#Downhill Assist Control

[techdriveplay]

Toyota Launches All-new bZ4X Bev

The all-new Toyota bZ4X SUV has arrived in Australian showrooms, with Toyota’s first BEV introducing a new BEV-specific platform, the latest motor generator and battery technology, and advanced safety and connected technologies. Launching in its latest global specification, the bZ4X draws on more than a quarter of a century of Toyota leadership in hybrid vehicles. The bZ4X represents another…

[watchmegetobsessed]

DECODE

A/N: okay wow, it's actually here, but let me say a ew things first: i am no it proessional so there are some made up stuff so don't come after me if there are untrue things in the story lmao. also, the ending... im not entirely in peace with it, but i've been sitting on this story for way too long so i just bit my tongue and finised it. don't come after me if you don't like it... but anyway! hope it didn't turn out as bad and you'll enjoy the story!

WORD COUNT: 13.7k

SUMMARY: You're up for the promotion you've always dreamt about, but right when you need to prove everything goes downhill. Lucky for you the cute, quiet IT guy, Harry, is there to help you out.

MASTERLIST | SUPPORT ME!

There’s that feeling when you wake all by yourself, a moment of peace takes over you for not starting the day off with your one true enemy, the alarm, but then panic instantly stabs you in the chest when you realize it’s a weekday and there’s absolutely no way you just woke up before your alarm, feeling this rested. 

Your eyes pop open and you sit up in a frenzy looking around in the room, figuring out what happened and what should be done now. First you check the time on your phone and when you see that it reads 8:32 you almost start crying, but there’s no time for that, so you jump out of bed and sprint into the bathroom, stopping on the way when you spot Eric in the hallway, fully dressed, ready to leave.

“Eric?! Why didn’t you wake me up?!” you snap at him. He turns to you with innocence all over his face.

“I thought you were off today,” he simply says.

“Off?! We have the board meeting today, how could I be off!” you practically scream as you rush into the bathroom to get ready in less than two minutes hopefully.

“I’m sorry!” he calls out from outside. “I’ll see you in the office!”

And the next thing you hear is the front door opening and closing.

“Motherfu…” you mumble as you start washing your face like a crazy woman.

You leave in ten minutes, but you’re fifteen minutes late already, no matter how magically fast you got ready. You don’t have time to get a bagel for breakfast and you’re already halfway into the office when you realize you left your lunch at home too. You somehow shorten the route and win a few minutes on your way in, but you still arrive ten minutes late, looking like a hot mess, completely out of control as you make your way to the twentieth floor to your desk, pretending you haven’t just had the absolute worst morning of your life. 

The elevator almost closes right in front of you, but before you could smash against the sliding doors a hand sticks out and stops it, letting you slip in last minute.

“Ah, thank you,” you breathe out, your purse sliding off your shoulder and your folder almost falls from your hands.

“N-No problem,” a sweet and smooth voice answers, but your hair is such a mess, it covers your vision and you don’t see the kind man that saved you a few minutes with his move. The moment the elevator arrives to your floor you jump out and rush towards your desk.

“You alright, boss?” Zaya, your intern asks, who is more like a personal assistant at this point. She eyes you curiously from her desk as you gasp for air and try to soothe out the wrinkles on your blouse, though there’s absolutely no use in it. 

“Everything is perfectly fine,” you force a smile on your face as you start your computer, emails flowing in like crazy the moment you open your inbox. “Just had a rough morning.”

With Zaya’s help you go through everything at light speed, it’s one of your biggest strengths, being fast and productive, so in just about twenty minutes you reduce the thirty-seven unread emails to just two. 

You’ve cleared your schedule beforehand so you can have a practice run for your big presentation. Today’s board meeting is gonna be an important one. There’s a promotion at risk, one you’ve been working your ass off to get and now it’s so close, you can almost feel it between your fingertips. This presentation and what stands behind it all is what you’ve worked for night and day for the past month and you have never been more confident in yourself, though you can’t shake the general nervousness off.

You make your test run to Zaya who says her mind is blown and there’s no chance you won’t get the promotion. 

“You got it, boss,” she fist bumps you, something you’ve grown to like, it’s her form of appreciation. 

“I hope so,” you sigh. “Alright, I’ll grab a coffee quickly before the meeting.”

You head a few levels down to the main kitchen area that has the best coffee machine in the building. It’s already past the morning rush, so you’re delighted to see that there are just a few people lingering around. Including Eric.

“Hey!” you huff out a smile as you stand next to him at the coffee machine. He peeks at you, just a tiny smile on his lips, but it doesn’t reach his eyes like usual.

“Hey.”

“If you’re curious, I was only just a bit late this morning,” you chuckle to yourself, grabbing a cup while Eric waits for his own coffee to get ready. 

“Mm, great. Sorry about… the morning.”

“It’s okay, are you nervous? About the presentation?”

Funny enough you’re running for the promotion against Eric, the guy you’ve been hooking up for the past few months. It’s nothing serious, no strings attached, mostly just sex, though you believe that if you spend at least three nights together every week and spend time outside of bed as well, that has to mean more than just a regular hook up.

Right?

“Not really,” he shrugs, but it doesn’t sound genuine.

“It’s okay, you’ll do good,” you smile at him warmly as you place your hand on his arm and give it a squeeze, but you’re surprised when he moves out of your touch, shooting you a look.

“Not… in the office, Y/N,” he grits through his teeth, looking around to check if anyone saw the tiny gesture while you’re just blinking at him dumbly.

Yes, you usually keep your… whatever it is out of the office, but he hasn’t been this distant to you before. Before you could ask his phone starts ringing and he mumbles an apology before running off.

You write it off as nerves, you know Eric to be highly competitive, it must be a new field for him as well, running against someone he is involved with. 

Your heart is racing when you enter the boardroom, welcoming the people that will decide your future at the company, the CEO, the CFO, the head of marketing and a few others you’re not that familiar with, but you know they have power.

For the promotion you had to come up with a plan to boost the numbers on the website that hasn’t been doing much lately. You worked up a plan for a marketing strategy that would reach the target audience in a better way, it’s pretty awesome, you’re quite proud of it and you’re convinced you’ll kick ass with your presentation.

There are a few more minutes left until the meeting, you pour yourself some water and go ahead to open your slides on your computer so you have it all ready when it’s your turn.

“What… Oh no,” you whisper, when your computer starts lagging and the cursor freezes. “No, no, no!”

“Everything alright, Miss?” the CFO notices your panic.

“Yes!” you force a smile on your face. “Everything is… perfect.”

He nods and turns back to his previous conversation while your panic intensifies. You keep pushing buttons and trying to move the cursor, but it looks pretty dead, so you decide to shut it down and try to restart it, hopefully it will come back from the dead. 

Eric strides into the room, but as he takes his seat he doesn’t even look at you, just sets out his own laptop and paper notes and stares ahead of him. No matter how you try to catch his attention, he ignores you fully and it’s just another punch in your stomach.

What the hell is happening?

“Alright, everyone ready?” Daniel, the CEO claps his hands together. “Eric, you’re up first,” he gestures at him and while you’re still desperately trying to revive your computer. 

Eric sets up and when his presentation appears behind him your stomach drops instantly. 

The title, the topic, the colors… everything. You know all of it, because… because you made it. It’s yours.

You forget about your computer as Eric starts talking and he presents your idea, everything you came up with and worked hard on, he hasn’t changed a bit about it and now he is making it look like it’s his own. If you were panicking before now you’re about to set on fire.

That would be probably nice, because you wouldn’t have to go up there and most likely embarrass yourself. 

How did he get your presentation? Why did he steal it? You can’t blame him just out of the blue, you need proof and right now the only device that could have it is dead in front of you. 

You are so screwed. 

“ Holy fucking shit, oh my God!” you keep mumbling under your breath as you approach your desk, holding your dead computer to your chest, eyes wide from what you just went through.

“Boss? You alright?” Zaya’s eyes widen when she sees you all shocked and traumatized.

“No! I’m anything but alright!”

Luckily, the small meeting room near your desk is vacant so you’re quick to take it, Zaya following you right after, shutting the door closed so you can unleash fully.

“Oh my God I can’t fucking believe him! The asshole! How did he fucking do it?!” you snap, throwing everything to the table so you can anxiously start pacing the floor with your hands on your hips. “I cannot believe this, what the hell!”

“Y/N, what happened? You’re starting to scare me,” Zaya eyes you and she actually looks scared which is a new thing, the girl is fearless.

“Eric! He stole my… my whole fucking presentation!” you whisper-yell, throwing your hands up into the air. “Every slide! Every detail! It was all mine! And he sold it as his own!”

“W-what? But… how? And what did you present then?”

“I have no idea! He was up first, as we all knew ahead of time, he went up there, opened his presentation and it was mine! I thought I was about to fall off my seat, fucking hell,” you groan, rubbing your face with your hands. Thanks to your rushed morning you’re not wearing any makeup today so at least you can’t turn yourself into a panda bear. “My laptop died right before the meeting started so I could use it as an excuse and… fuck, I made up a whole other plan on the spot!” You’re about to start hyperventilating, maybe even crying which you’ve never ever done at work before.

“But… that’s good, right? That you came up with something new?” Zaya tries to see the bright side of it, but you shake your head violently.

“You know what I came up with? I said I’m planning to rebuild the whole fucking website! All of it!”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes! I basically set myself up for failure!”

Everyone knows a full makeover could easily be a death sentence, especially with such a short notice. You have no structure to it, no plan and most importantly no IT support to do the actual work. Because you can dream up any idea, but you cannot actually write the code for it. 

Zaya tries to cheer you up but you both know you’re not only knee high, but probably neck high in deep shit. She promises to take up extra hours to help you figure out what to do and though it’s nice, the situation still feels pretty much lost.

You’re on the verge of tears when you make your way to the IT department to have your computer checked out, which is still pretty much dead. You’re already dreading the interaction, Steven, the head of the IT department is a real pain in the ass, he never wants to actually help with anything so it’s always a fight to get things done with him. 

When you walk into their office he is the first one you see and you almost groan out loud, but manage to keep quiet as you approach him.

“Hi Steven, do you happen to have a moment?” you ask, as politely and nicely as you can in the light of what just happened, but apparently it’s not enough for him, because the look he gives you makes you want to turn around and run away.

“What’s the matter?” he grimaces, fixing his glasses as he leans back in his seat.

“My laptop just died,” you hold up the device. 

He stares at you, then at your laptop and then his eyes flicker back to you and he stays silent for what feels like forever before he speaks up.

“I have no time for this now,” he says, returning to his own computer and your shoulders fall forward in defeat, but then he speaks up again. “Go to the back and ask for Styles.”

“Thank you,” you breathe out and are already on your way away from his desk.

Maneuvering between the desks you’re trying to find out who’s Styles or who to even ask to tell you where to find him and you’re just about to stop at one of the desks when you see a big screen, a sticker on the back of it that says H. Styles, so you make your way over there.

As you’re approaching the desk a head full of chocolate curls appear and soon you spot the guy sitting behind the screen, peering up at you with curious, green eyes from behind his glasses.

“Are you… Styles?” you ask, feeling weird that you only know his family name. He stares at you for a second with wide eyes and you start to think you’ve got the wrong guy, but then he nods, the curls bouncing along with the movement.

“Y-yeah. I’m Harry Styles.”

“Great! Steven said you might be able to have a look at my computer, it’s completely dead.”

“Sure,” he clears his throat as he pushes back from the desk while you round it to give the laptop to him. “W-what happened?” he asks as he opens it up and tries to turn it on, but the screen remains black.

“Um, basically it froze right before the most important presentation of my life and then it died and hasn't turned on since then,” you summarize with a sad smile as you watch him grab some kind of cable to connect your laptop with his computer.

Harry hums as he opens some kind of program that has a long, complicated looking code running in front of him and he clicks and searches in it so easily as if he was reading a children’s book. 

“Is it fully dead?” you ask after a couple of minutes. 

“No, but you got a virus, it might take some time to restore everything and some files might not make it, I’m sorry.”

You let out a shaky breath, feeling like crying again, but you manage to swallow them back as you lean against the edge of Harry’s desk. He looks up at you like a frightened kid.

“I-I can try to get everything back, I promise, it’s just that–”

“No, I know it’s not up to you. Thank you though. I’m just on the verge of… would it be weird if I started screaming right now?” you ask rhetorically as you pinch the bridge of your nose. 

“I can set up another one for you to use with all the access cloned from yours, but you won’t have the files in the meantime.”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.”

“Is there any file in particular you want me to try to recover?”

“There’s this folder that would be nice if I had it, here, this is the name,” you say as you grab a post-it and a pen and scribble the name down with all the files in it. 

“Okay, I will try to restore it. Give me a few minutes to set your replacement computer up.”

Nodding sadly you wait by Harry’s desk, watching him work on his computer like it’s an instrument and he is pretty much a professional. You know nothing about programming, but Harry seems like a wizard, you have no idea why Steven makes him deal with all the tiny things when he could pretty much redeem the world. 

“Here, this is the password, everything is set up,” he hands you the new computer.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll give you an email when I have something about your old one.”

“Okay, my address is–”

“I know, I just… I literally just logged you into your account,” he reminds me with a shy smile and you realize he’s right.

“Oh. I forgot. Well, thank you so much, Harry. And I’m sorry you have to deal with it now.”

“It’s fine, I’m the newest on the team, this is how it goes. Rookies get to deal with all the device issues,” he chuckles shortly.

You nod with a sympathetic smile and pay one last look to your savior. He looks young, around your age, but he’s sporting a slight stubble that adds some harshness to his otherwise boyish face. He’s got kind eyes behind his glasses, the prettiest pink lips you’ve ever seen on a man and his curls are screaming to be touched, though you’re not sure HR would take it well if you were just walking around the office, touching people’s hair. Oddly, it wouldn’t be the first time they would have to deal with a situation like this. Bobby DeMarco was a weird dude who worked in sales and he had an even weirder obsession with playing with women’s hair randomly. He didn’t last too long at the company, luckily.

When you return to your desk it takes everything in you to focus on working and A, not find Eric to claw his eyes out and B, not anxiously wait to hear anything from the board about today’s meeting. They are supposed to give feedback today and approve if you can continue working on your project and they can easily just kick you out of the whole thing as well. If that happened Eric would still have to prove himself to be a good fit for the role, but you’d have no chance to ever step up at the company.

You’re a mess, to say the least. You’re panicking over having to do a full website makeover in just a month, you have no idea where you stand with Eric and honestly, you’re torn between never wanting to talk to him and also screaming at him until your lungs give up.

God, your sister will be so mad, she was right! Jeanie warned you. She said it right at the beginning when you started hooking up with Eric that it’s not gonna end well, but you thought she was talking about being dumped eventually, not getting your promotion stolen from you!

When Zaya comes up to you with a question later in the day you’re still so shaken up you can barely make out an answer for her.

“I think you should report it,” she suggests, holding her notebook to her chest.

“And what do I have as proof? My computer is totally dead with all the evidence I made the presentation,” you groan, leaning back in your seat.

“Let’s hope the hot IT guy can restore everything.”

“Hot?” you chuckle. “How do you know he’s hot?”

“You said it’s Harry doing it, right? Curly hair, glasses?” You nod. “I know him, he is definitely hot,” she shrugs smirking, shifting her weight to one leg. “You know what would be nice? Hooking up with him to get revenge on Eric!”

“H-Hooking up? Why would Eric care about who I hook up with?” you clear your throat, pretending like you haven’t had a thing going on with Eric these past months. Zaya gives you a look that clearly says you shouldn’t think she’s stupid and blind.

“Please, Y/N.”

Sighing you roll your eyes as you give up the act.

“Judging from the betrayal Eric gives absolutely no shit about me.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” she shrugs just when your computer pings, signaling two new emails in your inbox.

One from the board and one from Harry.

“Oh shit,” you gasp as you lean forward so fast you almost fall off your seat and Zaya runs behind your desk to see what’s happening as you open the email from the board.

Your eyes skim over the lines several times before you finally process what was written in it.

They approved your plan. You’re still up for the promotion.

“Congrats! You made it!” Zaya cheers.

“Fuck,” you whisper under your breath.

“What’s wrong? I thought this was what you wanted.”

“The chance and the promotion? Yes. But now I have to do a full website makeover in a month which is practically impossible.”

You’re still moping and silently panicking when you’re approaching Harry’s desk for the second time today. When he sees you he jumps to his feet and you almost break a smile because he looks like a puppy for a second, but then you see that he has taken his sweatshirt off, wearing only a simple black t-shirt that puts his tattoo littered arms on display.

Fuck, Zaya was right. He really is kinda hot.

“Hey,” he waves at you when you finally reach his desk.

“Hi, how did it go?” you ask with a deep breath.

“Actually kinda good, I could save most of your stuff,” he says as he sits back and you walk behind his desk, seeing your laptop still wired to his computer. “I saved the files onto a harddrive, but I don’t recommend you to keep using the laptop, it’s… it’s pretty fried,” he chuckles, pushing the glasses further up on the bridge of his nose and for a moment you just stare at his side profile instead of focusing on what he’s showing you on his screen.

“Uh, that’s okay, I’ll be fine with the files,” you clear your throat.

“So um… I don’t know if it matters or not, but I-I thought you might want to know that you didn’t just get the virus because you clicked on something, it was… well, someone put it on your computer and it started attacking the firmware.”

You blink a few times as you process his words and then it all starts to make sense.

“What do you mean someone put it on my computer?”

“Well, there was a malware hidden on your computer that basically attacked the firmware which made it impossible for you to use the laptop and it also attacked the files saved, I found an implanted code that was giving access to–”

“Harry, I don’t really understand what you’re saying,” you remind him, his words sounding absolutely foreign to you.

“Sorry,” he breathes out with a nod. “So basically, the virus stopped your computer from working and it also gave access to a third party to reach your files.”

“So someone could use my files?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

You feel like fainting again, because now it all makes sense. And you’re starting to see red.

“Can you see what files they messed with?”

“Actually, I’m glad you asked,” he smiles proudly. “I was able to find everything they duplicated and there’s a folder they tried to get rid of, but I restored it.”

“Is it by any chance the folder I gave the name to you?”

“It is,” he nods, his fingers starting to type on his keyboard at lightspeed. “Here. See these lines?” he asks, pointing at a code you understand nothing of, but you nod. “It’s basically something they should have paid attention to if they wanted to leave no trace, but I found it so now we know what they were trying to put their hands on. I even have time stamps too. The virus was on your computer for a while and then it was activated to attack the firmware today.”

This is all like a movie, it feels like you’re in Mission Impossible or James Bond, except it’s not a great villain who is working against you but the guy you trusted to let into your bed. The guy you considered your friend and even something more than just that lately.

You made a mistake, you see it now and you want to dwell on it but you know you have no time for that, you have to keep moving forward.

“Do you know who did it?”

“Unfortunately, no. I could only get proof if I had access to the other person’s computer who was hacking yours. I’m sorry.”

Harry seems genuinely sad, as if he failed, but he did so much for you already.

“It’s okay. Thank you so much, can you… like, make a record of all these? So we have all this as proof at least.”

“Already done,” he nods. “Do you want me to file a report?”

“No. No need for that,” you shake your head. “But… I want to ask a favor from you. I know we barely know each other and you probably have a lot of work, so feel free to say no.”

“What is it?”

“Do you want to help me redesign our whole website?”

You’re anxiously chewing on your bottom lip as you wait for the Skype call to be answered, your sister’s name flashing on the screen until her pixelated face replaces it.

And she looks mad, just as you expected.

“Y/N, I told you so! I literally told you so!” she starts off, the voice cracks a bit as the call stabilizes.

“Can we skip the part where you tell me off like a child for hooking up with a coworker who ended up fucking me over?” you flash a smile, but she rolls her eyes at you, leaning back on her couch, her right side getting more illuminated by the lamp beside her couch. It’s past seven in the evening in Tokyo while it’s just six am for you. For the past six months this has been your usual, trying to call each other at a time that’s reasonable for the both of you with the insane thirteen hours of time difference. It’s definitely a hard task and sometimes you have to plan a call days, even weeks ahead.

“No, because I’m so mad!” she groans. “Mostly at the fucker, but you as well!”

“I really don’t need to hear how much I fucked up,” you mumble, looking down at your lap.

“Sorry,” she sighs, realizing she is making you feel even guiltier. “I’m just… you worked so hard for this and now he is ruining it.”

“I’m still up for the promotion,” you shrug.

“Yeah, but you said it’s almost impossible to do what you presented.”

“Well, things are looking a bit better now.”

She listens intently as you tell her about what Harry found on your computer and how you ended up asking him to help you out. You truly didn’t think he would say yes, but he didn’t even think about it before agreeing. So now you have the IT part covered by him, you just have to come up with all the rest.

“This Harry guy…” Sammy starts and you hold up your hand.

“Don’t give me the speech again, I learned my lesson.”

“No, actually I wanted to say that I like him.”

“For real?” you ask, raising your eyebrows. 

“I mean, he is willing to work an immense amount of extra time on your project and he basically has no benefit from it. I hope you do realize how big of a sacrifice he is making for your promotion.”

You knew how big of a deal it has been from Harry to help you out but now that Sammy said it out loud, realization hits. It’s not right he gets nothing out of it, so you note to yourself to go over it with him when you meet him in the morning for your first planning session.

“I’ll talk to him about it. Now let’s talk about something else.”

Harry was afraid he wouldn’t be able to wake up so early in the morning and make it into the office for the meeting with you, but it turns out his excitement to be working with you is kicking him out of bed even before his alarm goes off. 

He does his usual morning routine, shower, get dressed, breakfast and checking he has everything he needs in his backpack for the day and then he’s on his way. When he walks into the café that’s two blocks away from his apartment the bell gently chimes above his head, catching the attention of the owner, Frida. 

“Harry! You’re up early today!” she greets him with a beaming smile, her grey hair is in her signature low bun, her blue eyes twinkling at the sight of him.

“I have an early meeting,” he mumbles with a shy smile, the tip of his ears turning red and she doesn’t miss it, but she knows how closed off he is so she doesn’t even try to tease her about it. 

“The usual?”

“Um, yeah, but can you make it two?”

“Of course,” she nods with a knowing smile, her suspicion is getting proven that this early meeting is with someone special. 

The two chat lightly while Friday makes the coffees to go, handing the paper cups to Harry once they’re done.

“Have a lovely day, Harry,” she waves after him and he nods back, pushing the door open with his hips, a cup in each of his hands.

He can’t deny there’s a pep in his step as he enters the building that’s eerily empty so early in the morning. He did not expect his day to take such an unexpected turn yesterday. He’s seen you around the office a few times before but he knew nothing about you, just that your laughter is ridiculously contagious. Then you jumped into the elevator with him in the morning, looking a bit messy but very pretty nevertheless. He could only blink as the elevator sped up and moments later you were out of sight.

But then you strolled into the IT department with your ruined computer and he finally learned your name. While he wanted to help with your laptop as much and fast as possible, he was also dreading the moment you’d pick the harddrive up with all your files and then never talk to him again. He felt silly, crushing on a woman he only officially met just a few hours before, but he couldn’t help it. Even when you were visibly stressed and worried he thought you were enchanting. 

He was not expecting you to ask for his help, but luckily his brain clicked instantly and agreed without hesitation. For one, he’s been dealing with boring projects as the rookie on the team and this seems like a great challenge for him. 

On the other hand, he would have said yes to anything you asked him, literally. 

So now as he walks into the meeting room where you’re supposed to meet his excitement is mixed with some anxiety, because as much as he is curious about this project he is nervous to spend so much time with you all of a sudden. He can only hope he won’t seem like a freak to you.

Thanks to the early Skype session with Sammy you’re on time too, arriving to the office building just minutes after Harry. He’s setting his laptop up when you arrive, his head snapping up when you approach the desk and take the seat next to him.

“Morning,” you smile at him warmly.

“Good morning,” he smiles back, fixing his glasses to sit straight before reaching for the extra cup of coffee. “Um, I brought you this. Actually, I realized too late that I don’t know how you like your coffee, so y-you don’t have to drink it…”

“Oh! That’s very kind, thank you! I drink coffee however I can,” you chuckle. “I just need the caffeine.”

You see a small smile flash across his face before he returns to his computer while you settle next to him. 

“Before we start, I wanted to go over something with you.” Harry turns to you curiously as you try to figure out what to even say. “This is a huge thing and I know it needs a lot of time and work. I don’t feel comfortable letting you do it without getting anything for the work you do.”

“Oh, I-I don’t need anything, I’m glad to help.”

“That’s very kind, but it still doesn’t feel fair. If there is anything I can do for you, literally anything, just feel free to ask. I would feel better if I knew you’re getting your reward for your work.”

Harry thinks about it for a few seconds before nodding to himself.

“Do I have to come up with something now?”

“No,” you chuckle. “Just promise me you’ll think of some way I can pay you back.”

“Okay.”

In the next hour you learn two things. One, working with Harry is incredibly easy. He is efficient, communicates well and simply a great at teamwork, it’s like a breath of fresh air after some of the people you’ve previously worked with.

The other thing you learn is that he is incredibly smart and it makes him very… sexy.

God, you shouldn’t be having these thoughts after what happened with Eric, but you’re not immune to a good-looking man with so much knowledge, especially when it’s in IT. You know nothing about coding and when he pulls up his miles long codes, types quietly for a few minutes and then shows you what he did, explaining to you the science behind it… it’s making you feel things you shouldn’t be. It’s so attractive when someone knows so much about something and they’re passionate and devoted to the field. It’s clear that Harry’s field is programming and he is ridiculously good at it. 

You were afraid the task would turn out to be impossible and every time he spends just a little more time silently staring at his code you’re expecting him to give up and tell you he can’t do it.

But he comes up with something every time and by the time the meeting ends you feel oddly enthusiastic and optimistic about the whole makeover that was scaring you to death just yesterday.

“Harry, you are… truly a life saver,” you sigh contently as you lean back in your seat, a long list of tasks on your screen, but you can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel now. 

“I’m happy to help,” he smiles shyly, nodding to himself. 

“Do not forget about the payment, I really want to pay it all back to you.”

“I won’t, I promise,” he chuckles softly.

“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“Tomorrow,” he confirms before packing up his stuff and leaving.

You stay in your seat for a little longer, just having a break before starting your actual work day. Opening up your calendar you check what meetings you have today and that’s when you face what you’ve been religiously ignoring since yesterday’s ordeal.

The weekly marketing sync where most of the time it’s just you and Eric, because Dominik, the third person who should be present likes to cancel last minute. 

It’s ridiculous that you still haven’t gotten into contact with him. Part of you was expecting him to come to you, to give you any kind of explanation though there is nothing he could have said that would have explained why he did all of that.

It’s been radio silence on his part and now you have to face him and talk to him.

You’d rather throw up in the middle of the office than do it, but you have to suck it up and deal with him.

He is there in the meeting room when you walk in, typing away on his computer like nothing happened, like he didn’t just try to ruin your career.

“Eric?” you call out, your voice sounds a lot more confident than you were expecting luckily.

He looks up, his face remains completely blank and it just angers you even more.

“Hey,” he nods without batting an eye.

“Hey?” you chuckle, as you close the door behind you, shutting you away from the rest of the people outside. “Don’t you have something to say to me?”

“Y/N, do you really want to do this?” he sighs, as if it was tiring to even think about the situation.

“Eric, you stole my whole presentation and sold it as yours!”

“Are you sure about that?”

You’re seeing red. And you’ve never been this close to actually punching someone in the face. 

“Of course I’m sure about it! That was my presentation! Are you fucking kidding me?!”

Eric stands from his seat, taking his sweet time as he walks closer, trying to intimidate you with the height difference, which used to work, you even found it hot when he towered over you, but now it’s like his existence is giving you the ick.

“You have no proof, Y/N. And you didn’t say a word at the meeting. That ship has sailed, now it’s time to move on.”

“It was all just a joke to you?”

“I told you at the beginning I didn’t want anything serious, that wasn’t a lie.”

“But did you do it just to fuck my presentation up? We literally started hooking up when the open position was announced.”

“Does it matter?”

“It does!” you laugh in disbelief, tears stinging your eyes, but you refuse to give him the satisfaction of seeing you cry because of him.

“Okay,” he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I just wanted to get to know you and see what you’d come up with for the presentation, but then one thing followed the other and… I went with it.” He shrugs and then goes back to his computer like you just discussed the weather and not how he used you and then threw you away.

You can’t hold yourself together any longer, so you turn around and get as far from him as possible as you try not to start sobbing in the middle of the office. Fuck, this shouldn’t hurt this much, but you really trusted him, you thought you could have something serious, you were hoping Sammy wouldn’t be right about him, but she was. Unfortunately.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you mumble under your breath as you approach your desk Zaya is not in today, so it’s pretty calm around your desk, but then you spot someone lingering there.

“Y/N?” Harry sees how shaken you look as you finally reach him at your desk. “A-Are you alright?”

“Hi Harry,” you force a smile out, but you can’t fool anyone with it. “Did we… Do we have a meeting or something?”

“No, I just wanted to show something… Y/N, are you about to cry?””

“N-No,” you shake your head, but your lips are already wobbling and you fail to prove your words right.

“Uh, come on, let’s have a break. Want to come up to the roof?” He gently circles an arm around your shoulders and you let him lead you back to the elevators.

“Roof? We can go out to the roof?” you ask, wiping your tears away.

He doesn’t reply, just makes sure to shield you from the curious eyes as you make your way up to the top of the building. You genuinely didn’t know the roof could be used and when you see Harry push the heavy door open that leads outside you’re guessing it’s not exactly a public spot, but you don’t question it.

It looks just like how a rooftop should look, it’s definitely not open for public use but when Harry leads you over the corner and you see a little bench there, facing the panoramic view, you know you have just found a secret spot.

“Is this where you hide from Steven?” you attempt to joke as you sit down with him. 

“Sometimes, yes,” he chuckles. “Not my spot though, I think the janitor comes up here to smoke, but I haven’t run into him yet.”

You sit in silence, Harry gives you time and space to pull yourself together, not rushing you to talk at all and you’re grateful for his patience. Staring ahead at the view you take a few deep breaths, telling yourself not to let Eric’s bullshit get to your head. 

“I’m sorry you had to… deal with my tantrum,” you chuckle sadly at last. 

“That wasn’t a tantrum,” he smiles softly. “And don’t be sorry, everyone could have a bad day. Want to talk about what happened?”

“I trusted the wrong person,” you purse your lips. “Um, the virus you found on my computer. Someone from the company put it there to fuck up my chances for a promotion I’ve been dreaming of for a long time.”

“What? Are you… are you serious?”

“Yeah and the worst part is that… god, don’t tell anyone, but I’ve been kind of… hooking up with him and he said it was all just to get closer to me.”

Harry opens his mouth to say something, but then ends up closing it, processing what you just told him. You don’t blame him for being lost and confused, it’s a shitshow, to say the least. 

“That’s… That’s awful, I’m sorry,” he clears his throat, gently shaking his head. 

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” you chuckle. “I trusted the wrong person. Learned my lesson,” you shrug, and you wish you could actually end it all in your head with that, but you know it will bother you for a while at least. 

“Can I ask who this person is?”

“Eric Sonders.”

“I think… I know him. Didn’t think he could be this… vile.”

“Me neither!” you laugh. 

“So… he stole your idea and presentation, so now you have to do something else? And that’s the makeover?”

Nodding you briefly tell him what happened at the meeting, he listens intently and then shakes his head in disapproval, probably just as upset and lost about Eric’s behavior as you are. 

“You should report him, this is incredibly unethical and unacceptable.”

“I have no proof. We can’t prove that he did it all to my computer, you said it yourself.”

“Shit, you’re right.”

While Harry is deep in his thoughts you just stare ahead of yourself, doing a short assessment of your current situation. This should have been an exciting, professionally challenging time in your life, working on something that would earn you your promotion, but now, you feel like it’s more out of your reach than ever.

“We’ll make it work,” Harry speaks up, as if he could read your mind. “We can do it.”

“You really think so?”

“Yeah. It’s gonna be a tight stretch, but… It’s not impossible.”

“You are truly a life saver for agreeing to do it, Harry. I have no idea what I would do without you.”

He turns to you with a sheepish smile and you notice the slight pink shade on his cheeks as he nods.

“I’m happy to help.”

Part of you knew this would be deadly, but even after expecting the worst, it hits you like a train.

In the next two weeks you feel like you spend every waking moment working on the project with Harry. Sometimes you do it together, sharing ideas, discussing them, sometimes you’re together but work in silence and sometimes you do it apart. Whichever it is, you eat, drink and dream with the new website.

While Harry is taking care of the coding, you do everything else, that means content writing, planning, organizing and also designing. It’s been ages since the last time you designed anything, once upon a time you thought you’d end up in that field, but then somehow marketing came into the picture and now you have to combine your two passions. 

It’s destroying you absolutely, but slowly it’s starting to add up and you can see the progress. 

On a Friday evening you’re still in the office after seven, practically everyone has left by now, but you’re deep in work with Harry beside you. It's one of those quiet sessions, when you’re working together, but only speak when there’s an issue. Neither of you said anything for about an hour when the silence is interrupted by Harry’s ringing phone.

“Ah, sorry,” he mumbles, jumping in his seat at the sudden noise as he reaches for the phone, checking the caller ID before his eyes go wide. “Oh shit,” he mumbles and you look up at him as he answers the call. “Hey Mitch!”

You hear a voice from the phone, but it’s too muffled for you to make out what they are saying.

“Um, I’m kind of still at the office… No, I didn’t forget!” he protests, but the look on his face clearly tells you he did forget something. “I-I don’t know… Yeah, I’ve been just working with Y/N… No, I won’t– Mitch… No!... Uh, okay…”

He holds the phone away from his ear, covering the mic with a hand as he looks at you with anxious eyes, he looks like a reindeer caught in headlights. 

“Um, I forgot I was supposed to meet two of my friends for a few drinks. Is it okay if I leave now?”

“Oh God, of course! Harry, it’s so late, I shouldn’t have kept you here so long.”

“You didn’t keep me,” he chuckles, before the worried look returns to his face. “Actually, would you… I mean only if you want to–So do you maybe… want to come?”

It’s adorable how he stumbles over his own words and you see the familiar pink shade tinting his face again, it’s a color you’ve seen a lot lately and you’ve grown to quite like it. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to intrude on your time with your friends.”

“You wouldn’t intrude, I mean, I’m asking because I want you to join, obviously.”

“I-I’ll just go home and work some more, it’s fine–”

“Y/N, we’ve been working all day,” he chuckles. “You deserve some free time as well.”

You think of his words, these two weeks has been so busy you didn’t even do anything else than working and sleeping practically. Some off time would be actually amazing for your fried brain.

“Only if you truly don’t mind,” you say at last.

“Let’s pack then,” he beams with a smile as he shuts his computer down.

Twenty minutes later you’re walking into a bar you’ve never been to, joining Harry’s friends for drinks and though you can’t put your finger on it, but for some reason you feel a bit anxious. 

“Hey guys,” Harry waves at a couple sitting in a dimly lit booth. The woman is the first one to look at you with a beaming, bright smile as she slides out and holds her hand out for you.

“Hi! You must be Y/N! I’m Sarah and this is my husband, Mitch,”

“It’s nice to meet you,” you breathe out as you shake hands with Mitch as well.

You’re instantly bombarded with questions from Sarah as you slip into the booth and don’t even notice that Harry leaves and then returns with two drinks.

“Oh, thank you,” you smile at him as he sits beside you.

“So how is the project going?” Mitch speaks up, lazily draping an arm to the back of the seat behind Sarah.

“It’s going good,” Harry hums with a small nod, very humble about how much he has gotten done in just the first week.

“Mostly because of Harry’s hard work,” you add, praising him the way he deserves and it brings back that pink shade to his cheeks.

Sarah and Mitch are very easy to talk to, they seem curious about the projects the two of you are working on and just you in general. You’re having a great time hanging out with them and you feel like you’ve known them for a long time even though you literally just met.

You don’t even notice how time flies by, only when Sarah checks the time and lets Mitch know that they need to be heading home so the babysitter can leave.

“It was really nice meeting you, Y/N. I hope we can do this some other time,” Sarah hugs you.

“If Harry doesn’t mind me interrupting his time with his friends, then I’m in,” you chuckle, looking at the man in question who just shakes his head with a shy smile, letting you know he definitely does not mind.

“Alright, then it’s settled!”

They say their goodbye to Harry as well and suddenly it’s just the two of you in the booth and Harry is noticeably more nervous than before.

“Um, w-we don’t have to stay, if you want to go home, you co–”

“I’m happy to stay, Harry,” you smile at him without hesitation. He seems surprised, but excited at your answer.

You order another round of drinks and with the previous ones already consumed, it seems like Harry is slowly opening up, leaving his shyness behind and you get to have a peek behind his walls. The more you find out about him the more sure you get that he is truly an amazing, brilliant person and you wish you had met him earlier.

Maybe then you wouldn’t have fallen for Eric’s bullshit. Maybe then you would have fallen for him.

The drinks you’ve had don’t actually let it register, but you’re already developing a crush on him. How could you not? He is sweet, caring, smart, very thoughtful, basically the polar opposite of Eric. It’s making you question what you even saw in that asshole, you really put the bar too low.

“Oh shit, it’s already three in the morning,” you chuckle, when you finally check the time. “I should head home, I can’t sleep all day tomorrow,” you sigh, rubbing your face with your hands, realizing just how tired you feel. 

“I’ll call an Uber, is it okay if we share one?”

“It’s more than okay,” you smile at him lazily.

Minutes later you’re out in front of the bar, waiting for the ride to arrive. It has gotten significantly chillier, you did not dress for a night out so you’re holding your blazer jacket tight on yourself. When Harry notices he shrugs off his jean jacket without a word and drapes it over your shoulders.

“No, you’ll be cold!” you try to protest, but he shakes his head.

“I have a hoodie in my backpack,” he shrugs and pulls out a black hoodie, putting it on right when a car pulls up in front of you.

“Thank you for inviting me out tonight,” you quietly speak up on the backseat of the Uber, staring at Harry’s dimly lit handsome face. His glasses slid down on the bridge of his nose and you had enough drinks to have the courage to reach out and push them back gently. The gesture seemingly surprised him, but he doesn’t protest, just keeps his eyes focused on you.

“It was nice hanging out with you outside of the office.”

“Now we know we have things to talk about outside of the project,” you chuckle, making him grin as well. “We’re a great duo, Harry.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure about it at first, I have never had to work this closely together with an IT guy and I was afraid I might be too intense for you. But it all turned out so good, I like spending time with you.”

“Really?”

“Is it that surprising?” you chuckle, letting your head fall back and rest on the back of the seat. “You’re a cool guy, Harry Styles. And very handsome.”

The last comment rolls off your tongue before you could bite it back and though it’s too dark to see it, you just know he is all blushed. Before any of you could speak up, the car comes to a stop, you’ve arrived at your building. Harry gets out of the car with you and walks you up to the door. 

“See you on monday?” he shyly kicks the dust, hands in his pockets. 

“Yeah. Thanks for tonight,” you repeat yourself and there’s a heartbeat of silence where you feel that moment.

You probably should not be feeling this way, not after getting yourself burnt so bad, but you can’t help it. You want to kiss Harry and for a split second you believe he wants to do the same. His eyes flicker down to your lips and you move just a tiny bit closer to him, time stands still and just when you think he’ll do it, he clears his throat and steps back.

“Good night, Y/N,” he mumbles nodding before he walks back to the car. 

You stand there, feeling stupid as you blink after him before snapping out of your trance, forcing yourself to walk inside. As you take a quick shower and get ready to bed you get into a spiral. 

First of all you’re such a needy idiot for jumping from one man to the other. You should not be looking at men at all after Eric and yet here you are, crushing on yet another coworker of yours, what is wrong with you?! 

And second, why were you expecting him to kiss you? You’ve barely known each other for a few weeks and Harry is a reasonable man, he is probably not at all like you, he probably doesn’t want to get involved with a coworker especially not you. Some signs were giving you a feeling that he might have liked you more than just a friend, but you must have totally misread him. 

You have to control yourself and not scare him away, especially since he is doing you a huge favor, the last thing you want to do is to make him uncomfortable.

Harry hasn’t stopped thinking about you all weekend. Specifically about that moment in front of your apartment building where he would have sworn he felt you were expecting him to kiss you, but he couldn’t do it. Not when you were clearly intoxicated.

He didn’t want you to think he would ever take advantage of you like that.

The next week starts oddly. He gets some extra tasks and you get involved in another project as well, so you can’t work together like last week. Monday and then Tuesday rushes by without the two of you meeting. By Wednesday Harry is craving to see you again and it seems like it’s finally happening, because you don’t cancel your morning meeting. He arrives in a good mood with coffee for you and him, excited to show you everything he finished in the past days.

But then he can feel the change in you when you walk in.

You seem off, but at first he can’t tell why. You’re not your bubbly self, you seem very closed off and oddly professional compared to the times the two of you met earlier. Harry tries to tell himself it’s nothing serious, but the more time you spend together the more obvious it’s getting and he can’t take it anymore.

“Y/N?” he quietly asks at the end of the meeting. “Is everything alright?”

“Sure,” you nod, but it’s like as if you didn’t even believe it yourself.

“Did… Did I do something that upset you?”

“Nope, I just…” You sigh, giving up the facade you’ve been trying hard to keep up. “Listen, about Friday, I’m very sorry, Harry.”

“Sorry? For what?”

“I feel like I overstepped a line and made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry about that. If I made you uncomfortable. I want us to work well together and my unfiltered mouth was not at all professional that night, so I’m really sorry about that.”

Harry is blinking at you, confused and lost about what you truly meant by all that. He did not see this coming and now he has no idea how to react other than just looking at you with a startled expression.

“Can we just go back to where we were before that?”

“Where… I don’t-I mean, um…”

“Let’s just forget about when we parted ways, please?”

“So… Uh, yeah,” he at last nods, trying his best to mask his disappointment. He thought there might be something more between the two of you, but this conversation is proof that you just had too many drinks and you didn’t mean any of it. 

“Thank you so much,” you breathe out in relief. “I wouldn’t want to ruin our work together.”

Harry nods silently and doesn’t ask more about it. 

He is trying hard to hide his disappointment and part of home wants to know if you felt even the slightest spark on Friday or it was all just the alcohol, but he is not one to dig into things that might end him up in an awkward situation. He just swallows it all down and pulls his walls up again.

You can feel a bitter taste in your mouth as well after your talk with Harry. Something felt off, but you can’t put your finger on it and soon you have something else to worry about. 

You’re surprised to see Eric chatting with Zaya when you return to your desk. Your intern, bless her heart, is trying to keep a straight and professional face but you can tell she wants to scream at the man who definitely thinks he is charming the young girl with his small talk. 

“Eric? What are you doing here?” you ask, biting your tongue so you don’t tell him to leave and fuck himself.

“Hey, can we talk? Privately?” 

You look at Zaya and her eyes tell you what she thinks: it’s the literal worst idea ever. And you want to say no to him, but judging from his antics lately he would somehow use it against you so you don’t have much of a choice.

“Sure,” you mumble and the two of you take an empty meeting room. “So?” 

“Look, I want to apologize.”

What? Is he for real? That was unexpected.

“My behavior was uncalled for and very unprofessional.”

“Do you mean the way you stole my idea and presentation or the way you talked to me when I confronted you about it?”

“Can you not attack me, please?” he gives you a look that would have put you in place before, but now it just annoys you. He is trying to make you be the one in the wrong and you want to snap at him for still being such an ass, but you want to be the bigger person and stay professional. No matter how much you hate him, you’re still colleagues. 

“Go on,” you sigh, folding your arms over your chest.

“I know I can’t change the past but I think it's best if we deal with it in a decent way.”

How noble of him, pulling the rug from underneath you and then acting like he is this decent, peaceful man who just wants to work together. You want to throw up, but you swallow it back and force a smile onto your face.

“Sure, of course,” you tell him.

Seemingly Eric is satisfied with the work he did, but he is so tone deaf it hurts. He smiles nodding and heads out of the room with you behind him.

“Great talk!” he enthuses before walking away.

Zaya turns to you with wide eyes and you just shake your head.

“He wanted to apologize, though he didn’t really succeed, but I feel like it doesn’t matter to him,” you shrug as you sit behind your desk.

“You’re not forgiving him, right?”

“Of course not,” you scoff. “But we’re still colleagues, I can’t keep up the beef, it’s too tiring. I’ll just ignore his existence.”

You don’t think much of Eric’s ridiculous attempt to make peace, you keep your focus on your own project. 

There’s a bit of awkwardness between you and Harry after your little talk, but you feel like with time it eases and you write it off as just him not fond of situations like the one you put him into on Friday. 

Thursday afternoon the two of you are having another session together, working on some details he’s been trying to figure out himself, but he needs your input to finish them as well. It turns into brainstorming which results in a bunch of new things you want to include, but it will also add more work to your plate.

“I’m really sorry I always just keep adding new stuff to your load,” you sigh, truly feeling like you’re constantly overstepping boundaries, but Harry just shakes his head.

“I’m excited about these all. These are great functions and I’m looking forward to writing the code.”

“That sounded so nerdy,” you chuckle, but notice that Harry’s smile has disappeared.

“Sorry.”

“Oh no, I didn’t mean it like that! It’s great, I love it when someone is so passionate about something. I love it when you get deep into the tech talk. I think it’s amazing how much you know about these stuff.”

“But you can always just tell me to shut up, I know a lot of people don’t like it when I talk like that,” he mumbles, noticeably avoiding looking you in the eyes.

“Has… someone told you not to talk about programming?”

“Um…” He shifts uncomfortably and you’re about to tell him he doesn’t need to answer, but then he speaks up. “My ex girlfriend hated it when I talked about IT stuff,” he shrugs, but you can tell it’s something he struggled with. 

You can’t imagine ever telling him to stop talking about something that brings him this much joy. It’s clear this is his element and any woman that would try to restrain it is an idiot and can’t appreciate how wonderful this man is. 

You watch him quietly finish up on his computer before he starts to shut it down and you know you have to say something.

“She did not deserve you.”

He blinks at you surprised so you continue.

“Anyone who wants you to stop talking about something that makes you happy is not a person you want in your life, Harry, I hope you know that.”

“Uh… thank you,” he mumbles, that lovely pink shade taking over his face once again.

“You can always talk tech with me. I like listening to it.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. It amazes me, because I know nothing about it.” And it’s really hot, you want to add, but then bite your tongue. 

There’s a tiny smile on his pink lips and you can tell this moment matters to him more than you could imagine and you’re glad you could make him happy like that.

“D-Do you want to grab something to eat?” he suggests as the two of you head out of the meeting room.

“That sounds great! I’m starving!” you groan. “Let me just grab my bag from my desk.

Harry nods and follows you, he already has his backpack with him. You’re musing about what you should have and Harry is telling you about this amazing bagel place he loves when you spot the familiar figure near your desk. 

“Eric, what are you doing here?” you ask, but you’re tempted to phrase your words differently, because it’s quite obvious he was snooping around your desk, not expecting you to show up after office hours.

“Y/N, hi! I was just… I thought I left some papers here the other day,” he clears his throat, stepping away from your desk. 

“You had no papers with you,” you simply say, knowing well something is off with him.

“Maybe I remembered wrong,” he chuckles. “Alright, see you later,” he waves and then leaves quickly before you could ask any more questions. 

“What was that about?” Harry asks as you launch at your desk, checking what might have changed.

“He was looking for something. He is trying to play me again,” you hiss through your teeth, frantically examining what he could have put his hands on, but you see nothing out of place. But then you realize that he must have thought you left your laptop, that’s what he was looking for. “Oh my God,” you gasp, quickly starting your laptop to see if there is anything wrong with it. 

“What? What’s going on?”

“Harry, can you, uhh—Can you check if there is anything wrong with my laptop?” you plead as he rounds your desk and sits nodding, though he is a tad bit lost about what’s happening.

“Like, check if there’s another virus, or something?”

“Yes. I think he was trying to tamper with it again, I can’t know for sure if he hasn’t touched it earlier.”

You knew his half-assed apology was tactic, but you didn’t think he would do it all over again. Eric really isn’t the person you thought him to be.

You watch Harry type away on your computer, anxiously waiting for him to say anything and in the meanwhile you’re planning how you’ll get rid of Eric the moment you finally get your well-deserved promotion. There’s no way you’re letting a snake like him work at the company. 

“I don’t see anything,” Harry finally leans back and you exhale in relief.

“I can’t let it out of my sight from now on,” you grumble, shaking your head. 

In this moment you feel like you’re running out of energy, all because you trusted the wrong person. Feeling defeated you collapse into Zaya’s chair, pinching the bridge of your nose.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Harry softly says, as if he could read your mind.

“I’m in this situation because I made all the worst choices. I can’t blame anyone else but myself.”

“You couldn’t have known this is how it would turn out to be.”

“I know, but…”

“No but. Just… You know what? I’ll install an extra security program on your laptop so only you can access it, alright?”

“Really?” you sit up straight.

“Yeah, just give me a few moments.”

He gets down to work, works his magic and a minute later he is explaining to you what he got set up on your laptop to secure it.

“Harry, I owe you so much at this point,” you sigh in relief when it sinks in that Eric will not get his hands on your things again. “I have no idea how I will be able to pay you back.”

You notice a slight shift in him as he clears his throat, looking at you nervously.

“About that… I-I think I know h-how–I mean I thought about what… you could…”

“You know what you want in return?” you perk up, happy to do something for Harry after everything he did for you. 

“Y-you can say no, it’s okay, I just–Um…”

“Harry, whatever it is, my answer is gonna be yes,” you chuckle, placing a gentle hand on his arm. He looks at your hand and then up to your eyes before finally speaking up.

“Go on a date… with me?”

Harry has been working up the courage to ask you all day, but he didn’t think he would have the balls to say it out loud. Sarah and Mitch urged him to shoot his shot, even after the kind of awkward conversation you had earlier. His friends were convinced you were into him regardless, but he’s been struggling to believe it himself.

It was kind of random he blurted it out, but now it’s been said and he is about to faint, waiting for your response. You’re staring back at him, eyebrows slightly raised, lips parted, but no words have left your mouth since his question.

“Y-You don’t have to, I-I understand–I mean, it’s–”

“Harry,” you cut him off. “I would love to go on a date with you,” you finally tell him and it feels like a stone has been lifted off his shoulders, his heart is about to jump out of his chest any moment.

“But I won’t take it as your payment,” you add and now it’s his turn to be surprised. 

“What?” he breathes out, not sure what to make of your words.

“I would never take it as a payment, because I would go on a date with you regardless, Harry. Think of something else and we will have the date as well.”

“Really?” 

“Of course,” you chuckle. 

“Okay, alright, um… then… it’s a date!”

Harry is late.

He promised to be there at the meeting room on time to support you and answer any tech related questions that might come up in connection with your presentation. Eric is now presenting his (your) idea, he has added some features to it since he stole the whole thing, but it’s still mainly yours. 

“Thank you very much for your attention,” he nods as he finishes his talk and the board claps shortly before it’s your turn to stand in front of them. 

You’re plugging your laptop together with the projector when the door of the meeting room opens and Harry’s head pops inside. Relief washes over you as you watch him apologize for his late arrival and take a seat. Your gaze meets his and he smiles at you sweetly, holding his thumb up for you as you load the presentation. Now you feel braver, knowing he is here to support you.

You desperately wish you could read minds as you go on with your presentation. You’re met with mostly blank faces, but they were the same during Eric’s presentation as well, so you can’t tell what they are thinking about. It’s going smoothly, you rehearsed it a million times instead of sleeping in the past few days and when it’s time for questions you ace all of them, even the few tech ones. You’ve spent so much time with Harry that you can easily give an answer to everything at this point.

“Thank you for your attention,” you nod smiling at the end and disconnect your laptop from the projector, walking back to Harry.

“You did amazing,” he smiles at you proudly and his approval means the most to you. 

“Thanks.”

“I’m sorry I was late, I had to take care of something.”

“It’s okay. I’m just happy you’re here.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have missed it.” The CEO stands up and all heads turn in his direction.

“Thank you for the presentations, I would like to ask the candidates to leave the room so we can vote.”

You gather all your stuff and head out with Harry by your side. Eric ignores your existence, as if he didn’t lie and cheat his way to this moment, but you’re not stressing yourself anymore about it. 

You definitely believe in karma.

“You’ve got this,” Harry smiles at you softly and your heart melts at his expression. 

You’re planning to have your date tonight. It’s gonna be either a ‘you’ve got the promotion, now let’s celebrate with our date’ occasion or ‘you didn’t get the promotion so let’s cheer you up with a date’, you’re fine with both, truly. You know you put everything you had into this promotion and if they still decide not to choose you, that’s their loss and your sign to move on. 

You’re beyond excited about your date. There’s been an obvious change in your dynamic since Harry has asked you out, there are more glances, little touches, compliments and some very apparent sexual tension that’s still within the lines of comfort, it’s not too hard to control yourself, but you keep noticing more and more things about him that are pulling you towards him.

“I will miss our little work session,” you smile back at him shyly.

“Little? They usually lasted hours,” he chuckles, making you laugh too.

“Loved them all,” you shrug and the look on his face tells you he did too. 

The board takes some time to make their decision and when the door opens fifteen minutes later your heart skips a beat. The CEO asks you all to return to the room and you take your previous seat, Harry sitting next to you. His hand brushes against your knee shortly and you look at him, your gaze meeting his as he gives you an encouraging smile.

“Thank you all for these amazing presentations, we were very pleased with the plans and projects,” the CEO starts as he stands at the head of the table. “We had no doubt you two are the best applicants for the position and it’s been hard to decide who to choose, but at last we made a decision.”

Oh God, you’re about to throw up. Is it you? Is it Eric? You hope you won’t cry. That could happen in either case, but you really don’t want to cry in front of all these people. 

“The person we chose to fulfill the position is…” His eyes scan over the both of you as you hold your breath and then it finally lands on you. “Y/N Y/L/N. Congratulations.”

And just like that, your lungs fill with air again and it feels like a rock has been lifted off your shoulders. 

“I told you,” you hear Harry beside you and when you look at him you see pride all over his face and you can’t stop yourself from throwing your arms around his neck to hug him.

“Thank you, it wouldn’t have happened without you,” you mumble as you squeeze him tight before letting go of him, going up to the board to shake hands. 

At first you don’t even process it, but then Eric’s voice hits your ear and you realize he is turning red across the table, complaining nonstop about the outcome.

“...The whole thing was so fucking out of the blue! Redesigning the whole website? That’s like suicide!...”

You don’t even have the chance to react to his comments, the CEO speaks up for everyone.

“Y/N’s idea is daring, innovative and brave, just what we need. We don’t want to play it safe and your idea was definitely in the safe zone.”

“His idea,” you scoff under your breath.

“Actually, there is something I would like to show you, if you have a few more minutes,” Harry speaks up as he starts his laptop and moves over to where the board is. You’re watching him completely puzzled.

“There’s been an unfortunate incident about the presentations. Y/N’s original idea was stolen, a virus has been planted on her computer to cover up the deed, but I could not recover enough information about the perpetrator to make accusations, that was until a few days ago.”

What?!

You see Eric’s red face turn completely white as Harry types away on his computer and then shows something to the board. They curiously eye the alleged proof as Harry continues.

“Proof could be only found on the perpetrator’s device and a few days ago I had access to Eric’s computer when he brought it in for a check up, since it’s been working too slow. As expected and told, I make a full check on every device in these cases and found unquestionable proof that Eric stole Y/N’s presentation through the virus.”

Oh lord. 

You watch as everyone on the board processes what they see on Harry’s computer and you can feel the switch in them towards Eric.

“Eric, let’s have a chat in my office. Now,” the CEO says and it’s definitely an order and Eric doesn’t try to go against it, just nods and follows him out of the room.

“Harry, why didn’t you tell me you were planning to do this?!” you ask as you rush up to him. The board members are leaving the meeting room, leaving the two of you alone. 

“I uh– I wanted it to be a surprise. Eric showed up at the IT department the other day and I got his case without him knowing so I could snoop around. Found the evidence right away so I thought the board should know what he did.”

“Why did you wait until they announced who got the promotion? This could have kicked him out of the contest right away.”

“I knew you’d get it,” he smiles shyly. “I had no doubt they would choose you, I wanted you to experience defeating him after what he did to you.”

To say you’re touched is an understatement. He didn’t just help you immensely to get this promotion, but also went out of his way to serve you justice. He has done more for you than anyone ever. 

You just know you can’t let the moment pass and ignoring the fact that you’re still at work, though no one is around to see, you close the distance between the two of you and press your lips against his.

This kiss has been hanging there for a while and you’d be lying if you said you have never fantasized about what it would be like to kiss Harry, but reality is a thousand times more magical. His lips are soft and warm, go so well with yours and once his first wave of shock passes he finally returns it and you melt in his arms. 

You had a feeling Harry was a great kisser, but the way he claims your lips just blows your mind. He is sweet and gentle but also demanding at the same time and if only you weren’t in the office you’d pretty much jump into his arms and let him do whatever he wants to you. 

Somewhere in the distance a phone rings and it breaks the spell, making you realize that you shouldn’t get carried away. 

“Sorry,” you smile, your lips barely just an inch away from his still. “I got… I just–Thank you. For everything you did for me.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he returns your smile and pecks your lips shortly one more time. “And I will always be here to support you.”

You might look like a lunatic as you watch the guy on the other side of the glass door of your office finish up the sign on the door.

Y/N Y/L/N, Head Of Digital Marketing.

God, you still can’t have enough of the sound of it even though you got the promotion two months ago. Okay, the first month you spent in your old job, teaching the ropes for your successor before you could start your transition into your new position.

Now it’s official and you couldn’t be happier about it.

Checking the time you sit back to your computer to finish up work for the day. It’s been one hell of a week, you’ve worked overtime three times so it’s great that today is finally Friday. You answer some more emails and check your calendar for the next week, making sure everything is settled.

There’s a soft knock on the door and when you look up your heart skips a beat, seeing Harry walk in, his backpack on one shoulder.

“Hey. Are you done?”

“Just one moment,” you smile and he nods, walking over to the window, patiently waiting for you to finish everything up. 

When you turn the computer off and look up at him, you notice that he is staring at you already.

“What?” you ask, packing up.

“Nothing, just… you look so pretty.”

You still haven’t gotten used to his compliments, though they always just keep on coming and coming. You love them.

And you love him.

Walking over to him you wrap your arms around his waist as you steal a kiss. Usually you try to keep the PDA out of the office, but sometimes he is just too hard to resist. Like now.

You’ve been officially a couple for two months, your first date after your big presentation was like a dream, Harry took you to all of his favorite spots in the city and then you just spent hours stargazing on the roof of his apartment’s building, he had a whole setup with a mattress, blankets and pillows, it was the sweetest thing ever, the best way to celebrate your win. Since then, it’s been endless dates, movie nights, trips on the weekend, you’ve been kind of inseparable. Well, outside of the office, because you try your best to stay professional at work. 

“What was that for?” he chuckles softly, his cheeks have that soft pink shade on them that you just want to kiss all over. 

“I’m just happy. That’s it.” Reaching up you fix his glasses before taking a step back and heading out.

Usually you just walk side by side to the elevator, but today you feel extra upbeat, so when you step into the elevator you gently take his hand and lace it together with yours and you can’t help but smile every time you’re in here with Harry.

Because he told you this is where he saw you for the very first time that day you overslept before your disastrous presentation. He was the one who held the elevator’s door for you. You were so disoriented that you didn’t notice him then and he likes to tease you about it, saying that he knew that moment he was into you, all while you didn’t even look at him. In return, you always bring up how you were the one kissing him for the first time. 

It’s crazy to think how much has happened between those two things or even between that morning and today. He was the quiet IT genius who you dragged into your madness. He is still a genius, but you’ve gotten to know the sides of him others can’t see and you love all of them, it just took you some time to open him up. To decode him.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed and buy me a coffee if you want to support me!

[stealingyourbones]

Ra's is old..and a known body snatcher. He's a spirit possessing later bodies, but doesn't realize it. And all spirits answer to the Ghost King.

So what happens when Ra's thinks he can make demands of his King?

Ooo I really like this.

Ok I did a tad of research on the Lazarus pits and how they work cause I don’t know much about the body swapping besides Ra’s using it on Taila Al Ghul in Batman Beyond and I genuinely couldn’t find anything concrete so fuck it. Yeah let’s just say that it’s soul/spirit swapping. Lazarus pits are caused by the convergeance of ley lines for gods sake we can have some creative liberties in this.

Ra’s isn’t a villain… technically. His goal is more of “if humans are collateral that’s fine because the deaths will be nothing compared to the better world we shall create.” Type of thing. Very shade of grey reasoning.

I haven’t read much nearly enough about Ra’s Al Ghul as I want to but he definitely might try to tap into the mystic and occult to summon and control a grand being to do his bidding to serve his purpose. I want to add that Ra’s is a very smart man. Like genuinely he is a master strategist and fighter. He would have precautions in place if The Ghost King doesn’t do his bidding. I don’t think he would have put “I am now a spirit” into account as much as he probably should and that’s where it gets interesting.

When the Ghost King commands a spirit, is it like a form of hypnosis? Are they simply compelled to do it but can choose to refuse? Does he simply just feel a sense of respect and leadership from the Ghost King?

Either way I think Danny would probably react in one of two ways:

He’s either very confused to the entire situation and just says no and Ra’s is like “fuck. Didn’t expect for it do go downhill this quickly. Time to manipulate and bribe this man.”

Or

Danny laughing in Ra’s face and going full “You’re the Demon Head? Well that would make me Satan. You listen to what I say, not the other way around. Get it?” Mode.

Either way having Ra’s plan backfire HEAVILY and now becoming a pawn for Danny to use to direct his assassins forces to assist people is such a good story idea. Danny becomes the TRUE League of Assassins head.

[closetnerd62]

Aftermath

A Lautski Fic

Part 1/2 : Breathe

As the Ghost of Max Jagerman disintegrated into the dark night, and Grace Chastity darted into the forest, black book in hand, Peter and Steph stood, hand in hand, in shock. Steph looked over at Peter, noticing the harrowed expression plastered across his face.

“Pete are you okay?” she asked. He stood, staring into the abyss. Frozen. “Peter.” she shook him, “Pete you’re shaking.”

Pete could feel his vision begin to blur, his chest tightening. His own hand grasped at the neck of his sweater, his breathing was short and shallow. His vision began to tunnel as if his soul was being dragged away from his own body. He stumbled back into a tree, sliding down the trunk into a fetal position.

“PETER!” Steph ran over to his side, eyes wide. “Peter, what’s happening?”

“P-panic at-t-tack” he gasped. He felt as though a rubber band had been wrapped around his lungs, tears welled in his eyes. Steph grabbed his hand.

“Holy Shit…Um.., just try to think of something else or-or slow your breathing.” she said, her attempt as a calm tone getting away from her. Peter gasped for air to no avail.

“I- I can’t” he choked. Steph took hold of his face.

“Look at me Pete. You can do this.” They took a breath together as he clung to her, his only source of grounding. He slowly began to take back control over his body. “There you go, you’re doing so good. Keep going.”

Steph stayed rubbing his back and breathing with him until he returned to a regular breathing pattern.

“Thanks.” he whispered, slumped against the tree trunk with exhaustion.

“Anytime.” She smiled gently. They sat in the silence, taking in the calm.

“Hey, um… I know you’ve already done a lot for me tonight, “ Pete muttered. “but uh- there’s a good chance my blood sugar drops soon, it usually does after something like this, and Ted gets really mad at me when I travel alone when it does, would you mind walking home with me?”

“Of course,” she replied. “Let’s roll Spankoffski.”

As the pair made their way to Pete and Ted’s apartment. Peter had begun to stumble, a surefire warning sign of the impending drop, and almost instinctively, Steph placed Pete’s arm around her shoulder, steadying him. He had to hide a small blush. He had gotten more woozy as the walk went on, needing her assistance making it up the stairs.

“Sorry, I’m kind of pathetic.” Pete mumbled

“Shut up Spankoffski, I was never into jock types anyway.”

–

“Peter, I told you to be home by 7.” Ted called from the kitchen as Steph as Pete pushed through the front door. “I’ve gotta get to a date with Char- Oh shit.” Ted's face dropped upon seeing Pete slung over Steph’s shoulder, pale.

“We didn’t have any food on us,” Steph told him as she transferred Pete to the couch. “So we came here. I didn’t really know what else to do when things started to go downhill.”

“Pete, what happened to the emergency snacks in your backpack? I’m not buying those gelatin free candies for nothing.” Ted asked.

“I forgot my bag at Beanies” Pete replied groggily.

“Dumbass.” Ted said under his breath as he went back into the kitchen, returning with a candy bar and a glass of juice. “You’re lucky I’m already making dinner, dipshit.” A light smell of smoke wafted into the room, “Shit! The pasta!” Ted ran back into the kitchen.

Steph and Peter sat on the couch in an awkward silence for a few minutes.

“You really don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” Pete said sheepishly. “I’ll be okay in a bit.”

“I’m not leaving until I know you’re okay, Pete.” She replied. “Besides, I don’t really want to go home. I’d rather not be alone.” She said with a dry laugh. Though she was trying to hide it, Pete could see her grief. They had both been through a lot in the past few days but Peter had at least gotten some time to process, Steph had lost her father just hours before. Sure he was an asshole but he was still her Dad. She had been there for him for the past hour, maybe it was his turn. He had just about hyped himself up enough to offer his support when Ted sauntered back into the living room.

“Alright kiddies, I definitely burned the pasta but I’ve gotta go, want me to order you some Pasquale’s delivery?”

“Yeah sure whatever thanks.” Pete replied absentmindedly, solely focused on Steph. Ted rolled his eyes as he left the apartment, sporting a small smile as he closed the door. The dorks got some game after all he thought.

“Pasquale’s Pete? On the first date? Have some respect for yourself.” Steph joked, trying to push her heartache to the side.

[joonslfttiddie]

The Underclassman

💜Fic Pairing: Kim Seokjin x Reader

💜AU/Genre: College AU | Smut | Potential Relationship

💜Warnings: Smut, femdom, male sub, climax denial, unprotected sex, ejaculation, virgin's first time

💜Rating: MA

💜Word Count: 4781

Senior year of undergrad has had its challenges but you know it's downhill from here. Having gotten a jump on your assignments, you're pretty much skating through until graduation. Your only obligations are your teaching assistant tasks for Dr. Yun's psychology class, your job at the bookstore, and a few organizations on campus.

While things have been chill regarding course work, this year has also shown you who has your best interest at heart and who is just a waste of space in your life. Depending on how you look at things, fortunately or unfortunately, that meant that your ex-boyfriend was one of the people to exit your world. The two of you had been together since freshman year, and it has not been easy adjusting to the single life.

You haven't been on a date since, and just looking at other men still feels wrong. Your ex was always the jealous, controlling type who made it hard to breathe, as you walked on eggshells around him, which made you feel powerless.

"Honestly, I never liked your ex. It felt like all of your time was owed to him... like he owned you. You deserve so much better than him."

Your friend, René, opens up to you during a night of chilling at your apartment, sitting in a circle, cross legged in the middle of your living room floor. Your other friends, Michelle and Ticole, just shake their heads in agreement before taking a sip of their beers.

"I know, I know. You're right. I can see now how devoted I was to him. I was willing to give him everything I had. Of course, we now know he was giving his time, amongst other things, to someone else...but it's whatever."

Michelle chimes in, "It is whatever. This is our senior year. I just want you to take your time to find yourself again. Get out! Date! Enjoy your hoe phase. Plus, my boyfriend's mentee asks me about you every time I see him. That boy is in love."

"Girl, who? Seokjin?! I catch him eyeing me every other day in Dr. Yun's class but he has yet to say anything to me sooooo....."

"Don't do him like that...He is so sweet but so shy. He's one of those guys that's hot but doesn't know he's hot."

You all erupt into laughter and as the excitement subsides you agree.

"You're right, he is so cute but I never really looked at him like that. He has been such a sweetheart every time I've interacted with him but I dunno if he's my type, you know? Hell, he still refers to me as 'ma'am', like, I literally only have a couple of years on him, if that."

"He mentioned to Chance that he was not the best looking guy in high school. He was bullied because he was so skinny, had bad acne, braces, and glasses.. the usual "nerd" package. I, legit, don't think he realizes that puberty has come and gone. I wonder if he just doesn't have the confidence to approach you."

"Hmm... that would make sense. I hate that he went through all that. He seems so sweet despite being mistreated. I'll think about it, ok? But as far as 'enjoying my hoe phase' goes, guys fuck around all the time and no one bats an eye. I hate the double standard. I'm going to have the time of my life for the rest of the year. I deserve it, plus I've been horny as fuck, lately."

"Girl, go for it! I support this. Live your best life, friend. You've missed out on a lot being tied down like a married woman. Go get you some. And you never know, having that underclassman screaming 'yes, ma'am' may be just what you need!" Ticole says, co-signing with Michelle.

You all erupt into a fit of laughter at that and you take notice of the way your body feels from just imagining it. As heat burns up your spine and your pussy tingles, you swallow spit as you're basically salivating with excitement. Knowing what will make for some good material when you're alone later, you reply with a nervous chuckle, "Maybe, huh?"

Your girls were right! You're going to start putting yourself out there and try to be more open minded. After a restful night and having used mental images of Seokjin to gain a little post nut clarity, you begin to think that you may even explore people outside of your typical type. Internalizing all the encouragement your girls provided last night, you walk to Dr. Yun's class feeling like the baddest bitch on campus.

After taking attendance, you make a mental note that Seokjin isn't here yet. He never misses class but you shrug it off for the moment to continue your duties. You remind the students of upcoming assignments, schedule a few tutoring sessions, and answer any questions to the best of your knowledge until the professor arrives moments later. He hands you a stack of handouts and asks you to make copies since he hadn't gotten a chance to while the class takes a quiz. You grab your phone from the desk and slide it in the pocket of your cardigan before swiftly proceeding down the hall to the printer.

You turn the corner, finding yourself colliding with a student who is frantically rushing to class, landing you on your ass surrounded by the papers you were carrying, you quickly adjust your clothes as your skirt has flipped up, putting your lace undies on full display.

"Fuck! I'm so sorry! Are you okay? I woke up late and can't be late for class. I have a quiz today."

You recognize that voice immediately and look up to see Seokjin. He quickly tries to collect the paperwork as he chatters, taking a moment to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

'He couldn't have seen that, right?'

"Hey! No worries, Seokjin, I can get this. Go ahead... they're just about to begin."

After hearing his name cross your lips, he finally looks up to see your face. With a gasp, you notice his ears flush red before he responds.

"Miss y/n! I'm so sorry! Are you sure you're okay?" He pulls you up to your feet with one hand, allowing you to further adjust your clothing before handing you the papers he'd collected.

"Yes, I'm fine. Hurry up and go. Good luck!"

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, thank you. I'm so sorry."

Seokjin smiles nervously before he rushes past you towards the classroom.

You make the copies and begin heading back to class, unable to stop replaying the incident with Seokjin. Has he always been so cute? So tall? Shoulders that broad? Biting your bottom lip, you recall the way his hair hung just above his eyes and his full pink lips slightly parted when he gasped from the shock of your accident. He looked so nerdy behind those glasses, but his brown eyes were breathtaking.

'Why am I just seeing him now... like really SEEING him?!'

You're thinking about all of this as you make the copies, sure that you hadn't noticed Seokjin's beauty for being so committed to you ex. You were blind for so long but now your eyes are wide open.

Back in the classroom, you quietly place the stack of papers on the desk, glancing up to see the student's working busily. Once you take your designated spot next to Dr. Yun's desk, you cross your legs and begin looking through the rows of seats until you spot him. Hunching over his desk and bouncing his foot restlessly, the poor guy looks so anxious. The sight leaves him looking so small and helpless, though he is definitely a deliciously full grown adult.

You glance away for a second but can't help the smirk that creeps across your face when you catch him suddenly still, sitting erect in his seat as his eyes trace your up legs all the way up to your thighs peeking from under your skirt. After making sure everyone else was focused on their work, you put your leg down and part your knees, now purposely exposing yourself to him. He licks his lips, then his eyes meet yours. Snapping your legs shut, you look down, covering your smile as you snicker to yourself. His nervous behavior commences as his gaze quickly snaps back down to his quiz, but not before you notice his face and ears turn a pretty shade of pink. What is this new feeling? You are not certain but you are 100% sure that you love it. You want more.

A couple of days have passed since literally running into Seokjin when you find yourself at work refolding the campus tees on one of the display tables, you glance at your watch to see it's almost time for you to clock out. It's been beautiful weather all day, despite what the weather channel said, but you can see the sky getting darker and you can hear thunder in the distance.

"It looks like the rain has finally made it," you warn your coworker. "Get home safely!"

Thankfully you check the weather every morning before leaving your campus apartment and was wise enough to bring your umbrella.

You grab your things from your locker in the employee lounge after clocking out. Once outside, you make it halfway across the yard to the fountain in the middle of the quad before you feel the first few sprinkles of rainfall. You stop to arm yourself with your umbrella before continuing your trek across campus as the bottom falls out of the sky. It is pouring now as you cross the street nearing your place, and you notice a familiar figure walking ahead of you.

He's soaking! He doesn't have an umbrella or even a jacket to keep him warm. You can tell that he's cold by the way he burrows into himself. The ripples of his back muscles are accentuated through his wet, white tee shirt as he hugs himself.

"SEOKJIN!"

He stops and turns towards you after hearing his name.

"Miss y/n? What are you doing out in this storm?"

You hold up the umbrella to cover you both.

"I'm just leaving work and on my way home. What are you doing out? And why don't you have a jacket on or an umbrella?"

He smiles shyly.

"Ummm...I didn't know it was going to rain today so I'm unprepared. I was going to the cafe to grab a bite before studying but it started to storm so I turned back."

"You poor thing. Why don't you come up to my place until the rain stops? I haven't eaten yet, either, so I can whip something up for us to eat."

"Uhhh...are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude. Plus, I only live a ways down from here."

Linking your arm in his, you continue to shield you both from getting wet while pulling him alongside you.

"It's no intrusion, I promise. Since it's Friday, my roommate has gone to her boyfriend's place, so I could use the company."

You smile at each other as he takes the umbrella to hold above you and continue to chat as you make your way up the stairs leading to your door. When you step inside, you ask that he stay at the door where there's tile as he's still dripping wet.

"Just stay there for a second. You're soaked. I know there's a towel in here somewhere."

After a moment of searching through the hamper of fresh laundry you hadn't gotten a chance to put away before work, you finally find a towel and hand it to him after he's secured the umbrella strap and placed it in the corner.

"Thanks, Miss y/n. I really appreciate your kindness."

"Of course! We've known each other for years now. You're not exactly a stranger at this point, so it's no problem at all. While you're drying your hair, I'll go see if my roommate's boyfriend may have left some clothes here. You guys are about the same size. Go ahead and get out of those clothes before you catch a cold."

This wouldn't be the first time you've seen a man undress so you're not thinking much about what you just said and rush off to your roommates bedroom to find a large tee shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. You stay frozen for a second as the situation suddenly catches up to you. You and Seokjin are alone in your apartment and he's undressing in the other room. Ticole's words echo in your mind. 'Get you some!' Michelle's voice lingers closely behind. 'Enjoy your hoe phase!'

'Am I really thinking about this now?! Does he even think of me in THAT way? He seems so innocent, I don't want to be a bad influence or take advantage of him.

You continue to stand there, contemplating your next move. Sure, he is extra dorky at first glance, but when you really look at him, you see now that he is fine as fuck. He, also, doesn't talk to a lot of people so you know he's not sleeping around and he will be discreet about what happens. This could be a good thing, if he's willing, of course. You take a deep breath before you leave the room, only to walk out and see Seokjin wearing nothing but his jeans and sneakers. You gasp at the sight, hoping he didn't hear you. Sure, you knew he would be undressing but you didn't expect that body to be under those clothes. God definitely took his time sculpting him to perfection.

When he looks up to see you've returned, he shyly covers himself with the wet shirt and towel leaving his free hand grasping his spectacles across his chest. There's that feeling again...the one you experienced during class the other day. You clear your throat and walk over to him to give him the clothes, trying your best not to stare.

"M-miss y/n. I-"

"Oh... sorry! I'm not trying to make you feel uncomfortable. Here are the clothes. I can step out for a second."

Reluctantly, he drops the shirt and towel to the floor by his side but his other hand holding on to his glasses remains across his chest as he reaches for the outfit.

Just above a whisper, he asks, "I've been meaning to talk to you. Are you ok? You know from the other day? I was hoping you weren't hurt and I wanted to apologize again. And no, I'm not uncomfortable, you know? I just...I."

"No, I'm completely fine, I promise. And it's no problem at all. I'll step out to give you some privacy."

"Miss y/n."

"Hmm?" You pause to look up to him, awaiting his response.

"You don't have to leave. I don't want you to leave, I just..."

The look on his face teeters on the cusp of pain and embarrassment.

"What's up? You look like there's something else you want to tell me."

"Miss y/n."

"Stop calling me that, though. I'm only a couple years older than you."

"Y-y/n?" He pauses for a moment to see if he's overstepped. When you continue to look into his chocolate colored pupils, he continues speaking. "I've never done this before."

"Done what?"

He leans over to place the clothes on the end table putting his glasses on top. He stands back to face you, taking your wrist in his hand. His eyes bounce from your eyes to your lips, then back. You can see he's nervous as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other.

"What do you want to do, Sweet Boy? Do you want to kiss me?"

The nickname and the question causes his eyes to widen, the reddish hue of his ears and cheeks deepen.

"Y-yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, ma'am. I want to kiss you so bad."

"Good boy. Go ahead, kiss me."

He hesitates, standing straight and still, your small wrist still gripped in his hand. He's looking into your eyes as if searching to see if you're serious. After what feels like forever, he tilts his head to the side and leans in, only to pull back. Shifting his head in the opposite direction, he leans in again only to pull away. He continues this for a moment, unsure of how to approach you. This would usually be a huge turn off for you but with him it's different. His uncertainty and timidness seems to just stir you on.

"Kiss me."

Your sudden command startles him slightly and he quickly leans in, placing his mouth against yours, bumping your lip with his teeth. He pulls back quickly as if he were burned. Patiently, you take his hands, placing one on the small of your back and the other at your nape. Taking a step forward, your body now flush to his, you can hear his breath shuttering. His very prominent bulge presses against your stomach as you place one hand on his exposed chest and snake your arm around his neck.

"Don't rush. I'm not going anywhere. Take your time and try again."

Slowly this time, he moves in to softly press his lips to yours before he pulls away, the smooch audible. You gently pull him back, slowly beginning to move your mouth against his, licking and sucking at his lips. When your tongue brushes against his, he whimpers aloud, grasping your shirt into his fist. Pulling back, you look up to check in on him. The dorky Seokjin is barely visible under the haze of lust now surrounding him. He bends down, taking your lips again. Mimicking your actions from before, he licks and sucks at your bottom lip before grazing your tongue with his own. Slightly taken aback by the feeling, you pull back to regain control of this situation. When he releases you, you step back and can feel the coldness of your shirt against your skin, now wet from being pressed against him.

"That was so good, Baby. You did good. Would you like to take the rest of those wet clothes off?"

"Yes, ma'am."

You smile at how quickly he's catching on. Still standing at the entrance of your place, Seokjin begins to toe off his shoes which squish with every movement. Sliding them to the side with his foot, he begins to unbutton his jeans, hands noticeably trembling. You're unsure if he's still cold or if he's nervous so you decide to check in again.

"Are you ok? Do you want to stop?"

"Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am... I'm ok. I don't want to stop, I'm just c-cold."

"Take those off and follow me...let's get you warmed up."

Removing your now moist shirt, you begin walking down the hallway to your bedroom. Seokjin watches as your hips sashay and your ass jiggles with every step you take. He continues to peel the wet jeans from his body. Now, wearing only his boxer briefs, he follows the route he just watched you take. Inside of your bedroom, he finds you already in bed, clothes tossed haphazardly on the floor. He bashfully makes his way to the edge of the bed, awaiting further instruction.

"Aren't those wet, too? Don't you think you should take them off?"

"Are you sure you're ok with this? With me?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Why wouldn't I be? Take them off, Sweet Boy, and come here."

When he pulls them down, you have to hide the shock that overcomes you. His dick looks so thick and heavy. Your heart begins to race in anticipation. Once he's completely naked, you pull the covers back as an invitation for him to climb in. He seems reluctant, trying and failing to cover his manhood behind his hands.

"Seokjin, baby...we don't have to do anything you aren't ready for. I won't be upset and I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do."

"NO! It's not that. I want this, I want this with you. But, like I mentioned, I've never done this before...I'm a virgin. Shit, you just gave me my first kiss. I'm sorry...I should have told you sooner. I'll just leave. I don't want to embarrass myself and waste your time."

"Awww, Baby. It's ok! I don't care that you're a virgin. I want you to stay but only if you want to stay."

"Yes, ma'am, I do."

"I promise to be patient. I'm not here to judge you. I won't rush you so just take your time. Would you like for me to teach you?"

He nods his head in agreement.

"Have you ever heard of a 'safeword'?"

"Is it a word we would use to indicate that we are uncomfortable with something?"

"That's exactly what it is. If either of us say or do anything that the other doesn't like, we'll use that word. The other has to stop immediately."

"Ok...what should it be? Could we use Adler?"

You laugh out loud at his cuteness. "Ok... that's fine with me, but why did you choose that?"

"I don't know. His theory was the last thing I looked at when I was studying for Professor Yun's test earlier. It's the first thing that popped into my head," he laughs bashfully while still trying to cover his manhood.

"Adler it is. You can lay with me whenever you feel ready."

With that reassurance, he places his trust in you, removes his hands, and climbs into the sheets. Covering your bodies under the plush blanket, you pull him closer to share your body heat. Resting your head on one hand, you caress his smooth skin with the other. His body continues to tremble but not from the cold this time. Your touch is sending electricity through his core leaving his skin slightly clammy and his breathing shallow and quick.

"I've seen the way you stare at me in class. Do you like me, baby?"

His expression looks as if he'd been caught red handed.

"Y-yes, ma'am. Yes, I do."

"Have you thought about being close with me like this? In bed with me? Touching my naked body?"

His breath hitches in his throat before he answers the same as before.

"Y-y...Yes, ma'am."

"Do you ever touch yourself when you think of me? Does the thought of me make you cum, baby?"

You're practically whispering at this point, inches from his ear. Your hand travels down his abs then along his thigh, skipping the tented area where he needs and wants your touch the most. His erection jerks from the excitement, his body spasms, and his shallow breaths now deepen as he whimpers and moans under your touch. You know he's fighting for his life at this moment but you decide to press him for an answer.

"Did you hear my question? Answer me, Seokjin."

Still inaudible minus his tiny whimpers, he nods his head frantically in agreement.

"I can't hear you. Are you not going to answer me? Do you know what happens to bad boys who don't follow directions? They get punished."

He squeezes his eyes shut tightly in anticipation of what you'll do next. As he clenches his teeth, you can see the muscles along his jawline flex.

"Bad boy," you say softly, pulling the blanket off of him to reveal his hardness. His dick is so firm making his skin look extra smooth but painfully red. The precum leaking from his slit indicates he's enjoying this torture. "Show me. Show me how you jerk yourself off when you're in your room thinking about me."

You sit up briefly to grab the almond oil you'd left on your nightstand this morning after moisturizing your legs. Opening the cap, you pour a bit on the head of his dick and watch as it drizzles down his shaft along the contours of his veins.

"Show me, bad boy. Let me see."

His hand tremors as he brings it up to fist himself. Using his thumb, he distributes the oil and precum over his tip before slowly gliding down his rod. He grunts and gasps as his abs contract, lifting his head from the pillow slightly. He moves his fist back up to the top, barely touching himself.

"Look at me, Seokjin."

He opens his eyes, though they are hooded and lazy. Your heart flutters at the sight. He holds eye contact and his plush lips part as his pants, ready to receive his punishment.

"Squeeze tighter. Imagine my tight pussy slowly sliding down your dick. I'm so wet and juicy."

Following your instruction, he applies more pressure. Still looking into your eyes, his brows furrow as if begging for more. He begins to pick up speed as he's almost there.

"Slowly. Rub your thumb over the tip."

And he does, slowly smearing more precum over the head of his penis. You can tell that he's close to the edge. You allow him to stroke himself a few more times before you grab his wrist, stopping him.

"I want you inside of me. I want you begging me to let you cum."

You grab your phone before moving back towards him. Straddling his hips as he looks at you with a dumbfounded expression. You lift up onto your knees and guide him into you.

"Oh, oh, oh, y/n! Oh! OH!"

He is a mess as you slowly lower your soaking wet pussy to sit flush onto his lap.

"What a nice seat. I think I'll sit here for a while. Don't move."

You unlock your device and start to scroll through your Instagram feed as you're perched motionless with his dick buried deep inside of you. He feels so good and it's a challenge for you to remain still, sitting in this dominant role. You look up to see him looking up to you. The slight chuckle that leaves your lips causes your walls to tighten briefly around him. His whimpers cause you clench even more. He hisses and grabs your hips, sinking his nails into your skin. Simultaneously, he pulls you down as he grinds up to burrow deeper into you. You swallow your moan, unwilling to relinquish your newfound power. You lean forward to firmly grab his chin, bringing his eyes up to yours.

"I said...Be. Still," you whisper. You leave him heaving as you continue to scroll on your phone, putting on as if you're not ready to ride him off the cliff of ecstasy. His little pleas making it harder to act.

"Hmmm...Pleeeease! I c-can't. Y-y/n, please. I can't... can't hold it anymore."

"You can't hold it? Do you need to use the word, baby."

His brows are winkling tighter, sweat pecking at his forehead and chest. You adjust yourself, purposely lifting your body only to follow the trail of moisture you've left smeared on his dick to sit back down.

"N-no... I can't. I can't hold it, y/n! A-ADLER!"

"Go ahead, baby. Let it go."

With your permission, he grips you tighter and pounds into you. Seokjin bares and grinds his teeth, his grunts becoming louder with every stroke. He controls himself for as long as he can, lasting for approximately ten seconds before he explodes, painting your walls with his cum. He feels so amazing, you to want to continue to move. His whining grows louder as his sensitivity increases. Stopping for a moment to allow him to catch his breath, you push the hairs stuck to his forehead away and caress his cheek.

"Are you ok, babe?" Your voice sounds so loving, laced with tenderness.

Seokjin opens his eyes to look at you before he replies, "Yes, ma'am. I'm ok...more than ok. That was better than any of my daydreams, better than I could have ever imagined. You feel so good, so warm, so wet. You look so beautiful sitting on me like this. Thank you so much for this experience."

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. You're doing so well."

"But you are too sexy, I couldn't restrain myself. The nickname you called me... the way you spoke to me... your dominance. Whew! But, I came way too fast, I'm so sorry. I wasn't able to pleasure you."

Looking at him, you can see that he's oozing with confidence. Confidence you're sure he's unaware that he carries. You both continue conversing as he softly traces tiny circles on your calves with his fingertips.

"Stop that...you're being too hard on yourself. You did great and this was your first time! You'll get better the more you do it. And you feel amazing, by the way. You just have to learn what to do and gain more experience."

"Ummm... could you help me with that, y/n?"

"Of course, Sweet Boy, I would love to help you with that."

He blushes and chuckles a little with a voice that sounds deeper than you remember. "Really?! Thank you so much, y/n. I never would have imagined I'd be able to be here with you, like this. I'm, literally, the luckiest man alive. Also... I am still inside of you but the way you're looking at me, well, I'm getting hard again. What should I do?"

You can't contain your laugher at his innocence.

"Well, baby, you just came. Now it's my turn."

"Yes ma'am... just tell me what I need to do and I'll do it. Anything you want. I want to learn how to please you."

[tilta-whirl]

I request yandere Naberius Kalego x scared reader (or just reader) from Welcome to demon school??? Please

Ah jeez- I’ve had this one in the drafts for a while.

- Assuming you are a human, or just a very skittish demon, his first thoughts are how pathetic you are.

- seriously- you seem terrified of the most mundane things! (It doesn’t matter that ‘mundane’ things in this world can easily kill you)

- wether you’re a new intern at the school or the parent of one of his students- Kalego has to spend more time with you than he’d like. And he really doesn’t like that he’s started to grow fond of your company.

- Kalego is a cold man and even when people try to be his friend he only scowls and ignores them. You were different, somehow.

- He ignores these feelings at first (he might start threatening you just to try and cull these feelings before it gets out of control)

- That all goes downhill when Kalego finds that your fear makes you a prime target for the worst of the underworld

- If you’re a new intern, expect to find yourself suddenly working directly under Kalego as his assistant. If you’re one of his students’ parent then suddenly he’s insisting to have parent-teacher meetings just about every day.

- If it’s the latter he’s significantly more pushy about things.

- Kalego isn’t delusional (mostly) he knows that what he’s feeling is wrong but he believes that your fear makes you inferior, weaker, and a target.

- It doesn’t matter if you accept his feelings or not, Kalego will always be in your shadow, guarding you even if it’s unnecessary.

- This includes protecting you from anyone who might hurt you. And that includes everyone.

- Kalego is smart- he’ll plants words of doubt in your head, make you paranoid about your coworkers and friends. Creating a distance between them and you will make it easier for Kalego to eliminate these threats.

- The only person Kalego would ever let near you would be your kid (it they’re one of his students. it’s a 50/50 otherwise.)

- Definitely will kidnap you if you end up hurt when he’s not there.

- Ah, maybe he is a little delusional. Oh well.

[guideoftime]

▴ — @sapientiiae

It took only a second for the Princess of Hyrule’s world to shatter in the same way the Triforce of Wisdom had. Everything they had worked so hard to achieve, fleeting, because the one thing she’d been born to do in this world was bear the Triforce of Wisdom and protect Hyrule. And she’d failed. They had underestimated Cia and her powers, thinking with enough allies at their side she would fall as easily as the army she commanded.  How sorely mistaken they were.  With the assistance of the Great Fairy, they’d been able to take down Volga much easier, leaving Cia alone to be dealt with. The Hyrulean Forces held control over the Sanctums, and they’d truly believed they would leave victorious, but it had all gone downhill from there. Cia’s dark magic was far more powerful than they’d been prepared for — even Impa, a Sheikah, had been taken aback. Once the sorceress split herself into four, they knew they were outnumbered. It was a fierce battle, one that cost Zelda her Triforce, and it had taken everything Link had left just to get the two of them out alive.  Back at camp, their army did what it could to recoup and device a new plan, one that wouldn’t require the Triforce of Wisdom, as impossible as that may seem.  “Princess—“ Reviewing the map of Hyrule, Zelda was surprised when Impa had suddenly stormed into her tent, a look of alarm on her face.  “There’s a Sheikah—“ That statement alone seemed impossible. Though the Princess knew a lot of the Sheikah race, their presence in Hyrule was nearly non-existent, only slowly repopulating their tribe after the Great Hyrulean Civil War. In all her years, the only Sheikah she’d ever met was Impa, so where had this other Sheikah come from? “Where? Bring me to them!” She moves from around the display that held her map, rushing to exit out of her tent when Impa suddenly reached forward, grasping her wrist to pull her back.  “Princess! There is—I should warn you. This Sheikah has something, but you won’t believe it until you see it for yourself.” The statement sounded borderline ominous, pushing the Forces’ leader to exit her tent and investigate that much faster.

   They–they failed. 

   It’s not a feeling Sheik is used to. Failure at that level, watching everyone he fought so hard for die, watching–things just crumble around him. Sheik had been all that survived, all that lived, and he had grabbed the Master Sword and ran. Not his bravest moment, not something he had been proud of, but he had no other answer in what to do. No choice but to run. And there, in the Temple of Time, he had begged the sword for an answer. For help. For–anything. To keep whatever part of the Triforce it could from Ganondorf, to save their world, to reset time–it didn’t matter what it did, he just wanted help.

   Waking up in another war to fight that wasn’t his own–was mind numbing, confusing. He finds Impa and his heart stops–then there’s the Hero and things just continue to rapidly get out of control. Sheik fought because he had no choice, he fought because the other answer was to collapse, he fought because Impa asked him to. 

   Then they ended up in front of whatever this “bad guy” apparently was and Sheik–something was drastically wrong with him. 

   The Triforce was Princess Zelda’s, it was not his to bear. A shadow, a being of darkness, a void doesn’t possess the Triforce. He has to be dreaming, this has to be a nightmare. Some place the Goddesses put him because he failed them and failed the hero and Princess Zelda. It’s horrible, the fact they’re playing with him again. Twisting him into whatever little pawn that they needed him to be. To fit their narrative. 

   He leaves them for a bit after that, panic and runs. The Hero chases him while Impa goes off to search and find Princess Zelda. There’s talk about time gates, talk about different dimensions, different portals, and it’s confusing. He feels like he’s losing his mind and he hates it. 

   He feels like he’s snapping. 

   Link, because of course that was his name, is who ends up dragging him to Princess Zelda. Under orders, he’s sure, but also out of concern. They’re dripping wet from the rain, Sheik’s headwrap had fallen off and was stashed in the Hero’s bag. He tugs him inside the tent, out of the storm, and pushes him gently in the direction of the Princess of whatever nightmare he is living. She looks like his Zelda, but different too. Firmer. Fircerer. 

   “Your Highness, this is Sheik.” Link greeted, squeezing his shoulder briefly before moving off to the side. Sheik blinks numbly at the both of them, his head spinning far to much. He takes a shaky breath and then moves closer. 

   How does he get out of this nightmare?

[storyreader01]

Miranda Priestly, the formidable editor-in-chief of Runway, woke up feeling terrible. Her entire body ached, her throat was on fire, and her head was pounding. She knew instantly what it was – she had the flu.

But today was a special day. It was her first year anniversary with Andrea Sachs, her brilliant assistant turned girlfriend. They had planned a romantic evening together, and Miranda could not bear the thought of ruining it with her illness. She had to hide it from Andrea at all costs.

Miranda dragged herself out of bed and stumbled to her closet, determined to look her best for the occasion. She put on a black dress and her signature Chanel jacket, hoping that the outfit would distract Andrea from any signs of sickness.

As she made her way to the office, Miranda prayed that her illness would not impede her ability to lead the fashion world. But when she arrived, everything went downhill.

"Good morning, Miranda! Happy anniversary!" Andrea said, beaming with joy.

Miranda tried to hide her discomfort, but her voice betrayed her. "Good morning, Andrea. Thank you."

"Are you okay? You sound different," Andrea noticed.

"I'm perfectly fine, Andrea," Miranda said, clearing her throat. "Just a bit of dryness in the throat."

Andrea looked skeptical but decided not to dwell on it. "So, for tonight, I made reservations at that new Italian restaurant you love. And I also have a little surprise for you," Andrea said, handing Miranda a small box wrapped in a ribbon.

Miranda managed a smile, genuinely touched by Andrea's thoughtfulness. "Thank you, Andrea. I look forward to it."

But as the day went on, Miranda's flu symptoms worsened. She had to cancel a meeting because of a fever, and she was barely able to keep her eyes open during another. Andrea had noticed something was off.

"Miranda, I know something's not right. You can tell me," Andrea said, putting a hand on Miranda's forehead. "Oh, you're burning up! We need to get you home and into bed."

"I can't be sick, Andrea," Miranda said, feeling defeated. "Not tonight."

Andrea took control. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you. I'll make some soup and we'll watch your favorite movie on Netflix."

Miranda couldn't believe it. Andrea was taking care of her, just like she always did. "Thank you, Andrea," Miranda said, feeling grateful for the first time in a long time.

———————————————————————

As they settled in front of the TV, Miranda couldn't resist revealing her true feelings. "You know, Andrea, one year ago, I never would have believed that I could be this happy."

Andrea smiled, taking Miranda's hand. "I know, Miranda. But you deserve all the happiness in the world. And I'll always be here for you."

Miranda felt a tear roll down her cheek. She had always been the one with the upper hand in their relationship, but now she realized how much Andrea meant to her.

"Thank you, Andrea," Miranda said, closing her eyes. "Thank you for everything."

Andrea leaned in to kiss Miranda's forehead. "Happy anniversary, Miranda. I love you."

Miranda smiled, drifting off to sleep. "I love you too, Andrea."

archiveofourown.org/works/47282962"

[cowboyimp-and-canaryangel]

The phrase "Like father, like daughter" is very strong with Topaz 'Mustang' Orbit. Not only does she share Striker's wild nature (from his younger days), but she's unfortunately inherited a 'curse' so to speak.

Her reckless nature nearly costed her and her family's life after she was captured by a bunch of slave owners. Crazy part about all that was these slave owners happen to have a slave similar to Topaz in looks and personality (yes, that slave was Striker). However, they never accounted for her being wilder and crazier than her father.

For weeks they would try to break Topaz, only for the men themselves getting hurt, sometimes even killed by her hand (or teeth or horns, really depends on how Topaz took control of the situation). It wasn't until the boss man got involve did things derail fast.

Not only did Topaz break out of her restraints, but in her fight with the boss she managed to knock over a candle starting a fire. Having no time for him to suffer painfully and slowly, she smashed his skull into one of the benches in the cell, grabbed the keys and assisted all who were chained up.

After helping the others escape, she flew off towards the stalls where she released the many animals who would've been burned alive if they didn't escape. One hellhorse, however, refused to leave his stall. At first, Topaz thought the poor creature was confused, but it wasn't until she saw his scars and his broken horn that she understood, he was afraid the men who did this to him would be out there. Reassuring the men weren't out there, Topaz finally managed to convince the stallion to move out of the burning stall. It wasn't until they were out of the stall did the horse let his wild nature show, bucking and braying in delight to be free.

Reaching the trail downhill the horse looked over at Topaz who was slowly making her way to the path too. Brushing his face against her, Topaz at that point decided he was her horse now. With a new found bond, they both escaped the burning hellscape and on their way back home.

Not only was this how Topaz earned the nickname, "Mustang", but it's also the story on how she obtained Gunpowder.

[mantisgodsaus]

2 for selkieverse kabbu and zasp wrt their selkie teammates

(for this ask game)

2. What role would your OC fill in a friend group?

As this question is Very Vague, we are going for the provided explanation of "how they would help handle and accomodate for the hurdles that Existing As A Selkie causes in society and in general for their teammates"

For Kabbu, a lot of what he does is along the lines of just - keeping an eye on things, and running interference if necessary. He can hold a pelt for them, if needed, in order to keep it safe - mainly he does this for other selkies, since Vi doesn't really... have one to watch over, anymore, and Leif's pelt is kept with his family, but him being a Bulky And Trustworthy Beetle Who Looks Intimidating Enough To Chase People Off is very useful.

He keeps an eye on his teammates to make sure that they aren't getting too far into the call of their elements, and tries to pull them out if needed - a lot of what he does is just keeping Vi from succumbing to either instinct or the pull of Fire, since both of those are a LOT stronger for her after... the incident.

Beyond that, it's mostly just - dealing with emotional backlash, if that makes sense. Offering emotional support. Making sure that Leif can get the time to draw himself back to normal after a particularly bad moment with the call of the water. Caring for Vi after she gets burned again. Making sure that no one's health is actively going downhill.

Not a whole lot different that usual Kabbu, in that regard, but with the fun extra aspect that sometimes he is Very Viscerally Aware That There Is An Entire Demographic Of People Who Can Get Mind Controlled With Access To One Random Pelt And Who Cannot Be Too Far Separated From It Without Major Consequences And Two Of Them Are His Teammates Evenm If They Aren't In Particular Danger Most Of The Time and he's handling it normally and gracefully and he is Not on the verge of a panic attack sometimes while listening to people talk because by the name of venus you people LIVE like this???

For Zasp... he does his best, but there's not a lot he can do to help. He can work with Mothiva to help her meet deadlines or cope with actions forced on her by her pelt. He isn't the old who holds her pelt, nor does he have means to get her pelt back - selkies weren't really something people Knew About back in his old hive, and partnering with Mothiva was his first brush with that whole shitshow.

He can't do much but act as a buffer and an assistant to help her cope with the demands of her job - and really, that's something he does in Normal BF, too? He has no special powers to use to help, Mothiva actually specifically asked him to avoid interfering too much with her pelt after he learned exactly why she was forced to do things and the cause behind those occasional bursts of fucked up sensory feedback.

Interfering with anything to do with her pelt causes more harm than good, from her perspective - thus, don't interfere, and just let her higher-ups do whatever with it that they want. He... has mixed feelings about it, but he lets them slide. Who is he to decide, after all, the workings of a world he doesn't know?

[silvokrent]

Long Live the King - 5

In their defense, it was an accident.

Or: The kids are convinced that they killed Dedede and Escargoon. From there, everything goes downhill fast.

Sword couldn’t help but wonder if they might have underestimated the kids.

Granted, he wasn’t exactly in a charitable enough mood to praise their ability to hide. But after an hour of searching every nook and cranny of town, he begrudgingly had to concede that they might have been good at it.

“—running out of options,” Blade was saying. The limp in his leg was slightly more pronounced now, though he was making the effort to not show it. “Who knows where they could’ve holed themselves up in the meanwhile.”

“That’s assuming they didn’t flee the country,” Sword added, unable to keep the sour note out of his voice.

“Their family’s here. Their whole lives are here,” Blade argued. “That’s not a decision they would make lightly.”

“They might.” There was a deceptive stillness to Meta Knight’s words. “If in their panic, they become desperate.”

“This keeps up for much longer, and I’m worried it won’t be just their panic we have to deal with,” said Blade.

The Cappies, while certainly not mental giants, weren’t immune to basic pattern recognition. After months of watching the resulting fallout from Dedede’s one-sided rivalry, they had learned to gauge the warning signs. Understandably, with Sword, Blade, and Meta Knight going door to door, asking, “Has anyone seen the kids?” the Cappies’ response was rather Pavlovian. If they weren’t on high alert before, they certainly were now.

“The townsfolk aren’t going to start rioting.” Sword shook his head, only to regret it a second later when the headache returned with a vengeance. “What was it you called them? ‘Fairly pacifistic’? Panicking or no, it’s not about to come to that.”

“If we do our jobs correctly”—Meta Knight’s gaze remained fixedly on the castle ahead—“then it won’t.”

“Sir,” Blade ventured, “do you think we should speak with Tokkori again?”

“It would be a waste of our time. It’s unlikely he would have any new information to share.” He lapsed into thought, his pace slowing to a degree. “An aerial view could be useful,” he said, almost to himself, “but I doubt he’d cooperate if we asked.”

There was another pause, before Meta Knight resumed his original pace. “For now, we regroup. In the meantime, I’d like to see to your injuries.”

Blade did the equivalent of a full-body flinch, and this time, it wasn’t because of his foot. “It’s fine. It’s not bad.”

“We can handle it,” Sword insisted.

“I’m well aware you can.” His voice softened. “That wasn’t my point.”

Sword cleared his throat. “Perhaps we ought to consult with Kabu,” he said, ignoring the weight of Blade’s gaze as it landed on him, the incredulity behind it like a physical blow. “The Warp Star is housed there, after all, and they have Kirby with them. They might have gone to retrieve it.”

It was a poor attempt at deflecting, and Meta Knight no doubt recognized it for what it was. He didn’t seem to object to the change in topic, however. “Kabu is wise, not omniscient. He would only be able to tell us anything insofar as the kids took refuge there. Since Tiff can call the Warp Star to her, it would be an unnecessary detour.”

The rattle of the drawbridge was offset by Blade’s gait. “Sooner or later, we might have to ask for outside assistance. Even with the three of us searching separately, there’s only so much ground we can cover. The Waddle Dees could—”

“That’s not an option.” Meta Knight's reply was firm. “We need to keep things calm. If Waddle Doo has reason to think that the kids were involved with His Majesty’s disappearance, he might get other ideas on how to go about apprehending them. This needs to be handled internally, until we can speak to them in a controlled setting.”

They crossed the moat, and stopped.

Sword’s hand hovered over the hilt of his weapon. “Somehow,” he said, “I think the Waddle Dees will have their hands full for a little while.”

The courtyard was a wreck. Loose pavers were strewn over the main path, torn from their foundation. The turf was in a similar state of disarray, with clots of uprooted grass and churned earth spilling over the ground. Nearby, a group of Waddle Dees was attempting to clear the rubble from one of Dedede’s many gaudy statues of himself.

“We were only gone for an hour.” Blade shook, though whether from frustration, or pain, Sword couldn’t tell. It was probably both. “What happened?”

Meta Knight was studying several Waddle Dees huddled near the fountain. They were bandaging each other. “An attack, by the looks of it,” he answered.

“Thank the stars,” said a familiar voice, “you’re back!”

The three of them turned to face Waddle Doo, hurrying toward them with a pair of guards in tow.

“We were just in the middle of a headcount.” He skidded to a halt. “When none of my soldiers reported seeing you, we worried you were attacked by the monster.”

“Monster?” Meta Knight repeated.

“You just missed it.” Waddle Doo’s hand kept twitching for his scabbard, while his eye darted between them and the bridge. “It showed up out of nowhere. Tore its way through the inside of the castle before bolting out here, and running off.”

“And you don’t know where it came from?” Meta Knight asked.

Waddle Doo hesitated. “One of the Waddle Dees said that the door to the throne room was torn clean off its hinges. It…It might have come from that wing of the castle, but we’re not sure how something so big could have gone unnoticed.”

Sword didn’t miss the way Meta Knight tensed.

It wouldn’t have been the first time Nightmare sent something through the transporter without Dedede’s or Escargoon’s involvement. Why, though, remained another matter entirely.

Meta Knight cast a look in the direction of the fountain. “Casualties?”

“A few bruises, but nothing serious,” Waddle Doo said. “We’re currently overseeing cleanup. It’s nothing we haven’t done a thousand times before.”

“Did you see where it went?”

“The sentries said it headed east. Toward Whispy Woods, I think.”

“Thank you.” He briefly inclined his head, before spinning on his heel and hurrying back the way they came. Sword and Blade didn’t hesitate to follow.

“Wait!” The sound of footsteps pursued them. “I didn’t tell you about the kids!”

Meta Knight stopped.

“What about them?” he asked, in a voice carefully devoid of inflection.

Waddle Doo didn’t appear to notice the shift in tone. “All of the guards who saw the monster said that Tiff, Tuff, and Kirby were riding it.”

Slowly, Meta Knight turned to face him.

“What kind of monster was it, exactly?” he asked.

“—and I’m saying we should just go. We’ve got enough supplies to last us the next few days, and we have a head start. The longer we’re here, the longer we’re—”

“No. Not until we find them.”

“For what? You already admitted to killing them in front of Sword and Blade!”

“You’re the one who agreed to this plan!”

Tuff threw his arms in the air. “Yeah, that was before we wasted twenty minutes watching this thing go in circles!”

From the shoreline, they watched as Mandúark waded through the shallows, sweeping its head back and forth over the surface. Occasionally, it lifted its snout from the water to scan the banks, before it resumed its search. Kirby kept pace at the water’s edge, pausing every few feet to flip over a stone. So far, the most exciting thing to happen had been Kirby disturbing a crayfish, and getting pinched by it in the process.

“Face it, sis. They’re not here.”

“There’s no way the trail went cold,” Tiff huffed. She shaded her eyes against the glare of the sun, as she scanned the base of the falls. It was barely visible, amidst the foam and spray, but the red outline of Dedede’s hat still clung to the rocks. How it hadn’t yet been swept away by the turbulent water, she had no idea. Either way, its owner had never come back to reclaim it.

She let out a low, inarticulate noise, and kicked the sand. “Bodies don’t just disappear.”

“Sure they do, if they’re in the middle of the woods,” Tuff retorted. “Maybe a coyote ate them. Or the worms got to them first.”

“Bodies don’t decompose that fast, either,” she snapped, pacing in short bursts. “Maybe the monster can’t track scents through water.”

Tuff adjusted the bag strap slung across his shoulder. “‘Top model’ my ass.” He crossed his arms. “We should just cut our losses and leave. Meta Knight’s probably told everyone by now. If they catch up, we’re going to jail.”

“Not necessarily,” said Tiff, with a sigh that did nothing to abate her anxiety. “Minors aren’t usually tried the same as adults, especially for crimes that were an accident. There’s a chance we could get off with a light sentence.”

“Is that a risk we want to take?” Tuff asked. “Besides, you heard Blade—they’re going to take Kirby off Popstar, regardless what happens to us. We’ll never see him again.”

At the sound of his name, Kirby glanced up.

“Do we know that for fact?” Her pace-line was in danger of becoming a permanent fixture. “For all we know, he said that just to get a rise out of us!”

“A rise that you fell for when you confessed to murder.”

“This isn’t helping,” she said, a little testily. “We need to fix this. At the very least, we have to try and find them.”

“Why? So we have proof that we killed them?”

“We’re the only ones who know where they fell.”

“And you think bringing back their bodies will soften the blow somehow?”

“Maybe!” Tiff cast another glance out at the pool. At some point, Kirby had given up on turning over rocks, and had climbed back up onto the saddle. He was scanning the area in much the same way she had been a few minutes ago. “If nothing else, it’s the right thing to do. “

“Okay, fine. Maybe they’ll go easy on us if we can return their bodies, and we can prove it was an accident.” Tuff scowled. “But you know what wasn’t an accident? All the damage we did to the castle, buying that thing”—he jabbed a finger at the monster—“and assaulting two people!”

“We didn’t assault them.” Tiff whirled to face him. “That was you!”

As they descended into pointless bickering, at no point did it occur to either of them to keep an eye on Kirby.

For his part, he was blissfully unaware of the argument unfolding in the background. Instead, his attention was zeroed in on the hat snagged on the rocks. Kirby leaned down to pat at the nape of Mandúark’s neck, and when it swung its head up, he pointed. It followed his line of sight, and, after a moment of consideration, extended its snout. With a pleased noise, Kirby clambered over its head (earning a disgruntled huff in the process), before he began to scoot along its length.

“—shouldn’t have listened to you in the first place!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you said that I’m the one you always go to when something bad happens!”

“Well, I’m not making that mistake ever again. Next time I want advice, I’ll just ask Kirby.”

“Let me know how that works out for you! Better yet, why don’t we ask him right now—”

That was when she turned, and realized he was gone.

“Kirby?” Tiff spun around. “Tuff, did you see where he went?”

“No.” Tuff shook his head. “He was sitting on the saddle just a second ago.”

“Kirby!” she called, and after a moment, Tuff joined in. “Kirby, where did you go?”

“Poyo!”

The laughter sounded strangely far away as it echoed over the water. She whipped her head around, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from.

And froze.

“Poy! Poyo!” From the base of the waterfall, Kirby hopped up and down on the rock, Dedede’s hat proudly waving in his hand.

“Kirby!��� The image of Dedede and Escargoon vanishing into the ravine flashed through her mind. “It’s not safe out there! You need to come back!”

“The hat’s not worth it!” Tuff yelled.

Thankfully, the fear in their voices sank in. Kirby’s bright expression faltered, as he regarded the hat in his hand, before glancing back at them. Under the gravity of their stares, he deflated. With considerably less enthusiasm than before, he swung his arms, and made to hop his way back to shore.

Only after his foot connected with the rock in his path, and lost traction, did he seem to realize how slippery it was. Kirby had a second to blink in surprise before he disappeared over the side.

It was only when she was chest-high in the water, and reaching for the stirrup, did Tiff realize what she was doing. She barely registered the cold shock seeping into her clothes. “Come on!”

To his credit, Tuff only hesitated for a second. Jaw set, he waded out after her, and allowed himself to be pulled up onto the saddle.

Tiff snatched at the reins and yanked. “Go!”

With a sound like rocks caught between gears, Mandúark began to wade toward the fall. Each step was heavy with the drag of water at its fur, as it kicked its legs against the sediment on the bottom.

Until, suddenly, the bottom wasn’t there anymore.

Neither of them had the chance to react before they were abruptly plunged into the choppy water.

Her head broke the surface long enough to gasp out her brother’s name, before the suction of the current dragged her back under. Blindly, Tiff thrashed. Clouds of silt billowed up around her, accompanied by the dark mass of displaced water bubbling in her wake. Every instinct screamed at her to head for air, to fill in the vacuum where her lungs should have been, but in futility. Up and down had ceased to exist.

There was only the relentless pull of the depths, and the crushing water.

She wondered—as her arms began to tire, and gradually, her kicking lessened—if this had been the last thing Dedede and Escargoon saw, too.

And then, without warning, her momentum reversed. The pressure dragging on her legs all but threw her in the opposite direction.

The water surged, and a moment later, it spat her out.

With a loud “oof” her body slammed into the ground and rolled a short distance. The second Tiff came to a standstill, she pushed herself up on her elbows, and began to hack up water.

“Tuff?” The syllable was partially mangled by her cough. “Kirby?”

She nearly cried in relief when a voice answered back, in between gasps, “Tiff?”

Tiff flinched away at the sudden contact to her face, before she recognized whose hand it was, and she forced herself to relax.

“Poyo?”

“I’m all right.” The hard surface scraped over her knees as she tried to stand. Her breathing was still ragged, but at least her pulse was beginning to slow down a little. “I can’t see either of you. Where—”

“Hang on!” Something rustled in the pitch-black. “I think it should still—yes!”

With an unsettling crack, the glowstick in Tuff’s hand flared to life. It illuminated his grin. “I knew this bag would come in handy.”

It wasn’t a powerful light source by any means, but in the contrast of the dark, it managed to cast a decent enough glow. Tuff stood a few paces off, and other than a scratch above his collarbone, he looked no worse for wear. Kirby (who she now realized had grabbed Mandúark’s reins) had no open cuts or bruises, so that was good.

At least now, Tiff could see where they’d ended up.

But as she slowly took in her surroundings, she realized that she didn’t know where here actually was.

It was a cave, and a rather narrow one at that. At one end sat the pool of water where they’d emerged, its waves lapping along the gravel. Long needles of solid rock jutted from the ceiling, sending beads of water to the floor. The sight startled a reflexive gasp from her—and now that she wasn’t preoccupied with choking, she could taste the damp, stale quality the air held.

“Check it out.” Tuff lifted the glowstick a little higher. “I think those are stal—stalac—” He tipped his head at her questioningly.

“Stalactites,” Tiff answered. “Look at what’s between them.” She pointed at the network of gnarled roots weaving throughout the ceiling. “Those are trees.”

“…Are we under Whispy Woods?” The question came out hushed.

“I think so,” said Tiff. Curiosity was beginning to overwhelm her shock, and she traced a hand along the cavern wall. Time had eroded the stone until it glided smoothly beneath her palm. “The mouth of the cave must be at the bottom of that basin. I bet it’s like a whirlpool, sucking in anything that gets too close, and dumping it here. With all that mist, it’s impossible to see it until—”

“—until it’s too late,” Tuff finished. “You know, usually caves are behind waterfalls, not under them.” He inspected the yawning darkness that swallowed the path onward. “This tunnel must be ancient. I wonder if we’re the first people down here.”

Tiff looked over at the hat still hanging in Kirby’s grip. She sighed. “No, we’re not the first.”

Tuff opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. He settled on, “I guess not,” before glancing back at the pool. “We’re definitely not getting out the way we came in.”

“Our best bet is following the tunnel, and hope it leads us to the surface,” Tiff agreed, a little listlessly. “If we start walking now, we might be able to—” And then it clicked. “Tuff!”

He jumped. “What?”

“The current empties out here, right?”

“Yeah?” he asked warily.

“And when we arrived, we were the only ones in this cave.” She was nearly too overcome with excitement to speak. “If Dedede and Escargoon came in the same way, and their bodies aren’t here—”

“—then that means they must have gotten up and walked!” Tuff’s grip on his rucksack tightened. “They’re alive!”

“I bet they got lost trying to find their way out, and now they’re just wandering down here,” Tiff continued. “That’s why no one could find them, or why they haven’t shown up at the castle yet.”

At that, the optimism slid from his face. “If they couldn’t get out,” he asked, “then how are we going to?”

“With this.” She patted Mandúark’s flank. It let out a snort. “If there are branching tunnels down here, then I bet it can figure out which one is an exit.”

“Well, it beats staying down here and dying.” Tuff dug in his bag, and emerged with a pair of additional glowsticks. He snapped them, and one by one, handed them to Tiff and Kirby (with a warning to the latter not to eat it).

She held out her hand for the reins, which Kirby relinquished without a fuss. “It’s a little waterlogged, but maybe Dedede’s hat can still provide us with a trail.”

“Maybe,” he said, lingering on the word. The chartreuse light gave his skin a pallor like poisonous swamp gas. “They would’ve been down here for days now. You don’t think it’s possible they starved, do you?”

“You can go three weeks without food, I think. And three days without water.” Tiff knitted her brows, trying to recall what little she knew of wilderness survival. “But if they backtracked, then they would’ve had access to the water here. No,” she added, a little more firmly, “I’m sure they’re okay.”

She tried not to consider the alternatives—that they might have been crushed by a cave-in, or succumbed to an injury—and instead gave the reins a tug. One of its tusks nearly grazed her in the enclosed space, as it swung its head around.

“Okay.” Tiff closed her eyes, and exhaled. “Go ahead, Kirby.”

Kirby held the hat up to the monster’s face. Mandúark dipped its head a little closer to inspect the offered garment. Apart from the drip of water percolating overhead, the cavern was silent. The three of them watched as it rapidly dragged in air through its snout.

Its pupils dilated, then narrowed to slits.

It nearly tore the reins free from her hand as it jerked its head up, and pointed with its snout toward the tunnel mouth. Inch-long claws scraped over the stone as it motioned toward the dark with a pronounced restlessness.

“It found the trail.” Tuff’s expression shifted to one of reluctant delight.

Tiff smiled grimly. “Now we just need to find them.” She beckoned, and started to make her way further into the cave, the monster pacing alongside her. “Come on.”

Without a view of the sky, it was hard to get a feel for the passage of time. It didn’t help that nearly everything looked featureless and identical in the pitch-black.

In the interest of doing something productive, she pulled her braid over her shoulder and tried to wring water from it. Since there wasn’t anything she could do about her clothes, she had resigned herself to being wet for the time being.

That didn’t make the chill any less uncomfortable, though, or the prospect of getting sick somehow easier.

“Poyo.” A pink hand holding Dedede’s hat edged into her field of view. To her mild surprise, Kirby offered it to her, and for emphasis stared at her braid.

“Oh, that’s okay, Kirby.” Tiff had reached the extent to which she could wring out her hair, and ruefully flung it back over her shoulder. “I don’t think the hat would help anyway, since it’s still wet.”

“You know,” Tuff said, “we should probably check it for leeches, so he doesn’t get any on him.”

Tiff quirked a brow. “That’s thoughtful of you.”

“I meant Kirby.” She didn’t need to see his face to picture the scornful eye roll. “I don’t care if Dedede gets leeches.”

That made more sense.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him without his hat, come to think of it.” For lack of anything else to do, Tuff began to bend his glowstick. The supple tube didn’t put up much resistance. “I bet his head’s all bald and shiny. What do you think?”

She’d never given it much thought, actually, but if it helped to while away the hours, then by all means. Tiff shrugged. “If I had to guess, he probably looks like a Pengy. I bet there’s a family resemblance.”

Tuff’s laughter rang in the dark. “He probably looks like an eggplant—”

Something screeched overhead. Before either of them had the chance to react, they were engulfed in a cloud of bats.

Arms tented over her head, Tiff threw herself to the ground. Ahead of her, Tuff did the same.

The reins in her hand gave a vicious pull as Mandúark whipped back and forth, its tusks cleaving the swarm. A mousy brown body dropped in front of her, and Tiff scrambled back with a scream.

As suddenly as the flock had appeared, it dispersed. The snap of their leathery wings began to fade as they moved further along the cave.

With delicate, cautious steps, Kirby picked his way out from behind the boulder where he’d taken cover. “Poy…”

“Is everyone all right?” Tiff asked, as she forced herself to stand.

“Yeah.” Tuff brushed the cave debris off of himself. “I mean, I’m only traumatized for life, but I’m fine.”

Tiff curled her lip at the dead bats at her feet, and gingerly stepped over them. “Great.”

Kirby crept a little closer, holding out his glowstick to get a better look.

“Don’t touch it, Kirby. It might have rabies.”

His eyes widened, and he obediently scooted back. Behind him, Mandúark gave an ill-tempered snort. The light from the glowsticks caught its eyes, reflecting it back with an eerie, mirror-like shine.

“I didn’t think anything would be living down here,” Tuff admitted. “Although”—he looked at the black pellets scattered around his feet with renewed consideration—“I’m starting to think the dirt isn’t actually dirt.”

“This must be their roost.” The part of her not thoroughly disgusted regarded the cave ceiling with interest. “I bet they come in here during the day to—hang on a sec.” Tiff faced the direction they’d flown off. “If they have to go outside at night to hunt, then I bet the exit’s not far from here.”

Tuff and Kirby perked up.

“So if we follow them…” Tuff started.

Tiff lightly tugged on the straps. Though clearly irritated, the monster didn’t put up a fight, and allowed itself to be led further into the cave.

They didn’t have to go more than a dozen or so yards before stumbling upon their first branching path. The party stopped, glancing back and forth between the tunnel mouths.

“Which way do we go?” Tuff asked.

It was a question intended for her, which was why it surprised her when the monster answered it. With its snout extended, it approached the bifurcated path, and leaned in toward the tunnel on the right. Its sides heaved as it sniffed the air. After a moment, it stepped back, and peered down the cave on the left, its feet shuffling over the ground in an impatient sort of way.

“I think right is our ticket out of here.” Tuff stood in the tunnel mouth, and inhaled. “The air smells less moldy. And I think there’s a breeze.”

Kirby trotted up next to him.

A breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding left her. “We should mark it with something so we can find it again on our way back.”

Tuff scratched at his chin as he examined the cave floor. Then, with a quiet exclamation, he bent down and scooped up a rock. Glowstick held a little higher, he stepped up to the cave wall, and began to scrape the stone back and forth against its surface.

Tiff and Kirby winced. Mandúark’s ears folded against its head.

He stepped back. Carved into the wall was a shallow x.

The stone clattered to the floor. “Want to keep moving?”

Tiff nodded. “Let’s go.” Together, the three of them veered left, and made their way deeper below the earth.

It wasn’t long before they encountered more side tunnels. Each time, they took their bearings, and Tuff scratched another x to denote the way they’d come.

Mandúark was getting agitated. It had progressed from ambling to a steady trot, and its thick tail repetitively swept over the floor. Now and then it would strain against the tack, a low, guttural noise vibrating in the back of its throat, as the muscles in its neck flexed.

Tiff dug in her heels, and swore under her breath.

“Sis?” Tuff glanced back. “You okay?”

“I am, but it’s not.” She gritted her teeth. “I don’t think it likes being underground.”

“It was fine a little while ago.” Tuff turned to face her, frowning. “Maybe we’re getting close?”

“I really hope so,” she huffed. “It was already opinionated about listening to us earlier. I’m not sure what’ll happen when we—”

As if to prove her point, the monster abruptly spun in the opposite direction, whipping its head around. The reins tore into her palm as they were twisted free from her grasp, and the force behind the motion knocked her to the ground. She could hear the telltale bounce of her glowstick as it rolled somewhere past her.

“Ow.” With a pained grunt, Tiff peeled her cheek off the floor. Blinking repeatedly did little to stop her vision from swimming, and she winced. “I’m okay. I think.”

The glowstick had managed to roll an impressive distance away. The space in front of her was more like the idea of a floor than anything she could physically discern in the wan light. Tiff prepared to call out again, when the vague silhouette of a hand moved into view, and offered itself to her.

“Oh.” Tiff let out a puff of air, and reached out to accept it. Her legs shrieked in protest as she allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. “Thanks, Tuff—”

That was when she lifted her head, and found herself face-to-face with a pair of yellow eyes.

Her blood ran cold.

“Tiff!”

At the sound of her name, she glanced over her shoulder, and was greeted to the sight of Tuff and Kirby backed against a wall, Blade’s weapon leveled at them. Sword, meanwhile, had seized the monster’s reins, and was attempting to subdue it with an outstretched hand.

“Hang on!” She tried to wrench herself out of his grasp.

Meta Knight didn’t budge.

“Let—me—go!” Tiff wrapped her free hand around her wrist, her teeth bared, and gave another desperate tug. It was like having her limb encased in cement; she might as well not have bothered. It occurred to her, as she struggled, that if Kirby couldn’t even inhale Meta Knight, then he wasn’t about to be knocked off his feet by a little girl.

But maybe she didn’t need to overpower him; maybe she just needed to startle him into letting go—

The thought was still half-formed by the time Tiff swung back her arm, and balled the hand into a fist.

Meta Knight didn’t flinch in anticipation. Rather, his eyes tracked her movements, without any particular sense of urgency. A lifetime forged in combat meant he was more than capable of reacting before she ever landed the blow, but he gave no indication of stopping her. Rather, the trace of some unknown emotion settled in his gaze. Resignation, perhaps?

It was then that she realized he was waiting to see what she would do, and all at once, the fight drained out of her. For the first time in days, she was hit by the ugly impulse to cry.

Shaking, Tiff let her arm drop.

Meta Knight studied her for another heartbeat. Then, he reached for his side, and unsheathed Galaxia from its scabbard. Electricity crackled from the hilt as it reformed itself into a hardened edge.

Her pulse raced in her ears.

He’s going to execute us.

The surety of that understanding was accompanied by an even bleaker one: there was nothing she could do to stop it. If he wanted them dead, it was going to happen.

She couldn't bring herself to look away.

Meta Knight raised the sword a little higher—and the attack never came. It took her disoriented thoughts longer than she would have liked to make sense of the scene before her. But when they did, Tiff couldn’t help but notice the way he held Galaxia bore a striking resemblance to a torch.

The blade glowed.

Of course the blade forged by a bunch of fire-worshippers glowed.

“The monster is secured, sir.” In the silence that preceded it, Sword’s voice was unnaturally loud.

“Good.” His reply was curt. “Keep your attention on it.”

His penetrating stare shifted to her, and Tiff failed not to shrink back. The grip on her wrist hadn’t let up. She expected—well, she wasn’t sure what she expected, exactly. A demand for answers. Anger, maybe.

It shocked her, then, when neither of those things immediately came, and Meta Knight turned over her hand. Quietly, he told her, “You’re bleeding.”

Oh.

Tiff looked down. Where the friction of the reins had dug into her palm, there was now a dark slash. Only in the lull of adrenaline did she finally notice the sting.

It’s not that bad was what she wanted to say.

What came out instead was, “You’re hurting me.”

He dropped her hand like a hot coal.

Either Tuff had the best or the worst timing in the universe, because he chose that moment to speak up: “How did you guys get down here?”

“The same way you did,” Blade answered. Now that he said it, it was hard to ignore the wet sheen on their armor.

“And before you ask,” Sword added, “we followed your trail. You tore up half the undergrowth between here and the castle. It wasn’t exactly subtle.”

Meta Knight’s expression was difficult to read—it always had been—but Tiff got the impression he was attempting to compose himself. “Perhaps,” he said, “now that we’ve answered your questions, you would be willing to answer a few of ours.” Though by the sound of it, it wasn’t a request.

She swallowed. “And those would be…?”

“Are His Majesty and Escargoon dead?”

“We—” Tiff didn’t quite meet his eyes. “We don’t know.”

“We thought they were, at first.” Tuff looked like he was weighing his words against the sword still pointed at him, and trying to decide whether saying less or saying more was the safer bet. More, apparently, won out. “It was only after we discovered this place that we thought they might still be alive.”

Meta Knight redirected his focus to him. “Why bother looking for their bodies if you killed them?”

“It was an accident!” Tiff blurted out. “We weren’t trying to hurt them! They fell in after they spotted us, and when we couldn’t find them—”

“You presumed them dead.” He spoke with a steel that made his sword dull by comparison. “I wonder if that would have remained the case, had you not been caught.”

They flinched.

“I’m certain your decision to purchase a monster—and endanger Kirby in the process—wasn’t the result of misguided altruism.” As Meta Knight spoke, he glanced over at the monster in question. Its behavior was less erratic than before, if only because it wasn’t quite sure what to make of the newcomers. At the sudden attention, however, it met his gaze, and let out a long drag of air through its nose.

Sword’s hand hovered uncertainly over his weapon. “Do you recognize this one, sir…?”

“I do.” Meta Knight sighed. “That won’t be necessary, Sword. Blade, the same goes for you.”

Tuff’s legs nearly buckled under him when Blade sheathed his weapon. He leaned against Kirby for support.

“I encountered this creature years ago, when I was stranded on a planet during the war.” Mandúark’s eyes followed him as Meta Knight ventured a few steps closer. Its nostrils flared. “Nightmare sent it to track my squad. For three weeks it pursued us as we tried to make our way to the rendezvous point. By the time we reunited with the rest of our forces, half of my team was injured.”

They sure knew how to pick them.

“I can attest firsthand to how dangerous it is.” His cape fanned out behind him as he turned around, and this time, there was no mistaking the edge to his words. “Which is why I find it hard to believe you willingly bought this creature.”

Shame and helpless anger burned in her throat. “We didn’t know,” Tiff mumbled, and even to her own ears, it sounded pathetic.

“You would have, had you come to me first,” Meta Knight said. He was just as unimpressed by her answer. “It worries me, that you believed you killed someone, and didn’t say anything.”

“We thought we killed Dedede! The guy that you work for!” Tuff shot back. It likely wasn’t a coincidence that he had positioned himself slightly behind Kirby. She doubted he would have had the courage to talk back, otherwise. “What would you have done if we’d actually told you? Help us hide the bodies?”

He closed his eyes, and his visor went unsettlingly blank. When he opened them again, he sounded tired. “Any solution would have been preferrable to the alternative,” came the cryptic response.

Her fingers flexed, and Tiff hissed softly through her teeth as she snatched her wrist. “You probably don’t believe us,” she said, her eyes downcast, “but we’re sorry.”

Meta Knight didn’t miss her reaction, and his eyes darted to her hand. “I believe you mean it,” he said. “Though I’m not sure which part it is that you regret: hurting multiple people, or lying about it to avoid the consequences.”

Somehow, the disappointment was worse than any strike he could have mustered against them. Tiff hung her head.

The urge to protest, to say something—we screwed up; we didn’t mean to hurt anyone; we were scared—died on her lips. They would have rung trite and insincere, performative in the face of punishment. It hadn’t escaped her attention that Blade was leaning into one hip, in order to better distribute his weight between his legs. Guilt lodged itself in the space between her ribs; it hurt to breathe.

Tiff exhaled. “At least let us help fix this,” she pleaded. “You’re right; this is our fault. I know it doesn’t—we can’t change what we did. But if we could just—”

“No.” The rebuke, strangely, held no ire. “Even without the monster being here, these caves are dangerous. I won’t risk your safety.” He shifted. “The king and Escargoon may not…take kindly to your presence. I think it would be wise if you didn’t come.”

Sword straightened as Meta Knight approached. “What will you do, sir?” he asked.

“Rescue them, if I can.” He held out a hand for the reins. “Escort Tiff, Tuff, and Kirby back to the surface. Follow the marks on the wall to retrace your steps.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Tuff stare at the floor a little sheepishly.

Well. That explained how they managed to find them.

“Please see to it that she receives medical attention. I’ll return as soon as I’m able.”

Sword gave a nod, while Blade paused. “And if neither of them survived…?” he prompted.

“I’ll try to bring back whatever’s intact. Don’t wait for my return.” Meta Knight sighed. “The children don’t need to see this.”

Sword reached out to pass over the reins, and that was when Mandúark struck.

Its tusks cleaved the space where their heads had been a second before. Stamping, the monster pivoted, and charged deeper into the cave, the thunder of its steps deafening in its wake. Meta Knight rose from his crouch and went after. Galaxia’s light faded with pursuit.

“Sir—”

“What are you—”

“It’s following their trail!” His voice echoed along the tunnel. “Take the children and go!”

That was the moment Kirby decided that he was bored with being a spectator. He narrowed his eyes, and before any of them could react, he bolted after Meta Knight.

Neither of them hesitated. Ignoring Sword’s cry of “Hey!” Tiff and Tuff followed him.

Walking through the tunnels had been one thing. Running through the tunnels—with only the dim light of Tuff’s glowstick, and the claustrophobic walls hemming them in—was another entirely. Tiff nearly tripped when the path curved, and they were forced to make a sharp turn.

Somewhere close by, they heard a scream.

There was a light ahead. Putting on a final burst of speed, they rounded the bend.

Only to immediately backpedal when a rock shattered into the wall inches from their faces.

“You want some more, you walking shag carpet?” Tiff gaped as Dedede swung his hammer like a croquet mallet, and another rock went flying. A single sweep of Mandúark’s tusks deflected it, and scattered it sideways. It continued to advance. “See what happens!”

With a bellow that shook the cavern, it barreled forward. Dedede’s bravado evaporated on the spot, and he jumped out of the way. The monster rammed into the wall, dislodging loose soil and rocks from the ceiling. The cloud of debris fell harmlessly over its back, and it shook out its fur.

When it spun around, Galaxia’s edge collided with its tusks. Meta Knight’s arms shook with the effort to push back against the oncoming charge.

Just beyond their standoff, she could see Kirby trying to help Escargoon to his feet. He looked disoriented, but unharmed.

“I don’t understand.” Tuff stiffened. “It’s supposed to be tracking them, not fighting them.”

Now, I should warn you that it pursues with the intention —

A little too late, Tiff wondered if they shouldn’t have read the instruction manual.

“With the intention to kill,” she said to herself. Tuff shot her a questioning look, but she didn’t elaborate.

The tip of its elongated jaws parted, and a barbed tongue snaked out. Meta Knight didn’t have the opportunity to react before it lashed forward, and flung him across the cave.

“Sir Meta Knight!”

The sound of clattering armor announced Sword’s and Blade’s arrival. They went to rush forward, only to halt when Meta Knight threw out a hand.

“Don’t come any closer!” He pulled himself to his feet. “There’s not enough room to fight! Protect the—”

He didn’t have the opportunity to finish before he was forced to roll out of the way. The boulder behind him was split down the middle.

“Poyo!” Kirby darted forward, and flung himself at its head. He managed to dodge the claws that passed a breadth beneath him, and in the same motion, grab onto its reins.

Mandúark roared. Violently, it threw its head to the side, trying to shake him off. Tiff could hear Kirby’s high-pitched shouting over the taut snap of the reins. Meta Knight’s attempt to get closer was thwarted when he had to duck, as Kirby sailed overhead.

In the same motion that forced Meta Knight to retreat, its tail swept across the floor, and slammed Dedede into the wall. He thudded to the ground with a groan.

“Sire!” Escargoon took a step toward him. “Hold on, I’m coming—!”

The impact jarred a stalactite loose. With a crack, it plummeted toward him.

By the time Escargoon looked up, Tiff shoved into him, and they rolled out of its trajectory. As soon as they came to a standstill, he pushed her off.

“Are you out of your mind?” he spat. “You could have killed me!”

“You’re welcome,” she muttered.

Dedede scrambled past them without so much as a backward glance. “Move it or lose it!”

Escargoon didn’t need to be told twice. Especially not after Kirby was sent flying, and he bounced off the wall above them. With a yelp, he booked it after his boss.

Tiff and Kirby went to follow, only to jerk back when the ground in front of them was slashed down its center.

The barbed tongue retracted back into its jaws, its breath escaping in hot, shallow puffs of air. Mandúark raked its claws over the ground. She pulled Kirby close to her side—and in doing so, noticed the hat still in his hand, which he somehow hadn’t yet dropped.

It was tracking Dedede. Not them.

That realization came at the exact moment Mandúark lowered its head, and charged. Tiff braced for the impact.

The attack veered sideways as Meta Knight slammed into its flank. Tiff and Kirby jumped back, narrowly avoiding the tusks that plunged into the wall beside them. Mandúark bellowed, and the noise nearly rattled the teeth out of her skull. It tried to rear back, bacing its front legs against the cavern wall, straining with the exertion of dislodging itself. Its claws scrabbled uselessly against the rock. Cracks began to spiderweb across its surface.

Another chunk of ceiling collapsed.

An idea occurred to her. “Sir Meta Knight!” she yelled, and pointed at the roof of the cave.

His eyes flicked upward, and he nodded. Tucking Kirby under her arm, Tiff dashed between its legs, and sprinted the way they’d come.

She didn’t look back, but she heard the discharge of the sword beam as Meta Knight lobbed it into the ceiling. More rocks fell as the cavern shook, and this time, the monster screamed.

“Move!” Meta Knight’s order jolted the group into action. Tuff stumbled from the tremors as he ran, and Dedede all but shoved Escargoon out of his way. The cave gave a final, lurching shudder, and the crescendo of falling rocks stopped.

The tunnel behind them was sealed. It was hard to pick out amidst the dust cloud, but the end of the snout poked out from underneath a boulder, its tongue spooling from it like a fleshy measuring tape. A moment later, and it began to sublimate into black particles. In a matter of seconds, it disintegrated.

“Your Majesty.” After having gone days without hearing it, the sound of Meta Knight addressing Dedede startled her. He halted at a respectful distance, and lowered his head a fraction. “Are you unharmed?”

It was the first time Tiff actually got to properly look at him, and her first unhelpful thought (in a voice that suspiciously resembled Tuff’s) was that he looked rather lopsided without his hat. Beyond that, though, he seemed strangely fine. The hem of his coat was ripped and discolored in a few spots, but there wasn’t any sign of—well, anything wrong with him. Her imagination might have exaggerated her expectations some, but she’d expected him to look at least a little gaunt.

Escargoon’s condition appeared more or less the same. The backpack she vaguely recalled him having on his person had a torn seam (and was substantially lighter now), but was otherwise intact.

Dedede had braced a hand against Escargoon’s shell as he stooped to catch his breath. At the question, however, he straightened.

“About as well as can be expected,” he said. “No thanks to you.”

The kids both jumped when he directed the latter half of his statement at them.

“As if trying to kill us once wasn’t enough,” Escargoon said, “you had to go and buy a monster to finish the job.”

After the ordeal of the last four days, her patience had been fraying.

The last thread holding it together snapped.

Tiff clenched her fists (only to immediately regret it when her hand stung). She settled on glaring instead. “We bought it so we could find you!”

Escargoon sniffed. “A likely story.”

“And you used our money to do it, to add insult to injury,” Dedede harrumphed.

“We didn’t buy the monster,” Tuff retorted, “we stole it.”

That managed to wipe the outrage from Dedede’s face, and he blinked. “You did?” He sounded like he was genuinely impressed, and at the same time was vehemently trying to stamp it out. “How the hell did you manage to pull a fast one on him? I might have to take notes.”

“Don’t bother.” Tuff blew out a sigh. “You’ll probably get to hear all about it the next time you go to place an order. By the way, you owe him money.”

Dedede let out a strangled noise. “Do you have any idea how long it took to pay him back?” He dragged his hands down his face, before—seemingly for the first time—registering Kirby’s presence. “And that’s mine! Give me that.” He snatched the hat out of his hand, and jammed it onto his head. It didn’t appear to bother Dedede that it was thoroughly soaked and smelled like a wet dog.

“How did you manage to survive down here for so long?” It was impossible to tell whether Meta Knight was actually curious, or trying to divert their argument.

Either way, it did the trick, if only temporarily. Escargoon shot the pair a nasty parting look before he answered: “I had some provisions on me. Most of them survived the fall. When we couldn’t find our way out, we decided that staying put was our best bet. So we rationed them.”

“Bad enough that we couldn’t see, let alone having to skimp on meals,” said Dedede. “Another day or two and I might’ve resorted to eating raw snail.”

“That’s not funny.”

“Who said I was joking?”

Escargoon took a pointed step back. He cleared his throat. “Sure, it was dark, and sure, we were a little peckish. And maybe we thought we were going to die. But what matters now is that we’re safe.” He paused, and then squinted at his rescuers. “You did find a way out of here, right?”

Meta Knight nodded.

“Good.” Dedede narrowed his eyes at her. “Because the second we’re out of here, I’m punting you into the river.”

Tiff met his glare with one of her own. “Just try it, you ungrateful bast—”

“Enough.”

Obediently, she bit her tongue, as Meta Knight stepped between them. There was a warning in his gaze as it lingered on her, before he redirected it to the king. “Perhaps this is a conversation best continued elsewhere.” He lowered his head. “Please allow us to escort you both to the surface.”

This seemed to mollify Dedede. It also served to remind him of their predicament, and he gave his surroundings a look of disdain, coupled with something that resembled unease. He adjusted his hat. “Thought you’d never ask,” he said. “Now get us outta here.”

Awash in golden light, the castle loomed ominously from the precipice.

Tiff had spent the last few days juggling mixed feelings regarding her home: apprehension, refuge, shame. Looking at it now, as the setting sun cast long shadows from the spires, she could add a new one to the list: dread.

Not for the first time, she glanced a few paces ahead at Dedede and Escargoon. The pair had been uncharacteristically quiet the entire journey back, and save for the occasional backward look at their entourage, hadn’t made a fuss. (Guiltily, she tried not to dwell on the possibility that they were both too busy processing their trauma to get into an argument.)

A small part of her was equal parts relieved, equal parts wishing they would get it over with and say something already. Words were constructive; the only thing silence did was let her brain fill in the gap with what-ifs, each more viscerally agonizing than the last.

Beside her, Tuff plodded along, his shoulders hunched. He stared at the ground through his curtain of bangs, unresponsive to even Kirby’s well-meaning prods or concerned babble.

It didn’t help that Tiff could all but feel three sets of eyes boring into the back of her skull. Sooner or later, when the reckoning came, she wondered where it would fall.

And then Dedede came to an abrupt stop, and she realized their time was up.

“There it is,” he said, hands on his hips. “Home, sweet home.” With slow, rehearsed movements, Dedede turned on the spot, and leered. “Take a good, long look, because this is the last time you’ll be seeing something besides the inside of a dungeon cell.”

The kids stiffened. Instinctively, Kirby scooted a little closer between them.

“We told you already,” said Tuff through clenched teeth, “it was an accident.”

“An accident that would have killed us if we hadn’t been rescued in time,” Escargoon reminded them. “After the ordeal you brats put us through, I think imprisonment for life is rather generous. Be grateful it’s not a guillotine.”

Some of her fire resurfaced, and Tiff bristled. “And you think you’ll get away with it once everyone hears what actually happened?”

“That’s the funny thing about the truth.” Dedede jerked up his chin. “Depending on who you ask, it changes.”

She’d expected something like this, but seeing the idea manifest before them was another thing entirely. Her pulse jumped in her throat. The urge to step back was waylaid by the presence of Sword, Blade, and Meta Knight behind them, effectively cutting off their escape route.

“And you’re going to have an awfully hard time peddling that racket from behind bars,” Escargoon added cheerfully. “Good luck breaking out, by the way. We had the dungeons remodeled last week.

From somewhere on his person, Dedede withdrew his hammer, and none too subtly leaned against the handle. “Let’s not make this any harder than it needs to be, eh? Off you go.”

Not knowing what else to do, she turned to her brother, and found her own helplessness reflected back at her.

For all of their bluster, she knew Dedede and Escargoon weren’t in any condition to fight. The real threat was the one at their backsides, armed, and more than capable of subduing them. (They’d already experienced that once today. A repeat performance was the last thing she wanted.) And if they resisted…

Kirby tilted his head back at them, his mouth hanging open in an inquisitive o.

If it was a toss-up between their own safety and throwing him in the crossfire, then it wasn’t a choice.

Evidently, Tuff had reached the same conclusion. His shoulders shook as he let out a low, shuddering breath, and stared fixedly ahead. Tiff reached over and rested a hand on Kirby’s head, hoping the gesture conveyed everything she wanted to say, but couldn’t. They’d dealt with worse; they’d figure this one out, too.

She straightened, and went to move in the direction of the castle. They didn’t even make it a step before Meta Knight brushed past them, and knelt before Dedede.

The vindictive triumph melted from Dedede’s face. “What are you doing?” he demanded. “Arrest them.”

Meta Knight lifted his gaze, ever so slightly. “If you’re to assign fault to anyone, Your Majesty,” he said, “blame me. They were acting on my orders.”

Tuff gaped. Discreetly, Tiff stepped on his foot.

Meta Knight didn’t so much as blink when Dedede loomed over him. Suspicion darkened his features, like the pall of an encroaching storm. “Explain,” he growled.

“The night of your disappearance, I was trying to find you regarding an urgent matter. During my search, I crossed paths with the children, and asked them to look for you beyond the castle. They agreed to assist me.” If she hadn’t known any better, she would have believed the lie with how easily he recited it. “My subordinates and I have been coordinating with the captain of your guard in order to find you. Procuring a monster was necessary for discerning your whereabouts.”

“Is that right?” Dedede asked, folding his arms over his chest. “Then what was so important that it couldn’t wait until morning?”

Smoothly, Meta Knight said, “The issue’s been taken care of.” He rose from his kneel, and fixed the king with cool yellow eyes. In the evening light, they were chips of ice. “Forgive me, Your Majesty, but what were you doing out so late, in the middle of Whispy Woods?”

Dedede recoiled, and beside him, Escargoon paled.

And as Tiff watched the stalemate unfold, she could see the internal debate waring on their faces.

Calling Meta Knight’s bluff would mean having to explain what they were doing. Even if Tiff and Tuff hadn’t been close enough to overhear them, it didn’t take a lot of effort to put two and two together. For all that the old Star Warrior had pledged fealty to the king, he had demonstrated—time and time again—all of the many ways he liberally interpreted “serving them.” The mental image of an armored truck being kicked down the canyon briefly crossed her mind.

Dedede was a lot of things—narcissistic, self-aggrandizing, impulsive—but he wasn’t stupid. That went double for Escargoon. They knew, if they let it slip what they’d been up to, it wouldn’t end well.

The silence carried on. Maybe Tiff imagined it, but she thought she saw Meta Knight’s sword hand twitch.

“Hiking,” Dedede said, when he’d clearly made up his mind. It wasn’t worth it. “A little fresh air every now and then does wonders for your health. Isn’t that right?” he added, with a very pointed side glance at Escargoon.

Escargoon nodded, a little emphatically. “Nothing quite like a brisk morning stroll.”

“If you planned on leaving the castle for several hours,” asked Meta Knight, with overt politeness, “then why didn’t you inform anyone?”

Dedede puffed out his chest. “Kingly prerogative. I don’t have to inform people. I come and go as I please.”

Taking that as his cue, he scooped up his hammer, hitched it over a shoulder, and strode toward the drawbridge. With a delayed sort of realization, Escargoon jolted after him. “Your Majesty, wait!”

There was a faint commotion beyond the castle walls. Loudest amidst the fanfare was a voice that resembled Waddle Doo’s, and if she wasn’t mistaken, it sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

“I guess that’s that,” Tuff said, when the silence got to be unbearable. Much like her, he very carefully avoided looking at Meta Knight.

Tiff wasn’t prone to cowardice, but the blatant lie on their behalf left her feeling rather wrong-footed, and unsure whether to thank him, or make a break for it. Out of her periphery, she watched Tuff begin to inch past Meta Knight—testing whether they were off the hook. Not about to be left behind, she followed his lead.

“At least it’s finally behind us,” she added, with a confidence that she certainly didn’t feel. They’d managed to place a foot between him and themselves. He still hadn’t reacted. “We should probably head back. Kirby, do you want to stay for dinner?”

The long-awaited promise of food dispelled any of his lingering worry. Kirby waved his arms. “Poyo!”

“Great!” Tuff’s grin was a little forced. “Let’s go!”

The two of them turned to leave—

—and flinched when a pair of hands landed on their shoulders.

“Not so fast.” It was a thousand times worse with how close he was. The even tone was belied somewhat by his grip. “We need to have a little talk.”

“…Can this talk not involve our parents?” Tuff asked.

“For their sake, not yours,” Meta Knight said. The pressure on their shoulders remained firm as he nudged them in the direction of the castle gate. “March.”

Before they could move, Kirby darted in front of them. He pointed at himself. “Poyo?”

“You’re not in trouble,” Meta Knight told him. “You’re free to go.”

Kirby tilted his head as he looked between his friends. He appeared to be visibly weighing his options (and, judging by the low growl in his stomach, deciding which one had the higher likelihood of getting something to eat). He hesitated on a decision for a second longer—and then, to Tiff’s amazement, he gave them a small wave before u-turning back down the road.

Watching him go, she couldn’t exactly blame him. Not after everything they’d dragged him through. She resolved to make it up to Kirby the next time they saw him.

…Whenever “next time” was, at any rate. Meta Knight’s hands on their shoulders didn’t leave much room for optimism that this would be a short and painless talk.

Meta Knight gave a sharp nod. On a tacit signal, Sword and Blade moved ahead across the bridge, and dispersed. Tiff and Tuff were unresisting as he followed a moment later, steering them through the courtyard.

All things considered, Tiff thought, as they were herded inside, it could have been worse.

Author's Note:

And then Meta Knight proceeded to give them the world’s worst Disappointed Parent Talk.

Afterward, their punishment was to clean up the library. Sword and Blade got to supervise.

[mimikiplovesgaming]

Pokemon ⚡Violet⏳ Synopsis

Okay so I beat the main stories and after story of Pokemon Violet! Here are my personal thoughts on the game:

*Warning for spoilers*

From the start, the graphics were okay. When the npcs are in the further background, it looks like something out of the N64 days- and Kirby 64 looked better on the console itself

Controls were pretty good, felt pretty smooth for the most part. Riding Miraidon felt nice, there wasn't too much trouble. The only thing that bugs me is the glide. You glide at a nice sloping descent before falling down at a steeper angle and you pretty much fall straight down with no chance to slow yourself. I wish it was more like PLA, where you could dash and control how you glided through the sky

Arven and Penny were my favorite NPCs and storylines. Penny reminded me of my old middle school friends and there was a sense of wanting to care for and protect her. Arven, while having parental issues, was also dealing with trying to save his doggo partner Mabosstiff who he has had since he was a child. That need of wanting to help the only real family he had spoke so deeply to me. Because that proves that family doesn't have to be biological. Family can be your best friend or the pet you have, whoever you have close bonds with. And as an animal lover, I teared up when that part happened.

Okay- let's talk Nemona. I personally did not like her all that much. Her character trait is that she likes battling- and that's it. That's all she likes. Just combat. There's no real personality to her. She was more annoying to me than anything else. She didn't have any character growth or arc like the others did. Again, this is just my own view of things.

I know some people will complain and argue that some of the Pokemon designs are lackluster and "going downhill". Need I remind you that Gen 1 had very not so great designs too- Geodude and Voltorb are examples. I actually didn't mind the designs of the newer Pokemon! Meowscarada was a decent bipedal evolution for Sprigatito, but it could use a bit more detail. Miraidon was adorable, I loved Fuecoco, the Tinkaton line was simple and effective, and I enjoyed the Paradox Pokemon! My favorite is Iron Valiant, the way they combined Gallade and Gardevoir was so well done with just the right amount of detail from both evolutions.

Speaking of the Paradox Pokemon, let's talk the afterstory. Holy crap. The fact that the real professor died in an accident and was succeeded by an android they created to assist them was crazy. I don't think we've had a game where you fight the professor as a final boss- usually it's the champion or your rival or something. The turn this game took with the ending was shocking and I am here for it. I really wish there was a moment between the AI Professor and Arven where they hugged each other goodbye. That would've ripped my heart out even more and provided some form of comfort to Arven knowing that despite everything, that one moment of tenderness was what he needed to know his parent loved him. (Side note- the Professor's spouse walked out on them after Arven was born, which was even crazier when you realize that it's what started his abandonment issues

Then we come to the final thing on the list: the Ruinous Quartet Pokemon. Four cursed artifacts that became Pokemon and were sealed away for fear of their strength and the destruction they caused. It makes me wonder why they're a thing in the game. Will we eventually get more story on them? Will they become more prominent as time goes on? As for their oppositions, I strongly believe they were designed to oppose the Swords of Justice. Think about it- the Quartet are Dark Types and the Swords are Fighting. Then add the elemental types and they match the weaknesses of the Swords perfectly. It's just a theory, but there's some ideas behind it

Overall, I think the game wasn't too bad. It wasn't that glitchy for me and I had an enjoyable time playing. People were diverse, story was good, and gameplay wasn't half bad. I'll give this game a 7/10- good, but could be better. At least with the graphics issues and Pokemon going through walls XD

Give me your thoughts as well! Do you agree or disagree with anything I mentioned? Add your thoughts in the comments or reblogs, I'd love to hear what you think!

[voidcreaturehideout]

I made an AU, and I would like to share, don't mind my writing, I'm not the best at it, also English isn't my first leguage.

There's no drawing, no anything like that yet

I will name it "new shade lord"

Everything will be down here

 There's a shade lord, always had been one, but this one was old, meant to be dead and get to a new soul, this one was condemned by the universe for being unable to complete their job, and just worsening. So when a Vessel, with capacity of controlling so much void, appeared, the universe embraced them, helped them, guided them without their knowledge, to ascension.

  Void where always meant to control, control the other gods, control the darkness, bring justice to those weaker than higher beings, when the oldest of gods, Void itself, started to act up, the other higher being where alarmed, the one who loved, and hated it, where all afraid, because it wasn't the fairfully God their knew, it was a monster now, something with desire of chaos.

 In this universe, Ghost, the said vessel, brings themself to godhood, controlling most of the void, and their mission is to defeat the old God, to defeat Void, it sure wasn't going to be easy, it was Impossible for another higher beings.

Those three are me putting ideas together, a bit messy.

Now, here, is a big resume

 The Universe is the creation, mother of all, a creator, the Universe is the most powerful God yet nobody knows how they look like, they can create all, everything.

 The first creation, was The Void, the first child of the universe, the only God that had a piece of the Universe mind, but the universe didn't stopped there, there was so many things to tale care, so the universe created more gods, so they could help assisting with everything the Universe does.

 The ages passes, Gods dying and borning, the Void keeping them in order, breaking war, helping the needed, doing the heavy work the Universe can't do, some gods hated the Void for stopping them doing what they wanted, and other were very understanding of this.

 Some skip of time, this is not a fanfic, just a resume, Hallownest is there, Pale King is doing his thing and Radiance is angry, so PK ask Void to help, Void agreed to stop more lifes being thrown away, and that away, 4 vessels were created (yk, Ghost, Hollow, Lost Kin, Greenpath vessel). After doing that, is were the void started losing control of itself, they were losing that piece of mind that it scared with the Universe.

 Here is were all goes downhill for everyone, every bug, every higher being was in danger, a God with no mind to think right, powerful enough to destroy everything, all that the gods could do was protect themself and their people, and see what fate the Universe would give.

 Here is were I go to Ghost now, Ghost were always too close to the void, too connect to everything about the void, so, the Universe, the first thing it did, was guide them, try to get them do control the void, and turn into a new higher being, and here, is where Ghost leave their family behind during this, in their mission to ascend to godhood.

 Bla bla bla (I won't put much detail here now) they finally gets to godhood, and when they get their new form, Universe reached to them, and gave a piece of her mind, and with that new power they had, the only thing to do was to kill and absorb the old Void

They fight, Ghost win, and from here, if it was a fanfic, would be the end.

[clatterbane]

This afternoon's little planned adventure: my first solo shopping trip to the nearest supermarket! Which feels weird as hell to say when we've been in this place since January.

Tbf, I have rolled over to that shopping center on my own for other purposes, but every time I've ventured in for groceries so far it's been with Mr. C along doubling as pack mule. 😅

Not entirely thrilled about this state of affairs, but post-viral BS. More able to actually swallow a decent variety of foods, less able to actually get out in search of some! 🙄 And that isn't quite as easy a roll as to even the ICA roughly the same distance from Temporary Apartment; it has a lot more uphill (pretty much totally manmade, going over a road overpass), and some sections of tricker sidewalk without decent curb cuts.

At least they very purposely do make the burbs* pretty hikeable/walkable/wheelchair accessible here, is all I can say. And curbs/uneven pavement are actually doable for me as an otherwise fairly physically able manual chair user. It's just a PITA, and eats extra energy. It ends up being way more downhill on the way home loaded down too, which is much better than it could be. But yeah, this is enough older development around here that it shows some trying to get around.

(On the plus side? I did see some other guy out the other day with an electric handcycle attachment. And power assist devices are indeed supposed to be covered by the healthcare system here--unlike on Plague Island, like, at all. So, I am more hopeful about maybe wheedling one out of them now that I am properly covered, and things have settled down some on other fronts. Besides an aftermarket leg! Really hoping it's not "either/or" with wheelchair or prosthetic services, unlike our freaking NHS trust before. 🤬 Because everybody needs both available sometimes, properly set up to wreck their body as little as possible.)

Anyway, I am feeling pretty stir crazy on a sunny day, and also really need a few items like milk with him gone. Plus, naturally, I really want to poke around that big extremely international store some for the first time in ages, now that I can actually eat most of the stuff and the sight/smell of food isn't seriously fucking me up anymore.

My major challenge: not grabbing more shit than I can at least semi-reasonably cart home in my backpack, plus the couple of overflow bags hung on the back of the chair!

Bonus side mission: Swing by and scout out exactly where around that same shopping center one dentist's office is. 😰 Because yeah, I really do need to see one soon--and not just for that cleaning I had been trying to psych myself up for, now that we don't also have a bunch of medical charges to contend with. (Thankfully no pain so far, but I discovered a cavity which really ought to get dealt with before it reaches that point! Especially with local anesthetics not working on me. Probably more hiding in my mouth after the years of out of control blood sugar, tbh. Feel like I'm getting off lucky "just" noticing the one before anything hurts.)

Pretty sure I have a good idea where to find the place, but better to make sure before I start heading over there for an appointment! Which is nerve wracking enough when you do know exactly how to get there.

Even more reason to reward myself with some ice cream while I'm there. 😁 After the unaccustomed exercise, my blood sugar will probably need it anyway. Even though there are a couple of places I know of to get fresh scooped stuff over there, I'm actually tempted to try that funky soft serve vending machine. It looked interesting, plus no need to interact with anyone in Hard Swedish Mode when I may already be low on spoons.

_________

* We are apparently not technically in the suburbs here. The city center has shifted some over time, leaving this part of the actual city farther from it. But, everybody refers to it as such--and it does feel pretty damned suburban in layout, Swedish "Million Program" styley.

[threeclockkeeperlovereal]

hi there again! thank u for responding to my ask! it gave me some courage to ask once again so i hope u don't mind!

i had been wondering what kind of object or a person that the yorishiro of the clock keepers would form – it must be something that they found to be precious to them, right? but then I started to wonder; what if no. 1's yorishiro is a clock winding key? It doesn't seem to hold importance nor is a precious item that all three of them would be fond of, unlike how shijima's yorishiro was a sketchbook of her human counterpart and yako had a pair of scissors as a gift from misaki, the man she fell in love.

instead, it holds importance to something else, perhaps controlling the time of kamome itself. from what i understood, the clock winding key is used to make sure that a mechanical clock – grandfather clocks for example – would keep on working and never stop, as if the owner is controlling on whether the clock's time remains frozen or moves forward. this could mean that removing the seal from this bitch (that is, assuming that it would destroy itself after it had been used once) would allow the kannagi or a certain toilet ghost to wind the specific clock that the clock keepers had guarded – which could also mean that said kannagi and toilet ghost can control and caused imbalance to kamome's time.

this could be the possible reason for kako and mirai to avoid revealing the location of their boundary and the clock itself to protect the time of the school. having to smack off grabby hands such as the yugi twins with exorcists and kannagis running around – i, too, would never tell them unless i want Kamome to go downhill in a second.

i mean, the g-fantasy cover of akane and hanako together had a clock winding key on their backs! it must mean something, right?!

but then again I might be overthinking so there's that

omg I was thinking about if it'd have something to do with the clock! this is amazing! and dw I love asks here because I'm mentally ill when it comes to talking about the clock keepers.

a winding key would be perfect! honestly I'd say here and now we've predicted the clock keepers then folds, but I wish that was the case when it comes to tbhk, anyways

it'd make a lot of sense! I personally was just thinking like the simplest thoughts like "idk maybe it's the clock" or "idk maybe they all share a clock handle???" like help me i don't know what I'm doing...

a winding key would be of importance to them because as a clock keeper nothing matters more then keeping the balance of Time, it may not have been about their pasts, but personal feelings of mentaining time, it's very important, although they seem to not mind messing with time themselves, they won't let it get out of hand[also what do you think about the possibility that Amane Yugi died unexpectedly because of the clock keepers? or a student that messed with time?]

but someone destroying that would just be mayhem itself....and I've mentioned that Hanako would LOVE to mess with Nene's time, which is why he shouldn't know of the grandfather clock. especially since he has an assistant that could obviously send the place into chaos (like he's already done by manipulating her into thinking she's doing good) so the Yorishiro of No.1 wouldn't be a problem, and Hanako has a habit of not sharing the details, and this would follow up to what Sakura said about if all Yorishiros were to be destroyed

do you suppose Time would also cease to exist?...

(btw does that mean Nene will get to love with a long lifespan or will nothing exist so it doesn't matter?????)

messing with the Yorishiros is so dangerous and I can't believe we are, ugh, but we all want the secrets so no protest from me.....I need those juicey clock keeper secrets!! so then I can see if I got some things right and if I got some things wrong, and I'll definitely share with all of you on what I got wrong and right! so then we can all talk about it, the unexpected and what I dismissed but ended up I should have paid more attention to the possibility..

but this is definitely a twist worth tbhk scrapbooking! yippee

anyways thanks for the ask! I guess I didn't have much to besides you're so right and I LOVE the idea of the winding key being their Yorishiro (also maybe Kako used to fix a winding key once in a while since he had a clock???? so maybe it'd be important???????idk) but I'm headcannoning this and if it isn't true I'm going to act like this was a major surprise, I'll give credit to you for the idea though! dw I gotchu

[meditourshagiangcom]

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