#'do you want me to stay angry?' being answered by a resounding yes. dude. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

qitwrites · 3 years

Text

a numbers game

Fandom: BNHA

Pairing: Kiribaku

(AO3)

Bakugou knows his personality and general rage-filled disposition towards everything, in general, isn’t winning him any favours, but the texts have made him contemplate just how shitty he must’ve been in a past life to deserve a fate like this.

Because no one - and Bakugou knows such assholes as Monoma - but no one deserves to be on the receiving end of unsolicited dick pics. From random numbers. At all times of the day. For the last 3ish months.

“I am going to throw my phone out the fucking window, I swear on all that is good and pure, fucking bull-“

“More dick pics?” Camie interrupts with a wide grin, plucking the phone out of Bakugou’s hand.

“What the fuck else?” Bakugou snaps, trying to pull his phone back in vain. Camie holds it just out of reach, eyeing the disgusting penis with a critical stare.

"Hmm,” she says, passing the phone back to him before taking a sip of her terrible grass juice that smells like a badly mowed golf course, “the lighting is bad and he hasn’t done like, any grooming at all. 3/10.”

“You’re being generous,” Bakugou huffs, deleting the picture immediately and swallowing the still raging urge to fling his phone at the nearest wall. “It’s unsolicited. And his fingernails are fucking filthy. -100/10.”

Camie rolls her eyes. “You’re being dramatic again Kitkat.”

Bakugou counts to 10 in his head, tries to find that last shred of patience he knows is somewhere deep in his dark pit of a soul and breathes out in a rush.

“I need to fucking figure this out before I actually lose it and track down one of these fuckers and choke the life out of them.”

Because here’s the thing- Bakugou has been receiving dick pics and dirty text messages like hi bby want sex? and imma dick you down gud boo – he’s positively swooning, what a lovely way to be wooed – and he has no idea how to stop it. Yes, he could cancel his number and get a new one, but all of his bank details are linked to this one. He’s had it since he first got a phone in middle school, and now all of his documents are attached to the damn thing. The very idea of going to the banks and the DMV and every other stupid establishment to get it changed makes him grimace hard enough that he decides to bear with it.

Except, every time he receives one of these horrible pictures, his urge to blow up the phone, nay, the entire world, simmers at dangerous levels.

“Cool it kitkat,” Camie croons, giving his forearm a squeeze, “you’re making your homicidal face. That cannot be good for wrinkles.”

“Like I give a fuck,” Bakugou grunts, flinging his phone away carelessly and watching it skitter around on the kitchen counter before halting dangerously close to the edge. “I just want it to stop.”

Camie puts her atrocity for a drink down and pulls the fridge open, rummaging around as she says, “I have a theory about all this.” She pulls out a jar of jalapenos and places it in front of Bakugou. The blonde yanks a fork out of the admittedly cute utensil bucket in the middle of their counter before snapping the lid off and spearing a good 3 pieces in one go. He chews on them slowly and directs a raised brow at Camie.

“Well,” she muses, picking her drink back up, “as a woman that receives a LOT of numbers from guys and gals and non-binary folks alike-“ Bakugou makes it a point to roll his eyes hard enough to knock his head back; Camie’s laughter is loud and boisterous “- I have a tactic for when I don’t know how to say no and don’t want to give my digits.”

Bakugou has another forkful of jalapenos in his mouth when he narrows his eyes at her.

Camie shrugs, “I usually change the very last digit of my number. Works like a charm. I never meet the person again, and they can’t contact me. Win-win.”

“Win-win my ass,” Bakugou seethes. “Do I look like I’m winning right now? I am this fucking close to killing someone, because of stupid tactics like yours.”

Camie finishes the last of her drink, and speaks around her straw, “You say that, but do you know how many people, and especially dudes, don’t take no for an answer? The only reason I give out any digits at all is when I can’t guarantee my safety. I know it’s not like, the perfect solution or anything, but I’m giving you facts right now.”

And Bakugou does, in fact, know that. He’s met those pushy assholes- people that don’t back down, people that don’t take no at face value, people that push and prod and get up in his space. It pisses him off to absolutely no end.

“Whatever,” he concedes. He spears another forkful of jalapenos before grumbling, “So, what the fuck do I do?”

Camie grins, minx like. “Why don’t you text the number one ahead and one behind your own and ask? I mean, in the best-case scenario you figure it out and get it all to stop, in the worst case, you get to yell at like random people. Isn’t that your second favourite pastime, right after yelling at that pigeon outside our balcony, the one with an agenda?”

“Don’t talk about that fucking pigeon,” Bakugou fumes, “fucking piece of shit bird and those dark, robotic eyes. Something is up with that; you can’t convince me otherwise.” He mulls over the rest of her suggestion before relenting, “Well, I guess I could spare a moment to yell at the fucking extras giving out my number to perverts with no manners and gross penises.”

“I find it so funny when you say the word manners,” Camie says as she walks to her room, “It’s almost like you know what it means!”

She isn’t even looking at him, but she manages to dodge the jalapeno that sails at her head. It hits the wall with a sick squelch, and when Bakugou hears Camie’s door shut, he drops his head on the counter with a loud, resounding thunk and muffles a scream into the marble.

He forgets to send out those texts, and when he receives yet another picture, not three days later, of someone holding their disgusting penis in their hand, like it’s an accomplishment or some shit, he sends out a text message to two different numbers typed with shaky, sweaty fingers.

>> xxx-xxx-xxx6 , xxx-xxx-xxx4

I don’t know who the fuck you are, and you don’t know me, but it’s possible that one of you assholes gives out my number to random people who, in turn, send me fucking dick pics. It’s been over 3 fucking months, so knock it the actual fuck off. And in case it isn’t you, fuck you anyway.

Bakugou wakes up from a restless sleep to sunlight sloping in through the blinds of his room, a dry mouth, and three new text messages from an unknown number.

Because his brain takes time to boot up in the mornings, he foregoes the phone entirely and makes his way to the kitchen in search of caffeine. Camie is always up before him, and he gratefully pours himself a mug of her insanely strong black coffee, the kind to palpitate your heart and make you vibrate in your seat. She calls it jet fuel, Inasa calls it death, Todoroki just blinks.

When he’s half a mug down, he finally retrieves his phone from his room and takes a seat in the balcony, surrounded by plants of all kinds. The sun is bright but not harsh, and he takes a second to enjoy it before opening his messages.

He doesn’t even recall sending the messages last night, and for a moment he’s enraged at the idea that someone sent him even more dick pics, but there’s no photos waiting for him, just three messages.

xxx-xxx-xxx4 omg omg OMG I didn’t think anyone actually used this number im sorry D:

xxx-xxx-xxx4 no really im so so sorry holy shit I was just following this idea that my friend gave me cause im terrible at turning people down but I didn’t realize they were messaging an actual other person OMG

xxx-xxx-xxx4 ofc I wont be giving your number out anymore im just so sorry bro, god, this is so damn UNMANLY of me

At least the person has the decency to sound apologetic. Not that it tempers Bakugou in any way, shape or form, but he takes note of it somewhere in the distant recesses of his mind.

Bakugou you better not give it out anymore fuckmunch. I should sue your ass for putting me under so much psychological distress.

The guy replies startlingly quickly. Bakugou opens the message with a quirked brow.

xxx-xxx-xxx4 shit can you actually do that?

Bakugou has no idea, but the key to selling anything is confidence, and he’s got enough to spare.

Bakugou try me

xxx-xxx-xxx4 IM REALLY REALLY SORRY OK TRULY D:

xxx-xxx-xxx4 and not just cuz you might sue me or anything, it was a terrible move on my part :’(

xxx-xxx-xxx4 can I make it up to you somehow??

Bakugou huffs, deflating a little. He’s angry yes, positively incensed for the most part, but the guy sounds genuinely sorry, and he’s finding it increasingly difficult to stay mad at someone that’s just being so damn decent and taking full responsibility.

Bakugou I don’t fucking know.

Bakugou just stop giving out my no.

Bakugou I swear to god if I get ONE MORE NUDE

Bakugou I will find you

xxx-xxx-xxx4 you don’t have to find me ill come to you

xxx-xxx-xxx4 cuz ill def deserve it at that point

xxx-xxx-xxx4 anyway, im sorry again. really ☹

xxx-xxx-xxx4 I gotta get some sleep, so tell me later about how I can make it up to you!!!!

xxx-xxx-xxx4 goodnight

Bakugou checks the clock at the top left corner of his phone screen. It reads 8:31am.

What the fuck does this guy do for work anyway? And does Bakugou care?

He decides no, he doesn’t, because he’s really too busy to care about anything, especially assholes that hand out his number to horny strangers because they’re too chickenshit to say no.

He nods at his own conclusion, downs the rest of his death-in-a-cup, and walks back inside, ready to start another long day of work. Bakugou gives himself an hour before he puts this all behind him, fully forgotten and finally taken care of.

Why the fuck haven’t I blocked this fucker yet, is the first thing Bakugou thinks when he gets more texts from them.

xxx-xxx-xxx4 heyyo!!!!

xxx-xxx-xxx4 did you think of anything????? How can I make it up to you??

Bakugou stop texting me, that’ll be a great start

xxx-xxx-xxx4 I will as soon as u tell me how to make it up to you!!!

xxx-xxx-xxx4 I was being so unmanly and cowardly, I need to fix it!!

Bakugou good for fucking you, leave me alone

xxx-xxx-xxx4 y don’t you keep thinking abt it and lemme know !!!

xxx-xxx-xxx4 if it helps, I can hook u up with some free drinks!! I co-own and bartend at a place downtown!!!!!

xxx-xxx-xxx4 just think abt it

xxx-xxx-xxx4 I gotta get back to work, talk soon!

Bakugou stop texting me dammit

Bakugou isn’t a naïve person, but he somehow convinces himself that this will be the end of things.

It is, predictably, not the end of things.

xxx-xxx-xxx4 I just realized I didn’t give u my name

xxx-xxx-xxx4 Kirishima eijirou!!!

xxx-xxx-xxx4 and you are?

Bakugou blocking you

xxx-xxx-xxx4 aww come on man, don’t be like tht ☹

xxx-xxx-xxx4 wait, r u a man?????

xxx-xxx-xxx4 PLEASE AT LEAST TELL ME THAT I DON’T WANT TO MISGENDER U OMG

Bakugou can you calm the fuck down holy shit

Bakugou yes I’m a dude, you’re fucking fine dumbass

xxx-xxx-xxx4 oh phew!!!!!!

xxx-xxx-xxx4 ok my dude

xxx-xxx-xxx4 please come down to the bar??????

xxx-xxx-xxx4 do you actually drink though?? If you don’t we still have great mocktails

xxx-xxx-xxx4 and I can whip up some awesome protein shakes

xxx-xxx-xxx4 ohhh and our food is bomb,,, I promise

Bakugou do you ever just stop talking

xxx-xxx-xxx4 NOPE :D

Bakugou Not a compliment

xxx-xxx-xxx4 what can I say

xxx-xxx-xxx4 im an opportunist

Bakugou you’re telling me

Bakugou fucker

xxx-xxx-xxx4 IM STILL SO SORRY

xxx-xxx-xxx4 PLEASE COME TO THE BAR LET ME MAKE IT UP TO YOU

xxx-xxx-xxx4 actions speak hella louder than words

xxx-xxx-xxx4 I must action you

Bakugou what the fuck

xxx-xxx-xxx4 you get what I mean!!

xxx-xxx-xxx4 <location> this is the place

xxx-xxx-xxx4 its name is RIOT, u cant miss it

xxx-xxx-xxx4 just lemme know when u can make it

Bakugou I haven’t agreed to shit asshole

Bakugou stop assuming things

xxx-xxx-xxx4 free food, free drinks, free live performance of whatever band’s performing

Bakugou …………………

Bakugou I’ll think about it

xxx-xxx-xxx4 HELL YEAH

xxx-xxx-xxx4 whats your name btw?

Bakugou like id tell you

xxx-xxx-xxx4 I need it for the reservation!!!!

xxx-xxx-xxx4 so that I don’t accidentally serve the wrong gentleman all your free perks

Bakugou didn’t say im coming yet

xxx-xxx-xxx4 im super optimistic

Bakugou I can tell, you’re giving me a headache

xxx-xxx-xxx4 so………… name?

Bakugou no

xxx-xxx-xxx4 I’ll get it out of you eventually

Bakugou try me

Bakugou fucker

If Bakugou finds himself smiling at the end of the exchange, well, that’s his business.

“So, you finally figured out who was responsible for the penis pictures?” Todoroki deadpans around his cosmo.

“That’s wonderful Bakugou!” Inasa booms, slamming his beer down on the counter with gusto. Bakugou throws a spoon at him.

“Shut it Baldy,” he grunts, going back to chopping veggies. “And yes, I did, but now this fucker won’t stop texting me, insisting on making it up to me or some shit.”

“And this is a bad thing?” Todoroki summarizes slowly. Bakugou turns around in time to see him mouth why to Inasa before taking another generous sip of his drink. Inasa shrugs his stupidly large shoulders before asking, “Why is that a bad thing?”

Bakugou throws another spoon at him. “Because, I texted them so I could stop people from texting me. Now this person’s volunteering information to me about being a bartender and shit and constantly apologizing and it’s fucking annoying.”

“You know what’s interesting?” Camie muses, stirring her bloody mary with a long ass celery stick. “You’re getting all these text messages from this bartender, and you can like, so easily block this one number and be done with it, but you like, keeping responding. And keep, you know, not blocking.”

He can’t see it, but he knows Todoroki is nodding, the fucker.

“That is a good observation!” Inasa booms again, and Bakugou has to resist the urge to fling his entire cutlery set at the man’s thick skull. “Do you like this person Bakugou?”

“What’s there to like, I don’t even fucking know him!”

“Well,” Camie starts, takes a bite out of the celery stick, continues, “he’s well-mannered. Clearly good looking, because you got a LOT of penis pictures these past three months, and that also leads us to believe the business is doing really well, if so many patrons come in begging for a number. All good things, don’t you think?”

“I hate you,” Bakugou says, stirring the curry with barely repressed rage. “I hate all of you. I hate humanity. Fuck people.”

“Or fuck this person in specific,” Camie says gleefully. “You haven’t gotten laid in like 8 months boo, you need to get some.”

“You’re the actual fucking worst.”

“In all seriousness,” Todoroki interrupts, putting his empty glass down delicately, “why haven’t you blocked the number? It seems like an easy enough solution.” The asshole has the audacity to sound genuinely curious, if not slightly amused.

Bakugou hates everything.

“I don’t, I don’t fucking know, ok?” He finally admits through clenched teeth. The blonde kills the heat and places the curry on the counter while Camie brings out the rice and some pickled vegetables from the fridge. She pulls out a beer and twists the cap off before handing it to Bakugou, who snatches it away and takes a quick swig before continuing, “He’s actually kinda nice to me, I guess. And I like watching him be so sorry about all those penises. I may have also mentioned suing him for psychological distress.” Bakugou catches Todoroki’s gaze. “Can I do that?”

Todoroki hums, “You can try, but I don’t think you’ve got that solid a case. Plus, haven’t you deleted virtually all the evidence?”

Bakugou grips the neck of his beer bottle harder. “I fucking hate everything.”

bartender asshole <image attached>

Bakugou what the fuck

Bakugou why are you sending me cat pics?

Bakugou also that cat is stupidly cute

bartender asshole I know right?????

bartender asshole her name is ruby

bartender asshole and id die for her

bartender asshole i just figured ud be a cat person

Bakugou ………….

Bakugou I hate u

bartender asshole :D :D :D

Bakugou ugh

Bakugou Bakugou Katsuki

bartender asshole :D :D :D :D :D

bartender asshole HI BAKUGOU SO NICE TO KNOW UR NAME

Bakugou I hate everything

bartender asshole except ruby. Its not allowed

Bakugou …………………………………

Bakugou except ruby

bartender asshole :D :D :D :D :D

Kirishima, it turns out, is a ray of fucking sunshine. Bakugou has a distinct feeling that looking at him directly would be a blinding experience.

Not that he knows who to look for though; he has no idea what this guy looks like. He guesses that he’s buff, with all the times he tells Bakugou about the gym showers running out of hot water and beating his best weights doing bench presses, but he knows nothing else.

He does know that he’s sweet as fuck, making it impossible for Bakugou to stay mad at him. He doesn’t blink at Bakugou’s cussing, and he sends him cute pictures of Ruby.

There is a part of him, small but steadily growing, that wants to meet this stupidly nice bartender.

Bakugou hates everything.

dumbass bartender so what do you do???

Bakugou front-end development and web design

dumbass bartender oh damn!!!

dumbass bartender so youre like smart smart

Bakugou obviously

dumbass bartender have I seen your work anywhere??

Bakugou I recently redid the website of that protein powder company you don’t shut up about

dumbass bartender ????????????????????

dumbass bartender that’s amazing!!!!!!!!!

dumbass bartender I just revisited the website, it looks so cool

Bakugou duh

Bakugou im the best

dumbass bartender I don’t doubt that!!! :D :D

Bakugou don’t you have work?

dumbass bartender aww bakubro are you looking out for me <3 <3

Bakugou call me that again and I will fucking end you

dumbass bartender before the free drinks??? That you are yet to redeem? ?? at my wonderful establishment?????????? :D :D :D

Bakugou I hate everything.

dumbass bartender D:

Bakugou except RUBY DAMMIT

dumbass bartender :D

“Just to recap,” Kaminari says with an incredulous look in his eyes, “this guy cusses like a sailor, is constantly insulting you, never initiates conversation, and you still like him?”

Kirishima’s answering grin is bashful. “I mean, when you put it like that it sounds not so great, but he’s really not that bad! He’s super funny and confident, and he LOVES Ruby. Plus, I don’t like him like that, I just think he’s cool.” Kirishima picks up another glass from the washer and starts carefully drying it with his dishcloth before saying, “And, you know, I did put him through a lot by giving out his number. His behaviour is kinda warranted if you ask me.”

“I mean, in the beginning maybe, but haven’t you guys been texting for over a week now?”

“Denki, are you forgetting that giving out another number was your idea?” Kirishima mutters, narrowing his eyes at his best friend. “I’m in this mess because of you.”

Kaminari suddenly seems to find the glass in his hand a lot more interesting. Kirishima’s laugh echoes around the empty bar.

‘What’s so funny?” Ashido muses, bringing a crate of bottled beer behind the counter.

“Kirishima is going gaga over angry dick pic man.”

“I’m not going gaga, what the heck-“

“I think it’s cute,” Ashido says with a big smile. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you actually be interested in somebody; it’s really cute!”

“I don’t like him like that,” Kirishima stresses, though his cheeks are a little warm. He can blame that on the lack of air conditioning, he thinks.

“We talking about angry dick pic man?” Sero asks with a shit-eating grin. “10 bucks say he’s actually a middle-aged guy with a cheese fetish.”

“That’s so random-“

“You’re on!” Ashido yells, slapping her hand into Sero’s. “I think he’ll be a hottie.”

“He hasn’t even said he’ll come,” Kirishima says, eyes downcast.

“He’ll come,” the three chorus, going about doing their tasks. Kirishima shakes his head fondly and finishes up with the glasses. Just as he’s put all the shot glasses away, he feels his phone vibrate.

Bakubro just finished a massive project

Bakubro could use a drink this weekend

Bakubro know any good spots?

Kirishima’s face breaks into the biggest smile as he rushes to answer.

Kirishima I know a bar that serves free drinks with your name on it!!!!

Kirishima amazing food, dope music, the bestest drinks

Kirishima ive heard the bartender is a great guy too

Bakubro way to toot your own fucking horn damn

Kirishima :DDDDD

Kirishima bt seriously

Kirishima please? ???? ??

Kirishima PLEASEEEEEEEEE??????????????????

Bakubro ugh

Bakubro fine.

Bakubro Friday night at 8

Kirishima looks up from the screen and calls out, “Denki!”

“Yeah?”

“Switch shifts with me, I’ll do Friday.”

“Um, ok, why though?”

Kirishima doesn’t respond, just goes back to texting, his heart thudding in his ribcage.

Kirishima YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Kirishima cant wait :D

Bakubro I’m bringing my stupid friends btw

Kirishima wait

Kirishima you have friends???????

Bakubro I am going to end you

Bakubro you know what? Fuck you im not coming

Kirishima BAKUGOU NO

Kirishima IM SORRY OFC U HAVE FRNDS

Kirishima please come

Kirishima how big a table should I reserve????

Bakubro don’t bother

Kirishima IM SORRRYYYYYYYYYY

Kirishima <image attached> <image attached> <image attached>

Bakubro bastard

Bakubro you playing dirty by sending me pics of Ruby

Kirishima need to weaken your guard somehow

Kirishima pls tell me it worked

Bakubro ugh

Bakubro ill be there

Bakubro reserve a table for 4

Bakubro your stupid bar better be worth it

Kirishima I promise it will be!!!!

Kirishima whoops in joy, slipping his phone back into his pocket. He looks up to see three sets of eyes looking at him with varying degrees of amusement.

“You get a really mushy look on your face when you’re texting him, it’s almost gross,” Sero points out with a laugh.

“Hush you,” Ashido admonishes, whipping her dishcloth at him. She walks over to Kirishima and gives him a big hug. “I think it’s very, very precious.”

“What did he say?”

“He’s coming this Friday!” Kirishima beams, holding Ashido closer against his side.

The three giggle.

“10 bucks say Kirishima messes up the drinks at least once.”

“HEY!”

Ashido squeezes around his middle. “Hon, I love you, but I’m not dumb enough to go against that.”

“HEY!”

They end up laughing and fibbing at each other for the rest of the prep time, and Kirishima feels his heart absolutely soar.

Friday brings with it crunch time, running lines and lines of code, having a mini-breakdown because the stupid text block keeps floating around on the webpage like it’s in outer fucking space, being forced into one of Camie’s ridiculous vlogs and having an existential crisis about what to wear on a non-date get-together with the guy that ruined Bakugou’s life for close to three months.

Camie spends most of the day laughing at him. Bakugou throws more condiments at her.

“Fucking help me at least, you useless wench,” Bakugou growls, shifting to clothes as he throws a pair of jeans at her. Camie dances out of the way and doubles over, laughing till she tears up from the force of it all.

“I can’t, I just can’t,” she wheezes. “Did you just say wench? What era are you from babe?”

“FUCK OFF,” he roars, leaping towards her. Camie shrieks and ducks away, making a beeline towards his closet.

“Ok, ok, let’s get you dressed! What kinda look are you trying for?”

“Fuck if I know,” he grouses, feeling oddly out of his depth. He wants to look good, but he has no idea for what.

That’s a lie, he knows why. He just won’t admit it.

“Well, why don’t we pick something simple but flattering? Plus, if it's in your style, you’re bound to be more comfy.” Camie pulls out a pair of black jeans that are ripped at the knees, a black fitted round-neck tee shirt, and some black boots. While he’s changing, Camie pulls out a silver chain, some bands for his wrists and a collection of rings.

“Do you want me to do your eyes?” she offers, holding up some mascara and an eye pencil. Bakugou shrugs and sits on the edge of his bed. Camie’s smile is soft as she stands between his thighs, gently but efficiently applying his make-up. When she’s done, he walks over to the mirror to look at himself, and he has to admit- he looks good. Always one to take care of his body and his figure, Bakugou is lean muscle packed into a 5’10” body. His blonde hair is as messy as ever, but the combination of his make-up, the accessories and his clothes give him an edgy look like no other. Camie throws a dark fitted jacket at him before sauntering over to her own room.

He continues to reply to some work emails when his phone buzzes.

dumbass cant wait to see you!!!

dumbass just ask for me at the bar

dumbass or I might be the one to greet you!! :D :D

Bakugou I know dumbass

Bakugou what, are you nervous or some shit?

dumbass I mean, kinda????

dumbass it’s our first time meeting afterall

dumbass I don’t even know wat you look like!!!!

Bakugou blonde wearing all black

dumbass redhead wearing a shirt with the riot logo!

Bakugou whatever

Bakugou ill be there at 8

Dumbass cant wait <33333

Bakugou dumbass

Bakugou scoffs, his own nerves calming at the thought that he’s not the only one that’s a bit out of sorts. It’s nice to know that sunshine Kirishima is jittery about all this.

Also, interesting to know that he’s a redhead. Bakugou can’t quite imagine it, but in a few minutes, he won't need to.

His stomach roils with anticipation, and Bakugou hates every single thing.

Camie pops out of her room at half-past 7 in a maroon romper that cuts above her mid-thigh, hair done in a loose bun, makeup absolutely perfect. Her heels put her at a height taller than Bakugou, but he’s gotten used to being the shortest in their stupid posse. Doesn’t piss him off any less though.

She gets a phone call just as she pushes a tube of lip gloss into her purse.

“We are downstairs!” Inasa’s voice rings through her speaker, stupidly loud.

“Can it, baldy,” Bakugou grunts with a roll of his eyes, “we’ll be there in a sec.”

“See ya!”

Before Bakugou can usher Camie out the door, she pushes her clutch into his hands and walks over to the kitchen cabinet, pulling out two shot glasses and a bottle of tequila.

“Wha-“

“Liquid courage, my dude,” she says, pouring two generous shots and pushing one at Bakugou. She picks her own glass up and gives him a devilish smirk, “Bottoms up bitch!”

Bakugou picks the glass up with a resigned sigh but smirks back equally devilish. They cheers, smack the glasses against the counter and drain them smoothly. Camie puts the glasses in the sink, places a smacking kiss on Bakugou’s cheek and laughs brightly as she dances out of the way of his rage.

They finally load up in Inasa’s range rover, Todoroki plays classical Japanese music over the speakers and Bakugou regrets everything.

Riot is apparently something of a beloved establishment in its neighbourhood, and Bakugou growls when he sees how long the line leading to the bar is.

“Holy moly, that’s a lot of people!” Camie points out helpfully as she disembarks from the car.

Todoroki straightens his two-tone denim jacket and runs a hand through his hair as he says, “We have a reservation, so I think it’ll be fine?”

“Yes, I agree with you Todoroki,” Inasa beams, locking the car behind him as they walk towards the building. The outside is made of exposed brick and neon lights, and the RIOT sign is a deep red colour, eye-catching and beautiful.

They bypass the people in the line and walk up to the bouncer, who eyes them warily. He’s built like an absolute tank, broad and block-like, and his silver hair shines in the artificial light.

“Can I help you?”

“Bakugou, table for 4,” Camie says cheerily. The bouncer looks immediately enamoured with her before his eyes go wide.

“Wait, Eijirou’s Bakugou?”

Bakugou’s ears burn at that.

“I’m not fucking anybody’s!” he snaps. The bouncer immediately looks at him, and his face breaks into an even wider grin.

“Well, I’ll be damned! Can I see some ID real quick?”

Bakugou cusses colourfully under his breath but pulls out his license, and after a quick check, the bouncer, whose name is Tetsutetsu, steps aside to let them in.

“Have a good time!” he says happily, almost too happily. Bakugou feels his hackles rise.

“What the fuck?”

“It appears that Kirishima talks about you at least as much as you talk about him,” Todoroki observes, walking next to Bakugou.

“I don’t talk about him, fuck you!”

Todoroki’s delicately raised brow makes him want to punch something. Or someone. Preferably both.

“Fuck you all,” he reiterates before stomping inside.

Now, Bakugou is a relatively creative soul – his job kinda demands it – so it’s not his fault that he’s actually quite captivated by the interiors of this stupidly popular bar co-owned by a stupidly nice person.

The inside has exposed brick as well, and most of the furniture seems to be retro. There are large pipes and barrels behind the bar, made of what seems to be pure copper. Black marble covers the bar tops, and the lights are a mix of neon and muted whites, bright enough to see but still bathing the room in an alluring aura. There’s music thumping through the speakers, loud enough to dispel any silence but still at a bearable volume.

“Swanky,” Camie whistles, taking it all in.

Bakugou nods begrudgingly before setting his eyes on the bar.

“I’ll go get us a fucking table,” he mutters before walking over, hands digging deep into his pant pockets. He sees a lanky black-haired guy and a girl with tan skin and pink hair behind the bar, talking animatedly with the patrons as they serve them drinks at a dizzying pace.

When he finally gets a spot at the counter, the pink-haired girl finishes up with a customer and bounds over to him.

“Hi,” she greets, smile wide and happy, “haven’t seen you around before! What can I get you?”

“Kirishima,” Bakugou says because apparently, his brain to mouth filter has decided to abandon him in his time of need. The girl tilts her head in confusion and Bakugou feels the life drain out of him.

“I’m sorry?”

“I’m fuckin here because of dumbass Kirishima,” Bakugou barely grits out, fingers digging into his palms painfully. “The name is Bakugou, table for 4?”

He sees it all in slow-mo- the way her mouth goes slack, the way her eyes light up like firecrackers on New Year’s, and then the way her smile becomes positively blinding. He hates her already.

“Holy shit,” she breathes, “of course! So glad you’re here! Oye, Sero?”

“What?” the black-haired guy says without looking, topping up a perfectly poured glass of beer.

“You owe me 10 bucks.”

This gets his attention- he hands the drink off and looks at her, “Why would I-“

The girl just gestures at Bakugou and winks, “It’s him.”

Sero – or plain face, Bakugou’s brain helpfully supplies – immediately looks at him, his eyes widening. “Shit, seriously? Aw, man.” His smile becomes mischievous. “I’ll get Kirishima.” He opens the door behind the bar and disappears.

“What the fuck was that?” Bakugou snaps, beyond irritated to be so out of the loop.

“Nothing, nothing,” Pinky sings, raising her hands in a placating gesture. “Kirishima will show your party to your table. Do you want anything in the meantime?”

“… a beer,” Bakugou concedes because he’s not dumb enough to not get a drink before he sees Kirishima if he can help it.

“Coming right up!”

He waits at the bar, watching as his group of dumbasses ooh and ahh at the place, looking delighted. A bottle of cold beer hits the counter with a satisfying thunk, bringing his attention back to the bartop.

“Enjoy!” Pinky still has a stupid smile on her face but before Bakugou can say anything, the door behind her is thrown open and plain face steps out.

“The restocking can wait, literally the only thing you’ve talked about for the last 3 days is finally happening.”

The guy following him is all tanned skin and thick muscles under a fitted deep red tee shirt. His hair is a bright unnatural red, pulled into a high pony with a few strands still framing his face. His eyes are a softer red than Bakugou’s own, his cheeks sharp and high, and when his eyes meet Bakugou’s, a zip of electricity races down his spine and along his limbs till he can feel it in his toes.

When the man makes his way over, Bakugou also notes how damn tall he is- easily around 6’4”. His smile is shy, and he smells like sandalwood.

“Bakugou, hi,” he breathes, hesitantly holding his hand out. Bakugou takes it in a daze, still amazed by just how stupidly beautiful this stupidly kind bar owner is.

“Heyyo, you disappeared fam, how’s it going?”

Bakugou hates everything.

He reluctantly slips his hand out of Kirishima’s warm, firm grip and turns to Camie with venomous eyes. “I literally just met him Cam, shut the fuck up.” He turns back to Kirishima, “Can you show us to our table?”

Kirishima shakes his head once before his smile turns blinding, and Bakugou finds himself fighting the urge to shield his eyes. “Of course,” he says in a voice that’s deep and warm and honey-like, “right this way!”

Bakugou snags his beer off the counter and takes a quick swig before Camie steals it and takes a few sips of her own. He growls at her but otherwise behaves, watching Kirishima’s back as he leads them through throngs of people engaged in cheerful conversation.

“Ok, well, he’s hot,” Cam says around the lip of the bottle. “Total beefcake. Whaddya think, boo?”

“I think you should fuck off,” Bakugou hisses, his face burning.

“If you wanted to go on a date, you probably shouldn’t have invited us,” Todoroki says, taking the offered bottle from Camie.

Before Bakugou can explode in their faces, Kirishima stops and turns around. “Here ya go!” He gestures to a table behind him, tucked into a more private corner of the bar. It’s large and cushy, and when Bakugou gets in after Camie, he’s surprised at how soft the material is.

“So?” Kirishima says, eyes trained on Bakugou.

“Fuckin what?” Bakugou snaps, voice lacking any heat.

Kirishima laughs, head thrown back to reveal a long, thick neck and Bakugou is so damn weak.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”

Bakugou clicks his tongue before gesturing at each of them, “Camie, marketing expert by day, YouTube beauty vlogger by night, pain in my ass always. Todoroki, environmental lawyer and a soba obsessed weirdo. Inasa, physiotherapist and resident dumbass.”

Kirishima gives them all a wave before saying, “Kirishima, co-owner of Riot and the reason why Bakugou saw more unwarranted penises than strictly necessary in a lifetime.”

“Asshole,” Bakugou grumbles, earning him another laugh and a bashful hand ruffling the back of Kirishima’s head.

“Still so sorry about that man,” Kirishima offers, “everything’s definitely on the house for you all! Speaking of ordering-“ Kirishima moves on to explain their ordering system-

“You can scan the code with your camera app,” the redhead says, pointing at the barcode on the centrepiece of their table, “and it pulls up our bar and food menu. Just enter your order and your table number,” he points at the large digits on the side that glows a bright 15 back at them.

Inasa pulls his phone out to order. Before he leaves, Kirishima says, “Can I get your drink order before I go?”

Camie asks for a LIIT, Inasa gets a Soju bomb and Todoroki starts off with his usual- a cosmo.

“You good on that beer?” Kirishima asks Bakugou warmly, his eyes dancing with mirth.

“I’m fine,” he grumbles, sliding lower into his seat. “Maybe get me another, your choice?”

“Coming right up,” Kirishima beams before stepping away, and Bakugou’s heart splutters around his chest at the sight of sharp white teeth and cheek-aching grins.

“He’s so cute!” Camie squeals, stealing the last of his beer. “And he’s totes into you too.”

“I have to agree, he’s very attractive,” Todoroki says impassively.

“Certified hottie,” Inasa rounds up, flashing his own biceps for some reason.

Bakugou is so done, and they’ve been here all 5 minutes.

“Kirishim- Kirishima, the beer is overflowing,” Ashido says, pushing him away and taking over. “God, you’re so gone for him, it’s almost embarrassing.”

Kirishima snaps out of his stupor and moves to take the glass back. Ashido hip checks him away.

“You’re being a little stupid, go help Satou with plating and take the food to lover boy’s table.”

“He has a name, you know,” Kirishima mumbles, but Ashido simply laughs, and Kirishima feels his neck and ears go warm.

Because who let Bakugou walk into his bar looking like that? Looking so damn gorgeous in his all-black get up and his perfect eye make-up and that fierce scowl?

Kirishima’s heart had pretty much stopped at the sight of him, and it was yet to regain its usual rhythm.

The redhead rests his forehead against the wall and mumbles, “I’m so screwed.”

“We know buddy,” Sero says, patting his back sympathetically, “we know.”

For all that Bakugou hates outings and people and outings in places filled with people, he finds himself having a moderately good time.

Because the food is delicious if lacking a little heat, the alcohol is mixed perfectly and the music is fantastic, filtering through old rock classics with some alt stuff mixed in.

And then there’s Kirishima- tending the bar with ease, laughing along with his co-workers, and sending Bakugou wide, happy smiles that sets his entire face on fire.

“This place is awesome,” Camie whoops, banging another shot glass on the table before knocking it back with ease. Todoroki joins her, his impassive face not so much as twitching at the taste of strong tequila before he bites into a lime. Inasa is already beer drunk, cheeks dusky as he hums along to the music.

“Insufferable,” Bakugou mumbles around his 4th-ish beer. He likes to keep up his grumpy act till his last shred of dignity melts away cause of the alcohol, and he’s probably pretty hit already because he lets Camie pull him into her side with her arm around his shoulder, his nose suddenly privy to the scent of her mellow perfume.

“I love you guys,” Camie beams, picking up her beer and waving it in front of her. Todoroki and Inasa clink their drinks against it, and Bakugou silently waves his own bottle around before downing it.

“You guys good on- oh my god, are you Camie? THE Camie?”

It’s Pinky at their table and her eyes are so comically wide that Bakugou can’t help his snort of laughter. He feels Camie straighten up, but her arm around him stays, holding him close.

“Define THE Camie,” she says with a smile in her voice.

“The beauty blogger that I’ve only been following for the last 3 years, holy shit I love your videos.” And then suddenly, her eyes narrow on Bakugou before she snaps her fingers. “NO WONDER YOU LOOK FAMILIAR! You’re the angry blonde in all her videos!”

“Haan? You wanna go pinky?” Bakugou growls, moving to stand up. Camie keeps him firmly by her side, her laughter shaking them both.

“That’s us!” Camie says. Bakugou finally fights his way out of her grip and throws her a withering look, or his drunken attempt at one anyway. She winks, and he fake gags. “I don’t get recognized in public all that often LOL, this is fun.”

“Did you just say LOL in a verbal fucking conversation?”

“What do you mean you don’t get recognized; you literally have like 3.2million subscribers.”

Camie ignores Bakugou and shrugs at Pinky. “I guess my primary demographic aint here fam. Speaking of which,” she thrusts her hand out, “what’s your name?”

“Ashido Mina,” she says, taking her hand firmly. Camie introduces her to the others, and Bakugou looks back at the bar, disappointed to see that he can’t find Kirishima.

“Can I top you guys off?” Kirishima says, suddenly right next to their table, effectively startling the shit outta Bakugou.

Camie chirps an affirmative, Todoroki asks for a water and checks to see if Inasa’s breathing as the big olf continues to sleep, curled up in the corner of the booth.

“And you Bakubro?”

“Don’t call me that,” Bakugou frowns before adding, “I should probably stop, I’m already kinda tipsy.”

“Lightweight,” Camie teases.

Bakugou gives her the stink eye. “Woman, the one time I tried keeping up with you, I ended up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning and you didn’t have so much as a hangover, so fuck off.”

“Seriously?” Kirishima says, eyes wide.

“That’s amazing,” Ashido murmurs, her smile crooked and dangerous.

Bakugou. Hates. Everything.

“He had no lasting liver damage, we’re all fine,” Camie reassures before diving into a conversation with Mina about beauty hacks and good mascara brands and global warming.

Kirishima leans close to Bakugou, bathing him in that warm sandalwood scent. “How about I get you some water and one last beer? A Hefeweizen?”

Bakugou turns to look at him, and his breath hitches in his throat when he notices how close they are, when he sees just how red Kirishima’s eyes are, how the heat seems to radiate off his skin. He exhales in a rush and looks away, answering with a jerky nod.

Kirishima gives his shoulder a friendly squeeze – he’s so warm, his hand is fucking huge – before walking to the bar and picking their stuff up.

When pinky finally meanders away from their table to serve other customers, Camie leans her head on Bakugou’s shoulder and says, “We’ll leave soon, ok?”

Bakugou nods again, leaning some of his weight back into her. Todoroki catches his eye and flashes him a warm, tipsy smile, and if he returns it with one of his own, well, he’s drunk out of his skull and has approximately no fucks to give.

Long after putting Bakugou and his posse in a cab, before which they insisted on paying pretty much the entire tab since they ate and drank a LOT, Kirishima and the rest are cleaning up when Ashido whips him with her cleaning rag.

Kirishima looks at her with betrayed eyes, “Wha-“

“Ei, you better text him again.”

“About what?” Kirishima says glumly. “I did what I said I would do, and I promised to leave him alone after that.”

“Boy please,” Ashido scoffs, roughly wiping down one of the tables, “ya’ll made such gooey eyes at each other all night, plus I’m pretty sure he paid the entire tab just so you could keep up whatever façade you guys have going on to cover up the fact that you have INSANE chemistry with one another.”

“Yeah, the tension was palpable bro,” Sero chimes in, throwing an arm around his waist. “I think you should text him too. He seemed really amusing, and his whole group was a riot.”

Kirishima rolls his eyes at the pun but smiles at them, feeling a new burst of energy in his limbs.

“You guys are absolutely right! Worst case, he blocks me. At least I won’t have any regrets.”

“Yeah boy, get it with that optimism.”

Bakugou wakes up to a slight headache, a mouth that tastes like ash, and a profound sadness that settles atop his sternum, weighing him down and pressing him into his mattress.

He sees the glass of water on his bedside table with ibuprofen placed neatly next to it and downs them both without so much as a second thought. As his brain slowly comes back online, he takes a moment to finally navigate his messy feelings and comes to a crushing realization-

Kirishima doesn’t have to text him anymore.

The redhead had said that he’d leave him alone after making it up to him, and yes, it was Bakugou’s standoffish nature that got them into that situation in the first place. And yes, Bakugou had paid the tab mostly because it was too high a bill to be footed by the bar and Bakugou made bank, but also because a small, minuscule part of him hoped that the gesture would make Kirishima insist on another outing or something to ‘make it up to him'.

The blonde doesn’t even bother to acknowledge the fact that he forgave Kirishima almost two days into texting him.

He almost avoids his phone out of fear alone and makes it through a whole cup of coffee and 3 chapters into a novel recommended by Deku before finally picking up his phone to check for emails and notifications.

He expects none from Kirishima.

So, of course, there are 3 from the redhead.

Bakugou’s heart leaps to his throat and he can’t seem to unlock his phone quite fast enough.

fuck he’s cute hi Bakugou, thank you for coming last night!!!

fuck he’s cute it was actually really cool 2 finally meet you. U didn’t have to pay the tab tho :’D

fuck he’s cute bt since u did, I still owe u. can we figure it out later??? Also, what did you think of the place???

Bakugou dumbass

Bakugou you’ve got a swanky place, I’ll give you that. Food was fucking good too. could be spicier.

Bakugou you got cam completely hooked

Bakugou and yeah, you better make it up to me later. Asshole.

Kirishima replies a few hours later, just as Bakugou finishes up a yoga routine that stretches out his back in the best way possible.

fuck he’s cute :D :D :D :D :D

fuck he’s cute can’t wait

fuck he’s cute <image attached>

fuck he’s cute ruby says hi

It’s a selfie this time, not a picture of just the kitty. Bakugou can appreciate how cute the mutt is, but for once, he has no attention to spare her. Not when Kirishima’s eyes are crinkling around the edges from how hard he smiles up at the camera, not when he’s wearing a tank top with relaxed arm holes, showing off bulging muscles and hints of ink, and not when just the mere thought of him makes Bakugou’s stomach flop around uncontrollably.

He barely manages to reply coherently.

Bakugou the only bright spot in this shitty world

He presses his phone to his forehead and quietly contemplates just how gay he is. Camie pets his head on the way to the kitchen.

It takes Bakugou some time to get used to waking up to Good Morning texts and a stream of random thoughts from Kirishima all day. The flutter in his stomach disappears a few weeks into talking to the redhead, instead replaced by a bone-deep warmth that always manages to make him feel a little better.

dumbass kirishima GOOOOOOOD MORNING :D

dumbass Kirishima someone threw up on my fave shoes last night

Bakugou HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Bakugou suffer

dumbass Kirishima y u so mean to me ☹ ☹

Bakugou cause its fuckin hilarious

dumbass Kirishima ☹

Bakugou ugh

Bakugou <image attached> [it’s a picture of Bakugou’s balcony, and all his plants look vibrant green as the sun hits them just right]

dumbass Kirishima :D :D :D

dumbass Kirishima legit felt my serotonin just spike

dumbass Kirishima thxxxxxx

Bakugou whatever

Bakuguo dumbass

---

Bakugou if I plan a murder can I count on your stupid muscles to help me move the body

dumbass Kirishima D:

dumbass Kirishima at least take me out to dinner b4 involving me in your crimes

dumbass Kirishima what a lack of manners

Bakugou stfu

dumbass Kirishima :”D :”D

dumbass Kirishima youre joking right?

dumbass Kirishima right??

dumbass Kirishima RIGHT?????

dumbass Kirishima BAKUGOU THIS IS A BAD TIME TO LEAVE ME HANGING BRO DO NOT DO THIS

Bakugou don’t call me bro

dumbass Kirishima THAT IS NOT THE POINT RIGHT NOW

Bakugou lol I didn’t do shit dumbass don’t worry

Bakugou or did I?

dumbass Kirishima BAKUGOU NO

---

dumbass Kirishima <image attached> [it’s a gym selfie; Kirishima is crouching in front of the mirror shirtless, hair pulled into a bun atop his head. He’s glistening with sweat, and he’s got a more serious look on his face. He’s not actively flexing any muscle, but the pose makes his thighs, calves and biceps bulge. One hand holds the phone, the other is resting on his bent knee]

dumbass Kirishima working on deez gainz

Bakugou what time do you usually workout

dumbass Kirishima depends on my schedule actually

dumbass Kirishima I prefer the morning, but when I take the late night shift I usually go be4 work the next day

Bakugou hmmm

Bakugou let me know

Bakugou maybe we can go together

dumbass Kirishima :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Bakugou ugh I changed my mind

dumbass Kirishima :D :D :D :D

dumbass Kirishima no takebacksies

Bakugou fucking fantastic

dumbass Kirishima :D :D :D

---

“So, let me get this straight- you guys gym together at least once a week, you talk every day, your stomach flutters at the mere thought of him and Cam swears he’s making googly eyes at you all the time, and you still haven’t asked each other out yet?”

Bakugou flips his phone off, “Fuck off Deku, don’t be a little shit.”

Midoriya’s face morphs into an amused smile on the other end of their facetime call, “Are you being bashful Kacchan? That’s adorable.”

“I’m hanging up.”

“NOOOOO,” Midoriya bemoans dramatically. “I can’t believe I’m missing all this.”

“Yeah, well, who the fuck told you to teach kids English halfway across the world dumbass?”

“I miss you too Kacchan,” Midoriya beams, making a heart with his hands.

“I truly loathe you.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Midoriya puts a few papers away before sighing. “So?”

“So what?”

“So, are you going to make a move? How do you plan on doing it?”

“I don’t,” Bakugou ruffles his hair and ducks his head to hide his rapidly warming cheeks, “I’m not asking him out Deku, fuck that.”

“Why not?” the asshole whines, eyes wide and innocent. “You deserve happiness Kacchan. Plus, he seems like a really nice guy.” Midoriya leans forward and adds in a whisper, “I’ve heard he has a fantastic butt.”

Bakugou rolls his eyes and flips him off again, “Fuck off, you can’t say that without actually meeting him.”

“I’ll be back before then. You guys better be dating already when I get there.”

“Stop telling me what to do, shitty Deku!”

“Never Kacchan, that’s what you do for the people you love.”

“Ugh, how are you so gross when you’re so far away, I hate you.”

Midoriya’s laugh sounds tinny over the phone speaker, lacking its usual body and warmth. Bakugou huffs again before picking his novel back up to read.

“Hi Zuku,” Camie calls out from over Bakugou’s shoulder. “You need to come back soon and help me with Kitkat, he refuses to make the first move!”

“Butt out of my fucking love life, you freaks!”

“Can’t butt out of something that doesn’t exist Kats,” Camie deadpans.

Bakugou feels extremely justified in flinging a stress ball right at her. The kitchen fills up with raucous laughter, from his phone and from the person standing in front of him, and Bakugou thinks that adding a deeper, warmer laugh to the mix, coming from a specific redhead might not be the worst thing in the world.

Kiri bakugouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Bakugou what?

Kiri just wanted to say hi <3

Bakugou wth

Kiri we still on fr the gym tomorrow?

Bakugou obviously you dumbass

Bakugou I need you to spot me

Bakugou im beating my personal best tomorrow or im going to die trying

Kiri so manly :O :O :O

Kiri I’ve got you bruh

Bakugou don’t call me that

Bakugou and I know you do

Kiri <3 <3

---

Bakugou <link>

Bakugou that playlist you were asking about

Kiri u da bomb katsuki

Bakugou katsuki huh?

Bakugou getting cocky I see

Kiri I mean, weve known each other for like 4 months now???

Kiri ur one of my closest pals

Kiri I don’t have to, I just thought ud like it more than bro

Bakugou I do like it more than bro

Bakugou eijirou

Bakugou I guess ur not terrible

Eijirou ????

Eijirou did you just?? pay me????? A compliment??

Eijirou who r u and wat have you done to katsuki?

Bakugou fuck you

Bakugou just fuck you

Eijirou <3 <3 <3

Bakugou wakes up one morning, approximately 5 months after meeting Kirishima for the first time, with a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

His work goes smoothly. The coffee tastes potent and fresh, his body feels fine, his plants are thriving, Camie is busy with her own deadlines and therefore not bugging him, even the sun is mellow and warm; the perfect weather.

The pit in his stomach worsens with every hour.

It doesn’t help that all of his messages to Kirishima have gone unanswered; he hasn’t even been online all day. In the months that they’ve communicated, he’s never gone a day without texting the man, and now it’s like he fell off the face of the Earth.

When it gets closer to 6 in the evening, Bakugou decides to call if Kirishima doesn’t get in touch himself. Because the pit in his stomach is making him nauseous, and he needs to know if the redhead is ok if only for the sake of his own damn health.

He gets a call from an unknown number at 5:20 in the evening. The pit in his stomach becomes a yawning chasm as he picks up the call.

“Hello?”

“Bakugou, it’s Ashido, from the bar.”

Bakugou pulls in a deep breath. “Where is Kirishima?”

“Um, there was an incident last night, at Riot.” She sighs deeply before continuing, “Kiri got jumped in the alley outside by a bunch of really drunk homophobic assholes that saw him turn down some guy’s number. He actually fought them off for the most part, but he’s sustained a broken nose and some fractured ribs. We’re at the hospital right now.”

Bakugou sinks to the ground, his stomach plummeting with him. “Are you fucking serious right now? Fuck-“

“I’ll text you the hospital details, ok? I’m sorry we didn’t call sooner, between talking to his moms and the hospital folks, it slipped my mind.”

“I’ll be there,” Bakugou says, standing up on shaky feet and stumbling back to his room. “Just don’t leave him alone.”

“Never in a million years.”

They hang up and Bakugou changes, hails a cab, and gets to the hospital in a complete daze.

His affection for the redhead, brimming and spilling from every crevice, makes itself evident when he lays eyes on him in the hospital bed and feels a surge of protectiveness. He wants to kill the people that did this, he wants to gather Kirishima in his arms and hold him tight, he wants to crawl into bed with him and talk about stupid shit and see him smile again.

“He’s pretty high on pain meds right now,” Ashido says from somewhere behind him, pointing to his IV lines, “so he’s been saying really funny stuff. The doctors did a full evaluation and said he should recover completely in 5ish weeks.”

Bakugou nods and swallows thickly. Ashido squeezes his arm before leaving the hospital room, shutting the door behind her softly.

Kirishima hasn’t seen him yet, so Bakugou approaches his bed carefully before placing a hand on the guardrail. The noise pulls Kirishima’s attention towards him, and Bakugou’s gut tightens when those large, warm eyes go completely soft at the sight of him.

“Kassaki~” Kirishima slurs, his smile large and dopey.

“You absolute dumbass,” Bakugou chokes out, his hand moving from the rail to grip Kirishima’s tightly. Kirishima’s fingers twine with his own with practised ease and his smile turns gooey.

“Hi Kats, you look beautiful today.”

Bakugou half-laughs, half-sobs and rubs his eyes fiercely. Kirishima’s face is a bit bruised, and there’s a huge bandage on his nose, but he doesn’t look nearly as bad as Bakugou had first feared. The pit in his stomach finally calms, slowly loosening until he can breathe normally again.

“Shut up Eiji,” Bakugou grumbles, sitting down on the chair beside the bed. He leaves his hand in Kirishima’s.

“Ok,” Kirishima agrees easily. It takes 10 seconds for him to break the silence again.

“Hey Kats?”

“What?”

“Are we dating?”

Bakugou startles at that, eyes snapping over to Kirishima’s. He doesn’t look accusatory or hurt or weirded out or anything- merely curious.

“No, we’re not.”

“Oh.” Kirishima frowns, “Why not?”

Bakugou huffs out a small laugh, “Because we’re both idiots.”

“Oh,” the redhead says, then nods. “That kinda tracks.”

“HEY!”

Kirishima’s smile becomes dopey again, eyes crinkling in the most endearing way.

“I really like you Kats. You’re so smart and funny and you always smell like fabric softener, and you’re just like. Really pretty.”

Bakugou feels his face heat up completely, his grip on Kirishima’s hand tightening.

“Just rest, you dumbass,” Bakugou says weakly, his entire body too hot for comfort. He watches Kirishima’s smile become something warm and loving in a way that hits his heart, and he doesn’t let go of the redhead’s hand, right up until the end of visiting hours.

When he exits the hospital alongside Ashido, he feels the last of his energy drain.

“I cant believe we didn’t get to him sooner,” Ashido mumbles, rubbing at her eyes fiercely. “The bar was noisy, and he just wanted to dump out some trash. Hanta noticed he was gone a while before we went out back and found him punching the last dude.”

Bakugou purses his lips. Truth be told, he cant believe Kirishima had gotten so badly hurt so close to his own bar, and he’s pissed as fuck that the idiot brigade had even let it happen, but the sincerity in Ashido’s voice tugs at his chest painfully.

“I’m sure he’ll forgive you.” Bakugou laughs humorlessly. “He’ll probably say there’s nothing to forgive in the first place.”

Ashido’s laugh is hollow, “That’s our Eijirou.” She looks at Bakugou again. “You coming tomorrow?”

He flashes her his best sneer. “You best believe I’m going to come by every single fucking day till he’s discharged.”

Ashido’s smile becomes a little more genuine, a little more well-rounded.

“I’m really glad he has you.” Her voice goes all soft and gross as she continues, “You mean a LOT to him, in case you didn’t already know.”

“Fuck off,” Bakugou mumbles, before waving her off and walking away.

Because he does know.

He also knows he’s falling madly in love with him, and that he’s completely and utterly screwed.

And he finds that he really doesn’t mind all that much. Some people, he rationalizes, are worth the horrible butterflies and the too hot too cold feelings down the back of his spine.

Some people, he realizes, are worth loving with everything you’ve got.

It takes Kirishima five weeks of house arrest to recover completely. Bakugou spends every weekday and a few of the weekends with him, staying over more often than not. He fusses over the redhead, forces him to take his medication on time, and cooks him everything under the sun.

“You’re spoiling me,” the redhead whines when Bakugou serves him what smells like the best mapo tofu he’s ever going to have.

The blonde grins triumphantly, “You’re damn right I am.”

They bicker and banter constantly, but they also curl up and marathon old bond movies at night. Kirishima goes over the bar’s paperwork while Bakugou works off his couch, and they take turns making the coffee. Ruby falls in love with Bakugou and curls up on his chest every chance she gets, and Bakugou laughs at Kirishima’s look of betrayal. The redhead’s couch is ridiculously comfortable, and he leaves his memory foam pillow with the blonde.

“You refuse to take my bed,” he grumbles, “so you damn well better accept my stupid pillow.”

Bakugou’s neck thanks the redhead profusely.

It’s new and weird, living with someone for the first time. Kirishima’s posse are in and out through the day, and Camie comes by just as often, bringing a change of clothes and gossip with her. Todoroki drops in with some high-quality tequila sometimes and Inasa brings his infectious energy, and through all of this, Kirishima remains in high spirits, even if he goes a little stir crazy sometimes.

It’s new and it’s weird, going from casual touches to more loving ones, more comforting ones. It becomes commonplace for Bakugou to rest his head between Kirishima’s shoulder blades on the days that he has a bad time at work. It’s normal for Kirishima to place his head on Bakugou’s lap while they watch shark documentaries. It’s easy for them to bump knees and press their calves together while enjoying their morning coffee.

It’s new and it’s weird and it’s amazing.

Because Bakugou finds himself falling in love with the little things. The way Kirishima sticks his tongue out when he’s smashing the PS5 controller during an especially intense game of Mario party, the way he makes the coffee with a sleepy smile on his face, the way he hums off-key to a song that’s stuck in his head, the way he can understand Bakugou- can differentiate between his frustrated fuck, his bashful fuck, his angry fuck, his sleepy fuck.

And how he accepts it all without so much as a hitch in his step.

Bakugou watches himself fall in love, slowly, and then all at once.

“How is it that he lived with you for almost 5 weeks and you STILL didn’t ask him out? Or kiss him stupid? Or something?”

Sero has a finger pinching the bridge of his nose, the other flexing loosely in front of his chest as he tries to fathom the stupidity of two people that could not be more into each other if they tried.

“I, I uh-“ Kirishima hangs his head, “I have no excuse.” He sighs deeply. “I was scared he’d give me a pity answer cause I was injured and everything.”

Ashido looks over her shoulder with incredulous eyes. “Are you kidding me?”

“What?”

“Eiji, I know you love us so like, if any of us were hurt like this you’d take care of us till we were better too. But do you think someone like BAKUGOU would practically move into someone’s house to make sure they were ok if he wasn’t nuts about them? Really?”

Kirishima’s face flushes, and he waves her away. “I don’t want to read into it. He’s just a really, really, really good guy. And what we have is good, it’s great! We’re bros. Pals. Friends. It’s all good.”

Ashido continues to stare at him for another moment before throwing her hands up and yelling, “BOYS!” She stomps into the kitchen to help Satou with prep for the day.

They continue to stock up the bar, Kirishima assigned to prepping limes and the ice machine, when the door opens and someone steps in.

“Sorry, we’re not op- Bakugou?”

And there stands the blonde with the biggest bouquet of flowers – chrysanthemums and sunflowers – that Kirishima has ever seen. The redhead distantly hears the sound of a door close behind him, and suddenly they’re alone, the tension positively stifling.

“Bakugo-“

“Go on a date with me.”

Kirishima sucks in a startled breath, his heart hammering in his chest.

“Go on a date. With me,” Bakugou repeats, his neck and ears tinging the loveliest shade of red. “The romantic kind. Where we dress up and get food and drinks and fight over the bill and walk each other to the door and get super awkward before we kiss. All that shit.”

Kirishima isn’t sure how it happens- one moment he’s on this side of the bar, the next, he’s jumping across and gathering Bakugou into a tight embrace, mindful of his newly healed ribs but still unwilling to release the blonde until Bakugou returns his hug, burying his face into Kirishima’s chest.

“Is that a yes?” Bakugou mumbles when they finally pull away, his hands fisted in Kirishima’s shirt.

“In every possible language out there,” Kirishima answers, ducking down to softly kiss Bakugou on the cheek. He laughs as the blonde cusses and shoves him away and laughs even harder when Bakugou’s own smile covers his entire face, bright and open and oh so breathtaking.

That smile is Kirishima’s and Kirishima’s alone.

Eiji hiiiiiiiiiiii

Bakugou I swear to god Ei

Bakugou if you’re late for our first date I will find you

Eiji and give me a kiss? :*

Bakugou I don’t kiss people that don’t have good time management

Bakugou so fuck off

Eiji still so mean to me ☹

Eiji I want that kiss tho

Eiji so ill be ready

Eiji promise

Bakugou good

Eiji <3

Bakugou <3

Eiji :D :D :D :D :D :D

Eiji YOU LIKE ME ENOUGH TO SEND EMOJIS HU H <3333

Bakugou it will never happen again

Bakugou so fuck right off

Eiji :”D

Bakugou im outside

Eiji be right there

Eiji <3

#bnha #kiribaku #bakushima #kirishima eijirou #bakugou katsuki #flustered #boku no hero #mha #they're idiots your honor #giving out the wrong number au???#if that's a thing??????#this one's a monster y'all

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bitsandbobsofwriting · 3 years

Text

Gunmen at school force Peter to act;

Fortunately, it’s after school hours, and the only ones in the library are the Academic Decathlon Team.

Unfortunately, the gunmen are targeting them specifically, due to the kidnap and ransom opportunities involved in this particular group of kids. One of whom is the son of a prominent lawyer, and another who was recently publicly outed as Tony Stark’s personal intern.

It’s after hours, and the acadec team have a meeting in the library. The school stays open for student access until 6pm, and it was approaching that time as they begin packing up after their session.

Only a few members of the team were there (Peter, Ned, MJ, Flash, Betty, and Abe), as well as Mr Harrington, who was there more in a supervisory capacity (though he was slouched on a beanbag having a well deserved nap. He was happy to just let them get on with it).

Flash had been leaving Peter alone in recent weeks. The glaring had definitely gotten worse, but the mocking had stopped almost entirely.

A mix up with timings and press and being in the wrong place at the wrong time (that damned Parker Luck), meant that Peter had accidentally been outed as an intern working directly under Tony Stark. Peter himself hadn’t really been hiding it around his friends, but Tony had been trying to keep all knowledge of him out of the media. The last thing he wanted was to put Peter or his Aunt in a spotlight, elevating them in to a much higher “kidnap risk” category.

Unfortunately they had failed at that (though Tony made sure that Aunt May’s apartment was filled with hidden panic buttons, and that she had his lawyers on call in case of harassment).

The six of them were packing away their things. Flash was grumbling at all the wrong answers he had gotten, and Abe was joking about leaving Mr Harrington asleep to see if he would still be there in the morning. Going by the bags under his eyes, it wouldn’t be surprising.

Suddenly, Peter feels a shiver run up his neck. He frowns and straightens his back, alert, and Ned gives him a worried look as the others bustle around them, not noticing their abrupt withdrawal from the conversation.

His hearing picks up boots moving in from the other side of the school. Slower than a walking pace... someone was trying to sneak. Peter’s head snaps to the door and he feels a gentle tug on his sleeve as Ned whispers:

“Dude, what is it? You’ve got that look. Is something about to happen?”

The footsteps are getting closer and Peter hushes Ned quietly, before doing so again louder, for the whole group.

Abe speaks up loudly:

“Come on, I was only joking about leaving him asleep-”

MJ interrupts him, quiet but forceful:

“Abe, shut up.”

She looks to Peter expectantly (yes of course she knows about Spiderman) and frowns at his serious expression.

He puts a finger to his lips and gestures for them to stay where they are as he walks slowly towards the door. Flash speaks up, almost yelling:

“What the hell are you doing, Penis?”

Mr Harrington wakes with a start at that and lets out a snort before freezing in place (looking very confused) as Peter whisper-shouts back:

“Shut the hell up! I think someone’s coming.”

Flash raises his eyebrows, and goes to retort, but is interrupted by Betty whispering:

“There are no other clubs on at the moment, no one should be here. It’s probably just a teacher or a security guard or something right?”

Peter shakes his head almost imperceptibly as he continues to make his way to the door.

Mr Harrington stands up slowly, before speaking, once again interrupting Flash who was about to try again:

“I... I’m not sure why I’m whispering, Betty is probably right. Peter, what’s the prob-”

Before Mr Harrington can finish his question, Peter stifles a gasp, just moments before the door is kicked violently in.

Two men in makeshift tactical gear and black ski masks storm into the room, large semi-automatic weapons in their hands. Peter stumbles back, having been close to the door, and the rest of the group let out short screams. Mr Harrington quickly takes a few steps forward, trying to get in front of the group, but he is quickly halted by one of the men:

“STOP! Nobody move, nobody speak, or we start putting bullets through the extras.”

Everyone freezes in place, the students looking terrified, tears slipping down their cheeks. Mr Harrington looking oddly angry, clenching his fists.

Peter flexes his wrists minutely, and is comforted to feel the hidden webshooters against his skin. He would really rather not use them, but he would, if it meant protecting the others.

One of the men steps forward and roughly grabs Peter by the collar, holding him in front of his body. He lets the gun hang on his back by the strap, but pulls out a knife which he presses to Peters neck, pressing hard enough that blood beads slightly where the metal is pushed against his skin.

He speaks gruffly:

“This one is Stark’s kid. Grab Thompson, and the blondie, she looks rich.”

The others panic at that, Mr Harrington taking another step forward and holding his hands out:

“Wait wait wait, you don’t need to take the kids, I’ll go with you, just-”

The second man swings the gun in an arc, the metal hitting Mr Harrington’s head with a resounding thwack as he crumples to the floor, unconscious.

Peter tenses even more at that, becoming angry, and the others let out pained cries at the blood on their teacher’s forehead. Flash tries to take a step back, but is quickly grabbed by the gunman and yanked away from the group.

Peter was desperately trying to think of a way to reach the panic button on his webshooters, but any movement might prompt his guard dog to press the knife deeper, and he didn’t want them spotting the hidden weapons and taking them away before he had a chance to do anything.

The second gunman pushes Flash towards his partner and Peter, and takes a step towards Betty, who is well on her way to a panic attack. MJ and Ned had moved in front of her protectively, but ultimately they could do nothing as they were shoved aside.

At Betty’s cry of pain when her arm was roughly grabbed, Peter made a split second decision: Enough of this shit.

He makes brief eye contact with Ned, before reaching up and grabbing the hand that held the knife. As soon as he had a strong grip, he pushed his feet into the floor, and launched the two of them back as hard as he could.

His enhanced strength meant that the force with which they hit the wall behind them knocked the gunman out instantaneously, and Peter could hear the satisfying cracks as bones were broken.

Peter’s impact was cushioned by the body behind him, and so he wastes no time, waiting only for the second gunman to turn around before he shoots a web at his gun.

The moment it sticks, he pulls his arm back quickly, and the weapon flies towards him. The gunman is in shock as Peter catches it and, without breaking eye contact, crushes the metal before dropping it to the floor.

The class look on in shock, but it isn’t long before Ned and MJ are grabbing their hands and ushering them out of the way, so that no one gets hurt.

“What the hell?” Comes from Flash, still beside Peter, but MJ quickly yells at him:

“Get over here you idiot, get out of the way!” and he runs to the group huddled around Mr Harrington.

The second gunman snaps himself out of his shock and growls as he takes out a knife and begins to run at Peter:

“You little bastard!”

Peter, sidesteps as the attacker swipes the knife at him, and grabs his outstretched arm, spinning in a circle to throw him at the wall beside his unconscious partner.

He isn’t thrown quite as hard as the first one, and Peter stalks towards him, a scowl on his face as the man tries to shake the daze from his mind.

He dropped the knife on impact, and he looks up just in time to see Peter reach forward, and rip his mask off. It’s no one Peter recognises, just a general thug, but he’s not sure what he was expecting.

The man looks a little more desperate now, it seeming to have registered in his brain that this was not a normal kid.

He tries to throw a punch at Peter’s face, but yelps when Peter catches it without trouble. His yelp is followed by a scream as Peter tightens his hold, crushing the bones in the mans hand as the acadec team watch on in barely concealed horror.

Peter’s enhanced senses pick up a whispered “what the fuck...” but he pays it no mind as he picks the whimpering man up by his collar, and throws him through the table they had all previously been sat at.

The others can’t tear their stares away from Peter as he strides quickly across the room. None of them had ever seen him so furious before, but before MJ or Ned could step in, Peter once again reaches the would-be kidnapper, and pulls him up by the collar with one hand, as he brings the other down to land a punch on his face.

He lets out a self satisfied smirk as the man rolls on his side, weakly spitting out a tooth and a mouthful of blood.

He absentmindedly looks over his shoulder, before throwing an arm out and webbing the still unconscious man to the wall he leant against. Just as a precaution.

Peter looked back down at the quivering mess, holding his broken hand against his chest and looking up at the teen in fear. He snarls as he begins to speak, not even slightly out of breath:

“You come to my school-”

(He aims another, slightly softer punch to the mans abdomen. His whimpers turn loud again.)

“You threaten MY friends-”

(He picks the man up once more, before dropping him harshly onto his knee, and watching as he bounces off, landing a few feet away.)

“And you thought I wasn’t going to put up a fight?-”

(He once again picks the almost limp man up by the collar, and holds him against a wall.)

“Sorry buddy. That’s not how this works. All you’ve done, is piss me off.”

At that, he brings his hand back, forming a fist, and strikes the side of the man’s face. His head rocks to the side violently, and Peter see’s the man’s eyes close. Falling unconscious from the pain (he heard the crack), or the hit to the head, Peter isn’t sure. But he doesn’t care.

He brings his hand back for another punch, only stopping at Ned’s shout:

“Peter no! He’s already passed out dude, drop him!”

Peter hesitates slightly, but doesn’t drop his hand, it’s only at MJ’s desperate yell-

“Peter, you’re gonna kill him!”

-that he steps back, dropping the attacker, and finally taking a deep breath.

He stares down at him, before blinking rapidly, and shaking the daze from his head. He finally presses the panic button on his webshooter (the one that meant emergency, but not immediate-life-or-death-emergency) before he webs him to the wall. He highly doubted he would be waking up any time soon, but just in case.

Peter turns and hurries over to Mr Harrington, not making eye contact with anyone else.

He kneels at his side, checking his pulse and his breathing, before webbing over his backpack and pulling out a mini medkit. He cleans away the blood and checks his pupils before frowning slightly:

“He’ll probably be fine, but he took one hell of a hit. He’ll be out for a while, help is on the way though.”

He still hasn’t looked at the others. He’s well aware of the fact that he just revealed his identity to the group, but more importantly, he knows he let his anger get the better of him. He shouldn’t have focused on the fact that they threatened his friends. He should have just webbed them up and left it at that.

Mr Stark was going to be so mad.

He folds his jacket under Mr Harrington’s head, and stands, only looking up when Betty runs forward and wraps him in a hug.

It surprises him, and he isn’t quite sure what to do, but he wraps his arms around her in return when she whispers a teary “Thank you” in his ear.

After a few moments, she lets go and pulls back, a grateful look on her face. Peter rubs his neck awkwardly and blushes as he looks at the worried expressions on MJ and Ned’s faces, and the shocked expressions on Abe’s and Flash’s:

“You... you’re Spiderman.” From Flash has Peter grimacing and looking to the window, really hoping Mr Stark would show up soon and help him fix this:

“You won’t tell anyone, right?? I was going to reveal my identity when I turned 18 but that’s still a few months away. Can you guy please please please just-”

“Uh... yeah. Yeah, I guess so.-”

He looks back to them with a panicking realisation, as he rushes to continue:

Abe cuts him off, having shaken the surprise, as he replies:

“Dude, of course we won’t tell anyone, you probably just saved our lives. But... the school is full of cameras... and I doubt we could explain away the lack of Spiderman’s presence when the cops show up. Both of them are covered in webs and you crushed that guy’s gun.”

Peter curses under his breath, but before the panic has time to fester, he hears the tell-tale sound of his webshooters beeping, telling him that Mr Stark had just left the tower.

He gasps and runs to grab his phone, almost tripping as he answers the call:

“Hey, Mr Stark! Uh... we’re in the school library.”

The others don’t hear the reply, but they get the basic meaning when Peter rushes to respond:

“No no! We’re fine, I took care of it! Actually, I could do with an ambulance, Mr Harrington took a nasty hit to the head and passed out-”

Peter stops in his tracks, for a few seconds before continuing:

“I took care of it in a Spiderman kinda way, and this school is full of cameras and I-”

He pauses again:

“-No I wasn’t wearing the mask, and I’m with my friends, that’s the problem!”

Peter vaguely hears Flash muttering behind him (”No way is Parker talking to actual Tony Stark.”) but he pays it no mind as he also hears MJ punch him in the arm and tell him the shut up.

He tilts his head before interrupting whatever it was Mr Stark was saying:

“Oh! I can hear you. Let me just open a window, I’ve uh...-”

He looks around the wrecked library a little nervously as he opens the closest window as wide as it would go, before finishing:

“I’ve destroyed enough school property as it is.”

Peter stares out the open window, before cursing under his breath and quickly sidestepping, just in time for the Iron Man suit to come flying into the room.

He hangs up the phone and waits nervously. Flash and Abe stare on in complete shock, Ned sports a wide grin, and MJ, unsurprisingly, is completely unbothered by Tony Stark’s appearance, and is more focussed on making sure Mr Harrington stays alright (well... as alright as he can be whilst unconscious with a bleeding head wound).

Tony finally steps out of the suit, and Peter gulps as the the older man looks around at the mess. His gaze stops on perp number one (who was just about starting to stir) and the streak of blood from where his head had hit the (now dented) wall, and slid down:

“Jesus, kid-”

He looks to perp number two, who is in even worse shape (blood coming from his mouth, face starting to bruise rather badly, hand all bent and broken):

“-you really did a number on these guys.-”

He finally looks at a near hysterical Peter, and takes the few steps towards him, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder:

“-you sure you’re alright?”

Peter is definitely taken aback at that, he was expecting anger or disappointment, not concern. But before he can reply, Flash speaks up, finally seeming to shake himself out of the daze he was in:

“Holy shit! You actually are Spider-”

Before he can finish, Tony whips his head around and fixes him with a glare:

“Hush, kid, the superheroes are talking.” before turning around to a very confused and slightly shocked Peter:

“You... you’re not mad?” Tony just rolls his eyes at that, and takes a step back, putting both hands in his pockets:

“Pete... I do so much worse than this all the time. I gotta say this is... bloodier than your normal crime scenes, but at least you didn’t kill anyone.”

He says it with a shrug, and Peter begins fiddling with the hem of his sweater as he replies, looking to the floor:

“Yeah, but I almost did. I got angry and I only stopped because Ned and MJ yelled at me.”

Tony hums thoughtfully at that, before looking to Ned and MJ (both of whom he’s met briefly before):

“You two want first aid training? Self defence lessons? Might come in useful if you’re gonna be looking after my kid- oh never mind-”

He waves his hand absentmindedly before looking back at a shocked Peter:

“-we’ll have that conversation later. The cops are on the way, and they’re bringing an ambulance for your teacher. How do you want to play this, Pete?”

Peter is evidently shocked at being given control, he sort of figured that Mr Stark would know what to do:

“I uh... I don’t know. Abe pointed out that there are cameras everywhere, and Spiderman was obviously here-”

He gestures at the two perps. He notices the first about to speak, and quickly webs his mouth. He makes an angry noise in the back of his throat, but it quickly turns into a groan as the pain registers:

“-and those three saw me-”

He quickly turns his attention to Flash, Abe, and Betty:

“not that I don’t trust you guys... well... maybe not Flash... but-”

Tony waves a hand at him and he stops talking, shutting his mouth with a snap. Tony thinks for a minute, looking casually around the room, before looking back to Peter:

“Ok, you’re right kid, there’s no real way to explain this away. We’re just gonna have to fast track things-”

He looks to his suit, still stood open on the other side of the room:

“FRIDAY, tell Pepper that Pete’s identity got out, and to call for a press conference at the tower for... say... two hours from now?-”

His gaze returns to Peter, who is relaxing a bit now, obviously grateful that Mr Stark has some sort of plan, and is taking control:

“We’re just gonna have to come out with it Pete. You head back to the tower and plan it with Pepper. I’ll stay here to look after your kiddy friends, and deal with the cops, alright?”

Peter nods, but looks over at MJ, still sat next to Mr Harrington, keeping an eye on him. His gaze flicks up to the others:

“Are you guys ok with me leaving? I... I’ll stay if you want me to.”

Peter doesn’t notice the fond smile on Tony’s face as he says this, too focused on his friends. Betty is the one who speaks first, with a wide smile on her face:

“We’ll be fine Peter, go and do your thing.”

Peter smiles slightly at that, as Ned speaks:

“Yeah dude, go. We’ll see you later alright?”

MJ, looks up quickly, a teasing smile on her face:

“I’m fine with you going as long as you swear to introduce me to Pepper Potts, she is the real superhero.” Flash scoffs at that, but Tony laughs and nods his head:

“MJ, right? You’re more than welcome to come over with Peter this weekend... in fact... I actually think Pepper was looking for a part time assistant, few hours a week sorta thing. Interested?”

Peter and Ned laugh at the visible shock on her face, and her speechlessness (something that they have never seen before, and will likely never see again) as she wordlessly nods.

“Deal.-”

He looks back to Peter, and gestures to the open window:

“Swing over to the tower kid, stick your mask on but don’t bother with the rest of the suit until the conference, there isn’t much point now.”

Peter nods firmly, and grabs his backpack, reaching for his mask and pulling it over his head. He hangs out the window, and looks back to say:

“Cops and the ambulance just pulled up round the front, I can hear them. I’ll see you later.”

He doesn’t wait for a response as he swings round the corner, making his way to the tower as quickly as he can.

Despite Mr Stark’s assurance, he was still ashamed of what he’d done. He had allowed his anger to control him, and he almost killed someone because he let his personal attachment to the victims cloud his judgement.

He was meant to be the Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman, not the Punisher or Daredevil. He didn’t want anyone to be scared of him, not even criminals to be honest. But he trusts Tony and Pepper, he’s sure this won’t get too out of hand, they won’t let it.

He’ll have to do some more training with Cap and Bucky, get better at regulating his strength.

Back at the school, Tony was rolling his eyes and trying desperately to ignore Flash, who is managing to somehow be both antagonistic, and an extreme fanboy. It’s his next question that has Tony whipping his head to him, a look of disbelief on his face:

“So is Pen- Parker really your intern??”

“Kid are you... I thought this was a smart school?-”

Ned’s mouth hangs open at that, and Abe, Betty, and MJ laugh:

“-Look, whatever-your-name-is, Spiderman is the internship. Though at this point he spends more time messing around in my lab than he does at his own home so-”

At that point, thankfully, the ambulance crew walks in, and Tony sighs in relief; glad he could now have an excuse to cut off any and all conversation with these kids. God this was going to be a long few days.

THE END

Figured I’d branch out and write something for one of the other stupid things I’m obsessed with. I know most of my followers are Merlin accounts so... sorry lads but ;)

Tell me what you think lads. Just like normal, you wanna write it out properly with descriptions and paragraphs and shit, go for it, credit and tag me :)

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animemangasoul · 4 years

Text

5 times Tachihara is shocked by people kissing his co-worker on the cheek and one time he does it himself

Chapter: 5/6 - Akutagawa

“Alright, we have what we need. Everyone clear the building, now.”

Kunikida’s voice sounded calm, but Tachihara could still detect the edge of urgency hidden behind the commanding tone.

“This is bad,” he said, blinking sluggishly up at Gin. “This is really bad.” The other man didn’t so much as spare him a glance; thin arms wrapped tightly around Tachihara’s mid and breath coming out in labored gasps.

The building shook, and Gin had only just enough time to swerve them both out of the path before large slabs of rocks crashed down on where they’d stood a second ago. Tachihara cursed as their bodies slammed against the unstable wall behind them. This was bad, this was really really bad.

“Gin,” he breathed; the gash on his forehead making it hard to see past the blood. “Gin, you ok man?”

A hitched whine was his only reply. Tachihara cursed again. His communicator crackled and suddenly Kunikada’s voice was back. “The bui- coming do... everyone... out?”

Lifting a shaking hand to his ear, he tried his best not to jolt Gin who at this point was the only thing keeping both of them standing. “Sorry dude,” he said; finger pressed against the communicator. “Me and Gin are....” he coughed, feeling something in his chest rattle painfully. “we’re gonna need a little bit more time.”

Shouts everywhere. Mafia members and the agency guys talking over each other and the sheer volume of their voices crashing against each other till whatever was being said only served to give Tachihara a headache.

“Enough!”

He blinked.... Had he said that? It sure didn’t sound like something he would say? But he felt it.... so-

Shaking his head, Tachihara tried to dislodge the fog clogging up his thoughts, but it only made the mild nausea he’d been experiencing ten times worst. ‘Oh God,’ he thought.

“Tachihara.”

“.....”

Tachihara.”

“.....”

“Tachihara!”

…. Was someone... calling him?

A pinch on his left made him yelp and his eyes came up to meet the searching once of Gin. “Wha-” he said, but before anything else left his mouth- the voice from before broke in.

“Tachihara,” a familiar cough. “Can you hear me?”

“I-” he said, blinking in surprise. “Yes, yes. I can hear you Akutagawa-san. I-” Why was it so hard to breath.

“Focus Tachihara. The building is about to explode. Is Gin with you?”

The redhead frowned. Gin... yes, yeah, Gin was with him. He opened his mouth to answer, but.... Why didn’t Gin... looking at his partner he frowned even harder. Couldn’t he just tell... Sure Gin didn’t like talking but... surely this time he... ‘Oh,’ he thought, because were the coms should have been on Gin’s right ear, was now only a red gaping wound.

Shit.

“Yes,” he managed to grit out; eyes still glued on his frie... partner. “Yes, he’s with me. Yes.”

“Good,” came Akutagawa’s voice, the utter relief in his tone surprising Tachihara momentarily. “Stay where you are, I’ll find you.”

“What, no!” It was Kunikida again. “Are you crazy. You won’t make it up there in time. If you go back now-”

“Shut up.” Chills went down Tachihara’s spine and he swallowed thickly. Even in his current addled mind, he knew he’d never heard Akutagawa ever sound so cold and angry before. “I’ll make it. Just get the remaining fools out of here.”

“Akutag-… Damn it.”

“I’ll go with him Kunikida-san!”

Was that the weretiger? Oh boy. Sending Gin a tiny smile, his lips widened even further when similar humor echoed back from his partners eyes. Akutagawa was so not going to like it.

“No, Atsushi. You do not go with him! Get out and secure the data. That’s an order.”

“I’ve already secured the data. I gave it to one of the in-suit mafia members to take outside. Going after Akutagawa now.”

“I swear to God Atsushi-…" But the man most have quickly realized he’d very much lost control of the situation, for he cut himself off mid-sentence and sighed heavily. “Just don’t do anything stupid, kid.”

“Roger that,” came the weretiger’s chipper voice.

By the time the rescue squad conversation had come to an end, Tachihara and Gin were fully leaning against each other, slowly sliding to the ground.

Another rumbling from the building, made Gin take in a wisp of breath. Tachihara closed his eyes and tried to push the nausea back down.

“We might not... we might...” he started, face sculpted into a neutral blankness, but eyes dancing around looking at everything yet nothing. “We could die... today.”

Gin didn’t say anything, only reached around him slowly; one hand still pressing hard against the make-shift bandages around his waist, before he curled his own shaking fingers around his and squeezed.

‘It’s funny,’ Tachihara thought, returning the gesture in the darkness of night. ‘Gin would have been fine if he’d left me. Hell, Akutagawa himself is coming back into danger to save us now. It’s funny. How much we’ve all become so attached...’

Tachihara knew he would have to leave them eventually, but for now... for now he held onto Gin’s warm hand, tried to stay awake, and prayed to God they would live to see another day.

“Akutagawa!”

Tachihara startled awake, head burning as if rods of flames were being drilled into it without mercy. What the... what was going on.

“Oi, stupid Akutagawa!”

“What do you want Jinko!”

Ahh, the rescue... mission.

“I have to bail on you. There are a bunch of civilians here and-”

“I never wanted you to come with me in the first place. So do whatever the hell you want.”

“Mean,” the weretiger huffed, but then after a prolonged pause, his voice broke through the coms again. “You have about two minutes tops,” he said. “.... Stay safe Akutagawa.”

“Whatever.”

Another half a minute or so passed by, and at this point, Gin had started to shake uncontrollably... or was that him? He couldn’t even tell them apart anymore. Were one began and the other ended. Maybe they would die here, today.

“Tachihara!”

“Yes,” he muttered, bleary eyes staring straight ahead at the shattered window in front of him.

“I need you to describe where you are. Anything of note, anything that sticks out to you. Talk!”

The urgency in his superior’s voice was almost too daunting, but Tachihara was a Port Mafia member, he could... this was normal, he was fine. So he started to mumble it out, anything and everything he could see. Even irrelevant things like the rock currently holding the metal bar above their heads.

Suddenly the building shakes again, but this time it’s followed by a resounding explosion, and Tachihara meets Gin’s gaze, and he knows....

“Ryuu,” Gin starts, for the first time, eyes wide and wet. Cheeks flushed. “Ryuu... get out.”

Since when... Had Gin and Akutagawa always been that close? What... Ryuu? And.... why was everything suddenly swimming and-

Gin talked.

Gin never talked

He could count on one hand the number of times Gin talked

…. They were screwed, weren’t they?

“Ryuu, please.”

“Akutagawa’s laboring breaths were almost ringing too loud in their ears now. “No,” the man gasped, his shuffling feet echoing through the coms. “I’m not leaving you to die.”

At this point, Gin had somehow managed to wrangle them both back on their feet, steading him as he tried to push them behind the open door by the corner wall. “It won’t work,” Tachihara said; words barely making it passed his lips before he descended into a coughing fit. “We won’t make it.” But he still followed him when Gin silently urged him forward.

Unfortunately, another explosion went off before they were even half way there, and Tachihara almost lost his footing, taking Gin down with him.

Walls were crumbling around them and slowly but surely, the explosions that had sounded far away only minutes ago were almost right on top of them. It was all over.

But just as that fleeting thought of doom had passed through his mind, the door on the other side of the hall flew open.

“Wha-”

And there he was, Akutagawa-san.

“No,” Gin breathed. “Please no. You can’t be here.” And Tachihara didn’t want to agree with his partner because living was really something he wanted to do, but now, it was over now. There was no time left for Akutagawa-san to get them out of this. So now, what should have been only two deaths, were going to be three.

“Ryuu!”

“Shut up,” Akutagawa barked, marching over to them, each step calculated, calm and no rush in his gait. “I’m not leaving you to die.”

Another ripple went through the now very unstable building, and Tachihara found himself holding his breath until the shaking subsided. Akutagawa-san had almost closed the distance between them when Gin stiffened. Going completely rigged.

They were out of time.

“Get down,” Tachihara screamed at the black-haired male as he tried his best to shield Gin with his own body, but before either he or Gin could move, Akutagawa leaped towards them, his arms outstretched, and with the most determined look on his face, he yanked forward, his skinny hands coming up to circle around their heads and shoving their faces forcefully into his chest.

“Akutagawa-san?” Tachihara asked, exhaustion and confusion coloring his tone, because how the hell was this supposed to do anything? Maybe his boss just wanted one last hug before it was all over. Gin most have been on a similar wavelength because he tightened his grip and brought both him and Akutagawa even closer.

“You should have left,” he muttered, but Akutagawa only huffed at the both of them.

“Rashomon!” he called out and just as his coat flared up, so did the last explosives and the world crumbled. As darkness settled all around them, black seeping into every corner till the air itself felt stagnated, Hirotsu’s shout of despair from their coms was the last Tachihara heard before everything stopped.

Silence descended around them, the muffled explosions and Akutagawa’s labored breaths the only sound surrounding them. “Ryuu?”

“Quiet,” Akutagawa said; his lips almost brushing up against Tachihara’s cheek. “I need to... concentrate.”

And.... wow.

A building was blowing up all around them, and here he stood, Akutagawa Ryuunosuke, the Port Mafia’s dog, risking his life for them. Using his ability to keep them alive in the midst of this hell.

The vibration from whatever was exploding around Rashomon, suddenly amplified, and Akutagawa let out a pained groan.

And since when could Rashomon do this? How long had Akutagawa-san known how to shield people? Wha-…. ‘Focus,’ Tachihara told himself, one hand clutching at his side, while the other rested loosely around Akutagawa. ‘You’re a Port Mafia member, but also a Hunting Dog. Focus.’ Tightening his grip around his superior, he breathed in and out, slowly, calmly.

He could do this.

Stretching out his mind as much as it would let him in his current state, he focused on the outside. Outside this tiny safe cocoon, outside Akutagawa-san's embrace. Outside, were a building was collapsing around them.

Activating his ability, he closed his eyes shut and forced whatever strength he had left in him to push away as much metal objects from Rashomon as he could. It wasn’t much, not how he was faring currently, not with the building collapsing. But it took some weight of Akutagawa’s shoulders, and for now, that was enough.

They stayed like that for what felt like forever. Pressed up against Akutagawa, him and Gin are silent as mice as their superior is fighting tooth and nail to keep them alive. Tachihara doesn’t know when he slips into unconsciousness or for how long, but when the real world starts calling out to him again, he fights to open his eyes and-

“Akuta..gawa-san?” he said; blinking up at the man leaning over him with a hand outstretched to rest against his cheek. “What ha...ppened?” He leans into the touch, not fully aware of what he’s doing and later would be surprised that his boss had essentially let him cuddle into his hand. But for now-

“We’re buried underground,” Akutagawa said, eyes searching. “The idiots up there are working to get us out, and Chuuya-san is on his way back, so hopefully his arrival will speed things up.”

“So we...” his breath hitches and he finds his vision blurring. “We survived?”

Akutagawa nods.

“Oh,” Tachihara blinks. “That’s good.” Looking passed the other man, he lets his gaze wander until they finally rest on Gin. Gin who is laying by a pile of rock not too far away; Akutagawa’s coat folded up to serve as a pillow.

“Is he-” he started. But just as he’d opened his mouth to ask, a quiet groan came from the still figure on the ground, and in a split-second Akutagawa was across the room and kneeling next to him.

“Gin,” he said, voice strangely soft despite the raspiness. “Gin, you with me?”

“Nii-san?”

Tachihara gaped, say what?

“Yes,” Akutagawa coughed; pressing one hand across his mouth, while the other came down to gently stroke Gin’s hair. “I’m here and you’re ok. We’re all ok.”

“Nii-san?”

Akutagawa hummed.

Gin who’d been staring at nothing but the caved in roof the minute he’d woken up, finally turned ever so slightly to look at what apparently was, his brother. “Thank you,” he said, words as soft as always. “Thank you... for saving us.”

Akutagawa’s hand stilled, and he frowned down at him. “Next time,” he said. “Call for help.”

Gin nodded, a tiny smile playing across his mouth, and... Akutatagawa-san, in a very uncharacteristic display of affection, suddenly leaned down and brushed lips over his cheek, lingering for just a second too long before shuffling away.

Tachihara stared. Stomach turning at the sight.

‘Oh,’ he thought. ‘Brother. I knew Gin had a brother, but... Akutagawa?’

Oh.

Cold, uncaring, violent, dangerous Akutagawa Ryuunosuke.

Akutagawa Ryuunosuke who ran into an exploding building, not to save his employees, but to save Gin. Akutagawa who never cared about anyone or anything but obviously seemed to Love Gin.

Oh.

Tachihara couldn’t, try as he might, to move his eyes away from the pair. Gin had somehow found the strength to reach out then to grab a hold of Akutagawa’s wrist, and the black-haired man had let him, hadn’t even contemplated shaking him off.

Suddenly Tachihara had an overwhelming urge to just get out of there. Leave all these... emotions, leave everything behind and just... Go back to his job. To the government and forget everything. He...

A flash of a smile danced through his mind and it was all Tachihara could do not to break down into tears.

‘He is dead,’ he told himself harshly, swallowing down any and all emotions. ‘He is dead, and he isn’t coming back. My brother is dead.’

When Chuuya-san eventually found them; screaming at both the agency and the port mafia for being idiots and useless, Tachihara had calmed down enough to put on a bright smile and declare Chuuya his favorite human being ever. The shorter man grinned and cuffed him lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t I know it,” he said, as doctors rushed in, packing him up to be hauled out.

Akutagawa on the other hand, seemed to refuse to let anyone near Gin, telling the medical staff curtly that he would bring Gin up himself and to not get in his way.

There as he was being wheeled off on a bed, Tachihara watched as Akutagawa leaned down to gently pick up his sibling. Face strangely content and mouth moving as if he was chatting away with the quiet assassin.

And wasn’t that strange. Akutagawa, going out of his way to talk to someone.

‘I guess they are very much alike,’ Tachihara thought; watching as Chuuya-san sidled up to the two in order to coerce Akutagawa into handing Gin over. ‘No wonder they are related.’

To be continued.....

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

#bungou stray dogs #bsd fanfic #tachihara michizou #Ryunosuke Akutagawa #akutagawa gin #bsd #bungou stray dogs fanfic

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1stunseeliefaelass · 4 years

Text

Darksiders Arthurian Tales Revisited

Chapter 10: Bonds Old and New

Death and Wren then head inside, and ran into Morgen. Death could only think of one word as these two women looked at each other, "Aw shit."

Sighing he then looked at Wren, "This is Morgen, Morgen this is....Wren."

Morgen looked at Wren and was pleasantly surprised at the genuine smile she got, "How do you do?"

"Quite well actually, thank you. And greetings to you as well."

Death noted their civil behavior and had an inner sigh of relief, "Well I'll go about finding something....for me to do.....ladies, I'll see you later.....and please be nice to each other...."

Quickly he headed to find Ale and explained everything that had just happened. Getting a resounding squeee, which got the other three's attention.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Strife asks.

"YES!" War added.

Fury meanwhile stated, "Explain. Now."

"I'm explaining everything to Ceise, you tell them about it." Death tells Strife.

"Right I'll do that, ok guys over here. That way Ma isn't gonna make us go deaf." Strife states.

Fury then inquired, "I know why you call her Mother, but why does our brother do so?"

"A, that's for him to tell you, and B, it's something that probably piss you off." Strife vaguely tells her.

War chose to remain quiet for now, deciding to let Death be the one to explain. Meanwhile Ale was DELIGHTED over her son being a heartthrob.

"How wonderful, two ladies. And one I already know. Oh I still remember how much you used to gush about Wren."

"Ceise....please not so loud....I don't want them to come back in here." Death tried to express with his growing embarrassment.

"Oh sorry Atan, you seem a bit more flustered than I expected. I mean I can be a little embarrassing sometimes, but it seems you have reached your limit faster than usual."

"It's just....I have a problem of sorts....and I need a little help with it..." Death told her.

"I see, well what's on your mind then Atan? What troubles you?" Ale implored him.

"I noticed I've been starting to feel things for Morgen, but after seeing Wren I've begun feeling those old feelings for her. I really don't know what to do right now. It broke me finding Wren dead and I don't want to happen to her. However, I need to check with Morgen about her feelings towards me. It's all messy, and it terrifies me. Only a little bit, but still."

Ale looked at him calmly and gently brushed his back, "This is a very cliche answer Atan, but follow your heart. Only you can make that choice, only you can decide who makes you happy. I know you always spoke highly of Wren, and from what I've noticed of Morgen she seems to be a kind woman. Whoever you choose, I'll be there to support you."

"Thank you." Death says simply, trying to process what to do.

Wren meanwhile began speaking to Morgen. The two of them actually found a common ground with each other and began conversing about normal things mostly. But the conversation did ultimately come back to Death, leaving Morgen to finally ask the question she'd been dreading,

"So Wren, how do you feel towards Death?"

Wren actually took a moment to respond, "I like to believe I still love him. But lately....I've been scared that maybe I don't. Several eons alone will do that to you."

"I can't say I blame you. I do have my own feelings for him, but if you need time to figure things out I won't get in your way. Nor will I be angry if it turns out the doubts were for not." Morgen told her calmly.

"You have my thanks, really you do. I do have an idea of how to figure this out. My race, the Arcaeniens, we can only have children with those we view as equals. But on top of that, we can only feel pleasure during the act if we love our partner." Wren explains.

"So in other words, you wish to engage with Death in the bedroom to see if you still love him?"

"Yes. I just hope to make things....a little easier on his end. Extreme emotions have always been....hard for him to express. But when he does manage it, it truly is something to behold. He may not always have it easy with words, but his actions are always sweet when they shine through." Wren explained thinking back to those coveted memories of him.

"It sounds like you know him well. I promise you Wren, I'll do my best to treat him well should things end up not going the way you may be hoping for."

"Should things go well for me, and I end up being wrong in my concerns, I promise you much the same Morgen. I am a nurse after all." Wren tells her. Both women share a brief laugh together before Wren continues, "I only ask that if I do end up correct, that you'll also let us work together to find our daughter and care for her."

"I swear to you Wren, I won't interfere with your parenting or search for your child. You both deserve to have her back, or to know what happened to her." Morgen replies kindly.

With that Wren nods and the two part ways. Morgen heading off to see how Arthur is doing, among other things. Wren meanwhile goes looking for Death, hoping to speak to him about this. Believing the sooner he knows the plan the better.

Meanwhile Death had gone off with his siblings to tell them about what happened with Lilith all those eons ago. Strife decided to give Death sometime to prepare himself by bringing him into a sideroom off the main one the other two were in. Death began having a mini panic attack as he started worrying about worse case scenarios,

"Relax relax relax....just tell them what they need to know....just relax."

"Dude breathe. Remember telling me to breathe, trying doing it yourself." Strife told him.

Death does so and after a few deep breaths responded, "What do they wanna know?"

"Well first off why you call Ale Mother. Another one is Wren, which I explained the best I can but you need to explain it yourself. And Lilith, you're gonna need to them about that. Don't worry, I'll be right behind you with that stuff. If you have trouble, I'll help you out."

"Thank you for....helping me out with this. Kinda terrified of figuring out how to do this on my own, but with you in the room it may help." Death expressed simply.

Strife then inquired, "So, you good to go?"

"Yeah, let's get this over with."

War and Fury stand up as their elder brothers enter the room again. Fury seems calm but is internally freaking out. War meanwhile is just dreading what they may end up hearing.

As he remains quiet, Fury asks instead, "So, what exactly is going on? And what has happened?"

"Where do you really want to begin?" Death inquires.

"Well for starters you could tell us about Wren. As that is one of the most recent questions to come up." War states at last.

"Wren is the woman I met back during the time of the horde. After I was grievously wounded I found her and she saved my life. After that, I made frequent...house calls, well visits. Unfortunately I could never stay long, always another battlefield, always another request at Absalom's behest. And Absalom DESPISED my relationship with her, as it kept me away from my 'duties' as he would put it. 'Too much of a distraction' he'd sometimes say. I didn't care much for them, I still visited as much as I could, for as long as I could. Last I saw her was eons ago, and I was...leaving to a battle. But before I left, she asked to produce her child, so I...obliged..."

"Is that why you reacted the way you did when that message came?" War questioned.

"Yes. If said that she was pregnant. I still remember how I felt. Excited, anxious, proud, scared, all sort of things. But when I got there, a purge had happened. She'd been taken to a camp to be killed. But the childbirth killed her before they could. When I found out she was there I went on rampage through the camps. When I found her, I was broken a bit, greatly actually. But I found my daughter, she had survived, hidden from the carnage. From there I buried Wren, and set up a pyre near her home. After that is when the Hag struck. I did my best to fend her off, to rebuff her attempts. But unfortunately, she was too strong. I couldn't figure out how to stop her. After she defeated me and took Coventina I found myself back in one of our camps. Absalom had said that she was dead, the witch had killed her....back then I somewhat believed him, but I know that's true anymore. At least I hope it's not. He didn't try his damnest to find her, to save her. If she were Nephilim, he would have cared far more than he did. But then again, I never cared to mention it to him. I didn't want him to do what he did to all of you." Death explained further.

"We only helped with the memory loss thing, because you were depressed. If I knew the story behind it, I wouldn't have helped." Strife informs him.

"I still remember those few weeks. You stopped eating, rarely slept without nightmares, and Absalom was just....angry. More so than he normally was on most days." Fury says in musing.

War however remained silent again, trying to process it and figure out what to say. He did eventually motion to his brother, "There are still the other questions."

Death just nods, "I would only assume."

"First off why do you call Ale Ceise? Second off, Strife mentioned that something happened. But he did not specify any further. So what was he referring to?" War pressed him.

Death sighed deeply, "This started before any of you were created or born. I myself was created in the woods around Ale's village, specifically behind her home. From what I could surmise from her....excited ramblings...", he then looked around for Ale before moving on, "I was apparently either created in the flower, or it was used to make me, or a side effect of the Creation magic. Whatever the case I have no idea. Anyway that's not too important....even after being blinded by Absalom she still kept up some hope. After I was able to find her, she still viewed me as a son. In time though an event happened, something that showed me who my true Mother was. Before I continue, the information I say will not leave this room, and after I'm done recanting you MUST NOT go after the person in question. I do not want you to suffer a fate similar to mine."

War interjected, "It does make us question why you would ask this of us."

Death's eyes closed for a moment before he spoke up, "Getting to it. Remember how Lilith's home, I certainly remember the face you were making during that experience."

War actually shudders a bit, "I'm not even going to try to remember. Well based on what I can remember initially, it wasn't to any of the senses."

"If you think THAT was horrible, let me explain just how truly deplorable Lilith is. To begin with, Absalom was the one who....technically started the mess. He explained to me....that it was essentially my...turn to finally meet our 'Mother' alone. I was nervous about it to begin with....and went to Ale for guidance on it. She herself was...mortified, begging me not to go through with it. I ultimately felt I had no choice, and so....she gave me a way out should I need it. A small crystal that would teleport me near her home. But when I did go to Lilith's home.....I...I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was. I assumed it would be a normal meeting....but really happened was the worst three days that I ever experienced. For those three, long, agonizing days, I found myself at her mercy. I found myself...being....used.....to pleasure her.....as her toy. I lost count of how many times I begged, how many times I pled. I urged for her to stop, to let me go, to end it several times, until my voice gave out. But she never yielded, she carried on. Eventually I freed myself as no one came for me. The moment I escaped her 'abode', I ran for so long I don't even know exactly just how long. Then once I felt I was safe, I used the crystal Ale gave me to teleport close to her home. From there I ran, as far as I could. Until she found me, Ale not Lilith. She brought me into her home, and sheltered me. When Lilith came she took on the woman's wrath to protect me. And afterwards made sure I felt safe, both physically and mentally. She even got me new trousers to replace the ones Lilith tried to destroy. From that night on I knew who my real Mother was. From that moment on, I knew who I could trust, truly."

Fury's jaw had gone slack, although she was now trying to hide it with her hand, "Death.....how much....did you suffer under her?"

War however, "Explains several things for one. And thank you for making sure that situation did not befall me all those years back. As I can now see why you were so adamant that I not be in the same room as her."

"Exactly." Death responded softly.

"You good bro?" Strife asked.

"Better than I am most of the time so yeah, I guess I am."

Fury then placed a hand on his shoulder, "If you ever need it, we'll be there to support you. Be it during a, Creator forbid, flashback or if you have nightmares of the event."

"And Lilith rears her neck out far enough, I'll be sure to cut her off for you." War added on.

Death actually smiled behind the mask, glad to have this support. He actually began to chuckle a bit. Soon however, those chuckles sounded like he was trying to hide something behind them. War actually pats him on the back before giving him an awkward side hug. Death chuckled a bit more but appreciated the attempt anyway.

"Thank you.....all of you....I was...scared for the longest time.....that you wouldn't understand or that your reactions would be.....far worse than they are now."

Strife then joined in on the hug, "Ok, everybody in. You know the rules."

Death then begins to protest, "Wait no no no...."

Only for all three siblings to wrap him into a group hug. He could be heard grumbling the entire time.

"And there's Death again." Strife remarked.

"Right right right this is nice and all but get off of me." Death grumbled.

Finally they released him, but Strife asked him, "So you need a hug from Ma too?"

"No, already received that. I don't need her to get involved."

After having come by with C when they both heard a slight commotion, Gregory inquires, "Ok what's this about ye having a Mother?"

Death froze at that and quickly stood up, "None of your business Dwarf, go on."

"Nothing to see here, nothing to see here." Strife added on.

"Right, nothing to see here. Nothing to see here my ass. For one thing I just came across you lot hugging each other and all that. And you were being grumpier than I would expect." Gregory retorted.

Death would've said more, but then noticed an...interesting necklace, around C's neck. It had clay beads on it, with symbols that looked way too familiar. But he wanted to be certain, "Mind if I...take a look at that necklace?"

"Oh uh, sure. I'm used to people asking at this point, hell I'm used to their reactions too." C replies handing it over.

"You know what this is?" Death questions her.

"Beyond something that used to be around my ankle, not really."

Death examined the necklace closer and realized the symbols were actually Nephilim letters, "Where did you get this?"

Gregory stepped in, "She came to me with it. We found it as an anklet after she was rescued from Black Annis."

Death's eyes widen at the name Black Annis, "How were you saved by chance?"

"A man named Harker McCloud saved her, knew how to kill those beasts it seems. Course he didn't explain his method, only looked messed up to all he-......ehhhh....Horseman, are ye alright over there?" Gregory expressed.

Death then looked C over briefly, and noticed that not only were her eyes two separate colors, they were changing color every so often and most importantly......they were glowing like a Nephilim's, "I need to go confirm something with someone."

From there he found Wren and rushed to ask her, "Wren I need your point of view on this."

Wren then follows him back to where everyone is, and upon seeing C her own eyes widen. She's able to see the glowing line like tattoos hidden on C's body. She then asked Gregory, "How is you two met?"

"Like I was telling the Horseman over here, a man named Harker saved her."

"How old was she?" Wren pressed further.

"A baby, why?"

"Death, we need to find this Harker. Get more information." Wren states.

"I already know about Harker, he's a good friend. He's helped me out as much as I've helped him out." Death explains.

Strife adds in, "Yeah you remember the time you saves him from Leatherbeard?"

Death goes rigid and immediately says to Strife, "We agreed NEVER TO SPEAK OF HIM AGAIN. For MANY reasons."

Wren and C look at him concerned. But Gregory just groans, knowing the stories all too well from the occasional pirate come wandering into the tavern. "Ooooooi I've heard about that sadistic fuck. I always dreaded that man ever showing up at my tavern. C would probably allure that monster way too fucking easily, and he wouldn't even care about whatever her preference was. Hell he might even use it against her."

"Ok....just how bad is this man? And more importantly, who the HELL is he?" Wren inquires.

"Leatherbeard, aka Ralph Dingleberg. The most perverted, and depraved pirate I've ever had the misfortune of sharing a room with.." Death begins before eyeing Wren and War, "He reminds me of Lilith the most, out of all the most depraved, inhumane, people I've EVER MET. The MOST."

Wren gets shocked beyond belief and War just feels his skin crawl. He even nearly pukes just as Death continues further, "And apparently he can't seem to die. No matter how hard you try he KEEPS LIVING. AND LIKES WHATEVER DO TO HIM. I remember one time he shot himself out of cannon, then proceeded to maim, butcher, torture, and do far more debaucherous things to everyone on his enemy's ship."

Wren then finally says, "Well.....yet another reason why I can avoid sailing."

"Anyway, I need go by Harker's home. See if he's there and get more confirmation on....some things. Completely unrelated to that CRAZY FUCK." Death states wanting to get off the subject of Leatherbeard.

"Good luck Death, and when you return, I need to speak with you, alone." Wren expresses.

"Right, I'll see what I can do. Hopefully nothing else comes up."

Meanwhile as Death rode on to find Harker's home, Harker has found himself strung up to a mast on one of Uther's tallest ships. He was starving and in an emaciated state. Normally a few days without love wouldn't do this, but he'd been neglecting to find time to feed before being captured. Harker had originally been captured because he'd spoke highly of Death in public after seeing a wanted poster for him. Around him, a great dragon lion hybrid flew in circles. Uther's true form, greed and obsession incarnate as some might say. Uther circled around the mast for a time before settling to fly in front of Harker. The people had gathered to witness this, as was his intent.

"I will let go if you tell me the whereabouts of Death. And I may even let you have your way with some of my men, you look so famished after all."

Harker took a moment to catch his breath before responding, "Like I said before....I don't know where he is....and even if I did I wouldn't tell you. Besides....your men aren't that pretty to begin with....not my type...."

"You hold Death in great reverence. You must have some feelings for him, since you denied my men. So, to make it easier on you, I promise I won't harm him, badly. And I'll banish him from this kingdom, simple enough. And I'll give you a full pardon for raiding my privateers. So what do you say?"

Harker shut his eyes as Uther spoke to him and when it finally ended he said, "We haven't spoken in a long time....you're obviously not going to get anything from me....and there's no point in killing in me.....so just let me go please just let me go...."

Uther's hair and body go pale again as they did for Morgen that one night. He seems to come closer to Harker and almost obliges the plea. But just as suddenly, he shifts back, having caught himself in the moment. Uther grabs Harker by his head and begins to slowly tighten his grip. Hitting the soft spot that makes it all the more painful. Causing Harker to shriek in pain as Uther crushes his head.

He smiles in silence at his deed before saying, "You can make this stop, all I need is the location."

Harker's pain prevents him from speaking, and he ends up getting his head slammed into the mast. From there Uther, being highly annoyed now, begins searching Harker for a crystal. He manages to find one, and recalls how he found one on Death to call Strife with. He figures he'll lure Death to him in this way. He then makes the call, waiting for the recipient's answer.

"Harker, I'm on my way to your home. Be ready for some questioning."

Uther then hangs up the crystal, only for Death to call right back again, "Harker you there? Are you alright, you just hung up there for a second?".

Uther shoves the crystal in Harker's face, and quietly says, "Should you tell him, or should I?"

"IT'S AMBUSH, DON'T GO...!" Harker quickly shouts into it before Uther cuts him off.

He then takes over the call, "Well I was going to leave it as a surprise. But I guess we can't have nice things."

Death growls at Uther, "WHERE ARE YOU."

"Oh I'm here at port, with your dear friend. I was going to send some of my men to escort you here, but....I can assume you'll already be on your way. Besides, Harker is a bit under the weather at the moment. You may want to come get him, before he withers away."

"YOU HARM HIM IN ANY OTHER WAY...!"

"I would dream of that, besides, something as rare as him is worth a fortune to many people. I'm sure there's plenty of nobles who would want him, or even a particular pirate. One I've let into my waters on multiple occasions. And Leatherbeard has brought me several toys for me to use. Unless you were by chance to arrive, I don't like to be kept waiting." Uther states before going back up to Harker.

Just before he ends the call, Uther leaves a massive gash on Harker's chest. Harker's screech in pain is the last thing Death hears before the call hangs up again. He chucks the damn crystal away shouting in pure rage at the situation.

Crom then chose this as the time to speak, "Well that's not being very productive, now is it?"

"NOT THE TIME."

"If you want to survive, listen to me." Crom presses.

Death only growls in annoyance, "Shut IT."

"I'm just saying, I could be of assistance here."

Death only grows angrier, "If you don't shut up, I'm going to knock my head into this tree. Knocking us both out."

"That would delay the rescue, and you're on a time limit remember? That, and you know that wouldn't work. I'd still be capable of picking through your head. Just because you're unconscious doesn't mean I'M unconscious. I'm in your head. So, wanna hear me out or do you want to try and cook up some scheme?"

"Anything would be better than what YOU have in store." Death retorted.

"Fine if you to wish to go on a suicide mission. Remember, he did strike you through a wall."

"And I Harvester this time, surely that would even the playing field. Besides, I killed Absalom, he hit harder this bastard does. Even I can't beat him, it'll be a good distraction for me to get Harker out of there." Death explains.

Crom shakes his head a bit, "So self sacrificial....that's why I like you.", then goes silent again.

Death sighs to himself before riding out to go get Harker. With Despair's help, he makes the distance in about three hours. He hoped he wouldn't be too late to reach Harker. Finding the port, and the mast Harker was on proved easy, too easy actually. When seeing Harker wasn't moving, he has to resist the urge to throw caution to the wind and go straight for him. Instead, Death keeps his wits whilst hoping in his mind that his friend hadn't died. He sends Dust to go check on him, and Dust does so. Not even cawing when he lands, only lightly pecking at Harker.

He jolts and actually hisses at Dust before realizing it's him, "Dust? Are you.....?"

Dust gives a light squawk before gesturing to Death. Death then puts his index to mask where his mouth would be behind it. Harker manages to nod and tries to stay awake as Death makes his way over to him. Watching as Death dove into the water and swam to the ship. From there he climbs through a gunport and then begins to take out any and all guards there. Only subduing though, leaving all alive but knocked out to high hell. He keeps an eye out for Uther as best he can, but sees nothing yet. Finally he reaches the stairs going to on deck, and slowly goes up them. He then looks around and checks for any trouble on deck. Death doesn't see Uther, but notices various guards around. Seeing he needs to find a way to knock everyone out at the same time, he summons forth mystical, incapacitating mist. From there the men above deck all pass out, dropping like flies. Once everyone is asleep, he changes it into a shadowy mist instead, to hide himself and Harker once he's got him. Sighing he turns Harvester into shuko climbing claws, although it may as well have been an after thought. Death was already quite the athlete to begin with, he just wanted to be certain in case he messed up. As extremely rare as such a case was. He begins climbing, getting even more paranoid as he got closer to Harker.

Eventually he reaches Harker, "Idiot, you....shouldn't have come..."

"And leave you behind? Don't be the moron you think I am. Now zip it." Death says simply.

Harker complies and once freed he informs Death, "I can....change into my snake form...if it makes this easier..."

"Just in case it would be great."

Harker obliges again, and wraps around Death's neck. Occasionally he coils tighter in pain, but tries not to choke him as Death climbs down.

Eventually though, Death has to tell him, "Ack...easy..."

"Sorry......still sting in a few areas." Harker whispers in hidden pain.

Death soon landed on the deck with a quiet thump of his boots. He darted his head around quickly in case anyone heard him, but still saw no sign of Uther.

Harker gave a light nudge in response, "What's wrong....?"

"He's not here. Where is he? He's not here I don't see him."

"He flew off, said he had.....other business to attend to. Retrieving his daughter...." Harker replied.

"Shit!" Death whisper-shouted before hurrying to leave the boat.

As Death rides on, heading towards Vortigern's home, Harker began to feel a small searing pain. He began breathing heavily and went limp as the pain drained him.

Death feels Harker go limp and actually panicks a bit. He pushes Despair to go faster and soon makes it there. Only for Harker be in even more pain when they arrive. To the point that as soon as Death hops from Despair's saddle, Harker falls from his neck. Death quickly catches him and hurries inside shouting for Merlin, "MERLIN I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE HERE!"

Merlin comes from his room looking like a mess, "Aiiiiiiie.......What in the fuck are you needing me for n......oh shit."

From there Merlin goes to work aiding Harker and Death is pacing in rising panic. "What's wrong? He's..."

"Convulsing in pain I know....let me figure it out." Merlin explains as he searches for the problem. He then notices Harker's emaciated state, "Might I inquire on why he looks like this?"

"He's starving. Will that make helping him harder?"

"Hmm....dealing with someone who's currently starving tends to heighten the chance of death. What does he feed on?" Merlin questions.

"Love! He's a Leanan Sidhe." Death expresses in growing concern.

"Hmm? I may have bottled a pure version of love a long time ago. It's a long story, managed to bottle it, anyway...", Merlin tells him before pulling a bottle of red fluid. It looked like glowing liquid glitter.

Death has to ask, "And what do you intend to do with that?"

"Feed it to him, he feeds on love and this the purest and most potent concentration of it. Now hold your friends mouth open. I need to make sure he swallows it."

Death does so and tells Harker, "I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to do this."

Harker then feels the liquid pouring down his tiny throat and begins swallowing so he doesn't choke. He tastes his favorite 'normal' food ever, dark chocolate. His little tail begins swishing back and forth a bit as he drinks it. He then suddenly feels a burst of energy and begins to glow a little. Gaining a strange little pink aura around him as he begins to roll around, apparently being in a certain mood now. Death knows exactly which one too, given the sudden purr like sounds he's hearing.

Death begins to snicker and tells Merlin, "Hold him."

"No no no no no no no no....I'm going to bed, you take care of him."

"What if the pain comes back?"

"THIS SHIT CURES CURSES." Merlin shouts before walking off finally.

Death then goes to find some helping hands, and sees Puck coming back, "Puck I need you to take care of him. This is a friend of mine, go easy on him."

Puck just looks at him confused, "Uhm....why is vibrating, glowing, and making strange noises. And moving all weird like."

"He's in one of those....moods."

Puck gives him a stinkeye, "So you give him to the sex addict, to take care of it? Smart play smart play."

Death gulps and hopes for the best, then goes to get some sleep. Meanwhile Puck brings Harker to his room and questions him, "Ok...what's going on here?"

"I was in pain earlier, now I feel soooo good. They used a strange red glittery potion on me."

"Apparently it's one hell of an aphrodisiac." Puck remarks.

"Well they did say....it was essentially liquid love...."

"And you drank it anyway. Are you sure it was red? Because I've heard about little blue pills that cause these kinds of things?" Puck partially jests.

"I was starving....and Merlin said my chances of dying from the pain were higher....so I had to drink it." Harker says coiling up tightly now.

Puck facepalms, "What the hell are ya?"

"A Leanan Sidhe good sir....." Harker replies.

"Oh...that's explains a lot actually. Well I can actually help ya metabolize it. But you're gonna need to be more...humanoid for this to work."

Harker then turns into his Fae self, and DEFINITELY looks more horny than he did before. He's also still glowing like bonkers. "Well.....what do you think? My clothes aren't so presentable but....."

"Get on the bed I'll show ya a good time."

"Mind the new scar though, it's a bit sensitive." Harker implores him.

"Alright."

Meanwhile Death finds himself having another nightmare and begins tossing in his sleep heavily. Morgen actually senses it and gets the urge to check on him and does so. Finding him in bed tossing to and fro, she gently lays her hand on his shoulder. From there she is suddenly pulled into his nightmare. She sees him strapped down onto a rack and begging to be let go. Pleading for someone, anyone, to help him. Morgen immediately goes to do so and Death upon seeing her doesn't recognize her. As all he can see is a being encased in a light blue light, and the outline of horns on her head. He begins thrashing more at seeing that detail, but then he hears Morgen's voice telling him,

"Death be still, I'm here, I'm getting you out of here."

"What.....who are you? You're familiar, somehow." Death inquires a bit unsure.

"I'm here Death, just keep calm. I won't let her hurt you further." Morgen replies before placing her hands on the chains on his wrists.

They suddenly snap apart and Morgen quickly places her hands on his ankle chains. Once they also snap, Death quickly gets up and scurries backwards away from the rack. Morgen then calmly tells him, "Go now, run. You're free."

He does so and soon sees a white light ahead of him. When rushing into it, he finds himself in a pretty field. One that's full of colorful wildflowers with their fragrance on the breeze. It all felt so real to him. The next thing he knew, a floating white sheep suddenly bumped into his back. Turning around, he saw more floating over. Where that had once been a hallway of Lilith's home, there was only more of this beautiful field. Just then, he saw a proper glimpse of his savior. Rushing closer, he realized that it was indeed Morgen, only she had small sheep like horns. She glanced to him with a sweet smile before calmly saying, "Enjoy the peace tonight."

Death then heard a similar voice behind him, "You'll need a clear head for what's to come."

He turned again to find a woman that looked very similar to Morgen, with the same type of horns as well. Then with a sudden flash of light from both sides, Morgen and the mystery woman were gone. Death, despite his confusion, laid down upon the grass. Relaxing within the calming field. Meanwhile in the waking world, Morgen came to and slowly stood up to leave. However, she suddenly felt dizzy. She managed to make her way outside, only to collapse a ways down the hall.

Barrcus hears the thud and goes outside his room with Mina to check, "Is someone out here?", then upon looking down, "Morgen!"

He gently checked her over and rolled her onto her back in his arms. It caused him some pain to be holding her whilst crouching, but he had to be sure she was alright. He begins to stroke her head, but feels some bumps on her head. He figures she needs a bed straight away and asks for Mina's help. Mina then aids him into getting Morgen back to her bed.

"I felt two bumps Barrcus, should I check her head?"

"Yes let's."

Mina does so with Barrcus watching her closely, and when parting Morgen's hair, they found what looked like a tiny horn forming in her head. It was a blunt, miniscule thing, but still a concerning sight.

"That's a horn, must be. But why?" Mina questions in a mix of fear and worry.

"I have no idea. I'll keep an eye on her, you get some rest ok?" Barrcus states.

"Very well, just wake me if anything happens."

"I'll try." Barrcus informs her before Mina heads off.

Barrcus settles for stroking Morgen's head gently, despite the horns being there. He actually tapped one of them before Morgen made an annoyed groan in her sleep. She could clearly feel them from what he could tell. Barrcus then grasped her hand and continued to hold it through the night. Meanwhile Death got interrupted from his sleep by an extremely late visitor. He groaned and got up begrudgingly. He half expected either Puck or Harker. Instead he was met with Wren, in a simple lace nightgown. He couldn't help but think back to those nights he'd spend with her way back when.

"Uhm.....I would say this is a little unexpected but....not unwelcomed."

"I need to talk to you, and I can't wait any further. Please Death, can we speak to each other now?" Wren pleads with him.

Death sighed, "Uhm...sure."

He then lets Wren into the room, closing the door behind her. Fuzzball meanwhile yawns on a tiny bed in the corner whilst Dust is asleep on a perch. Wren then hugs Death, holding him close to her. Death isn't sure how to react for the longest time, but soon reciprocates her embrace. He can't remember readily how long it was since he'd held her like this. Admittedly it felt nice to have this sort of moment again, but he had a sinking feeling that it'd be the last one they'd have.

Once the two finally released each other, Wren told him, "I wanted to test and see if I could feel pleasure with you still. My race is rather weird about sex but essentially we can only have children with whom we view as equals. However, we also can only feel pleasure if we love the other person. Morgen and I did discuss it, and she gave me the ok to try this, in case you're wondering."

"I find this to be a bad idea, but if you want to continue on, I will be fine." Death assures her.

"If you say so. I'm only doing this because....I'm scared." Wren expresses hugging herself a bit.

"What are you scared of exactly?"

"That this test will be for not. That I've....you know...." Wren begins having a hard time saying it aloud.

"That you don't love me. Right now I wouldn't blame you. Given that I buried you alive with what were practically the living dead next to you. Among other reasons. Look, I find this to be extremely awkward, but if you want to go through with this we can. But if you're not feeling comfortable with any of this, we can just end this here. And get some needed rest. I'm certainly in desperate need of it."

Wren hugs herself tighter and thinks on it before saying, "I knew I should've waited until tomorrow before asking this.....the last thing I want to do is bother you.....I just can't sleep with this fear in my head....I'm well and truly scared that I've already lost my love for you."

"You do realize there are other forms of love? Friendship is one, family is another. But then again, it's not losing love that you're afraid of, is it? I still remember Wren, how you hated it whenever I left you alone. I was too afraid to disobey my elder brother too far. While you, you were terrified of being alone. You hated it so much that you always plead with me to stay with you. Wanting me to remain longer, or to flat out leave my kin for you. Neither of which I could ever fulfill. Hell, I even blocked the memories of you and our child because I couldn't bare it anymore after I lost both of you. How sad and pathetic is that, seriously?"

"What....what are you saying?"

Death wrapped an arm around her and sat her down beside him on the bed, "Wren, I don't think you need this test to prove anything. You're only clinging to me because for the longest time, I was all you had. I was the only person you spent your days with, and when I was gone, you rarely left the house. You told me this yourself once, so I remember it clearly. You told me I was all you had left, that I was your purpose, your reason to keep living on without your family. Wren, I don't deserve you. Not after everything I put you through. You deserve someone better. Besides, if our suspicions about C are correct, you won't be alone. You'll have someone to care for."

Wren began to sob, partially because her concerns were realized. But also out of relief, strangely enough. She hugged Death again, who obliged right away this time, sensing she needed it. Death made sure to make this final act of love count. As much as he cared for Wren, he knew she couldn't be happy with him. She needed to find herself someone who could do what he failed to do. He had to let her go, so she could be free to find herself in her own way. Wren soon calmed down but remained in his arms longer, wanting to be sure this moment would be among those happiest memories of Death.

#Darksiders Fandom #Darksiders Fanfics #Darksiders OCs #Darksiders Arthurian Tales Revisited #Death #Strife #Fury #War #Major Feels Ahead

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laufire · 5 years

Text

Some things I’ve received during my hiatus, and that it’s related to some worrying patterns I’ve seen recently on tumblr, have made me want to clarify a point. I’ve debated whether to put some of it behind a cut, since +1000 is on the longish-side, but fuck it. I think it’s important --or at least, important that you know this about me--, it makes me angry, and you’ll just have to scroll past it. And it’s a topic I’ll probably talk more about in the future, since it genuinely concerns me, even if not specifically in the same way or focusing on the same things I do here, so you might wanna be mindful of that *shrugs*.

I do not give a single fuck about whether B*llarke is “problematic”, or toxic, or abusive, or “immoral to ship” in any way. And the same can be said about literally every pairing. And if you ever try to harass anyone with those arguments (or any other, but I hope that goes without saying) --including shippers of my NOTPs--, I guarantee you, you won’t have me on your side.

Sure, I don’t like seeing it (and plenty of other ships) on my dash; that’s what filters are for. There are ships whose existence I prefer to ignore in its entirety, and I plan on forgetting them for the rest of my life.

In BC’s case, in particular, I –obviously, if you’ve read this blog– don’t want it to become canon. The way I see it, it’s a crack-ship (and not a very interesting one, AFAIC) between a character I like and a character I dislike, that’s entirely based on misrepresenting canon. Why would I care? But IMO the writers dislike the ship itself, so why would I worry either?

On top of that, I’m rooting for Bellamy’s narrative to be the dominant narrative (not as much for Bellamy himself –thought that’s a nice bonus–, but because it inevitably benefits my favourite characters: Raven, Murphy, Emori, Echo and Octavia), and the show has proven that’s antithetical to Clarke’s narrative prevailing (there’s a reason why every single season has put them at odds, in ways that effectively risk each other’s happiness, health and life). Historically speaking, things don’t end well for male leads that are put in romantic situations with women they haven’t chosen and put moves on by their own accord, and there’s plenty of evidence in canon that Bellamy doesn’t see Clarke in a romantic light –and it’s telling that, in fact, the writers CHOSE to cut out the one moment that could’ve hinted at it, back in season one.

Lastly, as I said, I think the writers themselves dislike the ship; not just aren’t interest in writing it, but actively dislike it. The first piece of evidence (if you plan on ignoring everything they’ve said about it, which already backs this opinion) is, frankly, that it hasn’t happened. Ships well-liked by the writers and supported by the narrative happen fast; lightning-fast in some cases. They likely don’t stay together, because narratives tend to follow a path of separation before the last-minute endgame (which might not happen; endgames aren’t a guarantee, even if there clearly are ships with better odds than others; BC, IMO, is the LEAST likely endgame possible out of all of them), but you better bet that dude is making his interest known ASAP.

Of course, writers in all of history of TV have written ships that they disliked, or at least ships that they only saw as filler and not “endgame material” (though I’m struggling with remembering another one that has the writers feeling so apathetic tbh). So yeah, there’s a very, very small chance of it happening, sure.

But have you ever tried to write a romance for a ship you hate? You probably haven’t, because the very idea it’s ridiculous. But imagine if you had. You would have hated every minute, I bet. And I don’t think any fans of that ship would find your story even remotely satisfying. Professional writers are exactly the same.

Even if the writers felt so worn down that they decided to go for your ship (which, IMO, would be a giant warning sign on itself; it’d be a mere symptom of their disinterest on their own story, and the show would be on its lasts breaths), what makes you think it’d make for a good story? They would half-ass it at best (and probably use it to troll you, out of spite), it would never get the genuine ~feeling that their preferred ships enjoy because, well. They don’t want it. They don’t believe in it. You can’t write with passion about something you don’t believe in, and passionless writing sucks literally every damn time.

And even all that? All that play-by-play essay I just gave you about why I don’t like the idea of canon BC? That still isn’t enough to make me hate on the ship. This can be said about plenty of ships across shows, books, etc., and I don’t talk about any of them because I don’t even remember them after I’ve moved on to the next thing.

But you know what I hate about BC? ITS FUCKING FANDOM.

They’ve proven to be one of the most dishonest ship-doms I’ve ever encountered, and probably one of the most numerous at that, which obviously only makes them worse (one day I’m going to talk about how these type of ships seem to attract assholes that know they can get away with shit due to the numbers and the attitude of those fanbases, but that’s another story).

Their numbers allow them to control the narrative within the fandom (and since canon doesn’t support them, they’ll outright lie about it), to the point were dissenting voices are ignored, disbelieved, and actively ridiculed and silenced, even when we’re pointing out actual scenes that support OUR reading and contradict THEIRS. They routinely act like characters like Echo or Raven don’t matter, while in fact feeling threatened by their relationship with Bellamy, and go into their tags full of condescending concern-trolling or outright hate. They harass other fans that dare to disagree with them, and they harass the actors and the creators of the show on a semi-regular basis.

A.K.A., they’re hurting real, living human beings.

There are hundreds of “toxic” ship out there (and am I the only one who, thanks to fandom, feel like many of these words have completely lost meaning? I truly hope that I am) that I never think or talk about, even if *I* personally didn’t care for or disliked them. By virtue of their small numbers (since a lot of those ships tend to be fringe interests in the already fringe medium that is fandom), most of the shippers usually mind their own business and simply go on with their lives, which I find to be the right attitude. Shipping (and character/show-stanning) isn’t activism, it’s born out of the fucking opposite impulses, IMO. Fiction is a place to explore anything and everything we wouldn’t even imagine doing in real life; there’s a reason why horror is such a popular genre, ffs. (and that’s mainstream, which means it has a bigger outreach and potential real life consequences (even if they don’t happen the way people think they do; fiction mostly reflects and maybe reinforces reality; it can’t create anything out of thin air). I cannot stress how few people read fanworks and how little they impact the real world).

If anything, those shippers have all my sympathy, because 9 times out of 10, THEY are the ones getting the brunt of the harassment. Like, I don’t give a single fuck about Reylo in one way or the other, to name one example (I’ve only watched TFA, which means I’ve missed the ~meaty part of their relationship, for one; but even if I remedied that, I thought both characters were deeply uninteresting, and I find KR painfully unattractive inside and out, so it’s likely I still wouldn’t ship it); but I’ve seen how its shippers got sent anti-Semitic slurs and gore pictures and were compared to school-shooters, and how its antis have effectively shielded a confessed rapist in their midst (and all that without getting into the general pattern of harassment/violent threats/suicide baiting that plagues the purity culture movement in this site; I can send you sources, if you don’t believe me), so those antis can go fuck themselves, tbh.

THAT shit is what I take issue with: hurting actual people. That’s ALWAYS going to matter more than the feelings of some fucking fictional construct, and I can’t believe that somehow became a controversial opinion. Bellamy or Rey or whom-the-fuck-ever doesn’t exist, they can’t get hurt, and the idea of their “feelings” taking precedence over the well-being or real people is fucking insulting.

(btw, don’t bother with any “but what about THIS gross ship/type of ships? you support THAT too?“ I’m not going to answer that and make myself a target for that bullshit, and I think this post proves this situation goes a little beyond something as clear-cut as “support” or “condemn” --among other issues, who am I to “aproove” or not any ship wtf--, but if you mean “are you against people who like it being attacked because their interests in fiction somehow prove they have ~nasty morals?”, then the answer is a resounding “yes”. What the fuck do you know about their life anyway)

#fandom policing #purity culture #anti culture #fandom #shipping #my thoughts #talking to the void #t100 thoughts #the 100 #long post for ts #antibellarke for ts #(... whenever I write a long post i become Very Aware of my attention & processing issues but like. how do you write otherwise lol)#bitter lau tag #fandom vs. activism

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inkandblade · 6 years

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Hello!! I love your work!! For the prompt thing, Stiles is used to his friend living in the apartment below him. He's still a little tipsy and forgets that death eyebrows Derek moved in downstairs, and breaks into Derek's place so he can make a greasy carb-loaded breakfast to share. If this is too involved maybe Derek waking up to Stiles drawing/writing on his back?

Stiles was being very quiet. Very, very quiet—as if he was hunting waaaaabits. He stifled a snort and felt his magic tingle out into his nose and fingers and feet to help muffle the sounds he was making. The floor in Jackson’s living area, unlike Stiles’ in the apartment above, was polished wood. Stiles slipped his shoes off and almost fell over as he bent down to put them as neatly as he could near the door. Jackson had a strict no shoes in the house rule.

Luckily he also had a Stiles makes the best breakfasts on the planet rule, and kept his fridge stocked accordingly. Who could say no to their handsome, magic upstairs-neighbour making them a handsome, magic breakfast on a Sunday morning?

Actually, someone who’d pulled last night could: Stiles screwed up his eyes and thought very carefully and reached his magic out towards the bedroom… Just one heartbeat. He managed to stop himself from crowing, ‘All is clear!’

Stiles couldn’t resist sliding in his socks towards the kitchen, though. He collided with the counter top with a resounding oomph. He didn’t manage to retain his snort this time, but he was pretty sure the sound didn’t travel; a Spark was an awesome thing to have when trying to hide your tipsy shenanigans—no matter how delicious—from a grumpy werewolf.

Stiles pulled the one of the blinds out a bit and saw that there was a tiny slip of sunlight just showing through the long lines of the high rises outside. He turned around and focused very carefully on the clock on the microwave. He had approximately fifty-five minutes to make his mom’s from-scratch hash browns, bacon, and chocolate-chip pancakes. The coffee machine for some reason looked different to the last time Stiles had broken in to cook breakfast, but it was set to the usual time.

Jackson was going to loooooooooove Stiles to the moooooon and back.

Stiles didn’t even try to stifle his giggles this time.

He did what he had to with the potatoes and extra fancy cheese, figured that the super-duper sourdough would make super-wonderful toast, and mixed a little extra something-something into the pancake batter in the form of a pick-me-up spell. Even if Jackson hadn’t had a big night last night, and even if he was still a bit of a prick, he worked hard. Even assholes deserved nice surprises sometimes. Stiles’ mom had always said that being kind didn’t hurt anyone.

Stiles set everything in the fridge to keep—naked as the Saran wrap wasn’t in its usual spot—then put his ass on one of Jackson’s stupid, designer kitchen stools and his head on the marble bench-top. It was far, far more comfortable than usual. Ten or fifteen minutes worth of sleep wasn’t enough, but it would do for now.

♠

The growl was expected, but didn’t sound right. Stiles opened his eyes and blinked into the morning sun and was certain that Jackson would have told him if he’d become an Alpha in the last couple of weeks. They hadn’t seen each other since the beginning of the month, but hell, that wasn’t the kind of thing you kept from someone who relatively-regularly broke into your kitchen.

It might have been the Alpha in the voice that cinched Stiles’ understanding, though. “Who the fuck are you?!”

But, really was it the voice? It was probably that this guy was, and no offence to Jackson ‘cause even if he was hot, and he was, he had nothing on this guy. Stiles sucked in a breath and tried to make his thoughts come back to something that resembled coherent. The hot Alpha in front of him was wearing designer jockey-shorts and a murderous scowl. It was entirely possible that Stiles was still quite drunk, because both of those things seemed absurdly sexy.

Stiles tried for a smooth introduction, but all that came out of his mouth was a squeak. The werewolf’s eyebrows rose in tandem and all of a sudden Stiles understood. He sat back a little too quickly and was lucky that the wards he’d put into the walls hadn’t been taken with all Jackson’s stuff—the magical safety-net righted him back onto the stool and Stiles was glad the counter was there between him and the Alpha.

He couldn’t understand how he’d forgotten that Jackson got that out-of-the-blue transfer to the other side of the country. Well, he could, but he couldn’t figure out how he was going to explain to hot-and-murderous-red-eyes that his magic sometimes fucked with his memory if there was tequila involved.

The Alpha was still glaring, but hadn’t moved, so Stiles decided he should probably try to speak again, before the guy did come closer.

“I’m,” Stiles swallowed as the Alpha wrinkled his nose. Morning-after-tequila breath was likely not an attractive thing to such a sensitive scent organ. “I’m your upstairs-neighbour, and I seem to have made what I’m hoping isn’t actually a fatal error.” One of the eyebrows dropped, just slightly. Stiles’ brain declared that a good sign. “Full disclosure. I’m a Spark. I set up the wards on this place for the previous tenant. We’ve known each other since kindergarten. I’ve been breaking in on every other Sunday morning for breakfast for a couple of years. The amount I drank last night,” the ‘wolf’s nostrils flared again, “must have short-circuited my brain? I honestly forgot there was no Jackson here to eat my happy-face pancakes and drool over my hash browns anymore.”

The Alpha’s stomach made a very distinct noise, and his eyes faded from red to something Stiles wished he could describe. The guy glanced at his stomach and back up again, a look of betrayal pinking his cheeks. He breathed in quickly and seemed to regain his composure, saying with a stone-like face, “It’s your magic in the walls.”

That was possibly, Stiles thought, supposed to be a question. He should at least make an attempt to answer it.

“Yes. Wards. It’s what I do for a living. I can have them removed for you?” It was not something he should be doing after someone moved into a place, it usually had to happen before someone moved in, or they wouldn’t be able to stay in the apartment or house. That, well. That confused Stiles enough that he felt his brain starting to try to claw its way out from underneath the remaining fog of the alcohol.

If the Alpha hadn’t had the old wards removed, he shouldn’t be able to be here. If he had had them removed and replaced, then Stiles shouldn’t have been able to break in.

Stiles reached out with his magic again. They were definitely still his wards, and they hadn’t been altered. The Alpha huffed and Stiles realized that he must have his drunk thinky-face on.

“Don’t hurt yourself.” The Alpha looked far too amused for Stiles’ liking. If the wards on this place had failed and Stiles couldn’t feel that, then he had a major, major problem. “Hey,” the guy had taken a step closer and was waving a hand in Stiles’ direction. His nostrils were flaring in and out. “Breathe. I’m not going to hurt you, and there is nothing wrong with your wards.”

That snapped Stiles out of it, but not enough to form a coherent sentence. “But—”

“Jackson Whittemore is my cousin. He was born human, and then bitten by my Alpha mother.” He paused a few moments, possibly to let that sink in, then restated, “We share both our bloodline and biteline. That’s why your wards haven’t caused me any problems.”

This time Stiles’ brain caught up with what was being said. He breathed out a sigh of relief and decided not to dwell on the fact that the Alpha’s nose screwed up again. Instead, Stiles decided he should probably introduce himself.

“I’m Stiles Stilinski.” He swallowed and figured that he should try to exit, stage-left, as quickly as he could. He let his mouth move as quickly as it would. “I’m very sorry for breaking into your apartment, and I promise I won’t do it again. I made pancake batter and cheesy-hash browns. The spell on the pancakes is benevolent, I swear. The potato should be fried in a mixture of butter and olive oil or they won’t taste right. I’ll replace everything, I promise.” He glanced back at the fridge. “I will need to know where to buy that cheese, though, ‘cause I have no idea.”

“You made hash browns with Cacio Bufala?” The Alpha, who Stiles still didn’t know the name of, blinked like a stoned owl. He didn’t actually look angry, though, just incredulous.

“I,” Stiles hoped his smile looked sincere, not snarky. “Yes?”

The guy laughed, and Stiles really, really wanted to know his name now. He had the most amazing smile, and his eye were lit up with something other than the Alpha power they’d had before. The fact that the man was basically naked wasn’t helping any—chiselled abs and power-house thighs and a thick treasure trail and lickable clavicles, and that was all without thinking about the dude’s face. Any moment now the guy was going to smell Stiles’ arousal over the stink of his morning-after-tequila breath. The guy twisted around as he reached for another one of the blinds and shit.

The tattoo on the guy’s back. Jackson’s Alpha was Talia Hale. Talia Hale only had one son. Stiles’ brain was definitely in danger of exploding. The man in front of him was pretty famous. He was an Alpha because he had, at the age of fourteen, ripped out the throat of the guy who’d tried to assault his older sister. Stiles was, quite possibly, lucky to be alive. Then again, the traitorous part of his brain supplied, Jackson always maintained that his cousin was a fluff-ball in disguise, once you got to know him. Stiles always assumed that Jackson was down-talking the guy ‘cause he was jealous of his cheekbones or something.

The Alpha turned back and sniffed again just as the coffee machine beeped that it was ready. He flicked his eyes down over Stiles’ stale clubbing outfit and back up, hovering a moment over Stiles’ neck. “I’m going to get you a cup of wake-up coffee, and then you are going to make me pancakes and absurdly expensive hash browns, and once we’re eating you can tell me more about the wards. If the food’s good enough, I won’t have you spell yourself out of them.”

Stiles nodded and managed to squeak out, “Deal.”

“I’m Derek, by the way.”

♠

Expensive cheese name brazenly lifted from a Mental Floss article. Prompt me or Tempt me.

#Prompt me or Tempt me #Prompt!Fic #Sterek #EternalSterek #Prompt me or Tempt Me 02

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nibsthebravelostboy · 6 years

Text

The Plan Pt 2 [Nibs & Misty & Mark]

@itslostgirlmisty @markthesiren

[Random Dude]

The leader pushed Misty harshly face down onto the table and kept her arms stretched out. He nodded to the younger male to keep the baby’s head straight so she could watch everything the men were doing to their mother that they would shortly do to the princess, despite telling Misty otherwise. The Queen’s blood spilled onto the table and a euphoric aroma filled the air and the leader watched as his son licked the blood from Misty’s arms. “She taste so good dad...can I have more?” He asked looking at his father. The older man just nodded as he lifted the Queen’s gown and ripped her underwear off. “Go ahead...she offered herself to us anyway. All so that bastard of a child and have a happy life...” Leaning down in to be in level with Misty he made sure she was looking at her daughter. “Do you really think we will agree with having a hybrid as our King? Let alone as next in line. When all of my men are done using your body like the trash can it is, we will kill you and then we will do unimaginable things to your daughter.” He said before gesturing for his son to take position. “Go ahead son. The Queen is all yours.”

[Mark]

Mark dragged Nibs all the way to the castle ignoring whatever the male was saying as he knew they had to get back before something really bad happened. When he made it to the castle he noted how eerily quiet the place was with nobody in it working. Making it to the dining room the siren kicked down the door and shoved Nibs into the room. He would stay back for as long as he felt he needed to but was ready to spring into action if needed as well.

[Nibs]

Nibs didn’t know why he was being dragged to the castle seeming as he really didn’t care to be there. He figured that Mark was trying to say anything to save his ass but once they got to the castle, Nibs could see the bodies lying everywhere and he could hear how dead silent it was except for a few voices which he picked up with his hearing.

As his ears perked up to hear what they were saying, he could hear something along the lines of someone threatening Misty and their baby girl. The way that they were talking about using and doing horrible things to a newborn was something that just made him angry.

As he was thrusted into the dining room, he saw the scene before him and his eyes flashed black before turning into a mix of blood red with black pupils. His body shifted to be part wolf and part pureblood siren as he saw the scene that unfolded before him.

Without any other thought, Nibs picked up the son and threw him against the wall with a resounding crack, knowing that the son would not be able to move anytime soon before turning his attention to the father who had his daughter in their arms.

He was quick to remove his daughter from the older man carefully so as not to harm her but in a way that would cause the man immense pain. “You think that you could touch my wife and daughter and get away with it?” His voice echoes through the halls enough to shake them as his tail slaps the older man with enough force to cause them to hit the wall with a loud crack which indicated that the male now had a broken spine and was probably paralyzed from the neck down.

“You think you were going to have my daughter watch as your son did the unthinkable to my wife and now you are going to come with me and watch me do the unthinkable to your son.” He growls before turning his attention to Mark. Very gently, Nibs hands his baby girl over to Mark. “Make sure that Misty and the baby get cleaned up. I will take care of the rest of the prisoners and these two.” He responds before going back over and dragging both the father and the son out of the room by their ankles.

[Misty]

Misty tried to shift again but failed as she pulled at the restraints her arms were in. She kept pulling on them and trying to shift because she refused to give up and let them touch her child. Hearing his voice in her ear tell her what they planned on doing to her and her child, she tried harder to pull her arms out but stopped as she heard the door falling to the ground. She watched Mark push Nibs into the room and the siren didn’t really know what to expect from the emotionless alpha.

But she watched as Nibs shifted into something Misty had never seen before and the strength he was demonstrating was something that frightened the girl a little. Seeing him hand their daughter to Mark she relaxed a little as she just looked at Mark waiting for him to free her.

[Mark]

Mark took the baby in his hands and watched as Nibs walked away before he whistled for the guards to come out. Rushing into the room the guards began cleaning up the mess and getting Misty untied and covered. Walking over to the siren he looked at all the cuts and bruises she had. “Misty I need to take you to your room. We need to get some medicine in you so you’re powers will start working again and you can heal yourself.” He explained before looking over her again, “Are you okay?”

[Nibs]

Nibs dragged the son and father down the hallway past the carasses that laid on the floor before bringing them to the dungeon. He tied them both up before stripping their clothes off them as they stayed suspended in the air. Then he hit them both hard enough to knock them out for a few hours before locking the cell and searching the castle for any other rebels that might have been allies with the father and son.

When he found them, he would knock them out before bringing them to the dungeon and stringing them up as he did the previous two and he continued to do this until everyone was detained in the cells before heading up to check up on Misty and the baby. Shifting back to normal, his eyes faded back to their normal shade of brown before he knocked on the door. “Misty, can I come in?” He asks before wiping his mouth of the blood that was currently on them since he ate a few people on the way to the room, unable to help himself.

[Misty]

Misty rubbed her wrists as she was freed and flinched away from all of the touching from the guards trying to check on her. She didn’t understand how it was so easy for Mark to get the guards to show up when they were nowhere to be found earlier and she didn’t know how the siren knew her powers weren’t working, but all that was the last thing on her mind. “I’m fine. I want you to take the princess to her room. I want every guard at her room...I will clean myself up and then I’ll see her but I don’t want her to see anymore of this. Please Mark just focus on her.”

Standing up Misty headed to her room where she headed straight for the bathroom as she couldn’t stop herself from throwing up as she remembered all the horrid things the guys said they would do to her child. She stayed on the bathroom floor leaning against a wall when she heard Nibs knocking on the door. “The doors unlocked...come in.” She called from the bathroom.

[Mark]

Mark nodded his head. “Yes your majesty.” He replied as all the guards bowed when Misty left the room. He followed after her just to make she got there with no issues before taking the princess to her room. He Istocked the room with twelve of the best soldiers he had and put back in her crib. He stayed with her until he saw her falling asleep.

[Nibs]

When Nibs heard Misty telling him that he could come in, he opened the door and made his way over to where she was. Seeing the condition that she was left in, caused guilt to flood over his body as he scooped her off of the bathroom floor and put her on his lap after he carried her to the bedroom. “I am so sorry princess, I don’t know what came over me. I don’t know what happened but I feel like this is all my fault.I should have been there for you, I shouldn’t have let this happen.” He holds her close as he buries his face against her neck trying to hold back the tears as he realizes that because of his actions, he could have lost not just his wife but his daughter too. It brought back memories of when he first lost his daughter and he couldn’t bare the thought of what would have happened had he not come when Mark brought him.

[Misty]

“Nibs this isn’t your fault. I did this...this is a consequence of me turning off my emotions. I did something I should have never done and I don’t blame you for turning yours off and I don’t blame you for this.” She replied returning the hug. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t protect our daughter...I was trying but I can’t use my magic and so I just offered them everything I thought they wanted but it was never enough. If you hadn’t come I would have let both of you down, I’m supposed to be able to protect this family too. I can’t.”

[Nibs]

Nibs shakes his head, “I should have told you everything instead of letting you question everything. Had I told you, you wouldn’t have gone to Finn looking for answers and you wouldn’t have felt the need to turn off your emotions. You did the best you could princess. I don’t know how they all got out or why your powers weren’t working, but I will come to the bottom of all of this. They will pay for what they have done to you and to our family. All those on death row, are dying tonight. I will not risk any of them getting out to hurt you ever again.” He declares while running his fingers through her hair affectionately before using some magic to clean her up.

[Mark]

Mark made sure the princess was fast asleep and heavily guarded before making his way to Misty and Nibs room. As he looked around the castle was back to how it normally was, everyone was working like nothing traumatic happened just a few minutes before. Knocking on the door he waited for the okay to come in, “Your highnesses it’s Mark may I come in?”

[Misty]

“If I hadn’t of slept with Dylan then you would have never turned your emotions off and you would have been here. Our little girl would have never saw her mother…” She trailed off as she shook her head. “Please don’t do it tonight. Trust me I want them dead too but I need you more than I want that.” Misty said before hearing the knock on the door. “Yes Mark you can come in.”

[Nibs]

“I knocked them out for a few hours so I am sure they will be out for a few more since I was very mad when I did that. I shall stay here with you then and I will tend to them in the morning with Mark.” He responds before hearing Mark’s voice. Nibs waits for the other to enter and to hear what Mark had to say.

[Mark]

Mark entered and bowed at the two before standing straight again, “The princess is asleep and guarded by twelve of the best men and women I know, she will safe tonight. I also had one of our nurses with the power to alter dreams make it so the young princess would believe the whole thing was a dream, of course things were changed to make it more child friendly. But she will have no memory of this ever being real.”

[Misty]

Misty stood up knowing Mark was going to bring news about their daughter and she crossed her fingers hoping their little girl was fine. Hearing all he had to say, she hugged Mark after tightly. “Thank you so much for that. She’s going to be okay. My baby is going to be alright.” She said feeling tears falling down her face before pulling out of the hug. “Seriously Mark...thank you, but I have to know how those men got out. They were on death row, they had nothing to lose and they….I want to know how they got passed you.”

[Nibs]

Hearing that the other was able to alter the dreams of his daughter made him feel a tiny bit better. He was curious however, how the prisoners got past Mark and how after he arrived there was suddenly an influx of guards waiting to assist them. “How did they get past you and why was it that after I arrived you suddenly had found multiple guards but yet when we got here it was deserted?”

[Mark]

“They didn’t get past me. I let them out.” Mark replied honestly. “I freed them and let them come upstairs to do as they wished. I told the everyone in the castle to leave for awhile and the guards are highly trained at hiding and making sure their presence can’t be sensed. We were watching the whole time and if Nibs didn’t do anything to save the Queen and the princess we would have. The boy’s were just a little caught off guard by how fast the prisoners had demanded things from Misty, they didn’t know whether to save her or not. So I will apologize Misty for all the beatings you took...that wasn’t supposed to happen.”

[Misty]

“Wait what? Why...why would you do that?” She asked trying to think of what Mark got out of all that or what would possess him to do it. However, the longer she thought about it she soon realized that he did it for Misty to help her turn Nibs emotions back on like she had asked. “Oh Mark that was for me right? Because I asked you for help?”

[Nibs]

As he heard that Mark had let the prisoners out, Nibs eyes flashed red not understanding why Mark would put Misty and the baby at so much risk. “What if your men weren’t able to overpower them? What if you weren’t able to overpower them? You would have let her go through even more pain and suffering, for fucks sake Mark you better be fucking glad that your timing was perfect because if that prisoner had gotten as far as he almost did then you wouldn’t even be standing here right now.”

When he heard that Misty had asked for Mark’s help, that he could understand but by willingly putting the royal family in danger just for him to get his emotions back on was something he wasn’t willing to comprehend. His eyes flashed different colors as he was trying to figure out what he was feeling. “To purposely make it so that she couldn’t use her powers and for our baby girl to witness all that just to bring me back...you could have found some other way to get me to believe it without causing her actual harm.” His eyes narrow at the smaller, “You should be glad I will be taking all this anger out on those prisoners in the morning and not yourself.” The alpha growls while trying to keep his temper under control.

[Mark]

“The prisoners were on death row, they didn’t even have magic. We take it away as soon they are arrested, anyone could have overpowered them if they needed to. I wouldn’t put your daughter or Misty in any situation where they would die or be badly injured. As I stated before the only reason it got so bad was because the men didn’t know if they were supposed to stop them or not. Your daughter is fine and Misty’s powers will eventually come back and she will be able to heal herself.”

He just shook his head looking at Misty. “It wasn’t for you. The kingdom needs to see that the royal family is strong enough to endure whatever they are put through I did this because we can’t let our King run around with no emotions. I get it, you went through something that made you upset but you two have responsibilities now and you can’t just push them off when someone makes you upset. I don’t care if you two break up or get a divorce or whatever, my job is to make sure that the royals are safe and I did that by bringing the King back. All those royals in that room wanted to kill you anyway Misty, so really, whether I had freed the prisoners or not you would have probably gone through worse had it just been those royals that overpowered you.”

“The only thing I’m sorry about is using your daughter, but maybe next time you both should think about her and the fact she is a hybrid that people can’t stand instead of your lovers quarrel. She shouldn’t have to be used to bring her parents back together.”

[Misty]

Misty listened to Mark’s words and guilt flowed through her as she agreed with what the other had said. Looking down she nodded, “You’re right you shouldn’t have had to use her and I’m sorry. But this isn’t just because Nibs turned his emotions off. I turned mine off first and it’s just been a ripple effect ever since. I really wish we could have avoided all of this.”

[Nibs]

“I didn’t turn them off because of what Misty did while her emotions were off. I mean yeah I was upset about it but that wasn’t the main reason they ended up turning off, which I also had no idea how I did by the way.” Nibs responds while not looking at Misty as he spoke, not wanting to see how she would look at him when he revealed his real reason.

[Mark]

Mark shook his head again. “There’s nothing to be sorry about Misty, I’m not saying you can’t do it. We’ve all turned them off sooner or later, all I’m saying is you guys have more consequences when you do.” Hearing Nibs words caused Mark to look at him in confusion. “Then why the fuck did you do it?”

[Misty]

Misty stayed silent upon hearing Nibs words wanting to hear the reasoning as well.

[Nibs]

“I thought I had things under control but I don’t. After that time were I ended up killing all those girls...I knew something was wrong. When I found out about the Dylan and Misty thing….I lost control again….a side of me I never wanted to resurface keeps coming back and I can’t stop it. I thought that maybe it would pass but it won’t seem to stop. I wanted to stop killing, I wanted to stop the bloodlust from taking over but I can’t. All those prisoners saw that side of me when I went down there before. They acted the way they did because they wanted to get back at me for things I have done. They saw what I am capable of...a monster can’t rule the kingdom with a sound mind.” He responds. “I have been planning on going to Peter to ask him if there is anything that I can do but I haven’t gotten around to doing so…” The male admits.

[Mark]

Mark wanted to be a friend to Nibs in that moment but he couldn’t, he couldn’t be either of their friends when it came to ruling the kingdom. “You’re right Nibs, a monster can’t rule. And I’m sorry for what I have to do.” He said before whistling causing the door to be opened by the other guards. “Until you can control it you can’t rule. People already want you and your whole family dead because of what species you are. If you keep killing people they’ll stop at nothing to destroy you all.” Looking at guards then at Misty he apologized, “We have to take Nibs Misty.”

[Misty]

Misty listened to Nibs and her heart broke as she knew that wasn’t the type of person he was. She didn’t have time to process everything before she saw the guards coming into the room. Hearing Mark’s words she looked at with a mix of confusion and worry, “Take him where? Why?”

[Nibs]

Nibs knew that this was something that needed to be done and he didn’t fight it at all. “Misty, you are in charge now. I will be back once I get things under control. Take care of our princess okay? I will be back soon.” He responds before kissing Misty and then handing himself over to Mark and the guards.

[Mark]

Mark looked at Misty with an apologetic look. “Jail your majesty. He’s committed crimes against the crown and we have to put him there.” He explained. “We can give you two a second to say goodbye before we leave.”

[Misty]

“Wait no.” She said grabbing Nibs hand and pulling him back to her. “You can’t leave, we can get through this together. Please don’t leave me...I can’t do this without you. Don’t go.”

[Nibs]

“As much as I would like to stay, I know that it wouldn’t be a good idea. Not until I get this under control, I am sure that you will be able to come and visit me. I don’t know if they created a suppressant or not but until then, I think that the safest place to be is under Mark’s care in the jail. You and him are the only ones that I trust. You are Queen Misty, you can do this, I believe in you.” Nibs reassures her while hugging her one last time.

[Mark]

Mark watched in silence as they talked before hearing something that made him speak up, “She probably won’t be allowed to but I will make sure that I sneak her in every now and again. Her jobs will take up most of her day. I’m sorry I don’t want to do this but I have to, for the safety of all of you.”

[Misty]

Misty hugged Nibs back tightly not wanting to let go as she shook her head. “I don’t want to be Queen if it means you won’t be here with me. What do I tell our daughter? She won’t understand why you aren’t here with us.” She said as her eyes flashed blue. “We promised we do things together and this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have turned my emotions off, if I had just come to you none of this would have happened. You would have told me and we could have worked on this. I’m just so sorry.”

[Nibs]

Nibs shakes his head, “None of this is your fault Misty.” He responds while looking down at her. Hearing about how he would be absent from his daughter’s life made him sad, “I will work very hard at getting everything under control, you can’t think that I would let you be alone for too long do you?” He asks while trying to lighten up the mood. “I shall be back before she can even notice that I am gone.” Nibs tries to reassure her even though he had no idea how long he would really be gone for but he also knew that he wouldn’t let his daughter grow up not knowing him.

[Mark]

Knowing it would be harder to separate the two the longer Nibs stayed Mark coughed softly. “We should go now Nibs. Before morning, so we can keep everything between us and none of the royals find out.”

[Misty]

Misty smiled softly at his words. “No I know you won’t.” She replied looking at him. “We’ll get through this, I know we will. I love you so much Nibs and I don’t care how long it takes we’ll wait for you.” The siren said before kissing him.

[Nibs]

Nibs couldn’t help but to smile at Misty’s words, “I love you too Misty. Of course we will get through this, we always do.” He kisses her back passionately before letting Mark tell him to the jail.

[Mark]

Mark bowed to Misty as the guards took Nibs into custody. “Goodnight your majesty, I’m sorry for everything.” He said standing up and leading everyone out.

[Misty]

Her body started to glow after Nibs pulled away as it started to heal itself. She was glad her magic was back but she knew it wouldn’t be able to heal the empty feeling she got as she watched Nibs start to leave. Nodding her head at Mark she dismissed his apology, “You don’t have to be sorry, just look after him.” She said.

#nibsxmisty #misty037 #nibsxmark

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