumi whispers.

Yoshi slaps a bracelet on the student, and then she is alone once more in the forest, standing in blood-stained grass.

That’s when things truly go wrong.

—/—/—/—

“Yikes,” Gojo says to himself, finally dropping to the ground. He pulls in his technique until it coats him like a second skin, keeping him from touching the forest’s grass. The last thing he wants is to track blood around campus. “Gross,” he mumbles, examining the deep red puddle beneath him.

There are actually two stains overlapping each other. One is larger, flecks of blood spread to the far edges of the clearing by that blue-haired student. The other blotch is concentrated to a single spot, the spot where Yoshi must’ve stood or fallen. She remained stationary, and so the bleeding followed the course of gravity unhindered, saturating the grass so deeply that even now, her blood hasn’t fully dried.

Gingerly, he picks up the work phone that Yoshi left behind.

The cursed energy residuals are a bit mixed up here. Miwa isn’t so adept at fighting without leaving a trace, so it isn’t hard to identify her path. Comparatively, grade one sorcerers are far more skilled in concealing their presence. Gojo has to take off his blindfold to see it, but there’s enough residuals for him to understand.

And it eats at him, it nips like frostbite on his skin and he’s out in a blizzard with no Limitless. The Six Eyes only help in hindsight. He should’ve seen this coming.

—/—/—/—

To Megumi’s absolute outrage, Shoko singles him out as the only student injured enough to be given mandatory bed rest (not including Inumaki and Kamo, who are already on bedrest).

“But I’m fine,” he protests, immediately stepping away from the healer. “Itadori got his head bashed in by Todo, but I’m the one that’s hurt?”

“You have a mild concussion and two hairline fractures. What, did you have plans for this evening?” Shoko arches an eyebrow in challenge. “If I heal it all now, when you’re already this depleted, you’ll sleep for twelve hours and still feel sore afterwards. Come back tomorrow after you’ve rested properly.”

She’s being completely reasonable, but Megumi still hates it. Especially because Kugisaki starts pulling faces at him, taunting him for getting injured.

“Awww does little Fushiguro-kyun need a nap?” Kugisaki cooes at him. “Want a bedtime story too?”

“Don’t worry about it, Fushiguro!” Itadori says brightly, trying to console him. “We’ll just hang out in your room!”

“Please don’t.” The thought of letting these two idiots run wild in his dorm is giving him a headache. Megumi turns his face away. “I’ll lock you out.”

They end up in his room anyway.

—/—/—/—

Gojo returns to the main buildings to speak with Ijichi Kiyotaka. The assistant is reading over a clipboard while listening to a phone call, trying to put together all the pieces that make up the entirety of this attack.

“The forest is cleared,” Gojo informs him.

Ijichi, looking even more pale and pinched than usual, nods vigorously. “Forest cleared by Gojo-san. That leaves—ah, I see. No, we’re covering the rest of the search. Thank you, Mei-san.” Ijichi ends the call with fumbling fingers.

“That bad, eh?” Gojo mutters. “At least Mei’s being useful, even if she’s staked out in the viewing room with all the snacks…”

“Mei has confirmed that the students are alive, but we have other casualties,” Ijichi tells him. His jaw tightens. “We’ll meet at five to discuss it.”

On the clipboard, there’s a rough outline of the buildings that were attacked while the students were under the veil. He’s already scrawled out the names of eight sorcerers and assistants that were found dead.

“Hm,” Gojo nods slowly. “Will this meeting include Yoshi, Mei and Naoya? They’re already involved.”

“If you request it,” Ijichi bows his head. “But I don’t thi—” He cuts himself off prematurely, bowing again. “Pardon me.”

For once, Ijichi has an interesting reaction. “What do you think?” Gojo probes.

The assistant fiddles with his glasses. “That may be the first time you’ve ever asked me that.”

“Oya, you make me sound so heartless,” Gojo smacks him on the back, making the thin man lurch forward and nearly drop his clipboard. “Go on. What’s the problem?”

“The problems,” he says quietly, “Are that Mei’s crows did not maintain a consistent coverage of the forest. She avoided Itadori quite a lot. And Zenin, his whole family has a persistent and vested interest in discrediting this school.” He smooths down the folded corner of his note sheet fretfully.

Gojo grins. “Naoya’s useless. Mei can stay.”

Ijichi’s eye twitches. “Very well. As for Yoshi,” he continues haltingly, “…I have news concerning the branch council.”

“Oho?” Gojo’s eyebrows rise in mild interest. Idly, his thumb traces the scratched edges of the phone in his pocket. “Finally. You sure took your time.”

The assistant stammers out an excuse about unruly allies, but Gojo doesn’t really care. He knew it’d be a time-consuming investigation, that’s why he dumped it onto a manager.

Even before she was ranked as a grade one sorcerer, Yoshi knew how to hide. Back in August, Gojo had resorted to rummaging through curse activity records for a dozen foreign nations in order to find her. The branch council in America operates almost entirely independently of Japan, and has done so for half a century—still, Gojo didn’t appreciate how uncooperative they were over the exchange of information.

The branch council should’ve investigated New York years ago.

The sorcerers in the area should have felt it when the curses began to disperse in 1996—presumably on the 11th of February, Yoshi’s birthday—and conduct a search to understand what had happened. And even if they searched the metropolitan area off the records and failed to find an answer, it still doesn’t add up. Mariko Ariyoshi isn’t a strong sorcerer. She couldn’t have hidden Yoshi for so long without help.

It makes sense that in her adulthood Yoshi came up with ways to lay low, but for all the years before that—why would local sorcerers ignore the most densely-populated area of the country?

“Gojo-san,” Ijichi says hesitantly. “It’s… troubling.”

There’s rarely a situation in which Gojo would willingly defer to this scrawny little suit. But he can’t deny that Ijichi is profoundly loyal to the school and its students.

“Before you tell me,” Gojo begins, tucking his hands into the front pockets of his jacket. “Tell me if you think the students are in danger because of her. If you suspect she’s connected to this attack in any way, I’ll respond accordingly.”

The assistant adjusts his glasses again, needlessly. “No,” he concludes. “Nothing has led me to believe Yoshi is a direct threat to the students.”

Gojo hums casually, pulling away from Ijichi and stolidly ignoring the fierce relief now melting through his whole body. It’s disconcerting. Gojo already knew Yoshi was a good addition to the school, so why does it feel like his bones are defrosting, like his lungs have finally thawed enough to take in fresh air? How did he get to this point?

“Then that’s it,” Gojo says blithely. “That’s all that matters for now, isn’t it?”

Ijichi nods tersely. “I… agree. For now.”

He grins. “Excellent. Now scram, I left a curse-user with Gramps, he’ll need help with that.”

Ijichi startles. “Wait, we captured—?”

Gojo flees before Ijichi can get the question out.

—/—/—/—

Once the students are all crammed into the infirmary, all intact and already chattering amongst each other, Yoshi slips away and heads back to her apartment.

Chilled fabric sticks and unsticks itself to her skin. Her neck is sore and searing. She’s made some wrong moves. Maybe even some that can’t be corrected.

As soon as she passes the threshold of her apartment, Yoshi tears off her wet shirt and darts to the bathroom.

She’s covered in blood. She feels it all over herself, dried and flaking, tacky and cold. Under yellowed lights, Yoshi examines her torso in the mirror over the sink.

It’s difficult to see the damage. The strike she took was from the back. Just around her left flank, around her last two ribs. Two seals are interrupted, and rendered inactive. Stability seals, for pressure and heat.

“Lucky shot,” she mutters.

After yanking off the rest of her clothes, Yoshi turns on the shower and steps in while it’s still cold… and then she leans out, picks up all her nasty clothes, and brings it into the shower to wash too. Bloodstains are hard to get out once they’ve set in, and it’s not like anyone else is going to do her laundry.

The task of hand-washing her clothes is mundane and familiar enough that she can forget, for a little while, how enormously she’s fucked this up.

Her shoulder aches. That tidal wave jacked up her arm. Then she went ahead and spent non-existent hours (minutes? days?) inscribing cursed energy, rediscovering the shape of a near-dead girl. Yoshi hates to say it, but it was quicker this time because Junpei had allowed it, had been willing to be pulled apart—

It’s an ugly thing, the knowledge trapped in her head.

When she feels less like a horror-movie victim, clean and dry and wearing new clothes, Yoshi finally collapses onto her sofa. It’s a small sofa, just long enough to lay down on if she tucks her feet in, but she likes it. She’ll have to be careful and keep a towel under her neck so she doesn’t ruin the upholstery, though.

Yoshi lifts up her arms, considering her five remaining talismans.

Gojo doesn’t have that talisman anymore—when he tampered with it, he burned through the physical bracelet. There’s a usable blue bracelet in the infirmary.

Yoshi picks at a red bracelet, and then slides it off her wrist. There’s still a plan in her mind, the next steps are right in front of her, but Yoshi wonders if they’re just more wrong moves. Maybe there aren’t any right moves left.

She should contact Wendy. Yoshi dropped her work phone in the woods, but old phone is somewhere around here, still connected to messaging apps—

A heavy crack breaks through her thoughts.

It should alarm her that the sound came from her front door, but Yoshi has a fairly good idea of what just happened. Instead of rising, she shuffles backwards, extending her head over the armrest just as the front door swings open. Her view is upside-down, but even Yoshi can’t mistake that white-haired giraffe for anyone but Gojo. His voice slices through the thick silence effortlessly.

“Yoshi! Ah—did you just take a shower?” An easy grin slides over his face as he takes off his shoes in the entryway. “Without me?”

Her eyes narrow, ignoring that. “You broke the doorknob. What’s up?”

“It was already broken,” Gojo lies swiftly, grin turning playful.

The only furniture in Yoshi’s living room is the sofa and a coffee table, but Gojo isn’t the least bit deterred. He flips a kitchen chair around, planting it in front of her, and lays himself over it like an indolent house cat stretching into a spot of sun-warmed carpet. If it weren’t for the way his legs stick out gracelessly over each side of the chair, she’d think he was comfortable.

“You could’ve knocked,” Yoshi points out. Her fingers continue to pick at the edge of her bracelet as she thinks.

“What, and risk you jumping out a window to avoid me?” he scoffs, eyebrows raised.

His annoyed tone confuses her for a moment. “I’m not avoiding you,” Yoshi frowns.

Then he reaches over and plucks the talisman out of her hands. “Then why must you always have an escape plan?” Gojo queries, depositing the curled red bracelet onto the coffee table beside him. Yoshi has four more talismans at her disposal, but she gets the hint.

If Yoshi wanted to flee, Gojo wouldn’t be able to stop her. And it would be quite damning if it happened right after a huge security breach.

“I said I’d tell you,” she says, watching him.

She can’t really meet his gaze properly. It’s not because he’s wearing a blindfold—it’s just now that she's sunken into place, Yoshi absolutely sees no reason to ever leave this sofa. She’s going to stay right for as long as physically possible.

“You tell me a lot of things, Yoshi.” He rests his chin against his chair, lowered to eye-level. “And yet I barely know what goes on with you.”

He’s completely right, but Yoshi doesn’t know how to reply. There’s no crime here, no guilt to admit to. “...I said I’d tell you,” she repeats at last. “So will you let me tell you?”

Gojo considers it. Then he slides off his blindfold, pinning her again with the full focus of the Six Eyes. “I’m listening,” he answers.

Yoshi has the sudden, errant thought that she really likes her apartment. It’s sparse and small, but the windows face south. Sunlight streams freely into the room, and at this hour, at this angle, it lays a fair glow over everything she sees, and all she sees is him. He looks like polished marble. His eyes look moonlit in midday. She can’t fathom why he’d ever call her radiant.

Gojo, Yoshi repeats internally, but then she’s thoroughly mired. Six Eyes. Gojo.

But it’s pointless to try. If a name doesn’t come to mind when she sees a face, or if she hears a name and can't recall the face, just thinking about it more doesn’t help.

Gojo raises his eyebrows again, expectant. “Why don’t you start with why you sliced up your neck?”

“...I can’t start there,” Yoshi remarks hesitantly. “That’s the ending. It starts with your stupid text message.”

She watches the corners of his mouth curl upward for a moment. “It wasn’t stupid,” he says earnestly. He looks like he’s trying really hard not to bicker with her. “I even put a heart at the end.”

“Are you going to have a comment on every single thing I say?”

“Probably.” Delight begins to trickle back into his expression, lighting up his face little by little. “I’ll still listen, though!”

And he does. It takes a while to explain everything that happened under the veil, but he listens to everything Yoshi tells him.

And he accepts it, believes every truth she speaks. He believes the lies, too.

—/—/—/—

Around five o’clock, Utahime files into a private room alongside Gojo and Mei Mei. Naoya is still recovering in the infirmary, though Utahime suspects Gojo just didn’t want to include him. Whether or not Shoko is delaying his treatment intentionally, Utahime doesn’t particularly care to know either.

What she does care about is the other missing sorcerer.

“Where’s your new teacher, Gojo?” Mei drawls, beating her to it.

We could use Mei Mei, Utahime muses to herself. I’ll investigate the Kyoto branch, but Mei’s crows are great for spying.

There’s a slight frown on Gojo’s face, but he just shrugs. “She’ll turn up. Yoshi’s punctual, unfortunately.”

Sure enough, the young sorcerer appears a few minutes later, just after the principals arrive. She sits down next to Utahime, cross-legged and quiet, but there’s no time for Utahime to ask how she’s faring. With all of them assembled, they begin to discuss the attack.

Throughout the meeting, Utahime feels like a grade school student again, attentive to the day’s lesson while trying to get a read on the new girl. Of course, she listens properly while Ijichi reports the eleven casualties—all sorcerers and managers, but not a single student—but then Principal Gakuganji starts to bluster about the multiple stolen cursed objects, and Utahime’s attention strays back to the talisman sorcerer.

Yoshi’s hair is damp and loose over her shoulders, laying in waves instead of tangled curls. Without being tied back, her hair spreads out so much that Utahime can’t see the profile of her face. She changed clothes too, but overall, nothing in the young woman’s demeanor speaks of the anger that Momo described. It’s curious, but Utahime is glad she seems okay.

The day has been grim, but the meeting goes rather smoothly. The details of the attack would remain confidential, but Gojo insists on continuing the goodwill event. They’ll give the students another day to recover, and the final event will be held on Friday.

It’s nearing seven o’clock by the time they’ve been dismissed. Utahime rises stiffly, wiggling her toes to get the blood flowing as she turns to Mei Mei with hopeful eyes. “You’ll stay for Friday’s event, right?”

Since Mei isn’t a teacher, she can nominate the students for promotion if she sees potential in them.

“I’m afraid not. I’m leaving tonight.” Mei shrugs languidly, letting her braid swing against her chest. Utahime’s face falls. “Don’t fret, Utahime. I got a good look at all the students.”

“Oho?” A too-wide smile is plastered onto Gojo’s face as he slides into their conversation. “Really, all of them? Even Itadori?”

Utahime winces. She stays out of it when she can, but there’s certainly some conflict of interests at work today.

Mei smiles behind her curtain of hair. “They all performed well. Now, I think it’s getting late…”

“Don’t go,” Utahime sighs in exasperation. “Don’t let Gojo run you off, we should at least get dinner together,” she urges, eyes narrowed at her old friend. “Have you even visited Shoko? When’s the next time we’ll all have the time to meet up like this?”

Mei’s red lips flatten into a tight line. “I really can’t. You know how my brother gets…”

Utahime relents, holding her tongue. Mei’s little brother worships the ground she walks on, and Mei does everything to encourage it. Utahime’s disapproval has frayed the once-solid friendship between the two of them, and she doesn’t want to make it any worse.

As Mei Mei murmurs her farewells, Yoshi speaks up out of the blue.

“You wanted to know about the Kusumoto clan, right?” she asks. Yoshi isn’t looking at any of them, but there’s new tension in her posture belying her discomfort.

Utahime’s eyes grow wide, but she quickly shutters away her surprise.

Mei Mei stills. She cocks her head towards Yoshi. “Kusumoto clan?” she repeats shrewdly. “I’m fairly sure I mentioned a school, not a clan.”

Yoshi looks beyond reluctant when she looks up, but she replies, “Plenty of the disciples considered themselves a family once they took the name.”

Utahime takes a furtive look around them. The hall is empty at this point besides the four of them. Yoshi waited until the principals were gone…

She eyes Gojo, hoping that his expression might clue her in about Yoshi’s sudden disclosure about the Kusumoto school, but he seems equally curious.

“That’s a striking claim, considering that they’re all dead,” Mei remarks. Her painted lips quirk upward, like she knows what’ll be said next.

“They’re not all dead,” Yoshi says flatly.

“What?” Utahime blurts out, unable to hide the horror in her tone. “What does that mean? I thought you lived in America, surely the cult isn’t still active there?”

Gojo makes a surprised noise. “Ooh, I didn’t even think of that one,” he says, tapping his chin with one hand. “Good theory, Utahime-sensei.”

She stares at him, flummoxed.

“The cult’s gone,” Yoshi says, shooting Gojo a strange look too. “I meant the serial killer.”

“Ah, that’s right,” Mei Mei says, like the pieces have finally slid into place. Gojo echoes her reaction, comprehension dawning on him.

Utahime, on the other hand, wants to pull out her hair. “Serial killer?” Her voice pitches up in alarm. “What serial killer? What are you talking about?”

Yoshi gives her a vaguely apologetic look. “In 1967, a man was arrested for the massacre of dozens of religious followers. That’s the public story the jujutsu order was able to push,” she explains. “He was a talisman scholar, and as Mei said, he was responsible for the disbandment of the Kusumoto school.”

“And he’s still alive,” Mei concedes, dipping her head. “Bundled up in a straightjacket, and too deranged to be a threat anymore.”

“That’s one way to make it to old age,” Gojo interjects cheerfully. Utahime scowls.

Yoshi’s eyes remain fixed on Mei, but her expression is still unreadable. “The jujutsu council opposed their methods for years. With that incident, they had a justification for their disapproval and the solution to it all at once. With the school gone, the issue resolved itself.”

Quite abruptly, Utahime recognizes why this situation feels so uncomfortable.

Sorcery tangled up in religious fervor. Conflicting philosophies. Death, so much death. It’s not the same history, not the same domino effect that crushed Suguru, but Utahime’s gaze still drifts to Gojo. It’s still a tragedy, and apparently some part of this story resulted in Yoshi. She has to wonder what it is about Yoshi, about a cultish school and secretive talismans, that led Gojo to trust this woman in the first place.

“But if you look at the case, they never figured out why he attacked his own disciples,” Yoshi remarks. “No one ever tried to make sense of it.”

Mei arches a single, thin brow. “And you know what really happened?” she asks, not skeptical of Yoshi but genuinely intrigued. “Because sorcerers have investigated since then. The Kusumoto school was a cult that mutilated its members and annihilated itself, or do you disagree with that assessment?”

Yoshi opens her mouth, but at that moment, Gojo’s phone goes off.

“Aw,” he whines loudly when he checks the message. “I just got out of a meeting.”

“What?” Utahime eyes him, stunned. “You have to leave?”

His face twists a little as he looks at his phone. “...Yes,” he admits, and that throws Utahime for another loop. Gojo never answers his calls this quickly, yet he’s already stepping away from them to leave. It must be truly urgent. “Have a nice evening, ladies. I have to tend to some dusty-musty relics.”

“O-Oh, just a minute,” Utahime gasps suddenly, “I need to talk to you, Gojo—Wait up!” she snaps, trailing after him. She still needs to ask if Mei Mei can be added to the investigation, though she hates to leave Yoshi and Mei Mei in the middle of the conversation. “Gojo, would you slow down?!”

Lengthening her strides, Utahime is fully scowling again by the time Gojo finally relents and stops for her.

“Why are you mad?” he exclaims upon seeing her face. “I thought you’d appreciate me acting punctual!”

“I wanted to ask you in person,” Utahime hisses breathlessly. “About Mei Mei, what do you thin—?”

“Oh, she’s not invited to the party.”

Her temper flares at once. “Would you at least let me finish my damn sentence?!”

Gojo pouts at her like a child. “But that’s what you were asking, isn’t it?”

“It is, but you didn’t have to be so rude,” Utahime all but snarls, even though she has no real basis for it other than Gojo Satoru’s infuriating presence. “Why won’t you consider it?”

“I did,” Gojo cocks his head to one side. “She’s not much of a partier, y’know? Not the right vibe.”

She blinks. “What…?” What the hell did he mean by partier? What vibe?! Utahime is stuck. She can’t ask for clarification when they’re speaking in code!

“Weren’t you curious?”

Utahime looks at him again, puzzled.

His eyebrows rise, pulling at the cloth blindfold. “Don’t you wanna know how Yoshi learned so much about talismans?”

Utahime closes her mouth, contemplating. He’s baiting her now, dangling a question like that in front of her. It’s not like Gojo to talk behind someone’s back, not about gossip. Maybe there’s something more to Mei’s speculation about that school after all. Now that Utahime reflects on it, Mei Mei and Yoshi both agree that a massacre took place, forcing a disbandment, but…

“What else is there to know?” Utahime asks quietly. Surely there were no survivors—even if the jujutsu council ignored eyewitness accounts, anyone that investigated independently would have noticed. Right?

“Eh?” Gojo gives her a dumbfounded look. “If you wanted to know, why’re you here with me instead of listening to Yoshi?”

In a flash, she’s back to scowling. “Gojo—!”

“Later, Utahime.” He gives her a jaunty wave and vanished.

“That man!” Utahime seethes, fisting her hands. She’s sure she’s going to end up with high blood pressure if she hangs around him too much. She stomps back the way she came, hoping it won’t be awkward if she slides back into the discussion—

The hall is empty.

Utahime’s jaw drops in outrage. They just left? Why?! She said it’d only take a minute!

Shoko would never treat me like this.

—/—/—/—

Around seven o’clock, Nobara has the bright idea that they’re going to have pizza for dinner. To her, it doesn’t matter at all that they demolished two pizza pies for lunch, or that Megumi still doesn’t like all that grease and cheese, because—

“New York pizza,” the stubborn girl insists. “It’s completely different. It’s famous. Let’s go find Yoshi-sensei.”

Then she tears the comforter off of Megumi’s bed for good measure, managing to knock Yuji to the ground in the process. He has to give credit where it’s due—Itadori is a heavy guy for Nobara to push around. “Fushiguro! You’re coming too, you’re the only one that knows where her apartment is.”

Megumi gets to his feet, but only because he doesn’t want Nobara to get physical with him. She’s still sort of riled up, like the adrenaline never really left her once she started fighting Dagon. It’s probably because of Naoya. She wouldn’t say much, but Megumi thinks Nobara’s a little rattled after meeting the clan heir.

“You can’t seriously think it’s alright to ask her to fetch pizza from the other side of the world for us,” Megumi points out. “You know the state she was in when we left the veil.” He eyes Yuji in particular, judging him for already having slipped on his shoes.

“I know!” Yuji squawks once he notices the glower. “But—I wanna visit Yoshi-sensei anyway. Nobara’s gonna be shot down, but—“

“Okay, shut up,” Nobara interrupts, yanking on a jacket. “I've reevaluated! Given that it’s six in the morning in New York—get that grin off your face, you sea urchin—we’re not getting pizza. But Yoshi totally snuck off from the infirmary, and she hasn’t even answered my daily reminder of the rising interest on the loan she’s taken out—”

“The nail polish thing,” Megumi answers Yuji before he can ask.

“—So it wouldn’t hurt to check in on Yoshi. I don’t like this radio silence.”

I’ll explain what I can as soon as I can, Yoshi had told him. Megumi doubts that Yoshi will have anything new to say, but he shuffles out of his room after his classmates anyway.

He doesn’t want to be nosy, but the cuts Megumi saw on Yoshi’s neck looked exactly like the curse marks of Ryoumen Sukuna. And when Yoshi created that strange flaming arrow, pulling out of thin air, she’d never felt more malevolent. Maybe he won’t get answers, but like Nobara said, it wouldn’t hurt to check on her.

Outside the dorms, the air is cool and humid. Yuji sticks his head out and swivels it around in every direction. “I think the coast is clear,” he announces warily.

Nobara clicks her tongue in disapproval. “That guy’s crazy. How do you stand him?”

“I dunno,” Yuji admits, aggrieved. “It’s all a blur! We had a really good vibe going in that fight. It felt like, as long as me and Todo kept going, no bad juju would ever touch us!”

Megumi raises an eyebrow at his language.

“What the hell is your vocabulary?” Nobara demands, noticing it too. “Bad juju? What does that mean?”

“Just—bad stuff!” Yuji makes a flailing, ambiguous gesture with his hands. “Forget it—I’m just saying that everything felt right.”

“Yeah. With that gorilla.” Nobara sneers. “He’s still nuts. You weren’t there when he attacked Fushiguro and Yoshi-sensei.”

“Eh?” Yuji straightens up. “When—?”

“While you were dead,” Nobara and Megumi reply simultaneously.

Yuji whines. It’s the fourth time today they’ve brought it up.

“It was on the first day we met her, too,” Megumi adds, suddenly pitying their new teacher all over again. “I don’t know why Yoshi’s stuck around…” but then he stops, because he does know why Yoshi has stayed in Tokyo for so long.

He turns to his classmates, a weird sense of indignation building his chest. “I went to New York with Yoshi-sensei on Monday,” Megumi says purposefully. “She had to make a visit, because Naoya paid someone to burn down her apartment in Queens. People thought she died because she disappeared at the same time. Some little kids were about to put on a memorial service for her.”

The two of them stare at Megumi, dumbstruck.

“What?” Nobara shrieks.

“Yeah,” Megumi agrees.

“So, you went to Queens…” Yuji grimaces at the cold look Megumi levels at him, “To tell everyone she was alive?”

Though Yuji would deserve it if they brought up his own fake death again, Megumi chooses to overlook it this time, and instead explains the situation with Yoshi’s former baseball team. He pauses, gathering his thoughts. “...Don’t you think she’s doing too much? She’s almost as new to the jujutsu world as Itadori, but there’s so much she’s expected to do.”

Kugisaki doesn’t seem to get it, but Itadori does.

“Your nail polish, Kugisaki. I already told you about my mission with Nanamin,” Yuji reminds them. “Yoshi wasn’t even working on the case, but she helped anyway. It protected us both from the curse's technique right up until it activated a domain. And that chocolate thing—”

He presses his lips together and says no more, but Megumi and Nobara know who’s on his mind. Yoshino Junpei, who wasn’t a sorcerer until he suddenly was. Who could summon a luminous jellyfish shikigami, who had died at the hands of a special-grade spirit, who was rebuilt but not saved by Ariyoshi Reina’s potent talisman work.

“Wasn’t…” Nobara’s eyes narrow in thought. “Wait. Fushiguro, we were there when she got the call from Nanami Kento. She asked for my nail polish the same day.” Megumi blinks. “She was still in a hospital bed! After Zenin fuckin’ Naoya stabbed her in the gut!”

“Like I said,” Megumi mumbles. “Don’t you think she’s doing too much?”

Yuji slumps. “Man, how did Gojo even find a person like her? She wasn’t even a registered sorcerer.”

“Germany,” Nobara answers swiftly. “No one’s sure what happened, but afterward, Gojo got obsessed and started pestering branch councils around the world to track her down.”

Even Megumi isn’t sure of what went down at their first meeting, but he knows more about Germany than the other two. He doesn’t want to bring up Tsumiki, but… “There’s an ongoing investigation,” Megumi says hesitantly. “It’s an international case that Gojo and Yoshi were pursuing independently. After they crossed paths in Germany, they eventually figured out they were looking for the same thing.”

“International?” Yuji repeats. “That must be why they went to Bolivia. Makes sense, I was wondering about the salty desert thing.”

Of all the ways that Itadori could have responded, Megumi never expected him to bring up a salty desert.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The salty—Uyuni, I looked it up after Gojo told me about it!” Yuji insists earnestly, “Gojo and Yoshi went to Bolivia. And I think he lost Yoshi’s shoes.”

Well, it is Gojo. Maybe he did go to Bolivia.

“Bolivia, Germany, Cambodia, New York,” Nobara begins to count off the countries. “Kinda insane when you think about all the running around she does.” She frowns. “Especially today, using those tilaks to get to everyone. It’s a lot of information to process. It’s a lot of scribbly stuff to memorize!”

Megumi points up ahead. The faculty buildings are a little larger than the student dorms, but they look pretty much the same. “That one is Yoshi’s,” he informs them.

Nobara spins on her heel, bright hair swishing against her cheeks. “Guys, don’t be dicks. Yoshi’s been through a lot. If she doesn’t want company, leave her alone!”

It takes all of Megumi’s energy to bite his tongue instead of snapping, That’s what I’ve been telling you this whole time.

“I get it, I get it,” Yuji assures her as he steps up to the front door to knock. “We’re not gonna push her—oh.” Yuji stares at the door, flabbergasted as it swings open. “Uh oh.”

“What did you do?” Nobara gasps. The doorknob hangs loose and crooked, like it was twisted until the locking mechanism snapped.

“I just knocked, it was already broken!” Yuji cries.

“Hey!” Megumi yells, pushing the door open a little more. The lights are on, but he can only see the wall of the entryway. He feels weird about just inviting himself in, though. He doesn’t sense any bad energy around here. “Sensei, are you there?”

“Are you alive?!” Nobara adds loudly. “You better be, you owe me money!”

Yuji bounces on the balls of his feet. “Sensei! Can we come in? I don’t think this is what an open-door policy looks like—”

“Yo!” The door suddenly opens all the way, and the students balk.

Oh, no.

Gojo grins back at them. “What’re you kiddies doing here? Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

This is not what Megumi wants to deal with right now. He doesn’t know what this is, but he doesn’t want it. Gojo isn’t dressed in a uniform, he’s in casual clothes. He’s wearing sunglasses that sit low on his nose, and his hair is down and loose—

This asshole looks way too comfortable. The prospects are not good for Yoshi.

“Oh, hey Gojo-sensei!” Yuji greets him. He’s the only one that isn’t reflexively unhappy to see the white-haired sorcerer. “I didn’t know you lived with Yoshi-sensei!”

Though it could be his imagination, for a split second, and for the first time in Megumi's life, Gojo actually looks terrified. But then Gojo gasps, loud and melodramatic. “I don’t live here! Yuji-kun, take it easy, you’re gonna give your teacher a heart attack!” he exclaims, clutching at his chest with his free hand. “I’m too young for that!”

“Oh, sorry,” Yuji immediately backtracks. “I guess that’s a big step, I shouldn’t have assumed—”

“Very funny!” Gojo cheerfully slaps his hand over Yuji’s mouth. “I’m here on teacher business, that’s all. Now get lost, it’s long past office hours! Send an email or something.”

Megumi scowls, swatting Gojo’s hand off of Yuji. “Don’t lie. Did you break this door? What’s going on?”

“I will also take a message if it’s really urgent,” Gojo wheedles. “I’ll pass it on when she’s back.”

“Wait,” Nobara frowns, “Yoshi isn’t even home?”

“Nope,” he confirms. “She’s out on teacher business.”

—/—/—/—

“You three are lively today,” Gojo observes as the shortest and most wrathful of his first year students stomps through the entryway, toeing off her shoes in the most politely aggressive way possible. Honestly, it’d make Utahime proud.

“Why are you snooping around Yoshi’s house while she’s gone?” Nobara says accusingly, spinning on the heels of her sock-covered feet.

“You’re the one snooping,” Gojo remarks, bemused as Megumi and Yuji take off their shoes in the genkan. “I didn’t even say you could come in! Do you see the size of this place? Now we’re over capacity.”

“Gojo-sensei,” Yuji pipes up, “If you don’t live with Yoshi, and you’re not snooping, what are you doing here?”

“And don’t say teacher business,” Megumi warns. He’s eyeing Gojo with deep prejudice, arms crossed, but it’s very hard to take him seriously when Gojo’s seen him make that same pouty face from age seven to fifteen.

But, even with Megumi’s cute pout face, It’s very clear that these three are on a mission. They’re not going to stop pestering him until Gojo answers their questions. Of course, he could just leave, but—he’s waiting.

“…I’m not supposed to blab,” Gojo complains, sighing a big gust of air as he flops onto Yoshi’s egregiously small couch. He pulls out his phone, musing over how long it’s been since Yoshi left. “She’ll arrive any minute, alright?”

Is he stalling? Yes. The students are much nicer when Yoshi’s around, especially Megumi. It’s kind of rude at this point when he thinks about it.

“You mean she’s off-campus,” Nobara states, eyes focused on the bracelet sitting on Yoshi’s coffee table. “And she’s gonna teleport back here with that anchor.”

“Correct,” Gojo throws her a thumbs up. “Oh! This might be a good time to mention it,” he continues, sitting up. “A lot happened during the attack. That veil was used to keep my attention on the forest while another attack was initiated in the main buildings. Gakuganji and Utahime ran into curse users—we interrogated one, confirming that the special grade curses you encountered are cooperating with humans. And…” Gojo eyes Megumi in particular, “We confirmed that this group is at least partially responsible for the curse seals that have been appearing on civilian victims around the world.”

A young and androgynous monk, white-haired with a spot of pink in it.

The description given was far too specific. It’s the sorcerer that used an ice technique to cause chaos in Germany just before Yoshi could revive a potential witness.

Megumi doesn’t react much, but he’s had years to learn how to read thi kid. His jaw tightens, his arms, already folded, hide the way his hands squeeze into fists. “So Yoshi was right,” Megumi surmises. His eyes flicker to the other students. “She suspected a connection between the curses and those curse seals I mentioned, but couldn’t prove it,” he explains to his classmates.

“She had proof,” Gojo admits, laying his head back. “Kinda. But it was impossible to share.”

After all, the proof came from Wendy’s uncanny earrings, and Yoshi, for good reason, never wanted her to be so involved. Civilians aren’t even supposed to know about sorcery, let alone work alongside a sorcerer. Wendy ‘feeling a vibe’ isn’t a credible source. It’s a shame that it took two attacks and so many deaths—in Osterby and now here in Tokyo—before Gojo had any sort of conclusive evidence to back her up.

“That being said—”

“How did they get past Tengen’s barrier?” Nobara cuts him off. “And know when to attack, and where to go—is there someone leaking information?” she asks abruptly, answering her own question.

“There must be,” Megumi agrees, leaning against the counter next to Yuji. “That tree curse didn’t just know that Yoshi-sensei used talismans—it tried to stop her from teleporting, it recognized the signs when she went for her wrist.”

This isn’t news to Gojo, of course, but goodness—Megumi really is a sharp kid. Someone must’ve raised him well. “Yoshi said that the curse recognized her as the talisman user,” Gojo begins. “And, though I personally doubt it, since Mei took a shot at her, Yoshi wanted to find out if she had anything to do with the attack.”

It takes a few moments for the students to process that. Even Megumi, clever as he is, looks like he had no inkling about what Gojo just laid out for them.

“A shot,” Megumi echoes, realization dawning on his face, closely followed by shock. “Mei Mei took a shot at Yoshi-sensei during the attack. That’s why—?”

A sharp burst of cursed energy jolts them all—and Yoshi crashes onto the coffee table in a bizarre splash of water, clutching a length of braided white hair.

There’s a bit of screaming from the teens, but that was expected. What Gojo didn’t expect was all the water. “Why are you wet?” he demands, pulling his legs away from the dripping table.

“Why are all of you in my house?” Yoshi shoots back. She dumps the clump of hair onto the table and heads straight down the hall without waiting for an answer. Yuji and Megumi step out of her way. The bathroom door clicks shut behind her, and all three students set their eyes on Gojo again.

“What? This is pretty tame!” The braid of Mei Mei’s hair lays in a sad, soggy pile between them. Nobara looks ready to explode. Gojo isn’t supposed to spread this news, but—“Think about it, it's just hair! She bit off Naoya’s ear!”

—/—/—/—

“Thank you,” Miwa Kasumi whispers.

Yoshi slaps a bracelet on the student, and then she is alone once more in the forest, standing in blood-stained grass.

She sighs, rolling back her stiff shoulder as she thinks. Now what? How the hell am I supposed to know where to go? God, I miss Wendy.

If she could know for sure all her students were safe, she’d stop and call Yaga to assess the situation. But no one has tried to call Yoshi, so she can’t help but assume the worst: that everyone is too busy fighting to stop and call for help.

She’ll just have to check on each student personally.

A dull pressure starts up in Yoshi’s head as she reaches for her marks. Eight students across several kilometers of forest. Each one moving at different speeds, at different altitudes, too. Nobara and Mai are near water, their marks could rub off any minute. Yuji seems to be alone, but Todo had fixated on him earlier. That pair will be fine. They’re too sturdy to die quickly.

Her phone buzzes again, this time with a call from an unsaved number. Hopefully it’s Iori.

“Yeah?” Yoshi answers, but there’s just static on the other end.

There is no warning.

Just a swish of air, and then a piercing, jarring impact—an object drilling into Yoshi’s back, burning with savage force.

It knocks the wind out of her, the burst of violent cursed energy flooding her chest—

Yoshi’s reaction is instinctual, involuntary. The faulty nullification seal flares to life, instantly negating the fierce strength of whatever’s hit her, forcing it to a complete standstill instead of ripping straight through her chest. Her knees give out, dropping her onto the stained grass.

Something thumps to the ground behind her.

Yoshi tries to inhale, and feels a slicing pain over her left flank. Ribs broken. She can’t breathe, she can’t even sit up. It didn’t kill her instantly but she can’t—can’t fix it. She stares at her hands, pressed into the bloodied earth, but she can’t concentrate enough to feel the grass under her fingertips. She does feel the heat of her blood traveling down her waist and hip before it goes cool and sticky against her clothes.

I need to heal myself, Yoshi has enough sense to remember that. I don’t have any coins.

It hurts. Fuck, it’s all she can feel, all she can focus on. Her heart’s beating too fast, torn arteries spilling blood down her flank. The grass beneath her is more red than green, but it’s disappearing before her eyes as her vision darkens.

No time for a new talisman.

She lied to Nanami before, when she said that talismans take a long time to create.

They don’t.

It takes time to come up with new talismans, Yoshi’s talismans, the kind with exact intentions and comprehensible repercussions. But the sutras passed to Yoshi are different; they’re refined and ingrained through decades—centuries, maybe—of jujutsu work before her. She can write them in minutes. Seconds, even.

Old talismans are just too vile, though. Yoshi’s knowledge is nothing but an encyclopedia from shitty, short-sighted cultists. An unwanted, unstable library of invidious ways to fight or torture or dominate enemies.

Or outlast them.

That one, she thinks bitterly. Behind the jugular, up the trapezius but following the lateral fibers of the splenius capitis. It’s old work. An ugly, malevolent scripture. It should stay buried, yet it’s at the forefront of her mind already. Has to be that one.

It’s a little ironic. She just saved Kasumi after her neck was torn open. And now, Yoshi digs her nails in, tearing a new mark into her own flesh. It’s not a mark to heal, not truly. It’s an attempt to reach forever, a yearning towards stagnation. At least three practitioners sought immortality and failed, but they at least cultivated an ugly pair of seals that came close to preservation.

When her neck is carved out, throbbing noxiously as her ribcage reforms itself, Yoshi finally turns around, and looks at the dead blackbird that struck her.

Forest first. Clear the forest first, Yoshi urges herself. Then the bird bitch.

—/—/—/—

There isn’t much to insulate sound between the bathroom and the kitchen, no matter how much Yoshi tries to tune them out. Why the hell did Gojo let the students into her apartment? She doesn’t even have enough chairs for all of them.

“Shut up about that guy! I don’t wanna hear that name ever again.”

“I didn’t notice that the Head-Hei guy was missing an ear…”

“Gojo, you invited Mei.”

“Uh, yeah,” he confirms. It sounds like he’s talking with his mouth full. What the hell is he eating? “And it’s so awkward! Now I’m in a tight spot and I hate it, it’s very uncomfortable.”

Yoshi rolls her eyes as she pulls on a clean t-shirt.

“You’re uncomfortable?” Nobara exclaims. “Really?”

“What’s with all the scowls?” Gojo complains. “I still want Mei to throw in some recommendations. She can’t do that if she’s reprimanded. Or the whole goodwill event could get voided. There’s all sorts of ways to spin it.”

“Gojo-sensei, we can be promoted some other time,” Yuji blurts out. “What about Yoshi?”

“What? I knew she’d be fine. It’s Yoshi.”

“…You’re full of crap.” Megumi concludes.

The first years sound more outraged the more their teacher talks, and while Yoshi doesn’t blame them, she doesn’t share their sentiment either. Gojo sounds pretty flippant now, but in truth, he wasn’t so nonchalant when Yoshi recounted her part in today’s attack. Mei was paid to kill Yoshi, and it caught him off guard. She saw the disbelief on his face, and then she saw it change into understanding.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Gojo whines.

“I couldn’t really tell what it meant,” she shrugs. “Maybe Mei picked up a contract, or maybe she’s involved with the curses.”

He shakes his head. “Killing you for cash is within reason for her. Killing you to assist curses infiltrating and attacking the school is—well, that’d make it hard to take on missions, and get more cash. She wouldn’t do it without the assurance it wouldn’t affect her reputation.”

Meaning it was a sorcerer that contracted Mei. Someone ranked high enough to give that kind of reassurance.

“This is how Yuji ended up dead too,” Gojo informs her, hands laced together. “The first years conveniently got assigned to a mission way above their level while I was out of town. You’re not as easy to dispatch, so they went more underhand.”

Yoshi’s not easy to kill, but only because she’s willing to be underhanded, too. She focuses on her reflection in the bathroom mirror, clipping her hair up to get a clear look at her neck.

The seal has to go.

She glances around the sink counter and swears under her breath. Of course she forgot to take a knife before locking herself in the bathroom. There’s no way Yoshi is going to use her fingers again for this awful thing, so she begins to rummage through the cabinets and her toiletries for any sort of blade.

“—must’ve been paid in advance,” Gojo informs the students, continuing the conversation that Yoshi lost track of. “I’m not sure how much, but a couple of councilmen or Zenins must’ve chipped in…”

In fact, there are three names that Mei kindly typed out for her. It kind of unnerved her, the ease with which Mei gave up her benefactors. Did she not care if Yoshi went after jujutsu execs? Or did Mei know that, even right now, Yoshi would rather keep her silence about all this?

Yoshi stops what she’s doing to grab her work phone, and texts the names to Gojo. There’s also a dozen missed calls and texts on this phone that she has yet to acknowledge.

One of the texts stands out more than the rest.

tell me you didn’t use it on campus. he’ll notice.

It can be a real pain when Wendy spams her with dozens of messages, but today she has every reason to be worried. Guilt begins to coil in Yoshi’s throat. She deserves a call, but Yoshi can’t do that now. She types out a short email instead.

School event ambushed. A student signed in.

Which student? Blue, the blue one. She’s blue, and she has the blue bracelet.

I got ambushed during the ambush (names at end put a hit on me). It was on campus but under a strong veil. I think there was too much activity at once for him to notice. And there’s a staff - Playful Cloud?

That last sentence almost gets deleted. It’d been such a fleeting thing, and maybe her reaction was so strong because of the stress she was already under. But not only is it rare for Yoshi to recall something so specific—it’s worrying that it was Megumi that evoked it. A person, a face she didn’t know until quite recently.

There’s no way we could’ve met before, Yoshi reasons. He would’ve said something.

“What do we do with… y’know, the hair?” she hears Yuji ask nervously. “Yoshi-sensei isn’t gonna keep it, right?”

“Sell it for cash.” Of all people it’s Megumi that suggests it, and Gojo bursts into mean laughter. “It’s Mei. Seems fitting…”

Yoshi puts down the phone and examines two razors. There’s a leg razor, but it’d be silly to pull it apart for a single puny blade. She also has a straight razor meant for eyebrows and peach-fuzz and whatnot.

How did I get here? Yoshi wonders herself, a little amused but mostly just resigned as she pours isopropyl alcohol over the face razor. Wendy’s gonna laugh at me.

It doesn’t take much effort, at least. Just a lot of resolve to slide a blade over her neck in one, measured stroke. The razor breaks through every jagged tear of the physical mark, one by one.

And then Yoshi can breathe again, feel whole and alive and almost clean.

Almost.

Yoshi pull her hair back into a ponytail, unlocks the door, and goes out to rejoin the sorcerers bickering in her kitchen.

—/—/—/—

[Previous][Next]

A/N: I'M SORRY FOR THE DRAMA i swear there will be other chapters with less plot and more fluff. I really wanted to include the baseball game, but it's just not meant for this chapter. I mean, Mei Mei was dropped into a ocean and bullied by Yoshi off-screen, so. Yeah. They're still gonna have a nice to time playing baseball, but the serious stuff had to be acknowledged first.

[mariesocuniverse]

Relationships: NCT 127

Maeil (aka Daily)

there are two meanings to their ship name

first is, of course, their names mashed together but the second meanings is much cuter and the one fans use to explain their dynamic

When Mae found out their ship name was Maeil her first reaction was “Oh? Is it because I make sure to let Taeil hyung I love him daily?” while cuddling Taeil on a couch

he’s the same age as Mae’s older brother so she treats him as such

her brother is literally like “Are you replacing me with Taeil? I’m your reall brother!” and she’s just there sweating

part of Taeil’s hype squad and will fight donghyuck for the position of president

like the two were on vlive and spent a good fifteen minutes arguing about their positions in the club Mae won but donghyuck refuses to acknowledge it

he could be doing something simple and you can see Mae in the background with a big smile cheering

he’s also like her personal teddy bear whenever she wants cuddles and/or wants to rest

there are just multiple gifs floating around nct twt of Mae tackling Taeil for a hug or her just clinging to him on a couch because she’s either tired and wants to rest or just wants cuddles

absolutely adores his voice

there are multiple compilations on youtube about all the times Mae compliments Taeil on his voice and him just blushing the whole time

Maenny

was lowkey intimidated bc the man is a fucking tree and basically towers over her

but then he saw him play around with some other trainees and that thought disappeared real quick

he’s more like the protective older brother than like a parent like Doyoung or Taeyong

can and has used his height to his advantage when it comes to scaring people who hurt Mae or do something to make her sad

he was one of the first people who found out about her old company and he looked like he was about to storm their building probably would’ve if it weren’t for Mae

one of the first people she became friends with because he always answered questions she had when she was a trainees

before debut there were times people could see Johnny walk somewhere and Mae is just trailing after him like a lost puppy more like running because the man’s legs are long and he walks faster

there was this one time someone asked where Mae was and Johnny just shuffled to the side to reveal her behind him

his large frame was just big enough to hide her from everyone’s vision unless you walk past the two

you know that one vid of predebut nct performing Under The Sea with Johnny wearing the fish head? Mae was supposed to join him dressed as Ariel but the idea was cut last minute

there was this one time Mae couldn’t see something bc she was too short so Johnny lifted her up and put her on his shoulders

okay enough about Mae’s height

during shows he’s always encouraging Mae to talk more when she seems unsure whether to give her input or not

johnny, after an interviewer asks a question: “what do you think Mae?”

absolutely melts whenever she does aegyo because no matter how old she is he’ll always see her as the cute kid who followed him everywhere

MaeTae

honestly it’s hard to pinpoint where Taeyong’s protective parental energy started getting directed to Mae

like it might’ve been somewhere predebut but she doesnt know when

she’s like 50% sure she just blanked out and suddenly Taeyong appeared in her life scolding her for not taking care of herself

it’s not like she’s complaining abt it she’s really grateful to have someone like him in her life

when her family got worried abt her joining a group filled with guys he personally went to her house and calmly explained how Mae will be taken care of and how the group will make sure that she’ll be safe

first person to know if there’s something between SM and Mae that the other members don’t know about

he was also the first member to know about what happened with Mae and her old company

she knows she can trust him with anything

he found her alone crying in one of the practice rooms and she just poured her heart out to him

Whenever they go places as a large group he looks for Mae first before counting the other members

she got lost once and now he doesnt want her out of his sight for more than five minutes

she got him a “world’s greatest dad” trophy as a joke that he has on a shelf in his room

YuMae

you know how yuta acts with mark and winwin? yeah he does the same for Mae

if he isnt giving a hug to mark he’s all the way across the room with Mae giving her a back hug

Mae: does nothing

Yuta: aigoo look how cute she is :)

she doesnt ignore him tho she just returns the affection

likes to jump on his back for a piggy back ride or just run and jump to give him a hug

there was this one clip that went viral of Yuta talking to someone and he just pauses for a moment before turning around to catch Mae, who seemingly came out of nowhere, into a hug and turned back to his conversation

neither yuta nor the other person seemed fazed so this seemed like a regular occurrence to them

he teaches her japanese!

its beneficial to both of them because Mae can learn and Yuta won’t forget any Japanese while living in Korea :D

really really really loves his smile

like real whipped (A/N i wrote this while watching the under the sea performance and now im going through it)

like she sees him smile and that makes her smile and that makes fans smile

Can and has glared at “fans” and other people who make her uncomfortable whether it be at the airport or during their schedules

There was this one time Mae was walking ahead of him when there were fansites following them and he just pulled her back into his arms because he noticed an anti of hers was nearby

It’s like a lion trying to protect a kitten

2Young

again did not know how Doyoung because like a parent to Mae but she just ended up rolling with it

She just has this aura to her that makes you want to care of her and give her love

whenever they go eat together with the group he always put food on her plate, regardless of whether the managers glare at him or not he glares back anyway so they back off

“doyoung she’s been put on a diet-” “she’s going to eat whether you like it or not”

one time Mae got sick with a fever and he just burst into her room with medicine and soup

if taeyong has the “world’s greatest dad” trophy doyoung has the “world’s greatest mom” trophy that he says he’ll throw it away but has it perched on his desk

Mae’s also one of the members who like to clown him

she’s the one of the reasons he already has gray hairs

Mae has a folder of embarrassing photos of Doyoung’s childhood that his brother sent to her and refuses to delete it

she cant do anything about them tho bc Doyoung got his own folder of babie Mae pics courtesy of Mae’s older brother

Haechan has tried and failed to gain access to either of those folders

MaeHyun

major sibling energy

but not like the bickering kind of energy but more like very soft and uwu

there are a lot of people asking them “are you sure you’re not related?” during interviews and fansigns

Fans are just waiting for the two to do a duet bc come on SM you have a real life Disney prince and princess here

Let Mae be the Jasmine to Jaehyun’s Aladdin and perform A Whole New World together

She likes to poke his dimple

There’s this one vid where Jaehyun and Mae are sitting together and she just pokes his dimple and Jaehyun’s smile gets bigger

joked about if he could let her meet yugyeom and bambam bc of 97line and he just went no <3

when jaehyun was inkigayo’s mc nobody could approach her with the infamous inkigayo sandwich bc she was always with him not like anyone could try considering mae has several bodyguards wherever she goes

you know how jaehyun won the alpaca plushie in nct life? he gave it to mae bc he know how much she loved plushies

Honestly the majority of the plushies in her room were given to her by jaehyun

She has a bear named after him uwu

MaeWoo

Loves the energy he gives and thinks he’s so funny

He never fails to make her laugh whenever she needs cheering up

they used to be shy around each other when he first joined the group but they caught each other having a midnight snack so they just talked at 3am eating ramen until doyoung found them and told them to go to bed

now it’s just tradition for them to go to a convenience store together and eat ramen or whatever snacks they decide to get

nobody is allowed to join them its only a MaeWoo thing  

Mae has natural aegyo but Jungwoo has taught her to use it to her advantage which she does but not often

Another one of Mae’s cuddle buddies

She just thinks he looks so soft so she just clings to him whenever he’s nearby

Major uwu energy over here when it comes to the two of them together

idk why but i dont see him as the type to be protective when it comes to her dating

he’s more like

“you dont have a boyfriend yet? damn people dont know what they’re missing”

or on the other side of the spectrum

“good luck to your future boyfriend he’ll need it if he’s gonna date you”

2Ma/MaeKyung

Older brother that doesn’t feel like an older brother

Majority of the time he kinda just feels like they’re the same age or younger so newer fans get shocked when they find out she’s younger

Like there was this one time Johnny the two were playing Smash Bros and Mark was whining because he lost and Mae was jumping in the background cheering it was his fourth loss in a row but he won’t say it

they were kinda awkward around each other at first so johnny literally had to stick them in a room together and didn’t let them leave until they talked to each other

it worked and they just vibed and rambled about different topics like trainee life and what mark’s life in Vancouver was like

speaking of Vancouver

one time during their stay in Vancouver they wanted to have a friend date but he lost her at a mall and took twenty minutes trying to find her until she used the announcement service to call him

he wouldve ask his Vancouver friends to go with them but some of them had a crush on mae so no <3

When she first starting writing songs and her own lyrics she went to Mark first and asked if the lyrics she wrote were good

They were amazing and Mark made sure to tell her that :D

mae’s reaction to his dream graduation was one of the saddest things czennies have seen so when she found out he was coming back she would not let go of him

Literally could not stop smiling whenever mark was with the rest of dream filming for Resonance

It’s just very wholesome and czennies are willing to riot if SM decides to separate them

Maechan

You know how I said Maehyun was the soft and uwu type of siblings? Well Maechan are the bickering type of siblings

You know the ones who like to bicker over minor things but still would protect each other for life

they have so much dirt on each other on trainee days lmao

Haechan to Mae: lmao what a loser

Haechan when someone insults Mae: listen here you little shit

The only person allowed to clown her is him and the rest of NCT

he heard a trainee talk shit about her once and they still can’t look haechan in the eye

he’s only a few months older than her but he uses the “i’m older!” card whenever he can

“i’m older therefore i get to go first” “excuse me sir but you’re only three months older than me” “but im still older”

they fight for the title of the favorite 127 maknae but they both know that can do what they want

Mae is more lenient towards the hyungs during yaja time than haechan is tho so she just vibes whenever they go to scold him when the games over

they do team up a lot so they’re a menace when they do something together

especially in games

their competitive nature plus their brain power together? its over it even started

50% of the time they have to be separated from each other when it comes to choosing teams

the other 50% is someone choosing both of them because they want that easy win

Those two are willing to risk it all even for a bag of chips

[alchemistbee]

Back in your Arms

「Five Hargreeves x reader」

Ask: Could you write a Five reader fic where y/n gets kidnapped by the Swedes and Five saves them. Thx

Words: 2556

Warnings: mentions of blood and torture. Kidnapping. Season two spoilers.

A/N: this is the first fic I’ve ever got requested. I hope I did it justice. I hope you enjoy! I know I took long to publish it, I apologize, school is kicking my ass. Sorry for grammatical errors. Enjoy!

[gif from @thisgameissonintendo ]

After having attended the horrific light brunch with the Hargreeves family, they were all feeling far more worse than when they had arrived. Five had explained to Sir Hargreaves each of their powers, Vanya had exploded a bowl of fruits, Allison rumored Diego, Diego got a very non-friendly slap of reality, Klaus seemed to have a seizure mid-dinner and Lurther confronted their father by ripping his shirt off in front of everyone.

In your opinion, it could have gone a lot better, but it could have also gone a lot worse.

Unlike the other siblings, Five had stayed behind and you had figured that it would be better to wait for him in the lobby. He was having a conversation with his father, whom he hadn't seen for over fifty years, he bet his ass you were going to wait for him. Especially after the horrible way he had spoken to the rest, you would be there for Five if he needed to. What you didn't know by then was that Five was trying to see if his father could tell him how to go back to 2019, one that didn't evolve making a deal with The Handler. Which, may I add, he hadn’t told anyone about, not even to you.

You waited patiently for Five, your back leaned against the wall while your arms intertwined in front of your chest. You counted the minutes that passed, not that you were in a hurry, but to hopefully make it seem like the time was passing faster. After almost twenty-seven minutes, the elevator emitted that one ‘bing’ it did whenever the doors were about to slide open. As you expected, it was Five, who now had his hands shoved inside his pockets and seemed quite puzzled. You asked him if he was okay, but Five only dismissed your question to tell you to go ahead of him to Elliott’s place. Apparently, there was something he needed to take care of, something he wasn't willing to explain to you just yet.

He knew that if he did tell you, you would either try to stop him or not let him do it on his own. Five didn’t want to drag you into Commission business. He found that not telling you of the plan all together was the easiest way to keep you from being in Commission's eyes, more than currently at least.

You nodded suspiciously towards Five, but did not push the subject any further. Maybe he just needed some time to let everything sink in, and it's not like you nor him considered the walk back to Morty’s dangerous. You could take care of yourself pretty well. You parted ways with Five, and walked back to Morty’s where you saw Elliott himself was just arriving too. He smiled kindly upon seeing you, to which you returned with a smile of your own. You had to be honest, you had grown to like Elliott more than expected. He was like that one cousin in the family, and you enjoyed hearing his rambles about any conspiracy he could think of. He truly was a sweetheart.

You followed Elliott up the stairs to his place, he carried a paper bag in hand, calmly telling you the things he brought back from the supermarket. You listened thoughtfully. Once inside. Elliott flickered the lights on and to both of your surprise, a cat sat in the middle in the kitchen. Elliott looked confused, but figured the cat must have somehow climbed in “Hey buddy, how did you get up here?”

He approached the kitchen casually, where he sat the bag down and looked at the cat as it meowed to him. You couldn’t help to feel your skin crawl. The nagging feeling of people watching you being present “Elliot?-” You turned your head to look behind you, swearing you had seen something lurking in the shadows. You averted your gaze back to him, now watching as he pulled out a tiny can of food for the cat and asked if it was hungry. You walked to the kitchen window, the one that let you view outside in case anyone was suspiciously close to the building. You saw nothing, but that was because you didn't know that they were already inside.

Your head snapped back to Elliot the moment a loud sound came from the living room, there you saw that one of the tall assassins had punched Elliott right on the side of his face. You felt your heart accelerate, and moved quickly to help him until you felt someone pull you up, stopping your tracks to help the man. The other assassin got a hold of you, if it hadn't been for your small body, you could have stopped the leader from hurting Elliott any further.

You saw the man try to scramble from his gun, but the other man was quicker to lift him up by the throat, asking the whereabouts of Diego. Upon receiving no answer, the man punched Elliott twice, this time letting his body fall harshly on the floor while blood dripped down his nose.

“Elliott!” You struggled under the second man’s hold. You couldn't move, you couldn't fight. The siblings were not even back and there was no way for you to contact them when the phone was this far “We don't know where Diego is! Leave him alone! He has nothing to do with this!” you pleaded loudly. The leader only shifted his gaze at you, studying the way your eyes flushed with fear. He was trying to figure out whether you were the one the woman had referred to not killing, you were merely a teen after all. Yet, not killing you didn't mean they could not use you for information.

After that little stare down happened, making you hope that maybe the men would not use Elliot as their little puppet..You were gravely mistaking. The man dragged Elliott through the living room, knocking over a lamp and breaking it before pinning him into the dentist chair violently. He kept asking for Diego, and Elliott is only able to answer with a “I d-dont know” while you keep battling for the second man to let go of you. At this point, you felt the tears welling in your eyes as you noticed him take the forceps, priding Elliott's mouth open and sticking them into his mouth.

“NO!” you cried out “ELLIOTT!”

Elliott’s screams filled the building alongside your pleas and cries, but as much as you told the men that none of you knew where Diego was, that didn't seem to make them stop. Not until Elliott’s body was drained from life entirely, the blood from his body splattered all across the floor and body. You couldn’t help the soft cries leaving your lips, calling his name out ever so softly in hopes of him still being alive but that’s when you felt a sharp pain come from the back of your head. The world turned black and your body fell not too far from Elliott’s chair after the second man got tired of holding you.

The brothers could use you. They could use you to lure Diego, the man they believed responsible for the murder of their younger brother.

The next day, after Diego and Lurther find Elliott’s body, they try to figure out who did this to Elliott. Diego believes it's the feds, but Lurther claims that was no work of feds but of a psychopath. Believing the words written below are a name, they search through the phone book until discovering the phone number linked to whom they believe is responsible for Elliott’s death; They phone the number up.

Five jumped into the building, quickly noticing the blood painted words on the floor, making him hurry up the stairs to meet Elliot’s body. He can feel a lump forming in his throat as he approaches it. There were clear signs of torture, there was something stuck into his left eye. Five couldn’t help to feel guilty. He liked Elliot, he was a good man, he had helped them and welcomed his siblings in without the slightest complaint. He had become one of them, and for that, his life paid the price.

Five followed the voices of Lurther and Diego through the kitchen, taking off his blue and blood dripped jacked as he heard the brothers threaten someone over the phone for killing one of them “Hey! It's Öga för Öga, idiots. Swedish for ‘an for en eye’. It means The swedes killed Elliott '' He didn't want to think how the missions went after his run; It was clear Diego and Lurther shared one brain cell.

“Wrong number, have a lovely day” Diego hanged the call, looking at Five and easily spotting the blood on his clothes “Uh, you got some blood on your clothes”

“A lot actually”, Diego added as Five pushed by them, entered the bathroom and turned the sink handle to let the water flow down. He grabbed a white towel, carefully washing the blood off of him as best as he could “I found a way home”

“What? How?”

“All the details are irrelevant but i made a deal to get back to our timeline”

“What about doomsday? And the 2019 apocalypse”

“won't happen. Everything will be back to normal” Five remarked exasperated “All right? No more questions. We gotta go. We have to find the other and get back in 77 minutes. Luther, you get Allison, Diego go get Klaus, I'll get Vanya, Y/N-“ he stopped his pacing all suddenly, eyes roaming the room and back to his younger siblings “Wait—Where’s Y/N?”

Five’s eyes widened as realization suddenly hit him and his siblings. He saw you last night, you were supposed to be here, why weren’t you here?

“They stayed after the brunch, we thought they were with you…” Diego, Five and Lurther shared a look, all of them now realizing that you had been taken by the men who killed Elliott.

“Dammit!” Five exclaimed angrily. He had just gotten a way back home, and you...You had been taken. How was he supposed to find you in such little time? He didn’t even know where to start.

“Calm down. Okay—We’ll find them—“ Diego started while Five started to pace around, muttering words under his breath “This was so simple. So simple!” He turned his head to look at them “I am going to go find Y/N, and get Vanya. We meet here as planned, this is our only chance to go back” Five raised his finger at them both before started to walk to the stairs, but stopped abruptly when he Diego spoke up once more

“You expect us to not help you—“ before Diego could finish his sentence, Five jumped from the small distance to right in front of his brother, raising his fingers with a threatening look “If you don’t do this, I swear I’ll kill you myself” he said more sternly “there's not enough time for all of us to go in a search, I’ll tell Vanya to meet up here. If i don't make it in time just go back home, I’ll manage a way back”

“How are you planning on finding them?” Was what Diego last said before Five teleported out of the building.

You woke up with a sharp breath. Your head was pounding and when you opened your eyes, you were welcomed with nothing but a blindfold on your eyes. You tried moving your arms. But soon found out they were tied down to your back while your ankles were tied against the legs of a chair “Shit” you muttered hoarsely, your throat was still dry from the crying. What the hell happened? Where were you?—

That’s when it hit you

“HELP! SOMEONE!” You tried to scream as loudly as you could, but considering the silence in wherever you were, you knew no one was coming to your aid. Strangely, the smell was like cat fur, and that was confirmed when you heard the several meows and the cat passing it’s tail over your leg.

How in the world were you going to get out of here now?

Five jumped all over town trying to find any clues, even the smallest, of your whereabouts. Even though he didn’t show it, he was extremely anxious and worried for your self being. He feared what the Swedes could be doing to you, or worst, what they had already done. The images of Elliott kept flashing back to him, and something in his stomach made him believe that if he didn’t hurry up, he would find you the same way.

He didn’t know whether it was luck or simple fate, but as he walked through the town he spotted the familiar milk truck that had followed them around for some instances. It was parked in front of an apartment, a quite small one, and Five knew that you should have been there. He kept looking down at his watch, counting the minutes they had left before having to go back to 2019.

They still had twenty minutes. He still had time, it was enough to save you and go back. At least he hoped so.

He watched The Swedes get in the truck, and without thinking it twice, teleported himself inside the cat filled apartment. His blue eyes roamed the place all over, scanning it for any trace of you until he heard a few knocks coming from a nearby closet. He didn’t waste time on pulling the door open.

Five’s eyes fell on you, and instinctively, you started to try and kick thinking that The Swedes were back again “Y/N!-Its me!-Y/N” he crouched down to your level, scanning your body for any signs of torture or harm. He sighed sharply, relieved to see that The Swedes hasn’t gotten their way with you. Gently, he reached out to pull your blindfold off. It broke him to see you like this.

Your eyes weren’t shining like they used to. They were completely flushed by pain, regret and fear “F-Five” you muttered softly, finding it hard to believe he had actually found you. You felt the ropes become loose on your legs and wrists, and the moment you had the chance, your body fell against Five’s. He held you firmly, worried that maybe you weren’t as okay as he thought you were. He was only relieved to have you back on his arms again, the place where he could make sure of your safety.

“F-Five—Elliott—I couldn’t s-save him” You started, tears stinging your eyes as you remembered what The Swedes did to the man “I c-couldn’t—“your shoulders shook alongside your small sobs.

“I know...It wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have left you” Five said softly, his arms slowly wrapping around you, hoping that would comfort you in the slightest “We have to go...I found a way back, but we need to go now or we’ll be stuck here forever” He pulled you up the ground, his thump caressing your tear stained cheeks while his free hand took a gentle hold of yours.

“You w-what? How?” You blinked twice, sniffing softly “Five, what did you do?”

“I’ll explain on the way...Let’s go home”

[lunarreaper-ut]

How exactly did killer loose his arm? Was it cuz he got distracted or was it tactic to prevent something even worse?? ;-; how did nightmate take that sight? How did he get the idea to give killer some of his magic to make an artificial arm for him, did he knew it would work? Was it a hard or painful process for any of them?? (God i love the idea of killer getting a shadow arm from nm >w< makes him even cooler! Kyaaaaa~ still a sad thing tho uwu)

Was nightmare ever in the mood/need/curious to ask killer sing somehing (for him~)??

What ships will happen in kingdomverse??

Alsoo... Uhh dont know if thats an OK question but can they get pregnant? I wanna know if babybones are an possibility in the future? qwq

Ah yes... the Incident.

Allow me to explain the unfortunate event in which Killer almost failed at his job.

(This is gonna be heckin, and I mean HECKIN long. We got some worldbuilding ahead!)

How did Killer lose his arm?

This event happened several years after Killer began his duties as Royal Guard. Dream had already told Nightmare he no longer needed a Royal Guard, and Killer already expressed his wish to stay as one. Nightmare and Killer were frequently having their nightly visits, and things were going well.

One night, however, after Killer had returned to his room and the two had settled in for bed, something happened.

Now I haven't mentioned this before, mainly cause your questions have thankfully not uncovered it >w< During Nightmare's reign, there was much despair in the Kingdom. Negativity brings out the worst in people, as we're all aware I'm sure, and it's no wonder that some people would be driven mad by the results of Nightmare's actions.

Some people began to believe that if they worshipped Nightmare, they would be spared from his wrath and from the destruction his crafted creatures wrought. These people formed a cult dedicated to Nightmare, praising his actions and renouncing their loyalty to the Sun King. They called themselves The Corrupted.

Cults are a very hard thing to get rid of, especially if you weren't aware they existed. When Dream returned and cast Nightmare into the Void, the Corrupted hid themselves in the shadows, vowing to return only once their "True King" returns as well.

The issue arose when Nightmare did return from the Void. Nightmare, throughout his reign, was most often seen as his "transformed" self, and it was that self that The Corrupted worshipped, not Nightmare.

The Corrupted believed that they could bring back the "True King", and to do so they needed to remove the "Imposter King". The cult spent time learning the routines of the castle in order to break in to Nightmare's quarters when they were certain no one was around.

They had acquired a drug meant to incapacitate monsters and suppress their magic, and modified it to be several times as strong. Nightmare certainly wasn't at his strongest either, the Kingdom was a naturally positive place when Dream was around.

A few cult assassins threw a smoke bomb filled with the drug into Nightmare's room while he slept, and unfortunately it worked well enough. Nightmare wasn't unconscious, but he didn't have as fine of control over his magic or his own body.

The assassins came into the room, intending to kidnap Nightmare, but it's rather fortunate that Killer is a light sleeper, isn't it? Killer came into the room just as one of the assassins was about to grab Nightmare.

There was quite a few of them, as they'd been prepared for resistance, and though I hate to say it, they were skilled too. They weren't just some guy picked off the street and given a weapon, it was as if they'd been trained for years just for this moment.

It's likely they had been. Killer was having difficulties, but holding his own well enough. He would only really need to hold them off long enough for the guards to get to the room. Well, that's what he thought until he saw another assassin coming towards a practically immobile Nightmare, and he clearly wasn't intending to just kidnap the King.

Killer moved without thinking, and without his armor he was much more vulnerable to attacks... but getting injured wasn't an issue. He had to protect Nightmare at all costs, even if it meant he got hurt. That was the moment he lost his arm.

Killer didn't have time to register the pain, and slew the assassin who dared attempt to harm Nightmare. Killer was outnumbered still, and if he was having difficulties before, it was going to be impossible to hold out now.

He was lucky he didn't have to though, as several Guardsmen burst into the room. Seems they'd finally heard the commotion. The Guardsmen drove out the assassins, only managing to capture two. Killer was tended to, and he refused to leave Nightmare's side until the drug wore off.

How did Nightmare handle it?

Nightmare was half conscious in the moment, and so most of what he saw didn't register properly. It was only when the drug had worn off and he saw Killer by his side, sans one arm (Hehe), that it hit him.

Nightmare was angry first and foremost. He was angry it happened, angry Killer was dumb enough to get hurt, angry he wasn't able to resist the stupid drug, and angry that Killer seemed completely unbothered.

Nightmare didn't react well at all, and he ended up putting Killer on temporary leave. When Killer tried to refuse Nightmare said he was useless with only one arm, and Nightmare didn't need a useless Guard. Killer shut up pretty quickly.

Killer was still allowed to stay at the castle of course, but he was forbidden from coming near Nightmare's office, or taking part in any Guard duties. Nightmare believed that what happened was the stupidest thing Killer could have done, and refused to think otherwise.

It was during Killer's leave that Nightmare did research. He interrogated the cult members, and utilized glamours (Which we all know he's not fond of) in order to leave the castle without issue. Throughout his research, he spoke with the Court Apothecary regularly about Killer's injury. How was he fairing, is he at risk of dusting, is there anything to be done, stuff like that.

The Apothecary had made an offhanded comment that Killer is going to be without his arm for the rest of his life, since skeletons don't regenerate. Not unless he got enough magic to replace the missing arm at least.

He mentioned just getting a prosthetic for Killer, but that went in one ear and out the other, so to speak. Nightmare began to think about the suggestion (even though it was a joke). Nightmare had a large surplus of magic, and he thought about whether or not it was possible to somehow weave his magic with Killer's and form a new limb.

By the time Killer had returned to Nightmare, asking to return to his duties, the King had already figured out a way to properly do the procedure. He of course asked Killer if he would be allowed to do so, that he wasn't certain if it would work and that it certainly wouldn't be pretty.

Killer agreed without issue. The process was indeed a painful one... fusing Nightmare's magic with Killer's was difficult, and it was akin to taking a freezing cold needle and sewing a constantly shifting mass of energy directly to his soul. (Not actually how it worked, it's just how it felt).

The only reason Killer got through the procedure was because of Nightmare's intent. We all know that intent comes through to Monsters when involving magic, and Nightmare's intent made the process a lot less painful. Heal, fix, help, care, all those things came through to Killer.

It helped that Nightmare had a good relationship with Killer. His magic was much more willing to accept Killer's and vice versa. If this had been done between Nightmare and a stranger, it wouldn't have worked.

It took Killer a few days to work the arm properly. It was almost dead weight for a while. After that, it took even longer for him to properly fight with it, and longer still for him to be able to utilize the magic it was made with.

Has Nightmare ever asked Killer to sing for him?

Nope, Nightmare doesn't even know Killer can or that he has a good voice XD Killer has never sung in front of anyone, nor does he care to. It's just not something he does, but I imagine there could be a few scenarios where he gets coerced into it. Singing with friends, soothing a wounded animal (Yes Killer would do that, he likes small animals. They're cute.), that kind of stuff.

Nightmare's never had a reason to think Killer could sing. >w<

What Ships are going to be canon in Kingdomverse?

Well we've already got Cream, Killermare and Afterdeath as being confirmed.

Honestly I've kinda decided to leave the others more open for interpretation! If you want, you can say Errink is gonna happen, Lust could probably be someones s/o, it's all up to interpretation >w<

Theres quite the cast of characters in Kingdomverse?, and there might be more added later (if I can think of them), so honestly I'm sure there's no issue with some other ships coming to life!

Basically theres no other planned canon ships >w<

Can the skellies get preggers?

I don't see why not! Nightmare and Dream being immortals doesn't stop them from having kids, but I would say that if they did it would probably be through a different process than mortals.

I'd say that monsters need to make the conscious, or unconscious decision that they want a child or that they are ready for a child before they can have one.

Nightmare and Dream would probably be a bit difficult to have a child with purely because they have an immense amount of power and magic (even after a bond), so it might be a bit risky even for them to have kids.

(if any of you do make ship kids I want to see them though, I love baby bones >w<)

[hela-avenger]

it’s not you, it’s me- part 3

Author: hela-avenger

Word Count: 1006

Summary: Natasha won’t quit trying to set you up so you decide to play fire with fire. Hence making a deal with an insufferable prince who interestingly enough is willing to fake being in love with you for the rest of the night. Of course when dealing with the God of Lies things are never as they seem. Fake-Dating AU. p&w AU.

A/N: Once again late but once again better late than never. This one’s a little on the short side but quality over quantity!

P.S. I’m tagging the p&w people so if you’ll like to be taken off pls do let me know!

Tags are open! 

it’s not you, it’s me masterlist & poison & wine masterlist

You thought you had a few minutes before Natasha found you again but you were immediately proven wrong. Natasha is already waiting for you when you step back inside from the balcony and she wasn’t alone.

“There you are!” she exclaims a little too eagerly. “Ryan from Accounting has been waiting for you for a dance.”

You force a smile on your face as you look at the man next to her. He’s handsome and probably kind but you had no desire to get to know him. Luckily for you, you weren’t alone either. 

“That’s very sweet, but my dancing card is already full.”

You gently squeeze Loki’s arm hoping he’ll take the hint and he does. In fact, it seems he’s very well ahead of you.

“Yes, I’m afraid I will be occupying the lady’s time for the rest of the night,” Loki states blatantly staring at Natasha to further emphasize his light threat. “We have much to discuss.”

With that said, Loki whisks you away and you can’t refrain from giggling as he stops in the middle of the dance floor. 

“Do you know how to dance?” he asks.

“I do,” you answer. “Do you?”

Loki huffs and places a hand on your waist while the other one is offered to you. You take it and he begins to lead.

“I’m a royal prince,” he tells you. “Of course I know how to dance.” 

“Right, silly of me to forget.” 

Loki hums in agreement and nods behind you.

“He seemed nice.”

He turns you allowing you the chance to catch sight of Ryan lingering by Natasha’s side. It seemed Natasha was playing the long game and waiting you out.

“He probably is. He’s probably kind and funny and smart. She wouldn’t just throw anyone at me.”

“Then why are you refusing the love match?” 

You hesitate to respond considering for a second to lie but Loki had asked one thing of you and you couldn’t go back on your word already.

“I will outlive him,” you answer. “I will outlive them all actually. The people I consider my friends, the ones I have foolishly grown attached to… I will outlive them and that loss is going to hurt.”

“The folly of man,” Loki whispers. “But something you should be accustomed to since spending your half-immortal life here.” 

You swallow then trying to ignore the piercing pain that is brought up at the mere memory.

“I have been protecting my heart ever since I lost my mother. I loved her so much and I think about her every passing day on this Earth and it still hurts as much as the day her hand became limp in mine.”

Loki has stopped dancing and you do too.

“I cannot go through that again,” you tell him. “I refuse to.” 

Loki is staring you down once more. Dark eyes pierced into yours as if he was trying to decipher you but many have tried and failed. Though this night was one surprise after another as he seems to find something. 

“You and I are more alike than I thought…” 

Your interest is piqued but Loki realizes his mistake and is quick to change the subject. He starts to lead you again and you’re forced to follow him.

“The Widow doesn’t seem too pleased with me. Well... more so than usual.”

You let out a sigh knowing better than to ask that burning question he’s implanted in your mind. You follow his lead in the conversation too. The endgame being more of importance than your curiosity. 

“She probably thinks you’re corrupting me.”

Loki grins, “If only she knew you already are.”

“Hey!” you snap at him. 

“Are you offended because I’m wrong or because I’m right?”

You hesitate to respond and look away from his piercing gaze. 

“I hate lying to them,” you confess to him. 

“Then why not tell the truth?”

“Because I don’t know the truth myself,” you answer. “I know my mother fell in love with a traveling Asgardian but I have no idea who it was and why he never came back for us... for me. I wonder if my father even knows I exist or if he does, if he hates me for even existing.”

Loki remains silent avoiding your stare. He seems tense under your hand. 

“If that’s the kind of man he is then perhaps you’re better off.” 

He still won’t look at you and you wonder why . It was in the lack of a response that you found an answer.

“Was that how it was for you?”

“What?” Loki exclaims glaring down at you.

“Thor mentioned you were adopted,” you explain. “And it seemed like you were speaking from experience so I... I just assumed.”

Loki is clearly upset and you wonder how you can manage to do this twice in one slow dance.

“I overstepped, didn’t I?”

“Immensely.”

You both look away from each other. His in annoyance while yours was due to guilt. The silence grows and stretches between you and you start to feel uneasy. 

Surprisingly, Loki breaks the silence in a way you never expected.

“I was traded from one monster to another.”

Nothing follows that statement. Loki leaves his words to linger in the air.

Heavy and hard.

You don’t know how to respond and he doesn’t expect you to. 

Once again, the conversation is in an intense emotional standstill. It was your turn to change the subject but you didn’t know how.

The many questions that were running through your mind would overstep the invisible boundaries Loki kept setting up.

You look up at him hoping to fill the silence with anything but you’re caught off guard when you find him already staring at you. 

“I’m sorry about this...”

You scowl wondering what he could possibly be apologizing for but that expression is wiped off your face when the hand on your waist loops around your back and he pulls you into his chest and his lips... well his lips are suddenly on yours.

it’s not you, it’s me: @mywellspingoflife @toe-wind-ek-jou @mejusttryintogetby @marvelgirlonamarvelworld​ @nickkie1129​ @theinfinitenerd​ @lucywrites02​ @nerdyshaddowhunter​ @10velyhaos​ @chantelle-m-93​ 

poison & wine: @damalseer @just-the-hiddles @jessiejunebug @nonsensicalobsessions @smollest-soybean @assassinoftheworld @readerbandit @doyoufeelikeayounggod @strangemcuvlogs @ha-tep @i-dont-know-eiither @gene-king @day-dreaming-fox @bn-studies @devilbat @victor-criss-bish @skinny-macncheese @musicconversedance @baby-bunnyxn @marvelloonie @sulbaeksul @queenmuahaha @accio-boys @eternalqueensworld @umlvk @roger-the-reindeer @punkrockhufflefluff​ @your-local-abyss @horsesandwolvesaremyanimals @rogerrhqpsody @imsad420 @pandacookieowo @justnerdystuffs @hanoi15 @oneprolificqueen @nikki-who-likes-coffee @fandomrelative @nikki419ninja @onedollarduck @help-i-need-a-social-life @ephemeraljade @catsladen @amwolowicz @captainmarvelnerd @thegirlbeyondtheuniverse @ddaeing @leftperfectionmoon

Loki Tag: @unicorniorosacomefrutillas @thesilentbluesparrow-blog @oddly-drawn-muse @josiehosiedaninja @hp-hogwartsexpress @sadwaywardkid @wolf-lover74 @sizzlingbarbarianglitter @sigyn-nightshade @aoirohi @horsesandwolvesaremyanimals @just-a-donut-who-reads @day-dreaming-fox @heykathchuu @is-it-madness @writingletterstothefire​ @nonsensicalobsessions​

All Works: @jmb959 @astudyoftimeywimeystuff​ @hellocookiecutter​ @steve-rogers-personal-hell @buckybarnesyard @not-zari-tak​ @strangersstranger @thefridgeismybestie​ @moonlightprime @badhollandfluff @what-a-flammable-heart @fandoms-allovertheplace @polireader​ @hufflautia

[random-fandom1]

I’ve been thinking about this for ages and have just gotten round to writing it. 

Some quick background information before we start. Peter is 27 in this and is dating Bucky who is genetically still 28 - 32 because of the cyro freeze. They’ve been dating for 3 years now and no one knows they’re dating (well, maybe some people know. They live with two assassins so Natasha must know, Wanda must suspect at least and Loki knows because he walked in on them doing the you know once. They had to slave after him for a week to make sure he didn’t tell anyone). 

It’s not like they’re hiding it but are at the same time. Who knows what Steve and Tony would do if they found out their precious little peter was dating one of their closest friends. 

Enjoy!

__________________________________________

The avengers have just finished fighting a villain, some kind of alien or something. Like any other time they’re in a fight, they didn’t all get out unscathed. It’s not too bad this time, Peters just fractured his wrist and dislocated his elbow when swinging around and falling. His dads (and Bucky in secret) insist that he goes to the hospital wing to get it checked on. 

This is how they’ve ended up in this situation.

6:48 pm

“But Jamieeeeeee! I want to do the interview, it’s James Corden. You know how much I love James Corden. My hand and arm are fine!” Peter whines trying to get out from under the scratchy hospital sheets Bucky wrapped him in. Bucky rubs the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply. He loves his boyfriend but he can get really whiney and clingy when he’s doped up on pain killers.

“Doll, you know you have to stay here. We’ll have plenty of times to go on to The Late Late Show in the Future. For now, you have to rest,” he says as a nurse walks into check his vitals, “I’ll be back later Peter, be good for the nurses”. Bucky starts to exit the room, looking back as he reaches the doorway to see his boyfriend chatting away to the nurse with a pout on his face. ‘He’s probably asking her if she can discharge him without his dads knowing’ he thinks to himself. James smiles to himself as he walks down the corridor to the main floors so he can get ready for the interview.

8:34

It was going well. The avengers had just been introduced and had taken their seats on the 3 couches they brought out for them (Couch 1 = Tony, Steve, Natasha and Thor/Couch 2 = Wanda, Vision, Clint and Pietro because he never died/Couch 3 = Bucky, and supposedly Peter.) Tony and Steve were running late but promised they’d make it by 8:45. Traffic must of gotten bad because of all the paparazzi.

Once the audience had stopped cheering and they had all been introduced to the audience, James started off with the obvious question.

“I notice that we are missing a few people. Does anyone know whats happened to the Roger-Stark family?” James asked. Before anyone could answer they heard a voice coming from the back of the audience

“We’re here, we’re here. The Stark-Rogers are here. This one insisted we take him, no matter how much meds he was on. Children am I right?” Came the voice of the one and only Tony Stark-Rogers. Tony walked in front of Steve who was carrying Spiderman who was wrapped in a blanket burrito. They walked to the front where the rest of the crew were sitting, Steve going to the last couch to dump Peter. 

Bucky could feel his emotions swirling around in him. The frustration of Peter not listening to his advice, worry about his boy’s injuries and if they’ve healed properly as well as adoration for how adorable he looked wrapped up, while completely out of it. As Steve puts Peter on the couch, he let out a small ‘oof’ which James had to resist cooing at. Instead, he gives Steve a nod of acknowledgement and returns to surveying the area with a cold, emotionless look on his face, trying to keep up his dangerous, assassin persona.

At least that was what he was trying to do. It was kind of hard to be a murderous assassin when your precious boyfriend is all tired and clinging onto a blanket a mere 3 feet away from you. He tries his hardest to ignore him. He really does. But all hope is lost when Peter starts to slowly shift closer to him, muttering something about the warmth and ‘my bucky bear’. Peter, bless his little drugged out self, slowly and discreetly shimmies over to his boyfriend. All the attention is on the most well known of the avengers at the front so no one notices Peter nuzzle into Bucky’s side. 

“Babe, doll, what are you doing? We’re on live TV.” Bucky whispers, subconsciously wrapping his metal arm around his boy. 

“Oh Jamie, your nice and warm,” Peter says, muffled from where his head is buried in the crook of his neck. Everything blurs out in the background and the only thing Bucky can focus on is Peter. About how his steady breathing is hitting the exposed skin of his neck and how his petite frame is starting to koala hug his own muscular built one. The boy is perfect in his eyes. His boy is perfect. His. He can’t help but to copy his boyfriend and bury his own face into the boy’s neck.

“Bucky, what are you doing back there?” Comes an English accent from somewhere around him. As if on instinct Bucky replies,

“Hugging my boyfriend what does it look like?”

There’s gasps heard around them

Shit! He must have zoned out badly. Bucky looks up from where his face was in Peter’s neck, face a scarlet red and eyes like a deer caught in headlights. Looking around him, he sees a majority of the avengers with their eyes wide open, mouths agape. The crowd aren’t much better. The studio is dead silent. Peter lifts his head slowly, totally dazed, and innocently asks,

“What did I miss Jamie?”

Buckys eyes land on his boyfriends face, momentarily relaxing but quickly his eyes catch the ones of the people in front of them. His best friend and his best friends husband. Peter’s parents.

Gently placing Peter to the side, Bucky stands up with his arms out, as if he were approaching a lion. Steve has a look of shock and hurt on his face while Tony’s is radiating off pure anger. 

“We, I can explain. Stevie just - fuck, Stevie just listen to me. I love h -” 

Before he can finish the sentence Steve is grabbing him by the arm and taking him backstage into a private room.

8:58

“MY SON! MY SON BUCKY! You were telling me about this relationship for months! About how you’ve been seeing someone, someone younger. But you don’t really have a choice now with people your age, you can’t exactly go chasing 102-year-olds who look 30! He’s 27! Buck, how, why, Bucky -” Bucky cuts him off by placing a hand on his shoulder and massaging

“Stevie just shut up,” Bucky still knows how to shut him up when he’s about to have a panic attack, “Look, first I want to say that I’m actually only physically in the 28-32 age range. You are now older than me punk,

“Secondly, I’m sorry. I wish I didn’t feel this way, you have no idea how many nights I wasted trying to convince myself that I didn’t like him. I love him, and he loves me. You know better than most that you can’t control who you love. Peter, god Peter deserves so much better than me but I’m going to stay with him for as long as he’ll have me. I, I just adore him with every cell in my body. He makes me happy, when I see him he just lights up a room. I, I just love him, words can't express how much ”

Steve stays silent for a moment, looking deflated. Like the small, frail boy he was back then. He looks at Bucky and in that look, Bucky knows, knows that he is forgiven, given half the permission he needs, that he still has his best friend.

“Come here Punk,” Bucky says stepping over to Steve and pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Love you Buck"

"Love you too, Stevie"

9:17

Bucky and Steve had been hugging for just over 7 minutes when Tony barges in with Peter groggily walking in behind him. He's still confused on what's going on, why are his dads so angry at him and Bucky?.

"Bucky," Tony starts off, "I give you forgiveness, a roof over your head, I fucking convinced the government that you weren't a threat! And you go ahead and date my SON!" You can see Tony slowly growing more angry by the second. He continues

"I'd have every intention to throw you out if it weren't for the fact that your Steve's best friend and Peters boyfriend. That would hurt them and I dont hurt those who I love, not anymore. So, I'm here to hear out your side of the story because funnily enough, doped up Peter can't really say things that make sense.'" All eyes turn to Bucky as he gulps but nether the less, starts talking

"Tony, and Steve because I didn't tell you the whole story. I'm going to be honest with you guys, yous deserve to know. I want to start of by saying that I am forever grateful for everything yous have ever done to me. I love yous,

"It was 4 years ago, just after I moved into the tower when Peter came up to me. The kid wouldn't shut up. I wanted to be alone, at least that's what I thought I wanted. We slowly became friends. I trusted him with my life. I helped him with school work, he helped me with nightmares. We clicked, we worked. Feelings started to develope after a while and one night when we were studying on his little balcony, he kissed me and I kissed back. We've been dating 3 years now and they've been the best 3 years of my life. I love him, so so much. So please, don't make us break up, I don't think I'd survive without him. He's my light, my star. I want to marry him and start a family, live in a house just outside of New York so its still convenient for spiderman and avengers business. Maybe have a dog and definitely some goats. I want all that with him" Bucky finished with a tear rolling down his cheek. He really hoped Tony would understand, understand that they love each other 

Tony sighs and rubs his forehead. All the gears in his head are turning and he's getting a headache. Tony sighs.

"Well, I guess there's not much I can do. I believe you Bucky, your a good man. I give you my blessing or whatever to date him. Can we go home now" Tony says walking away, talking to no one in particular. Steve chases after him, leaving the boyfriends alone in the studio room. Bucky is grinning like the Cheshire cat, that's not how he expected that to go. There was definitely more shouting in his head. Peter suddenly comes up to him and plonks a kiss right on his lips.

"Well then Bucky Bear, shall we go home?" Peter holds his hand out but instead of taking it, Bucky scoops him up and carries him out of the room.

"Of course doll, anything you want"

[thr-333]

Mismatch- Part 3

Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month 2020

Ah Irony, I trust this wont be the last I’m seeing of you

First < Previous > Next

----

‘Sorry, Nino told Adrien that you guys said to go ahead!?’ Chloe explained.

“Looks like Liela’s at it again,” Marion tells Marinette.

“Of course she is,” Marinette was already hailing a cab

‘Lila must have told Alya who told Nino or something’ Marion responds.

'I am so sorry we’ll come back to get you’  

‘Dont worry bout it we’re getting a cab’

‘Dont let kags kill anyone’ He adds

‘No promises’

Marinette grabs Marion by the arm, dragging him over to a cab. Just as she's about to climb in someone grabs her, arm pulling her away. Reflexes kick in and she makes a jab at their stomach. They block her punch, but let go of her arm. Marinette looks up to see a black haired blue eyed boy who couldn't be any older than them.

“This isn’t a real cab,” He explains quickly, taking his phone out to snap a picture of the stunned driver.

“Oh? Oh!” Marinette processes, realising she just tried to punch him for helping her, “I am so sorry!”

“It’s ok, good reflexes,” He compliments, they step away from the cab as it speeds away, “I’m Tim,”

“Marinette,” She shakes his offered hand, “This is Marion,”

“Hi, thanks for that,” Marion nods towards where the ‘taxi’ was, “How could you tell?”

“You live around here long enough you learn to spot them,” Tim answers, “are you two french?”

“Yep,” Marinette chirped, “We’re on a class trip,”

“Where’s your class?” Tim frowns looking around.

“Ummm… they kinda….” Marinette looked down at her shoes.

“Left us,” Marion finishes for her.

“They left you? In Gotham?” Tim asks, the twins nod avoiding eye contact.

“Where are you staying? I’ll drive you there,” Tim decides.

“You don’t have to do that!” Marinette gestures wildly, wide eyed.

“We’ll be fine on our own,” Marion adds, because yes they did almost get in a fake cab, but it wasn't as if they couldn't have dealt with it.

“It’s all right,” Tim tells them, scanning the cars around, “Look my rides here,”

The twins turn to see a limo pull up, a well dressed driver steps out of the vehicle.

“Good Evening Master Tim, how was your trip?” He asks, taking Tim’s bag.

“It was fine Alfred,” Tim says, “would you mind if we dropped these two off at their hotel?”

“Not at all, Master Tim, I am Alfred Pennyworth,” Alfred greets the twins, “May I ask your names,”

“Uh, Marion, and this is Marinette,” Marion replies, “You really don’t have to, we’ll be fine,”

“It’s no trouble at all,” He tells them, “Where are you staying?”

“Wayne hotel,” Marinette goes to grab her bags to find them gone, turning to see Alfred already placing it in the trunk.

“Witchcraft,” Marion whispers to her, Marinette nods. She always made sure to at least be touching her backpack, as it held the Miracle box.

“Come in,” Tim offers, already sitting in the Limo.

The twins concede climbing in after Tim a little awkwardly. He had somehow gotten ahold of a travel cup and was holding it like a lifeline.

“I’m surprised you're staying at the Wayne hotel for a class trip,” Tim takes a gulp of the probably scalding hot coffee.

“Marinette submitted an amazing essay to the Wayne Foundation and won the trip for the whole class,” Marion dodges her kick, Tim hides his smirk behind his cup.

"We submitted an essay,” Marinette corrects, glaring at Marion for shaking his head.

“Thank you for the ride,” Marion changes the topic.

“No problem, I really don’t mind, the longer I stay away from the manor the better,” Tim replies sleepily.

“Why's that?” Marinette questions, concern written all over her face.

“Loud, too many siblings” Tim quickly clarified, “I need more time with my coffee before I deal with them,”

“I think I can relate,” Marion mutters, ignoring Marinette's look, “How many siblings do you have?”

“Officially? Thr-Two brothers,”

“Unofficially?” Marinette prods.

“Feels like half of Gotham most the time,” Tim sighs, making them chuckle.

“You two must be twins?” Tim guesses.

“Unfortunately,” Marinette sighs.

“You love me,” Marion scoffs.

“Unfortunately,” Marinette repeats, Tim cracks a smile.

“If it's any consolation you seem to get on much better than I do with my siblings,” Tim takes another long sip from his coffee.

“If it’s any consolation we’re always fighting,” Marion parrots, sharing a knowing glance with Marinette. Fighting? Yes. Fighting each other? Only when Chat Noir gets brainwashed.

“So what are you looking forward to in Gotham?” Tim asks.

“Lots of things,” Marinette and Marion start to tell Tim all about their(civilian) plans. Tim suggests places every now and then, he points out the hotel as they start to get closer.

“Ah!” Marinette exclaims, turning to Marion, “We were meant to check in as a class, will they even let us in?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they do,” Tim assures them. When they pull up at the hotel Alfred opens the door and Tim gets out with them.

“Thank you so much,” Marinette takes her bags from Alfred, giving him a smile.

“You’re welcome Miss,” Alfred smiles back.

Marion also gives his thanks and they follow Tim into the building. Marinette admires the architecture, brainstorming ideas for designs. Perhaps she can make improvements to the outfits they’ll be using at the concert. Tim goes straight to the front desk and explains the situation. The receptionists hands over the room keys, telling them their classmates had already grouped up, three to a room.

“That was surprisingly easy,” Marion muses, as they walk towards the elevator, “Thank you,”

“My pleasure,” Tim answers easily, as they step into the elevator, “I must be off,”

They give their goodbyes, letting the doors close as Tim walks away.

“He was nice,” Marinette hums in agreement.

“Hopefully there's more people in Gotham like him,” They step out of the elevator.

“There will be,” Marion assures, “Meet back here when they go to sleep?”

“No, I’ll text you when everyones asleep and you can teleport in,” Marion nods, both know Kaalki won’t be impressed.

They go their separate ways. Marinette knocked on the room door that was opened a few moments later by Kagami.

“I am sorry,” Kagami immediately apologizes, “I should have known better and asked you myself,”

“Don’t worry, we’re fine,” Marinette gives the girl a hug, rolling her suitcase into the room.

“Marinette, you need to see this place, although it’s as good as daddys hotel,” Chloe grabs her by the arm. Leading her through the well furnished and decorated living room with a kitchenette to the side.

“You do live in the penthouse suite,” Marinette looked out the floor to ceiling window, displaying the view of the city, itching to grab her sketchbook.

“True, but they didn’t put me in the penthouse, so it's their loss,” Chloe guides her to a room with a large bed, bedside tables with flowers on them and a mirrored closet door. “This is yours,”

Marinette went to grab her suitcase only to see Kagami behind them with it. She thanked her and got settled in. Once she was unpacked they sat together in the living room to talk about tomorrow.

“You’d better not go wandering off, Gotham is dangerous,” Chloe wagged her finger at Marinette.

“And you’re going to protect me?” Marinette threw a couch cushion at her.

“Well, duh, I was Queen Bee,” Chloe bragged, catching the cushion and throwing it right back.

“For, like, month, years ago,” Marinette caught the pillow, sending it to Kagami, “Weren’t you replaced with Bumble Bee?”

“It was a mutual decision,” Chloe caught the pillow that Kagami hesitantly threw to her.

“Right,” Marinette said in a disbelieving tone, knowing full well that Bumble Bee was just Chloe’s new alias. “I think I’d rather stick with Kagami,”

“Rude,” Chloe threw the pillow at her.

“Didn’t we all agree Kagami was as good as any bodyguard?” Marinette asks, throwing the pillow to said girl.

“Excuse you, we said she was better than any bodyguard,” Both gave her inquisitive looks, “What? I’m just stating facts!”

“Of course,” Marinette caught the pillow, still smiling.

“I am!”

“I believe you,” Marinette threw the pillow back at her.

“No you don’t!” Chloe throws the pillow forcefully at her.

“Whatever gave you that idea?” Marinette chucks the pillow to Kagami.

“You’re infuriating Dupain-cheng,” Chloe huffs, catching the pillow from Kagami.

“I can show you some… moves,” Kagami hesitantly speaks up, as Chloe throws the pillow at Marinette, “For self defence,”

“Sure,” Marinette puts the pillow down, standing up with Kagami.

They spent the next half hour with Kagami instructing Marinette on basic fencing moves. With the cardboard wrapping of the now empty Toblerone block.

“Where is she going to get a sword?” Chloe was scrolling through her phone, “Unless you want her to carry that around everywhere,”

“What do you suggest?” Kagami challenges defensively.

“Like this,” Chloe takes over, showing both Marinette and Kagami how to break out of certain holds to get their arm free or how to disarm an opponent.

“Where did you learn this?” Marinette watches as Kagami practices the motions of disarming Chloe's hairbrush gun.

“I told you, I was Queen Bee and I took that job seriously,” Chloe drops the hairbrush, Kagami kicking it away.

“Didn’t you tell all of Paris your identity and then send a train out of control,” Kagami asks, retrieving the hairbrush.

“I was young and naive,” Chloe sighs dramatically, had to her forehead.

“Three years ago?” Marinette stands up to try and disarm Chloe now.

“Four actually,”

“Oh, my mistake,” Marinette rolls her eyes trying not to disarm Chloe too quickly.

They carry on a little longer before Marinette sends them to bed.

“We have an early day tomorrow, we don’t want to be late,” She pushes Chloe towards her room.

“Coming from you? That’s rich,” Chloe laughs.

“Whatever, go to sleep,” Marinette closes the door on Chloe's protests.

“Goodnight Marinette,” Kagami nods, walking to her room without a fuss.

Marinette goes to her room, firing Marion a text.

“Alright dude,” Nino turns to Marion, “I’m with Alya, we all know who Adrien has a crush on-”

“Everyone!?” Adrien sits up from where he’s lying on the couch.

“Yes, everyone,” Nino deadpans.

“What about Marinette?” Adrien turns pleading eyes to Marion.

“Oh not Marinette, she's as clueless as you,”

“What’s that meant to mean?” Adrien frowns defensively.

“Anyway,” Nino interrupts, “Dude, who do you have a crush on?”

“Ummmm,” Marion shifts uncomfortably from where he’s perched on the couches arm rest, “... It’s sort of a celebrity crush,”

“Oh? who?” apparently that was not the answer that would make him lose interest.

“It’s not really important, not like anything could happen,” Marion looks at Adrien for help, but he seems just as curious as Nino.

“Just tell us,” Nino pushes.

“It’s a hero,” Marion immediately realises that just got them more interested. “... From Gotham,”

“Batman?” Adrien guesses.

“No!” Marion shouts, “No! He’s old enough to be my dad, geez,”

“Alright, alright, who is it?” Nino placates leaning forward on his arm chair.

“..... Red hood,”

“Isn’t he a rouge?” Adrien asks.

“No!.... Maybe, he’s still a hero ok?” Marion curls up defensively.

“Why do you like him?” Adrien is grinning, shifting closer to Marion.

“I don’t know,” Marion rolls off the armrest, onto the couch next to him.

“You have to like something,” Nino gets up to sit on his other side.

“I don’t know, maybe because he looks good in his suit?!” Marion shouts.

“You’re not that shallow,” Adrien pokes him in the stomach.

“Ugh, fine,” Marion relents, “He works with Batman right?”

They both nod.

“He’s just so unlike everyone else he works with, I just kinda…. admire how he can just be…. be himself.” Marion curls up under his friend's stares.

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this,” Adrien teases, Marion huffs.

“He does look good in his suit though,”

“Wait a minute, is this why you always wear that MDC outfit?” Nino is clearly holding back laughter.

“No!” Marion bushes at the memory.

They were doing a practice interview about his newest song. Marinette had designed his outfit based on Red Hood's. It was something he had endured endless teasing over as he insisted everything had to be perfect, not that the great MDC would make anything less.

“Were there any problems that arose from the design MDC?” The interview asked, moving onto the outfit choice.

“We had some minor disagreements about the hood,” Marinette gestured to the outfit Marion was wearing. A red hoodie underneath a faux leather jacket(not that you could tell) on the back there were flying red bats embroidered up the side. He was wearing a black domino mask with red detailing in place of the helmet. It was the outfit they chose to alter into their vigilante costumes.

“She was getting very frustrated over it,” Marion teased, “I told her it didn’t need one,”

“His name is Red Hood! Why doesn't he wear a Hood? Robin wears a hood,”

“He looks cool without it,” Marion defended.

“You’re just saying that, cause you have a crush on him,” Marinette teased in a sing-song voice.

“MD!” He shouted, pulling the hood up to hide his blush, MDC laughing at him, he groaned. “Please tell me the cameras aren't rolling,”

“Don’t worry, nothing we say is being recorded,” The interviewer was luckily professional enough to not laugh, but was certainly amused, “I take it we will be omitting that from the real interview?”

“Yes!”

Unfortunately for him one of the staff members had been secretly recording. They leaked the footage online, getting fired, but not sparing MCD from the whole world finding out. The fanbase had been going crazy ever since they announced their concert in Gotham. Many imagining meet-cute moments or theorising that they were already dating. He shakes his head at the memory.

“I just think it looks cool,” He comes back to the present.

“Because it’s based on your crush?” Adrien teases.

“Nope, you don’t get to tease me about this, I haven't seen you not wearing something Marinette made you in years,” Marion cuts Adrien off with a raised eyebrow, looking down at his Ladybug onesie Marinette made him.

“Fine,” Adrien turns to Nino, “It’s up to you now,”

“Has Marinette made you anything Red Hood related?” Nino grins.

“Nooooo,” Marion moans, draping over the couch.

“Do you have a onesie based on him as well?” Marion finds his saving grace when his pocket buzzes.

“Stooooooooop,”

“Never this is too good,” Nino teases, “Did you bring it with you?”

“That's enough for tonight!” Marion claps his hands, standing up.

“Awwwww,” They both moan in unison.

“Nope! I don’t have to put myself through this, goodnight to you,” Marion walks straight to his room before they can protest further.

He locks the door behind him. Plagg and Kaalki are in the room chatting, they fly over to Marion.

“You ready to go Kaalki?”

“I am not meant to be used for something as trivial as a taxi,” The Kwami complains.

“We just need to grab out suits, this will be the only night, I promise,” The Kwami gives him a nod, “Kaalki full gallop,”

He transforms and opens a portal into Marinette's room.

“Ready Bug?” He asks, stepping into the room. He opens another portal to their room in Paris.

“Of course,” They step through the portal, followed by their Kwami’s, into their room as quietly as possible.

Marion drops his Marinette pulls out their costumes from the closet. They were disguised to look like regular clothing, but could be altered to quickly change.

“I don’t know how you talked me into this,” Marinette takes the hoodie he usually wears, reaching under a secret fold and unzips the hood.

“Come on bug, our hero-selves cant be seen in Gotham, and you know full well we wouldn't stand aside if someone was getting hurt in front of us,” Marion takes the body of the hoodie from her, flipping it inside out to the black side.

“True, but why do we have to do nightly patrols?” Marinette finishes pulling on her leggings, flipping her usual white jumper with a cherry blossom pattern inside out to the same red shade as the hood.

“It would look pretty suspicious if we just showed up when our class was in danger, now wouldn’t it,” Marion fasten the yellow belt around his waist, slipping his baton into the holster and pulls on his on his boots, hopping slightly.

“I think you just want to be a vigilante,” Marinette takes his Red Hood jacket, flipping it inside out to black with yellow trim.

“Well, it’s exciting isn’t it?” Marion takes what would usually be Mainette's skirt, flipping the pink inside out to the green and unzipping it along a black line, “We get to test out our skills without miraculous, and we don't have the fate of the city resting on our shoulders,”

“You could a least try to take it seriously,” Marinette flips her beanie inside out to the black side. Pulling it on after the severed hood, lining the holes up with her eyes and pulling the hood up.

“I am taking this very seriously,” Marion says with the biggest grin. Taking Marinette's infinity scarf, running his hands across it to find the secret fold. Flipping it inside out to a green with yellow and black trim. He pulls it over his head, yellow stripe to his hairline.

“Whatever," Marinette fastens her holster with a baton around her left leg. They both pull on their black gloves. "Lets go,”

Marion transforms back and opens a portal to a rooftop far away from the hotel. They take off across the roofs, using their batons to pole vault across alleys, to land on roofs and fire escapes. As they race, taunting each other, they survey the streets below. Marinette stops, crouching down as Marion catches up. A young woman was being chased by two thugs.

“Let’s go,” She whispers, using the fire escape as a firemans pole. Marion follows suit.

They land in the alley as the girl gets backed up against a wall, clutching her purse. She looks straight at them, Marion gestures her to stay quiet as they sneak up behind the thugs. Marinette takes the one on the right, as he lines up behind the left one. Marinette attacks first hitting the right one over the head with her baton.

“What the-” Marion cuts the left one off by sweeping his legs with his baton, sending him crashing to the ground. He pins them down, tying his wrist together with one hand, “You little fuc-”

Marion stuffs the mans own hat in his mouth. He then ties the crooks legs together for good measure. He looks over to Marinette, her thug unconscious, she was comforting the victim, offering her a cookie from a hidden pocket.

“Thank you,” She takes the cookie hesitantly.

“Not a problem,” Marinette gives her a winning smile.

“Wow, this is really good,” She mumbles, with her mouth full, “Um, who are you,”

“Don't worry about that,” Marion slings his arm around Marinette, "We're just your friendly neighbourhood strays,"

“Ignore him,” Marinette pushes his arm off her, “Do you want us to walk you home?”

“Uh- yeah, thanks,”

“I love your outfit by the way,” Marinette tells her, as they leave the alley way. Marion walks behind calling the police to come pick up the thugs, explaining what happened.

“Hey, can I get your number so the police can get your statement later?” Marion interrupts, as they follow the girl to her apartment.

“Of course,” He hands over the phone, letting her hang up.

“I haven’t seen you around before,” She hands back the phone, Marion walking on her other side.

“We’re new to town,” Marion smiles at her.

“I can tell,” They both give her inquisitive looks, “You’ve smiled more in the last five minutes than most Gothamites do their whole lives,”

“You’re exaggerating,” Marinette chuckles.

“I’m serious, you’re going to blind someone,” She laughs with them.

They walk her to her apartment, holding polite conversation the whole way.

“This is it,” She announces, “Thanks again,”

“No problem,” They both say, turning to leave.

“Wait…. Um,” They both stop looking back at her holding her phone, “Can I get a picture?”

“Of course,” Marion bounces over to her, Marinette taking the other side.

They give the same big smiles they do as Ladybug and Chat Noir. Marion throwing up bunny ears behind Marinette's head. They say goodbye and run off to find someone else to help.

“Whatcha doing Tim?” Dick looks over his shoulder, still in his Nightwing costume fresh from patrol.

“I ran into some French students who were left behind by their class at the airport,” Tim scrolls through a word document, complete with pictures of smiling teens doing a mixture of charity work and sports among other activities. “They won the Martha Wayne educational trip, I was just looking through their entry,”

“They got left behind, in Gotham?”

“That’s what I said! I actually caught them just before they got in a faux taxi,” Tim reaches the end of the rather long essay.

“They could have been mugged, or kidnapped!” Dick slams his hands down on the desk.

“I know , Dick,” Tim rubs his face, “The worst part is they didn’t seem at all surprised about it either,”

Dick leaves Tim to his work to change, muttering to himself.

“Is everything alright, Master Dick?” Alfred appears with food for after patrol.

“What if it happens again?” Dick asks.

“I assume you’re referring to the lovely twins Master Tim met at the airport?” Alfred nods knowingly, Dick nods back. “Well hopefully something similar doesn't happen tomorrow for their tour of Wayne Tower,”

“.... Alfred can you place me in charge of the tour?”

“Consider it done, Master Dick,” Alfred leaves him to get changed.

He finishes changing into regular clothes as the Batmobile pulls in. Batman and Robin exiting.

“We need to discuss security measures for the upcoming concert,” Batman tells the room, they gather around,

“MCD is known for his advocacy of superheroes, so we can expect a few villains to make trouble,” Tim pulls up a picture of MCD with MDC as they walk down the red carpet for some event.

Dick is amused that the picture he pulled up had them in Batman and Robin themed outfits. MDC wearing a beautiful black dress with the bat symbol subtly incorporated into the bodice. Her dress trailed behind in sharp points like Batman’s cape. MCD was wearing a suit with a red shirt, his tie green and some yellow detailing.

“You are going to be professional aren't you?” Damian gives them both pointed looks.

“Whatever are you talking about?” Dick asks innocently.

“You two are always jabbering on about these two,” Robin glares.

“We do not-oh that reminds me, if we’re going to be guarding this event we have to invite Jason,” Dick addresses Bruce.

“He is worse than you two, going on about that interview,” Damian must be rolling his eyes under the domino mask.

“Come on little D. how often does your celebrity crush like you back?” Dick smiles, remembering the night Jason called him yelling in excitement telling him about the leaked footage. He had also asked him to get Tim to find out who leaked the footage and have them fired.

“I don’t know and I don’t care,”

“As for actual security measures,” Batman redirects the conversation.

“Master Jason has arrived,” Alfred reports, coming to stand with them.

“Speak of the devil,” Tim mutters.

“BRUCE YOU MOTHERFUCKER,”Jason bursts into the bat cave, “I need to know these things!”

“We were just talking about the concert,” Dick tells him.

“What? No! Why didn’t you tell me you adopted more!” He yells at Bruce. “I need to know when you’re planning to traumatise more kids!”

“Jason what are you talking about,” Bruce only lets a hint of irritation into his voice.

“THis,” Jason slams down his phone to a screenshot of a tweet. It showed a picture of a boy and girl, both with black hair and blue eyes, following Tim into a limo. Written underneath was;

Wayne Twins? How long has Bruce Wayne been keeping them from Gotham? Are they adopted? Or could the Family resemblance be more than coincidence?

#wayne twins #Bruce Wayne's secret children #aren’t they just adorable

“What is this?” Bruce asks Tim.

“They’re the one who won the Martha Wayne educational trip, their class left them at the airport, I gave them a ride,” Tim briefly explained, noticeably omitting the taxi part.

“Wait so you didn’t adopt them?” Jason picks his phone back up.

“No, Jason, I didn’t,” Jason’s eyes narrow.

“... Are you going to?”

“... No, I’m not,”

“Keep an eye out,” Jason not at all subtly whispers to Dick, “He hesitated,”

“What are we going to do?” Damian cuts their growing argument off.

“We could release a statement?” Tim suggests.

“Drawing attention to it will only fuel the flames, let’s just let it die out,” Bruce decides, getting nods of agreement.

“By the way Jason, we were talking about security measures for the MCD concert,” Dick changes the topic.

“Without me!?”

They go back to making security plans for the concert, including Jason.

“I think we should have someone inside,” Jason looks over the blueprint of the venue.

“Of course you do,” Damian remarks snidely

“You little-”

“Bruce!” Superman's face pops up on the main computer, “You can’t just take in new kids without warning!”

“They aren’t my children,” Bruce clenches his fists, “The pictures with Tim are taken out of context,”

“What? I’m talking about the new Robins-,”

“THE NEW WHAT!” Jason and Damian shout at the same time.

“What are you talking about?” Bruce probably asking that question more times today than he would like.

“Uh, this,” A picture is sent through a screenshot of another tweet that was steadily becoming viral.

The picture had two teens in masks on either side of a civilian, giving the biggest smiles that had probably ever grace Gotham. The boy giving the girl bunny ears. Underneath was written:

Almost got mugged tonight and was saved by these two. Didn't tell me their names. They kinda look like Robin right? Also they gave me a cookie? It was actually good too.

#new Robins #Robin #Batfam #OMG their smile are pure sunshine #send help I might be blind

[saviorgenius]

Not Exactly

Summary: Reader thinks something is going on between JJ and Reid and tries to ignore it but cant

It almost feels like every time you walk in a room they stop talking and look at you. You aren’t normally the jealous type, which is why when this happens you try and just shrug it off. You walk in and start talking to them about what ever reason it was that you went in there in the first place and it’s all okay.

The first time you noticed this happened was when you walked into the BAU to give Spence his phone that he left at your apartment. It’s more like you share the apartment, but he still has his own apartment with all of his books that he likes to go to when he’s thinking hard about a case. You were okay with that, you knew what you signed up for when you began to date him. Anyways, you walk in and JJ is on Spencer’s desk talking to him with a smile on her face. They are friends, you know that, you also know that Spencer used to have a crush on her but he was also open about that in the beginning as well. The minute you say a word and they notice you both of their faces go blank and Spencer spins around in his chair in shock which he quickly fixes to be happiness. You make a weird face at him but except the hug he comes at you with, melting into it and forgetting all about the situation. 

The second time it happened you were at one of those gathering with the entire team at Rossi’s house. You walked in together and everyone comments on how adorable you are and how they just love seeing you at events with Spencer. You and Emily are talking when Spence sees someone and walks away, you glance just noticing him leaving your side and not who he was going to but you were so into the conversation with Emily it didn’t really matter. You trust him. Maybe ten minutes later Emily had walked away to talk to someone else and you went over to grab a drink scanning the group of friends to find your date. He’s standing with JJ so you walk over and again you were noticed and the conversation pauses. It was starting to get a little irritating at this point but what could you do? So you do what you do best and move passed it. Spencer greets you, “hey Y/N.” He smiles at you but his eyes dart to JJ who is looking down at her glass, you reply back with a soft greeting. “hey, what are you two talking about?” You smile with your innocent question but all you get back is two people telling you two different things they obviously weren’t talking about. It’s awkward for a moment until someone calls JJ away and now your standing there with a nervous Spencer who is waiting for you to pounce on the fact that neither of them had the right answer earlier. But you don’t say anything you just ask him how he’s enjoying the party and the situation disappears again but this time it lingers in the back of your head as well.

The third time that it happened you two were at home for the entire day. He had the day off and so did you, this didn’t happen often so when it did you usually both spend the whole day together watching movies and talking. This time it started off like a normal day but his phone kept buzzing and unlike normal days when he’s off, this time he kept answering it. The first few times it happened you figured he was just getting messages from his team, then it kept happening all day and while he loves his team he normally won’t answer them unless it’s an emergency on his day off. You guys were making dinner together, he was stirring sauce while you were slicing the last ingredients for it when his phone buzzes and his eyes dart away from you to the phone. Your eyebrow raises as he lifts his phone up and reads the text before sitting it down and going back to cooking. “Do you need to go?” You didn’t mean to comment on it but it just slipped out, you would hate to be keeping him from somewhere he’d rather be. He looked over at you with a furrowed brow, “What?” You don’t even hesitate, “Do you need to go? Your phone is going off like you’re a carnival game. If you have a case you can tell me, or if you had other plans you didn’t need to come over today.” He stops stirring and looks at you while you don’t even bother looking up from what you are doing while you talk. “No, I don’t have other plans. I’m happy here- I want to be here with you. It’s just updates on a case we closed.” You liked hearing him say he was happy here, maybe that’s why he said it though.. You don’t like that you’re questioning him but if the shoe fits.. “oh okay,” you say with a smile that doesn’t quite match the normal one you wear. “Just wanted to make sure.” He walks over to you and kisses you on the back of your head lingering for a moment, “I’m sure.”  You lean into the feeling and then you both are back to cooking.  After a while you guys were eating your food, laughing and talking the night away.You eventually make your way over to the couch to watch a movie together, laying your phones on the side table as always and getting all cuddled up. In the middle of the movie Spencer has to go to the bathroom but tells you not to pause the movie as always. As soon as he makes it to the bathroom you pause it and wait. 

Bzz. Bzz. Bzz.

You glance over at the nonstop vibrations and pick it up once you see who it is. JJ. Something inside you hardens, he doesn’t have his message previews on like he used to and that felt secretive. You set the phone back down and sit up on the couch, pressing play on the movie to distract you from any of the overthinking you are about to do/ are already doing. He comes back out and sits down, you aren’t cuddling anymore but he still grabs your hand to hold it. Something was up, but you didn’t want to mention it. It scared you too much on what he might admit to. 

The last and the most recent time that it occured was at you aparment once again. This time JJ was there though, along with the rest of the team, you didn’t have the biggest apartment but there was enough room for everyone to be comfortable. It was Spencer’s birthday so you wanted to host it and host it you did. You cooked all the food, made all the decorations, made the cake and all the drinks. In fact you were in the kitchen finishing off dinner right before the last thing that sent you over the edge occured. You walked out with the food, the whole team was sitting and Spencer was sitting next to JJ with a seat open on the other side for you. You take it, still noticing the little looks between spencer and JJ, everything inside of you is fighting to ignore it but it’s so hard. Your eyes glisten with tears but you hold it in, you’re good at that. Through out the day you’ve held it in, from Spencer hugging JJ on entrance and them whispering about something to all the private conversations throughout the night that stopped when you came in the room or were noticed. When you sat to eat its almost like you couldn’t distract yourself from the obvious truth. Spencer was going to leave you.. 

There was a moment when everyone began to notice you weren’t talking, of course they would notice. It got quiet except for two people, JJ and Spencer, they were having a side conversation not seeing the way you were looking. You look up and see almost all of the eyes on you, Emily looks concerned and her eyes keep darting to Spencer to try and get him to notice, Hotch’s expression looked protective and confused as to why, Rossi looked as if he wanted to kick someone’s ass and the rest of the team looked just the same. You take a breath and excuse yourself for a moment, practically running to the bedroom to get away. That’s when you noticed the absolute silence, JJ and Spencer noticed now too. 

Some time passes and you hear the front door opening and closing, your body is aching from embarassment and guilt from somehow ruining the night that wasn’t even about you. You wanted to become invisible, you wanted nothing more than to lock the door and never let anyone back in the apartment again. Then there was a knock on the door, you squeeze your hands into fists and take a deep breath before wiping your tears and fixing yourself to open the door.

Standing outside your door was none other than JJ and Spencer reid themselves. They look almost sheepish as you walk passed them back into the living room where you find out that everyone but these two had left. 

“What is the party over?” you say as an attempt at humor before starting to clean up. “Y/N..” Spencer says in a tone that makes you want to listen, he grabs your hands and pulls you to sit down so you could talk. JJ sat down too, they were concerned for what happened whilst the rest of the team had known and left for them to figure it out, hinting for JJ to stay too. 

“What, Spencer? What do you want me to say?” Your voice cracks but you were able to recover from it. “I’m sorry I guess I just got overwhelmed.”

Spencer furrows his brow, “Y/N, I’m not upset with you for getting upset. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine.”

“I disagree,” JJ says matter of factly.

Your eyes dart up to look at her and your sadness goes away being replaced with annoyance, “Of course you do.”

“Excuse me?” She laughs and looks to spencer who looks just as confused.

“Of course you do.. You know I’m tired of pretending things dont hurt me anymore. I don’t like when I walk into a room and conversations stop, its suspicious. I don’t like when my boyfriend, who never has his previews on his phone off suddenly does. I don’t like not trusting you.” The last one was directed at Spencer and he looked hurt but also had a look of realization across his face.

“This is all a misunderstanding,” He says trying to get you to understand. “It’s not what you think.”

“Oh so now you assume to know what I’m thinking? Actually why don’t you go ahead and try to explain how all of this doesn’t add up to you and her sneaking around behind my back!” Tears swell in your eyes and they can both tell you are more hurt than angry at this point. They can tell that it’s something you’ve been pushing down and ignoring for a while. 

“Y/N, I would never do that to you,” JJ says first. “Spence is only a friend-”

Spencer cuts her off, “This is all my fault. I’m so sorry, Y/n, I’ve noticed your hesitation for a couple months now but I’ve been saying it’ll all be okay in the end because of what I was doing.”

“Spence-”

“No,JJ, she needs to know. No more lies, I knew it was risky.” You were watching them talk back and forth but nothing was making sense to you, your brow furrows and a tear falls down your cheek almost perfectly. “I have been planning a surprise for you and I have been having JJ help me so that I don’t screw it up.” He digs in his poket and puts out a ring, setting it gently in your hand which only makes you cry harder. This whole time you were thinking he was leaving you but in reality he was planning a way to have you in his life forever. “I wasn’t leaving you,Y/N, I was trying to make a perfect day for us so that I can have you in my life forever.”

“I’m so sorry,” You choke out and he reaches up to tuck your hair behind your ear. “I ruined it.” 

He smiles at you and shakes his head, “No you didn’t.” 

JJ smiles and chuckles, “so does that mean you are saying yes?”

You look up at her and apologise without words, “I don’t remember hearing a question yet.”

He smiles and asks you the question you will never stop hearing until the day you die, “will you marry me?”

You nod and laugh, “Yes.”

Meanwhile on the other side of your apartment door Emily, Garcia, Rossi, Hotch and Derek were all listening with a smile. 

[sunnydaisy1]

Med Students

JACKSON AVERY X OC  (nr i just found it easier to write with a set name)

A/N: I have been watching too much grey’s atm and I know i have lots of requests to write and a wattpad story to update but the Jackson inspiration is too much ahhh.

I walked through the halls beside Alex as we made our way to the reception. Apparently we had all been paged and we didnt know what for. As we entered the large area, I saw all the residents gathered and I squeezed passed a few people until I reached Jackson and Mer. "Hey guys what's going on?" I asked, pulling Karev away from Arizona. "Fresh meat." Jackson said, nodding towards the line of sweating students. I grinned, nudging Jacksons arm, "oh how fun." He rolled his eyes but a small smile played on his lips as he turned his attention to Chief Webber. "Alright people today we are joined by a group of first year medical students who you will be supervising." He spoke, giving us all a stern look to silence the mumbles of disgust. "Your surgeries are their surgeries so look after them and try to be nice please. Oh and I will be choosing a chief resident soon so behave. Dr Grey will read out who you have been designated." Alex mumbled something beside me which caused Mer to slap him hard and I sighed, knowing this was going to be a long day. Lexie stepped forward, holding a clipboard and scanned the room for silence before proceeding. "Okay Marcus is with April." April waved and the med student headed over to her, leaving for rounds. I glanced up at Jackson who was furrowing his eyebrows. My gaze turned back to the pale interns and Lexie. "Meredith has Helen, Christina has David." The two med students walked over nervously and I laughed at Christina's merciless glare. There was 1 pretty girl left who I could tell was eyeing Alex up. "Dibs." Alex called, nudging Jackson and I rolled my eyes at their boyish behaviour. "No fair." Jackson said, shoving Karev back. "You fancy Ma.." Alex started but Jackson elbowed him in the side and I turned round, shaking my head. They both looked at me sheepishly and I turned back round as Lexie announced who Alex was going with. "Alex you're with Lydia." He triumphantly clapped Jackson on the back before heading over to his newfound 'love.' I patted Jackson's back, "Looks like you've either got the greasy dork or mr handsome." Jackson frowned down at me, "mr handsome?" I poked his cheek as Lexie continued to read out the other residents students, "not talking 'bout you." Jackson gave me a lopsided grin as he turned back to face Lex. "Maddie you're with Sam." A tall brunette stepped forward, a handsome grin on his face. "Greasy dork it is." I said to Jackson, walking off to meet my student. I heard him sigh which made me grin as I stopped in front of Sam. "Hey I'm Maddie, you must be Sam." I extended my hand out to him and he smoothly shook it. "Nice to meet you Maddie." I smiled at him and started walking off in the direction of Trauma. "Okay so today we will be under Dr Hunt who is head of Trauma. If you have any questions dont be afraid to ask but try not to get in anyones way." Sam nodded, "okay ma'am." He grinned at me as we stopped outside the ER. "It can be a little shocking seeing a proper trauma in real life for the first time so if you need to step out just do it." Sam nodded as my face turned serious. 

I stepped backwards, opening the door to the ER and walking through the the small corridor that led to the ambulance bay. "Okay we need to put on these yellow gowns and then we are good to go." I said, tossing Sam a large yellow gown. I spotted Jackson walking through the ER doors and I smiled inwardly at his pained expression, probably from his pestering student behind him. I unfolded my over gown and pulled it on, nodding at Sam who was tying his up. I was struggling to sort out the crumpled part at the back when I felt a pair of warm hands move mine away and I turned round and smiled at Jackson who grinned at me and finished tying a bow with the strings. I blushed slightly and walked over to Hunt and Torres with Sam beside me. "Morning all." I said, peering at the two grave attendings beside me. They grunted in return. I felt a nudge beside me, "hm?" I asked, preoccupied with watching Jackson cross his arms over his chest. "Is that one over there your boyfriend?" Sam asked and I blushed, quickly averting my gaze back to my smirking student. "What? No!" I said, frowning. "Okay cool." He continued before looking around at the ambulance bay. JACKSONS POV "Hey uh Dr Avery?" The greasy med student beside me asked as I watched Maddie talk to Sam and giggle on the other side of Hunt. "Yeh?" I asked curtly, fed up with this guys constant questions. "Is the ambulance coming?" He said, pushing his glasses back up his nose. I narrowed my eyes at him and titled my head to look at him, "yes." I said aggressively and James nodded, fiddling with his yellow gown. "Who's uh..who's the resident over there?" James asked, trying to continue the conversation. "Maddie." I responded, tensing as mr handsome nudged her. "Oh okay." He nodded and my attention was snagged from Maddie and her flirting student to the blaring sirens of an ambulance pulling up into the bay. Hunt and Torres stepped forward as the paramedics stepped out the doors and lifted the patient down. "Amanda Hart, 45 years old, multiple burns on her left arm and a large gash on both her legs, possible fracture on the left femur." The medic stated, helping us wheel her into the ER. I felt James shuffle beside me, awkwardly moving around the gurney. "Dude move out the way." I grunted, frustration clouding my brain. Hunt glanced over at me and I cringed, I really needed to impress all the attendings if I'm gonna be chief resident. When we had wheeled Mrs Hart into a bay and transferred her to a hospital gurney, I glanced up at Maddie who was working furiously, sanitizing the wound on the patients right leg. I shook my head to clear it and focused on the patient who was screaming in pain. MADDIES POV When we had finally given some pain meds to Mrs Hart and the bleeding was under control and she had an MRI, I sat on a stool alongside her arm where she needed a few stitches. Sam was listening to Torres explain something about a dislocated shoulder and Jackson's student was standing close beside him on the other side of the room as he finished suturing a young man. "Almost done Mrs Hart." I said sweetly to the middle aged woman watching me. "Thank you sweetie, you're a real star." She replied as I tied off the thread. I smiled at her and stood up, walking over to Hunt. "Need anything sir?" I asked, the ER was kinda slow today and I didnt want to spend all of today stitching up people, plus Sam should get a full insight of a hospital. "Uh no thanks Johnson, if you're looking for something interesting to show your med student you could observe in OR 2, Sloan's building some cheek bones." I nodded, grinning and heading over to Sam who was laughing alongside Callie. "Hey Maddie." Sam said, smiling broadly. "I've finished Mrs Harts sutures and I was wondering if you wanted to come see cheek bones being constructed?" I said nonchalantly as if I hadn't just suggested going to see a really cool surgery. "Really? Oh my god please." Sam said, gobsmacked. I nodded, "yep, go tell Dr Avery and his student, I think they've finished with their patient." Sam grinned and walked over to Jackson. "You know if you totally didnt fancy the crap out of Avery you could go hook up with Sam right now." Callie suddenly said as I watched my favourite resident talk to Sam. "Wait what?" I asked, turning my attention the the grinning Mexican. "might want to wait til after work though, if the chief found out that would be messy." I stared wide eyed at Callie, "wh..how?..howd you know I like Jackson?" The grinning attending turned towards me, "you told alex and alex told arizona who told mark who told me, word travels fast around this hospital Maddie." I gaped at her gobsmacked, shocked that all those people knew, I was gonna kill Alex. "Oh and the fact that you two never stop eye-fucking each other across the room." Callie added and walked off leaving me embarassed and blushing. I tried to act normal as I walked across the room to Sam. "Ready to go?" I asked and he nodded enthusiastically. "Wait hang on, dont leave without me." I heard Jackson pipe up behind me before placing his hands on my shoulders. "Alrighty then let's go." We walked quickly to OR 2, Sam and the student who's name I learned was James walked a little ahead, chatting about what they had seen today. "Hows Mr handsome?" Jackson asked beside me, his piercing green eyes glinting with humour. "Good, not that annoying and easy on the eyes." I responded, grinning at my fellow resident. "Oh lucky you." Jackson said, grumbling, "greasy mcdorkface over there wont shut the hell up." I laughed and shoved him slightly, causing a shit-eating grin to spread over his face. "Meanie." I said, glancing up at Jackson. "I'm not the mean one you called him a greasy dork first." He replied, crossing his arms over his chest in victory. "Yeah but we're all dorks so doesn't really count." I said, my side brushing against Jacksons. "I'm not a dork." He said defensively and I chuckled, "sure you're not Avery." "You're more dorky than me." Jackson poked me and I grinned at him, "that's why you love me." Jackson beamed and watched Sam and James stop outside OR 2. "I'll ask Sloan if we can watch." I said, walking past the two students and holding a mask over my mouth. I noticed Alex and Lydia standing very close together opposite Mark and I rolled my eyes, "Hey Dr Sloan do you mind if Jackson and our students watch the surgery?" Mark looked up at me from the patient and grinned cheekily, "depends if you and avery are gonna watch the surgery or undress each other with your eyes." I felt my face heat up and I glared at Alex who was grinning amused across the room. "Uh no." I replied, avoiding the gazes of the nurses. Mark nodded, "then you can come in." I walked back to the door and nodded, letting Sam, James and Jackson into the room, each now wearing a mask. JACKSONS POV We watched Sloan's surgery for 2 hours before Maddie got paged to the ER and I got paged to Bailey. James and I were walking out of OR 2, discarding our masks when the awkward student spoke up, "that was really cool." I nodded, trying to be a little nicer to him, "yeah it was, plastics is really interesting and Sloans a great surgeon." James nodded and walked alongside me down to the nurses station. "Is Maddie your girlfriend?" He asked suddenly out of the blue and I scoffed, "no." James frowned and adjusted his glasses, "do you want her to be?" I glanced at the dorky man beside me and chuckled a little at his attempt to get me to like him. "That's a yes then." James answered, smiling a little at my amused expression. "Yeah." I smiled at him as we turned the corner to the Nurses station. "You know if you fancy her you should just tell her, I think she likes you as well." James said, following me to the chart rack. "What?" I asked, confused why he would think that. "She likes you back Dr Avery. She kept on looking at you when we were in surgery and Sam told me she never stops talking about you." James continued, making me frown. "Thanks mate but I'm not so sure." I replied and James shrugged as we walked over to Bailey, arms laden with charts. Bailey brought me to check up on some post op patients and let James do a few checks himself. I couldnt stop thinking about what he said and I was looking forward to having lunch in a bit when I could see Maddie again. MADDIES POV Sam and I left Mark's OR after 3 and a half hours to grab food and let him go for lunch with the rest of his fellow students. "I think you guys are having lunch in the canteen with us." I said, leading Sam to the loud room filled with doctors. "Cool." He replied, walking closely beside me. We entered the canteen and I saw the rest of the residents sitting on a table in the middle with their students sitting a few tables away. I walked over with Sam to get a plate of food and followed him towards the students table where Alex happened to be sitting beside his pretty student. JACKSONS POV I watched as Maddie collected her food alongside Sam, smiling and laughing with him before heading towards his table. "Whys she over there with him?" I asked, absent mindedly eating my sandwich. "Why jealous?" Christina grinned at me triumphantly and I scoffed, glaring at her, "No." Mer chuckled as she slurped on her milkshake. I looked over again to Maddie who was now standing beside Sam's seat, talking to the table of students. "That dude's been flirting with her all morning." I grumbled, chewing on my straw. "Jackson stop being a wimp and just ask her out." Lexie spoke up from across the table. "Urgh no, I've tried before and she ends up inviting one of you guys." I replied, slumping in my seat and shooting daggers in the back of Sam's head. "Well then you just need to clarify it's a date. Maddie's a bit oblivious to stuff like that Jackson." Lexie continued, smiling at my distraught appearance. "What if she doesn't like me back, then i've ruined our friendship completely." I added, miserably picking at my plate.  "Oh grow a pair avery." Christina said, making me roll my eyes at her as Maddie walked over. "Hey guys." She said sweetly, sitting beside me in the empty seat I had saved for her. I grunted in response, intent on picking at my sandwich. "What's up with you?" She asked, nudging me and frowning adorably. I bit into my sandwich and mumbled, "nothin." Maddie shrugged and started chatting with Lexie about the med students and Mark's surgery. I continued to stay in a grump, mulling over how Maddie was gonna reject me when I asked her out later. I was fiddling with the lid of my drink when Maddie whispered to me, "Hey Jackson you okay?" I nodded and continued to listen absent mindedly to Christina complaining. "You sure cos you seem a little sad." Maddie continued, nudging my shoulder with hers. My heart fluttered at her sweet actions and I just nodded, mumbling "I'm fine." Maddie seemed to accept this but placed her blueberry muffin on my tray anyway, knowing it would cheer me up a little. I smiled slightly at her and she grinned back, now trying to make Christina see sense about her Cardio problems. TIME SKIP TO END OF DAY MADDIES POV Everyone was in a bit of a mood now after their review from their med student delivered by the Chief. My review was excellent so I wasnt annoyed but the depressing atmosphere in the residents lounge was starting to get to me. Everyone was already changed but I was still in my pale blue scrubs as Callie had needed my assistance on a surgery 10 minutes ago. I opened my locker before taking my scrub shirt off, placing it on the side and pulling my long sleeved top over my head. I turned around to get my jeans and when I faced back around, jackson was making his way across the room to me. I pulled my scrub pants off and tossed them to the side with my top, yanking on my jeans. Jackson leaned on the locker beside mine as I buttoned up my pants. "What's up?." I said, discarding my scrubs into the bin at the end. I reached into my locker to collect my stuff and looked at the green eyed boy expectantly. "Uh I was urm wondering if you wanted to go uh.. to go to Joe's with me?" He stuttered and I nodded, piling my stuff into my bag and pulling on my coat, "oh yeah sure, I need to talk to Mer about something anyway." Jackson took a step towards me as I closed my locker and put my keys in my pocket. "Urh no not urm not like that." He said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "What?" I said confused, frowning up at him. "Urm like a uh like a date." He continued and I frowned even more, confused as to what the hell he was talking about. "A date with Mer?" I asked puzzled, "Jackson shes marri..." I started but he placed his hands on my shoulders and laughed, making me smile slightly confused. "No a date with me idiot." I instantly felt my face heat up and I felt like an utter dork, "oh." I nervously looked into Jacksons eyes and felt my heart beat rapidly in my chest, "uh yeah, yeah I'd like that." I replied, tucking my hair behind my ear. Jackson grinned at me and I felt a wide smile spread out on my own face, still hot with adrenaline. We stayed grinning at each other and I glanced down to his mouth and back up, scanning his slightly blushing face. Jackson took a step forward, leaning down slightly and I felt the world whoosh around me, all sound and movement blocked out apart from the man in front of me. He stopped an inch away from my face, looking directly at my lips, I could feel his cool breath fanning over me. He looked up into my eyes, his green ones shining. "Can I kiss you?" He breathed out, eyes flicking between my eyes. I nodded slightly, not trusting myself to speak. 

At once, I felt Jackson's plump warm lips press against mine, pushing me back slightly as he cupped my jaw and cheek. My eyes fluttered closed and I relaxed into his kisses, kissing him back softly. I reached behind his neck and hooked my arms over his shoulders, deepening the kiss. I felt his left hand snake down to my waist, brushing under my tshirt and to the waistband of my jeans as he ran his tongue over my bottom lip. I moaned slightly and opened my mouth, letting him slip his tongue in. He brought his hand further round my back, moving his warm hands against the bare skin. I continued to kiss him passionately, feeling the rising temperature in the room. Jackson ran a hand along the front of my waist and his fingers dipped slightly under my jeans waistband. I moaned slightly in response but pulled away, not wanting to get too far ahead of myself. I kept my eyes closed and rested my forehead against his, "I dont want to get carried away." I whispered, breathing heavily. I opened my eyes to see Jackson looking down at me, his green eyes shining. "Let's go." He said, taking my hand in his and placing a gentle kiss on my lips.