#(since being quiet and on my own lane didn't work have this)

[starrbright]

𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬. 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 | Matsukawa Issei

It's easy to attract when you know what you're doing, easier when you know it's already returned. What is difficult is to bear the effect of your stunt you decided to do to take the game between you two to another heat.

inspired by @cottonlemonade from her event and the work she wrote from my request. 💌💐🙇🏽‍♀️🙌🏼 i hope i don't disappoint TT

3.2k words. suggestive. crack—no smut. mild consumption of alcohol. all my y/n are afab, fat/chubby and of color. all main subjects are always 18 or older.

Jaguar by Joel Sartore

It's almost a year now of you as the manager for the team. It was what it was. Of course that came along the bonds you have with each of them that time gave you to form.

Now it's summer and you're parted from high school. And thanks to Oikawa a few weeks before, he gave the idea of going out to celebrate, so you just proposed a little trip and they were all for it. With Hajime and Issei, you handled everything for it.

There you all are on the way in one van with Hajime's father being the driver. You sat by the window on the first row with Tooru, and Makki besides him. Issei to himself on the left side at the end of the door, his long limbs free to its comfortability, the rest of the team behind and Haji upfront with his old man. The first hour of the drive was their usual ruckus, chattering between them occasionally until it dies to each their own conversations.

The tranquil scenery of the highway got what it deserves as the ride goes on; quiet. Simply staring at the passing view of endless trees and sky.

In the steady silence, Hajime takes a glance at the rear view mirror at you and Issei. None of you have spoken to each other since morning and it's still going. Both of you have been irritating the said man too much, not that he's ever spoken about it, though it was evident.

But evident wouldn't even be enough of a word for what's between you and Issei. It's sickeningly blatant when it began. Yet it was a miracle none of them broke the unspoken, not even a mere tease from Tooru and Makki—at least not with you both present at the same time specifically.

Because it's nothing, Issei said to his friends before when tease and assumptions were rousing at his end the first time then. It wasn't, it's not, that much is clear. Haji would say he barely gets his friend's reasoning, but he does get it—to wait, to let it simmer. Issei is patient after all; how long it's been going on without nothing happening is the testament.

The other part of his scheming self; taunting.

And it simply seemed you never minded it anyways. Rather you enjoyed it along with him. Haji or everyone would, really—say you're perfect for each other and no one doubts something will unfold in the two days of the trip.

For now, there's the unending sight of the road and plains in between—memory lane not far off as the ride goes.

Transferring in the last year of high school was something you didn't want but necessary because of the circumstances of your family, yet you didn't want to complain when they could still support you to a great school.

Already honed by some hurtful bits of your past from earlier years made it easier to blend in with the new people and find stability. Surrounded yourself in a little circle. Joined a barely active art club, and because you wanted to fill in your extracurricular activities so long as you could, you looked for more.

There you found a volleyball club looking for a new manager. You didn't know shit about the sport, let alone sports in general, but it was a spot you didn't want to waste to go on further with new things. You applied and new beginnings only continued from there on when you got accepted.

It was entirely scarier than moving to a new city. Being more than intimidated to stand before the players as you got introduced to them, yet that just went away when their captain presented himself to you, almost immediately getting a little laugh from you and covered your mouth. Catching a glimpse of their amused eyes and etch in their lips.

Easy and fun only because you got along very well with them.

And too well with Issei.

A natural beginning of attraction; wit and humour meeting, as well clashing of it. Much more the little literal games you do; his hand teasing of your plush sides whenever he could and your loud exasperations, hitting him back, or his words getting to you to a knowing point of limit that has you chasing him down to always to no use and cursing him in the end. What was oddly entertaining to it is what you have was really never touched. A line you both have yet to cross.

It drags on for a time enough for your hearts to be filled with each other.

The little town is bustling where you went for a stopover to have lunch and do groceries, the vicinity still lush of tall greens if not more now, the wind refreshing against the blazing heat of the mid afternoon, the scent of the sea near.

As you stretched out for a moment after stepping out of the van and merely bask the surroundings, an arm draped on your shoulders. Makki. “What's up with you two?” he asked only you could hear as you walked together towards the path of the restaurant, letting the rest of them go first.

A little breath you laugh, “Shouldn't you ask your friend that?” you replied.

“Well, I want to ask you first, and two, you're my friend as well.” He answers and you only roll your eyes, just deciding to answer him.

“I don't know,” you sigh lightly. Not admitting it's been bothering you that he hasn't spoken to you or even gave a mere glance. “He's…not….you know….I don't want to..do anything.” You tell unsurely.

Makki barely fought to keep off the smirk his mouth made from your answer as he just nodded. He hasn't talked to Issei about you for the shortest moment but his guess is not far off from whatever Issei is going at. And that is, baiting you by his mere absence. His friend could really be too full of himself sometimes.

“Don't worry about it, sure it's nothing.” Makki said and you just rolled your eyes again, his knowing tone still evident and you're too used to their teasing antics.

You glared at him, before you pushed him off you as you walked in the restaurant and he just laughs, the sight not going unnoticed by a few of them and the culprit himself as they already got a table. His eyes staring at you for a moment, your heart ceasing for a bit—before you tore it with a blink away.

A little smile on Issei you didn't see, his friends all side eyeing him.

You sat besides Haji, him with his father, Makki and Issei. Tooru across from you and the rest once again. Occupying yourself with your phone after taking your orders, your mind begins to reel you in deeply, though trying not to let it get to you too much.

“I think you're starting to get cruel,” Makki murmured to Issei before he takes a sip from his glass of water.

Issei grins a little, “I'm still just playing.”

“Hence why, cruel.” Makki remarked simply, a chuckle he makes, “Even for you.” though it's all in light despite how true.

“Can't help it that she's so cute like that.” He replied without missing a beat, leaning his elbows then on the table as he sat forward, taking in your sight from his peripheral, still on your phone, now leaned on Haji's shoulder as he and Tooru conversed.

Issei prides himself of his patience.

He wouldn't have thought it'd have a challenge, by you. At least he didn't expect it too soon but then again maybe it was long overdue.

However, that's not right now.

When lunch was done, it was time to go for groceries so off to the market you all went. The sight of the lively and colourful place was enough to get your mind off from what's bothering you, walking further in besides Hajime as the rest splits up to get what they want and need for the trip. He was always the only one you leaned on from the team. That's not gonna change soon, it seems. And because you both assigned yourselves to kitchen duties, besides Issei who's avoiding you like the plague

“Is he bothering you?” Hajime spoke then, amidst both of you browsing and picking up shelved items.

“When has he ever not?” You laugh a little.

“Are you upset?” He asks after paying for the items and held the bag, you go beside him again, hooking your arm on his, going next to buy fresh produce.

“I think so,” you answer almost mindlessly, dabbing your handkerchief from your face to your neck as you sweat from the endless heat, doing the same to him after.

“Getting sick of his games?” He continues to prod as you both started on looking over the fruits and vegetables.

“No….just…worried.” You admit then. Hajime almost scoffed. Typical for you to doubt, not that he could or would fault you, but it's plain funny to question Issei's…..adherence for you. And the whole situation just annoying now.

“We'll beat him up if he hurts you.” Haji says, of course he means it, though he knows there will be no such.

“I know.” You let out a laugh again with a little smile, squeezing his arm to yours for a bit and he kisses your forehead.

Soon as another hour passes, you arrive at your destination. The little villa to all your expectations. Hajime's father took his leave after making sure all was well. Settling down, you found yourself thinly on edge with him there, forcing your eyes to not look at him when he's near.

It's an understatement to how he's enjoying himself

You hope to just strangle him. You couldn't wait to get back at him.

That would be right now.

After settling down and freshening up yourself while they just wind down; the former third years in the living room, a few of the soon to be second and third years out roaming the villa or resting in their rooms. There you stood in front of the mirror as you finished putting on your clothes. Your agenda to be precise.

It’s just a little dress. One which you scoured from a thrift store you went to a few weeks ago before the trip was fully set , you knew what you were looking for even if almost none of what you saw didn't match that much to your taste, but thankfully with patience, you found the closest. With a few alterations you yourself did by researching online, trial and errors, a little crisis, and to the brink of giving up—you did, for a long moment before you forced yourself to suck it up, managed and pushed through to your satisfaction.

It hugs to you much, and shows your body enticingly. From the little frills that's on your bare round shoulders, the low cut on your chest showing much of what your cleavage could display, thanks to the bra that endows your breasts—rather suffocating, really. It's not convenient but it is for the situation you want to put yourself in. The soft fabrics tight around your wide and luscious curves, the shortness of it a full view of your thighs. The colour of cream gentle on your brown skin.

The strong heat amidst the little gushes of wind and crashing of waves under the blinding sun, all the perfect reasons for your little charade.

With a pounding heart, little stings in your nerves, a bit of coldness on your skin and heat inside you—you walk out of your room.

What is it about being chased?

Issei was taking a drink from his bottle of beer when he sees you head to the kitchen, a distant but clear view that has him slowly stop and put down his drink. He swallows. His jaw clenches. The grip of his fingers tightens on the glass. The burn of the alcohol lingers too longer than it should. His eyes bores.

He's already been riling himself up halfway through the trip earlier and when you arrived, just your denim shorts and a loose white shirt clinging a bit to you then from your sweat, a sheen of it on your neck, your black bra too visible from your thin top, it's a wonder to him even how he could hide such a tent. But that is certainly something. His legs spread wider on the couch and put a pillow on his lap in an unsuspecting flow. He couldn't care less when the boys simply all knew.

It's just boggling how you haven't fainted yet or continue to walk straight as you walk to the living room with a bottle of beer of your choice you can tolerate and a glass of water, feeling his gaze not tearing away from you and sat down on the floor besides Makki against one of the couches.

“Cute dress," Makki said, a grin he has since you made yourself known. Too damn proud of you for pulling such a stunt.

You continue to pretend he doesn't exist at all, taking a faint breath from your mouth through your nose and took a little drink from your glass. "I bought it from a thrift store and I altered it." You spoke then, a little laugh you let out and let yourself get carried away to distract and be at ease by your not so little excitement, going on how you did what you did.

If Issei didn't know you put much effort to what you're wearing, he would have just plainly thought how renewing it'd be to easily rip it apart off you.

How adorable.

He still thinks the thought with no remorse. But he relieves and trigger his thirst at the same time by your sight. The bits of your sweat that drips from your thighs and legs by sitting like that, your thighs exposed a little more. Curves spilling out twice. He barely has an idea anymore of what he and Hajime had been talking about just a moment ago.

Turns out Issei could be made a little mindless. Hajime, sick of his friend's ass, still let him keep his dignity; talking to him still like he's not eye fucking you.

All while the two made a group chat to only you three.

You: you did not just make a group chat for this.

Side eyeing your pink haired friend besides you.

Oikawa: duh

Hanamaki: what did you expect??

Hanamaki: you sure you know what you're doing?

You: no, duh. that's what makes it more fun though

You: i think

Hanamaki: uhuh

Hanamaki: looks like you do though. you're gonna kill a guy suddenly appearing like that

Oikawa: he's never been this down astronomically like that with you present😭🤣

Oikawa: look at him, he's almost brainless and our dear Iwa-chan is itching to punch him

It's so difficult to keep your mouth pursed just to stop you from smiling too wide and bursting out laughing.

You: eh, he's issei

You: i doubt he's affected that much

Hanamaki: you seriously downplaying how much he likes you?

Hanamaki: let alone he's still a man

Hanamaki: and how pretty you are

Hanamaki: his eyes have not left you

Oikawa: you didn't see how he manspread and covered his lap with that pillow after a moment you showed up 😋

You: thank you for that compliment, makki

You: and can you not bring up that up in our conversation, tooru

Hanamaki: what? you know it yourself, and that's what you intended anyways

Oikawa: 🤭💯

You: first of all, getting him hard was the back of my mind and instead just attracting him more. the effect is most likely the same but that was not what i had in mind when i planned it

Oikawa: you're not fooling anybody 😓

Hanamaki: still the same

Hanamaki i ain't wrong with thinking how he's thinking of the nastiest shit right now

You: you're disgustingggggggggg😭😭😭😭

You: he's literally here with us

You: and fuck you, tooru

Oikawa: 💅🏼

Hanamaki: duh

Hanamaki: so?

Hanamaki: and he's more disgusting than everyone here. that comes with having a horsecock, i guess

Hanamaki: i know yk how huge it is

Oikawa: 🗣️💯

You: HANAMAKI

The want to strangle them is so high. Almost howling a laughter right then and there while they're just grinning to themselves.

Hanamaki: 🙁😚

Breathing out and catching yourself more, you stood up, taking your bottle with you, saying it a little that you'll start prepping the foods and for dinner later. Amusement too high but immediately dying down and your wracking nerves are back.

It barely calms even as you begin to put out the frozen meats and chicken to thaw them, rinsing the vegetables after. It just heightens when footsteps you're too familiar of nears, much more see his towering figure stood up and walked away from the living room, the three taking their leave fully out of the vicinity for a while.

The vexing man at last speaks to you. “Hey, sweetheart.” his deep voice soft as he stands near you against the counter.

How infuriating. You want to run his pretty face on the ground. He simply laughs a little when you don't answer and continue to not look at him, your hand now holding a knife as you start to slice the greens.

You're now rightfully pissed, he knows, it's nothing but cute to him, though he knows as well he'll get nowhere if he doesn't start somewhere now.

So, there goes his hand gently laying atop of your own that holds the knife and goes behind you, his left arm sliding firmly around your wide and plush waist. “Don't get any ideas now, love.” he chuckles as he made you let go of the knife, and locked your fingers together.

You don't protest but instead relish the sensation of his presence looming over you and the sheer evidence of his body reacting to you, still with a bite however, “Nothing I've already had for a while now.” You remarked, rolling your eyes.

“I know, princess.” Issei says, hugging you comfortably tight against him as he buries his face on your neck. Getting more intoxicated by your softness and warmth, yet never been so renewed. Worth all the patience and thrill.

Quietness lies as he keeps you in his hold, as you let yourself dive deep in his embrace. The rest you both needed from your games. A stable and transparent continuation.

“Hi.” He murmurs, ghosting his lips on your skin.

“Hi,” you echo.

“Did you miss me?” he asked, trailing up his mouth with firm kisses until to your soft cheeks.

“I did.” You utter quietly, nuzzling on him.

Issei sighs, hugging you to a squeeze again. “‘Ve missed you, too.” He brought up your twined hands to his mouth and kissed your knuckles, the back of your hand and wrist. “We'll be here now.” and you don't doubt him.

“Did you do this for me?” he asks, his other hand now going down and went underneath your dress, dragging his fingers up your thigh tightly.

“For you.”

“Good. I'll take it off you later.”

to my issei fuckers, i hope you love this, @seijhoeist @iwaberry

i'm still working on makima, bear with me😓 i can't help it whenever i get impulsive. life has been been punching me a lot lately again but at least i made this🙏🏼 went to the library earlier today to continue this and coincidentally my best friend and her girlfriend was there as well which was just funny and fun, lmao.

[imvietnamesenotchinese]

My Créme de la Créme MCs -- Ethan & Celeste Dalton

I played CLDC by @hpowellsmith and enjoyed it quite a bit, so I got a commission of my MCs from OyenPaws on IG <3

Spotify playlists:

More info under the cut!

Ethan Dalton and Celeste Dalton are siblings. However, they're total polar opposites. Celeste is bubbly, outgoing, flirty and dramatic. Meanwhile, Ethan is introverted, reclusive, quiet and stoic.

I added lots and lots of headcanons (sorry), so in my mind, their playthroughs happened parallel with each other.

Ethan is very academic and studious. He stays in his own lane, does his own thing, unbothered. Celeste is popular and is involved with everything and everyone. She's a flirt, for sure. Florin Kraemer, eat your heart out.

Ethan decided to pursue higher education at a prestigious university, while Celeste decided to have fun with an art gallery apprenticeship. Her end goal is to become a fashion designer and start her own haute couture house.

In both playthroughs, Gallatin won. None of them ended up married. Lady Renaldt got exposed, and the good Dalton family name was restored.

Ethan got thrown in the mines (yikes!) while Celeste was busy fooling around with her boytoys. You'd think that she'd notice her brother being gone, but it's kind of hard when there are so many guys fighting for your attention :/

I scoured the author's blog to find any clues about the fashion in CLDC. I didn't want to put them in their school uniforms (which would've just been easier honestly), and since the zeitgeist of the CLDC universe is actually... not THAT set in stone (I even looked at other people's MC to make sense of what the fashion should look like) I just ended up taking inspo from dark/light academia, old money and coquette aesthetics. Can you tell that Celeste is very Lana Del Rey coded? :)

Their parents accidentally supported a corrupt political candidate.

Celeste is incredibly arrogant, vain and bold. For better or for worse. Ethan also has a tendency to look down on people he deems to be less intellectual than him.

Celeste had a hate-love thing with Blaise. Ethan wondered why she needed two snarky dark-haired dudes in her life. He pretty much avoided everyone, and the closest thing he had to romance was with Prince Rosario of all people!? So much for trying to be low-profile.

Ethan has to constantly drag Celeste out of dumb situations of her own making. Celeste has to constantly remind Ethan that people, even him, need human interaction.

Honestly the only reason why they managed to save the family's reputation is because Ethan was working behind the scenes and cleaned up Celeste's love scandals.

They're part east/southeast asian, part middle eastern and part european.

Ethan loves birds, especially corvids. He spends more time with birds than he does with people. His earring is supposed to resemble a raven.

Celeste is part of the Prefect Committee. Ethan is a member of the Birchmeier Society.

Ethan is 5'11, Celeste is 5'5.

Their mom is another OC of mine, Darcy Angelis <3

Had to restart the playthrough because of this, but in Celeste's playthrough, she decided to dance with Auguste at the ball. After that chapter ended, it triggered multiple consecutive scenes, one after another, where literally ALL of the characters had the "what are we???" talk with her. Can't believe the harem found out.

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Lost Boys

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Superfam

Summary: After Jonathan Lane Kent wipes himself from existence by canceling his own timeline, he finds himself stuck in the afterlife where he meets Jason Todd. He still wonders about the life un-lived on Earth, and how his parents would've felt about him.

Jason Todd, who is making the most of being dead, struggles with the reality of what he's left behind. He has one wish and one wish only: to send his family one final message.

Chapters: 16/?

Characters: Jonathan Lane Kent (Laney), Jason Todd, Catherine Todd, Boston Brand, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, John Constantine, Raven, Talia al Ghul, Ra's al Ghul, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake

Relationships: Platonic JayLaney

Additional Tags: Angst, Platonic Relationships, Magical Jason Todd, Resurrected Jason Todd, Queerplatonic Relationships, Canon Divergent AU, POV Multiple

Chapter Sixteen: Another Lifetime (Jason's POV)

I carried Laney on my back to the Tower once he finally calmed down enough to go to sleep, and I tried to use the retinal scan. I knew it wouldn't work. I just wanted to alert them without making a lot of noise. "Who the hell are you?" a voice snapped over the intercom. "Can I talk to Donna?" I asked. "Donna hasn't been here in a long time," the girl's voice answered, "Wanna try again?" "Can I talk—?" "Whoa! I'll be right down!" a familiar voice exclaimed. A demon burst through the door, and I would've been frightened had I not recognized the face. "Kid Devil?" I asked. Laney stirred and jolted awake at the sight of him. "You're dead... You were dead. You look too alive to be a zombie," Kid Devil replied. Laney got off of my back and took our bags. Kid Devil hugged me, and I hugged him back. "Who's your friend?" "I could ask him the same—." I elbowed Laney to quiet him down. "I'm Eddie. Kid Devil. We used to be penpals," Eddie introduced himself. Laney shook his hand. "Eddie, this is Laney. I met him in the afterlife," I introduced. Eddie let us in, and we were met by a less-than-thrilled Robin and a new Wondergirl. "You can't just let—. You're supposed to be dead," Tim whispered in shock. I nodded. "Can I talk to you in private?" I asked. Tim nodded, and Laney stood still. I took Laney's hand and dragged him along. "Lane, don't be like that. You know you're my best friend," I comforted him. He squeezed my hand. Tim led us into his room, and he shut the door behind us. "You're dead, right?" Tim asked. "I was dead... But now I'm not. Tim, listen. I can explain most of this. I just need you to let us stay here, and I need to talk to Raven," I whispered. Laney let go of my hand. "We do need to see her. I just want to make sure I didn't do something terrible to you on accident." Tim offered us a seat. "You used my name in front of him, so I guess this is someone you trust. How did you—?"

I started explaining things as we sat down on Tim's bed, and Laney yawned. He was up all night, so I wasn't shocked that he fell asleep. As I talked to Tim about everything that led us there, he seemed to take mental note of everything. After I was done, Tim asked us to stay put in his room, and Tim left us there. I lay down next to Laney, and he curled up next to me. "Can I keep you?" Laney whispered. I chuckled and nudged him. "What?" "You were talking in your sleep," I whispered. Laney took my hand and placed it over his eyes. "Can I keep you?" "You said that to me once. I don't know what it means, but—. When all of this is over, can we do one thing?" Laney asked. I nodded. "Can we go dancing?" I turned and looked at him. "We can go after we talk to Raven. Dance the whole night... Just you and me," I promised him.

"Jason, I have another question. What did you mean about Constantine's book having your name on it?" Laney questioned. "It did. My name was on the spine of the book... So I took it. I've been scared to touch it ever since I found out that the spells work," I confessed, "And I don't know, what if—? What if I have powers now? Or what if I'm some weird immortal meta or—?" "Then we'll figure that out together. We've done everything together so far. No reason to separate now," Laney whispered. I let Laney go back to sleep, and I took some time to look around. Once I found a quiet place to sit, I started meditating. I let my mind drift, and my anger bubbled to the surface. It burned inside me as I pictured my death happening several times over. My throat tightened, and I clenched my fists. Once the feeling of rage subsided, I felt something change in me. I didn't want revenge anymore. Not really. I just wanted to cry. I wanted to cry it all out. "Jason?" a voice penetrated the silence. I opened my eyes and looked Talia in the face. "Jason, how are you—?" "I don't—. I don't know. Did you know your father visited me last night?" I asked. I felt lightheaded, but I needed to know if Talia knew Ra's visited me. "He found you?" Talia asked. I nodded. "I hadn't heard anything about it. Did he say anything to you?" "No. I—. I owe you, though, don't I?" I asked. It never occurred to me how much Talia risked to help me. She never asked me for anything. "Jason... You don't owe me anything. Are you okay?" Talia asked. She reached to touch my forehead, and I shied away when her hand went through me. "How are you here?" "I don't know... I think I've been—." I stood up in the rec room in the Tower and immediately passed out. I don't remember much until I woke up in their infirmary. Tim took my vitals, and I grabbed his wrist. "Jason—." "I was here the whole time?" I asked. Tim nodded. "How long's it been since we talked?" "Maybe three hours... But you've only been in the infirmary for a few minutes. You should eat something," Tim whispered. I took a good look at him and smiled. He was just a kid like I was. "What?" "I like what you've done with the costume," I complimented. Tim chuckled. "Thermal lining?" Tim stood up straight for a moment before releasing a breath. "Jason, did you ask for me because—?" "We're family now, right?" I asked. Tim nodded. "So I can be honest... I wanted to meet the person I was jealous of. When I found out about you, I wanted to hate you... But my friend is my voice of reason. Hurting you wouldn't prove anything. I guess I just want to know you." Tim pulled up a chair and sat by my bedside. He told me everything about his life and where he came from, and I was surprised at how much he lost because of being Robin. I couldn't imagine being him, but I'm sure he couldn't imagine being me. I felt like I could trust him, but I still couldn't tell him about what happened earlier.

[deannagrey]

A Mendell Christmas: Part Two

A/N: I meant to have this up so much sooner! The end of the year was far busier than I expected. And because I had to take care of some personal things, my writing became a low priority. Thankfully, I finally have time to sit down again.

This Christmas project became far longer than I expected (I still have one more part to post). When I finished this part, I hesitated to share it because it didn't feel exciting or interesting. It felt too cheesy. But then I remembered how much I used to write when I was younger. And how much I used to just want to have fun. So, I've decided that's what all my posts on this Tumblr will be: simple fun. The characters might be all over the place, the dialogue might sound weird, and there probably won't be any real plot. But I want a space to have fun again. Writing as a job has been a blessing but it's not my escape anymore. I miss it being my escape.

So, for the year ahead I want to post random writing on this blog! Stories, shorts, and snapshots of characters that may or may not be in my published books. This is my sandbox. My place for quiet moments with the characters I love. I hope you enjoy this quiet moment with Finn and Sam. I had so much fun being back in their heads and spending more time with them.

Happy New Year! I hope 2024 brings you everything you desire. I hope you enjoy these small moments too.

(Also apologies for any inaccuracies! I'm Florida-born & raised, I don't know how frozen lake fishing works and didn't want to do research for such a small piece of writing lol)

Finn 

“We’re going on a road trip,” Sam said as he joined me in the kitchen.

“When?” I stirred sugar into Naomi’s morning tea.

“As soon as you get your shoes on,” he said. 

I looked up, noting how he was already dressed. “Are we in a hurry?”

“Oh yeah.” Sam glanced at the time on his phone. “Should have left here an hour ago.”

“You’re not going to get everyone else ready on such a tight schedule. You know Henrik’s going to need at least an hour to make food to pack.”

“Well it’s a good thing they’re not invited, isn’t it?” 

I raised my brow at Sam’s smile. It’s the first time I’ve seen his smile reach his eyes since Aderyn asked for space and time. There’s a lightness to his energy. An excitement I’ve been trying to draw out of him for weeks. I kept failing over and over until disappointment became an all too familiar feeling. 

Being there for Naomi felt like putting on custom-made skates with the blades perfectly sharpened for a smoothed rink surface. When trying to comfort the guys, I was in secondhand skates, trying to stay upright on an uneven, frozen lake. 

Maybe today could be different. Sam was already primed for a good time. All I had to do was lean in and try to summon a bit of old Finn energy. Some part of me must remember how to be a good friend to him. If not, I'd learn. I'd already learned how to talk to people again…kind of.

“What’s the destination?” I asked while topping off Naomi’s drink with oat milk. 

“A trip down memory lane,” Sam said. “It’s my not-so-secret Santa gift.”

My stomach jumped, curiosity making me more alert. I’d been vehemently against learning about my past earlier this semester. But after finding my own rhythm and becoming more confident in the person I was now, I couldn’t help but harbor a bit of wonder about what I’d left behind. What memories I’d once shared now only belonged to one person. 

“That cool with you?” Sam asked just in case. “It’s fine if not. I know you’ve been hesitant but figured—or maybe hoped—you were more comfortable with it now that things seem to be better for you. You're more settled.”

“Umm…” My mind was trying to catch up to everything. 

“I got a far more traditional gift option as a plan B,” Sam offered. 

“No, I mean, yeah, I’m cool with that. With the memory lane,” I said quickly. My curiosity evolved into nerves. What if I didn’t like it and that fucked up his mood again? I wasn’t good at faking happiness. Hell, I was barely good at expressing happiness even when it was genuine. 

“Relax,” Sam said gently. “If you hate it we’ll come right back, no questions asked.”

The muscles in my shoulders loosened a bit. 

“Sound good?” he asked.

“Sounds great,” I assured.

Sam

Whenever Finn was keeping something to himself, he became an excessive throat clearer. Even after his accident that hadn’t changed. On the ride out of town, I listened to his symphony of nerves. And let him go on until I decided to throw him a line.

“It’s a good memory,” I promised and smiled over at him. “If that does anything to help your anxiety.” 

Finn grunted, pretending to be more interested in whatever he was doing on his phone. 

“A memory that'll make you feel all fuzzy and warm,” I teased. "Like the teddy bear, you truly are thanks to Naomi."  

He rolled his eyes. “That so?”

“Yup.” I put on my turning signal, pulling off of the busy highway. 

Finn and I used to be inseparable when we were in middle school. As we got older we were far less codependent but still close. Close enough for it to sting like hell when I realized he wasn’t going to remember most of what we’d been through. 

Sometimes, when I looked at Finn, I saw the guy who used to sneak me an extra Jello in the lunch room because he knew how rough the first half of my day was. Sometimes I saw the hothead who’d threaten anyone who hurt me even though most of the time he was far outnumbered. Sometimes I saw the guy who told me I’d be the best choice for captain despite my then doubts. Those parts of him were still there and alive. So even if the parts of him we shared were forever gone, I found comfort in those memories. 

“It’s not my goal to try and spark something,” I said gently. “Today is just for fun. We really loved this place. I still do and I figured you should see it and maybe…I don’t know, you might find some joy here too. What was that thing you told me about muscle memory?” 

“I can always count on it.”

“Exactly. I wanted you to feel that this year. Remember you can have something to count on and a place to go if you need.” 

It was quiet for a minute as I made our final turn. Finn cleared his throat once more before saying, “Thanks…for letting me know you’re not trying to trigger a memory. I like the idea of just being here…with you.” 

“Look at us, a couple of assholes with hearts. What have Naomi and Aderyn done to us…?” My mood shifted slightly at my mention of Aderyn. I chewed on my bottom lip, hoping Finn didn’t sense my brief dip in energy. Unfortunately, he’s getting better at reading between the lines. 

“I don’t know how to get you to talk about it,” Finn confessed. “I’m sure there was a method I used before.”

“It’s fine,” I said quickly. “I usually mope around until one of you guys gets pissed enough to drag it out of me. You weren’t the only one to try and help.” 

“I know but…I was your person, right? Your main person.”

My main person. That’d shifted over the years. I bounced between all the guys. And now, Aderyn was in that mix. She could have probably been at the center of it if things hadn’t gotten so twisted. 

“You still are.” I pulled into a parking spot that faced the river. 

“I just have to figure out how to make you talk,” he said. 

“Don't stress about it too much. I'm good. Or, will be good eventually." 

Finn followed my lead out of the car. He watched as I unloaded a gym bag and a couple of folding chairs from the trunk. He was quiet until he saw me check the bag for my ice pick. 

“We’re not secretly murderers, are we?” he asked when he saw my stash. 

I snorted. I'm sure he was joking but Finn’s deadpan delivery often left me with some uncertainty. 

“Nope. Just two fishermen are about to waste their time while the sun comes up.” 

Finn frowned when I tossed him the extra bag of supplies. “We’re going out there?” 

His finger pointed toward the frozen lake. Snowfall had been sparse this morning. The lake would be picturesque once the sun leaked over the horizon. We were already getting a sneak peek of what the morning would have to offer, so I decided to hurry Finn up. 

“Correct me if I’m wrong but we don’t feel like people who fish,” Finn called after me. 

I laughed as I continued our trek forward. The snow crunched underneath my boots. “We weren’t until we met Mr. Meyers."

 Finn paused for a second. "Mr. Meyers?" 

I froze too, my stomach jumping with excitement. "You remember?" 

"Not at all."

It was hard to mask my slight disappointment. Sometimes – when I least expected – it hurts to hold memories on my own.

 "Meyers was an old guy who spent all his free time over there during the summer." I pointed to the boardwalk about a half mile away. "And around here in the winter." 

I gestured to the middle of the lake. At our backs was the parking lot and to our front a dark, thick tree line that was covered in frost. It smelled like sixth grade out here, all pine needles and frozen earth. 

"We met him out here when we decided we would become Boy Scouts." I unfolded the chairs and pulled out our Thermos. Henrik had enough time to force me into packing something warm to drink. I was grateful for his persistence now that the cold wind was biting at our skin. Finn let out an agreeing sigh when I offered him the Thermos. 

"We were Boy Scouts?" Finn asked. 

"No, not officially." I chuckled at his look of confusion. "We wanted to be but your folks couldn't afford the annual membership at the time and wouldn't accept the money from my dad."

He nodded. "I suppose I wouldn't have either. At least not now…it doesn't feel right."

"You're stubborn. Always have been, always will be," I agreed. "But I would have convinced you to take it if your parents didn't have the final say. But, anyway, we decided we'd be Boy Scouts on our own. And that meant earning badges on our own. Of course, our first attempt couldn't be something simple like learning to tie a knot. No, we wanted to fish in the dead of winter. Like someone in a post-apocalyptic Arctic landscape, as you put it – you were really into post-apocalyptic books back then." 

"Was I?" Finn nodded and undoubtedly tucked that information away for later like he always did with tidbits I shared. 

"Hardcore. So you had me out here hammering away at the ice with a screwdriver." I laughed at the memory of us on our hands and knees, trying to chip away the ice with runny noses and burning ears. "Mr. Meyers saw and got on us until he was blue in the face. When we finally got a word in, we let him know that we weren't trying to crack through the lake and drown. But we were trying to be resourceful members of society. He folded then and decided as a former boy scout himself, it was his job to teach us everything he knew." 

Finn smiled and I motioned for him to come closer. I talked him through how Mr. Meyers showed us the way to create a clean circle in the ice. I explained how we were supposed to pick a spot where the ice was thickest and the cracks were little to non-existent. 

"He made us badges," I said when we settled into our seats. "Whenever we learned something new and proved ourselves to him, he'd have these incredibly unique badges that'd he designed from scratch. The guys at school got so jealous that some of them quit the Boy Scouts and wanted to be taught under Meyers." 

"Did they?" 

I shook my head and pulled out our fishing rods. "Meyers wouldn't teach anyone but me and you. Said he only had enough time and energy for two pupils. And he only had enough extra cash for two sets of badges. For a moment, we were the cool kids…until people decided Boy Scouts were dorky and gaming was everything." 

"Sounds like we had a lot of fun." Finn smiled. Maybe he was playing the spoken memory over in his head, trying to fill in details to construct something he'd be able to recall. Or maybe he was simply smiling because I hadn't stopped. I felt good today. Better than I had in a while and that's because I enjoyed being outside. I enjoyed the open sky, the chilled air, and being able to sit across from Finn. I loved my friends but these quiet moments with Finn were few and far between. After almost losing him, I cherished this. 

"I'm sorry," I said, my smile fading when I realized what I'd done. 

"Huh?" Finn frowned. 

"I…I brought you here as a gift but just realized–" I sighed and ran my hand over my head. "This was more of a gift for me than you. I was being selfish bringing you here. I thought it'd be nice to get away and be like we used to but this doesn't mean much to you." 

"Sam, this is good. This is fun," Finn said firmly. "I'm having fun." 

The tightness in my chest loosened. "Really?"

"I'm not a good liar just yet," he reminded me with a smile. 

"True." I laughed in agreement and leaned over to bait my hook. Finn did the same, listening to my instructions on how to do it. He watched me toss the line in before mimicking my motion. 

"I have something else for you," I announced once our hooks had sunk. "You didn't get to earn your last badges because, like the other guys at school, you thought Boy Scouts were dorky." 

"Really?" Finn's forehead furrowed as if he was disappointed in himself. 

"Yeah, but I kept coming to hang out with Meyers," I said. "Got a couple more badges until he got sick." 

"Is he…" Finn paused, not sure how to finish. 

"He's fine," I quickly confirmed. "Lives in Florida now with his granddaughter." 

Finn nodded, relieved for a man he didn't remember but would forever be tied to through me. 

"I got him to send over the badges you didn't get to earn." I dug through my bag and pulled them out. I'd wrapped each one in green and red striped paper. They were misshaped and poorly taped up presents but Finn accepted them like they were precious pieces of gold. 

"You can't open them yet," I reminded him. Lincoln wanted all of us to open them together. Since a fishing trip couldn't be wrapped, I figured it was best to do it before Christmas. But, the tangible gifts were to be kept for later. 

"But you when do–" I shrugged and laughed, feeling silly all of a sudden. "--we could finish earning them together. Like, gradually, throughout the year when we have time. I already have mine so I could make sure to teach you how to do it. Teach you in a way I'm sure Meyers will be proud–at least, I hope. You could finally fill up your sash–even though it's probably collecting dust in your family's basement and you don't care like that. But lately, you've been really into renovating the house and you look like you used to when we were kids." 

"That's why I like doing it," Finn said as he took a deep breath. "I think the muscle memory part of me liked figuring out the practical." 

I smiled. "I think so too. It's a part of you." 

"This was perfect, Sam. I…thank you." Finn looked back down at his badges, which now felt like pieces of himself he didn't know were missing. "I can't wait to earn these with you." 

"Not too dorky anymore, is it?" I teased. 

He shook his head. "Not in the slightest." 

We were quiet for a moment, enjoying the sun's heat as it crawled up in the sky and the warm tea that I'd accidentally put too much sugar in. The fish never bit. Finn never remembered Meyers on his own. But none of that mattered. We were happy. We were once again on track to earn badges. Once again trying to figure shit out together. 

[cloutchaserkineme]

midnight disco by proxy

Feb. 21, 2024, 11:59 PM, somewhat near a beach whose lots are owned by celebrities and politicians

I'm a working student, and I love my job. Writing is quite possibly the skill that I have consistently honed the most since I was young, and the fact that I get to write about what I want and they edit and publish it just like that, that my work lets people give me answers when I ask them questions... it's very much addicting to me.

I was born on a Mercury day, under a Mercury hour, with my chart ruler itself ruled by a Mercury-ruled sign. If I didn't love writing and words and talking to people and finding out about the world, I'd be dead. Or at least, not me.

So when my work gives me the opportunity to go to a street festival (I LOVE hearing street drums, they're my favorite live instrument and so accessible where I'm from) in a town close to a well-known but not super touristy beach, with free transportation and accomodation, you bet your ass I'd skip introductory class for Constitutional Law II!!

Which I did. They discussed house rules and case digests, and I didn't miss much, which was fine to me. I preferred watching people dance uninhibitedly and clamoring over a boodle fight than be stuck in my house with headphones on.

But the thing is, you can take the student out of law school, but you sure as hell can't take the law workload out of said student. 😭😭 which is why I am sitting in our guide's house, listening to the speakers a literal mile away blast out my favorite throwback, ass shaking, leg waggling songs.

(I have, of course, finished some cases and did do some reading before I admitted sleepiness and put it away. But I didn't join my workmates because the hassle, the tiredness, the fact that it would be so awkward because I don't know them Like That, to party and get down and embarass myself on the streets— literally, since the approx. three meter tall speakers were on the concrete highway, closed to motorcycles and cars, in order to fulfill its annual secondary purpose as the festival's open access free-for-all dance floor.)

First day of criminal procedure tomorrow! And 16 cases is a baby breeze compared to the hurricane of last year's 60 for Criminal Law (which I didn't finish or submit) and 20 for Constitutional Law I/Political Law (which I did finish writing but did not read thoroughly because 20 cases x100something pages is insane for me as a beginner). But I can't finish it all anyway, and with a somewhat vague recollection of court jurisdictions, I feel monkey-confident that I'll be fine if called tomorrow.

I have been through one semester of law school where that monkey-confidence feeling was very, VERY wrong, and misleading, and did not serve me usefully at all.

So IDK what street they'd scrape me off of after the end of this.

I'm thinking I'm getting a horrible reputation of being an elitist, mildly smart snob because of how quiet I normally am around them and my non-participation in work outings. But I have to read this!

Anyway, I am already here, chilling and taking a somewhat paid vacation (oh, the woes of the minimally waged) from the city. Even though the driver hates us because of a miscommunication (between pick-up times and his stress from lack of sleep and food— which led to him endangering our lives for approx. 3 hrs by overtaking four cars on a double yellow lane highway and going faster when we hinted he was going too fast), I still enjoyed my brief moment here, with the drums.

God, I love hearing drums live. Street dance competitions where I'm from (street as in, Carnaval in Rio, not Step Up 2: The Streets, though I would gladly watch the latter too if there were any around here) always have repetitive melodies since there's rarely any incentive to creatively bang out sticks on water drums and LPG tanks besides an additional 2 points on some judge's paper. But the drums are so LOUD and OUT THERE.

It is the only form of big noise that I like. Concerts and dance halls I get tired of after an hour or if the playlist sucks, ambulance and fire protection wangs make me too anxious, and me and my friend's big laughters are always followed by a shushing by our Obligatory Shusher (sometimes me) so that other people won't find us too annoying and kick us out of places.

But God, drums. LOOK AT ME I AM HERE I AM THE BEATING OF YOUR HEART AND YOUR MOTHER'S HEART THE FIRST AUDITORY TASTE OF THE MATERIAL WORLD AND THE WAVES THAT WILL AFFECT YOU FROM HERE AND OUT. LISTEN, AND MOVE, OR NOT— YOUR VIBRATION IS INEVITABLE. I AM AIR, COMPRESSED AND EXPANDED, IN YOUR LUNGS AND OUT OF IT. I WILL STARTLE YOU. IT IS GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL, TO BE SHAKEN OCCASSIONALLY IN ITS SHELL AS A SORT OF INTEGRITY TEST. HEED. MY. THUMPING. CALL!!!

...I really should be studying law better. I need to be a lawyer because with my skill set, that's how I'd make the most money and still help out in the community. I need money for a plane ticket, a passport, a visa, secure and clean accommodation, and money to happily buy food and presents for my loved ones (who may or may not be traveling with me! On my dime!) in the street festivals I hope to witness live in the world.

(30) 12:29 AM, February 22, 2024, same place.

[z-iridest]

I Am Phoenix- A My Hero Academia fanfic

Chapter 16- The Hero Killer on Memory Lane:

The train ride into Hosu was pretty quiet, and I found myself struggling what to say for once. I was the only one of our friends who could understand what Iida had been through, and yet, I couldn't think of what to say. We walked together in silence too, but before we split off, I finally spoke. "Iida?" He looked at me. "Even if it's just to rant, you know I'm always ready to listen, right?" I asked. "We are friends, after all..."

"I know, Yagi. You don't have to worry about..."

"You know I can't help but worry. Especially since I know how you get. Please, don't do anything reckless." I asked of him. I watched as his face darkened, something that wasn't like him.

"You don't know anything about me, Yagi. You don't know what I've been through." I blinked. Was he serious? I turned away. Maybe I didn't know what it was like to have an older sibling that looked after me, but I knew what losing a parent was like.

"Right, because what would I know about having a family member being attacked by a villain?" I wasn't proud of my response, especially considering how cold my tone had been. It was dead silent between us for a minute.

"Yagi... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean..." His tone instantly changed.

"Just forget it. I know you want to find the person responsible and hold him accountable, but we don't have the power to do that. We're just students right now." I reminded him before I walked up the steps to my Mom's old agency. Nothing had changed much since the last time I'd been here. Sidekicks were still buzzing, busy at work and the same receptionist from a few years ago was still there. I smiled a bit, remembering all the times I'd walked in with my Mom and the receptionist would wave and give me a warm hello. The sidekicks would too, but from what I had heard, most of the ones from my childhood had built their own agencies after Mom had been in the hospital, some wanting to help out Hosu City and cover more ground while others branched out... 

"Hinotori! I haven't seen in ages." I was brought out of my thoughts by the receptionist. She had purple streaks in her now silver hair, her hazel eyes showing the same warmth from when I was still a little kid. "You've grown so much, we always knew you'd turn out beautiful, just like your mother."

"It's great to see you again, Mrs. Matsuko." I replied, smiling.

"And you as well, dear. You remember where the training room is? Ember's waiting for you there, so get on going." She winked. "And welcome back."

"Thank you." I exchanged a smile with her before taking the elevator to the tenth floor, where the training room was. Once the doors had closed, I took a deep breath. It was be a bit harder than I thought to be here without Mom. So much of my life was spent with her working diligently while I stayed in a small corner of her office, listening to her bark orders to protect the city and sometimes having me stay put so she could go with her sidekicks to support them on the field. It couldn't have been easy for her, but she always did whatever she could...

The sound of the elevator doors opening brought me out of my thoughts, letting me onto the tenth floor. Many of the sidekicks on that floor looked up, gasping a bit when they saw me. "Is that who I think it is?"

"I can't believe she's grown that much..."

"It has been 9 years since we last saw her..."

"Spitting image of her mother, all right" I could hear them whispering about me as I passed, but I ignored it for now. At least a few of the old ones were still around... I opened the door to the training room, seeing two sidekicks hard at work. One of which, I already knew. Their dark purple hair with a vine headband made them stand out, their hero costume being a purple tie up halter top with green vines on the sleeves and purple shorts with purple boots that had the same vine design. Willow, as I knew them by, used their powers to try to wrap up their opponent. I didn't know this sidekick... Who was he? The only thing I could really see of him was a red hood and a matching cape. He also had a red belt and red arm bands, one on his right wrist and the other on his left forearm. He stuck to the shadows as he fought Willow. Did he have a shadow quirk like Tokoyami? Kinda weird that he couldn't step in the light if that was the case... 

"Ember." I spoke my mentor's name, making her turn her attention to me as Willow caught the newer sidekick in the sunlight with their violet energy constructs. That was when Willow saw me.

"Oh my god, little Hino?!" They exclaimed before Ember could say anything, and before I could greet them, they were right in front of me. "My God, you were practically a baby when I saw you last, you've grown up so much!" Their eyes were hazel, much like Mrs. Matsuko, and I couldn't help but smile at them. If there was any of the sidekicks that was like a sibling to me, Willow would be it. They was a year younger than Ember, the two arriving to my Mom's agency at the same time, but back in the day, she'd always find time to greet me, if not talk to me about anything and everything I'd tell her.

"Hey, Willow." I smiled back.

"It's been 9 years, but I'm glad we finally got the chance to see you again." Ember smiled. Not much had really changed about Ember either in the 9 years I had been away. "Oh, that's right, you haven't met him yet..." She paused for a minute before looking at Willow. "Uh, Willow?"

"Oh, right! Sorry!" Willow snapped out of it to let go of the newer sidekick, the poor guy dropping to the ground with a deep groan. I noticed that he had a sword attached to his hip and other than the red, he was dressed in all black. The sunlight behind him hid his face, but all I could see of it was a pair of white eyes. The vibe I got from him, wasn't like the others... Every instinct in me was telling me to run from him, that something wasn't right...

"Aragami, this is the kid we've been talking about, Hinotori. Hino, meet our newest recruit, Aragami." Ember introduced us. I bowed politely, and after a second, he did the same. "Now, Hino, let's stretch. Afterward, I'll have you change into your hero costume and we'll see how far you've come since All Might first started teaching you." I nodded to acknowledge her and we started stretching as Aragami wordlessly left the room.

"So, Aragami... He's uh..."

"Isn't he something else? I heard you're sharing a class with a shadow user like him as well. I was kinda hoping we'd get to take the kid on too, but he went with Hawks of all people... Hawks isn't exactly the teaching type, I think he only put in an offer for the kid because the Hero Commission wanted him to investigate the League of Villains..."

"Tsukoyomi doesn't give me the bad feeling that Aragami does." I finally spoke up, using Tokoyami's hero name and watching as Ember froze, looking at me. The look on her face turned into a look of seriousness.

"What about him gives you a bad feeling?" Ember asked after staring at me for a minute. She knew full well what my instincts usually meant since Mom had gotten the same feelings from time to time. It usually meant someone couldn't be trusted...

"I don't know, but every instinct in me is telling me to stay away from him." I answered. 

"We'll keep an eye on him in that case." She promised as she stood. I did the same, letting my wings out to stretch them before getting into my hero costume and taking my place across from Ember. "Show me what you got, kid!" She called before I charged for her, starting our sparring match. She blocked each hit I threw, and I threw back every flame she threw at me. "I've seen these fighting moves before, and All Might didn't teach you a single one of them! The only thing he really trained you in was increasing your natural strength and battle stamina!" I backflipped away from her as she tried to punch me with her flame fist. I manipulated the fire away from her and fired it her way in a long distance attack... Which was my mistake as she split it and knocked me on my ass in one move. "Most of your moves are your Mom's, which means you watched her fights on repeat to learn when All Might couldn't teach you. That's dangerous, because any enemy who picks up on that is going to know how to take you down. You can't be a one trick gal, Hino." She finished after we caught our breaths for a minute. "This week is going to be about teaching you new moves, how to better handle your own flames, and the basics of hero work on the field all at the same time. You ready?" She asked. I smirked in response.

"Hell yeah." I got up and we got to work. She led me through some of the moves she uses, as well as letting some of the other heroes in the building teach me.

"Normally, we'd just be waiting for client calls to come in. Not really exciting." Blade Wing, a winged sidekick, told me as we fought in the air. She had the same costume design as the Winged Hero Hawks- probably because they were siblings-except the design on her top was blue, her goggles were blue, and her hair was a fiery red like Mom's had been. Her wings while white in color normally, turned redder the more she used them. From what Mom used to tell me, her wings being completely red meant they needed time to recover and that she had overused her Quirk, especially since she could harden them to look like a solid ruby gem in the shape of her wings.

"Things have been fairly hectic lately, though." Ember brought up.

"We've been using patrols to suppress crime and back up Manual's agency as well if there's trouble." Willow added on. 

"Pros receive wages from the government, so we're civil servants. But, there's a lot more to it than just that. With the Quirks we offer, our responsibilities are different from regular workers. Regarding our actual duties, the basic hero goal is to control crime. When a crime occurs, the police will contact us. The requests come in all at once, filtered out by district. We file reports based on the services we provided like assisting with arrests, rescuing people, et cetera... Then, a special agency looks at our work and decides how much we should be paid." Ember explained.

"You'll catch on quick, kid." Blade Wing winked. 

"Additionally, heroes are allowed to have side jobs. There were a lot of arguments about it back in the day when the pro hero world was still being established, but heroes ended up being so popular that the public demanded it. For example, Uwabami does modeling and ads if she's not patrolling the streets." Willow replied.

"Here at this agency though, we constantly practice and train when we're not on the field. No breaks even while we're on patrol." Ember continued. After a couple hours of training, I'd knocked Blade Wing out of the air, making her laugh.

"Hot damn, you got speed, kid!" She grinned at me as I landed, tucking my wings behind me for the time being.

"With her wings at least. Ace flew with her so much that it became second nature for her to use them." Ember remembered. "If you remember, Hino, it was your flames your Mom had no idea how to teach you to use." Ember pointed out. I nodded.

"That was why she started bringing me to work with her, right? For you to help me?" I asked. She nodded.

"Exactly, and I swore to her that I would continue helping you if something ever happened to her." Ember revealed to me. After dinner, we kept training, but it was maintaining the flames all over my body. "What we'll keep doing is building your body's tolerance to your flames, but to do that, you have to use your own flames, no else's. You've come this far because you've used the flames around you, but your body isn't able to handle your own flames for very long because of that. Honestly, I half expected you to go with Endeavor since he's been in the hero business longer and has a fire Quirk..."

"He's not in a mental place to train anyone other than his son." I interrupted. "Nor was he interested in training me. He's too focused on taking the number one spot from Dad." I remembered my encounter with the number two hero in the hall during the Sports Festival as I let my flames drop.

"Hinotori." When I looked at her, she was giving me the look Mom used to when she was being serious. "I know you didn't choose me just to train with your fire. We all heard about Ingenium, hell I was the one who found him... I also heard that his younger brother's here too, and if I'm right, you followed him here to make sure he doesn't go after the Hero Killer." I looked away.

"I was hoping to convince him not to on the train ride here, but when it came down to it, I couldn't say anything." I admitted.

"Hino, you know better than anyone that actions speak a whole louder than words. Words can be beautiful, powerful even, but they mean nothing if they're not backed up by actions." She put a hand on my shoulder. "You should get some rest now, we're starting patrols with Manual tomorrow." I nodded, starting to head out of the training room. "Hold on, I never asked you what you chose for your hero name." I glanced back at her, smiling a bit.

"Call me Phoenix." I told her. The two days that followed were pretty uneventful, beginning with training early in the morning and patrolling with Manual and Iida on the streets. Iida didn't really say much while on patrol, and honestly, I didn't either. I kept an eye out for crime occurring, besides, I didn't know what else to say to Iida other than the plea with him that he wouldn't go after Stain that I said the first day we got here. 

"It'll be a good idea to patrol Kyoto today too, Manual." Ember was saying as I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Sorry it's so monotonous." Manual apologized to us.

"No, it's better this way." Iida replied before I could.

"Hey... This is kinda hard to ask, but you're after the Hero Killer, aren't you?" Manual asked him, stopping and facing Iida. Ember looked at Manual, stopping beside him.

"So, Phoenix's instinct was right, then?" Ember questioned.

"How did you..." Iida trailed off. So was I right... He did only come here to go after the Hero Killer....

"I couldn't think of any other reason why you'd come to my agency." Manual rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad you did, but... You shouldn't be pursuing personal grudges."

"Even though we have the certification to fight, that doesn't include the authority to arrest people or punish them." Ember finished.

"The only reason we're allowed to use our Quirks because of the regulations put on them. That's why, no matter how noble the reason may be, a hero must not use their Quirk for themselves. If a pro used their power for their own selfish desires, it would be a very serious crime."

"Please understand, we're not saying that the Hero Killer isn't guilty himself. We just don't want you focusing on one goal and ignoring everything else." Ember clarified. Iida bowed.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Iida replied, but I know that their words didn't mean anything to him. He was already too far gone mentally to be convinced out of it.

"Oh, it's fine as long as you get what we're sayin'." Manual said. "So, we good?" Manual asked as we kept walking, but judging by the way Iida's fist clenched, his answer was no. We kept patrolling as the sunset, and I looked up. Had it been this beautiful before Mom got into that fight? As night fell, I got a text from Midoriya. 

'Hey, Gran Torino and I'll be passing through Hosu on our way to Tokyo, how're things going with you?' I smiled a bit and went to text him back about Iida, but something urged me to jump. When I followed my instinct, I found a familiar villain right in front of me. My eyes widened. 

"No..." I murmured. Standing on all fours, with his skin a sickly grey that was stretched too thin across his bones, his eyes white and his mouth open, showing off jagged, sharp teeth as he gave a sound like a deer call, was the villain that had caused my Mom's fatal injuries... I was face to face with non other than Wendigo, a villain who's quirk overtook him over the course of several years from being a normal human to driving him crazy enough to be a cannibal and become the mindless monster he now was. The only weaknesses he really had was that he was blind to everything but movement, fire burned him, and he preferred to hunt at night. Before any of us could react to him, though, a building a few miles away exploded. "What was that?!" I asked, but before I got a response, Wendigo moved to attack Iida as he took a step forward. "NO!" Just like I did with Bakugo, I moved as fast as I could and shoved Iida out of the way, resulting in Wendigo's claws ripping through where my stomach was. I hit the ground hard, pain ripping through me.

"PHOENIX!" Ember blasted a circle of fire around Wendigo, trapping him as he made sounds that sounded somewhere between human screams and screeching.

"Phoenix, are you all right?!" Manual asked. 

"I'm fine!" I shouted back as I stood back up, heading for where the explosion had come from.

"Ember to HQ, all available units, come to my location, requesting backup! Villains have just arrived in Quad 2!" Ember called headquarters through her head piece as we ran, Manual and Iida right behind us. Or at least... I thought Iida was behind us. Once we got to the center of the action, I saw Nomus everywhere. How many of those damn things did the League create?!

"Iida, are you seeing..." I gasped when I turned. Right where I thought Iida would be was an empty space. My eyes slowly closed as it hit me. He had to have seen the Hero Killer... No, no, no, goddamn it! Not even ten seconds after the thought hit me, Manual realized Iida was missing.

"TENYA! WHERE ARE YOU, TENYA?!" Manual called for him.

"Phoenix, you need to get those wounds healed, it's not safe for you right..."

"Permission to find Iida?" I asked Ember, turning to her. She stared at me.

"Phoenix, you're not in a shape to..."

"Permission to find him?! Please!" I asked of her again. This was my fault... I'd promised Izuku and Ochaco that I'd keep my eye on him, and the moment I turned my back, he disappeared. 

"Granted, after you find him, get your butt back to HQ so you can get healed." After those words came from her, my wings tore from my back and I shot into the air, flying the way we came. Iida, please be okay! Damn it, you idiot, what were you thinking?! I thought as I searched for him. I stopped dead when I saw where he was, and everything I'd been afraid of happening had come to pass. There was another hero not too far from Iida, but immobilized as the Hero Killer loomed over my friend. I sent my location to Midoriya, the only thing I typed other than that was,

'Need help.'  After it sent, I withdrew my wings into my back, letting myself free fall as Stain lifted his sword. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" I shouted as I landed, bringing my ignited hand down and creating a wall of my flames to make Stain back off.

"Yagi? What're you doing?" Iida asked.

"Iida, can you move?" I asked, taking a second while I still had one to glance at Native. Native was against a wall, badly bleeding from the same spot Iida was. If Iida could move, he could carry Native and we could get away before Stain did any more damage.

"Neither of us can... It's his Quirk.." Native spoke up, sounding weak. Pain shot through me, but I grit my teeth, getting into a ready stance. 

"Then I'll protect you both until help comes." I turned my attention to the Hero Killer, who had jumped back a few feet. All the rumors about him were true... His very presence was intimidating. He was pretty muscular, standing with a distinct hunch, and it looked like he'd be six feet tall if he had stood upright. His hair was black and messy, kept out of his face by a blood red headband and his mask, the latter of which covered the spot where his nose should be. The eyes that regarded me and sized me up were blood red with tiny irises, the eyes of a fanatic. He was wearing a dark combat suit, plated with metal armor across his body to holster his weapons. The torso was sleeveless, so he wrapped his arms in yellow bandages from just below his shoulders to his wrists. Stain also wore long black wristbands and a watch on his left arm, and his knees were protected with metal pads; black boots with steel armor and spikes completing the costume. He also had his signature blood-red scarf around his neck, matching his headband, and the mask we wore on his face was a tattered cloth. 

"Another child, huh?" His eyes dropped to my stomach. "And an injured one at that. You should get out of here while you still have a chance and get that healed before I have to kill you like I do these two."

"I'm not leaving without them, I don't care if you kill me or not." I answered him.

"Yagi... Get out of here, this doesn't concern you... This is between me and him..."

"Like I give a damn!" I interrupted Iida.

"You're already hurt bad, kid, you gotta get that healed..." Native tried to get me to run too.

"I'm not going anywhere or doing a damn thing until I know both of you are safe from harm." I let my hands ignite with flames. "I'm going to save you both or die trying, because meddling where you don't technically have to, that's what a true hero does!" The look in Stain's eyes suddenly changed.

"Didn't think I'd find a true hero in this entire city..." Despite the look in his eyes, he gripped his sword. "But, you're still in my way!" My eyes narrowed as I blasted fire at him, staying where I was. He dodged it moving fast, but his scarf made it pretty damn easy to find him and keep track. I had to buy time until reinforcements came! I had to! I kept using long distance attacks.

"I've done the research. You're no good at long distance attacks, which means if I can keep you back until more help comes, you'll never be able to hurt anyone else ever again." But, if it'll come before my body's limit is up, I have no idea. I'm running on pure adrenaline right now and I know it. The pain from my wounds is going to overpower me at some point, but whether or not help arrives before that, but, I'll do the best I can! It went on like that for a while until Stain threw a blade at my leg before I could turn to burn him. I cried out in pain as he withdrew it, dodging my flames as he moved back. I watched as his long tongue came out, liking the blood off. Just like that, I couldn't move from where I was kneeling. Shit, his Quirk... I thought.

"You put up a good fight, kid. But, it's over now. I'm not gonna kill you since you're a true hero in my eyes, but that doesn't mean your friend here is safe." Stain walked over to Iida as I struggled to get up. 

"Leave him alone!" I shouted in response. Shit, what am I gonna do, he's gonna kill them both and I can't move to stop him! My mind raced, but just as Stain went to stab Iida with his sword, a green blur flew right past me and punched Stain right in the face.

"SMASH!" Izuku's voice rang out as he punched Stain and flipped to land in front of Iida and I. I let out a breath of relief. "Guess I was right!" Stain slid backwards, looking at Izuku. 

"You found him too? But how?"

"I saw on TV. They had some stats about the Hero Killer. Most of his victims were found away from many people, and when I got the text from Hino, I knew she'd found you and needed help. Phoenix, let's go back toward the street and get more help!" 

"Neither of us can move." Izuku looked at me. "It's gotta be his Quirk. After getting my leg, he licked the blade, and I couldn't move after that."

"That matches the type of Quirk the people on TV said he'd have..." That's when he noticed Native. "I was gonna ask why you didn't get Iida out of here, but now I see why."

"That's why I texted you. I saw Native before the fight between me and Stain actually started." I replied. 

"Midoriya, please, don't get involved! This doesn't have anything to do with you or Yagi and she got herself hurt because of me!"

"Iida, what're you saying?" Midoriya asked, looking at our friend.

"You showed up to save your friend's life, just like she did." Stain finally spoke. "You even made a big entrance just like her, too. But, I have a duty to kill him and this so-called pro. When that friend of yours there chose to fight me, it guaranteed the weaker of us would be culled." Midoriya looked terrified. "So, what will you do?" Midoriya suddenly didn't look scared anymore, and I watched as he mass texted our classmates our location for help. 

"Listen to me! Stand down, run away! I told you, this has nothing to do with you!" I stared at him. Was he serious?!

"If you really believe that, then why are trying to become a hero in the first place?!" Izuku sounded mad, madder than I've ever heard him before. He clenched his fist. "There are plenty of things I'd like to say, but they'll have to wait. All Might was right, though... Meddling when you don't need to the is the essence of being a hero!" Just like it did with me, the look in Stain's eyes changed. With a chuckle, a fight began between the two. I watched as green electricity came off him, and I realized that in only three days, Izuku's training with Gran Torino had been a success. Before I could blink, he was moving faster than he had before. Granted, he wasn't as fast as me when I used my wings and fire together, but he was still fast. 

"Watch the blades!" I warned him, seeing him get in close before dodging the blade and sliding between Stain's legs, springing into the air before Stain could attack him from behind. 

"A 5%..... Detroit... SMASH!" Izuku cried as he got Stain in the back. He landed in a crouch on all fours, looking up. But, all of a sudden, Izuku was paralyzed too. My eyes widened. What?! Upon closer look, I saw that Izuku had been cut. It was so small, none of us had noticed it at first. When I looked at Stain's blade, the smallest amount of blood was there, about 2 inches from the hilt. 

"You're not powerful enough." Stain told him. "It's not that you predicted my movements, you just left my field of vision, and maneuvered so you could get in a clean shot. But, I saw through your plan. There are countless false heroes who are all talk, but just like her, I think you're worthy of staying alive. Both of you are different from these two."

"Wait, don't! Stop it!" Izuku yelled.

"Leave them alone!" I added in, trying to move in the way, but with my body being paralyzed, I was stuck. 

"Get away!" Izuku tried one more time as Stain lifted his blade to kill Iida again. Suddenly, a stream of flames erupted above Iida, making the villain jump back, and they weren't mine... 

"Someone else to get in my way..." Stain mumbled. "Today's been full of distractions..." 

"Midoriya." I knew that voice... "You need to give more details in times like this. I was almost too late to stop this guy." 

"You, too, Todoroki?" Iida asked. 

"How'd you get here?" I questioned.

"Hold on, you're using your left side?" Izuku added.

"How'd I get here? Good question. Your message took me a while to figure out. Next time, try to send more than just your specific location." Todoroki deactivated his flames. "But, you're not one to send cryptic messages without a reason, are you?" He activated his ice side, raising Native and Midoriya off the ground and out of harm's way as Stain jumped to avoid it. "So, I figured you were in trouble and asking for help! Everything's okay, the pro heroes will be here any minute!" Todoroki reassured us as he charged, switching gears and using his flames to fight. Stain jumped back again, and Midoriya and Native slid down the ice and toward Iida and I. Smart, moving all the people you have to protect in one spot. Damn it, I wish I wasn't paralyzed! I thought. "You're just what they said you were. But you won't be taking any more lives, Hero Killer."

"Todoroki! You can't let that guy get your blood! I-I think he controls his enemy's actions by swallowing it! That's how he got us!" Izuku warned him. 

"He ingests blood to keep people from moving, that explains the blades... All I've gotta do is keep my distance..."

"Todoroki, look out!" I shouted in warning, but it was too late as Stain threw a blade, managing to cut below Todoroki's left eye and the blade barely missing me.

"You have good friends, Ingenium." Stain was in the air, heading toward Todoroki. "Or, you did!" Stain attacked Todoroki, getting blocked by an ice pillar. Todoroki glanced up seeing Stain's sword in the air. My stomach dropped as I saw Stain pull Todoroki close and go to lick the cut, but Todoroki activated his flames, making Stain back off. A fight began as I watched, trying to move at least my hand. 

"He's strong!" Todoroki used his flames and his ice alternately in the fight.

"Just stop it..." Iida begged. "Why are you doing this?! His fight is with me! I inherited my brother's name, I'm the one who should stop him. The Hero Killer is mine!"

"You're Ingenium now? Strange. The Ingenium I knew before never had a look like that on his face! You've got a dark side. Guess my family isn't the only one." Todoroki never took his eyes off the fight.

"Careful, Todoroki!" Midoriya grunted in pain before a look crossed his face, one of shock. Stain cut through the ice wall Todoroki had put up. 

"You blocked your own field of vision against an opponent who's faster than you. Rookie mistake." Stain taunted.

"Come get me then!" Todoroki activated his flames, but before he could do anything, Stain threw more knives, getting Todoroki's arm in three places.

"Todoroki!" I shouted. Goddamn it!

"You're good, kid! Unlike him!" Stain had jumped in the air again, but this time, he was falling toward Native to kill him.

"Watch out!" Todoroki yelled. A green blur jumped into the air, and I watched as Midoriya clashed with Stain, throwing the villain off target and into one of the walls. Wait, how can he move? He got paralyzed after me! "Midoriya!" Todoroki was holding his arm.

"I'm not sure why, but I'm able to move now!" He replied. 

"So he has a time limit." Todoroki realized. 

"If that's the case, Midoriya should have been the last one to move, it has to depend on something." I told him.

"Midoriya, dodge!" Todoroki yelled, before Izuku jumped out of the way, landing in front of Iida and I again as Todoroki used his ice to try to trap Stain. Izuku coughed. 

"He swallows a person's blood to freeze them, but I was the one freed first. I've got three different guesses why. His Quirk could be less effective the more people he uses it on. The amount ingested could play into how long it works..."

"Or there could be a difference based on a person blood type." I finished Izuku's thought before it hit me. "Deku, what's your blood type?"

"Type O. Hino, where are you going with this?" Izuku questioned me.

"I'm type B if that thought's going where I think it is." Native told me.

"I'm type A." Iida added.

"I'm type A too..." That was when I realized. I didn't know how long Native or Iida had been down, but Midoriya had been down for 2 minutes... "Type O must be the shortest time limit, you were only down for two minutes." I told him.

"So, you figured it out." Stain confirmed what we were thinking. "Bravo, very impressive." 

"It doesn't really help us that much to know how his Quirk works though." Izuku told Todoroki.

"I thought we could hurry and carry them out of here, but with Yagi down too, that's not an option. Besides, he's too fast, and he can avoid ice and fire. Our best option is to hold until the pros arrive and avoid close combat."

"No, Todoroki, you've already lost way too much blood." I told him. 

"I'll distract him while you support me from behind, sound like a plan?" Midoriya's green electricity got going again. Todoroki looked at him for a minute while I realized what that meant.

"No, guys, that's too big of a risk!" I objected.

"Okay." Todoroki answered Midoriya like he hadn't heard me. "We can protect them!" Midoriya stood as the words left Todoroki. 

"Two against one, huh? This fight won't be easy." Stain commented as another fight began. I watched as Todoroki supported Midoriya. Even when Stain could get a clean strike due to dodging Midoriya's movements, Todoroki was able to use his ice and fire to block it. But, eventually, Stain cut Midoriya's leg, and with one lick of the blood on Stain's blade, Midoriya was paralyzed again. Stain's fighting style had changed completely.

"Midoriya!" Todoroki shouted as he used his ice and fire to protect everyone.

"Deku!" I shouted his hero name at the same time before trying to move again. "Goddamn it!" My body was still paralyzed. I wanted to join the fight, to give Midoriya and Todoroki extra support, but my body wouldn't move. I felt helpless.

"You have to take Hinotori and run." Iida spoke to Todoroki, his voice thick with tears. "I can't watch this." Todoroki grit his teeth. 

"You wanna make your brother proud?! Then stand up and be Ingenium!" He used his ice to block Stain's path, but Stain easily cut through it. "Become the hero he wanted you to be!" He used his flames again, Stain dodging again.

"Watch your right!" Midoriya warned, giving support to Todoroki even though he was paralyzed. 

"Ice and fire! Hasn't anyone ever told you that you rely on your Quirk too much?! Makes you a careless fighter!" Stain told Todoroki as he dodged the ice and fire. 

"Todoroki!" Izuku and I shouted, seeing that Stain had charged so he would be able to cut Todoroki's arm off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. Iida could move again, which meant I'd be free soon too.

"RECIPRO BURST!" Iida yelled as he joined the fight, using kicks to break the sword and knock him away.

"Iida!" Izuku and I exclaimed at the same time, both of us relieved.

"You're free too? Guess his Quirk isn't as great as I thought it was." 

"Todoroki, Midoriya... This has nothing to do with you, I apologize."

"Come on, not this crap again, Iida." I looked at him.

"I'm okay, and I won't let the three of you shed any more blood for me!" Iida finished.

"It's no use trying to pretend you're a hero now. A person's true nature doesn't change in just a few minutes. You'll never be anything but a fraud who prioritizes his own desires. You're the sickness that's infected society and ruined the name hero! Someone must teach you a lesson!"

"You're a fundamentalist lunatic. Iida, don't listen to this murderer's nonsense." Todoroki told him.

"No. He's completely correct. I have no right to call myself a hero... At all." I watched as blood dripped from Iida's arm. "Even so...There's no way I can back down! If I give up now, the name Ingenium will die!"

"Pathetic!" Stain yelled. Unlucky for him, that was when his time limit ran out on me. As he charged for Iida, I yelled, shooting forward in front of him and Todoroki and blasting fire at the villain.

"Bout time I can move again!" I exclaimed.

"Idiots! The Hero Killer is only after me and that kid in the white armor! Stop fighting back- Just get out of here!"

"Not happening!" I barked. 

"I don't think he'd let me run even if I wanted to." Todoroki pointed out as he fought beside me. "Something clearly changed in him just now. He seems rattled." Todoroki used ice to defend our right flank as Stain tried to close in on us again. Just like before, he kept cutting through the ice, but I kept following up with flame after flame.

"He's getting desperate to kill Iida and Native before the pros show up." I observed. 

"I was just thinking the same thing." Todoroki replied as I used more of my flames. I could feel pain around my forearms now, a clear sign that my skin was burning, but I pushed through.

"Wait, Phoenix, how long have you been bleeding like that?" Izuku was looking at the injury on my stomach, the one my right arm was keeping pressure on. I didn't look at him, knowing he now knew how bad my injuries actually were...

"Hey, Todoroki, can you regulate your temperatures?" Iida asked. 

"Not well with my left, but yes, I can."

"You gotta freeze my leg for me without plugging the exhaust." Iida told him.

"You're in the way!" Stain threw another knife, but Iida blocked it with his arm before it could hit me or Todoroki.

"No, Iida!" Midoriya yelled.

"Why won't you stay down?!" Stain yelled, throwing another knife into Iida's arm and knocking him down.

"Iida!" Todoroki expressed his worry next.

"Just do it, hurry!" Iida urged him. I blasted my flames again, trying to buy time. I could see Izuku up again, but his leg looked pretty bad.

"It's done!" Todoroki shouted after a second, blasting his flames again not long after I had stopped blasting mine. My vision was starting to blur, but whether it was from blood loss or the pain I was in, I had no idea. Just as Iida shot into the air with Midoriya, my legs gave out on me. I felt Todoroki's arms catch me. "I've got you." He assured me as we watched our friends fly through the air toward our opponent. "Go, guys." He spoke. I watched as Iida kicked Stain in the stomach while Midoriya punched him in the face again. But, not long after impact, Stain snapped out of it and tried to lunge at Iida, which he avoided. 

"I will defeat you, Stain! Because you're a criminal!" Iida shouted as he kicked Stain again. "And I am a hero!"

"Don't let him get away!" Todoroki and I both used our fire at the same time, burning Stain and finally knocking him unconscious. Todoroki then used his ice to bring Iida and Midoriya back down again, still at the ready for a fight even though he was holding me. "Stand up! Keep fighting!"

"Easy, tiger, I'm pretty sure that last impact knocked him out." I told him.

"He's gotta be knocked out after all that... Right?" Izuku asked, sounding unsure. Todoroki sighed.

"Then let's restrain him and get him to the street. Maybe we can find some rope." Todoroki replied. 

"Yeah, and we should probably take all his weapons too."

"Good idea." Todoroki then looked at me. "Yagi, be honest, how long have you been injured like this?" He asked.

"Since before I even found Iida and Stain." I admitted.

"The villain that you defended me from..." Iida trailed off, looking horrified.

"Wait, what villain?" Izuku asked, looking at me.

"Before the explosions, we ran into Wendigo." I told him, not looking at any of my friends.

"You mean the same villain who..." Izuku trailed off, but I know what he wanted to say.

"Is that the villain that put your Mom in the hospital before she died?" Iida asked me. I nodded.

"Yeah, her wounds were deeper than mine, though." I answered. It was quiet as the Hero Killer has bound and all his blades were taken away from him. 

"Native, can you move?" Izuku asked as I finished using my healing tears on him.

"Yeah, I think I'm good as new now." Native answered as he hauled Midoriya onto his back.

"You sure?" He asked.

"I saw you hurt your leg back there. At least let me do this for you." Native said.

"Thank you very much." Izuku replied.

"I should be thanking you." That was when Native saw me. "You should use your healing tears on yourself too. I still can't believe you did all that wounded."

"They don't work on my own wounds." I shrugged a bit before healing what I could of Todoroki's wounds.

"You shouldn't be worrying about everyone else, Yagi, you're going to make your own wounds worse." Todoroki told me. I ignored him, trying to heal Iida's wounds as well, but my tears did nothing.

"Crap, my healing tears weren't able to do much for your injuries but stopping the bleeding, Iida." 

"It's all right." He told me.

"We're really lucky someone threw this in the dumpster." Todoroki said as he finished tying up Stain.

"Todoroki, I can drag him from here."

"Are you forgetting that Yagi couldn't heal your arms all the way? Your arms are still messed up." Todoroki reminded him. I forced myself to start walking by myself. "Yagi, you really shouldn't..."

"I'm fine." I waved him off.

"I have to apologize. I'm supposed to be a pro, but I was useless back there." Native apologized after a few minutes had gone by.

"No, I don't think any one person could take the Hero Killer on, not with that weird Quirk of his." Izuku told him. 

"He's too strong, the four of us barely won against him." I added.

"Even then, it was because of his own mistakes." Todoroki continued. "He was getting riled up and desperate and forgot all about Midoriya's quick recovery time. Then, he wasn't able to block Iida's last Recipro Burst or Midoriya's assault." At that point, we had gotten back to the main street.

"Right, let's get him to the police as fast as we can." Native replied.

"What are you doing here, boy?!" Oh shit, I know that voice... Sure enough, Gramps was across the street from us.

"Gran Torino!" Izuku gasped. Gran Torino, my Gramps, was an extremely short, elderly man with heavy wrinkles and a scrawny build. He had a light complexion, and brown eyes. His hair was grey and spiky, styled short with some bangs hanging forward and a trimmed beard. His hero costume consisted of a full-body monochrome suit along with a yellow cape, a belt with the letter "G" on it, very thick yellow gloves and boots, and a dark domino mask which resembles two diamonds. Apparently, in his younger days, his height rivaled Dad's in his hero form, but I knew him as the short, crotchety old man, but sweet with me when I was a kid. He used his Quirk to jump into the air. "I was just..." Before he could say anything else, Gramps kicked Izuku in the face.

"I thought I told you to stay on the bullet train!" Yep, he's pissed.

"Who's this?" Todoroki asked.

"Gran Torino, the hero I'm interning with." Izuku answered him. That was when Gran Torino saw me.

"Hey, Gramps." I sheepishly waved.

"You just have to be just like your mother, don't you? You realize your Dad's gonna have a heart attack when he finds out?" He told me.

"Gee, the thought never crossed my mind." I sarcastically quipped. "Of course I know he's going to freak out. How'd you find us anyway?" 

"I was told to come here by someone else. I have no idea what's going on, but I'm glad neither of you are dead, at least." Gramps looked from me to Midoriya.

"Me too, and I'm sorry." He apologized. Just then, more heroes arrived. 

"Around the corner!"

"Who's that?" Izuku asked.

"Endeavor told us there was a request for help here, but..."

"Children?"

"Those injuries look bad., I'll call an ambulance right away." One of the heroes gasped.

"Hey, look!" A female hero gasped in shock.

"Is that... The Hero Killer?!"

"What?" Gran Torino looked over too. Had he really not noticed Stain before?

"I'll get the police on the line."

"Can you walk?"

"If you prop me up, then, I think so." 

"Okay, and you?" 

"I only had minor injuries, and my friend healed them." Todoroki nodded toward me. "But her and Iida..." I noticed Iida walking over to them.

"Iida..." I went to talk to him, but the pain from the movement was too much.

"Whoa, kid, you're bleeding badly. The ambulance will be here soon, but until then..."

"You guys..." Iida got Izuku and Todoroki's attentions. He bowed once they were looking at him. "All three of you were hurt because of me. I'm truly sorry. I was just so angry, I couldn't see anything else."

"I'm sorry too, Iida. You were going through so much by yourself. But, I couldn't tell anything was wrong even though I'm your friend." Izuku apologized. I gently placed a hand on Iida's back to comfort him.

"Hey, pull yourself together. You're the class rep." Todoroki told him. Iida sniffed, wiping his eyes.

"Right." He replied. Thinking about it, the fight against Stain only took about ten minutes, even though for the four of us, it felt like forever. All of a sudden, something appeared in the sky.

"Get down!" Gran Torino yelled. The Nomu was headed straight for Izuku. Despite feeling dizzy, I managed to push him out of the way before I got grabbed, crying out in pain when the Nomu grabbed me around my waist, right where my injury from Wendigo was.

"Hino!" I heard Iida and Izuku exclaim as I struggled in its grasp.

"Let go of me!" I yelled, trying to use my flames to get it to let go, but it was no use. The thing was bleeding and for some reason, trying to escape with me. All of a sudden, the Nomu yelped and we started falling, the Nomu unable to move. 

"The word Hero has lost all meaning in this society. The world is overrun by fakes and criminals like you who chase petty dreams!" In a quick movement, Stain was up, free and the Nomu had a knife going through its brain and I was free. Stain had a hold on the back of my collar. "You all must be purged." I looked at him. How the hell? "Everything that I do..." He withdrew the knife from the Nomu. "Is to create a stronger society." 

"Did he just save that kid?"

"He took her hostage, idiot." 

"He killed that guy with no hesitation." 

"Everyone, be on your guard, we've got a fight on our hands!" 

"Why are you all standing around like fools?" And of course Endeavor chooses now of all times to show up. "The villain must have flown this way, right?"

"He took care of the rest?"

"Mostly, things got a little rough at the end. Hold on, don't tell me that man is..." Oh, now you notice the Hero Killer?!

"Let go of me already!" I told Stain. He panted before seeing the Flame Hero.

"Endeavor." He growled, his mask falling off to reveal that he had no nose. What the hell? 

"HERO KILLER!" Endeavor ignited a fireball in his hand. Is he seriously gonna try to burn Stain with me over here?!

"Wait, Todoroki!" Gran Torino called out to him, making him pause. Stain got up, letting go of me finally, but I could barely move apart from turning to make sure my friends were okay.

"YOU FALSE HERO! I'LL MAKE THIS RIGHT!" Everyone, including Endeavor, looked about as intimidated as I was by the Hero Killer. "These streets must run with the blood of hypocrites! HERO! I WILL RECLAIM THAT WORD! COME ON! JUST TRY AND STOP ME, YOU FAKES! THERE IS ONLY ONE MAN I'LL LET KILL ME! HE IS A TRUE HERO! ALL MIGHT IS WORTHY!" No too long after those words left his mouth, the knife slipped from his hand.

"I think... He's out cold." Endeavor spoke after a minute. I let myself relax, feeling like I could barely breathe. All three of my friends fell to the ground, but whether it was out of relief or fear of what happened, I had no idea. Later on, we had heard what happened. No Quirk stopped the Hero Killer. One of his broken ribs had pierced his lung. He hadn't managed to lick anyone's blood. But still, in that moment, I don't think anyone could move until the ambulance arrived, by which point, I had already passed out.

(Taglist: @iheartbarbie @qweenexplosionmurder13

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[senseibalance]

"ɪ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ɪ ꜱᴀɪᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ. . .ʟᴇᴛ ɢᴏ ᴏꜰ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴀɴɢᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱʜᴏᴡ ꜰᴏʀɢɪᴠᴇɴᴇꜱꜱ, ʙᴜᴛ, ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰɪɢʜᴛ ᴄᴏᴍᴇꜱ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ, ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ᴛᴏ ꜰɪɢʜᴛ ʙᴀᴄᴋ."

[runnning-outof-time]

I Did It Myself | Tommy Shelby x Reader

Request: no - written for @evita-shelby ‘s follower celebration

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x reader

Summary: (Y/N) has to take matters into her own hands after she gets taken by Luca Changretta.

Warnings: language, violence (typical to series), weapons, character death

Word Count: 3272

A/N: this was so very fun to write ... I tried my hand at writing a character in the tune of your lovely OC, Eva, although I still think that Eva is still more badass. Congrats on your amazing milestone @evita-shelby !! Enjoy! :)

I’D LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! - YOUR COMMENTS & REBLOGS HELP ME WRITE!

Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future stories similar to this one!

(Y/N) had had enough. It had been weeks now and the Shelby family was still stuck in Small Heath. The war with the Changretta family was still raging on, and it seemed as if it had no clear end in sight. Even though Tommy had managed to kill three of his men, Luca himself was still alive, which meant danger was still imminent. This also meant that (Y/N) still had to be sequestered in her old Watery Lane home. And she hated it.

Tommy insisted that she only leave the premises to either go to see Linda, Polly, or Ada, who were occupying other houses on Watery Lane. It wasn't safe for her to leave the confines of that street...he reminded her of that daily.

But going from doing so much at Arrow House to doing practically nothing in Small Heath was incredibly hard for her to adapt to. She often looked forward to when it was time to cook meals, which was surprising because she hated cooking. There was nothing else to do, though.

Today, however, (Y/N) had something planned. Instead of sitting inside and watching the world go by through a window, she was going to go out and enjoy herself. What would she do? She didn't quite know yet. But what she did know was she wanted to get as far away from Watery Lane as possible while still being within the Small Heath protection limits. Tommy left early in the morning. He was spending most of his time over at Charlie's yard; planning with his brothers and the other men, or working on perfecting his gin recipe...which was still a little too sweet for (Y/N)'s liking.

She waited until mid-day to go out on her own, after making sure that she looked presentable, of course. This was the first time in weeks that she had a reason to wear something other than a house dress, and she surely was going to make the most of it.

The Lane was quiet; people were either off at work or content inside their house. This benefitted (Y/N), because it meant that she didn't have anyone who would be going to her husband with the intent of telling on her. Everything seemed to be going to plan.

The first place she went was to a café that sat just two streets over. She got herself some tea and some pastries, happy to be eating something other than her own bland cooking. After sitting and enjoying herself there, she continued on down a few more streets until she made it to her favorite consignment store in the city. Dolly's as it was called, was run by an elderly woman who, you guessed it, went by the name Dolly. She was always very friendly and happy to see her repeat customers. She and (Y/N) had developed a sturdy relationship over all of the times that the younger woman had visited the shop.

"(Y/N)!" Dolly cheered as (Y/N) walked through the door.

"How are you, Ms. Dolly?" (Y/N) asked with a wide smile, happy to see some familiar faces after being alone for so long, "it's been a while, hasn't it?"

"It most certainly has," the other woman agreed with her, "I've been getting by. How have you been?" she then flipped the question back onto (Y/N), who had finally reached the counter.

"Oh, I've been fine," (Y/N) answered, letting out a slight sigh. "Things have been a bit hectic since Tommy's been dealing with a...a problem with the company, but we've been alright," she then disclosed, unsure of how much detail to go into.

Dolly's facial expression told her that she already knew more than what was just said to her. "Oh, yes...I've heard," she responded in a voice that clearly showed her shock of the situation, "those Shelby boys'll figure it out though...they always do," she finished her statement with some assuring words, which made (Y/N) smile. It was evident that the whole of Small Heath was still rallying behind the Shelby family, and that alone made (Y/N) feel proud.

"Here's hoping," (Y/N) said, nodding her head slightly before Dolly allowed her to go and peruse the wares that had been on display.

After finding two small jewelry pieces that she liked, (Y/N) made her way back over to the register. "Find anything special?" Dolly asked as the younger woman sat the items down on the counter.

"Just these two little things," (Y/N) responded as she pulled the correct amount of billnotes out of her purse, "I think they'll fit well with several of the dresses I have back at home."

"They're lovely pieces. You have such magnificent taste, (Y/N)," Dolly praised her, her kind words making (Y/N) smile slightly.

"Thank you, Dolly," the younger woman smiled before she pulled two more notes out of her purse and slipped them over to her. "For being a familiar face," she said, sending the older lady a wink.

"Thank you, darling," Dolly smiled widely, "take care now," she said her goodbye as (Y/N) turned and made her way back to the door of the shop.

She made her way back onto the street, deciding that she would walk even further from home and maybe sit on a bench at the park for a while. It was a beautiful day out...she was going to make the most of it.

She'd only gotten about a block down the road when someone called out to her: "it's rather brave of you to be out walking alone considering everything that's going on, Mrs. Shelby." It was a man, and his voice was coming from the passenger's side of the car that had slowed down next to her.

"I'm doing fine, thank you," she responded, barely glancing in their direction as she continued walking. She hoped that her disinterest in having a conversation would make them keep driving...although she couldn't quite shake her suspicions behind their reaching out. He spoke in an unfamiliar accent.

"Let us drive you home. Get you some place safe again," the guy called again as he continued to coast down the road alongside her.

"I said I'm fine," (Y/N) repeated her previous answer, stressing her words a bit more now.

"I don't think you picked up on it...this isn't up for your choice," he continued on, his voice dropping slightly.

"I said I'm ok," (Y/N) continued on with her insisting, stopping so that she could finally look at the man.

"Get in the fucking car," another man's voice came out of nowhere beside her, and the slightest glance in his direction made (Y/N) realize that he was holding a gun.

“Do you know who you’re messing with?” she asked, still standing her ground.

The men were persistent though. “We know exactly who you are, and that’s why you’re coming with us. So get in the fucking car,” the one standing beside her said as he then grabbed her arm and began walking her to the car’s rear door. She should have screamed...she knew she should have, but nothing would come out. So she gave in to their demands and got into the car. She’d have to fool them if she wanted to get herself out of this situation.

Some time later, the car pulled into the back lot of a hotel building. (Y/N) wondered how they were able to make it this far without being detected, but still managed to keep up her act. If things were going to go the way she was hoping, she’d have to make these men think that she was helpless and like putty in their hands.

Soon enough, she was sitting in a chair in an otherwise empty room. There was nothing physically holding her to the chair; the two men who brought her there were standing on either side of her. Her plan was definitely going as she’d hoped it to.

Not after long, the man, who up until this point she’d only heard about, entered the room. Luca Changretta. He was donning a rather nicely tailored three piece suit, and he had a cocky smirk on his face. Surely he felt like he had the upper hand in this whole feud now.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” he asked as he came closer to where (Y/N) was sitting. “(Y/N) Shelby...what a pleasure it is to meet you. I see you haven’t been following your husband’s orders of staying off the streets,” he continued, tutting at her wrong doings.

“My husband isn’t in charge of what I do in my own time,” she snapped back at him, feeling annoyed at the fact that she was expected to do as Tommy said and not bat an eyelash.

“Oh, he’s not...but what you’ve decided to do with your own time is now going to kill him,” Luca stated, his words making (Y/N)’s eyes widen slightly. He only laughed at the reaction he’d caused. “You thought that we took you to kill you? No, sweetheart...we want to end this thing once and for all, and you’re going to be the one that brings him to us.”

(Y/N) felt her stomach drop at his words, and at once, the severity of the situation kicked in. She hadn’t thought of this possibility...that Luca would use her as bait to bring Tommy in, and she kicked herself for that. “You can’t possibly fool him like that,” she tried to defy him, hoping that her true emotions wouldn’t show.

“We’re surely going to try,” Luca was still grinning.

The door to the room opened before anything else could be said. “Mr. Changretta, Mr. Solomons is on the phone for you,” the man announced, making Luca finally look away from (Y/N).

“I’ll be right in for it,” Luca answered the man, who then left the room, before he turned back to (Y/N) and the help he had standing on either side of her. “Watch her, huh? This call shouldn’t take long,” he addressed the men before looking at the woman, “and you, think of what you’ll say to your husband...it’ll be the last time you speak to him.”

With that, Luca left the room. (Y/N) glanced up at the guards before she stared straight ahead at the door of the room. She couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling bubbling up in her stomach. There was a way out of this...she knew that much. But what it was wasn’t so clear to her yet. Yet.

Like Luca had said, it wasn’t long before he returned to the room. The cocky smirk was still apparent on his face as he came to a stop in front of (Y/N). “Our second option still needs some convincing, but we may not need it thanks to this darling right here,” he told his men before looking down at (Y/N), “have you decided what you’ll be saying?” he asked her then, his one eyebrow quirked.

“I have,” she kept her response short, nodding her head as she swallowed thickly.

“Good,” Luca nodded before snapping his fingers at the man on the left, “bring in the phone,” he ordered. The man nodded, leaving the room before hurrying back in with the phone in his hands, its chord trailing behind him. It only took a few seconds before Luca was talking with the receiver up to his ear. “Mr. Shelby...thank you for answering my call. I have someone here that wants to talk to you,” he said, his grin growing as he handed the receiver over to (Y/N). ‘Speak’ he mouthed to her.

“Hi...hi, Tommy,” she said, hating how shaky her voice was. At least it helped play into her charade.

“(Y/N)?” Tommy sounded extremely confused, “(Y/N), why are you with Luca Changretta?”

“His men found me. They brought me to where he’s staying. I’ll tell you where it is in a moment, but you need to come get me,” she said, speaking slowly as a way to try and keep her nerves down.

“I’ll come get you. Yeah, I’ll get you and then I’ll put a bullet in that fucker’s brains for thinking he could lay a hand on me wife,” Tommy responded with anger in his voice. She didn’t need to see him to tell how worked up he was getting. She took a deep breath to keep herself calm.

“Just come get me, ok?”

“I will. What’s the address, (Y/N)?” Tommy almost immediately insisted.

“It’s the one on Drinker Street,” she answered, not being too specific. Before Tommy was able to comment on that, she continued: “don’t forget to put the tea on before you leave...I might want some when I come home.”

Tommy froze after hearing her words. That was their sentence. The code they made up for ‘stay in place and I’ll get myself out of this’ so many years ago. Her tone was serious, so he knew he had to believe her. He had to stay back and hope that she’d be able to get herself out of this. “Ok,” he said as he exhaled a breath, “I’ll put the tea on and then I’ll come get you,” he played along just in case the lines were bugged. He knew that (Y/N) would understand what he was saying though. He wouldn’t be leaving his spot until he heard from her again.

“Ok. I love you, Tommy,” she added to make the situation more believable before the phone line went dead and the conversation ended. “He’s on his way,” she told Luca in a monotone voice, her words making his grin grow.

“Perfect,” he said, snapping his fingers at one of the guards before waving for the man to follow him out of the room. The man obliged, leaving (Y/N) in the room with the other guard.

“You realize you’ve just sent your husband to the slaughter,” the guard spoke up once the door shut, a similar cocky grin on his face.

“I do, and I’d like you to not mention it again,” she snapped, taking a deep breath then to try and control her emotions. She was going to need to be calm and collected if she wanted this plan she’d thought up to go as planned. A long period of silence went by before (Y/N) cleared her throat and spoke up again: “could you please give me my purse at least. My throat’s dry and I need a lozenge,” she made her ask believable by clearing her throat again.

The man let out a huff but pushed himself off of the wall and made his way to the table that stood on the other side of the room. (Y/N) watched him carefully, grinning internally at the fact that her plan was going off without a hitch. Dumb man, she thought to herself as the guard grabbed the purse and brought it to her. “Here you go,” he said, extending it to her.

She accepted it and made it seem as though she was rummaging through it for a few moments. Then, in one swift motion, she grabbed the knife that she always kept in the bag’s bottom. She then stood up and took a few steps towards the man who was still retreating back to his original spot. She wrapped her one arm around him to stop his movements before swinging the other arm around so that she’d be able to plunge the knife into his chest. The man yelped, but (Y/N) quickly silenced him, pushing him against the wall and bringing her hand up to cover his mouth before she began repeatedly plunging the knife into his chest. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, repeating the motion a few more times for good measure before leaving the weapon stuck in his chest for good. The man’s eyes widened and dulled as she then stepped back from him, allowing him to slump lifelessly to the ground.

After taking a deep breath to contain herself, she wiped the splattered blood off of her face and then quietly walked towards the door. Opening it ever so slowly, she then peeked her head out to see that the larger room of the suite was indeed empty. She shook her head and grinned, realizing that her plan had worked out perfectly. There surely wasn’t an inkling in their minds that she could manage to escape. So she quickly managed to make her way down the side fire escape, moving as quietly as possible to get down to the ground from the third floor.

The sun was starting to set at this point, which made it easier for (Y/N) to slip into the alleyways that she knew like the back of her hand. Soon enough, she was making her way back onto Watery Lane.

She knocked on the door of her and Tommy’s home gently and waited for someone to come to it. A good bit of time had passed since she made the call to her husband, so she hoped that he’d returned to the house for the night.

Her hopes were answered moments later when the door swung open to reveal a very worried looking Tommy. “(Y/N),” he breathed, exhaling a sigh of relief as his eyes swept over his wife; who was covered in splattered blood. “You’re back...you’re ok,” he said, then taking her arms into his hands so that he could bring her in closer to him. “Are you ok?” he flipped the second part of his original statement into a question.

“I’m fine,” (Y/N) answered, a dejected look in her eyes. She had had a long day and was more than ready for a warm bath and sleep.

“What about Luca? What about the men? Did you inflict any casualties?” he asked, his eyes still slightly frantic.

“I killed the man that was guarding me. There was no one else left in the hotel room when I left,” she explained to him, internally hating to he was now putting her through a questioning session.

“I’ll have men watching over you now...now that Luca’s realized that his plan didn’t go the way he wanted,” he assured her, but (Y/N) shook her head.

“No, Tommy. I don’t need men. I’m fine by myself, because I did all of that myself. There’s nothing your men can do that I can’t,” she told him, putting her foot down on the situation before she was finally able to begin walking to the stairs in the house. Before she was on the second floor, she stopped, “oh...Alfie Solomons called Luca while I was there. They’re concocting some sort of plan,” she informed him as she twisted back to look at him.

“No,” was all he said in response, a look of disbelief on his face. There was no way that Alfie would go behind his back again...not after what happened to him and his son.

“Yes,” (Y/N) insisted, nodding for an additional effect. “Believe me, or not...I don’t care at the moment. I’m going to go take a bath, see that Charlie is sleeping, and go to bed. I’ve had enough of everything for today,” she said, letting out a long sigh before she turned around again and continued up the steps to go and do just that.

Tagged: @alreadybroken-ts @mgcllovdrms @the-anxious-youth @cloudofdisney @look-at-the-soul @golden-hoax @elenavampire21 @peaky-cillian @mrsalwayswrite @julkaamazing @evita-shelby @lilyrachelcassidy @notyour-valentine @easilyobessedbutflighty @shelbydelrey @december16-1991 @onlydeadcells @peakyswritings @just-a-blackhole @watercolorskyy @strayrockette @peakyduchesss @alexxavicry @captivatedbycillianmurphy @yummycastiel @dark-academia-slut @tommystargirl @stevie75 @lyarr24 @signorellisantichrist @zablife @sunsetmourners @anotherblinder @midnightmagpiemama @cillmequick

MASTERLIST

[that-one-weeb-buts-its-the-main]

Can i have caitlyn fluff/dating hcs ? :)

Caitlyn Dating Headcannons

Reader: Gender Neutral

Note: can you guys please put gn, male, fem ect when you request please? Just makes things easier and please if you want me to write something put it in the ask box not the comments thanks

Arcane Masterlist ♡♡ Heres the Dump

From a young age you guys saw each other and she was determined to be your friend

Viktor being dad/older brother (idk why it just seems cute and am gonna write my own fanfic about it-)

"Dad! Who's that!" "I don't know. Why don't you go ask? Hm? And you can tell me all about it when you come back for dinner"

For a while you could only talk through the gate with her

You would tell her about the Lanes as much as she asked, until you were either chased away, or had to leave for dinner.

Would tell Viktor all about it during dinner, oh he knew you were gonna develop a crush

And you did

As you both grew up Caitlyn studied to become and enforcer, you an scientist

You guys were at each others graduation ceremonies

Oh the crush just kept growing and growing and growing, on both sides

Viktor would tease you about it

You did confess to her eventually, no flowers, no fancy gift, just a friendship bracelet you had made.

"It's not much...I know..I-" "it's perfect"

Officially dating

Telling Viktor he ask when the wedding is

Her parents dont approve: oh well

And then you had to have dinner with her family as a "good and respectful omen"

Drabble:

"So...Viktor. is your father...."

"in a sense yes ma'm. I too like him are from the Lanes. He found me and has taken care of me ever since." Y/n answered respectfully both Caitlyn and them holding hands under the desk.

"Ah...the lanes..." Caitlyn's mother spoke, "Grim, and uh...Grimey."

"Mom!" Caitlyn argued.

"It's quiet comfortable. Well... if you can get comfortable. I grew up in it, it'll forever be home." Y/n responded taking a sip of tea.

"Yes. But uh. It's dirty." Her father explained.

"The dirt dosen't bother me. I think bloods alot more common than dirt down there though." Y/n spoke

"Uh...huh..."

Caitlyn constantly apologizes to you after the dinner, you tell her its fine

Dinner at your and Viktor place is much more calmming, and fun too

Monopoly after dinner and icecream

Ah young Love

Running around the city during the night, especially at night festivals

Even as she grew and grew she wanted to know more and more about the Lanes

You'd guys sit on the roofs and look out into the sky, while you told her bout the Lanes, now Zaun

She loved to listen to your stories either they be in the lab or in the Lanes

Hand holding and dragging when excited about something and wanting to show the other

Side hobbies of yours include ecology and random research

"I JUST MADE A BREAK THROUGH!" "Y/n? Its 7 in the morin..." "I KNOW HOW TO GET PURE CLEAN WATER TO THE UNDERGROUND-" "WHAT?!- THATS AMAZING!"

Always at each others award ceremonies,

You're a bit more dramatic in general than here so giving her massive hugs and swinging her around especially when she gets an award is like 110% going to happen

Cheek kisses when she leaves you to go to work or when she leaves you in the lab

"So dad-" "no' "i didn't even finish" "you can't blow anything up" "damn it- thats not the question"

Asked him to help you make a promise ring for Caitlyn

You forsure wanted to ask her to marry you but knew you were just too busy at the moment.

She loved it, scared she'll break it she wears it on a necklace instead of her fingers

When you asked her why she said it means your even closer to her heart when your not around

Sleeping in on off days

Sleeping in on days your both suppose to be up early

End up moving in together

Breakfast in bed atleast once a week with each other.

Reading in each others arms

Just like Vi, you'd loose each other in the store super easy

Dancing in the rain

Matching-ish suits/pant suits for formal events, you've always gotta wear some crazy werid tie

She likes fixing your tie, it makes both you laugh for some reason

Best couple periodt

"What about a kid?" "A kid?" "Yeah like adopting." "I dont think I'd mind that all to much"

Ya'll would be the best parents ever periodt

[smoooothoperator]

Stronger(Lando Norris)

a/n: a little Sochi GP imagine... just to get it put of the heart. If you want more imagine like this let me know

The week started nice, a little bit rainy, but nice. We arrived at the airport early, so he bought us two coffees while we waited for the plane and the rest of the crew.

"Are you nervous?" Inasked him looking how his leg started to bounce while we were sitting. "Why do you think so?". "Lando, please. I know you". He sighed and looked at the floor, bitting his lip and then looking at me. "There's a lot of rain in Sochi. I used to be exited with rainy races, even the fans loved them. But... since Spa...". "You are afraid after the crash". He nodded with his head and looked again at the floor. "Hey, it's alright. Now the FIA knows what to do, I hope so. But don't be worried"

That was the start of the race week. He was worried. I was worried. Everybody were worried. When we arrived at the hotel the first thing I did was stare out of the window, looking the rain drops making their own race to see which one arrive at the bottom of the glass first. Lando lid on out bed, looking at the ceiling and sighing nervous.

"It's going to be the best race week. I swear it" I whispered, looking at him and walking near the bed and sitting on it, putting my hand on Lando's chest. He took my hand and squeezed it, sighing and then looking at me. "Come on, love. You have to go to the track"

He stood up and packed his backpack with his and mine things and grabbed my hand walking out of the room. We greeted everyone who wavef to us and stepped into the rented car, driving to the Sochi Autodrom. Kym saw us and took some photos of us arriving to the paddock, with our hands intertwined and smiling to each other. Charlotte and Jon saw us walking into the McLaren motorhome and they hugged me.

"He is a little nervous, I'll try my best to keep him calm, but I don't promise if it will work" I whispered into their ears.

Lando attended to the meeting with his engineers and mechanics and he did some interviews with Daniel. The first day was relaxed, nothing to worried about.

But the next days were a rollercoaster. The morning started with Lando looking at the street through the window, biting his lips at the sight of the rain. The practices were nice, he didn't complained about the rain or the wet track.

He was doing fine.

And then on Saturday, when they announced that the practice of the morning was cancelled he lost his mind. He closed himself of his driver room, meditating and calming himself by his own.

"Don't worry, Y/N. I think he will have a nice qualifying" Jon said when he saw that I was looking at the door of Lando's room.

Then he opened the door and walked to me, hugging me and kissing my lips with a smile.

"Thank you for being here" he whispered and then ran to the garage.

I watched the quali on the motorhome. I watched Lando getting the pole position. I watched how he opened the door and ran to me, wrapping his arms on my waist and pulling me into him. I laughed with him, celebrated his first pole and enjoyed watching his smile the whole day.

Then the race day came.

It started as well as expected. He woke me up hugging me and kissing my naked shoulder m, cuddled my a little while and woke up exited. The nerves of the previous days disappeared and were replaced by a permanent smile.

"You were right, darling. This is going to be the race of the season" he kissed my cheek before putting his helmet on and walked out of the garage.

I watched the race on his box, with Jon and Charlotte by my side. We exclaimed happy when he started to lead the race and fought to keep his position, when he got the fastest lap, when he leaded the race again.

But then the rain came back. At the start it was light, barely detectable. But then it was getting worse.

"Fuck" Jon groaned.

We saw the screen and they announced that all the drivers were changing their tyres. But when they said to Lando that he should change them...

"NO! SHUT UP!"

I jumped surprised by his scream. The garage was quiet, looking at the screens desperately. Charlotte and I grabbed our hands nervous, looking slowly how the mood on the box was getting worse.

And then he lost the control. He lost tho control of his car and slipped out of the track. I gasped, seeing how Hamilton took his position, watching how Lando tried to came to the pit lane, how his mechanics changed the tyres. Watching in complete silence how he crossed the finish line.

The garage at this moment was a scary place. No one was moving, talking or blinking. All of us were watching how he crossed the line the eighth.

"Oh my god, Lando"

He stayed some minutes on the car, we saw it. He didn't want to get out of.it, even this engineer reminded him of turning it off. George came to check on him, and I thanked him mentally. He got put of his car and ran with his helmet still on his head to congratulate Hamilton, hugging him without saying anything.

"I'll go see how he is" I whispered.

Charlotte nodded speechless

I waled through the paddock trying to contain my tears, feeling my breath getting heavier, and walked into the building. Everyone there were quiet, and when I saw Steve looking at the screen of his camera I walked near him.

"Where is Lando?". "He... he closed himself on his room. I tried to speak with him but he was quiet all the way here. Go talk to him, Y/N, you are the oy one that can do something".

I nodded and walked uo the stairs, standing in front of his door and knocking at it with hesitation. I didn't hear nothing from inside, so I opened the door slowly and look for him. He was standing there, in the middle of the room with his helmet on his head.

"Oh, my love" I sighed walking to him, but he took a step back. "I don't want you to see me like this" he whispered with shaky voice.

I bite my lip and placed my hands on his helmet, searching for his eyes. I know he cried. And he had the rights to do it. I kissed his helmet and pulled it off of his head slowly. His hair was a mess and his eyes were red.

"Baby" I sighed and put my hand on his cheek, tracing the line the helped left there. His closed his eyes hard, trying to erase the tears that are trying to escape. "You can do it, baby. I am here"

That was what he needed. He wrapped his arms around me and hide his face on my neck, and immediately his body started to shake with sobs. I walked slowly back and he followed me without letting me go, and lied on his bed.

"It's ok, it's ok. I got you"

He continued crying on my neck and I had to bit hard my lips to not cry. The door opened slowly and Charlotte's head appeared, but when she saw Lando curled against me and his body shaking with silent sobs, she smiled and closed it again.

"It hurts so much". "I know, honey. But your time will come. And soon. You were made to be a champion. What happened today was a demonstration that you can keep Hamilton looking at your ass for a long time"

I tried my best to make him smile. And he did it. I felt his lips smiling on my skin.

"Just be patient. Keep training. Keep fighting. What you did today was a mistake. But everyone does mistakes. Schumacher, Senna, Hamilton... but they learned from them. What you learned from today is that you have to trust your engineers, listen to your team. They do the best for you, they want you to win. And I hope you apologized to then because you screamed to them". "I did before coming here". "Good. Now, change your clothes, clean your face and show me one of your smiles"

He looked at me, tired and with puffy eyes. I pressed my lips on his and ofelt how he smiled.

"Smile, baby. Show them that you are strong, that you have the most beautiful smile even if your heart hurts like hell. I'll be there by your side like always". "I love you so much" he sighed and a little tear ran out of his eye. "I love you too, babe"

I walked behind him and when we saw Charlotte she gave me her recorder, smiling and nodding to me. I thanked her and grabbed Lando's hand, showing him the recorder and letting him know that I'll be by his side. He went to the interviews nervous, trying to not cry, and when he was trying to do it y squeezed his hand.

"Y/N" I heard Carlos on my back and turned around.

Lando was doing an interview alone, so I checked on him one last time and walked to the Spanish driver. When I was in front of him, he hugged me.

"Thank you so much for taking care of him. I was so worried that he closed himself and ran to the hotel instead doing the interviews" he whispered on my ear. "It's okay. And congratulations for the podium". "I would have enjoyed better if Lando was on top and I was second... it was our dream"

I smiled ti him and he walked to another interview. I saw George and called him, running to him and hugging him.

"This is for checking on him before" I thanked him and walked away hearing him laugh.

The next driver I shared a hig with was Daniel, who walked to us when we were coming back to the motorhome. He first hugged Lando, whispering something to him and then he hugged me.

"You are the best for him. You are his world. Thank you for looking after him, he deserves it". I smiled and tightened the hug a little bit more. "You finally bonded and I'm so happy for you, Daniel. He sees you as his big brother and his so happy to help you"

Daniel kissed my forehead and walked away, Lando and I watching how he greeted everyone.

"Let's go home, baby" he sighed, grabbing my hand and kissing it.

[dragon-kazansky]

Dangerous | Helmut Zemo

AU! Race car driver Zemo 😎

Gender neutral reader

Collage by @realremyd

[Masterlist]

[Previous chapter] - [Next chapter]

Part 2

Race day. The whole track was buzzing with excitement. Over the last two weeks, Zemo had been working hard and improving his car. Between all that, he was thinking about you.

It was strange how someone you met once, and hardly knew, made such an impact on your life. He wondered if you got the ticket. Would you even come?

He stood by his car. People had come to see him, but his eyes were only looking for one person. You had yet to make an appearance. Disappointment hung heavy in his chest.

Tony Stark stood across the way from him. He was chatting to his fans, smiling smugly and relishing in all the attention he was receiving.

If Zemo knew one thing, he wasn't going to let Stark win today. He glares at him as he takes a seat. He sighs. He had hoped you would have come. The thought of you helps cool his thoughts of the other driver.

It won't be long until they are called to the starting lane.

Zemo gets up and grabs his helmet, thinking to make a few last minute checks before they're needed. He would deal with the fact you were a once in a lifetime meeting and get on with the day. The disappointed had settled hard.

He turns his back and was about to make his way to his crew when a voice stopped him.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

He turns around quickly, relieved at the sound of your voice. He grins when his eyes land on you.

"You did, but you're here now. Though, I think you owe me for keeping me waiting."

You smile. "I'm sorry. Getting here was a hassle. I was worried I was going miss the race entirely."

He couldn't stop smiling.

"I'm glad you made it."

The cheering behind you caught your attention. You turned to see Stark climbing into his car. The crowd around him was being asked to disperse.

"I won't let him win today."

You turn to see Zemo looking at you, completely ignoring what's happening behind you.

"He really riles you up, doesn't he?"

"How could you tell?" He asked, not meaning for a reply, but surprised by your response a the same.

"You're clenching your fists and jaw. Is he, like, your enemy?"

Zemo gives a heartless chuckle.

"Something like that."

You stepped closer to him and smiled softly. This closely, he could smell the fragrance you had put on today. You leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"A good luck charm. I'll be cheering for you."

You're not sure where your bravery had come from, but you wanted to do something to get his mind off Stark. He looked a little surprised, but he looked more smug than that.

"My own little good luck charm? Perhaps things will be different today."

You smile as you step back. The drivers are being called to the start line. Zemo doesn't quite want to leave you yet, but duty calls.

"That's your stand," he says, pointing to the seating area above him. "I'll be back here when the race ends, meet me."

"Alright."

Zemo has someone help you up to your seat in the stands. He gets into his car as you go, looking up once before driving his car over to the start.

You don't take your eyes off his car.

That tense atmosphere seems to fall over the whole racetrack. It was just like last time. Only there was something more here for you. You were here for Zemo this time, at his request.

The silence was thick. All you could hear was your breathing, and then that beautiful sound. Those engines revving. It was as if at that moment you forgot how to breathe.

They were off.

You were already clutching your seat.

You had a little bit of research on Helmut Zemo. He had won a couple of races before, but had never beaten Tony Stark. There was a rivalry there. This had been going on a few months. Zemo was insistent on beating him at least once.

Maybe, just maybe, today will be that day.

Your eyes flick to the screen where the cars will be picked up now they're out of sight. You can feel your stomach dropping as you watch eagerly. Zemo and Stark are once again locked in battle with each other. They are ready so far ahead of the others and you wonder how they do that so fast. You bite your lip as you watch the purple car.

This would mean so much to Zemo if he beat Stark. It would put Tony down a few notches, maybe then he wouldn't be so high and mighty.

You have no idea what happened. It was as if you suddenly zoned back in to the race. Attention brought back to the screen at the sound of screeching tyres.

You tense up.

Luckily no damage had been done, but both Stark and Zemo had spiralled out of control, both cars now facing the wrong way. You could see them on the screen.

The others will catch up soon. They don't have much time to keep their places if they're going to get back into the race.

Stark's car sparks to life. You feel your heart drop as he takes off again.

Zemo cannot get his car to start again.

Banging his hand against the steering wheel he glares after Stark. Another race he will not win. No doubt Tony will have something to say later.

You can only watch as Helmut climbs put of his car and walks off the tracks. All the other cars speed past him. His car won't be crossing the finishing line today.

You don't care about the rest of the race, you leave tour seat and hurry down to the barricade. You would wait for Zemo like you said you would.

He doesn't return to the stop until the race is over, Stark's name being hollered from every direction. He comes over with a hard look on his face, jaw clenched in anger. His helmet was in his hand, hair slightly messy from it's removal.

He stalks over to where you are waiting. He doesn't even look at you as he drops the helmet and sits down, head in his hands.

"Zemo?"

He doesn't say anything. He just sits there and sighs. Your lucky kiss didn't bring him much luck.

There was no way you could be impressed with his skills after that. He had wanted to impress you today. He had wanted to cross that finish line for you. He failed.

He swears it's Stark's fault they collided like that. Now his team had to go fetch the abandoned car and fix it.

One day. One day he would beat that man.

"Zemo?"

He lowers his hands and turns his head to the side, looking at you with gentle eyes. He has a little smile on his face, but you could tell he was utterly defeated.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" You ask, confused by the sudden apology.

"For wasting my lucky charm."

You chuckle softly and sit down on the tarmac by his chair.

"It's not a big deal. I'm just glad you're alright. I know how dangerous this can be."

He nods. People can die in this job.

"You have been doing some research?"

"Yes. I wanted to understand your world better." You look down sheepishly. It felt strange confessing that to him.

"My world is fast," he says, voice dropping in volume.

You both ignore the cheering happening in the distance. Tony was receiving his reward as his team parks his car opposite you.

"I like the fast lane, I found out. I'd like to stay in it a little longer."

Zemo's gaze landed on you.

"Would you like to join me for a drink?" He asks, wanting to take his mind off the race.

"I would love to," you smile up at him.

"Wait for me by the gate, I'll pick you up once I've changed."

You nod and stand up. You make your way to the exit of the racetrack, waiting by the gate. Zemo goes to get out of his racing gear.

As you wait, Stark makes his exit. He spots you, grinning.

"Waiting for someone?"

"Yes," you reply curtly.

"You're wasting your time on him. You know that? Not only is he a danger on the track, but off it too." Tony peered at you over his shades, "consider that a warning."

"I think I can judge him for myself, but thank you."

Tony shrugs and drives off.

The nerve of that man! Granted, he didn't sound he meant ill feelings as he said it, but that fact he even felt the need to say that angered you. Sure, you hadn't known Zemo all that well, and everything you did know you got off the internet, but you felt more than capable to make a judgement yourself.

Tony was out of sight now.

You turned when you heard another car approach. It was a different one from the one he had two weeks ago. You smile as he pulls up in front of you. You climb in.

Zemo drives you both away from the track.

"What happened to the race car?"

"My crew will take it back and look at the damage. I'll check in with them tomorrow. I have some changes to make to it."

"What happens now? I mean, since you didn't cross the line," you ask, wanting to know more.

"I'll be set back a bit, but I'll overcome it. One day I will beat Stark. His winning streak will have to end at some point, and I would very much like to do it before the racing season ends."

"How long do you have?"

"There are three more races before the season ends."

"I believe in you."

For some reason those words set off something inside of him. He glances at you briefly as a smile spreads across his face. Perhaps it was fate that brought you to him. He would like to think that.

Zemo knee exactly where to take you. A good quiet place for drinks.

The bar was nice. Nothing flashy or loud, just a casual place for drinks. Zemo and yourself sat in the back, out of immediate eyesight of everyone else. He wanted to spend this time with you, and only you.

"What else did you learn in your research?" He asks, wanting to kick off the conversation.

"You've only been racing a handful of years, only being racing professional a few months, and yet you're super talented on the track. I had to look up some of the racers, most of which have been racing professionally for years. Yet, you're up there with them," you say, sounding impressed.

"I'm good at what I do, no doubt about that."

"How did you get into racing?"

"I love cars. Back home, I have a collection of classic models. You have only seen two of the cars I own. One day I decided to give racing a go. The thrill that runs through your veins when you're speeding around that track, it is unlike anything I've ever felt before. Adrenaline takes over once your foot is on the pedal. All you see is the track ahead."

You smile as you listen.

"I could get used to going to races."

Zemo looks at you with soft eyes, a smile tugging at his lips.

"I would very much like it if you would."

"I can't guarantee I can be at them all. I have to work too. My job isn't nearly as cool as yours though."

"How about this, for every race you come watch, I take you out for drinks after," he offered.

"Are you... asking me out?"

"Only if you attend the races," he states.

You look down at your drink.

"I'll see what I can do, I suppose."

He chuckles, "I'll take it."

"So, there's only three races left, right?"

"Yes," he confirms.

"You have to win all three to beat Stark this season?"

"Yes."

"Can you do it?"

Zemo looks at you with focused eyes. His lips pulled into a smug grin.

"I'm going to do it."

"When is the next race?"

"Two weeks. They are two weeks apart each."

"Right." You read that online. "What's the plan from here. How do you spend the time between races?"

"Improving. Tomorrow I will meet with my crew and see the damages done to my car. I will do whatever I have to do to get it back in top form. I will improve it and test it. Over and over if I have to. I will beat Stark."

You smile.

"I know you can do it. You can."

"Well, if you keep saying it, then I know I can too," he winks at you. You chuckle and try to hide your smile by sipping your drink.

This was nice. You would get to do this again as long as you attended the rest of the races. You made a silent promise to do whatever you could to attend the remaining races. Work be damned!

When you finished your drink, Zemo drove you back to your hotel. Much like last time, you both lingered in the car before you went inside.

"Would you like to come to the garage tomorrow? I could show you what we do behind the scenes," he offers. If he was being genuinely honest, be just wanted to spend more time with you.

"Sure. I'm free tomorrow, but then I'll have to catch the next train home."

"I'm honoured you went to all the trouble to come see me race again," he smiled.

"You invited me. I wasn't going to pass up the chance to see you again," you blurted out.

You sit there in shock. Zemo looks extremely proud and smug.

"I mean-"

"No, no. Don't say any more," he laughs.

You're a blushing mess as you climb put of his car.

"See you tomorrow then?"

You just nod and head inside, embarrassed beyond belief. You can't believe you said that.

Zemo drives away with a smile.

@ajeff855 @moonstuffsteve @sky-writes-stuff @lieutenantn @lostghostgirl94 @friday18eo @yaskna @my-blood-is-maple-syrup @gingerwriter97 @lunamooney2406 @wilder-fangirl @nectav @whovianayesha @thesuitkovian @cathrin2405 @deathtothepatriarchy @belle82devart @dxrksxul06 @killeromanoff @alex-the-nb

[starbuckie]

𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬

challenge: winter warmers writing challenge by @spaceodditybarnes

prompt: “it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas” by michael buble

pairing: bucky barnes x reader

words: 2k without lyrics, 2.1k with lyrics

warnings: i genuinely don’t think i can say anything besides FLUFF, oh wait theres some mentions of the shmexy sex (i promise im a functioning person)

summary: in which they take a little holiday stroll and talk about what they are.

a/n: THIS MADE ME VERY HAPPY THANK YOU FOR HOSTING THIS CHALLENGE JADE!!! i kinda veered off the idea of christmas with this one, but my mind created another idea and i kinda just went with the flow. anyways, i really enjoyed writing this one, and i hope you all had a lovely holiday season <3 LOTS OF LOVE Y’ALL

main masterlist || sebastian stan characters masterlist

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Everywhere you go

Take a look at the five and ten, it’s glistening once again

With candy cane and silver lanes that glow

Snow sprinkled to the buildings and sidewalks of Midtown Manhattan, making the traffic clog up to the oh so lovely sounds of taxis and cars honking. It was far from what people pictured it, really, New York was absolute hell during the holiday season. Sloshing boots and teens smoking pot outside the scantily decorated discount store that held very little, sad-looking Christmas lights.

It didn’t bother Bucky. No, he had never been a big fan of the holiday season. Even back in the forties, with his ma and little sisters, they had never been huge on celebrating Christmas, instead choosing to work those shifts during the holiday so they could make a buck or two more to hold them over. Now in the twenty-first century, the holiday just reminded him how truly lonely he was, everyone and everything he used to know long gone.

But then he found Y/N. Granted, it had not been a formal introduction. The poor girl had nearly damn run him over with her motorcycle for Christ’s sake, but nonetheless she crawled into his heart that cold December morning two years ago, and had not left ever since. 

Now she walked by his side at Rockefeller Center, her cold fingers intertwined with his warm ones, admiring the tree while he admired her. He already had every part of her memorized, from late night escapades in the sheets to studying the slope of her nose at team breakfasts. Even when he wasn’t with her, he was always looking at her, unable to pull his eyes away from Y/N’s radiance. 

This little… dalliance of theirs had only started a year back, and they had still yet to put a label on it. Sam had called it friends with benefits, Sharon called it being a couple without the name. Bucky had shut both of those ideas down, claiming that they were taking it slow and weren’t looking to call it anything yet they still had not really talked about it. Was it really worth ruining the bond he had with the girl he fell madly in love with? Whatever it was, they had never taken time out of their day to actually discuss what they meant to each other, but, God, he’d be a liar if he said he didn’t want to know.

“Bucky?” Her sweet voice brought him out of his thoughts, the glittering red and white lights of the Christmas tree reflecting in her eyes. “You seem kind of distracted right now, sweetheart, are you bored? We can head back to the compound if you like.”

He smiled at her worried tone, delicately kissing the tip of her nose. “‘M just thinking, doll, wanna stay as long as I can out here with you.”

The grin he received in return was breathtaking, her red-painted lips turned upwards and a little twinkle (literally and metaphorically) in her eyes. “Good.”

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Toys in every store

But the prettiest sight to see, is the holly that will be

On your own front door

“Oh, look at that helicopter, Buck! That’s so cool!” Y/N pointed at a little boy in the store controlling the airborne toy with a small remote. “They didn't have those when I was a kid, I just had my Tamagotchi.”

He scrunched his nose, staring at her with an emotion that could be described as nothing other than distaste. “What the hell is a Tamagotchi?”

“A Tamagotchi was like this little digital pet thing that you could take care of, mainly used for kids who were trying to prove to their parents that they could take care of a real pet. That’s why I had one at least, but I never did get a tabby cat like I wanted.” Y/N continued to ramble about her weird pet thing as they walked through the toy store, though Bucky didn’t really care. But he’d never stop her either. The way her eyes lit up in childlike wonder and her fascination with the toys on the shelves was too precious to destroy. This was the girl who he had seen slit throats and blow aliens’ brains out, and in the moment she was ogling an American Girl Doll like it was the last pancake at the breakfast table. 

Y/N finally convinced herself that she was done looking at the toys, claiming that she was too mature for such things (she really wasn’t), but he let her lead him out the door, before she halted right in the doorway. “What is it, honey?”

“Mistletoe.” He glanced up at the little sprig of green and red berries above their heads, hanging by a small strand of twine. A small group of kids with families stood around, watching them with both happy and annoyed faces. How could they not notice Y/N L/N and Bucky Barnes? Bucky’s vibranium arm may have been recognizable, but Y/N’s cheery, a little-louder-than-normal humming had caused a little group to watch them throughout the store. “I think they’re waiting for us to kiss, Buck.”

She leaned into him, placing her lips on his and placing her freezing hands on his cheekbones. Though Bucky had never been big on PDA, the rest of the world seemed to slip away when he was with her. He grinned into her lips, hugging her tightly around the waist so she squealed. When he forced herself away from her intoxicating mouth, she was sporting a bright smile and smudged lipstick that had rubbed off onto his. 

Giggling, she took her thumb and swiped off some of the red residue she had left. “You had a little something there, sweetheart.” 

A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots

Is the wish of Barney and Ben

Dolls that’ll talk and will go for a walk

Is the hope of Janice and Jen

Bucky watched Y/N point out all the different street cart vendors as they walked to Radio City Music Hall. She’d insisted that they go look at the window displays there as well, and who was he to argue? Strangely enough, they hadn’t talked much, other than the occasional “are you cold” from Bucky, to which Y/N assured him she was not. Her quiet voice sang the lyrics to Last Christmas when a little girl stopped in front of them, two auburn braids and green eyes boring straight into hers. 

The small child pulled on Y/N’s skirt, a silent plea to go down to her height. “Hi there, are you lost, sweetie?”

“I wanted to talk to you,” she looked back to an older woman, who gave her a thumbs up and a smile, “because you are my favorite superhero and I hope you have a very good Christmas.”

Y/N nearly melted at the toothless smile the girl, who she assumed was named Sadie by the necklace she wore. “Thank you so much, sweetheart. I hope you have a good Christmas too, and do you know this guy?” She dragged Bucky down next to her, the large, buff man hulking over the small girl. “This is my friend Bucky, do you know him?”

He eyed her warily, as if he were absolutely terrified of the tiny human. “You’re the Winter Soldier!”

Uh oh. The name was one that struck a chord of fear through everyone, still in shock of the events that had taken place in D.C. in 2014. While he and Sam had tried to label a new brand for the Avengers, people didn’t forget all the horrors of HYDRA and their prized assassin. Of course it hadn’t been him, even he knew that, but trying to convince people otherwise still made him feel guilty.

“You’re my second favorite Avenger, after Y/N, of course.” Sadie brought her hand to hover over Bucky’s vibranium one, her eyes wide with excitement. “Mr. Bucky, can I touch your metal arm?”

The man in question could barely utter out a word, muttering some sort of agreement before nodding with a timid smile. Giddily, she touched his arm, feeling all the cool ridges of gold-plated vibranium against the gun-grey metal. Sadie continued to pelt questions at him, about Sam and Redwing to his “adventures” with Y/N on the team.

Bucky, though shy at first, got more and more relaxed as they continued their conversation, his grin growing wider. Y/N loved her fans, she loved them so, so dearly, but seeing them interact with the man she loved was something different. Not a bad different, but a word that could only be described as pure joy. 

“Darling, I think we better leave Ms. L/N and Mr. Barnes alone. Say thank you and happy holidays.” The little girl looked sad, turning to look at her mom with a little pout, but she reluctantly obliged and soon the duo were off, into the crowded streets once again. 

“Y’know once upon a time I had dreamed about having kids,” Bucky commented. They walked along the sidewalks in a comfortable quiet after the encounter with Sadie, but Bucky’s mind had not stopped reeling from the happiness his conversation brought him. “Was gonna come home from the war, settle down with a gal, and live to be at least seventy years old.”

“Well, I can tell you you’re good on the last bit of that, Buck.” He snorted at her jab at his age, something that has become a norm for their little makeshift family of four. “What do you want now?”

He stopped in his tracks and looked over at her with a fond tilt of his lips. “Oh, just something real special.”

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Toys in every store

But the prettiest sight to see, is the holly that will be

On your own front door

“Y/N, what are we?” She glanced over at him from where they sat on the Met stairs, giving their feet a break from walking for hours. 

“What do you mean, Buck?”

He grabbed her hands and held them to his chest, trying to make her understand the amount of confusion and impatience he had with this one burdening question. “We’ve been sleeping together for a year, Y/N. We make each other breakfast, we go out together, I literally have half of my closet dedicated to your stuff, but even after all that we haven’t given us a name yet.”

Y/N sat in stunned silence, staring at the outburst from the man in front of her. To be completely honest she had never really thought about the question, choosing to enjoy each second she got to spend with the wonderful man with her. What she had noticed however, was how whenever they parted ways or were in the most intimate of moments, three little words nearly slipped off of her tongue. Every. Single. Time.

“Well, what do you want to be, Bucky?”

“I want to be the man you love. I want to be the man who loves you with his entire heart, though I like to think I already am. I want you to be my best gal more than anything in the world, and that I want to be the man who gets to hold and love you every night.” Slowly they drifted to each other, a magnetic pull bringing them to each other. “What do you think, doll?”

“I think,” her lips split into a grin, hovering over his own with the exact same expression, “that I want to be your best girl and the one who gets to make you pancakes in the morning and I want to be the one you get a cat with, who we’ll name Alpine because if I know you, names are the most important part of having a pet. I want to be held and loved by you every night, Bucky Barnes, and I am the girl who loves you more than anything in this entire damn world.”

Not another second to spare, Bucky pulled Y/N in close, letting himself get lost in one of her sweet, loving kisses, finally knowing that he was hers and she was his. At long last.

Sure, it’s Christmas once more

[camillemonty]

Crush

JJ x Reader|Kook

Summary: You just moved to outer banks and you are not so thrilled about your new kook life as your parents and are curious about how your summer will be. As the summer goes on surprises come along with ups and downs, tears and laughter, new friends and family.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 (p1), Chapter 4 (p2)

Chapter 5 - Midsummer

It’s been five days since the kegger, five days since you broke up with Liam. You haven’t talked to anyone but your mom and your best friend. You haven’t go out either, been distracted enough by your mom, moving furniture all around the house and the books you start reading but don’t finish. You told your mom about Liam, just the breakup, she never really liked him, and she was right, she always is. Liam hasn’t come to your house either, but for that you were thankful. You were at the dock laying on one of the benches listening to music when a boat stopped in front of you.

“y/n” you hear Sarah, as you put on pause the music.

You sat on the bench and looked at her, the rest of the group in the boat. “Hey” you smiled.

"We are going to the marsh, do you want to come with us?” she asked

“Oh don’t worry there’s no need…” you started but John B cuts you off.

“We want you to come” he said.

“Well just give me five minutes” you smiled.

You went back home to put on a swimsuit and threw a towel in your backpack. Downstairs you opened the fridge and saw a six-pack of beer, you grabbed it, the same thing with a couple of bags of chips you saw, tossing all in a pool bag from your mom, finally you took your keys and went out, towards the boat that was waiting for you.

“Wow what you got there?” JJ questioned while grabbing the bag for you as you hop in.

“Well I couldn’t come with empty hands” you shrug “I'll feel guilty about it” 

John B made his way to the marsh, but not without giving you a little tour and talk about all kind of stuff that had happened in Outer Banks. As soon as the boat stopped JJ and Pope jumped in the water, the day was hot and you wanted to toss your shirt out but deep inside you felt a little insecure, so you didn’t do it, Kie was already shirtless, soaking up the sun, and Sarah was whispering stuff in John B’s ear, you just leaned back closing your eyes, face up to the sun while your hair fell out the boat, you could hear the splashing coming from JJ and Pope and the giggles between John B and Sarah. Nearly falling asleep a patting on your leg catches your attention, you slightly opened your eyes it was Kiara.

“Are you coming?” she asked. You sat and saw around you, everyone was in the water.

“C’mon Y/n” John B called you. 

You stood up and took your shirt off, JJ watching every move you made, you took your shorts off, and standing next to Kie, about to jump, you felt JJ’s glare on you, Kie jumped first and you followed her, the water was amazing, removing every sign of heat in your body, you popped your head out of the water and swam close to the group.

“Good isn’t it” asked Sarah. 

“Oh yes” you nodded.

“Wait till we go to the beach” JJ said.

“Yeah, you have to come with us” Kie agreed. You felt your heart get warmer.

“So are you liking outer banks?” John B questioned.

“Yes… I am” you nodded.

JJ started a water fight right after that, so the next thing you know is that everyone was fighting back in between giggles, insults, screams, and splashes. After a while in the water you all decided to come out and eat something, you were the last one to get into the boat, taking JJ hand as help, you gave him a shy smile and went to the other side, he looked at you, his eyes lingering your body almost all exposed, Pope noticed it and slapped JJ in the back of the head. 

“What was that for?” JJ asked 

“Just taking you out of your trance” he chuckled pointing at you with his chin making JJ rolls his eyes.

You put on your shirt and sat next to Kie to help her with the food while Sarah was grabbing the beer. Kie handed Pope a sandwich, they looked at each other and smiled, you glanced in between the two, something was happening with them. She gave you another one and chinned up at JJ, you turned at him, offering the sandwich with a smile.

“Thank you princess” he said grabbing it, his fingers touching yours. You rolled your eyes with the faint of a smile on your lips.

Sarah handed you a beer, you all were quiet for a second, enjoying the food. “So Y/n” started John B, mouth still full “Why did you move here?”

You took a sip of the beer “My dad was offered a job here” you explained.

“Sorry if I ask but how’s that your Liam moved here too?” Pope questioned.

“Our dads work together” you grab a bite from your sandwich, he nodded.

The chat went on, they all asked you a lot of stuff, and later John B and the guys started to tell you their funny stories and adventures, how they all met, the hundreds of fights JJ has been on, how they met Kiara, and that at the beginning Kiara and Sarah hated each other but that they were like best friends now. Kiara talked to you about how she wanted to make a campaign to save the turtles, and that we have to save the earth. They were all so friendly, you liked them a lot; they were their own little family and loved each other so much, you were happy that they invited you to spend the day with them. The beers were over and so all the food, the sun was starting to set behind, you were all laying across the boat, just talking. JJ was seating next to Kiara, she was next to you. You saw JJ lighting up the joint, he blows out the smoke and saw you looking at him, with a smirk on his face he extended his arm in front of Kie and offered you the cigarette without saying a word, just like the other night, you grabbed it and placed it in between your lips, took a drag, and returned it, unaware that everyone was looking at the exchange, they all glanced in between each other, with confused smiles, JJ took another drag and then offered it to Kie.

“Didn’t know you smoke” said Pope.

“I don’t” you replied.

“Didn’t know you were a liar” JJ scoffed.

All the looks on him now “I only took a drag the other night” you narrowed your eyes. The other four looked at each other again, a scowl on their faces.

“The other night?” Kie asked, the shadow of teasing in her voice. 

“At the Kegger” said JJ simply. With more confusing looks, as well as widen eyes and smiles, they were getting brand new information.

“When?” was the only thing that came out of Pope's mouth.

"After I broke up with Liam, he went to ask me if I was ok and then offered me a drag” you shrug, thinking it was no big deal.

“Oh he did” John B does his best not to laugh “such a gentleman” he teased. 

JJ rolled his eyes “I thought you were with a touron” Kie tilted her head in question. That's when you understood where the fun came from, he didn't tell his friends he was with you that night.  You felt a little embarrassed and awkward.

“I was, this was before, and then I went back with the touron” JJ shrugs. They looked at each other, knowing they will continue to tease him when you weren’t around.

“Last jump?” Sarah offered, noticing in your eyes that you were uncomfortable, standing up at the edge, giving a glance around the boat.

“Last jump” Kie and John B agreed with her, being followed by Pope.

You were left in the boat with JJ, he stood up and looked down at you “coming?” he asked. 

You nodded and stood up at the edge, looking at the others swimming, the sun already making shadows in the water. JJ stood up next to you, very close, you turned to look at him, his blue eyes looking straight into yours; you could see the smile on his lips when his hand touched your side, pushing you into the water, but even with the surprise you were fast enough and grabbed his hand, pulling him with you. You pop out your head first laughing at his failure. He came out to the surface and shook his head, getting his blonde hair off his face.

“I’ll kill you” he said laughing.

You were all in the boat, going back home. You felt tired and your skin was hot, pretty sure you had a sunburn. You saw your house in the distance and started to get your things together.

“What are you doing this weekend?” John B asked.

"I’ll probably go looking for a dress” you replied.

“For what?” JJ questioned.

“Midsummer” you said like it was no big deal.

“Are you going?” asked Sarah with a big smile on her face, you nodded “Oh my god yes!” she hugged you “we are going to have so much fun” she turned to see Kie.

“Not that I’m not excited for you coming is that I didn’t want to go in the first place” Kie explained herself.

“Don’t worry I didn’t know I was going until five days ago” you said.

"Who are you going with?" Sarah asked.

"Lane" you replied, the look on her face changed, like a sad look, you took a mental note to ask Lane about it.

The boat stopped in front of the dock and you hopped out. You turned back at them and said goodbye, they said it back and started their way home. You entered your room and threw your backpack on the floor, went straight into the shower, and put your pj’s on, downstairs you find your mom and she reproached you for the fact that you didn’t put on sunscreen. You grabbed something to eat and went back to your room, deciding it was time to text Lane.

-Hey!- 

-Hey!!!- She replied immediately.

-Do you still want me to go dress hunting with you?-

-Of course I want to!-

The days went fast in the solitude of your house, you spent your day reading and scrolling through your phone. You didn’t want to go out by yourself in case you ran into Liam. You had seen him once since the breakup, he was at the front door of his house with the other guys, you were coming back home for a walk and it was for the way they saw you that you don’t want to go alone. You hated this, hated that he was your neighbor; at least until the summer ended.

Saturday arrived before you could notice it. You walked out of the third boutique and you were exhausted, you had tried on at least 20 dresses and didn’t like any of them, Lane had tried more and she felt the same.

“I could use a break right now” you sigh.

“Oh I was about to say the same thing” she nodded.

You two walked in the direction she thought this Caffe shop would be and thank god it was there. You two sat at a little table and waited for someone to come to grab your order, both of you ordered an ice tea, the heat was just too much. The guy arrived with your drinks and you both thanked him. It was deliciously refreshing.

“Can I ask you something?” you asked after a while and she nodded “What happened between you and Sarah?”

Her eyes widened in surprise not expecting that question “we were like best friends, but when she started dating John B she totally bailed on me and the girls” you nodded at her response "I don’t hate her if that’s what you are thinking”

"I wasn't thinking that" you said.

You sat tiredly in the chair, waiting for Lane to come out with dress number eight "Ok, I think I found it” you looked up, she was wearing a navy blue long dress, with little stripes on her shoulders, her back was naked, but the front was more reserved, she looked amazing.

“Wow” you said “that’s definitely going to attract some glances, good glances” you corrected.

She smiled at you and then at her reflection “your turn”

You tried the third dress you grabbed and it was beautiful, it was a baby pink silk dress, long until your ankles, it had a cut on one of the sides, but not too high, your back was covered and the V cut was revealing but not too much, it was flattering. You stepped outside of the dressing room waiting for Lane’s opinion, she looked at you and for the smile on her face, you knew she liked it.

“Oh my god it's perfect” she clapped and you smiled shyly.

The week flew and before you could notice it was already Friday, midsummer was today. You were nervous, everything Lane could talk about was the party, she was telling you all the gossip from past midsummer but her voice was a blur in the background.

"Earth to y/n" she said as she moved her hand in front of your face "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing I'm just nervous" you shrugged your shoulders.

She smiled "c'mon we will have fun" she squeezed your hand and glanced over the magazine in her lap again. 

You were at a salon, she begged you to come with her to get your makeup and hair done, it was full of other girls all of them getting ready for tonight. 

You look at your reflection in the full-length mirror from Lane's room and your jaw almost touched the floor, the silk of the dress waved down in your body showing the golden heels you bought for the dress, the makeup even better than what you could imagine, pink smokey eyes and nude lipstick, simple but beautiful.

"Girl you look amazing" Lane said from behind. You turned at her, she looked amazing too, her makeup a little more exaggerated than yours.  

"Me? Look at you" you said, she smiled and turned around, showing her self. 

She handed you a little flower crown that matched the color of your dress, you took it, confusion in your eyes "it's a tradition" she said grabbing hers and puts it on her head. 

The Island Club was beautiful, the entrance was decorated with flowers and little lights. There were already a lot of people, all dressed up, you saw your parents in the distance as you walked through the entrance. Lane and you walked toward a huge glass door, outside there was a big terrace and a lot more people, most of them younger, you saw Liam, with Rafe and the rest, Rebecca hanging on Liam's arm. Lane squeezed your hand and smiled at you.

"Let's go for drinks" She spoke. You nodded and followed her.

She lied to the bartender saying the drinks were for your parents. Both of you laughed as you two hid behind a bush. Lane's eyes dilated and a silly smile appeared on her lips. You looked at where she was looking and saw Peter and his friends. Peter saw her immediately and came towards you two. He said hi, his eyes lost in Lane's as she smiled. He grabbed her hand and kissed it. All of his friends chuckled at him.

"Hey get off my sister" said one of the guys that came with him getting in between them. Lane rolled her eyes and hugged him.

"I missed you" she said as he hugs her back "this is y/n" he pulled him back and introduced you.

"Nice to meet you" you said.

"Cooper" he shakes your hand as he glances at you up and down.

You did the same thing, he was brunette as Lane, with bright green eyes and a charming smile. He is wearing a light grey tux and his hair to the side.

You were listening to one of Peter's friends talk for about an hour when Cooper that was next to Lane walked away, standing now next to you. 

"Hey" he smiled at you "When did you arrive" He asked.

"Almost a month ago" 

"Oh nice, are you liking Outer Banks?" 

"Yes"

"I'm glad to hear that" he smiled again "have you gone to the bar at lighthouse yet?" You shook your head "well that's a problem" he said joking.

"Why?" You asked.

"Well because is a very beautiful place with a nice view and I can't believe no one has taken you there" 

"Well that's Lane's fault" you replied joking.

He shook his head and tickled with his tongue "that sister of mine" you both laughed "Me, on the other hand, can make a difference and take you one of these days, if you want" he glanced at you, a flirty smile in his face.

"I'll think about it" you smiled.

The two of you continued chatting for a long time, he took every chance he could to compliment you or telling you that you looked beautiful tonight, you felt flattered not in a million times you would have imagined that someone would try to flirt with you tonight, much less Lane's brother. You saw Sarah and Kie in the distance and excused yourself out to go find them.

"Hey" you said when you were close enough. Both turned around and gave you a big smile. 

"Hey" Sarah hugged you, followed by Kie "you look beautiful" 

"You two look amazing too" you replied. 

"You are not drinking?" Kie notices your empty hands and shook her head, disappearing just for a moment to come back with another glass of champagne for you "if we have to go through this night better do it drunk" 

"C'mon, let's dance" Sarah took your now empty glasses and dragged you to two to the dancefloor. 

In between laughs, turns and hidden glasses of champagne the three of you were having so much fun. Even Lane and Peter's friend joined you, the girls putting on pause their fight. You were dancing with Lane, back to back to some music, until you felt a hand grabbing you by the waist and hand, turning you to face him, making you slow dance as the song changed. 

"Hello" said Liam, you tried to pull him away but he was stronger and his grip on you only got harder "I just want to talk"

"Well I don't" you hissed.

"C'mon y/n, don't be a brat," he said, "I just want to know how are you doing?"

"I was doing just fine until you arrived" he rolls his eyes and grabs you even tighter, your chests squeezed into each other "don't you have a date to go to?" 

He smiled "but we are having fun" his hand went down your spine. Your eyes widen while you try to push him off.

"Get off me" you mad whispered a devilish smirk on his lips. 

"Don't you miss being this close to me?" He whispered back. The smell of alcohol hits you. You looked into his reds eyes and a shiver ran down your spine, remembering the night he hit you. You pushed him once more and a laugh escaped from his lips "Don't you miss the feel of my lips" he kissed you in the neck.

"Stop it" your voice almost broke, making him chuckle. 

"Everything ok?" The sudden voice makes you both turn. 

"Yes, everything is ok" Liam answered. 

Cooper looked you in the eyes and realized you were uncomfortable, not to say scared "May I have a dance with the lady?" He asked and without expecting an answer he grabs Liam's arm and took your hand "thank you" he gently pulled you from his grip and placed your hand in his shoulder, forcing Liam to let go of your other hand, you looked at the harsh expression on Liam's face, knowing this little conversation wasn't over, he walks away and you let go a relaxed sigh.

"thanks" 

"Are you ok?" He asked and you nod "not that I want to intrude but you looked a little scared back there so can I ask what was that about?" He said as you two swung around with the slow music. 

"He is my ex" you explained "we broke up a week ago" 

"Oh I see" he nodded "so you were scared because he was drunk" you glanced at him with surprise "you could smell the guy from like 5 feets away" he said "not to mention his eyes gave him away" you didn't say anything and kept swinging around until the song ended "do you want to go grab something to drink?"

"Yeah I would like to" you both smiled as he offered you his arm, you took it laughing. 

The Van parked in front of the Island Club and the guys hopped out of it, walking to a side of the big house when they could see the party going. 

"Did you texted Sarah?" JJ asked.

"Yes she told me to give her 5 minutes" said John B. as the three arrived at the beach entrance of the terrace. 

JJ glanced all over the people looking for the familiar faces of the girls when he saw you, close to where he was standing, his eyes wandered all your body, looking carefully at everything your dress covered and everything that doesn't. He already thought you were pretty, even if he didn't want to admit it, but tonight you were even more beautiful if that was possible, your hair fell over your shoulders to the middle of your back, your eyes looked brighter because of the makeup and your lips looked more provocative than ever. He swallowed thickly at the thoughts that went through his mind at the moment.

John B and Pope looked at his friend in his hypnosis and couldn't resist the quiet laugh that escaped from their mouths. 

"Dude, are you ok?" Pope asked.

"What?" JJ turned around in confusion, making the guys laugh harder.

"You are so into y/n" John B said. 

"No, I'm not" JJ lied. 

"I've never seen that face on you before" Pope stated.

"What face?" JJ questioned. 

"I should have taken a picture" said Pope and JJ roll his eyes. 

"Why don't you admit it dude?" John B wrapped his arm around JJ's shoulders. 

"There's nothing to admit" JJ growled.

"C'mon man" Pope started. 

"Shut up" JJ huffed and got out of John B's arm "Call your girl, let's get out of here" 

John B texted Sarah, telling her to invite you too. 

JJ took s few steps away from the boys, so he could look at you without being teased, that is when he noticed that you weren't alone. You were talking and laughing to a Kook he knew too well. Jealousy filled his veins as he saw him guide you to another place, his hand in your back. He lost you in the crowd and walked back to the boys.

"Why are they taking so long?" JJ asked. 

"They are just saying goodbye" John B lied. 

You followed Cooper at one of the tables, while he talked about the trip his dad made him go to. He was nice but deep down gave you the same vibe as Rafe, he liked to brag about everything he had and the things he has done, thinking that made him more interesting. But the big difference was that you enjoyed his company and the fact that being with him kept Liam away. 

"Hey y/n" Sarah interrupted him "we are going to the beach and the guys told me to invite you" 

You felt your chest get warmer as a smile appeared on your face, not that you weren't having fun here but the fact that they wanted you to come with them made you happy. 

"Sure I'll go" you nodded "just let me say goodbye" you turned your head to Cooper, he took a step ahead and kissed you on the cheek.

"See you around" he said. 

You smiled and walked towards Lane to say goodbye, she hugged you. 

You followed the girls towards the beach and got out the terrace, in the distance you saw the three guys standing. When you were close enough you and JJ locked stares. You gave him a little smile and he did the same.

"Well hello girls" John b talked, the three of you said hi. "Let's get going" 

The group walked to the Van and hopped in, the drive to the beach was fun, music blasting through the speaker as they all sang along the lyrics. John B parked in front of an empty boneyard. You all got out of the van and Pope pulled out a keg beer and a pack of red solo cups. When you arrived at the sand, you and the other two took off your heels and walked towards the boys, where they were already making the bonfire. You all sat around it and started talking. 

"Did you liked your first midsummer y/n?" Pope asked you. 

"It was fun" you nodded "for a Kook party" everyone laughed.

"C'mon I saw you having fun with Cooper" Kie teased and winked at you. JJ rolls his eyes as the same warm he felt earlier filled his chest again.

"Cooper? Copper Miller?" John B. asked as you nod taking a sip from your beer. "I didn't know he was back" 

The talk went on for a few minutes until Sarah came up with the idea of playing a drinking game. 

"Let's play never have I ever!" She almost screamed. The group huffed at Sarah's idea.

"Ok I'll start" said Kie as she settled in the sand "I've never swum naked on the marsh" his eyes straight to JJ, he rolls his eyes and drinks the beer "I knew it!" She laughed.

"I've never sent someone a nude" he said knowing Kiara would drink, but for the surprise of everyone, you drank too.

"Look at that" Jonh B. teased. 

JJ's glare fell on you, you looked at him, his eyes a little darker than before "you go" he said to you.

"I'm very bad at this" you chuckle "but since I'm pretty sure you all had… I've never gone surfing" 

They all laughed and drank from their beers. The rest of the game went on, you and the rest of the group were laughing your lungs out, half of the barrel already gone. You felt your body warmer but couldn't know if it was for the alcohol or the fire in front of you, so when you touched your cheeks and barely felt anything you knew it was the alcohol. You were now seated in between Sarah and Kie. Once every couple of minutes you glanced up to find the blue eyes already looking at you, the orange light barely illuminating his face. You don't know if it was all because of the alcohol in your system but JJ was more handsome than ever, his messy blond hair back, his arms that showed off from his tank top, the blue eyes that got brighter every time he laughed and the constant smirk on his face made you feel something deep down in your stomach. 

Every time JJ catched you looking at him made his chest feel tighter, he could notice that you were examining all of him, he saw your eyes wandering his body, a smirk covered his face, glad that he caught your attention. And he couldn't help but to do the same, every time you looked away he took the chance to look at you better, your dress raised up a little for how you were seating, showing more of your smooth skin, his eyes traveled all the way from your legs to your arms, giving a glance to your collarbones and cleavage, he stopped in your face, the cut on your lips was gone, your eyes were bright and narrowed a little every time you laughed or smiled. 

Let's go to the water" said Sarah all of the sudden taking you both out of your trance. Everyone agreed screaming and got up in a jump, leaving you alone in the sand. 

"You are not coming?" JJ asked making everyone to look at you

You shook your head "I… I don't like it" 

"You don't like the water?" asked Pope with confusion.

"No, it just that…" you shrug "It scares me" you admitted murmuring.

"What scares you exactly?" JJ asked frowning his browns.

"It's dark, I can't see my feets" all of them resisted the laugh.

"C'mon at least soak your feets a little" Sarah insisted.

You nodded and stood up, not without stumbling, realizing that you were more than a little drunk. They chuckled at you, you did the same. The guys took off their shirts and threw them in the sand. You walked behind them, and couldn't stop yourself from biting your lower lip as you looked at JJ's back. 

"I'll wait for you here" you said as you stopped walking when the water hit your ankles, grabbing your dress by the edge.

They all nodded. You saw how they jumped into the water, swimming away, heads popping out in the distance, water until their necks. It gave you chills only to look at them and the thought of being next to them. From where you stand you could see John B and Sarah hugging and Pope and Kie dangerously close, JJ was nowhere to be found, which worried you, but he popped out close to them. You closed your eyes, feeling the sand in between your toes and the sound of the waves, a bad idea because since you were drunk you felt like everything around was moving. You opened your eyes again and played with the sand in your feets. You hear a little splash and saw JJ closer to you, he swam until he could be on his feet and walked until the water arrived at his waist. You took a couple of steps, water now arriving at your knees. 

"I see you are getting brave" he teased.

"No, I'm not" you chuckled "maybe is the beer" JJ laughed.

"Take another step" he said and you shook your head "C'mon y/n" he insisted "here take my hand" you shook your head again "C'mon trust me" 

"I don't want to ruin the dress" you offered as an excuse. 

"You can always take it to the laundry" he said quickly "Just until your waist"

You gave him a doubting glare but accepted his hand, he smiled at you, making his eyes almost shut. You started to walk towards him, without realizing that with every step you made he made one too, going deeper. The water arrived at your waist quickly and you stopped. 

"C'mon" he looked at you right in the eyes. You don't know why but you took another step, making him smile. JJ felt something jumped in his stomach at the fact that you trusted him to take another step. In the distance, the other four were watching you two, glances in between them. 

The water was now at your chest, the fabric of the dress stuck to your body, you breathed heavily and didn't know if it was for the cold water or the terror of not seeing half of your body. 

"Don't look down, look at me" JJ said and you nodded.  His blue eyes looking straight at yours and the wet hair all over his head, half of his naked chest was still outside. You squeezed his hand, he took another step, and suddenly JJ had the water on his neck. "Ok, just one more y/n" 

As you took that last steep you felt the sand disappeared down at your feets. "Oh my God," you whispered.

He grabbed you by your forearms, you did the same thing. He smiled at you and you did it back "See it's not that bad" he said making you laugh. 

"Said that to yourself" you replied. 

You looked at him now that he was so close, scanning his face, the little scar on his cheek, probably from a recent fight, his blue eyes, his lips, he was definitely the most handsome guy you have seen since you arrived in Outer Banks. You thought that since the day he leaned over the table at the ice cream shop, but you had only admitted to yourself now.

"Don't look at me like that" he said, but he didn't mean it. He liked the way your eyes wandered in his face.

Your checks tinted in red as you let go a little laugh "sorry" 

The next thing he did, he did it on purpose, JJ carefully moved one of his feet closer to your leg, barely touching you. You jumped in the water pulling him closer to you into a hug. You wrapped your arms around his neck as he wrapped his around your waist, pulling you even closer, your chests squeezed into other others. JJ felt something in his chest, happy that his plan worked out, not sorry at all.

"Something touched my leg" you said, your mouth in his ear.

"Maybe a little fish" he said grabbing you tightly. 

You two stayed like that for a while, you were too scared to talk so JJ just enjoyed having you that close.

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[thevindicativevordan]

So you've already touched on Lana Lang in your post about John Henry Irons, but is there any chance that you have additional thoughts on her as a character with her own arcs, her own stories, not just as Clark or John's love interest, because whenever I look her up, outside of her time as Superwoman, either she's there because it's Clana-centric, for better or worse, or she's not, because she's 'just someone from Clark's past', so it wouldn't make sense for her to show up or even be mentioned.

Lana is a tricky figure because pretty much the entire reason she matters is due to being Clark's first love. Their attempts to make her more than that haven't really paid off.

Which is why your attempts to look up stories for Lana as a solo entity haven't uncovered much: there really isn't anything. Originating from a desire to give Clark a Lois Lane for his Superboy adventures during Pre-Crisis, Lana is usually just Lois Lane lite in terms of character. Post-Crisis is when they did try to differentiate the two more, but her origin of sharing just enough traits with Lois for her to basically be the proto-Lois is still central to who she is. Feisty, but not as feisty as Lois. Loves Clark, but not as much as Lois does. Her one big differentiating attribute since CoIE is that she is traditionally the first person outside of Ma and Pa who knows about Clark's powers, the first outsider he entrusts with his secret. Her role in the Mythos is to basically indirectly tempt Clark with the idea of just keeping his head down, marrying Lana, and leading a quiet life in Smallville. Clark is the sun around which her entire world orbits, everything special that marks her as different comes from him. On her own she's just a regular farmgirl, normal in every way. Even that weird shit in Post-Crisis where she was an unknowing Manhunter spy got tied to her relationship with Clark.

Will say that I do like the childhood/young adult Clana romance as a key part of the two characters. For both I think it adds something to them to have been so intimate together in the past. Clark being willing to confess his feelings to someone is still a huge step for him given how hard the Kents drilled it into his head that he has to be careful about his powers around other people. For Lana she has that knowledge that the guy everyone views as the Greatest Hero Ever was a huge dork who was terrified to ask her out to prom. She's got an insight into his character that nobody, not even Lois I would argue, can match.

Rest of Post Crisis Lana is not worth discussing because both she and Clark come off pretty terrible every time they interacted. Some writers considered Lana to be Clark's one true love (or maybe that was just Didio trying to wreck the marriage so he could get rid of it), so you get the two of them eyeing each other up and just barely restraining themselves from cheating on their spouses. Gates attempted to salvage her by making Lana into Kara's mentor/"mom" but that didn't pan out. I applaud his attempts to salvage her, but sending her to work at the Daily Planet was not the right call, it does nothing for Lana to be even more Lois Lite than she already is. Frankly when the New 52 hit it was a mercy killing for Pre-Flashpoint Lana, that character was just completely wrecked beyond repair.

For all the complaining about the New 52, some characters absolutely benefitted from having their past continuity jettisoned. Lana is one of the characters. She had the background of being Clark's childhood crush retained, but all the other superfluous garbage was gone which was a godsend. For my money Greg Pak is the best Lana Lang writer ever in addition to being the best New 52 Superman writer other than Morrison. Pak did a lot of work to flesh Lana out beyond just being Clark's first love. She was diving in alongside Clark on adventures with Pak writing, being a rural girl from Kansas meant she had no problem getting her hands dirty, or handling guns. Making her an engineer was a great idea, she needs to be less like Lois not more, and giving her a different job field/background was neat. Such a bummer that Pak was hamstrung by the Superman/WW romance because I really would've loved to see him write a take on Clark/Lana making another go of it romantically after both have left Smallville. Romance between the two of them would've been better than taking Clark from his most common romantic relationship only to pair him with his second most common romantic relationship.

Lana knew Clark before he was Superman and so Pak wrote her as never being in awe of his celebrity. To her he was always "Clark" and that had the benefit of Clark relaxing around her more even when he was being a hero. Normally Clark is very conscious of his public image and takes great pains to meet everyone's expectations while being Superman, but with Lana he had the freedom to loosen up. Their interactions with one another in Pak Action are well worth checking out for anyone who wants to read some fun Lana moments. Pak was also the one who put Irons and Lana together, which I still think is the best possible pairing for both characters.

In John Lana has someone who possess all of the traits she likes about Clark: Compassionate, strong, deadpan sense of humor, attractiveness, and intelligence. Unlike Clark though there's a chance this relationship could work because Irons doesn't have a "Lois", so the slot is open. Man who tried to fill in for Superman after Superman died dating the woman who was Superman's first crush actually works surprisingly well in terms of what connects the two. Both have had their lives shaped by their interactions with Clark, and Lana being an engineer means they also have common interests beyond Superman. Would also fit with Priest describing Steel as a deconstruction of the Superman mythos, I really would like that sort of take applied to Lana and Irons again. Not in terms of making the two toxic, but in terms of examining the tropes and assumptions that go into the Clark/Lois relationship being examined with these two. Really do hope the two of them stay together, and we get someone on a Steel miniseries that explores the romantic relationship between the two (I don't want a marriage any time soon but wouldn't mind if it happened, just build it up first).

My reasoning why this relationship benefits Lana is simple: taking her off the board as a romantic interest will eliminate the toxicity that tends to creep up when she and Clark interact after Clark marries Lois. Making her eager to cheat on Ross with Clark just made her look like a shitty person. Lana should get to move on from pining after Clark so that she can still be Clark's friend, the one besides his parents who remembers when he was just a shy nerd in high school, but so she can also pursue her own romantic relationships beyond Clark. Otherwise why keep her around at all? I know people like her, but her relationship to Clark will always be the number one relationship she has, romantic or no, because Clark is the central character of the franchise she is part of. Simply how it works, so I'd like to make that relationship positive.

Her Time As Superwoman

It is kind of a shame that being Superwoman didn't work out, but I'm not surprised. When you start the whole series off by baiting people that the protagonist of your book is someone else, especially when that someone else is a much higher profile character, killing that character off isn't going to make people want to stick around. Lana took the fall for that decision, but in all honesty I didn't really enjoy the book anyway. Part of that was probably editorial, but the plotlines were boring and didn't hold my attention. Great art can only take you so far, and the book still revolved around Clark given both he and Lois were ghosts in Lana's head. Then Reborn hit and Lana getting Clark's powers anymore didn't happen so they had to come up with a new origin for her. Pointless effort considering the book ended pretty much immediately afterwards anyway, should've just powered through it like Kenan did under Yang.

Don't think Lana will ever get that title again. My money is on Kara becoming Superwoman after her Woman of Tomorrow book wraps up, and Lana has seemingly lost her powers for good. If Kara takes Superwoman the way Jon took Superman I don't think there will be anyone else to challenge her for that title, it really does make sense to move Kara up to "woman" given she seems to be entering a new era of her life just like Clark is. So where does that leave Lana?

Well we've come full circle. Lana is a journalist I guess now yet again? Least it's at the Daily Star and not the Daily Planet, but it's still not the status quo I'm enthused about. Lana needs to be more than just a copycat of Lois if she's going to stick around as a Superman cast member. Doesn't seem like her engineer background or romance with John Henry Irons has been explicitly erased per say, so I'm still hoping that she'll go back to both at some point. With Clark going to Warworld and Jon not really having any connection to her, it might be a while before we see her again. She and Jimmy Olsen really wax and wane in terms of their usage and popularity, although Lana at least is a big part of Superman & Lois albeit in a way her comic incarnation can't really benefit from. Hopefully someone will come up with a way for her to be relevant. I'm open to a new direction for her that charts a new course.

[spicycreativity]

Howl- Ch. 3

Chapter: 3/10

Add'l Notes: Fic is posted in full on my AO3, WizardGlick

Chapter content warnings: Depictions of alcohol use

“Nothing,” Remus pronounced. His breath ghosted over Virgil’s ear and he shuddered, pulling away so he could look Remus in the face. Remus was still in his work clothes and he smelled, not wholly unpleasantly, of sweat and dirty water.

“Nothing?” Virgil ran his pointer fingers behind both ears, just barely resisting the urge to dig in with his nails and see for himself, dammit.

“I think you’d know if aliens had stuck a tracking chip in your head,” Remus said, his own fingers dancing across the countertop toward the basket of enamel pins by the register.

Virgil ran his fingertips across his temples, still feeling for something, some marking or scar. “But if it wasn’t aliens...”

“Far be it from me to be the voice of reason,” Remus said, “but are we sure you weren’t just sleepwalking? Or high on peyote?"

Virgil continued to track Remus' fingers as he stuck his hand in the basket. "If you steal anything, it comes out of my paycheck." Not strictly true, but it would make Remus pause.

"I wasn't gonna steal!" Remus exclaimed, holding up his hands. "But now I kinda want to."

"Please don't." Virgil sighed and put his face in his hands. He'd noticed a strange metallic taste in his mouth after waking up properly, and even the desperate mouthfuls of Monster he'd been forcing down his throat couldn't seem to touch it. It hadn't touched his exhaustion much, either. Whatever Virgil had been up to last night had not been a restful activity.

"Oh, c'mon, don't freak out." Remus' hand sat heavy on Virgil's shoulder, warming him through the thin fabric of his Baphomet t-shirt. "You were probably just sleepwalking. It happens all the time. Roman used to sleepwalk all over the place when we were kids. One time we even found him asleep in the yard. Naked, just like you."

Virgil peeked over his fingertips. "Really?" Remus was not the type to lie to make someone feel better, but this story seemed a little far-fetched.

"I swear," Remus said, eyes wide with childish solemnity.

The only customer in the store stepped up to pay, and Remus stepped aside to let Virgil deal with them. He made faces behind their back, contorted himself into absurdly sexual poses and stuck out his tongue and wiggled his hips like Elvis in his prime. Virgil pursed his lips to keep from laughing. It had been a hard decision to ask Remus for help with this, but Virgil was glad he had chosen him.

Patton was a big softie and nearly as prone to panic as Virgil was. If he didn't escalate Virgil's paranoia about aliens then he would probably end up pressuring Virgil to make a police report. A useless endeavor, since no crime had actually occurred as far as Virgil knew. Roman and Janus would just make fun of him for being a tin foil hat-wearing loony. And Logan… Well. He might judge. He might not. But Virgil didn't want to look stupid in front of him. Not to mention that Logan would ask questions, force Virgil to face something he wasn't ready to face.

So Remus it was.

"Thank you," Virgil said when the customer had left and Remus had stopped gyrating his hips. "I know I'm being dumb and it was probably nothing."

"Janus isn't here right now," Remus said, pouring out the basket of enamel pins. They scattered and clicked across the countertop. "But if he was, I think he'd say--" Remus shifted his weight and crossed his arms, "'Now what did we say about negative self talk?'"

Virgil chose not to remind Remus that Bienvenue was only a few blocks away and he could easily go get Janus if he wanted. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I know it wasn't aliens."

"But if it was peyote, you do have to share," Remus said, his attention already back on the pins. He poked through them with one dirty fingertip.

Virgil watched for a moment, then joined in, turning the pins to face Remus so he could get a good look at them. Remus seemed particularly fixated on one shaped like a death's head moth. "That one's six dollars."

Remus braced his elbows on the counter and clasped his hands under his chin, lashes aflutter. "You know how you could repay me for checking your skull for alien trackers?"

Virgil nearly reached for his wallet before he realized what Remus was actually getting at. He sighed, biting back his smile all the while, and made a show of turning to inspect the rotating sticker display. "Uh-oh," he said in an exaggerated monotone. "I'd better make sure all the stickers are properly organized. Gee, I sure hope no one shoplifts while I'm doing that."

There was a brief moment of silence. It was broken when Remus, presumably done pocketing the pin, said, "So bowling night?"

"Huh?" said Virgil, trying to find the dirty joke. Maybe something about balls?

Remus pulled his phone out of the pocket of his work pants and shook it at Virgil. "Pastor Patton's little group bonding venture?"

"Don't call him that," Virgil muttered, digging his phone out of his pocket. Sure enough, of the messages he'd been ignoring all morning, one was a new group chat. He read through the messages. "How did Patton get your number?"

"Roman gave it to him."

"How'd he get Janus' number?"

Remus grinned. "I gave it to him. No way am I suffering through some corny adult bonding shit without backup."

"Am I not backup?" Virgil asked, unsure whether he should be offended.

"You can't be backup," Remus said dismissively. "You're the bridge. You forced me 'n' Roman to reunite, you made us all hang out. You're the bridge. You won't be as mean as I need you to be."

"I'm mean!" Virgil said. "I'm so mean!"

"Say something bitchy about Patton right now. Quickly!" Remus began to snap his fingers.

"Um," said Virgil. "Uh. Sometimes-- Well, sometimes he can be kinda… Smother-y?"

"Oh, please." Remus rolled his eyes. "That was almost healthy communication."

"Fine." Virgil crossed his arms over his chest.

Remus let him pretend to be upset for roughly three seconds. "But you are coming, right? Or are you gonna spend the night playing with Data's joystick?"

Virgil's cheeks went hot. "Of course I'm com--" He paused and reconsidered his choice of words. "Of course I'll be there. And Logan will, too."

"Wonder if I can start a betting pool," Remus said thoughtfully.

The bells on the door tinkled and Virgil leaned over to see past Remus. "Hi, welcome in," he said in his best customer service voice, which wasn't very good. "Let me know if I can help you find anything."

"Just browsing."

"Alright."

"Well," said Remus, affixing the moth pin to his hi-vis vest. "See you tonight?"

"Yeah," said Virgil. "Please be nice to Patton."

Remus winked and started to back out. "Sorry! Hazing is mandatory."

He slipped out the door, leaving Virgil to marinate in his anxiety.

--

Although he was exhausted, Virgil went for a short walk after work. He wandered by Bienvenue and stared at the fancy suits in the window and wondered how Janus always had the audacity to dress like he was attending a funeral at a high-end night club. His feet took him forward and he smiled a little. If there was one thing Janus had in abundance, it was audacity.

He stopped again by the reflecting pool at the Plaza and read the plaque. It had very little information and devoted barely half a sentence to the supposed curse. A shiver ran down Virgil's spine. He took a deep breath and carefully did not panic. As Logan would say, he shouldn't jump to conclusions. He needed more data.

Virgil didn't want more data. He would happily chalk his misadventure up to sleepwalking and banish it forcefully to his subconscious, if only it would never, ever happen again. He shivered again despite the balmy weather and muffled a yawn behind his hand. Time to go home and get whatever sleep he could before the inevitable disaster of bowling night.

He managed to get home without hitting any potholes. Whatever stormy weather had threatened Vaillant earlier in the week seemed to have passed, and he was treated to a spectacular view of a great blue heron flying low over the road. He even managed a few hours of sleep before he had to wake up and get ready.

He chose his outfit with care, scrutinizing it through Logan's eyes. What would Logan like? What did Logan like? Virgil had no idea about his preference in men or how he slotted into it.  Was it his height? His body shape? His eyes? What should he play up to make Logan like him? So Logan wouldn't regret choosing to be with him?

He dithered over this until he made himself late, and chose an outfit that he felt good in: long sleeves, long pants, the reassuring weight of his hoodie on his shoulders.

He kept it zipped up to his neck even after he entered the warmth and light of Vaillant's singular bowling alley, Gator Lanes. His friends were already seated. Waiting. For him.

Despite the wash of guilt, Virgil slowed and surveyed the scene. Patton and Logan sat on one of the low, pleather couches with a pair of bowling shoes between them. That left Roman, Remus, and Janus wedged on the other couch. They all looked like they were getting along, which was good. Roman and Remus were speed-eating French fries while the others talked.

Virgil approached from the back, gesturing for Patton and Logan to be quiet. He didn't miss the way Logan's eyes lit up; it sent a pleasant little rush of adrenaline all through his veins. When he was close enough, he leaned over and stole the pineapple off the rim of Janus' hurricane glass. It was dyed red from grenadine and tasted vaguely of rum.

"It's fine," said Janus, casually flipping Virgil the bird. "I wasn't saving that or anything."

"Guess you'll have to get another one," Remus said.

They started bickering about how drunk was too drunk for bowling night, so Virgil came around to Patton and Logan's side of the table. He kissed Logan hello while Patton explained about the shoes: "They were out of your size, so I got a size down instead of up, because I know you wear those really thin socks and I didn't want you to slip."

"Thanks, Pat," Virgil said. His hand found Logan's, somehow, and he smiled. "I wouldn't have put that much thought into it."

"That's why you have me!"

"Can we start now?" Roman asked, wiggling in place.

Patton stood up to fiddle with the control, and Virgil forced himself to nuzzle Logan's jawline with his nose. He wanted to do it, but the idea of being witnessed while he did so made his skin crawl.

Logan turned his head so they were nose-to-nose and smiled before pulling away. "Do you want me to order you a drink? We were going to, but we weren't sure what you'd want."

Roman threw a straw wrapper at them. "We're just about to start!"

"You're up second, too," Patton said cheerfully, flopping back down on the couch. "I put us in alphabetical order."

"I'll go, then," Virgil said. He squeezed Logan's hand and let go of it, stood.

"Don't forget to put your bowling shoes on," Janus said, eying Virgil's ratty leather ankle boots. Janus himself had somehow done the impossible and matched the colors of his suit to the dull red and blue of Gator Lanes' bowling shoes, making his whole outfit look deliberately tacky.

"When I get back."

"I'll go with you!" Roman got to his feet. "I already know I'm gonna lose. What's one more drink?"

"That's the spirit!" Remus said.

"Ha," said Patton, "I get it."

They turned to go, Roman bumping Virgil with his hip to prompt him forward. "So you and Logan, huh?" he said once they were out of earshot. "How's that going?"

"Fine," Virgil said, feeling the blush crawl onto his face. It was a short walk to the bar, but it suddenly seemed like miles and miles.

"You sure keep things close to your chest, don't you? Didn't say a word to me." Roman crossed his arms and looked sideways at him.

"I didn't think I had a chance!" Virgil exclaimed. "Wait. Did he say something to you?"

Roman winked at him, shushed him, and bellied up to the bar so he could order. Virgil hung back, one hand on his wallet, but Roman waved a hand. "Janus has a tab going," he said, turning back to Virgil.

"Does Janus know he has a tab going?" Virgil asked.

"Uh, yeah, it's not like I stole his card."

"It's not you I'm worried about," Virgil said, thinking of Remus and the moth pin.

"Ugh, you worry too much."

"This shouldn't be news to you, Roman, I have 'Worry Too Much' Disorder." Virgil flicked at his zipper pull. "Wait, so did Logan say anything to you?"

Roman smiled, even laughed a little. "Uh, yeah, he practically asked me and Patton for permission to ask you out. He made us promise not to tell you. Honestly, it was kinda cute how nervous he was."

"Nervous?" Virgil repeated. It was obvious now, but it hadn't occurred to him that Logan had lost just as much sleep over Virgil as Virgil had over him.

A harried-looking bartender popped up behind Roman, slid their drinks over, and vanished again practically before Virgil could force out a 'thank you.' Roman passed him his vodka Red Bull. "Let's go."

"Alright." Virgil sighed. It was probably better not to try to wring the details out of Roman, especially since he'd said that Logan had told him not to tell.

They reached their lane and he  scooted in next to Logan, snuggling up a lot closer than was necessary, especially given that Patton was currently up to bowl. "Welcome back," Logan said.

Virgil set his drink on the table and began to change his shoes over. "Having fun yet?" he asked Janus. He was still a little resentful that Remus and Janus didn't think he could be mean anymore. Just because he didn't want to shit-talk Patton behind his back. Sure, Remus had been the one to say it, but Virgil had no doubt the sentiment originated with Janus.

"Sure, I guess there's a sort of primal thrill in hurling a 14-pound ball at a target," Janus said primly.

"10 pounds," Logan said.

Virgil bit down on his lip to hide his smile.

"I'm sorry?" Janus tilted his head.

Logan gestured at the bright yellow ball sitting in the ball return. "10 pounds, not 14." Patton's ball came back, followed shortly thereafter by Patton. "16 pounds," Logan said.

"Pat's strong," Virgil said, elbowing Patton as he sat down. Janus bit down on an ice cube. "By the way," said Virgil, feeling a spark of pure evil manifest inside himself. "Have you guys made cutting boards yet?" To Janus, he said, "It's kind of a tradition."

"I'd heard," Janus said, shooting him a covert dirty look.

Virgil smiled at him and turned to Patton. "Janus would rather die than say so, but I can tell he's excited."

"Oh, good!" Patton said. To Janus, he said "I was actually a little worried you wouldn't want to do it."

Virgil's killing strike was delayed slightly by Remus' reappearance and Roman's subsequent disappearance, and he knew he had to act quickly or Janus would wiggle out of it when Virgil was taking his turn. Remus finally sat and stopped crowing about his spare, which no one had witnessed. Virgil pounced. "Bienvenue is closed on Sundays, isn't it?" he said to Janus, as though the shop hadn't kept the same hours for years. "Maybe you guys could do it then."

"The weather should be clear, too," Logan chimed in. Virgil looked at him, trying to gauge if he had picked up on the game, but his face gave nothing away.

"Works for me!" Patton said. "I'm putting the finishing touches on a coffee table for somebody down south, but I can make time on Sunday."

"Great," said Janus with a plastic smile Virgil knew he usually reserved for difficult customers. The daggers in his eyes promised a thorough bitching-out later, but Virgil didn't even care. So he wasn't mean anymore, hm?

"All you," said Roman, tapping Virgil on the shoulder.

Virgil nodded and took a long swallow of his vodka Red Bull. It was stupid, but walking up to bowl always felt like walking out on stage. He knew full well none of his friends were paying attention and even if they were, their friendly teasing was nothing to worry about. They knew when to stop. But still, his heart quivered as he approached the lane. By sheer luck, he managed not to get a gutter ball, then turned and hovered awkwardly as he waited for his ball to come back.

Logan caught his eye and winked at him, not even pausing in his explanation of the physics of bowling. Virgil smiled back, and suddenly everything seemed that much lighter, that much more bearable. He really had to stop worrying so much.

[whitewolfmoving]

Boston Burning Part Three

In Your Orbit

Summary: Chris takes Nika with him to the station during his next shift, there she's introduced to the latest transfer from Austin, Texas—Arden Daniels. A simple question from an outside perspective brings out an overdue confession in a roundabout way.

Warnings: cheesiness, flirting, Chris Evans absolutely doting on Nika Stan (yes it absolutely needs its own warning lol)

Word Count: 2770

A/N: This fic will feature a lot of implied signed dialogue, as two of the characters are a part of the Deaf Community. Dialogue expressed in ASL (American Sign Language) will appear in bold and italics preceded or followed by the proper indicators. Unless otherwise stated, regularly spoken dialogue will be used for interpretation purposes for characters who do not sign when mixed in with signed dialogue. As I, myself, am part of the Deaf Community and wanted to bring a character to the table that represented my own experience with my deafness, I DO NOT speak for all d/Deaf/HoH individuals nor the Community as a whole. I am but one person, these are MY OWN experiences. Happy reading!

"Are you sure you want to come to the Station with me tonight?" Chris asked, poking his head into the bathroom as he and Nika got ready to go.

"For the last time, Evans, I'm going. I'm not sitting around here waiting for shift to be over," Nika said, applying a small amount of antibiotic burn cream over her skin.

He put his hands up in surrender, leaning against the doorframe. He wouldn't offer to help her unless she indicated that she needed him to. "Alright, alright. I'll quit asking. I just want to make sure you're as ready to see everyone as they are to see you."

"Chris," she paused, looking over her shoulder, "I'll be fine, I promise. I'll take it easy and I'll let you or Lizzie or Scar know if I need to come home. Now, can you help me with my shoulder?"

Chris nodded and accepted the tube. He took his place behind her and moved her hair to the side revealing the wound on her shoulder to him. He gingerly rubbed a thin film of cream over the healing blisters. "It's looking better already."

Nika scoffed. She'd never really taken the time to look at herself in the mirror before, never really felt the need to. Since the fire, all she did was stare at her reflection.

"Hey," Chris said softly, "you're still just as beautiful now as you were before."

"Are you flirting with me, Evans?"

"Depends, is it working?"

"Maybe."

The two continued to stare at each other in the mirror; Chris's fingers idly glided over the rough skin of Nika's scar tissue. She watched intrigued as he leaned into his own touch of her skin instead of pulling away repulsed by the feeling as she would have been. Chris was good to her, too good, in ways Nika felt she hadn't earned.

As if he'd read her mind, he turned her around to face him, lifting her chin to look into her eyes. The pad of his thumb gently brushed over her cheek. Stop that. You don't need to earn my attention or my affection or my care.

Why are you so good to me? How can you just give me that much of your time so easily? Nika questioned, her hands moved furiously to highlight her frustration. Try as she might, she couldn't understand what he saw in her — more so now, thanks to the scarring left behind by the fire.

Chris understood that Nika's confidence had been shaken, he understood that she didn't see herself as she once had. It's simple, Nik. You're my best friend, it's yours if you want it.

The drive to the firehouse was quiet. Nika left her hearing aids at home, not wanting to burden herself with attempting to follow so many conversations. Chris was there to interpret for anyone who didn't sign, giving her a much needed break.

Chris pulled up outside of the station and looked over at Nika. He waited patiently for her to make a move or a sound or any indication that she was ready to go in. She sat still as a stone, amber eyes fixed on the brick and mortar building in front of them. Chris softly tapped her left knee with his right hand, grabbing her attention. You ok? Nervous?

Nika shook her head. No, not nervous. Indifferent.

We don't have to go in. We can go home. Whatever you want to do.

I want to go.

Then we go. Chris reached across the seat and grabbed Nika's hand. He slid his fingers through the spaces between hers, giving her palm a gentle squeeze. The soft look in his eyes was warm and calming, exactly as it had been in the mirror. He slowly brought their hands up to his mouth, softly brushed his lips over their tangled fingers, skimming her knuckles. Ready?

Nika answered with a small nod of her head, her eyes still trained on the spot where Chris's lips had touched her skin. His affection wasn't new to her, except the way in which it was being delivered. She communicated with her hands, and to have him now showing deeper levels of care to her with his own… Chris's touch was everything.

The passenger door opened to reveal Chris standing at her side, waiting to escort her into the station. His bright blue eyes found her smooth honey gaze, and a sense of ease washed over them both.

She took his hand when offered, smiling as she hopped out of the truck. Who is here tonight?

That you know? Scarlett, Lizzie, Scott, and myself.

Do they know about the fire?

Scott knows, he was with me when Seb called. Everyone else will know only if you want them to. Chris smiled reassuringly. He knew seeing everyone under the current circumstances would be a lot for her, but he hoped having at least him and his brother there would take some of the pressure off. The Evans brothers were good for interpreting, Elizabeth and Scarlett knew enough conversational signs, and Nika could get by fairly well on her own otherwise.

The warmth of the summer evening relaxed both Chris and Nika's nerves. He hummed softly as she leaned into the protective barrier his body offered, shielding her right side from further damage. He hadn't been there to protect her from the fire that had caused the initial injury, but he'd make sure no more harm came to her during her stay in Boston.

She tugged on his arm as they approached the firehouse and nodded toward the opened shutter doors of the apparatus bay where Scott was waiting for them.

Hey, Scotty. Long time, no see. Nika greeted the younger Evans brother, stepping away from Chris's side and giving Scott a hug.

Hey, Trouble. Glad to see you're up and moving. How's the arm?

Can't wait to get this cast off. I'm already tired of it and it's only been a week.

Scott chuckled, greeted his brother with a nod and quick hug of his own. "Chris, you two doing alright? Need anything?"

"No, Scott. We're good. Thanks," the older Evans answered. He adjusted Nika's backpack over his shoulder and watched her slip into a comfortable conversation with Scott. The brothers had been friends with Sebastian and Nika since the four of them were in grade school; when the Evans' family moved back to Boston when the boys were in middle school, every so often Chris and Scott or Nika and Sebastian would spend a weekend with their respective second family. Nothing could tear the bond they had apart.

As they got older, Chris grew closer with both of the Stan siblings while Scott branched out and made friends of his own. He still kept in touch, not as closely as his big brother had but enough to keep the bond with them alive.

Chris's brief trip down memory lane ended abruptly, when a surprised yet happy squeal from Nika met his ears. He turned to find her sprinting through the apparatus bay toward the back of the rigs, Elizabeth's brunette hair fanning out behind her as the two spun around in a reunited embrace. He caught up to them in time to see the sling slip from Nika's arm in all of the excitement.

He tapped her left shoulder and gestured to her right arm. Hey, careful! You're not 100% yet, Nik.

Whoops. Nice catch. Thanks, Cap. she blushed, biting at her lower lip as Chris helped her slip the sling back into place. She did her best to ignore the heat rising in her cheeks at the soft kiss he pressed into the side of her hair.

How long are you here? Elizabeth asked, drawing Nika's attention away from the Squad Captain.

Off duty until my wrist and burns heal, so I guess we'll see. Definitely long enough for girls night!

That's what I like to hear!

The girls erupted into a fit of giggles. Nika hadn't been back in Boston since her breakup three years prior; a nasty one that only Chris and Elizabeth knew the explicit details of. Girls nights had been out in hold in favor of the time and space she needed to work through what happened.

Chris carefully guided a happy and preoccupied Nika to the locker room, followed by Elizabeth, as the two desperately made plans for a much needed wine and gossip night. He knew better than to interrupt.

After depositing his and Nika's things into his locker, Chris finally decided he'd take a chance pulling her away from the party planning for a bit. He found the two friends huddled in a corner of the common area, chatting animatedly over two mugs of fresh coffee. Elizabeth alerted Nika to Chris approaching her from behind and she turned around with a warm smile.

Hey, what's up?

Not much. How's your arm?

Ok, a little sore. Lizzie and I are planning Girls Night.

Chris chuckled. He loved the way Nika's eyes lit up whenever she mentioned plans with their other friends, especially Elizabeth. The two of them were almost as inseparable as Chris and Elizabeth were, and he knew that whenever he couldn't be around for her, Elizabeth would be. He nodded at the brunette and gestured toward the offices.

Mind if I borrow Nik for a moment? There's someone I want you to meet.

Not at all, I need to find Scarlett anyway. I'll see you later. Elizabeth waved them off and went in search of the other paramedic.

So, who am I meeting? Nika asked, following Chris to his office. It'd been three years since she'd stepped foot in that small room, three years since she's been in Boston at all but it still looked exactly as she remembered.

Latest Squad transfer. I think you'll like her, he answered simply. He set her purse on his desk and led her back out to the apparatus bay.

As they rounded the corner, Nika noticed the woman across the bay next to the Squad rig who hadn't been there when they'd arrived. She had wavy chestnut brown hair about as long as Nika's and stood a couple inches shorter than Sebastian. From the back, she could be his twin—a thought that thoroughly disturbed the younger Stan sibling. As the woman turned, Nika noticed the glint of the lights off of something in her hair and squinted, trying to make out what it was.

What was that flash of light in her hair? she asked, pulling Chris to a stop before they approached.

Just go meet her. Please? For me? he said. He reached forward and gently touched her left shoulder, rubbing it reassuringly and tugging her forward with him. "Hey, Daniels. You got a moment?"

The woman paused her inspection of the Squad apparatus, and turned in the direction of Chris's voice. The light caught the strange piece in her hair and now that they'd moved closer, Nika recognized it as a cochlear implant.

"What can I do for you, Captain?" The woman's eyes shifted from her superior over to the younger woman standing next to him. She gave her a polite smile, but kept her professional composer as best she could in the presence of company.

Chris easily slipped back into ASL now that he had her attention, not wanting to leave Nika out of the conversation. He quickly made the proper introductions. Nik, this is Arden Daniels, the new transfer I was telling you about. Arden, this is my best friend in the entire universe and the most badass firefighter I have ever seen, Nika Stan. She's staying with me for a few days during recovery.

Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you. Arden relaxed, shook Nika's hand, and offered the man a small chuckle of her own. So, this is the girl you learned to sign for?

Nika didn't miss the way Chris's cheeks grew a light shade of pink at Arden's accusation, though all she could do herself was stare at her best friend and wait for his answer. She'd always wondered why he'd learned ASL but never thought to ask, assuming that like everyone else, that's just how things went.

I didn't learn for her. He shook his head with a soft smile. He glanced over at Nika whose warm amber eyes were trained on his face, and he couldn't look away. I learned because of her.

Isn't that the same thing? Arden continued once she'd had Chris's attention again.

No.

Arden, now interested in what Chris had to say, sat down on the bumper of the truck behind her. It'd become increasingly clear to Nika throughout this small interaction, that like herself, Arden's experience with hearing people wasn't always positive. Truth be told, she'd never really thought of Chris as "just another hearing person" because he'd never treated her as "just another hearing impaired" girl. But then again, their relationship was different entirely.

How is that not the same thing?

Because I could always learn to sign, but Nik could never learn to hear again. I learned ASL so that I could talk to my favorite person in the world without barriers.

He'd never admitted it before, at least not out loud. No one had ever asked except Sebastian once, and when Chris didn't immediately offer an answer, he didn't press the issue. After that, he never really thought about it. For Chris, it was self-explanatory. Why would you ask a Deaf person to accommodate you in a world that's made for you?

Well, now that that particular cat was out of the bag, Chris wondered how long it would be until Nika knew the truth of how he felt about her. He'd move heaven and hell to see her smile again, but he knew it wouldn't return until she was healed up and back on the job. He couldn't just let her go home after this, not when things were finally taking a step in the right direction.

The world needs more people like you, Captain. Hearing people who don't see us Deaf as something broken to be fixed. Arden said, grabbing Chris's attention once more.

If you think I'm great, you should meet Nik's brother. He taught me everything I know about being a good advocate for the Deaf Community.

Nika rolled her eyes at the mention of Sebastian. She loved her brother, but she was loving her time away from his overprotectiveness even more. Who do you think taught him what he knows? she joked, giving Chris a playful shove.

Arden couldn't help the smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she watched the two of them interact. Chris was a goner...it showed in the brightness of his smile and the melody of his laughter.

I'm going to get back to it. But Nika it was nice meeting you. And if you're still around after shift, I'd love to get your number before you go.

It was nice meeting you too. I'm sure I'll see you again before the night's over. Don't let Evans run you into the ground.

Chris put his hand to his chest in mock offense. Hey! I resent that. I am a fantastic Squad Captain.

Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night, C.

The air between Chris and Nika was playful and electric. He led her back to his office in a comfortable silence, her left hand securely tucked into his right one. Both of them were coming down off of the excitement they shared with Arden, and the weight of his near-confession still hung just out of reach.

He shut the door behind her to give them some privacy.

So, what'd you think of Daniels?

Nika shook her head with a chuckle. Female Seb, but Deaf. It's weird.

I thought the same thing when I first met her. She's good at her job. he offered.

Hey, Chris?

Yeah, Nik? What's up?

Chris stopped in front of where Nika leaned carefully against his desk. She was staring down at her shoes, lost in thoughts she hadn't yet shared with him. He tucked his finger under her chin, lifting her head to meet his gaze. What's wrong?

I was just wondering… what are you doing with your time? Her soft honey eyes found his mesmerizing blue ones.

There in the quiet of his office, Chris did the one thing he'd been waiting to do for seven years—before he could talk himself out of it, he leaned down and softly kissed Nika's lips.

It's yours if you want it.

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