#I don’t have to block the laundry room so he doesn’t get into the cats litter box

[thecaroliner]

I can’t even sleep. I just want my baby back. and I think I’ve made myself even more sick

[sukirichi]

the boyfriend kiss.

in which the boyfriend kiss comes with the price of a tiny bit of angst.

⊹ college! au. aged up characters. fluff. a squint of angst. unedited. the product of chifuyu best boy brainrot. lots of cuddling bcos why not.

⊹ i also found this hella adorable chifuyu playlist that makes me so SOFT. 

Head placed on his lap, you’re seconds away from dozing off to sleep, as per the usual routine in your shared apartment with Chifuyu. It’s another night where he drags you into the living room to pull an all-nighter with him, which always ends the same way. Him flipping the pages of his book to let you keep up before you’re dozing off, having been too sleepy that he lets you rest on his lap instead. Until, that is, he pulls another one of his tricks to intentionally push your buttons.

“Chifuyu.” You warn, fists balling beside you as the boy hums innocently. Although you couldn’t see him due to your vision being blocked, you could picture his mischievous smile much too clearly.

“Yes?”

“Get your manga off my face.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll prepare breakfast for myself only. You can cook by yourself.”

Chifuyu snorts. Retrieving the manga, you come face to face with his smirk, taken aback for a moment by his handsomeness despite waking up to that same face for many years now.

“Please, all you do is pour milk on the cereals, you don’t—” sitting up, you tackle him. Or more like attempt to because Chifuyu didn’t join a gang in his younger reasons for no reason, his strong muscles still present as he easily flips you onto his lap, locking all your joints with his. “Oh no, you don’t!” he laughs when you attempt to wriggle away from his hold, successfully knocking his manga off the couch. “Hey! What if you ripped my manga apart, huh? Are you going to buy me a new one and take responsibility for it?”

“You’re the one who smooshed it on my face! I could’ve suffocated!”

Chifuyu rolls his eyes, further annoying you that he’s now planted you right into his lap, your faces a hairsbreadth away from each other. Tempting as it may be to reach forward to knock his head with yours – or you know, steal a kiss – he still never fails to get on your nerves.

“You’re such a drama queen.”

“And you’re mean to me,” you retort, wiggling your shoulders to try and break free. Chifuyu doesn’t let up one bit, his smirk nothing less of cocky when he pulls you closer to him, noses grazing against the other. In this proximity, you could count his lashes, upper and bottom row as well as count the barely visible freckles dotting his cheeks, but you don’t. You don’t because it’s weird to stare at him so openly, especially when your gaze is more adoring than of distaste. So, you sigh and slump in defeat, always weak when it comes to him. “Chifuyu, let me go.”

“No. You’re going to mess with me again,” he says, watching with wary eyes as you manage to free one hand squished between your chests. Chifuyu’s gaze is hawk-like until your fingers thread through his hair, nails slightly digging into his scalp. “Oh,” he purrs with eyes closed. “That’s...nice.”

“You’re like a cute little cat,” you coo, “Does Chifuyu enjoy head pats? Awww, so adowable!”

“You think I’m cute?”

Your smile drops. Here you were, trying to tease him, only to have your plan backfire with a single wink that sends heat spreading all over your skin. And what better way to hide your emotions than place your palm over his face, an unimpressed smile sent his way? “Get over yourself,” you snort, “You’re still not gonna let me go?”

“Nah, I quite like it here. It’s comfy and you smell good.”

“Creep.”

“Says the one who I caught sniffing my shirt the other day.”

The back of your neck burns. “I told you I was doing laundry! Besides, you should head them straight to the bin if it’s dirty. You ought to clean your room more,” you begin to scold him, head falling forwards to rest on his shoulder. If he had no intention to let you go, then might as well make yourself comfortable and bury yourself deeper into his soothing touch – no matter how much you claimed he pissed you off.

“Jeez, you’re so irresponsible, Chifuyu. What would you do without me?”

“That’s a question I’d really rather not know the answer to,” his words ring so quiet you almost don’t hear it. However, you don’t have the time to question it when he’s tapping your cheek, his smile way too bright for someone who’s supposed to be asleep because they have a class in four hours. “Hey, wanna build a pillow fort?”

“It’s three in the morning, ‘Fuyu. Let’s go to bed.”

Chifuyu blinks owlishly at you for a minute before he lets you go, disappearing into his own room faster than you could say good night. Well, it’s not like it’s a big deal anyway, so you retreat into your own, about to plop down on the bed after applying lip balm when a figure catapults into your mattress.

Right there, swallowed by his own pillows and blanket, Chifuyu beams at you, his hair tied into a small bun at the top.

You glare at him. “And who said you’re invited? You have your own room, Matsuno.”

“You said let’s go to bed, so here I am,” he shrugs innocently, then pats the space beside him before stretching his arms wide open.

The gesture is enough to send tingles all the way down your spine, half because he’s so damn adorable and you want nothing more than to jump at his offer, but half because you worry he might hear the racing of your heart in the silence of the night. It’s then that you realize you’ve been standing there for too long that Chifuyu mistakes your passiveness for rejection, to which he frowns. “Aw, come on, don’t you want cuddles from your best friend? I promise one hug from me is all it takes to keep the nightmares at bay. You’ll have the best sleep of your life.”

In an instant, all tingles disappear. No more butterflies in your stomach. Just dread.

Best friend. Right, that’s all you were to him, and that’s all you will be. Just like how you have been stuck to the hip since you were in your diapers because your families have decided you’ll be the best of friends, nothing will change about it. It doesn’t matter that you’re the one who is there for him no matter what. You’re just his best friend.

And that’s a bitter pill you’ve been swallowing ever since the day you crushed on him. Hard.

“Let me guess,” you tap your chin in thought, seeing as it’s much easier to go with the flow than offer a window where he could see what lies within. Not that he needs to know, anyway. “Peke J hogged your bed.”

Caught red-handed, Chifuyu scratches the back of his head. “You know I can’t make him move.”

“Sometimes I wonder if you’re the master or the pet,” you sigh, your sock-clad feet padding to the bed that dips with your weight, inching closer to where Chifuyu’s warmth laid. “Scoot. And put your arms around me properly. You nearly choked me in your sleep the last time.”

“My bad,” he chuckles before extending his arm under your head to use as a pillow, the other looping around your waist instead of around your neck this time around. “This feel okay? You comfortable?”

I am, you want to say, if only you held me like a lover instead of a friend, but we can’t always get what we want.

“Very,” is what you say out loud, the small smile you wear contented. You tell yourself that it’s fine to not be the one he likes. That it’s okay if he doesn’t look at you the same way you look at him, because at the end of the day, a strong friendship still meant the whole world to you. Having Chifuyu, being with Chifuyu, even if it’s not in the way you’d like to be, is a great thing nonetheless.

“Chifuyu Matsuno is my personal teddybear.”

“I have come to a point where I’ve been reduced to nothing but a teddy bear, huh?” Chifuyu cries crocodile tears behind you, his arms tightening around your waist. “Well, if it makes you happy, then I’ve got no complaints. Plus—”

“Chifuyu, please shut up, I’m trying to sleep.”

“Want a lullaby?”

“No.”

“How about—” clamping a palm flat on his mouth, you feel him laugh behind the skin. It doesn’t take long before he finally shuts up and closes his eyes, his warm breath tickling the nape of your neck. It’s comfortable though, and you never want to move, much less wake up. Because at least here, in this moment, you can allude yourself that Chifuyu is yours in the way you want. Because here, in the privacy of your own heart, you’ll know no fear. No rejection. No heartbreak.

There is safety in your silence.

There is serenity in having your heart locked away, even when the person who owns it has fallen asleep beside you, the pads of his lips faintly tickling the back of your ear.

I love you, you whisper into nothingness, following Chifuyu into dream land afterwards.

“Seriously? This early in the morning?” a deep voice calls out from the living room, reaching all the way to your ears until you’re stirring in Chifuyu’s arms, the latter still deep in sleep with drool pooling on the sides of his mouth. Nasty. Nasty but cute. But still nasty.

“You guys should date already. It’s sickening at this point to see you all over each other like a bunch of idiots.”

Eyes trailing over the tall figure leaning against the doorframe, you fall back on the bed with a sigh. “Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”

“I thought you’d be less cranky because you shared a bed with Chifuyu.”

“We’ve been sharing beds since we were kids, Keisuke, you were there too.”

“Yeah, until you kicked me out because you want Chifuyu all to yourself,” Keisuke smirks, wiggling his brows at you as he forms heart shapes with his hands.

Now, that look he has on his face, you know it all too well. Being his childhood friend meant you’ve long picked up on the signs he’s up to no good, which makes you spring out of bed the next second, pushing the raven haired man out and into the kitchen where he can’t disturb Chifuyu. The whole time, Keisuke just laughs, the vibrations of his back reaching your palms.

“Got a mad crush that’s been raging until now, huh? I don’t know if it’s cute or pitiful, actually.”

“Did you come here just to ruin my day?” crossing your arms against your chest, you narrow your eyes at him. “You don’t have to remind me that.”

“Remind you what?”

“That he doesn’t like me!”

Keisuke slaps his knees as he bursts into a fit of laughter, dark hair flying past his shoulders from the movement. “He doesn’t – you think he doesn’t like you?! That’s hilarious. That really is. This is the most entertainment I’ve had in weeks,” he wipes a stray tear before plopping on the kitchen counters, your protests to keep his ass off where food is prepared completely ignored. As usual. “Life would’ve been more fun if the three of us became roommates like the good old days, you know? We’d all stay up all night playing games and telling each other horror stories like when we were kids.”

“It was your choice to room with Kazutora!”

“Because I know I’ll get in the way between the two of you,” he grimaces, “And ah, now that I think about it, I don’t want to room with you two idiots. You’re just going to act and fight like a married couple then pretend nothing’s weird.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Keisuke shakes his head to himself, smiling like he knew something you didn’t. “Friendly advice,” he pats your shoulder, growing too serious that was unlike him. “You should confess to him. Tell him you love him.”

“See, I always knew you were insane, but this is crazy! Me, confess to him, and ruin everything? I’m not risking it,” you defend with your hands flying out everywhere. Keisuke only watches you as you get a glass of cold water – hopefully cold enough to wake you and your system up as a reminder you’re back to reality and away from dreamland – his lips pressed into a thin line. “Plus, it’s going to be so awkward. I don’t want that.���

“It’s only awkward when you act that way around him.”

You pinch the bridge of your nose. “Keisuke, I’m scared. He and I are friends and it’s – it’s...I don’t know. I can’t do it.”

“It’s perfectly normal to be afraid, but if you keep letting that fear get the best of you, you’re not going to get anywhere. Things might slip away from your fingers faster than you realize if you don’t do something about it.”

“He doesn’t like me like that.”

“How’re you so sure?”

“Because! I know him. I’m not his type.”

“He’s my friend too and so are you,” Keisuke states, stealing the glass from you and taking a sip of it. Like a switch has been flipped, Keisuke reverts back into his usual self that you know, rummaging through the fridge like he owned everything inside. “Have a little faith, Y/N. Just give it a try.”

“Confess to who?”

Jumping in your spot, you come face to face with a sleepy Chifuyu rubbing his eyes, his hair sticking out in different directions. When once his sleepy morning self constantly makes you coo and feel warm on the inside, now his presence just has you wishing the ground would open up and swallow you whole.

“You’re awake! H-how long have you been standing there?”

“Just now,” he yawns, “Are you guys fighting again? Is Keisuke making fun of you?”

“Why am I always the bad guy?! I came here with peyoung yakisoba and you accuse me of this!”

“I told you to stop teasing her, Keisuke.”

Arms wrapped around your shoulders, Chifuyu snatches the yakisoba and leads you into the living room in one swift motion, whispering with a husky voice in your ear to not pay attention to his best friend. Meanwhile, Keisuke is left alone with nothing but water, forced to witness as you basically glue yourself next to Chifuyu, basking in the attention and care he dotes on you with.

“Aw, well ain’t that cute,” Keisuke throws his hand to the air in frustration, “Goddamned lovebirds.”

You may or may not have underestimated Keisuke. But could you be blamed?! The guy does plenty of questionable things like committing arson out of hunger – of course you’d have trust issues. Which is why you never took heed to his words, until it’s too late and the situation is confronting you head on. Because right in front of you, Chifuyu is styling his hair to perfection, accidentally spritzing on too much perfume that you can smell him all the way from the bathroom.

“You’re...what?”

“Going on a date,” he answers from afar, “We share a few classes together, so I don’t really know her well, but she’s super nice. She lends me her notes when she notices I’m not listening,” his chuckle is nervous, hands shaky in adjusting that fluffy cashmere sweater you got him for his birthday, which is also the exact same outfit he decides to wear for his date. The date that came out of nowhere just when you think things can’t get worse than it already is.

Closing the door, Chifuyu wrings his hands before you. “Uh, anyways, I should go.”

“Where are you guys meeting up?”

“Just a cute cafe near the uni. Nothing too special,” he informs you, though his attention is into his phone, probably texting the girl he’ll be meeting up with. The girl who he’ll spend time with while you’re left alone in your apartment with the promise of a game night gone down the drain.  “I’ll try and be home before eleven, but I can’t make any promises if I end up having fun.”

“Oh,” you mumble, choosing to pet Peke J to comfort yourself. “Well, uh, alright. Have fun and stay safe. Text me if you need anything or if you need backup if it turns into a disaster.”

Chifuyu nods before looking up from his phone, brows knitting in worry. “You okay? You look pale.”

No, you were not okay. The selfish side of you wants to tell him not to go. The impulsive side of you is biting the rope by resisting the urge to confess right here, right now. Thankfully, your logical side overpowers both sides as you clear your unexpectedly dry throat, cuddling Peke J closer to your chest as he purrs. “Yeah, I’m fine, just tired from classes,” you smile reassuringly, cheeks aching from how hard you bit it to stop yourself from crying. As much as you didn’t want him to go, you don’t have the right to tell him that – “You should go now, you don’t want to keep her waiting!”

“Cool. I’ll see you later,” Chifuyu nods, albeit hesitantly. Leaning down to the cat’s level, he scratches the underside of his chin, blue eyes holding something unreadable. “Peke J, watch over Y/N for me, okay? I’ll be home soon.”

Until then, it’s too late. Chifuyu’s already left, and you could no longer contain your tears the moment the door slams shut.

“Hey,” a breathy voice whispers, warm fingers trailing over your cheek until you’re slowly pulled out of dreamland, greeted by a cool pair of eyes that gazes over you in a fretting manner. Chifuyu. He’s home, and it’s past midnight. “Why’re you asleep out here? You’re going to get a stiff neck from this angle...”

You crack a lazy smile and lean into his touch. “Welcome home.”

“I’m home,” Funny, you think, how two simple words could have that much effect on your heart. “Were you waiting for me?”

Humming, you make space when Chifuyu sits close to you, his lips pulled into a frown the whole time. You don’t know why or what pulls you to do the next thing, but maybe it’s because your heart’s been bled dry to a point you can’t be hurt anymore after this. Maybe it’s the sleep talk – you don’t really know. All you know is that it’s now or never, and you’ve had enough regrets to miss this moment, even if it’s too late.

“Chifuyu...I’m in love with you.”

The hand that’s caressing the sides of your head freezes, his gaze darting down to your lips that moves on its own. Each fibre in your body screamed at you to stop, to not add further damage to what you’ve already started, but you couldn’t keep it in anymore. The words just poured.

“I-I’ve always crushed on you since we were kids; so much so that Keisuke and Kazu noticed, but I begged them not to tell you. To be honest, I don’t know when this crush turned into something more. All I know is that I do love you, and I’m really sorry for ruining our friendship. I should’ve just shut up but Keisuke got to me. He’s one persistent bastard,” you end with a dry chuckle, hiccupping afterwards from a sob. It doesn’t long before Chifuyu throws an arm over his eyes, his shoulders shaking from what you assume was him crying.

“Chifuyu? What’s wrong?”

Was this it? Have you truly ruined everything?

Before you could have the chance to breakdown, Chifuyu is crushing you into a hug. This time, you learn the vibrations from his chest are not from tears, but bubbling laughter. “You can’t just tell me that and expect me to stay calm,” he cried out, “I love you too – so much that it’s actually embarrassing.”

“What?”

Chifuyu keeps you crushed to his chest when you tried pulling back to look at him. The slight dip and shake of his voice lets you know he’s just as nervous as you were, if not more because his hands are shaking. “Kazutora was insisting that I should confess but...I chickened out when I heard you talking with Baji this morning. I really thought you liked someone else and that I didn’t stand a chance with you anymore.”

“Dumbass,” you flicked his forehead, “It’s you, of course it’s you. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I can ask you the same thing! Why didn’t you tell me you were hopelessly in love with me, huh? We could’ve gotten this over with sooner,” you rolled your eyes at his choice of his words, but smiled nonetheless, unable to contain the glee threatening to burst from you until – “Do you have any idea how hard it is that you’re so close yet so far away? I’ve been wanting to kiss you for ages.”

Kiss?

You grow mum, head blank. The literal definition of no thoughts, head empty. “You can – uh – you can do it now. Try it, I mean. If you want, that is,” you cleared your throat, gesturing to your lips with the most awkward attempt of a pout that you’re sure looks like you’re having stomach ache instead. “Like, kiss me...if you want.”

Chifuyu purses his lips to contain his laughter. “This is so awkward. I’m getting second hand embarrassment from you.”

“Yeah, so shut up, you’re making it worse!”

“Is the offer still on the table though?” he suddenly leans forward, driving you to inch back on the armrest of the couch, cornered and trapped by his strong arms planted beside you. In this position, you’re under his mercy, breath held in fear one wrong move and you’ll explode. “Can I still kiss you?”

“L-Later when I’m ready!” you drag him by the collar, the boy on top of you letting out an ‘oof’ when he falls on top of you. “Just hug me for now. And don’t complain that your arms are getting too tired because I’m not planning on letting you go from now on. We’re going to be glued in this couch if that’s what it takes.”

“So clingy already? That’s cute.”

“You’re not any better. I can barely move.”

“Good, because I don’t plan on letting go either,” Nuzzling into your neck, Chifuyu adjusts you both. Sprawled all over the sofa, you embrace each other in a tight grip, his arms wound around your waist and yours on his neck, breaths mixing as your hearts synced in beat. Corny as it may be, you no longer stop the lovesick smile you send his way, cheeks aching from how large you smiled. Chifuyu, too, seemed to be on a high. “I love you, idiot.”

“How romantic,” you snorted, but make no mistake; the confession has your stomach doing flips and tumbles. “I love you too, dork.”

“Just so you know,” Chifuyu pipes in with a cocky smile, bending his elbow to rest his chin on his hands as he looks down at you. “I’m confident in my makeout skills. I’ll have you melting into me in exactly...five minutes. So prepare yourself. I’m going to give you The Boyfriend Kiss.”

“Gosh, you’re so cringy. I’m regretting confessing already.”

Chifuyu’s shoulders drop in disappointment, a puppy pout taking place. “You don’t want The Boyfriend Kiss?”

“I do want it,” you laugh at him and squeeze his cheeks, going for the first move as your lips dance with his. The whole time, you feel him smile through the kiss even as he squeezes your hip, eliciting a giggle from you which he easily swallows. And in a way, you’re thankful he’s gone on that date if it meant leading to this bliss, but most of all, you make a mental note to thank Keisuke for this later.

Turns out The Boyfriend Kiss came with a price of a tiny bit of angst.

[shotorozu]

their favorite clothes

— .｡*ﾟ+.*.｡ 2.5k followers milestone

character(s) : multiple characters (bnha)

legend : [Y/N = your name] gender neutral— they/them pronouns, quirk not mentioned

headcanon type : fluff, spice if you squint but not nsfw (x reader)

note(s) : this is what would be their favorite clothes (that they own) on you. thank you all for 2.5k 🤍 also im so sorry for the lack of posts, and im gonna be real about this— it was my writer’s block 💀 good news, it’s gone now :)

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

midoriya izuku

↛ honorable mention — his hero costume

↛ he absolutely loves it when you wear his shirts, like— i’m sure you know which one im talking about. the one that says ‘t シャツ’ i don’t know! his fashion sense isn’t the MOST fashionable, and the t-shirt itself isn’t very appealing to most eyes, but he absolutely adores how it looks on you. look, you can be the tallest being on this earth, to the point it makes his shirt look like a crop top on you, or you could be literally 4’5 and make the shirt look like a dress, he doesn’t care at all. he just loves how it looks on you, it makes him feel all warm on the inside, kinda like a *heart squeeze* moment, y’know? and no, there’s no exaggeration. he’ll just stop, and look at you when you wear his shirt. it’s just so personal, and he loves it.

bakugou katsuki

↛ honorable mention — though sweaty, his hero costume, and literally any other piece of clothing he has.

↛ then again, you could literally wear any kind of clothing of his, and you could have a ring adorning that finger of yours by the end of the day. he likes to pretend he’s absolutely not infatuated by the way his clothes look on you. if you force him to say what’s his favorite, he’ll mutter out ‘black tanktop’ because how could he not say that?? have you seen how delectable you look in that tanktop of his? it’s a surefire way to render him speechless, from the moment you walk into the room, to the moment you leave it— those gorgeous red irises will be on you. similar to midoriya, katsuki doesn’t care if you’re tall or short— just,,, wear his clothes, and if you want to seal in the future, then the black tanktop is the way to go. because he’ll probably get mad at you if you don’t wear his clothes to bed

todoroki shouto

↛ honorable mention — shouto’s button up shirt from his old hero costume, even though his old hero costume was HIDEOUS

↛ in his opinion, he loves anything on you (yeah, even a trashbag) but he does really love how you wear his turtle neck, he loves the fit. how it either loosely fits on you, or how it snuggly hugs your form— it really doesn’t matter. anything you wear would look really high end in his opinion, quite literally anything. but his black turtle neck really takes the cake. oh boy, when he saw you wear it for the first time, he froze up and almost charred his feet, cheeks firing up a warm red to match his scar. he has the money to buy a bunch of replicas of that exact black turtle neck, and he could give it to you but,, no. how could he do that? how do you look absolutely stunning in such a simple turtle neck? he doesn’t really know. anyways! he eventually ends up unofficially making the turtle neck yours, and he only wears it when he needs to douse his scent into the fabric once more— when it has almost completely faded away.

kirishima eijirou

↛ honorable mention — i wouldn’t say there’s an honorable mention, since he’s extremely loyal to his statements.

↛ his boxers. there, i’ve said it— and wait for a sec, let me explain. it’s not what you think, and you’d expect it to be like that but no, it’s not. at first, he thought you looked great in something simple as his sweater, or shirts but you were running out of clothes during laundry day— so you rummaged through your boyfriend’s clothing drawer, and pulled out a pair of red boxers, with black trimming. when he saw it peaking under your oversized shirt, he swear he saw the heavens. and from that moment on, you found yourself frequently wearing his boxers, but more specifically that pair. no, i’m serious— eijirou will get all pouty if you actually don’t wear his boxers, even when most of them are in the laundry. why does he like them so much? hm,, maybe it’s the security, and knowing that he’ll be the only one to see you in his boxers.

kaminari denki

↛ honorable mention — his boxers but you say no because he’s quite gross about it 🤢 anyways,

↛ his shorts. yes, they’re not the same as his boxers, but they’re the kind of shorts that you lounge in. now, i know you thought i was going to say “ooo he’s love to see you in a sweater with a lighting bolt embroidered in the middle!!”but then, the thing with these shorts was that he’s literally had them since he was in what,, the end of middle school im surprised they still fit, but they’re so dear to him? in a way that seeing you in those exact shorts makes his heart stop— only for it to start up again. thing with these shorts is that they’re oddly so,, pretty? i mean, his wardrobe is so questionable, but these shorts? there’s a mini reflective lighting bolt logo imprinted on the corner of the shorts. so quite literally, you’re seen with these shorts a lot— and the bakusquad give him hell for that 💀

monoma neito

↛ honorable mention — uh,, he does say that he ‘doesn’t know what you’re talking about! i don’t have more favorites on Y/N’ but you know damn well he does have more than one

↛ his hero costume, because well,, it’s very fashionable! but it doesn’t really look like he’s such a big fan of the entire ‘i wear your clothes!’ thing. because his clothes are his clothes, and your clothes look good on you anyway, end of the story! but if you do force him to say anything, he’ll admit that he does love seeing you in his hero costume. neito once walked in on you wearing his hero costume, and as to be expected— he made fun of you, but he did really like how it looked on you. but i suppose that’s the power you have on him, and he’ll admit it when he wants to, otherwise— he’s just teasing you for now. but pls wear it :,) he’ll basically be at your feet for the entire time

shinsou hitoshi

↛ honorable mention — a black sweater that has a silhouette of a purple cat printed at the center. it’s his favorite sweater, that’s why.

↛ his sweatpants. you and hitoshi had to switch clothes for a dare at a sleepover, and when he saw you in his lounging sweatpants, that’s what did him in. ever since then, he’s been quite obsessed with seeing you in them. hitoshi could care less about the sizing aspect, he just loves seeing you in his sweatpants— and it is quite a treat to come back from an especially gnarly day at school, and to be greeted by you lounging in his clothes, ‘instant recharge’ he says. he finds himself toying with the string of the sweatpants, when you’re on his lap, pressing kisses on his cheeks. anyways— if you want to kill him even more, then you should wear his sweater AND his sweatpants. he might as well just lock you in his room for him to keep forever (he’s not serious about that.) but it does surprise some people, because they never would’ve expected shinsou hitoshi to be the clingy/needy type. but you’re the only one that gets to see it indoors.

amajiki tamaki

↛ honorable mention — his button up shirt, i’m sure theres a gif of him wearing one in the anime somewhere, and i hope you know what i mean

↛ not really a clothing article he wears on the daily, but his cape. omg his cape. he sort of glitched out when he came back from interning, and saw you snuggling on the couch with his cape. like,, are you trying to unalive him? and he’s not slick about it either— everytime he comes back, and sees you using his cape as a blanket, draped over your shoulders, he nearly faints. it’s that intense, that’s why nejire and mirio brought his hero costume’s cape and gave it to you when it was time to sleep— he couldn’t get a wink of sleep because of the image of you with his cape, ugh! anyways, he does manage to leave it with you when he has to go away for a bit, because it says that it’s almost like he’s there with you. tamaki usually has to scramble on why he doesn’t have his usual cape.

»»————-　♡　————-««

likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!

i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei, i only own the writing and i do not profit off of my hobby

do not plagiarize, reupload, translate, or use my works for audio readings without permission

[jimlingss]

Happy Holidays! Can you write a Jimin hybrid Au? I love you and your fics!

Every day, we stray closer to being a furry.

↳ Floof’s Tail

3k || 80% Fluff, 20% Angst || Park Jimin || Hybrid!AU

You’re beaming with excitement.

The first time you saw her through the glass window, you thought she was just a visitor. You were so happy when she wanted to play with you and only you. And you were even more ecstatic when she came a second time days later. You spent time together for hours on end, just like many of the other humans that came around to keep you and the other hybrids company.

But unlike them, she adopted you.

You still can’t believe you now have a home, something to call yours, and an owner that you love so much.

Soyeon stops in the hall and her hand lifts to pet you, gesture affectionate and eyes loving. You lean into her touch, and she smiles before withdrawing away much to your disappointment. 

“This is it, Y/N.”

Her arms motion theatrically to the door, and then she pulls out her keys with a grin. “This is my home and it’s going to be your home from now on too.”

Your tail is practically wagging and you look at the gray door, loving what’s inside already without needing to see it. You don’t remember much of the street name or the apartment building, but you know that it’s the seventh floor, that it seems super nice from the outside, and they’ll probably be big windows looking out at the city. Not to mention from the drive here, there’s also a park close by! 

You can’t wait.

The door opens.

Soyeon brings in your small bag along with the other stuff she bought for you at the store, and then she turns around to beckon you to come in, smiling softly. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet, Y/N.”

This is a dream. It’s all you’ve ever wanted and wished for. An owner. A home. A place to call your own. But you should’ve known, nothing is what it seems.

The moment you step inside, you’re hit with a thick scent. It slams into you, choking your lungs and overwhelming your senses. Warm and earthy, like vanilla and the trees at the park after a rainy day in Spring. You don’t know why you didn’t notice before. It always lingered on Soyeon, a scent underneath her laundry fabric softener and sweet perfume. Maybe you had unconsciously ignored it because you wanted so desperately to be hers.

But of course, someone as perfect as Soyeon would have another dog.

Before you can dart out the door, she calls for him. “Jimin!”

He comes barreling out of the hall with a big smile and his tail wagging.

Only, he stops short a meter away with his eyes pin-pointed on you. His grin instantly falls, ears drooping. His brows furrow as if to ask ‘what the hell is this’. 

Soyeon smiles. “Y/N, this is Jimin.”

Jimin is a dog hybrid just like you. You can tell by the triangle ears on the top of his head that’s a slightly darker shade than the blonde hair that falls over his forehead. His face is round, cheeks full and his lips are pouty. But his brown eyes are mean. They’re half-lidded and glaring at you.

“Jimin, this is our new puppy, Y/N.”

“Leave!” he suddenly barks at you, growling at the back of his throat. You yelp, ears pressed flat on your head and you jump to cower behind Soyeon who’s bigger and taller than you are.

“Jimin,” Soyeon scolds in a low tone.

But he isn’t dissuaded and steps closer to you with one large stride.

Your back hits the door, fear making your eyes grow round. He’s much larger than you are and his scent is thicker too. Jimin’s nose twitches, but before he can get to you, Soyeon blocks his way.

More sternly than before she commands, “Jimin, stop.”

Soyeon takes your hand, turns around and shushes you. “It’s okay, it’s okay, don’t worry,” she coos and then shifts to the other hybrid. “Stay right there, Jimin.”

He glares as Soyeon leads you away, down the hall into a room. But he doesn’t move.

“This is my room and the place that’ll be yours too.” She shuts the door and realizes your distressed expression. “Everything will be okay,” Soyeon tries to reassure and comes to brush a hand through your hair. Then she looks over to the small bag she had dragged with her and lights up. “Oh, here’s your kitty cat.”

It’s a tattered stuffed toy you’ve had since you were born in the shelter, but the moment she passes it to you, you hug it and find comfort. Your heart begins to slow back to its normal pace and Soyeon smiles, seeing that you’ve eased.

“Get yourself settled, okay? I’ll be a second. I just have to talk to Jimin.”

“Okay.”

Her room is large with plenty of space. There’s a massive bed bigger than you’ve ever seen and a TV opposite of it. By the other wall, there’s a bookshelf, vanity, and desk with a computer. There’s a walk-in closet, dresser and another door to a bathroom too. It’s everything anyone could ever need in one room.

You marvel at your surroundings before staring out the enormous glass window.

But your ears perk. Outside the room, there’s muffled voices.

You shuffle your feet over the door and you pick up what’s being said.

“—your friend and heat partner.”

“I don’t need a friend or a heat partner!”

“Jimin. This….this isn’t the way to act.” 

There’s a long sigh and you hear steps coming down the hall. You step back and Soyeon opens the door before shutting it. She looks at you with your eyes on the ground, tail drooping and your ears pressed to your head again.

“It’s okay,” she suddenly says in a higher-pitched voice. You head lifts to her and she smiles, petting you softly behind the ear. “Jimin’s really sweet and kind, I promise. You just have to get used to each other.”

You nod. 

Soyeon asks, “Do you want snacks?”

Your eyes widen and your head bobs more enthusiastically. 

...

Soyeon does a good job of distracting you. She pets you, plays with you, shows you her room and the connected bathroom. The TV has you especially captured for a while, but you’re broken out of your trance when you hear knocking on the door. Followed by scratching. 

And then there’s Jimin’s whine.

Soyeon looks at you and says. “I’ll be right back.”

She slips away and you’re left by yourself again.

Deep down, you know you shouldn’t get too comfortable. This isn’t your home.

…

“Yes. I tried to introduce them, but it isn’t going as well as I thought it would.”

Soyeon’s voice is quiet, barely above a murmur. Yet it’s enough to stir you from your sleep and your eyes flutter a few times before you see her outline standing in the corner. She’s facing the wall with her phone pressed to her ear. You don’t know what time it is but it’s still dark outside.

“My other dog, he’s a guard dog, but he’s more possessive than I thought—….okay…..okay. Oh, alright. Yeah.”

She stops talking and you shut your eyes again, pretending you didn’t hear.

When Soyeon turns around, she doesn’t see the tears pricking at the corner of your eyes.

The sheets, the pillow, the blanket, it all smells like Jimin. Even if you’re stowed away in this room for the rest of your life and kept separate, the walls have already been plunged with his scent.

...

You don’t realize you’ve drifted back to sleep until you wake up with the sunshine on your face.

And your heart feels full when you see Soyeon right there with you. You’ve never been taken care of so closely by someone before, never been solely doted on, never had someone call you in such a soft voice and look at you that lovingly. And she chose you. But you don’t let yourself become too happy. Not when there was someone else on the other end of the apartment.

Still, you very much like it when Soyeon smiles and sweetly chimes, “Rise and shine.”

You rub your eyes, voice still sleepy, “Morning.” 

As you sit up from your spot on the bed, your nose twitches. Your pupils instantly dart to a wool sweater draped at the back of the desk chair. It smells strong. Stronger than the rest of the room. 

Soyeon follows your line of sight. “Oh. I thought you looked cold in that dress. I ordered you new clothes, but they’ll arrive later tonight. Do you want to wear that for the time being?”

“M-Maybe later.”

She nods. “Are you hungry?”

You nod enthusiastically and the corner of her lips quirk. 

As she leaves to get you food, you stare at the sweater. It looks softer than the blankets and much warmer too. Before you can think twice, you approach slowly, feet cold on the floorboards.

You hesitantly sink your hand into the plush fabric of the sweater. 

It doesn’t bite you. No one yells.

You pick it up and bring it to your nose, inhaling deeply. It actually smells….good. Comforting.

Soyeon grins when she returns with a tray of food, noticing the sweater slipped on top of your dress.

Halfway through your meal, she looks at your stuffed cat and boops its black nose. “Hey, Y/N. Would you mind if Jimin took a look at this? I think he’d really like it.”

You shift uncomfortably. “I don’t know.”

“I have other toys for you, like the sheep.” She plops down the white stuffie next to you that looks like a huge cotton ball. You picked it out yourself, but still… “I’ll only borrow this one for a few hours.”

It takes a second, then you’re nodding. “Okay then.”

Soyeon’s hand lifts to gently ruffle your hair. “Thank you.”

…

After breakfast, you watch TV as Soyeon cleans up and probably attends to Jimin on the other side of the wall. But no later is she returning to play with you. The two of you end up reading a story as you cuddle up to her. She shows you how to play a game on her laptop too. But then all of it is interrupted when the phone rings.

Your ears perk and you flinch from the loud sound.

Soyeon picks it up and stands in the corner of the room. “Hello?” There’s silence and then she’s sighing. “What do you mean, Taehyung? I put the file on your desk before I left.” A long pause has you worried. “It should be somewhere in our email correspondence. Figure it out.”

“No. I can’t come in! I’m on personal leave for the next two weeks, remember?” Her voice moves up a pitch and you wince. Soyeon’s clearly upset and you hate it. “Ugh. I hate you. I swear to god, Kim.”

She hangs up.

“Is something wrong?” you ask.

“I have to go into work, but I’ll be back in an hour.” She’s frantically rushing around, entering her closet and emerging with a blouse, pants and a coat. Still, she finds the time to come over to you and she presses a kiss on top of your forehead. “I’ll be quick, I promise.”

“It’s okay. I can wait.” You muster a smile, trying to make her feel better. After all, she’s done her best to comfort you. Now you want to do the same to her.

“It’ll just take a jiffy. Be back before you know it.” Soyeon steps towards the door. “Don’t leave the room, okay, Y/N?”

You nod.

Soyeon leaves a few moments later. You hear footsteps in the hall, muffled voices and then the larger door shutting. Instantly, you become drowned in silence without the television or the laptop or Soyeon’s comforting voice and soothing hands petting you. You’re abandoned.

On the other side of the wall is someone who hates you and wishes you were gone.

The truth that’s been blaring in your head becomes noisier than ever: this isn’t your home.

Maybe what she said was just an excuse. Maybe the phone call was an act and maybe Soyeon hates you too. Maybe you’re more problematic than she expected, and she’ll return you to the shelter tomorrow or even today. You wouldn’t blame her if she did. Soyeon probably wanted someone to get along with Jimin and you’re too much of a handful for her.

You don’t realize you’re crying until it’s gotten so loud that it’s deafening to your own ears. But you can’t help the wails choking out of your sobbing chest or the tears streaming down your face. You lay curled up in the bed, ears pressed to your head as you clutch your toy to your chest.

Through your clouded vision, you don’t notice the bedroom door opening. Not until you hear—

“You know she’s not leaving forever, right?”

Instantly, you jolt and scramble back on the bed. Until your back hits the headboard, pillows bent underneath you. 

Jimin looks at you, eyeing the way you’re wearing his sweater, and he swallows hard. “She’s supposed to leave five to six hours a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But she always comes back.”

You whimper and he frowns. 

“Stop making those noises.”

“I can’t help it,” you hiccup and rub your eyes. “W-Will she make me go back?”

“What?”

“The shelter. Will she leave me if we don’t get along?”

Jimin shifts his weight from one foot to another, expression almost uncomfortable. But he says, “Soyeon’s not that kind of owner.”

You hiccup and snivel, unable to make the lump in your throat go away. “I...I just want a home.”

You almost start to cry again, but then Jimin extends his arm. You see him holding your kitty cat. “I think this is yours,” he says and you nod, teary-eyed. He points to your body. “That’s my sweater. You’re not supposed to touch it.”

You look down, not sure if you should take it off. But you’re too scared to move.

At once, the concern vanishes. Jimin takes a step towards you and your spine and ears straighten on reflex. Then he takes another. You whimper and his brows furrow again. “Stop it. I won’t bite you.”

He places the kitty cat on the edge of the bed and in a moment where your courage has swelled, you lurch forward to grab it. Immediately, you withdraw and hold it to your chest.

You frown when you realize how much it smells like him.

You’re too busy paying attention to your toy to see the bed dip. To see Jimin crawling closer to you. Not until he’s facing you, practically nose to nose. Your back hits the headboard once more and your breath hitches. But instead of being barked at or bitten, Jimin leans in. You feel a tickle as his nose sniffs at your neck.

You release your breath, unable to hold it any longer and when you inhale, you smell him.

Jimin’s scent is warm and earthy, like vanilla and trees at the park after a rainy day in Spring. When you’re not scared, it actually smells really nice. Even if you don’t want to admit it.

Jimin sniffs at your neck incessantly with his nose and then at your hair. You whine, slumping downwards, and he practically hovers over you, caging your frame in with his arms, smelling down your body. 

The tip of his nose travels from the valley of your breasts down your tummy. He pauses at the apex of your thighs, right where your underwear is and you shut your legs together.

You’re vulnerable beneath him and you’re not sure clutching the two toys to your chest will do much good in protecting you if he decides to attack. But when Jimin’s done, he looks at you and simply says, “You smell like flowers.”

“Is that bad?”

He pauses. “No. But I like it when things smell like me.”

You gasp when he suddenly leans in, brushing his cheek against yours, nuzzling into you. It tickles and you can’t help but giggle. Jimin’s ears perk at the bubbly sound and his tail starts to wag. The toys roll off your chest, and they’re left beside you when you let go. You wiggle and shift away from him, yet he pounces after you with a smile on his face.

You laugh, managing to dodge his arms and slip off the bed.

But Jimin’s much too fast and swift for your liking. He corners you by the closet with an enormous grin on his face, half-moon eyes lit up in mischief. Before you can dart to the left, he snatches your waist and follows after you as you collapse on the soft carpet. 

Jimin brushes his cheek against yours, the weight of his body pressed to yours with a knee placed between your parted thighs. You’re never going to completely smell like him, not when you have your own scent, so you’re not sure why he’s trying so hard. But you don’t mind.

You take the chance to smell him too, nose twitching at his neck. A hum leaves the back of your throat as you allow yourself to become immersed in the comforting scent.

...

 When Soyeon comes home an hour later, she’s surprised that Jimin isn’t already waiting at the door or doesn’t come barreling out to greet her. It’s much too quiet. She doesn’t have a good feeling.

Blood drains from her face when she walks down the hall and she sees the bedroom door wide open. The woman rushes inside, nearly tripping her feet, mouth falling open.

Yet the words die in her throat and a smile lifts onto her features when she sees Jimin cuddling you. The pair of you are fast asleep.

[kaitoujokerscans]

The Night the Silver Cape is Set Ablaze CH2

<2> First Advance Notice

In the Sky Joker's living room, Hachi handed Joker an advance notice written on manila paper.

"W-What are we gonna do?" Hachi looked up at Joker with a worried gaze. Hachi, who wore an aqua-colored hood snugly over his head, was a descendant of ninjas. He had met Joker by chance when trying to steal a treasure and had pleaded with him to become his apprentice. He was now Joker's trusty right hand, and not only did he help with his work, he also handled all the household chores.

With Hachi's eyes on him, Joker read the old-fashioned notice.

I humbly inform you that I will be taking the Crimson Crystal you stole tonight. I will arrive post-haste. Be prepared for me.

—Phantom Thief Noir

"How'd this get here?"

"When I went outside to collect the laundry earlier, Hosshi found it stuck to one of the sheets."

"Hosshi!" exclaimed Hosshi next to Hachi.

Hoshi was a small, squishy, orb-shaped, cat-like creature that had been living with Joker and Hachi since they found him at a site of ruins. The shining yellow stars on his cheeks wobbled as he smiled and bounced cutely around Hachi.

"Hmmm..." Joker studied the advance notice. Locating the Sky Joker while it was in the air was a difficult task. After all, given his line of work, he couldn't let his hideout be discovered easily. This person had sent advance notice right to the Sky Joker, and also knew that Joker had just stolen the Crimson Crystal. This "Phantom Thief Noir" was no amateur...

"But I've never heard of anyone who calls themselves 'Phantom Thief Noir'."

"You're right, I haven't heard of them either. Joker-san, did you make an enemy somehow without realizing?"

"Excuse you. I'm upstanding and gentlemanly, nobody's got any ill will against me!"

"Since when! You said before that there are so many people who hate you that you can't keep track of them all." Hachi gave him a dubious look. Kaneari, whom he had just stolen from, wasn't the only one. Shadow and plenty of others were hounding Joker.

"We may not know who Noir is, but shouldn't we come up with some measures against them?"

"Measures? Naaah, too much work," said Joker as he threw himself onto the sofa.

"Joker-san?"

"Ahh, Shadow was there too, so I'm worn out. Hachi, can you make dinner early?"

"Are you sure you can be so lax about this?"

"I mean, there's nothing to do until this Noir guy gets here, yeah?"

"There's plenty that you could do! Like hiding the treasure, setting up some traps, formulating a plan... Kaneari-san does all sorts of things when he gets a notice from you, Joker-san!"

"But despite all that, has Kaneari ever once protected a treasure from me?"

"Eh... well, no, but..."

"See? Ultimately, getting treasure all depends on the skill of the would-be thief. Doesn't matter how much you set up in advance. It's a match where you have to read each other's minds," Joker said, before taking the Crimson Crystal out of his pocket and letting it catch the light. The crystal gleamed as it reflected the light from the ceiling. The globular surface of the crystal diffused and scattered the light like a prism. Joker was captivated by its beauty for a while.

"I get why he wants to steal this... but!" Joker sat up. "He's not getting it easily!"

"Hm, now that's the spirit," came a voice from the dining room suddenly.

"Eh!?" Joker and Hachi turned around in surprise to see a boy sitting on a chair in the dining room. The boy twisted open a glass bottle with a hiss and took a swig of the beverage inside.

"Spade!"

At Joker's exclamation, the boy called Spade turned to face him. "Hi, Joker. Happy to see me again?"

"I'm not happy! Where'd you come in from!?" Joker gnashed his teeth and glared.

Spade was, like Joker, a phantom thief. He wore a violet scarf and snowy white coat. His long azure hair cascaded over it, and a crest of golden hair shone over his forehead. He was a well-groomed, handsome youth.

"Settle down. This Riviera is exquisite when chilled, Dark Eye."

"Yes, Spade-sama." Standing beside Spade was Dark Eye, whose head was wrapped in bandages. They opened a bottle of the beverage as well. Dark Eye was Spade's assistant, who was female under the guise.

The Riviera which Spade was drinking is a popular drink all over the world, and both Joker and Spade loved it. As Joker said, it was the perfect drink to have after a difficult caper.

"But I must say, it's much more soothing at my own home. This place is always so raucous and dusty," Spade said, clearing his throat deliberately.

"If you're gonna complain, then leave!"

"I came here to ask you about Phantom Thief Noir."

"Wha-!?"

"Spade-san, do you know about Phantom Thief Noir?"

Joker and Hachi leaned forward and gaped at Spade.

"Did you get a notice too!?"

"Notice...?" Spade looked puzzled for a moment.

"You didn't receive an advance notice?" Hachi asked.

Spade answered jitteringly, putting the pieces together.

"Y-Yes, right! That was an advance notice. Will you show me the notice that arrived here?" he asked, holding out his hand.

Hachi handed Spade the notice, which Spade examined closely. "Hm... It's the same type of paper as the slip I received. This tells us a lot about this man calling himself Noir."

"It does?" Hachi asked, to which Spade responded ponderously.

"Hm... Noir seems to be much older. He's naturally left-handed, but has corrected himself to be right-handed. He lived in France at some point, and he likes popcorn..." Spade waved the notice and listed out each point.

"Kyo kyo. Impressive, Spade-sama," nodded Dark Eye with admiration.

"Don't make stuff up," Joker said wearily, but Hachi ignored him.

"How do you know that?"

"Simple. When this notice is held up to the light, you can see that it has a watermark written in French. This paper was produced by a maker in France. But that company went under over thirty years ago, so this paper is no longer on the market. Therefore, the fact that he was able to buy this proves he's up there in years. His letters angle upwards, which is a quirk commonly seen in corrected southpaws. And this oil mark has a residual smell of salt and butter, so it must be from popcorn. He must like it considerably if he has it around even when writing an advance notice." Spade rattled off his reasons.

Hachi was wholly amazed. Spade had gleaned so many traits of the sender from just a small piece of paper. "Huh! You're incredible, Spade-san! It's like you're a detective!"

Spade slipped down a little. "Ha ha, you could say that," he laughed. "Deductions aren't exclusive to detectives. Phantom thieves have to be able to deduce, too. Of course, Joker already knew all of this, yes?" he said, bringing Joker back in.

Caught off-guard, Joker went along with what he was saying. "Huh? Y-Y-Yeah, 'course I did! I figured that all out yesterday!"

"The advance notice hadn't arrived yet yesterday."

"Shush!"

Then Spade sighed. "Really now... why did Noir send advance notice to you, of all people?"

"Kyo kyo, it's a mystery..." Dark Eye's shoulders dropped, and so did Spade's.

"Shut up! What did you come here for, anyway!?"

"I just wanted to discuss this man called Phantom Thief Noir with you."

"I've got nothing to discuss with you. I bet you just had your treasure targeted by Noir and started second-guessing yourself, right?"

"S-Say what?"

"Ever since way back when, you've had trouble getting anything done on your own!"

"HUH? I came here out of the goodness of my heart. I knew that instead of speculating on Noir's identity or formulating a decent plan, you'd try to come up with something random on the spot!"

"Oh yeah!? Well that's my style!" Joker argued as he scowled at Spade.

"He's got a point there, Hosshi."

"Hosshi."

Hachi and Hosshi murmured to each other. But the pair weren't done bickering yet.

"Besides, I don't need a plan! A phantom thief's battle starts when he shows up, that's what makes it interesting!"

"And how much trouble do you think your lack of preparedness has caused me!?"

"When did I ever give you trouble!?"

"Plenty of times!"

"Then be specific! What year, month, day, hour, minute, and second!? What planet, country, region, prefecture, city, ward, block, address, and room number!?"

"That childish attitude of yours is the issue!"

"Shut up! If I'm childish, then so are you!"

"I'm more mature than you, at least!"

"Someone who's mature doesn't shout like that!"

"You're the one shouting so loud!"

"I'm what!?"

"Got a problem!?"

Their foreheads were pressed tightly together as they snarled at each other with vehement looks.

"Cut it out!"

"Kyo kyo, please stop!"

Once Hachi and Dark Eye intervened as usual, Joker and Spade finally pulled away from each other and simultaneously looked the other way with a "Hmph!"

"We're leaving, Dark Eye. It seems Joker has no need of my generosity," Spade beckoned to Dark Eye, and he started walking toward the door. Joker jeered from behind him.

"Yeah, go ahead and leave. I don't need your stinking 'generosity'. I don't trust you in the first place!"

"Likewise," he said, turning back around. Joker and Spade glared at each other once more.

"Don't come back!"

"Who would!"

Spade placed a hand on the exterior door. "It was quite a displeasure..." Spade said, and jumped out into the open. Dark Eye hurried after him.

"Bleh! That's what I wanna say!"

After watching Spade's airship, the Twin Thunder Shark, fly away, Hachi turned back around to Joker. Joker was grumbling and taking out his anger on a cushion. His temper was worse than usual this time...

"Joker-san, you went too far."

"Hmph! I went just far enough for him. The way he's always so patronizing and tries to tell me what to do pisses me off." Joker lay back down on the sofa.

Is that the truth? wondered Hachi. Maybe Spade had come to visit Joker because he was worried. The two of them may have been rivals, but they had once lived together under the same roof. Perhaps Spade had wanted to talk to Joker about Noir, as an old friend... If Spade had received an advance notice as well, he was definitely at least a little uneasy. And if he came to consult with Joker, who might have also received a notice, then...

Hachi remembered how Spade had looked a little desolate from behind when exiting. Joker had calmed down a little by now and was lying down with his back turned, sulking. Hachi sighed, when...

Suddenly, lightning flashed outside the window, and a loud tremor shook the Sky Joker...

[writingfairycat]

Help My Mind Shut Up

Help My Mind Shut Up - Carlos x Reader (Read here on ao3.)

1,445 words

Summary: You can’t sleep, so you call your boyfriend Carlos for comfort and help.

Additional Tags: gender-ambiguous reader, school stress, phone call, grounding methods, anxiety

As you lay in bed, yawning, you stared at the ceiling of your dorm room. It wasn’t smooth in texture; it had small bumps and ridges like a landscape. Your eyes strained in the darkness to trace the lines. Some of them were neat waves. Sine and cosine waves. The sine of theta over cosine of theta equals tangent theta—

You had been falling asleep for a minute there, but now you were wide awake again. You rolled over and looked at the time on your phone. You squinted at the bright screen and read 2:15 A.M. How was that possible?

Across the room, your roommate slept soundly. You pouted. It wasn’t fair. You wanted to sleep but your mind wouldn’t shut up. You would gladly let Queen Rapunzel hit you in the head with her frying pan if it knocked you out. Maybe she could also sit down with you and review the reasons for Corona’s alliance with Arendelle—augh! Shut up!

It wasn’t time to think about that. It was time to sleep, and it had been for a while. But you couldn’t.

You squinted at your phone again. You didn’t want to disturb your roommate’s slumber, but maybe you could talk to someone else. Yawning, you opened your contacts and tapped to call your boyfriend.

The phone rang thrice before you heard Carlos de Vil’s groggy, perplexed voice say your name on the other end.

“Hey.” You spoke softly so you wouldn’t wake your roommate.

“Hey.” Carlos’s voice was equally soft, probably so he wouldn’t wake up Jay. “Why are you calling so late? Is something wrong?”

The worry in your boyfriend’s voice brought tears to your eyes. Well, it was a combination of his worry and your stress. Ugh, the stress was enough that pretty much anything could’ve made you cry right then.

“I can’t get to sleep,” you said.

Carlos let that sit for a beat before replying. “Something’s upsetting you. Do you—yawn—want to talk about it?”

“Um. I guess I could?” You stayed on the call but returned your eyes to the ceiling. “I can’t stop thinking about schoolwork.”

“Mm,” Carlos hummed. “Any class in particular?”

“Mostly precalculus and history.”

“History of Auradon?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you still have homework to do?”

“No, I . . . I mean, I attempted all of it, but I’m pretty sure I got at least half my precalc homework wrong.”

“I can help you find a tutor in the morning.”

“Do you know someone who could tutor me?” you asked.

“I’ll be able to find someone,” Carlos said with a yawn. “Remember, I’m friends with the king of Auradon, and he knows a lot of people. I’ll find someone to help you.”

“Thanks, hon. That’s so sweet of you.”

“And you said HIstory of Auradon was bugging you, too?”

You sighed. “Yeah. There’s a unit test at the end of the week and I’m so not ready.”

“There are definitely people who can help you with that,” Carlos said. How he managed to sound so confident while also sounding sleepy, you couldn’t figure out.

“Thank you,” you said.

“Are you still feeling bad?” Carlos asked.

The lines on the ceiling turned into royal family trees. You squeezed your eyes shut to block them out. “Gah! Yes!”

“What can I do to help?”

“I don’t know,” you grumbled. “My mind won’t shut up.”

“Hmm.” Your boyfriend was silent on the other end, but you could hear the gears turning in his head. “We need to find something for you to focus on so your brain won’t be able to think of schoolwork.”

“What do I focus on, though?”

“Um . . . have you tried counting sheep?”

You laughed. “Oh, I tried. I can’t count normally anymore. I try to count, but my mind goes to pi over six, pi over three, pi over two, two pi over three—”

“Okay, okay,” Carlos said. “Let’s stay away from numbers. And lines. And curves. And . . . what is the test on Friday about?”

“Royal alliances,” you said with a groan.

“Then let’s stay away from royalty, too.”

“Hard to get away from around here,” you said.

Carlos laughed. “You’re right about that. On my first day in Auradon, every other person I met was royalty.”

You laughed. “I’d love to go far away, maybe second to the right and straight on till morning, if it meant I never had to look at royal lineages ever again.”

“Oh!” Carlos almost interrupted. “I have an idea! Tell me five things you can see right now.”

“Uh . . . it’s dark.”

“Oh, well, um.” You could picture the adorable sheepish look on his face. “Well, it’s not completely dark, is it? You can still see a few things? Maybe five things?”

You looked around the room. Your roommate’s bed appeared colorless in the dark, but you could see its outline. “Bed.”

Between the two beds, the moon shone through the window. “Window. Moon. Curtains. Five things?”

“Five things.” You could hear the smile in his voice.

“Um . . .” You looked at your desk. “Desk.”

“Good,” said Carlos. “Now what are four things you can touch right now?”

“Uh . . . phone. Bedspread. Pajamas. Um . . .” You switched your phone to your other hand so you could reach out to touch something, anything. The wire of the phone charger brushed against your fingers. “Phone charger.”

“That’s good.” He yawned. “Can you tell me three things you can hear?”

“Your voice,” you said, smiling. Carlos chuckled on the other end of the line. “Your laugh. And . . . um . . . oh! My voice.”

“Good job. What are two things you can smell?”

“Hmm.” You thought about it. You were so used to how your room smelled now, in contrast to the beginning of the school year, that you couldn’t smell it anymore. “Does my room count if I can’t actually smell it?”

“I don’t think so,” Carlos said gently. “Is there anything in the room that smells different?”

You inhaled deeply, trying to focus on your surroundings. You smelled . . . pencils? “Pencils,” you whispered. “I sharpened my pencils not too long before I went to bed.”

“All right. Anything else?”

You sniffed the room again. “There’s a faint smell of laundry detergent on my blanket,” you said.

“That’s your two things,” said Carlos. “One more: what’s one thing you can taste?”

“One thing I can taste,” you echoed. You opened your mouth to taste the air. Nothing. Wait. No. There was—

“There’s still a bit of garlic taste in the back of my mouth,” you said, trying not to giggle. “From dinner. I guess I didn’t get it all when I brushed my teeth.”

Carlos laughed. “Don’t you brush your tongue?” he teased.

“Shut up,” you said between laughs.

“Sounds like I’ve woken you up more,” Carlos said. “Sorry.”

“Maybe, but it’s okay.” You yawned. “Or maybe I’m not more awake?”

Your boyfriend let out a soft, warm chuckle. “Is your mind quieter now?”

“Yeah, but . . . I’m worried it’ll become noisy again. And what if I run out of things I see and hear and touch?”

“I’ve found it helpful to list other things,” Carlos said. “I would list, just to myself, all the dog breeds I can name.”

“I could probably only name five,” you admitted.

“It doesn’t have to be dog breeds,” he said. “It could be anything you know well that gets your mind focused on one thing. Cat breeds, moons of other planets, celebrities with blond hair, InstaRoyal models.”

You laughed and yawned again. “I might try cat breeds, at least at first.”

“That’s good. I hope you get to sleep soon, babe,” Carlos said in his gentle voice.

“Thank you, hon.”

“Good night. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Your phone beeped, signaling the end of the call. You placed your phone back on your nightstand and returned your unfocused gaze to the ceiling.

Cat breeds, Carlos’s voice echoed in your memory. You imagined cuddling with him on Evie’s couch, his arms encircling you as you listed off cat breeds.

Siamese. Persian. Burmese. Tonkinese. Oriental Shorthair. Oriental Longhair. Himalayan. Him a sittin’. Him a standin’. Oh, he a-comin’. Heheh. Focus. Cat breeds, cat breeds. Uh, Ragdoll? The rexes, the rexes. Cornish Rex. Devon Rex. British Shorthair. Russian Blue. The blue one from France, what was its name? Bordeaux? Or was that a type of candy? Maybe you would have candy tomorrow.

What were you thinking about?

Right. Cat breeds.

The swimming one, the swimming one—the Turkish Van. Persian. You already said that. Abyss . . . Abyssinian? Yeah. Sphinx. Wirehair. The ears, the ears ones. Scottish Fold. American Curl. Amer . . . American Shorthair. Norwegian Forest Cat. Maine C . . .

You had fallen asleep.

[dirtykpopsnaps]

Needy - Moon Bin smut

Warnings: This fic contains 18+ material. Anyone under 18 seen interacting with this story will be blocked!

Contains: sub!Moonbin. Needy!Moonbin. grinding. unprotected sex.

Requested: yes

Words: 2, 425

———————————————————————

I flop down on the couch, sighing softly. Normally, one of my days off would actually be pretty nice. Going through college is no joke, but I’ve thankfully finished my work for today. However, ever since I finished my homework, I’ve been up and about taking care of my little apartment. I’ve been cleaning and doing laundry, changing the sheets and making a little lunch. Right now is the first time that I’ve been able to sit down all day.

Just as I’m being to settle down to chill for a bit, my phone buzzes on the coffee table. I groan in annoyance, picking it up and checking the message that just flashed up on my screen. The screen name ‘Annoying Big Brother’ is flashing across the screen. I sigh, opening the message from Sanha.

From Annoying Big Brother: Hey, are you busy?

I narrow my eyes at the message, ideas popping into my head about why he could be asking.

To Annoying Big Brother: ...nooo...why??

From Annoying Big Brother: Your boyfriend is being clingy and can’t focus on practice.

Instantly, I become interested. Last I checked, Sanha told me that they would be taking the day off today and tomorrow, just as a small break.

To Annoying Big Brother: Why are you guys practicing?? I thought you were taking the day off

From Annoying Big Brother: Blame Jin. Just get here soon. Bin keeps trying to cuddle me and I’m getting frustrated trying to fend him off

I laugh lightly at the image of my lanky older brother shouting in annoyance as my boyfriend clings to him like a koala.

To Annoying Big Brother: Give me 15 minutes, I’ll be over

Immediately afterward, I hop off the couch and start grabbing my shoes and wallet. I shove my wallet in my back pocket and grab one of Sanha’s oversized sweatshirts to fend off the chilly Autumn air. I’m out of the apartment in about 5 minutes and make my way to the studio. Thankfully, when I started at the local college, I had decided to try and find an apartment as close to their dorm as possible. The dorm is within about a 10 minutes walk and the studio is about 15 minutes in the other direction. It definitely comes in handy for when my brother and his group mates are so busy that they didn’t think about getting, oh, necessary sustenance. It happens more than you would think.

When I finally get to the studio, I wave to the receptionist and at the security guards in the welcome area. They’ve all seen me so often that they don’t even bother asking for my ID anymore. Everyone knows that I’m Sanha’s younger twin sister. I’m able to find their studio fairly quickly and walk inside, setting my stuff on the floor. None of the members even look at me as the door opens and they continue practice. I watch as they all dance in unison, the music of their newest album playing through the stereo at the front of the room.

As the song comes to an end, they all strike a final pose. Seconds later, they break off, panting slightly from the effort. Sanha’s eyes land on me and he shouts in happiness. “Ugh, finally! I thought you’d never get here!” He complains. I roll my eyes at him.

“Whatever, Sanha, at least I’m here now,” I say plainly. Getting off the floor, I walk up to JinJin.

“JinJin...please explain to me why you guys are working?? I thought you said you were gonna take the weekend off,” I say curiously.

“Ahh, sorry. I thought we could use a little more practice with the comeback coming up,” he sighs, rubbing at his neck. I sigh, nodding my head.

“I understand. Just don’t work too hard. You know Aroha would get upset if you work yourself to the bone,” I remind him. He nods his head in understanding, grabbing one of the water bottles settled on the table.

Across the room, I hear a commotion. “Biiiin,” Sanha whines, weaving to get away from my boyfriend. Moonbin is hurrying after him, his arms outstretched for either a hug or cuddles. I watch him for a few seconds, giggling at his cuteness. Sanha looks over to me, hiding behind MJ.

“Y/N-ah, I asked you to come here so he could cuddle with you!” He complains. Finally, I walk over and hug my boyfriend from behind. He looks over his shoulder in surprise and a wide smile spreads over his cat-like features.

“Y/N!” He says excitedly, whipping around and pulling me into a hug. I giggle lightly, playing with his soft hair.

“I hear someone is clingy today,” I hum, scratching lightly at his head.

“I want cuddles, but Sanha’s being mean,” he whines, giving me adorable puppy dog eyes.

“Oh, I’ll cuddle with you, cutie pie,” I smile.

Calmly, I walk over to the wall and Bin follows me, leaning into my side and getting comfortable. His body warmth heats me up nicely and I hum, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him more into my side. Moonbin sighs, resting his head against my stomach and closing his eyes in comfort. For a little bit, we just sit and talk to one another. It’s fairly clear that Moonbin is pretty sleepy today, barely able to keep his eyes open during the small break. When they start up again, Bin is slightly sluggish and behind the others. However, it’s also obvious that he’s doing his best to stay awake. His eyes are dropping, but they pop back open only seconds later. He doesn’t seem to be the only one, tho. Rocky is also having trouble keeping up, and his rap lines sound a little groggy and forced.

After about another 45 minutes or so, I speak up. “Jin, can you guys please call practice a little early? Everyone’s tired,” I sigh, gesturing around at the other boys. JinJin looks around at his members and seems to finally notice their exhaustion. He nods his head lightly and heads towards the stereo.

“Alright, we can start up again on Monday. You know what you guys need to practice,” he says, looking around at them. The others agree and start gathering their things to head back to the dorms. Moonbin, however, lays down with me again and tries to go back to sleep. I giggle lightly, poking his cheek.

“Binnie, Biiinniiiie, we can’t take a nap on the practice room floor,” I giggle.

“Says who?” He mumbles, refusing to open his eyes again. I roll my eyes at him, poking all over his body.

“Moon Bin, get uuuup. We’ll take a nap back at the dorm,” I hum.

Finally, Bin opens his eyes again and starts getting up off the floor. “Fiiine. You obviously just want to deny me my sleep,” he whines, pouting. I take his hand in mine and collect my things from the floor. I grab his dance bag and hang it over my shoulder, deciding to just let Bin walk sleepily to the dorm. Everyone gets their things and we all leave, with me nearly dragging Bin out the door. We make our way down the halls of the building until we come to the back door, and a more deserted way to get back to their dorms. The walk is fairly quiet, except for MJ talking excitedly. He seems to be about the only one who isn’t falling asleep, but that shouldn’t be a surprise. MJ is always full of energy.

When we finally reach the dorm, Sanha and Rocky immediately head off to their bedrooms. JinJin heads into the kitchen and I nearly drag Bin back to their shared room, as he’s basically sleep walking. I flop down on the bed and Bin follows, cuddling up close to me. I hum softly, pulling my fingers through his hair as we both fall into a deep sleep.

After what feels like only five minutes, I feel someone start shaking my shoulders. “Jagi,” I hear someone whispering to me.

“Hmm?” I hum in confusion, peeling my eyes open. Just next to me, I can make out my boyfriend’s profile, his eyes wide open and awake. He shakes my shoulders lightly again and I sit up, wiping the sleep out of my eyes. “What’s up, Binnie? You okay?” I question sleepily. He pouts his lip a little bit, looking down and fiddling with his hands.

“I just...I wanna play. I’m feeling needy,” he mumbles. I smile softly, brushing his bangs out of his face.

“Oh, okay, baby. What do you wanna do?”

“C-Can you just play with me? I don’t care what, I just...feel needy,” he says, twiddling his thumbs. I chuckle lightly, taking his hands in mine.

“Of course, sweetheart. Just gotta take our clothes off,” I say.

Bin climbs off the bed and strips off his clothes quickly. I stand up and strip off my clothes a little more slowly, putting them in a pile next to Bin’s. When I look back at the bed, Bin’s sitting atop it, completely naked. His wide chest and narrow hips leading right down to that happy trail that I love and his gorgeous cock. Bin’s cock is always something I look forward to in our sex. He’s just the right size for me, honestly. Not too long, not too thick, just right to hit all the places that feel amazing. It’s very veiny and curves just slightly at the end. It’s perfect.

Slowly, I climb back on the bed and straddle his hips. “Okay, Binnie. I’m still a little sleepy, so I think we’ll just grind for right now, okay?” I suggest. He nods his head quickly, staring at me with his mouth slightly open.

“A-Anything!” He says. I giggle, shaking my head at his enthusiasm. Slowly, I lean back and run my heat right over Bin’s cock. In response, he leans his head backs against the bed’s headboard, whining softly. I smile to myself and quicken my pace, grinding my sex against his beautiful, veiny cock. I love when he gets like this. He’s so needy for me, and agrees with almost anything that I suggest doing. He always lets out these sweet little whiny moans that I love the most. And when he comes, he scrunches up his nose and his whines get higher in pitch. It’s the absolute cutest thing ever.

As I slide against his cock, Bin whines sweetly, panting a little bit. At one point, the head of his catches against my hole for a second, slipping in the tiniest bit. Moonbin shifts on the bed, thrusting his hips up at the feeling. “Oh, you *are* needy,” I giggle, feeling a little more awake now. He whines again, looking up at me with wide eyes.

“Please, Jagi. Please fuck me,” he whines adorably.

“Alright, Binnie, but I’m in charge,” I remind him. I slowly position myself over his cock again and slide down on it, groaning softly at the stretch. Underneath me, Moonbin scrunches up his nose in pleasure and squirms on the bed.

“Th-That feels so good,” he moans, shifting his head from side to side.

I move his hair off of his sweaty forehead and give myself a few seconds to adjust to his size. After a few seconds, I start bouncing on his cock, increasing my speed at the seconds pass. As I go faster and faster, Bin starts squirming more rapidly on the bed. “A-Ahh, ahh!” He moans. Smirking to myself, I lean down and pinch one of his nipples. Bin shoots up on the bed, moaning loudly. Immediately after, his eyes fly open in surprise and he slaps a hand over his mouth in shock. I giggle loudly, pinching the other one. He moans again, although this one is muffled a little bit through his hand.

Bin stares at me with wide eyes and I smile, leaning forward to kiss him. He moans into the kiss, licking at the seam of my lips and I open them. Our tongues play together for a little bit while I slow down my bouncing on his cock. When we break, I speed up again and he falls back on the bed, panting deeply and mumbling incoherently. Slowly, I feel the familiar feeling of my high sneaking up on me. I move my hand down my body and begin rubbing at my clit, clenching around him as the pleasure washes over me. Bin whines again as I clench around him and he starts mumbling again. “G-Gonna, gonna come,” he mumbles, his eyes unfocused as the pleasure overtakes him.

“Come for me, baby. I’m not far after,” I moan.

Seconds later, Bin tumbled over the edge, his loud whines bouncing around the room. I feel his warm cum shoot inside of me and I moan as it pushes me over the edge. As soon as I come down and stop my bouncing, Bin pulls me down to his chest and wraps his arms around me. I smile softly, snuggling into his chest. His soft breaths rustle my hair and I sigh, sitting up a little. He whines in protest, trying to keep me close to his chest. “Binnie, you’re still inside of me,” I giggle.

“Mmm...doesn’t matter. Wanna sleep. Want cuddles,” he mumbles. I shake my head at his neediness and slowly maneuver his cock out of me.

As soon as his cock slips out, I feel his cum start spilling down my legs. “Uh, Binnie...what do I..?” I start, but he just sighs, sitting up on the bed. He climbs off and pulls on his underwear and some pajama pants.

“I’ll be right back, baby,” he mumbles, heading out the door. A few moments later, he comes back with a wet wash cloth and kneels down between my legs, wiping at his cum and my essence that is still sticking to my lower lips. He drops his pants and cleans off his cock, as well, then throws the wash cloth into his laundry basket.

Sleepily, he hands me my underwear and grabs a t-shirt of his from the dresser. I pull them on and he slips under the covers, pulling me to his chest again. “Now, back to sleep,” he mumbles, kissing my forehead. I giggle at him.

“You say that like I was the one who woke you up for sex,” I laugh. He chuckles lightly, his eyes still closed.

“Sleep,” he says and I oblige, closing my eyes.

[onlysarah235678]

 A Little Bit Part 17

Pairing: Billie Dean Howard x female reader

A/N: Hi there! I hope everyone has survived this week of storms and everything else. ❤️. Angst in the beginning of this one. I’m wrapping things up but we still have some loose ends to tie up….LOOK AT THIS GIF. 😍

Warnings: angst, mentions of domestic abuse, mention of attempted sexual assault (I did the thing with the *** again). 

You and Billie take Milo on a longer walk than you usually would at this time of day. It was almost dark, so there weren’t many people around making the walk a quiet one. You wouldn’t admit it, but you were dragging your feet a little to buy yourself some time. You intend on keeping your promise to Billie by telling her what was bothering you, but you keep doubting your decision.

Billie had told you that she didn’t care about your baggage. At the very least, she’d said that it wouldn’t change her feelings for you. Still, you hate to bring the issue up again because it seems like it’s been forever since you two just had a conversation about something nice, casual, and not stressful. You can’t remember the last time you two went out on a date, and you hate how tense and stressful everything is between you.  

Maybe it was just your insecurities, but you sigh as you and Billie come up on the end of the neighborhood. You’re probably going to turn around soon, if Milo would stop peeing.

“What’s on your mind, sweetheart?”

You feel some of your anxiety melt away at that familiar term of endearment, and you turn toward Billie with a small smile. You squeeze her hand before shaking your head in refusal. You don’t really want to talk about this now because you are almost certain you’ll be crying for at least some of this conversation. Still, you don’t want to leave Billie hanging so you tell her the truth. At least as much of it as you’re willing to at the moment.

“I’m just thinking about everything that’s happened in the past few months. How much has changed.”

Billie doesn’t respond immediately. She watches how you turn back around, heading for home, with a faraway look. It seems more contemplative than anything else, but Billie can’t figure out what you’re trying to say.

“Good and bad?”

You smile as Milo leads the three of you back to Billie’s. He’s eager for his treat because he picks up the pace a little, but you just hold his leash tighter so he doesn’t drag you. You’re not really in the mood for that tonight.

“Yes, luckily more good than bad recently.”

You shoot Billie a charming smile that she practically melts at. She pulls you towards her so you’re close enough to kiss, and you laugh as you practically fall into the medium.

You mean what you say. That more good things have happened to you than bad. Unfortunately, the bad is starting to catch up with you due to your failure to deal with anything that really bothers you. You shut it out and you’re learning quickly that this is not a good thing. You know you need to work on this, but you’re just not sure how. How do you come to terms with things that are over and done with? Things that you hate to talk about?

Billie waits patiently as you find your next words. You look to Milo with a smile.  He’s looking back at you and Billie occasionally, as if making sure that you’re still there. You are once again reminded of how much your dog means to you, and how much he’s helped you these past few months.

“Things just started stacking up, you know? I didn’t deal with how my ex made me feel, and then my dad’s death, and now with this asshole I don’t even really know? It just seems like at this point it’s all too overwhelming. That I’m better off ignoring it.”

You can feel Billie about to respond to this, so you beat her to it with a sigh of defeat.

“I know I'm not, Billie. I just. I don’t know how to deal with it.”

You wait for what feels like years as Billie considers what you’re saying. She can’t really pretend like she knows how you feel, or what your logic is for not dealing with your problems. Having so many traumatic things happen in such rapid succession can leave anyone a little dazed and unsure of how to proceed. All she knows is what you told her, so Billie tries not to assume anything as she finally shoots you a smile.

You don’t notice because you’re too busy looking around for something. Billie doesn’t realize this until you fail to respond, or even acknowledge what she’s said after a few seconds.

“Well, what is it that makes you want to deal with it now?”

You’re too busy staring at a car that looks familiar to realize that Billie’s responded. You walk past the car that you swear was about a block away from Billie’s when you left before you look back to the medium. You see that she’s looking at you expectantly, and suddenly it clicks that you’ve missed something. You apologize before looking back over your shoulder with a frown.

“Sorry, I just—does that car look familiar to you? I feel like I’ve seen it multiple times on this walk already.”

You know it’s possible that there is more than one gold SUV in this neighborhood, but you can’t help but be a little paranoid. Billie frowns too as she looks to the car that they just passed. She honestly hadn’t been paying much attention to anything other than you and Milo. Mostly what you said and what she could sense from you. She shakes her head before turning back to you, and telling you the truth.

“Sorry, Y/N. I haven’t really been paying attention.”

You just nod at this before you decide that you’re just being paranoid. You continue down the street and you’re almost to Billie’s before you realize that you hadn’t asked what Billie had said at all.

“Wait, what were you saying earlier? I got distracted by potential stalkers.”

Billie just smiles at you as she shakes her head and turns to look at the dog that is coming your way. She watches as you hold Milo’s leash tighter and steer him in the other direction as he spots the dog and immediately starts tugging.

“Milo, knock it off.”

He listens, sort of, and you only have to move him to your other side, in between you and Billie for him to calm down.

“It’s okay. We can talk about it when we get back.”

You take this as an excuse to put it off again, so you simply nod before allowing your mind to wander.

Before you know it, you’re back at Billie’s and you’re taking care of Milo while Billie checks on the cats. It’s only 8 pm but you’re exhausted and could sleep now. You leave Milo in the living room as you head upstairs to take a shower. You go check on Billie first and you smile as you peek your head into the laundry room to see her sitting next to the kittens. As usual Bit barely acknowledges your presence.

“Hey, I’m going to shower, do you need anything?”

Billie just smiles at you and shakes her head. You’re not surprised to see that she’s holding Mickey and you smile at the adorable sight before leaving with a sigh. You can feel your headache coming back just at the thought of the conversation you started on the walk. You could just drop it and worry about it tomorrow, but you wanted to be honest. You also wanted someone to tell you that you were being ridiculous.

As you take off your clothes, find a towel and turn on the shower you think about how irrational you’re being. You have only run into Doug maybe half a dozen times since you moved to LA. You realized that you both like to go on early morning walks, in your case with Milo, every day and you at least saw each other maybe every other week. That wasn’t a big deal, and you knew it, but since you started dating Billie, you’d learned what a homophobic asshole he was. You almost felt like he sought you out sometimes, but that was ridiculous.

Right?

You think back to the last time you saw Doug, before he pushed you down the stairs. It had been in the mail room and he’s muttered a slur under his breath before leaving. He hadn’t touched you then, but clearly that hadn’t stuck. You think about how easy it should be to avoid him and how there was no real reason to be afraid.

As you’re standing in the shower trying to convince yourself that Doug isn’t a threat, you realize why you’re so fixated on this. Why you’re giving someone who doesn’t deserve a second thought, so much of your time and energy.

You groan under your breath at your own stupidity. Then you curse yourself for not knowing where to go from here, despite knowing what you need to do.

Why did life have to be so hard?

By the time you’re out of the shower your headache is back full-force. You groan as you manage to change clothes before you have to sit down on the bed. You close your eyes and just try to relax and will away your headache, but your head is still pounding almost 10 minutes later. You lie down on the bed and groan under your breath. You don’t realize how long you lay there until you almost fall asleep.

Milo gets bored downstairs and decides to come and look for either you or Billie. Since Billie was still with the kittens, he finds you first and he hurriedly pushes his way into the room and over to you. He starts pawing at your arm and you groan again before turning away from him.

“No, Milo stop! Go away.”

You hope that this will be enough to get your dog to leave you alone, but really you know Milo better than that. He sits down and whines loudly before he decides to take matters into his own hands. He circles the bed and jumps up on to it, jostling you and making your head throb annoyingly. You open your eyes to glare at him when he starts to lick your face.

“No! Bad Milo. Get down!”

Milo whines but he listens to you, and is on the ground by the time Billie is coming into the room. She looks inside, immediately seeing you curled up on the bed with your head under a pillow and Milo looking pitiful from where he sits on the floor just staring at you.

“Are you alright?”

You don’t have the energy to turn and face Billie and that really tells her all that she needs to know. Still, she cuts off the lights and walks towards the bed with a frown. You sigh before you chance a look out from under the pillow to see that Billie has turned off the lights. You know you shouldn’t be, but you’re surprised by this. Eventually you wave Billie off ineffectively.

“My head hurts, but it’s okay. I just need to lie here.”

Billie doesn’t say anything for a little while. She does some math in her head, realizing that you just took your meds before looking to Milo when he whines. She watches you flinch slightly at the sound and she makes the decision to take him off your hands.

“Other than taking Milo, is there anything I can do for you?”

You smile at this before removing the pillow from you face and turning so you are looking at Billie. You shake your head before regretting it instantly and cringing at your stupidity.

“That’s more than enough, thank you. I really think I just need to sleep it off.”

Billie doesn’t argue with you and she just leaves hoping that you’ll feel better sooner rather than later. She takes Milo downstairs with her, and gives him a treat when he sits down in the living room. She tries getting some work done, but she’s distracted and not worried enough about the interview to really focus. She’ll have all day tomorrow, not that she needed it, so she closes her computer before looking to Milo.

He’s licking his paws clean, but he looks up at Billie when she stands. He’s quick to get up too as Billie walks to the kitchen to get something to drink. She drinks most of a glass of wine standing at the counter as she stares out the window. It’s dark so she can’t see anything really, but she looks to where she knows the garden is, and wonders who would have snuck back there.

She’s afraid that she knows who it is, or at least why they were back there and she sighs in defeat. She considers how likely it is that you will continue to be bothered. She hopes that the novelty wears off soon, but there’s really no telling at this point. Billie just hopes that they leave you alone at least until you are feeling better.

Billie finishes her wine and cleans the kitchen before glancing at the clock. It’s a little early for her to sleep, but she figures she’ll walk Milo one last time and then check on the cats before going to bed. She would have to check on you too, but she was certain you were asleep at this point.

You are upstairs failing to sleep when your phone goes off from somewhere in the room. You groan, not sure of where you’d left it, and you are tempted to ignore it until it continues to vibrate. You sit up in bed forcing your eyes open as you scan the room. It is completely dark except for the dim light of your phone in the middle of the floor. Why had you left it there?

You sigh in relief when it finally stops vibrating, but you decide that you need to get it in case it starts again. You throw the covers that you’d managed to crawl under off of you before swinging your legs off to the side of the bed. You don’t bother standing up, you just drop to your knees before crawling towards you phone. You’re glad you’re alone because this probably looks as weird as it is, but you get your phone without aggravating your headache too much.

You silence it and carry it back with you before putting it on the side table. You groan under your breath as you simply close your eyes and just wait until you summon the energy to crawl back into bed. You glance at your phone realizing it is already 10, and you just hope that Billie will take care of Milo because you are not about to go downstairs to walk him.

You are almost asleep when Billie comes to check on you a little while later.

After taking care of the kittens and walking Milo, Billie gets ready for bed. She decides to leave Milo downstairs for the night, and he doesn’t seem to mind as he gets settled in the living room. She glances to your door before retreating into her room. She changes clothes, brushes her teeth and washes her face before she looks to her bed. She wants to check on your before sleeping, so she sneaks down the hall and opens the door as quietly as possible.  

She looks in and sees that you’re under the covers and appear to be asleep. She turns to leave, starting to shut the door until she hears you shift and groan under your breath.

“Billie?”

Billie releases her hold on the door before she speaks as quietly as possible.

“Hi, Y/N. I was just checking to see if you needed anything?”

You don’t respond immediately, and you just sigh before shifting so you’re closer to the middle of the bed. You stifle a yawn as you speak up just loudly enough for Billie to hear.

“Yes, please. Come sit?”

Billie realizes that you’re making room for her and she sighs before walking further into the room. She shuts the door behind her before coming to stand at the side of the bed, watching as you throw back the covers for her.

“Are you sure there’s nothing you need? Water or--?”            

You just shake your head before patting the bed with a yawn. “Nope. Just you.”

Billie sighs in defeat as she simply nods before getting into bed next to you. She’s careful not to jostle you too much, but as soon as she’s lying under the covers, you’re moving closer to her. You wrap your arms around her tentatively before you peer up at her with a curious look that’s lost on her due to the darkness.

“Is this okay?”

Billie just smiles before telling you that it’s fine, so you lie down with your head on her shoulder before you close your eyes.

Billie is near sleep when you speak up again. She opens her eyes in surprise because she was certain that you had fallen asleep. She hadn’t expected you to speak so suddenly and she jumps slightly before turning to see that you’re looking at her. It’s too dark to really make out your expression, but Billie guesses that you’re frowning based on what you said.

***

“I never told you what was bothering me.”

Billie starts to shake her head but then realizes you may not notice. Your eyes are closed and you are still curled up against Billie as you fight off your headache. You open them slightly and even though there isn’t a lot of light coming in from the window, it’s enough to irritate you.

“You don’t have to tell me, Y/N. It’s late.”

Billie waits as you figure out how you want to respond. You don’t say anything immediately. You just sigh as you try to get move comfortable, and turn so you’re able to see Billie’s face. At least the little bit of it that’s visible.

“I know. I just don’t want you to be mad.”

Billie isn’t sure what to say to this at first and decides to wait until you elaborate. You don’t however so she just asks the obvious question.

“Why would I be mad?”

You take a deep breath before you move away a little so you can see Billie without being on top of her. You don’t realize that she takes this the wrong way. You’re too worried about not saying the wrong thing.

“I want to tell you what she did so you understand why I’m like this. I just don’t want you to be mad.”

Billie frowns at this and opens her mouth to say something, but you beat her to it. You need to speak up before you lose your nerve. You frown at the thought of what happened earlier tonight. You hate how just talking to Billie had somehow reminded you of her. She and Billie couldn’t be more different, but you supposed it couldn’t be helped. You could only do better.

“She used to yell at me for apologizing too much. She’d tell me I was worthless because I was too soft.”

You close your eyes, missing Billie’s look as you try to block out the memories of all the fights you used to have. Maybe you had been too soft. You’d stopped fighting against her because arguing seemed useless, and eventually you’d run instead of trying to figure things out. Not that you believed you could have. Billie on the other hand, is thinking back to your conversation in the kitchen and how your demeanor had changed so suddenly. Had she done something to make you think of your ex?

“I’m not telling you so you feel bad, for me. I’m just realizing that with the whole thing that happened with Doug, not dealing with how she made me feel isn’t an option.”

Billie had been waiting for you to say this. Since she’d asked you on the walk with Milo why you were wanting to figure this out now. It was less of a mystery to Billie now given what you’ve told her, but she wanted to know your intentions, and if she could help.

“I just have some things I need to unlearn.”

Billie is quiet for a while as she considers what you could be talking about. You yawn and close your eyes again, feeling sleepier now that you’re nice and comfortable. You don’t realize how Billie’s deep in thought until she speaks up. You’re so shocked by what she says that you nearly sit up.

“When Milo interrupted us in the kitchen…was that because of something your ex did?”

You had not been expecting Billie to bring this up. Sure you’d explained to Billie why Milo had reacted the way he had, but you suppose you hadn’t told her exactly what had happened. You’d mentioned being pushed around. You hadn’t wanted to tell Billie all of the details.

Now; however, Billie was asking for clarification and you wanted to give it to her. It just meant that you had to talk about something you hadn’t told anyone.

This probably needed to change.

“Yes. She um-we were fighting and she shoved me onto the counter and-.”

You trailed off as you recall what happened that day. You’d been out with some friends for too long, and the two of you had gotten into a yelling match. It quickly turned physical and you found yourself pinned beneath her.

You don’t notice how you start to fidget, and your hands go to your hair as you clear your throat.

“She tried to force herself on me, but Milo scared her off.”

You briefly wonder where your dog is before your attention is brought back to Billie. She reaches out for one of the hands that is currently tugging at your hair with a questioning look. You meet her the rest of the way and sigh in relief when she pulls you closer.

“I’m sorry if that, or anything else I’ve done has made you uncomfortable. If I ever do something you don’t like, tell me. I won’t be offended.”

You shake your head immediately because you didn’t want this. You don’t want Billie to apologize for doing something that you’d wanted. You hadn’t been thinking about anything but Billie when Milo had interrupted you two. You’d been surprised that he reacted the way he did because honestly other than that one similarity, there was nothing else about that encounter that resembled what happened with your ex.

“Billie, no. You don’t have to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong, or that I didn’t like.”

You sigh as you run your fingers over Billie’s absentmindedly as you play with her nails.

“It’s—it wasn’t the same. I’m not sure why Milo reacted that way, and…”

You take a deep breath, fighting the blush you know will appear at your next words. It’s dark enough that Billie won’t see it, but you’re sure she can hear it as you stutter slightly.

“The way you tease me is only in a way I-um like, and I love every second of it.”

Billie only manages a weak smile at this. She’s too busy thinking about how so many of the things she’s done or said to you could have been triggering. Initially, she hadn’t thought your shyness was due to anything other than your personality. She hadn’t considered you’d been hurt and that you were reluctant to trust people. Billie suddenly felt awful for somehow not realizing this sooner.

Billie sighs and you frown when you realize that she’s not cutting herself any slack. This is what you’d been worried about. You didn’t want Billie to beat herself up over this. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Just—please. If I ever do anything that’s out of line, let me know?”

You nod immediately before leaning forward to kiss Billie’s cheek. You smile, sincerely hoping that she catches a glimpse of it before you sigh and squeeze Billie’s hand tightly.

“You’ve been so sweet, and so considerate with me Billie. I feel so lucky and I know you may think it’s a big deal, but sometimes I’m okay with being bossed around. If it’s the right person and you’re kind, which you are.”

You stop rambling abruptly and take a deep breath before everything that you’d said registers. You’re slightly mortified by that last bit, but you don’t get a chance to think too much about it before Billie just laughs breathily and nods more to herself than to you. She leans in to kiss your forehead and then your nose before sighing in relief.

Okay, good. But, Y/N--.”

You already know what she’s going to say, so you cut her off with a kiss. You move closer to her so she can wrap her arms around your waist and pull you against her. You sigh in contentment before nodding with a small smile.

“Yes, I will tell you if I don’t like something, Billie. I promise.”

***

When you wake up the next morning, you forget where you are for just a second. Despite all of the convincing you’d done yesterday, mostly to yourself, you’d had a dream about Doug. You’d been in your apartment with Milo, and it had been a normal day. The dream had promptly ended when you’d woken up after answering the door to see Doug standing there with that same damn scowl of his.

You look around as you sit up with a groan. The bed is empty and you lie back down when your head pounds painfully. You’re parched and need to drink something, but you’re too lazy to get up. You settle back into bed, only having a few seconds to wonder where Billie is before the bedroom door opens.

You’re convinced that Billie is able to read your mind when you see that she’s brought two cups of something with her. You smile as you take the cup of coffee that is mostly milk, before kissing Billie in thanks. She smiles at you before moving to sit beside you. You sit up, careful not to spill before draining half the cup.

“You’re my favorite, did you know that?”

Billie laughs in response as she places her cup on the side table before scooting closer to you. She eyes you curiously but you miss it as you turn to put your cup down with a smile. You turn back to Billie when she places a hand on your thigh.

“Your favorite what?”

Your smile turns down slightly as you think about this, but it quickly widens as you shrug in faux disinterest. There’s a lot you could say but instead you decide to be sincere as you place a hand on top of Billie’s. You play with one of her rings before you meet her gaze with a smile.

“My favorite person, probably. You’ve been such a huge help and I’m just really grateful.”

You look away slightly embarrassed by what you say, but Billie stops you with a hand on your cheek. She’s smiling as she runs her fingers along you jaw before shaking her head.

“You deserve it, Y/N. I hope you know that.”

You roll your eyes, about to argue in some way but Billie cuts you off before you can even get a word out. You don’t feel like arguing once Billie’s lips touch yours and you sigh before leaning into the medium. Her hand moves to the back of your head to tangle in your hair as you kiss Billie harder. You groan as Billie tugs on your hair a little, and you turn so you’re closer to her. You don’t get a chance to reach out for her before Billie’s moving away from you.

You frown and you’re about to ask what’s wrong before Billie speaks up. Her hand falls from your hair and moves to your cheek again, Billie’s shooting you a concerned look as she runs her thumb along your bottom lip.

“How are you feeling?”

You smile slightly before your brow furrows in confusion. You’re used to Billie checking in with you, but it seems a little early for her. Usually she wouldn’t ask until you two got a little further along in what you were doing, but as you search Billie’s face for an explanation you realize that you are overlooking something that was fairly important.

“Um, I’m fine, how are you feeling?”

Billie realizes that you don’t really understand what she’s asking so she drops her hand into her lap.

“Your head, Y/N.”

Your eyes widen before you nod in confirmation. You smile before closing the gap between you and Billie again with another nod.

“Yes! It’s much better. I promise.”

You wait until Billie’s skeptical look disappears, and you smirk when she sighs in defeat. You move so you’re practically in Billie’s lap before she speaks up.

“You promise?”

You nod enthusiastically before leaning back in to kiss Billie. She doesn’t let you take lead for long and you just smile as she grabs your hips and pulls you into her lap. You resist the urge to groan as her fingernails dig into the sensitive skin at your waist. You sigh as Billie parts your lips and your hands immediately find her hair. You ignore the voice at the back of your mind telling you to take it easy. You’ve been here for three days and you and Billie hadn’t done more than kiss in passing.

You were recovering, sure, but that doesn’t stop your libido from rearing it’s head. In fact, it seems that spending time with Billie like this and getting to see her all the time has the opposite effect. Not that you expected anything else. You loved spending time with Billie, but you hated that you couldn’t do anything other than sit around.

You supposed this didn’t exactly count as just sitting around.

Your hold on Billie’s hair tightens as the blonde’s hands start to wander. You are too distracted by Billie’s hands sneaking under your shirt to hear Milo immediately. Billie just chooses to ignore him because he’s been fed and walked. All he really wants now is attention. You hiss at the feeling of Billie’s hands sliding up your back, but you jump when Milo stops whining and decides to scratch at the door.  You groan as you turn away from Billie to glare at the closed door. You don’t move because you’re not about to leave now. Milo can entertain himself for a while.

“Milo, no! Go away.”

Milo continues to scratch at the door, and you groan before shouting at him again. He stops but continues to whine, but you roll your eyes and just turn back to Billie. You smile before shifting your weight on Billie’s lap as you lean towards her again.

“He can take care of himself for a little bit.”

Milo sits at the door waiting for you to open it for a couple of minutes before giving up. Mostly, he is distracted by the sound of someone coming up the stairs. He turns and sees Bit grooming herself. The two of them had mostly avoided each other because Bit didn’t want anything to do with Milo. So she eyes him warily as she cleans her coat just down the hall from him. Since Milo didn’t have any luck with you, he decides to go see if Bit wants to play with him.

Once Milo left you and Billie alone, the two of you had picked up right where you left off. You’re shirtless and horizontal by the time that you hear Bit yowling and hissing from the hallway. You curse under your breath as you sit up quickly and hurry to jump off the bed. Billie is right behind you when you open the door to the sound of Bit hissing loudly at Milo who is crouched down in his play bow in front of the cat. Bit however, is having none of it, and she hisses at him as he tries to get closer to her.

“Milo! Hey, come here.”

You hurry to pull Milo away from Bit who has her back arched and looks like she wants to claw the shit out of him. Luckily, Milo turns to you when you call his name and he bounds over to you. He jumps scratching you and you yell at him before telling him to sit.

“Ow! Milo no! Sit down.”

Once Milo is out of the way Bit runs to the laundry room to escape. It’s not open so Billie goes to let her in while you take Milo back to Billie’s room. You tell him to sit as you find your shirt and get dressed. You don’t find it immediately, and Billie returns before you manage to pull it back on. You sigh once you’re finally dressed and you shoot Milo a glare before smiling at Billie.

“I guess I’m up now.”

It’s lunch time before you and Billie have a moment of peace. Milo has decided to be a demon today, and Billie got stuck on calls for work that she hadn’t been expecting. She didn’t have too much to do in terms of preparing for Friday. It was really just another couple of interviews, one in the morning and one late at night, if you understood correctly.

You didn’t have much to do either. You didn’t work until Monday, but Milo was causing you more trouble than usual. He was being a brat and not leaving you alone until you took him outside. After the third time you told him that he was staying put until after lunch. He did not like this and started whining loudly. You didn’t want him disturbing Billie so you cave and take him outside again. This time, you go to the backyard to get him to calm down and to get some fresh air. You’re surprised by how sunny it is outside until you remember that you had been wearing sunglasses for the last two times you walked Milo. Your headache had come back and the only way to make walking him tolerable was to wear them.

You let Milo wander around the yard while you lie down in one of the chairs on the deck. You watch Milo carefully, but he hasn’t shown much interest in going beyond Billie’s yard. Still, you call him over after a few minutes and he comes to lie down next to you after planting a messy kiss on your cheek. You groan before scratching his muzzle and then squishing his ears.

“Are you feeling better now? Less bratty?”

Milo only licks you again before resting his head on your stomach. It doesn’t look super comfortable how he’s sitting, but you don’t protest as you lie back and stretch out your legs with a yawn. You definitely could fall asleep here if you’re not careful.

Billie sighs as she finally hangs up the phone after almost an hour of talking to her producer. She hadn’t expected this call and she was a little ticked. She needed a break from work for a while to cool off. She looks at the clock and sees that it is almost 1. She didn’t realize how late it was and now she’s annoyed for another reason.

Billie had been planning on eating with you, maybe even going out, but she figured you already had lunch. It had been about an hour since she’d seen you last.

Billie sighs as she stands up to search for you, but once she steps into the kitchen, she immediately sees Milo on the deck. She walks towards the back door and finally sees you lying in one of the chairs. Your eyes are closed making Billie think that you are probably asleep, so she opens the door quietly.

Milo notices her first of course and his tail starts to wag as he stands up to greet her. Billie smiles reaching out for him as she sneaks a peek at you, confirming that you are definitely asleep. You look comfortable all stretched out and Billie was tempted to leave you to rest.

You woke up, unsurprisingly, when Milo whined from beside you. You groan softly as you open your eyes, quickly covering them when you realize you were still outside.

“Tired?”

You turn suddenly at the sound of Billie’s voice, and you see her sitting in the chair next to you with Milo sitting between you. You smile before sitting up and shaking your head. Despite this, you yawn but ignore Billie’s look before asking how her calls went.

“Billie, hi. How did it go? Are you done?”

Billie sits up as well as she turns toward you with a sigh. She was tired, but she got most of the work she needed to do today done. You smile at this and you stand up and move to sit next to Billie. You consider sitting closer, but settle down beside her before responding.

“That’s great. So you have most of the afternoon off?”

You can’t help but smile widely as you ask this, and Billie of course, sees right through you. She laughs before pretending to think about this for a moment. She knows her answer already and is certain that you do too, but she looks to Milo briefly before making a contemplative noise.

“Hmm I’m not sure. I might be able to find more work to do.”

You pout at this and decide to see if you can convince Billie to find something better to do than work. You slide onto Billie’s lap and wrap your arms around her neck with a dramatic sigh.

“Billie, come onnn. There has to be something more exciting you can do. If you really don’t have to work…”

You shoot Billie a pleading look and the medium just smirks as she pulls you closer. You lean in to kiss her, but she turns away last minute making you pout yet again. You don’t frown for long though before Billie finally asks you what you had in mind.

“I guess I don’t have to, but what could possibly be more exciting than work?”

You kiss Billie’s cheek before looking around the backyard briefly. You weren’t too worried about being seen because Milo would probably warn you if you were no longer alone. So you just shrug before leaning in for a proper kiss. Your smile widens when Billie doesn’t turn away this time.

“I’m sure we can think of something.”

It was almost 3 pm before you and Billie got around to eating lunch. You were already thinking take out when Billie speaks up. She’s standing at the counter pouring the two of you glasses of water while you sit on the couch with Milo at your feet.

“What do you want to do for lunch? I was thinking we would go out, until we got sidetracked.”

You smile and turn to Billie as she says this. You thank her as you take one of the glasses before moving over so she can sit down. She smiles in thanks as you pick up your phone again to show Billie what you were looking at.

“Ah, right. Maybe we can just order in and go out another time?”

You turn to Billie who watches as you grab your phone before nodding. She thinks about when the best time for this would be. Given that she’s so busy tomorrow she doesn’t want to promise anything. However, she knows that she may need to destress after the interviews and her favorite way to relax was spending time with you.

“How about we go out tomorrow after I finish up working, if I’m not too exhausted?”

You turn to Billie with a surprised look. You are certain that you will be exhausted the time Billie finishes working tomorrow. One of her interviews was at night, and you liked staying up sometimes, but you’re not sure you want to stay up that late.

“Uhh, won’t you be working until midnight?”

Billie laughs at this before shaking her head. She now understands your bewildered look, but she just smiles before clarifying what tomorrow will look like.

“No, sweetheart. We’re filming that interview in the afternoon. It won’t really be live.”

You nod as realization dawns on you and you almost sigh in relief. You love spending time with Billie, but you’re not sure you could commit to anything after midnight.

“Okay. Well then sure. If you’re up to it.”

You both spend a few minutes talking about what to order for lunch before planning tomorrow night. Since you’re not sure if Billie is going to be in the mood to go out, you decide on a place that doesn’t require reservations. Billie asks you if there is anywhere you would like to go. You don’t know many places that you would want, and since Billie knows more about the area you suggest that she chooses.

“Well, we could go somewhere that allows dogs.”

You’re a little caught off guard by this and you shoot Billie a confused look. You turn to Milo before looking back to Billie with a small smile.

“You want Milo to come with us? On a date?”

Billie simply shrugs before saying why not. She likes Milo and has a feeling he’d be well behaved. Also, she didn’t want him staying at home alone with the cats for too long. When Billie says this, you smile in understanding before trying to think of a way that you could make him staying here work. Just in case Billie didn’t really want him tagging along. You of course thought of several reasons why having him would be beneficial, but you keep those to yourself for now.

“Are you sure, Billie? We can figure something else out.”

Billie just smiles again before shaking her head. She reaches out for your hand before glancing at Milo who is looking at you like he always is.

“I want you to be comfortable, Y/N, and I also don’t want you worrying about him. If that means we’re forced to have a handsome escort for our date, well, I think I can live with that.”

You laugh at this before shaking your head in disbelief. You’re not sure how you managed to get so lucky after your last relationship, and you don’t think you’ll ever stop wondering. You squeeze Billie’s hand before nodding in agreement. You’re sure you will enjoy it either way, but you are glad that Billie seems sincere when she says that she doesn’t mind the third wheel.

“Okay. Thank you, Billie.”

She just smiles before kissing you soundly. You eventually pull away when your phone buzzes, but you don’t bother looking at it as you turn to Milo with a smile. Billie just rolls her eyes with an amused chuckle before pulling you back towards her.

“Get cleaned up Milo, you need to look nice for our date tomorrow.”  

Part 18

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 14

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter.  I hope you guys like this one! :)  A quick reminder that I’ve set up a Ko-Fi incase you want to support my writing --> ko-fi.com/spine_buster .  Enjoy!

December 25th, 2019

Aberdeen Bloom was celebrating Christmas.

Siena was home from Ottawa, having finished another semester of law school.  Camden was the first one up, naturally, screaming at everybody that it was time to open presents.  The family had been to Midnight Mass the night before, a tradition Orla had the family do every Christmas since they were young.  After opening presents, everybody would shower and help her make the day’s big lunch before passing out in food and wine comas all over the house.  If all went well, Gramma Frances and Grampa Alistair would call and they’d all say hi in a short FaceTime.

“Get up!  Get up!  Get up!” Camden could be heard screaming from the hallway, his footsteps getting louder and louder.  “It’s time to open presents!”

“If he comes in here I’m gonna scream at him,” Siena mumbled into her pillow.  Aberdeen laughed from her side of the room.  

“Siena!  Aberdeen!”

“We’re coming!” Aberdeen yelled, not bothering to move.  

“Hey mom!  Can I finally try coffee?!” their little brother wouldn’t shut up.

The girls snorted, with Siena groaning as she stretched in her bed, unable to fall back asleep.  Eventually they got up and got ready, their little brother’s screams getting too annoying to ignore.  “He’s getting more annoying as he gets older,” Siena said playfully, running a brush through her hair.  

“Yeah,” Aberdeen agreed, “but at least he doesn’t jump into mom and dad’s bed like we did.”

“Remember that time you almost punctured dad’s lung?”

Aberdeen snorted.  “Remember that time you almost broke mom’s nose?”

“Maybe we should do it again for good measure.”

The girls finally emerged from their room, finding Orla in the kitchen pouring coffee.  Camden was dragging Mirza out of his room, Mirza playfully pulling him back in so Camden would slide on the floor.  The family hugged each other before Aberdeen opened a cupboard to get the Chips Ahoy cookies.  Camden snatched one right from her hands.  She chased him around the house.

Opening presents was always fun.  This year, Aberdeen was able to ask around the office for something for Camden, and she ended up with a Kyle Lowry Raptors jersey.  When he opened it, he automatically loved it and hugged it like he was five and it was his favourite new toy.  Aberdeen’s parents gifted her practical things – a chic new laundry basket and a nice throw she could use when she cuddled with Minerva and a bag of Doritos, and Siena bought her two new books she’d wanted to read.  To his credit, even Camden’s gift was cute: a mug that said, “Cat hair, don’t care” in fancy lettering.  

Once the gift giving was over and the family room cleaned of all the wrapping paper, everybody started to get ready.  Orla began seasoning the roast beef and Mirza began preparing the potatoes.  The kids showered and got ready so they’d look nice for photos and for their eventual FaceTime with their grandparents.  Siena stayed on the main floor to begin whipping up the trifle.  Aberdeen brought Camden to the downstairs kitchen with her to help with seasoning and roasting the Brussel sprouts and carrots.  

“So what are the Maple Leafs doing today?” Camden made conversation as Aberdeen sliced the carrots and he laid them in their tray.  

“Which ones?” she asked.  “It’s not like they’re spending it together as a team.  They’re all spending it with their families.”

“What’s John Tavares doing?” he asked.  Camden knew much more about sports than she did.  He found it genuinely cool that his sister was working for the Toronto Maple Leafs, even though he liked the Raptors a little bit more.  When she told him how she sat with Masai Ujiri at the Major Donor Gala, he freaked out and bragged to all his friends.  He was officially one of the coolest kids in school.

“Well, John and his wife Aryne just had a new baby in September, so this is their first Christmas with him.  I think they’re spending it at John’s house with both their families there,” Aberdeen explained.

“What about Auston Matthews?”

“Auston’s entire family came up from Arizona – they’re having a big family lunch like we are.”

“What about Mitch Marner?”

Aberdeen smiled.  “Mitch is spending it with his family, his girlfriend Stephanie, and his dog Zeus.”

“His dog?!” Camden’s face lit up.  “Mom and dad won’t let me get a dog yet.  They say I’m still too young.”

“Just wait,” Aberdeen encouraged him.  “Mom will eventually want to replace me and Siena with a dog, and dad will be too powerless to say no.”

“You think so?”

“Mhm.  What kind of breed do you want?”

“I want a German shepherd.”

Aberdeen laughed at her brother.  He always dreamed big, which was good for a kid his age, but a German shepherd would be bigger than him.  There was no way he’d be able to handle it out on walks.  “Aim smaller.  What about a corgi?”

“That’s your dream dog cause of their butts,” Camden furrowed his brows.  “If mom won’t let me get a German shepherd then I think I want a goldendoodle.  Greg at school has one and it’s really cute.”

“Why don’t you just get a regular poodle and cut its hair really weird like that lady in 101 Dalmatians?”

Camden started to laugh as Aberdeen sliced the last of the carrots.  She made sure they were all lined up nicely before starting on the Brussel sprouts.  “We can shave the Toronto Maple Leafs logo into its hair.”

“Exactly!”

“Then it can become the team dog!” Camden giggled, liking the idea already.  

Aberdeen and Camden stayed in the basement kitchen for almost an hour – enough time so that all the carrots and Brussel sprouts were sufficiently roasted and seasoned properly as Orla taught them.  When the carrots were ready to be brought upstairs, Aberdeen made Camden put on oven mitts and told him to grab the dish.  “Go run these up to mom,” Aberdeen said.  “And absolutely no funny business.  If these fall on the floor nobody in this family will forgive you.”

Camden did as he was told, going up the stairs slowly.  Aberdeen stayed down for another ten minutes, waiting for the Brussel sprouts to finish before putting on her own pair of oven mitts and bringing the plate upstairs.  By then, the roast in the oven smelled impeccably delicious and Aberdeen could already see most of the food on the table as she rounded the corner.  Before she could move any further, Siena came through and blocked her passage and sightline towards the front of the house, a look of panic on her face.  “Ab—Aberdeen,” she was staring at Aberdeen wide-eyed, like she’d just seen a ghost.

“What?  What’s going on?” Aberdeen whispered.

“Hey.”

Aberdeen knew that voice.  She knew that voice anywhere.  She’d be able to recognize it from miles away.  It was the voice that tortured and soothed her all at once.  What was it doing here?  In her house?  Her head turned quickly like she was in The Exorcist.  

And there he was.

William Nylander.  Standing in the middle of the family room.  Her family room.

With her mother.

Aberdeen was going to pass out.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, almost dropping the plate of Brussel sprouts at her feet.  What was he doing here?  What was he doing here?  How the fuck did he even find out where she lived – where her family lived?  And why did he have a glass of water in his hands?  How long had he been here for him to have been offered a glass of water?  Why didn’t she hear the doorbell?  Why didn’t she hear a knock?  Why hadn’t her parents called down to her in the basement to let her know he showed up unannounced to their Christmas Day family celebrations and why didn’t they—

“Aberdeen!” her mother scolded her as she walked towards her.  “I know he’s a little early but that’s no way to treat the guest you invited.”

Aberdeen glared at William and then glared at her mother.  She was almost rendered speechless by William’s stupid grin on his face.  “I did not invite William to Christm--”

“Aberdeen, please, the Brussel sprouts,” her mother wasn’t having it, walking towards her and grabbing the plate from her hands, only to put it on the table.

Aberdeen looked at William, dressed in a nice pair of navy blue slacks and a fitted grey Ralph Lauren sweater with a collared shirt underneath.  He definitely looked the part of innocent-hockey-player-come-to-spend-Christmas-with-a-welcoming-Canadian-family, but he wasn’t fooling her.  Aberdeen looked back to see her mother disappear into the kitchen again.  Siena was already gone, too.  Good, it made it safe for her to cuss him out.  

“How do I look?” he asked, waiting for one of her famous retorts.

He wasn’t going to get one.  Not this time.  He looked too wholesome, but more than that, he didn’t deserve one for crashing her family Christmas.  “Seriously, what are you doing here?” she hissed as she stepped forward so she could get closer to him.  

“Better than spending Christmas alone,” he shrugged his shoulders, the playful grin still on his face.  

“I thought you were Skyping with your family,” she said, immediately regretting it.  She knew Skyping was nowhere near close to spending actual time, physically, with your family on one of the most important holidays of the year.

“I already did, while I was having breakfast and they were having lunch.  Six hour time difference,” he said.  

“Will, I’m serious, what are you—”

“I thought you’d need a friend here after everything that happened,” he said quickly, his tone serious.  His blue eyes looked into hers and every ounce of anger and shock in her dissipated.  “I figured you probably haven’t told your parents, and definitely not your brother, but I know you told Siena, and I just thought it would be nice for you to have a friendly face around beside your sister that…I don’t know…might make Christmas more fun.”

He knew her.  He knew he so well that she almost hated it, but mostly found it so admirable and so damn…cute.  He knew that she’d only tell Siena because Siena was the person she was the closest to in the world, and he knew she wouldn’t tell her parents because…well, because they didn’t need to know their daughter got sexually harassed at work.  She didn’t know what she was feeling right now.  “How do you even know where my parents live?”

That trademark grin came back.  “Don’t worry about it.”

“Aberdeen!  You didn’t tell me William Nylander was coming for Christmas!” Camden’s voice rang from behind her.  She turned around to see her brother with his arms crossed playfully around his chest.  “Would have been nice, you know.”

“I guess I forgot,” she said absent-mindedly.  She couldn’t believe this was happening right now.  She couldn’t believe William was at her house for Christmas; that he was going to be spending Christmas with her family because, well, it wasn’t like she could kick him out onto the street now.  

“Did you see I brought a dessert?” William said, his voice upbeat as he looked at Camden.  “I picked up some treats from a Swedish bakery in downtown Toronto.”

Camden’s eyes lit up at the words.  “Double dessert!” he screamed.  “Siena made a trifle!  You’ll like it.  It’s got strawberries in it.”

“Alright!  Everyone to the table!” Orla’s voice boomed throughout the house.  “Is the wine on the table?  Are there drinks?”

“Does everybody have a spot?” William whispered to Camden.

Camden nodded his head quickly before pushing William to the opposite side of the table.  “Mom sits at the head,” he pointed, “Siena sits there, dad sits there, I sit at the other head, and then Aberdeen sits here.”

“So I guess I’m sitting—”

“Right here,” Camden took out the chair for him.  

William took his seat.  Aberdeen slipped into her seat beside him, still staring at him like he wasn’t real.  Siena took her seat, then Mirza.  Camden last.  Then Orla brought in the roast, smelling absolutely delectable.  William’s eyes widened at how good it looked.  Everybody brought their plates forward and she put a few slices of the carved meat and gravy onto everyone’s plates – only then did the other dishes get passed around to fill up their plates: the Yorkshire puddings, the roasted potatoes, the Brussel sprouts, and the carrots.  

“Are you Catholic, William?” Orla asked as she sat down at her seat.  

“No ma’am.”

“Well, Christmas and Easter are the only two days of the year that we pray before our meal,” she informed him.  “So, congratulations.  Camden, why don’t you say a Hail Mary.”  William watched as everybody around the table except Mirza did the sign of the cross, though Mirza did bow his head in respect.  William quickly followed with his own sign of the cross.  He listened as Camden recited a Hail Mary.  When he was done, Orla spoke up again.  “Lord, we would like to thank you for bringing us together to celebrate your birth, and we would like to thank you for bringing us William today to celebrate with our family.  Amen.”

“Amen,” everyone said.

“Hallelujah!” Camden exclaimed, grabbing his fork.  Everyone else did too, while Mirza stood up to start pouring the wine in everyone’s glasses, save for Camden.  

“So you mentioned your family is in Sweden, William?” Orla asked, slicing her roast beef in pieces.  “Whereabouts?”

“Most of my family is there, right in Stockholm.  But I have a brother living in Chicago who also plays hockey.  My sister Jacqueline is also in Texas at SMU playing tennis, but she was able to get home for Christmas,” he explained.

“And where’s your brother in Chicago going?”

“He has a teammate and his family.  He lives in their basement,” William smiled. 

“Orla has a habit of wanting to feed the entire congregation, if you know what I mean,” Mirza smiled from across the table.  “Clearly Aberdeen knew, since she invited you.”

Aberdeen wanted to say that she didn’t, that he was hear because he somehow found their address and wanted to make her life a complete circus, but she decided against it.  It was Christmas, after all.  “Yeah, well when Aberdeen offered, I thought it was so nice, but I didn’t want to intrude,” William said from beside her.  She could have killed him right then and there.

“Intruding?  What are you intruding on?  The more the merrier.  And God knows I make enough roast,” Orla commented.  “Besides, it’s not the first time Aberdeen’s brought something home and said ‘Surprise!’.”

“We all love Minerva and she is a great cat,” Aberdeen said firmly before anyone else could say anything.  

Conversation flowed nicely.  William was a natural, Aberdeen thought, and she chalked it all up to his endearing charm – his best quality.  Well, at least to Aberdeen.  It was what attracted her to him in the first place.  That and the fact that he was so persistent.  But everybody seemed to take a liking to him, and despite being the only person at the table who knew what had happened between them, Siena was surprisingly calm, warm, and chatty.  Camden was an everyday 11 year old, asking William about the Leafs and if he’d met any Raptors and what playing hockey was like.  He made them smile.  He made them laugh.  He made them love him.  It was all so sickeningly sweet.

Camden cleared the dishes and Aberdeen cleared the food platters and Orla and Siena fetched the desserts. Mirza stayed to keep William company at the table.  Aberdeen watched as Orla scooped all the remaining leftovers into a Tupperware – Aberdeen knew she’d give it to William when he left, and now she was stuck thinking about how William was going to return one of her Tupperwares without anybody on the team or in the offices knowing.  It sent her head for a bit of a spin until Camden almost knocked her out with a swinging fridge door.  “Camden, get the dessert plates on the counter,” she ordered, and he did as he was told.  She got the trifle out of the fridge.

“Show him mine!  I was so much cuter!” she heard Camden exclaim from the dining room.  What was he on about now?

Aberdeen turned the corner.  And then she saw it.

William Nylander.  Sitting at the dining room table with her father.

Looking through her baby book.

Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.  “Dad!!!” she exclaimed.

William looked up at her, the biggest, goofiest, most sincere smile on his face.  “You were a cute baby, Aberdeen.”

She was mortified.  She thought about walking outside and freezing to death because that would be a better option than what was happening in front of her.  She set the trifle down on the table loudly, her jaw on the floor.  “Dad, come on!” she complained.  “I work with William!  He doesn’t have to see my baby pictures!”

“Well excuse me for wanting to show off my two darling daughters,” Mirza waved off her complaint.  “Besides, I can’t say no when a guest wants to see.”

Aberdeen glared at William, who still had that smile on his face.  “Oh, you’re gonna get it when we’re back at the arena.”

“Am I?” he taunted her.

“Look!  Look here!  Siena at four, Aberdeen at two,” Mirza diffused the situation, pointing to a new picture on the page.  “We sent copies of this one to Orla’s parents in Derry.  They had it up for years.”

Aberdeen knew exactly which picture Mirza was talking about.  She and her sister were photographed by a professional photographer, with Siena wearing a frilly yellow dress and Aberdeen wearing a pink one, equally as frilly.  They were both smiling at the camera while sitting on some sort of box, and both wearing small, dainty necklaces.  They were adorable, but William didn’t need to know that.  “These are evil eyes, right?” he said, pointing to the necklaces they were wearing in the photo, a small smile on his face.

“We say nazar.  It protects from the evil eye,” Mirza nodded his head.  “They’re very popular in Iran.”

“What made you come to Canada?” William asked.

“The revolution, mostly,” Mirza said.  “I was fourteen.  My parents didn’t want me to stay so they changed my name and I escaped the country.  It wasn’t safe for me anymore.  I went to Syria first – to Aleppo – and had all my documents processed there to become a refugee.  I came to Canada when I was eighteen in 1984.”

William was quiet and had a solemn look on his face as he listened to Mirza.  It was so unlike any other story he’d heard before, in terms of people’s parents at least.  He grew up with a lot of “My dad played in the NHL” or “My dad works in hockey” – never “My dad escaped a revolution”.  It was very new to him, and he almost felt ashamed at the lack of diverse stories his friends, acquaintances, and all the kids he grew up with had in comparison to this.  “And you chose Canada?”

“Canada chose me, I think,” Mirza smiled.  “Look at these pictures here,” he said, flipping to the back of the photo album.  When he reached the page, he showed William, and Aberdeen already knew what it was: the few pictures he had of himself growing up in Iran with his parents, some photos of him in Aleppo, and the first photos of him in Canada.  “That one was the year before I left Iran,” he said, pointing to one, “and this one…the month I arrived in Canada.”

William smiled.  He looked up at Aberdeen, who was already expecting his reaction.  “Sugo hat outfit,” he said, like it was a code language.  “Holy hell.  You weren’t kidding, Aberdeen.”

“Told you.”

“Sugo hat outfit?” Mirza asked.

“It’s nothing, dad.  William just has an interesting fashion sense.  Very European.”

Mirza shrugged, letting it go.  “Canada led me to Orla.  Led me to have this,” he motioned around at his house, “led me to my job, led me to be a father,” he nodded towards Aberdeen.  “Canada has been very nice to Orla and I, because even she had her troubles.  Literally.”

“Troubles?”

“Orla grew up in Belfast and Derry during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.  There was religious violence all around her growing up.  Catholics versus Protestants,” he explained.  “She came to Canada to escape it, too, in 1988.  And it brought us together.  We met in 1993 at our citizenship ceremony, married in 1995, and had Siena in 1996.”

William couldn’t help but smile.  Meeting your future spouse at your citizenship ceremony as you swore an oath as a new citizen of Canada?  “That’s the most Canadian thing I’ve ever heard,” he giggled.

“I know!” Mirza smiled along with him.  “Orla married the mailman – I mean literally married the mailman.  You should have heard all the jokes we got from her friends when she got pregnant with Siena.  They never ended.”

Dessert and most of the afternoon continued as thus: retelling old family stories and recounting family memories as everyone devoured both desserts, with William explaining each of the Swedish pastries he’d picked from the bakery.  They called their grandparents in Derry just as they were finishing, with William politely staying out of view, and then everybody relaxed around the house.  William promised Camden he’d teach him some stickhandling tricks with the old sticks they had somewhere in the garage, “once my food baby has passed.”  Mirza and Orla sat on the couch, watching the Christmas specials on TV.  Camden opened and started to organize the pieces of a Lego set he’d received as a Christmas gift on the dining room table.  Siena, Aberdeen, and William went down to the basement to “watch Netflix”.  They got through one episode of Brooklyn 9-9 before Siena told them to sneak back upstairs into hers and Aberdeen’s bedroom for some alone time.  Aberdeen tried to say no but William was already up.  When he winked at Siena as a thank you, Siena immediately understood what attracted Aberdeen to him in the first place.

When he walked inside Aberdeen’s room, he thought that it was everything yet nothing he imagined all at once.  A small twin bed, a stylish comforter, a view pictures of her with friends strung along draped string and a corkboard above her headboard.  “So this is your room?”

Aberdeen nodded.  “Well, used to be just Siena’s room.  Then when the little monster was born we moved in together.”

“You didn’t care?  Didn’t demand a room in the basement?”

Aberdeen shook her head.  “I told you how close Siena and I are.  I actually didn’t mind at all.”

He sat down on her bed, looking up at some of the pictures she’d hung.  He recognized Kasha in one of them, and what he assumed to be other university friends.  There was even a picture of the family together, for what looked like one of Camden’s birthdays.  “You have such a nice house…” he started, looking around some more.  “A nice, like, home.  It’s very homey and just, like, perfect.  And your family’s really…warm,” he said, choosing his words carefully.  “They remind me a lot of mine.  Close knit and stuff.  You’ve all got each other’s back.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, sitting down on her bed next to him.  “Does it…I mean, does it make you miss your family?”

“Tons,” he replied automatically.  “Especially on days like today.  But it’s okay.  I know this summer when we’re all together it’s gonna be a blast.”

“I know…” Aberdeen began.  “Listen, I know you don’t like to talk about your feelings much, but if you ever do want to talk when you’re really missing them…you know I’m here to listen, right?”

William looked at her and smiled.  God, he got so lucky.  “I know,” he said.  “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

He paused, staring into her eyes before knowing he had to continue.  “Listen…I got you something,” he said.

“You what?” Aberdeen was flabbergasted.  As if enough didn’t already happen today.  He saw her baby photos for God’s sake.

“I couldn’t help myself.”

“I really think you could.”

He sighed and smiled, reaching into a bag Aberdeen hadn’t noticed was there and pulling out a wrapped box, a ribbon tied around it perfectly.  She had a hard time believing he wrapped it himself, but then again, he had a lot of siblings.  That was his excuse for knowing how to do a bunch of things that he had no other logical explanation as to why he knew how to do it.  “Merry Christmas, minskatt,” he said.

“I don’t have anything for you,” she blurted out, immediately regretting it.  

“I don’t need anything.  It’s fine,” he shook his head, pushing the box onto her lap.  “Open it.”

It was small.  Too small for her liking.  She gave him one last look before sliding the ribbon off and ripping the paper.  The box was neutral, which made her even more nervous.  She opened the lid.

Inside, she was met with a ring.  An evil eye ring made of yellow gold, with the centre of the eye bedazzled with a black diamond, circled by two bands of rich blue diamonds, and finished off with regular diamonds outlining and filling out the rest of the eye shape.  Her breath hitched in her throat audibly as she stared at it and took in its beauty.  She couldn’t believe William got this for her.  She couldn’t believe he…he…

“I hope you like it,” she heard William’s voice say softly.  “I know rings are…well, whatever, but…I saw it and I thought of you.  It…it went beyond when you told me your dad was Persian.  The blue…it sounds stupid, but the blue reminded me of your tattoo.  The waves.  Like now whenever I see anything blue I think of you and your tattoo and the waves and stuff, and…and—” he was rambling, and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop, “—and I just figured, I don’t know, you always wear nice jewelry, nice rings, and this can be part of it.  And it’ll protect you, according to tradition or whatever.  And maybe, I don’t know, every time you look down at your hand and see the ring, you’ll be reminded of me.”

Aberdeen took every word to heart.  She’d been looking at him the entire time, and her heart was so full by the end of his rambling that she couldn’t think straight; she couldn’t think of what to say, how to say it, how to thank him, how to truly express how much she loved it, so she did the only thing she could think to do.  The only thing she couldn’t do.

She kissed him.

It was slow at first, and it took William aback – never in a million years did he think Aberdeen would initiate any kiss, let alone a kiss on her bed while they were alone in her bedroom after he’d crashed her family’s Christmas celebrations – but eventually, and gradually, the kiss deepened and became more passionate, with William’s hand going lightly to her hip, and Aberdeen’s hand resting gently on his thigh.  They stayed like that for a while, just kissing on her bed, William absolutely basking in the feeling, as if a thousand lightning bolts were moving through his body all at once, having waited for months – six months – to feel his lips against hers again.  It intoxicated him as much now as it did that night in June so long ago; perhaps even more so now, now that he knew what her lips felt like but was denied for so long, only to be given the luxury again.  He was drunk on the feeling.  

It was only until William couldn’t help himself, when Aberdeen felt a slip of his tongue against her lips, that she was brought back down to earth, only for her to pull away quickly.  “Oh God,” she worried.  “I wasn’t supposed to do that.”

William half smiled as he bit down on his bottom lip.  “It’s not like I’m gonna tell anybody.”

She felt William’s hand on her hip move to hold her hand that was resting on his thigh.  He held it so warmly, still looking at her, and rubbed circles onto her hand.  His touch was so delicate, so tender.  So unlike other touches she’d experienced, other touches she never wanted to experience again.  “Will?”

“Hmm?” he licked his lips.

She finally met his eye.  “I…I never thanked you for going to Brendan about…you know…” she trailed off.  

His face shifted.  “Aberdeen—”

“No – please,” she interrupted him, looking down nervously at their fingers that had now entangled with each other’s on his lap.  She didn’t know why she couldn’t look him in the eye.  She’d just kissed him, for God’s sake.  “I never thanked you.  Or Pierre for that matter.  If you guys hadn’t gone to Brendan, I’d still have to be dealing with him, and…and I just…”

“Aberdeen, you don’t need to thank me for doing the right thing.  Anybody would have done the same thing,” William said.  “Believe me.  Any one of those guys in the locker room would have done the same thing.  Pierre and I actually made the decision to wait until after the holidays to tell everyone what happened so they wouldn’t get upset before Christmas.”

Aberdeen furrowed her brows.  “Why?  They…they’d get upset?”

“Are you kidding me?  Of course they’d get upset,” William said.  “Jason would have gone insane if he knew.  The guy has four girls.  Auston, Morgan, Kappy – everyone thinks you’re a bit of nerd or whatever, but they’d all go to bat for you.  And everyone’s gonna be really upset when they hear about it.  Actually, they’ll probably get mad at me for not telling them so they couldn’t whoop Ethan’s ass themselves.”

Aberdeen never considered that.  She knew the guys liked her well enough, but she never considered that they liked her enough that they’d be upset something like that happened to her.  She never considered that they’d be protective of her in that way.  For all that she was Brendan Shanahan’s executive assistant and on the administrative side of things, she never felt part of the team more than she did in this moment, in her room alone with William Nylander.  

“Can you…can you tell me something?” William asked as he watched her think.

“What?”

“Why didn’t you tell me…you know, what Ethan was doing?”

There was the million dollar question.  Aberdeen didn’t want to admit why.  She didn’t want to admit to William that the reason she didn’t tell him was because she didn’t want him to know, didn’t want him to get involved, didn’t want to endanger his position in any way with the team by him speaking up on her behalf.  She didn’t want to tell him it was because she didn’t think it was worth it.  But she knew she had too.  She took a deep breath and shrugged her shoulders.  “I didn’t think you cared that much,” she admitted softly.  “I didn’t think that it was…you know…worth caring about, even.”

It was William’s turn to furrow his brows.  He looked pained, physically pained, at the words that had just escaped her mouth.  “You’re always worth caring about, minskatt,” he said firmly, with no space to debate his tone or words.  “You’re always…fuck, Aberdeen, you’re always fucking worth it to me.”

She couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth; couldn’t believe how much conviction was in his voice and how much he meant each and every word.  Nobody had said those words to her before.  Well – no guy had said those words to her before.  She remembered Zane and how he refused to acknowledge how she wanted to become a writer.  She remembered how, a second after she told him, William said she’d make a great writer even though he’d never read any of her work.  To William, she was worth it; in every sense of the word, she was worth it.  She was worth late night walks back to her apartment.  She was worth sneaking into hotel rooms at night.  She was worth calls to Sugo and paying extra to get dinner long after they closed down.  She was worth sneaking around to get her phone number, and her parents’ address to show up for Christmas.  She was worth spending whatever amount of money on a ring that reminded him of her.  She was worth it.  She was worth it all.  

She moved closer to him again.

Closer.

And closer.

And…

“Aberdeen!” she heard Camden scream her voice down the hallway.  So he apparently knew they were in her room.  She and William moved at lightning speed not to be so close to each other.  She shoved the box into her bedside table.  Camden’s loud footsteps echoed down the hallway until they stopped outside her door.  

Camden at least had the knowledge to knock.  She’d yelled at him one too many times for him to forget.  “Come in,” she said, her voice still a bit shaky from what had almost just happened.  

He opened the door and stuck his head through.  “William promised he’d play some hockey with me in the driveway before he left,” he said.  

“William and I are talking right now,” she said quickly, trying to get him to go away.

“About what?”

“About work stuff.”

“What’s happening at work?”

“Camden.”

“Is Mitch Marner okay?”

“Can you give us maybe, like, five or ten minutes to solve this problem?” William asked.  “I’ll meet you in the driveway after that.  Practice your stickhandling so I can show you what to improve on.”

Camden nodded his head quickly and closed the door behind him as he rushed back down the hallway, yelling at his dad to open the garage and get his hockey stick.  William looked at Aberdeen and laughed as she let out a breath in one long sigh, giggling to herself before shaking her head.  “God…what am I doing?” she mumbled to herself.

“Realizing you’re worth it,” William said quickly, inching closer to her and kissing her again.  It was nice, and it was innocent, and it was beautiful, and it was lovely, but it was also wrong.  Aberdeen pulled back quicker than last time, but William didn’t seem to mind.  He knew this kiss was gratuitous – an extra gift.  “I can’t wait to see you on the plane to New Jersey wearing that ring,” he mumbled, grabbing her hand and holding it in his.

She stiffened for a second.  “I can’t wear that to work.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s from you.  Everyone’s gonna ask about it.”

“Have any of the guys, including Brendan, ever asked about any piece of jewelry you’ve worn before?” he deadpanned.  Okay, so he had a point.  “Besides, just tell them it was a Christmas gift from your parents.”

She shook her head.  “You underestimate how good of a liar I am.”

“You spent six months lying trying to convince yourself you didn’t like me.”

She blushed.  Okay, so he had another point.  “Touché, Will.”

He licked his lips, biting down on the bottom one gently.  “Why’re you so scared?”

“I’m not scared,” Aberdeen answered.  “I’m just aware of how inappropriate this is and how much I’m starting not to care anymore.”

William smiled.  And he leaned in again.  But before he could kiss her again – helping as best he could to get her to not care anymore – Camden’s voice boomed through the house again.  “Aberdeeeeen!”

She practically growled at another moment ruined.  “Camden!” she screamed out.

This time, he didn’t bother to knock when he opened the bedroom door.  He poked his head through again.  “Do you know someone who drives a black Porsche Cayenne?”

Aberdeen furrowed her brows.  As if she knew more than one person who drove a car that expensive.  “My boss does…” she said.

“Well, it’s in the driveway.”

Aberdeen’s eyes bulged out of her head.  She shot up from her seat and grabbed William and dragged him towards her closet.  “Is that—” he tried to ask.

“Quiet.”

“Is that Brendan?” he asked as she practically tore her closet door off her hinges to open it.  “What’s he doing here?”

“I don’t fucking know!” she exclaimed in one of those loud, frantic whispers.  “Do you honestly think if I knew he was coming sometime today I would have let you stay in my house this long?  Now shut up.”

“Aber—oooooowwwwww!” he protested as she grabbed the top of his head and pushed him down and into her closet like he was getting into the back of a cop car.  He belonged in a cop car, Aberdeen thought, for showing up at her house on Christmas.  “Aberdeen!”

“Shut up!” she said hurriedly, putting her hand over his mouth.  “If you value your life as well as mine you will stay in here and stay quiet until I come get you,” she warned, closing the closet door in his face.

“Who’s that now?” Orla asked as Aberdeen hurried to the front of the house, where she saw her mother looking out the window.  “We don’t know people who drive Porsches.”

“It’s for me.  It’s my boss.  Brendan Shanahan.  The president of the Toronto Maple Leafs,” Aberdeen informed everyone.  She saw Siena send a panicked look her way.

“Oh, did you invite him to Christmas too now and he just came late?” Orla joked.

“Is he here to see William?” Camden asked.

Aberdeen took a deep breath.  She felt like her heart was going to explode in her chest.  “Everybody listen,” she said loudly.  “Brendan cannot know William was here…is here.”

“Why can’t Brendan know about W—”

“I’ll lose my job, okay?” she said quickly.  Her parents’ eyes widened.  “Brendan doesn’t like the players, uh…he doesn’t…just please, please don’t ask me to explain.  Just take my word for it.  Just don’t mention anything and…please be normal.”  She knew Siena already knew.  And she knew her parents were good for it – though she’d have to explain to them in more detail later.  It was Camden she was worried about.  She looked down at him.  “You say a word about William being here and I take that Kyle Lowry jersey back and tell everyone at your school that you still sleep with Bubby.”

Bubby was the stuffed giraffe Camden got as a kid.  He slept with it religiously when he was small, but he didn’t still sleep with it, though it stayed perched on his shelf.  Camden grimaced but understood the ultimatum his sister was giving him – no kid would ever recover from that rumour being spread.  “Fine.”

Their doorbell rang.  Mirza moved to open the door.  He couldn’t even see Brendan’s face – it was obstructed by a giant basket.  “Oh my goodness!” he exclaimed, noticing it was teetering a bit.  “Let me help, let me help!” he said, taking some of the weight of the basket.  “Come in!  Come in!” he moved backwards, and the two men balanced the basket on the half-wall that separated the entrance from the front family room.  

Aberdeen felt like she was going to faint.  Brendan Shanahan was now in her front entrance while William Nylander was stuffed in her bedroom closet.  “You must be Mr. Bloom,” Brendan said, extending his hand to shake.  “And Mrs. Bloom,” he said once he noticed Orla, shaking her hand too.  “I’m Brendan Shanahan – I’m Aberdeen’s boss.”

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Brendan,” Orla smiled.  “Aberdeen speaks so highly of you.”

He waved and smiled at Aberdeen.  Then he noticed Siena and Camden.  “You must be Siena,” he smiled at her, “and Camden.”  Camden nodded enthusiastically and silently.  “I don’t mean to intrude on your Christmas,” Brendan held up his hands slightly.  “I just – well, my family and I are on our way to my mother’s house in Mimico.  I’m an Etobicoke boy too, you see.  And when Aberdeen told me her mother was another Belfast lass, well, I had to see for myself.”

Orla giggled.  Mirza had a smile on his face.  “Irish too, then?  Well, with a name like Shanahan, how could you not be?” Orla quipped.  

“I don’t mean to stay long – we’re already late as is – but I just wanted to pass this gift along as a token of my thanks and gratitude,” he said, motioning to the giant wrapped basket.   It had an assortment of things in it that Aberdeen couldn’t make out because she was scared William was going to scream out from the closet or walk around the corner any second and then she’d be out of a job.  She knew Camden would take it all apart the second Brendan left, anyway.

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that, Mr. Shanahan—” Orla said.

“No no, I insist.  It’s the least I could do,” he said.  “I’m sorry for taking your daughter away from you so much and having her travel to every corner of this continent.  I know it must be hard on you as parents.”

“It is,” Mirza said, “but she enjoys her job very much.  She’s always letting us know about the cool things she’s doing or the cities she’s going to.  She feels very fortunate to be in the position she’s in.”

“We’re very lucky to have her as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs team,” Brendan smiled warmly.  “Anyways, I’m so sorry for taking up your time,” he turned to leave.

“Don’t be sorry at all, Mr. Shanahan.  This is a very lovely gift, thank you.”

As he stepped through the threshold of the doorway, he turned back.  “If I want to drop by St. Leo and bring some of the boys, am I calling you?” he asked Orla.

“You bet your arse you are, because you’re not going to anyone else’s class but mine.”

Brendan smiled.  “I’ll call you to arrange something, then.  Have a very Merry Christmas.”

When the door closed, Aberdeen let out a sigh of relief.  “Was that harmless enough, Aberdeen?  Was it to your liking?” Orla asked sarcastically.

“Don’t.”

“Camden, go fetch mummy a card from the drawer in the kitchen so we can write a thank you note to Mr. Shanahan for this enormous basket full of…full of…” she stopped, eyeing the contents.  Suddenly, she jumped up.  “Oh Lord!  Oh heavens it’s a basket of Irish and British goodies!  And sweets!  Oh, bless that man!  Bless that man!”

Aberdeen didn’t care about sweets.  She thought about William in her closet and rushed towards her room.  She closed the door to her room behind her and opened the closet door to see him holding up her high school kilt, like he was examining it.  “What the fuck are you doing with that?”

He smirked at her.  “Can you wear this for me sometime?”

“Get out of there!” she ordered, snatching her kilt away from his hands as he giggled like the schoolgirl she once was.  She hung it back up in the back of her closet.  “You’re a perv.”

“Only for you,” he continued to giggle.

***

William held on to the Tupperware Orla had given him full of leftovers as he and Aberdeen stood on her front porch.  Aberdeen made sure not to get too close; partly because she had a feeling that at least one member of her family was spying through a window, but also, because if she got close to him, she didn’t know what she’d do.  

William had charmed her entire family.  Her mother invited him back for Easter.  Camden thought he was the coolest guy around.  Siena understood now why Aberdeen was so drawn to him.  And Mirza – well, Mirza just liked him.  Thought he was a good kid.  And he was a good kid.  Despite his upbringing and despite his job being one of the stars of the Leafs, he was just a humble, polite, guy when he came over – just a guy from Sweden who worked with Aberdeen.  Aberdeen thought that maybe that’s all he wanted to be when he was around her – just a guy from Sweden.  Not William Nylander, hockey star.  He certainly showed that he liked and preferred it that way.

“You’re coming to Jersey, right?” he asked.  She nodded her head.  “What about New Years?”

“I’ll be there,” she nodded again.  “Kinda sucks that we won’t get to spend it here, though.  I think this is the first New Year’s I’ll spend outside of Toronto.”

“Well it has to be extra special, then,” he smiled.  

Aberdeen bit her lip.  She didn’t know what that meant.  A part of her didn’t want to know while another part of her did.  “Will…” she began.

“Minskatt?”

“Why didn’t you ever move on from me?”

William was taken aback by the question.  The notion was absurd to him.  “Why would I ever want to do that?”

Aberdeen couldn’t believe his answer.  Was there really nobody else for him?  Nobody in Sweden that summer he could have had fun with?  Nobody in Toronto he could call?  She didn’t know why he insisted on his life revolving around just her when she’d barely given him anything the past six months, three of which were spent in two separate continents.  Was he insane?  Was she?

A car pulled up in front of the house, and Aberdeen knew it was his Uber.  He glanced at it before taking one last look at her.  “Have a good night, Aberdeen.  I’ll see you Thursday morning.”

She watched him get into the car, watched it pull out of the driveway and drive down the street.  When she opened the door and stepped back into her house, she saw Siena waiting for her.  “You’re fucked,” was all she said.

Aberdeen nodded.  If other people could see it, then she needed to start accepting it.  “I know.”

[transsergio]

Emotions That I Simply Do Not Have (Read on AO3)

Chapter 3 - His And Hers, For Better Or Worse Chapter 2 - I'm Not Gonna Repeat Myself Chapter 1 - More Like A Relapse

Penemily + Hotchreid / Mature / 2011 words in this chapter

Emily and Penelope put their plan into motion; Spencer arrives. (This is the final chapter of this fic! thank you to everyone who kept up with it this week!)

Hotch’s advances stop. Or, become marginally less obvious.

In his third text this week, Hotch asks, “Do you need anything from break room?” It is only Tuesday. Emily knows that if she lifts her head, she will see his beady black eyes through the glass. He’ll be staring at her, hoping to see her fingers working over her tiny keys, telling him that yes, she’d appreciate a bottle of water or any other menial task that will bring him out to the bullpen. She’d rather text Penelope to peek through the security cameras, to see exactly how far their one-night stand has gotten her. Yes, sleeping with the boss comes with great advantages, like your office becoming a cage.

Emily does her paperwork in silence. She’s hellbent on leaving at four forty-five, no matter what Hotch might throw at her to keep her in his line of sight. At four thirty, Emily turns off her cell’s ringer. She is escaping to her salvation, a night of face masks and a season rerun of the Bachelor with her girlfriend. As she closes down her computer and organizes her files, she glances about. Derek is long gone, citing a date with his television, couch, and dog. Reid finished his work hours ago, but plays chess against himself until Emily’s ready to head out together. And JJ is on a phone call, likely with Will, likely about to tell their son she’ll be home a little late again. Emily doesn’t see Rossi, but at his age, you never know how many bathroom breaks he’ll need.

As Emily rises with her back to Hotch’s door, Reid follows. They head to the elevators. She’s excited to dish about her later plans, as Spencer is her only known ally outside of Penelope. In return, Spencer tells her about his last date.

“You’re saying he forced you to make eye contact?” Emily asks as the elevator encapsulates them.

“Yeah. It was the most uncomfortable dinner I’ve had yet. Every time I was looking elsewhere while I spoke, he’d say, ‘Eyes on me.’ I don’t think we’ll be going out again,” Spencer adds with a chuckle.

Emily raises her eyebrows. “No kidding. Maybe we could get him on some kind of watchlist for bad first impressions.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, but I did block his number before the night was over.”

Emily laughs and bumps Spencer with her elbow. “I don’t blame you.”

The elevator dings and releases them on the parking level. Emily makes for her car and Spencer for the subway, despite Emily’s repeat offer to drop Spencer off herself. A part of her is glad, though. She wants to get home fast and not leave a second empty.

By home, of course, she means Penelope’s apartment in all its purple and glitter. They’re settled in her living room by five-thirty, television hooked up and face masks elegantly adorned, a blanket solidifying them as one happy mass. They plow through three episodes before they remember the masks could’ve come off halfway through the first, and that they haven’t ordered dinner.

“Pizza sound good?” Emily emerges from their cocoon, stretches, and finds Penelope’s stash of takeout menus in the kitchen.

Penelope joins her at the counter. “Hm. Maybe Thai? Wait, what’s with the face?”

“Nothing.” Emily tries to mask her shudder. “Just… Hotch, he mentioned something about Thai in one of his messages.”

“What, did it give him diarrhea?” Penelope teases. She looks for Emily’s little smile and the crease between her eyebrows, the sign that Penelope was funny even if Emily won’t admit it. It doesn’t come. Penelope recalibrates. “No worries. We'll get something else then.”

“I’m sick of it, Pen,” Emily says. She slaps the menus down. “If he’s making my job harder and me less effective, why should I stay in the department? Our communication is horrible, I’m agitated in the field, and I can’t get him to stop. I’m running out of options.”

“Okay, slow down.” Penelope rubs Emily’s back in light, soothing circles. “You’re hungry and fed up, and you have every right to be, but let’s have some food before making big decisions like leaving the job that lets me call you every hour. I’ll pick. You get comfy. Go, shoo.” And she scoots Emily into the living room with a pat on the ass.

“Fine,” Emily raises her hands in surrender, “fine, I’m going.”

When dinner arrives (gyros from the Mediterranean place a couple blocks over), Emily devours hers. It’s gone before Penelope can pry the foil from her own meal, and Emily’s head is where her plate used to be.

“Oh, Angel,” Penelope sympathizes. “It’s going to be fine.”

Emily nods against the table. “Yeah, I think so. But I don’t want him fired. He’s a good leader, and he needs this job. His wife died, and before that they were in witness protection. That’s got to do something to a person, right? He risked everything and he lost it all.”

Penelope chews thoughtfully. “Maybe we don’t need to get Hotch fired, but we can play it like survival of the fittest – as long as you’re faster than somebody else, he won’t catch you.”

“What?”

“I was watching this thing on the Discovery channel about jungle cats hunting and how they go for the weakest of the pack. It was really sad because you don’t want the lions to starve and at the same time you don’t want the antelope to die, but that’s not the point. If we latch him onto someone else, he’ll forget all about you.” Penelope wipes her hands clean. “Like magic, you’re free!”

For a moment, Emily has hope. Of course they can hook him up with someone else. It’s what every classic sitcom Emily raised herself on has implemented. There’s only one problem. “We don’t know any single straight women.”

A wicked smile flashes across Penelope’s face. “Who said anything about a woman?”

*

“Are you sure you want to do this? A workplace relationship is exactly what I’m running from,” Emily says.

Spencer’s voice crackles over the line. “It’s honestly fine. According to the exit polls of the 2008 elections, about four percent of Americans were gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Roughly one-hundred and thirty-one point three million people voted. If every vote counted also answered that exit poll, that would be approximately five million, two-hundred and fifty-two thousand people identifying as such.”

“Yeah?”

“Hotch could be one of them, is all I’m saying.”

“Right. But I want to be sure you’re comfortable.”

“Emily, I promise. I wouldn’t be going if I couldn’t handle it. Besides, if he’s as straight as he looks, we’ll have awkward small talk and I’ll go home. It won’t kill me.”

“If you say so. Oh, I’ve got to go, Spence. Good luck,” Emily says. She snaps her phone shut and turns.

Penelope stands in her kitchen with two glasses of wine. She wears neon pink lingerie, a 1960’s inspired sheer robe with fur trim, layered over a matching slip.

“You’ve got to go?” Penelope sips her glass and leaves a pink lipstick print around the rim. “You’re going to leave me here all alone?”

Emily bites her lip. “Not a chance.”

*

An hour later, Emily and Penelope are curled around one another in Penelope’s lavender sheets. They’re sweaty, warm, and flushed.

“And you thought I couldn’t take your mind off it,” Penelope smirks. Her bragging is part bravado; she’s honestly glad Emily didn’t rip her robe to pieces.

“Eh,” Emily pants. “All part of my plan. I know how you love to be right.” And wow, did it ever feel so good to be wrong.

Penelope giggles and toys with Emily’s hair. She loves this part especially. When it’s just them, sleepy and well cared for, and Emily seems so defenseless. Her eyes are softer, her muscles lighter, and she lets Penelope put her loose strands into tiny braids. But this time, one of their ringers pops the bubble.

Emily hoists herself up and snatches her cell phone from the nightstand.

She turns to Penelope and mouths, “It’s Spence.”

Penelope hisses back, “Put him on speaker, dummy!”

So she does. The voices on the other end are muffled by fabric. It’s as if the phone is being rolled through a load of laundry. Penelope fumbles for the mute button and silences their side.

“It’s a butt-dial,” she says, her heart beating as rapidly as it was just minutes ago. “Oh my god, we really are secret agents.”

Emily tries not to encourage her. It’s thrilling, obviously, but her stomach twists. They’re invading Spencer’s privacy. “We should hang up.”

“Yeah, we really should,” Penelope agrees. Emily reaches for the red button that will disconnect them when they finally hear clearly.

“Um, is Jack home?” Spencer wonders.

“No, he’s with Jessica. If this is about a case, I don’t need to chance him hearing the details.”

“Actually,” Spencer coughs, “this is more of a… personal matter.”

“Oh? What’s up?” Hotch sounds genuine enough. He probably thinks of Spencer like a son. Emily wants to pull Spencer out and abort the plan. This is too far.

“I noticed you and Prentiss haven’t been cooperating well lately.” Spencer says, so naturally. “Emily’s my friend, and I was wondering if there’s anything I can do to help?”

A beat passes. “No, nothing that I’m aware of.” Hotch answers. “I respect you and your intentions, Spencer, but I don’t know—”

Spencer is curt. “I think you do.”

“I do, what?”

“You know. I think you might be the problem actually, sir.”

When Hotch doesn’t respond, Spencer continues. “I think you and Emily have a sexual history together. I think you’ve been trying to repeat that history, and she doesn’t want to. I think you’re looking for a way to forget Haley while you grieve her, and that you believe Emily is the solution. In reality, you’re looking for someone to dominate and let you feel in control while your life spirals out from under you, and for someone who will reject you so these wishes go unfulfilled and you aren’t at fault – the other party is. I think it stems from the guilt you feel regarding Haley’s death, both in that you blame yourself for making her a target, and that you couldn’t stop Foyet from killing her.”

Emily and Penelope exchange glances. Spencer has said everything the team considered privately, and tied it back to Prentiss in one neat, factual statement. All that was left was the aspect the team couldn’t predict; how Hotch would react.

“Do you want a drink, Reid?”

What?

“Uh, sure? What- what kind?”

“I have scotch, lemonade, and Juicy Juice.”

“Lemonade sounds good.”

“Good.”

Dishes clatter as Hotch pours for them. Emily and Penelope wait, hanging up completely disregarded.

A cushion wheezes nearby. Hotch’s voice is now much closer. They can feel his vibrato through the tinny speakers. He asks, “Are you confident in your profile?”

Spencer takes a gulp of his drink. “Fairly so, sir, yes.”

“And if I asked you to prove it?”

“Sir?”

“You’re positing that I want to dominate someone and simultaneously, am hoping to be rejected. If you’re right, I’ll make my move and be discouraged when you give me the go-ahead. Maybe I’ll even have a breakdown. Sobbing, psychosis, the works. Do you want to find out?”

“Okay,” Penelope throws up her hands. “This feels icky again. No. Uh-uh. I don’t wanna know.”

Emily shushes her sharply. They’ve just missed a piece of the conversation. “Hold on, hold on.”

“And you’re sure about this?” Hotch questions.

“I’m sick of everyone asking me that.” The other line rustles into white noise. Briefly, it clears. They hear two gasps and what has to be the fumble of bodies.

Hotch rasps, “Come upstairs.”

“And that’s enough!” Penelope slaps the cell phone shut. “I need some air.”

“No kidding.” Emily shakes her head. “Maybe I missed my shot.”

“You take that back.”

Emily leans into her girlfriend, grinning all the while. “Make me.”

[kindajared]

CAT BOY JOHNNY

Hello! yes...this is 3k+ words because I got carried away...NSFW BABEY 18+ IM LOVE HIM YOU G U Y S (Looks like I’m big dumbass and didn’t incorperate his handicap and I hate myself, but please enjoy anyway)

You were nervous, really nervous. Your friends pressured you into doing this and you couldn’t refuse them…you were weak when it came to these things; anything for your friends. Jeez, so much for having a strong will. But how could you refuse something like this? It would be a new experience and you supposed you didn’t mind, but God, you were nervous.

A Catboy…it was hard to say it aloud. The only reason you even thought this would be a good idea was because your friend had one, Gyro, and he was absolutely lovely. They wanted you to get this one in particular because he and Gyro were close or had been before he was taken from him. They couldn’t live without each other, yet your friend only had the means for one…So, this was perfect. They could see each other whenever the wanted.

This one’s name was Johnny. He had had soft blue eyes and shoulder length blond hair and was thinthin. He was absolutely adorable and you were happy to take him in. One thing you weren’t aware of, was his personality…which was something that largely contributed to your nervousness.

--

You were driving back to your apartment with him in the passenger seat, his arms crossed and looking out the window. You glanced over at him now and again, hoping he would speak up rather than you. You sighed.

“Are you exited to see Gyro?”

You asked with a small smile, watching the road. Johnny’s ear perked up slightly from under his beanie and his attention turned to you, tail exposed. He gave a nod.

“More than anything.”

He replied. Your smile only grew. So this wasn’t so bad for him, you were glad. You had a little more to say.

“I just hope this doesn’t feel traumatic for you. Does it?”

You asked with a glance. You heard him shift in his seat and he shook his head quickly.

“I knew it was going to happen eventually. I’ll be fine.”

You bit your bottom lip and nodded. Good. This was good. You thought to yourself before you arrived back at your apartment just minutes later.

You went to open the car door for him, but he got out himself, hunched over like a moping child. You took a breath in before you walked up the concrete stairs to your apartment, him following close behind.

You both entered after unlocking the door, both nonchalantly kicking of your shoes before closing the door. You noticed Johnny sniffing the air. You lifted your brows.

“Smell okay?”

You asked him, hoping for the answer you desired.

“Mhm. I think it’s safe to say it smells good actually.”

He finally cracked a smile and you felt your heart could sing. You walked forward then, setting your bag and keys down on the entryway table. You let out a happy hum.

“Here, follow me.”

You motioned for Johnny to follow you and he did, both just steps from the living room. You held your arms out towards the simplistic living room; couch, coffee table and a television, your laptop and a book laying out. Johnny looked it over.

“Not much, I know, but it’s cozy enough. I hope it works for you.”

You looked at him and he nodded.

“I like it.”

You smiled once more, walking towards your next stop, the kitchen. It wasn’t big. Enough for two people to stand in. Fridge with a freezer, sink, stove and a microwave and a few cabinets and drawers.

“I don’t always have much, but I stocked up. I don’t know what you like, so I got a lot of different things.”

You spoke before you heard breathing in your ear, sniffing. You turned to see that Johnny was smelling you, reaching up to touch your hair. You swallowed, not knowing what to do or say. You just assumed this was some sort of greeting, maybe even a sign of affection? You could only hope so.

“Thanks. I’m sure I’ll like it all. I honestly didn’t expect you to be so nice. I think I might like it here.”

He spoke softly and you couldn’t help but blush.

“You think? That’s great!”

You were getting exited and Johnny could clearly tell, smile back on his face You couldn’t help but relish looking into his blue eyes, they were so gentle. You cleared your throat and walked past him, showing him the decent sized bathroom before the bedroom, which you had the decency to clean for him, making the bed and all. You opened the door to reveal a queen-sized bed, small closet, vanity and a laundry basket. Johnny looked it all over, walking forward to sit on the bed, patting it.

“I like it- I really like it.”

He gave his approval, and you couldn’t help but clap your hands together.

“Oh, that’s great, Johnny!”

You could squeal then, but you held that back. You then put your hands back down at your sides.

“Are you hungry?”

You asked him. You knew for a fact that he didn’t eat kibble or lap up water with his tongue, so you assumed he ate like anyone else. He replied.

“Starving.”

You put a finger to your chin and looked down momentarily before looking back up with an idea.

“Pizza?”

You offered. Johnny lifted a brow and you became nervous. Did he not like pizza? He leaned forward.

“You read my mind! How did you know?”

The excitement in his voice was something new. You wear so happy. This would work out, after all. You nodded, backing out of the doorway.

“What kind do you like?”

You asked. He grinned.

“I’ll eat anything. You choose.”

You nearly melted. You nodded and left for the kitchen, calling the local pizza place and ordering plain pepperoni. What could you say? You had simple tastes. You also ordered a sprite, not being able to hold back the temptation for soda.

You went back to the bedroom after ordering to find Johnny cuddled up on the bed with on of your pillows, grabbing and kneading at it. His eyes were closed, and he was smiling. He couldn’t have been more adorable if he tried.

“Pizza’ll be here in a jiff.”

You leaned against the doorway, not being able to help but watch him. He looked up at you then.

“What are you doing?”

His brows were furrowed in some sort of confusion and you widened your eyes. What did you do?”

“Uhhh, I’m sorry, I don’t-.”

“Come here, please.”

His lip was slightly pouted. You immediately went and crawled on the bed, quickly up next to him. He immediately embraced you, nuzzling his face into your neck. You noticed he was purring, and you giggled, reaching up to push his beanie off so that you could scratch behind his ears. He hummed softly and you felt his rough tongue against your neck, making you gasp. He pulled back.

“Is that okay? I can’t help it. It feels so good. No one’s touched me in a long time.”

He sounded worried, as if he did was completely unwanted. You shook your head, placing a hand on the side of his face.

“Don’t be silly. It’s fine. I like how it feels.”

You assured him. He smiled, his soft purr returning as he was quickly back at your neck, licking strips up to your ear. You shuddered at the feeling and Johnny noticed, arm sliding around your waist and pulling you close. You hummed, moving your other hand to scratched under his chin. Johnny sighed and moved his face so that he could press his lips to yours, you made a noise of surprise and he pulled away.

“Something wrong?”

He had that same look of worry. You stumbled over your words.

“No, I, uh...I’m not sure if I want this. I didn’t bring you home for this.”

You told him. He looked away, frowning. He sat up and brought his knees to his chest. Your eyes widened and you sat up with him.

“Johnny, all I mean is…”

You paused, finding your words.

“You don’t have to do all of that. I want to take care of you, that’s all. We don’t have to, you know…”

You explained. He didn’t look back, just buried his face in between his knees and spoke, voice weak.

“You don’t want to?”

He sounded like he was on the verge of tears. You moved up next to him and took ahold of his face, brining it up so that he would look at you.

“I do want to, Johnny. I wasn’t worried about me. I was worried about you. What you wanted.”

You sighed before smiling, hoping he might return it. He blinked.

“So you-?”

Then the doorbell rang before Johnny could finish and you set you pushed some of his hair behind his ear.

“Let’s eat first, okay? I think we’re both hungry. Sound good?”

You asked kindly. He only nodded before you moved off the bed and held out your hand for him to take. When he was up you placed a kiss on his cheek before hurrying to the door. Johnny stood in place momentarily, hand on his cheek, blushing. He smiled to himself before walking out to the living room where you had set everything up for the two of you. He was quick to plop down on the couch, he loved pizza.

The two of you didn’t even use plates when you ate, taking sips of sprite from two different glasses in-between bites, barely making conversation, just making sound of pleasure. You both hadn’t had pizza in a long time.

“This makes me think of Gyro.”

Johnny spoke up after finishing a slice. Your attention turned to him and you finished chewing before replying.

“How about we see him tomorrow? Wanna do that?”

You asked, of course knowing the answer. Johnny nodded excitedly.

“Yes please, (Y/N)!”

He went in to tackle you with a hug, but you blocked him with your knee.

“No way! You’re all greasy!”

You laughed when Johnny pouted, but he was quick to laugh himself.

“Fair enough, I guess.”

He gave up before finishing his drink and sighing, rubbing his stomach.

“Thanks for this. It was awesome, if I do say so myself.”

He thanked you with a nod of his head. He stood up then.

“Can I go shower?”

He asked. You finished your slice and nodded.

“Of course! Everything in there is self-explanatory, so I don’t think you need a manual.”

You told him. He chuckled and nodded.

“Good to know. I’ll be back.”

“Wait!”

You stopped him and he turned around.

“I got you some clothes to sleep in. They should be on my bedside table. Thought I should let you know.”

He chuckled, lifting his shoulder before he just nodded and walked away. You sighed before turning back to finish your drink, proceeding to clean up, extra pizza in the fridge. You listened as the shower ran. You couldn’t help but imagine how Johnny looked…the water running down his back, ears and tail soaking, blond hair smoothed back. It made you bite your lip as you continued to your bedroom.

You proceeded to put on some loose shorts and a long T-Shirt, nothing special. The water had been off in the shower for long enough, so you went and knocked on the door.

“I hope you’re still alive in there.”

The door then opened to reveal Johnny in nothing but a towel. He looked as you imagined but better. You had to keep yourself from staring.

“I-I just gotta brush my teeth. I got a toothbrush for you too.”

You slid by him and retrieved your toothbrush from its place next to the sink, pointing to Johnny’s. You both brushed your teeth together, bumping you hips together now and again, making each other smile. Once you were done you looked at him with a toothy smile.

“Look good?”

You asked. He nodded.

“Those are some pearly white if I’ve ever seen any.”

He complimented. You chuckled before moving past him, butterflies in your stomach. He was too perfect; you couldn’t believe it.

You then slid into bed; nightstand lamp the only think lighting the room. You nearly drifted off to sleep before you felt Johnny slide in behind you, youbbeing on your side.

“You can turn the light off now.”

He told you, and you did as he said, reaching up for it. Johnny was quick to wrap his arms fully around you, pressing his frond up against your back. You felt his breath against the back of your neck, but the smile you had faded when you felt something hard against your back. You swallowed as Johnny began to rub himself up against you, purring  loudly into your ear.

“Johnny?”

“Yeah?”

He replied in a gentle tone.

“You uh-have-.”

He chuckled in reply, pulling you as close as he could. You gasped when his cock fully pressed up against your back.

“I can’t help it. I’ll stop if you want…”

His tone changed to one you had heard before…disappointment. You could practically see his pout without even looking his direction. Even if you were, it was pitch black. You sighed,

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

You just felt you should point it out, though now you felt stupid. Of course, he knew he had a hard on, it was his cock, after all.

You gasped when you felt something phallic slip in between your thighs. You whimpered as it began to slide in and out. Johnny spoke.

“Can I do this? It feels good.”

He asked you, giving the shell of your ear a lick. You arched your back into him and nodded.

“Yeah- Yeah, go ahead.”

You gave him approval and he continued, cock shifting higher and higher until you could feel in against your crotch. You let out a hum and your chest tightened. You could feel yourself quickly getting wet. Johnny was purring and biting at your ear, groping at your breasts. You let out a soft moan.

“Johnny…”

You placed your hand on his, over your chest. Johnny gave your neck a soft nip.

“I want you- I want to be inside you, (Y/N).”

His voice was still so sweet, breath hot. You pressed half of your face into the pillow.

“Another night? Not yet, okay? I’m sorry, just…not yet.”

Johnny whimpered at your answer to his question. Though he had to sigh in acceptance.

“Can I touch you?”

Was his follow up. Your licked your lips and curled your toes, letting out a shaky breath

“I-If you want to, g-go ahead.”

You gripped your pillow. It’ not that you didn’t want him to fuck you, you just felt it wasn’t time; you had just met that day. after all.

You gasped when you felt slim fingers slide into your shorts, bypassing your panties to touch your bare pussy. You squirmed, breathing quickly.

“Shh.”

Johnny hushed you as he slid his finger into your slick folds. He hummed.

“You’re really wet. That from me?”

He asked you. You nodded, whimpering softly.

“Mmm, mhm.”

Was what you managed to reply with. Johnny took ahold of your ear with his theeth and tugged at it as his middle finger began to circle your clit slowly. You sucked in a breath and clenched your jaw. It had been a long time since anyone had touched you like this.

“You’re so cute.”

He did in fact purr as he pressed his finger down, wiggling it. You took your bottom lip into your mouth.

“Mmm, Johnny, that feels-.”

“Good? I could have guessed.”

He knew what you were going to say, but that was no surprise. His ring finger slid down to your entrance and you pressed your ass up against him, making him grunt in pleasure.

“Keep doing that, please.”

He breathed. You began to roll your hips back up against him and he groaned.

“(Y/N..”

He nuzzled is face into your neck as he slid a finger into your hole, eagerly rubbing your slick walls.

“Nnn, Johnny, fuck…”

Your breath hitched. His purring only made this hotter. You could feel his tail wrap around your thigh and you hummed. Johnny slipped another finger into you, surprised you were already ready for it. You grabbed at the sheets, gasping as he pleasured you with his fingers, sliding them in and out at an agonizing pace.

“Johnny please, go fast- I want it faster.”

You practically whined. Johnny did as you asked, fingering you quickly, slipping a third one in for the hell of it. You squirmed up against him, gasping over and over again. You reached behind your own head to tangle your fingers in his hair, scratching the back of his head. He groaned, pressing his lips against your neck for a sloppy kiss before he opened his mouth, sucking and biting to create a mark.

“I-I’m-.”

You could barely speak as he fucked you with his fingers, pressing them against your walls as he hooked them now and again. Your eyes threatened to roll back as he spoke.

“Do it for me. I want to feel you on my fingers.”

He panted into your ear. You sucked in a breath as you felt that familiar white-hot feeling in your core, an amazing stinging feeling. You reached your climax with one last thrust of his fingers, cumming all over them, coating them in their entirety. You panted and shook in the aftershock of your orgasm. You took your hand away from Johnny’s head and were quick to flip yourself over to face him.

“Johnny.”

You spoke his name through challenging breaths.

“Hm?”

He licked at his fingers, sliding them into his mouth and smiling, though you couldn’t quite see. You managed to find his face when you reached for it, pulling him in for a sloppy kiss, as you missed your mark. You both laughed softly.

So, this was a Catboy…well, this wasn’t just any Catboy, this was Johnny…and he was perfect in every way. You would care for and love him for as long as you could; he was yours now.

“Hey Johnny?”

“Yeah?”

You spoke.

“You haven’t cum, have you?”

Johnny chuckled.

“Nope.”

You kissed him again, correctly this time.

“Then, I suppose it’s your turn. Is that fair?”

Johnny’s purring returned.

“That’s fair.”

[prettywordsyouleft]

The Catch

Prompt: #199 for anon – “Sorry if I made you cry.”

Anonymous said:

Hi! I don’t know if I did this right, but can I request for the game #199 with JB (got7) please and thank you❤️

Pairing: Im Jaebum x reader

Genre: fluff

Warnings: there is a glossed over sex scene

Word count: 1633

Falling for Jaebum happened far too easily. The first meeting had left you wanting more and apparently it had been the same for him, the man gravitating towards a space in your heart that he claimed within mere weeks of knowing him.

You decided you would fall in love with him, and were on the fast track to doing so.

But something made you hesitate, and it had to do with how easy everything was.

“Surely, there’s a catch,” you murmured as you shifted closer to Jaebum after a delicious meal and night out at the movies. His arm was effortlessly wrapped around you and he glanced down, smiling at you despite the curiosity within his eyes. You grinned. “This is going all too well.”

“Should it not?”

“Well, I’m not saying that I don’t appreciate that it is,” you commented, knitting your brows together as you tried to think of how to word yourself.

“There should be a catch,” Jaebum agreed a moment later. He held up his free hand and started counting his points with his fingers. “You’re funny, gorgeous, passionate, and when we kiss-”

Blushing, you reached out to grab his hand as he chuckled. “The list for you is just as long.”

“Is it?”

“Must I tell you?” you asked, leaning towards his head that had lowered just enough for you to reach his lips. Even kissing had you working together naturally without any awkward moments.

After stealing your breath away, Jaebum rested his forehead on yours. “Tell me more at mine?”

Nodding, you couldn’t help but grow excited at the prospect of this next step in your relationship. Maybe the catch was him himself. You had gotten lucky to have reeled him in thus far, and frankly, you weren’t about to let him go.

That was apparent by the way you held his hand on the trip to his apartment, and all the way to the front door. Jaebum then scratched at his head shyly. “I uh, wasn’t planning on any visitors.”

“It’s good we chose your place and not mine, I’m certain I have dirty laundry on my floor,” you confessed to ease his worries and Jaebum grinned before putting in the code to open the door.

Passion blinded your ability to take in his apartment. As soon as the door clicked shut behind you both, hands moved just as fast as your mouths did, moans leaving you as he hoisted you up into his arms, carrying you along to what you presumed to be his bedroom. And if you had already thought everything within your relationship had been amazing, you hadn’t been ready for the mind-altering sex that you had that night.

Nor, were you prepared for the stuffiness of your nose and the tears in your eyes when you were done expressing your adoration for one another.

Jaebum frowned lightly. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?”

“You’re crying, Y/N,” he mentioned softly, reaching to wipe away the tears that had seemingly fallen down your cheeks. You blinked rapidly as his dark gaze regarded you. “Sorry was I…?”

“No!” you exclaimed, shaking your hands repeatedly. “No, I enjoyed every moment with you.”

Jaebum still didn’t relax. “I’ve never had a partner cry after sex.”

“I’m not normally one to do so either. My nose just feels really stuffy.”

“Are you feeling unwell?” he wondered, sitting up and half out of the bed in a panic, evidently trying to think of what to give you.

“I don’t think so,” you murmured, taking his hand and stopping him from leaving you. “Hold me?”

Smiling, despite the concern still within his eyes, Jaebum slipped back under the covers and pulled you to his chest, sighing in content as he stroke at your hair repeatedly.

Soon, whatever worries you were having melted away and you fell asleep, completely unaware of what had triggered your reaction in the first place.

However, you were quick to discover it in the morning light. Slowly sitting up, you were aware of several things. Your eyes hurt and were sore to the touch. And your nose was incredibly stuffy.

This would be the catch.

Of course, you would have caught a cold and be embarrassingly sick the morning after sleeping with Jaebum for the first time. If the world could swallow you up whole now, you would have gladly accepted.

Except, as you sat up and took in Jaebum’s belongings, your gaze faulted on something in the corner of his room.

Oh no.

Just then, whilst you were dealing with the turmoil of your discovery, languid kisses began being littered over your bare arm until Jaebum shifted enough to reach the side of your neck. “I could get used to waking up like this.”

“Huh?” you breathed, cringing at how stuffy you sounded.

It was enough to remove the sleep from his eyes, Jaebum soon narrowing his gaze on you. “Y/N, are you...”

“We have a problem,” you explained, quickly covering your mouth and nose as you sneezed. Jaebum immediately felt your forehead and you shook your head against his hand. “I’m allergic to you.”

“To me?” he echoed and you shook your head rapidly, feeling your cheeks grow warm at your mix up.

“To your home.”

“I’m not following.”

Pointing to the cat stand in the corner of the room, you sighed. “I’m allergic to the owner of that.”

“Owners,” Jaebum lamented, and rubbed at his face before laughing bitterly. “You’re allergic to cats?”

“Horribly. I can’t believe I didn’t realise it last night when I started to have all the symptoms. I guess I was too love-drunk by what happened between us.”

Jaebum’s lips slowly curled up. “Love-drunk?”

“Oh, uh-”

“Can you take something for your allergies?” he continued, brushing your hair away from your face.

Nodding, you smiled. “I have medication for it.”

“So you’re not allergic to me.”

“Just your furbabies.”

“Well, they are a part of me,” he said and you nodded.

“I wouldn’t expect you to think differently about them just because I’m allergic.”

Jaebum leaned in to kiss you briefly. “No, but I can make sure to limit things to help you be around me. It’s the catch we were looking for, right?”

You smiled. “Right. Besides, there’s always my home.”

“Well, when you put it like that,” he murmured sensually, and then scrunched his face up at you as he pulled away. “Babe, your nose.”

“Oh!” Wiping at it quickly, you then clasped a hand to your head and laughed desperately. “I’m a mess.”

“Thankfully at your house, you won’t have to worry about this.”

“So next time we meet up, do you want to come over?”

Jaebum nodded. “I’m serious about us. What did you say before? I’m love-drunk about us.”

Smiling, you couldn’t wait to enjoy further intimacy with Jaebum, and once you were medicated and in your own home, you’d have no runny nose and red eyes to hold you back from doing so.

Alas, it was Jaebum’s turn to react though.

“Wait, you’re allergic to dogs?” you breathed incredulously, watching your dog Nero bounce around your boyfriend who was trying his best not to touch him. “I can’t believe this.”

“I’m not as bad as you, I don’t think,” he mumbled, smiling at Nero’s energy and then looked at you. “But yeah, I’m allergic to dogs.”

“Do you want to go home then? I don’t want you to-”

Kissing you with a hunger that wasn’t meant for the kitchen, your thought process stopped entirely. And then Jaebum sniffled. “Okay, so maybe there’s more to it than I thought.”

You noticed his watery eyes and couldn’t help but laugh. “Sorry if I made you cry.”

“Well, we did say everything was going too smoothly between us.”

“There had to be an obstacle somewhere along the line,” you concluded, fishing around in your purse before presenting some medication. “Do you take this brand?”

“At least we can commiserate like this, huh?” Taking the medicine and the water you offered him, Jaebum then moved back into your space. “I’m not very attractive right now, am I?”

“I mean, you’re definitely more humanlike. Before, I was certain the Gods had sculpted you themselves.”

Laughing, despite how blocked up he sounded, Jaebum then shook his head. “That was cheesy but I love it – I love you.”

“I love you too,” you responded, grinning with how easily it rolled off the tongue. Jaebum’s expression mirrored yours. “Even if my dog makes you cry.”

“And my cats’ hair makes your nose itch.”

“Do you think we can be together for a long time?” you wondered as Jaebum leaned in closer to you.

“Maybe we’ll grow immune to our allergies.”

“And if we don’t?” you countered, brushing his hair away from his face.

Jaebum laughed. “Then it looks like I’ll be taking medication to be around your dog.”

“It’s a small price to pay since everything else is perfect, right?”

Kissing you, Jaebum nodded. “Besides, we’ve both seen each other looking disgusting after an allergic reaction now. If that doesn’t put us off, nothing will.”

“I happen to like cats a great deal,” you told him with a smile and Jaebum laughed.

“Your dog is pretty cute too.”

“As cute as me?”

Jaebum scooped you up into his arms as you giggled. “Let’s see if after making love if I’m crying like you did or not.”

“Hey! That was because of my allergies!”

“Hm, well for me, it might because of you,” Jaebum announced, waiting for you to give direction to your room.

You hadn’t thought about your pets being the cause to a problem between you both, but knowing that was all that was in your way made you hopeful that the rest would come just as easily as everything else had.

_________________

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[dawninlatin]

We’re not getting a pet, love

Part of the Manorian Teacher AU

This was requested by @biaguiar11​. Sorry for taking so long, hope you like it:)

Words: 2307

AO3 Link

Masterlist

A/N: I would like to dedicate this fic to my cat, Chewbacca. Had you not been so adorable this morning, this piece of shit never would have existed. *tears up* I love you man<3<3

Also feel free to leave a comment, telling me what you think;)

«Come on!»

«No.»

«Manon, please.» Dorian tried his very best to make sad-puppy eyes at his girlfriend, pouting his lip, all of it to convince her that they simply had to get a cat.

«We’re not getting a cat, and if you send me one more GIF of cute kittens I will block you on all social media.» She was glaring at him from across the counter, and Dorian would be lying if he said it didn’t terrify him slightly.

They’d been having this discussion for weeks, but she wouldn’t budge. Dorian insisted that it was the natural step to take next in their relationship - they’d recently bought a house - and honestly, every home should have a cat.

Too bad Manon didn’t agree.

«But just imagine a teeny, tiny, adorable kitten curling up against you, with it’s tiny paws and tiny, little face.» The image was so adorable it made Dorian tear up a little.

Manon shook her head, giving him an annoyed look. «Kittens aren’t adorable. They’re cunning, vicious little creatures that will kill you in your sleep,» she said, shuddering.

«Don’t tell me the Manon Blackbeak is afraid of kittens?» 

«Pfft, I’m not afraid of kittens,» Manon claimed, but Dorian noticed the way she didn’t meet his eyes, the way she bit her lip. His girlfriend was many things, but a good liar was not one of them. 

Dorian was baffled. Even if he hated that word, it was the only way to truly describe how shocked he was at this admittance. She was the one who killed the spiders in their relationship, after all. «So getting a pet snake is fine with you, but you’re afraid of a cat?»

Last week, when they’d had the exact same argument, Manon had suggested that if he was so eager to get a pet, they could get a snake. He knew she’d said it just to shut him up, but he wouldn’t be surprised if he one day came home to them having a pet snake. The mere idea had him feeling a little sick. He’d told her as much then, but Manon had only grinned like a mad woman.

No way were they getting a snake.

«I’m done with this discussion,» was all she said before disappearing up the stairs.

Dorian wasn’t done though, and he stood up, trailing after her, all the way into their bedroom, where he found her putting away laundry. She always started cleaning when she was angry.

«Why can’t we get a cat?» he whined.

«I’m allergic,» she said, her words blunt. She didn’t even turn around to look at him, instead walking into the adjoining bathroom with a pile of clothes.

Flopping onto the bed, Dorian said, «We both know you’re not allergic.» He gave her a pointed stare as she reentered the room, stopping in the doorway.

«I just don’t understand why you absolutely have to get a cat.»

«I just don’t understand why you absolutely refuse to get a cat.» Dorian pouted once more, fluttering his eyelashes for extra effect.

Manon let out a long, annoyed sigh, but he knew her anger had faded based on the faint smile playing on her lips.

«Pets are a lot of work, Dorian. We’re busy enough as it is.»

This, at least, was an argument he had prepared for. «It isn’t. All you have to do is feed it twice a day, let it out when it has to pee and give it some love and attention. And you’re very good at the love and attention part!»

«But I have already decided that we’re not getting a cat.»

Turning so he lay on his stomach, he brought back the puppy eyes from earlier, and said, «But think of all the sad, lonely kittens at the animal shelter who doesn’t have anyone to love them…» Dorian pretended to wipe away a tear. Manon answered by giving him a deadly glare accompanied by her middle finger.

«Must you be so dramatic? I’m really dating a child…»

Dorian placed his head in his palms, kicking his legs just to further her point. «You love it when I’m dramatic.»

«I don’t,» Manon said, sitting down next to him.

«You do,» Dorian said, flicking her nose.

«Don’t boop me.»

«If we had a kitten I could boop them instead.»

Manon quickly stood up again, throwing her arms in the air as she let out a frustrated groan. «I’m not losing this argument!»

-

She had lost the argument.It was the only way to explain why she now found herself standing at the local animal shelter. 

Manon wanted to be mad, she really did, but Dorian was making it hard for her with his fawning over all the tiny, squeaking kittens.

«Oh, look at that one Manon. Isn’t it adorable?» 

No, they weren’t adorable, she wanted to say, eager to get it over with as soon as possible. They had come her straight after work, so she was tired, and hungry, and she didn’t even want to get a cat. This was all on Dorian.

But to be fair…he deserved this. Deserved to be happy. It was what had made her cave in the end, actually. 

Dorian had pouted his lips and made those puppy eyes for the billionth time and said, «Don’t you want me to be happy?» 

And truth be told…she would gladly endure a little ball of fur terrorizing their home if it meant the love of her life was happy.

Manon rolled her eyes at her own thoughts. Living with Dorian had made her soft…

Sensing her discomfort, Dorian placed a hand on her lower back, drawing her closer. He pressed a light kiss on her head before his attention shifted back to the small demons. 

But Manon couldn’t stay in here for much longer. Animals in cages, even if they were well cared for, and only here for a short while, had always made her uncomfortable, and the hall was too dark, too cramped, the walls coming closer, and then there was the gods-damned smell. Was this smell supposed to take permanent residence in her house from now on? She had to get out, had to get air-

«I’m sorry,» she mumbled to Dorian before heading towards the heavy door at the end of the hall. She’d nearly made it when a tiny squeak made her stop. 

She crouched down and peered into the dark cage. In one of the corners, she could make out a tiny, pitch-black kitten taking her in with big, sad eyes.

«What’s wrong with this one?» she asked the middle aged woman that had shown them around.

«He’s a fighter, that one,» the woman said, giving Manon a grim smile. 

«Born much smaller than the rest of the litter, so his mother abandoned him. When he came to us, he was so weak we didn’t think he would survive, but he fought with teeth and claws, and now he’s as healthy as any other cat.» She looked proud of the little black cat. «He still keeps to himself though, won’t go near the other cats, as afraid as he is. I swear he is even terrified of his own shadow.»

Hearing these words, Manon felt something strange settle deep inside, and she hardly had time to think before she announced to the room; «We want this one.»

Dorian, who’d made his way over to her, looked at the kitten, then back at Manon, and grinned. «If you say so.»

Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

-

This was a horrible idea.

When they’d first gotten home, the cat with them, Manon had gone straight to the shower, leaving Dorian to take care of it all.  

Once she emerged from the bathroom, nearly an hour later, Dorian was still sitting on the floor, and the cat was still inside the cardboard box they had carried him in. 

Apparently, Dorian had tried everything he could think of to coax the kitten out of his hiding spot, but he remained in the corner, curled up into a quivering ball. 

It wasn’t until he had spotted Manon, looking over the edge, that he had let out a high-pitched meow, making his way out of the box on stumbling feet.

«Him,» she tried explaining, pointing to Dorian, as the cat made his way towards her, «Go to him.» But the cat either didn’t understand, or he simply didn’t care, stopping right in front of her.

«I’m not your mother,» she told the creature, voice frantic. It was sitting on the floor, staring at her with big, yellow eyes. It blinked once, and Manon jumped off the floor.

«Okay, that cat is giving me the creeps, so I’ll leave you to it, I have work to do.» 

Dorian’s answering chuckle followed her into the kitchen, where she started making a much needed cup of coffee. She opened the cabinet and pulled out her favorite mug. The one shaped like a t-rex.

A yelp escaped her as she turned around to find the tiny, black kitten sitting right in front of her, head tilted slightly. «Holy sh-»

«I think he likes you,» Dorian said, appearing in the doorway. He was wearing his usual smug expression. 

«Nope, I can’t do it,» Manon said, taking a step forward. The cat followed, trailing her like a shadow. 

Deciding to distract him, Manon walked over to his bowls and stood there, waiting, until he began eating. Once she’d made sure he wouldn’t fall into his water bowl and drown, Manon hauled ass all the way to her study on the second floor, leaving Dorian with the horrid beast he had wanted so badly.

As the door shut behind her, she let out a sigh of relief. If the cat somehow managed to reach her now, she was moving out. He could just have the house.

Manon began to work, needing to plan her classes for tomorrow. She tried to focus on her task, but more often than not, her mind wandered off to what she was missing out on downstairs.

She truly didn’t care for the creature, but what if he was scared? Would he be able to settle in their home? He had been treated so horribly…had been so alone. Would he get the love and care he needed from them?

Cursing her boyfriend for putting her in this situation, Manon grabbed her laptop and dragged herself back down to the living room. 

What she didn’t expect to find was the house all quiet, Dorian sitting on the couch with a book, the cat nowhere to be seen. «Where is he?» she whispered carefully.

«Under the couch, sleeping. I think he likes dark corners.»

«Hm,» was all Manon said, sitting next to him. She opened her laptop once more and tried to focus on her work.

«Are you okay?» Dorian asked, and as she turned to look at him, she found concern softening his features.

She sighed. «Yes. I’ll get used to it…eventually.» She didn’t sound entirely convinced, but Dorian released a breath of relief.

«You know I love you, right?» Dorian asked, before standing up and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

«Yeah, and I love you,» she whispered back, pulling him down so his lips could meet hers.

As they broke apart, Dorian headed towards the stairs, announcing, «I’m taking a shower, won’t be long.»

Manon sunk further into the couch, fighting to stay awake. She just had to finish up her work-

A high-pitched meow interrupted her, and she looked down to find their cat trying to climb onto the couch, his claws imbedded deep into the fabric. «Not the couch,» Manon groaned softly, but there was no real reprimand in her voice. 

The kitten struggled to pull his tiny body onto the piece of furniture, and when he finally succeeded, Manon reached over to pet his little head. The movement felt awkward, but the cat’s eyes widened, and he quickly climbed onto Manon’s chest, before settling there, right over her heart. 

Manon’s whole body stiffened at first, nervous for what the beast would do next, but he only began purring, pressing his small paws against her chest. «Fine,» Manon whispered, giving in at last. She placed her laptop on the table, simply letting herself relax.

She began stroking him, and he answered by purring even louder.

«What a big day you must’ve had,» Manon said to the small cat. «I can’t imagine how scary it must be to move into such a big house with two strangers.»

He probably couldn’t understand her, but she kept going anyway.

«This is your home from now on. We’ll give you love and care, and I promise we won’t abandon you.» The kitten looked at her with those big eyes of his, meowing once. It made Manon’s heart feel all warm and fuzzy.

«We need to give you a name, too. Dorian wanted Batman, you know, since you’re all black, but one, that is the most uncreative, unoriginal name I have ever heard, and two, all the other cats will bully you for it, and we can’t have any of that, can we?» She gave him a serious look. «So I refused, you can thank me later.»

But Batman or not, the cat still needed a name. Manon searched her memory for anything that could fit. It had to be unique, and badass, and- 

«Abraxos.»

The cat lifted his head, staring at her.

«Your name is Abraxos,» Manon decided, marveling at how right it felt.

After that, he settled down, curling into a ball once more. Before Manon knew it, Abraxos was asleep, and at the small, warm weight on her chest, at the sound of him snoring softly, Manon smiled, knowing she already loved this cat very, very much.

[pocket-luv101]

Summary: Mahiru’s cousin visits him and he gets jealous when she flirts with Kuro. (KuroMahi)

“My aunt and cousin will stay in my uncle’s room for the weekend. You’ll have to stay in your animal form while they’re here. Toru talked to her parents and he told me they’re pretty strict. They said I can’t have guy friends over while my cousin is in the apartment.” Mahiru told Kuro as he carried a basket of clothes into his bedroom. “She’s the same age as us so I was surprised that they had rules against her meeting guys.”

“Isn’t this your home? You should be allowed to have your friends over. You were planning to have Misono and Tetsu over for a movie marathon, weren’t you?” Kuro was in his cat form and lounged in the basket full of warm clothes. He rolled onto his back and looked up at Mahiru. “We’re dating so they shouldn’t mind if I’m here. I’m not going to look at her.”

“She’s excited to visit Tokyo for that concert. Her parents might force her to leave if they find out I broke my promise to watch over my cousin. I don’t want anything to ruin her vacation.” He felt Mahiru set down the basket but he didn’t move to leave the nest of clothes. “I need to finish my chores before my cousin gets here so help me fold these clothes. Half of them are yours, anyways.”

“But my little kitty paws can’t grab the clothes properly. Too troublesome.” While Mahiru rolled his eyes at his excuse, he found himself giggling at the act. He lifted Kuro out of the basket so he could fold his clothes. But then Kuro returned to his human form while he was holding him. The sudden change caused them both to fall onto the bed with Mahiru on top of him.

Kuro brushed his bangs from his brown eyes. “We can do the laundry later. I want to spend as much time with you as possible while I still can.”

“I guess you don’t have to hide while we’re alone in my room. Though, we’ll have to be quiet so she won’t overhear us.” Mahiru shifted so he would be more comfortable but he didn’t move off Kuro’s chest. They started dating a few months ago and Kuro moved into his room recently. “I don’t like that I have to hide my boyfriend but I want to be accommodating to my relatives.”

His kindness was one of the things Kuro loved about him but he was worried that people would take advantage of that. Mahiru had told him that he wasn’t close with his distant relatives due to his experience at his mother’s funeral. His relatives spoke of him like a burden until his uncle stepped forward to adopt him. Mahiru understood that they couldn’t afford to adopt him so he didn’t resent them. The experience made him feel awkward around them though. Yet, he still offered his home to his aunt when she asked.

Kuro rolled on top of Mahiru and tenderly ran his fingers through his soft hair. He didn’t say a word but he didn’t need to. His simple touch was enough to comfort him and it reminded him that he could always rely on Kuro. Mahiru reached up to wrap his arms around his neck. He loved being surrounded by his warmth.

“She’ll leave Monday. Do you want to go on a date after she leaves? It has been awhile since we treated ourselves to a fancy restaurant or buffet. We can take a stroll through the town and walk off all that food afterwards.” Mahiru took out his phone to search for a place they could eat. He didn’t care where they went since he knew he would have fun with Kuro.

“On our last date, we walked past a noodle stand. We can buy cupped noodles there and walk around the park.” He suggested.

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door and Mahiru sighed. His relatives had likely arrived and he stood to greet them. He returned to his cat form and followed him to the door. Mahiru opened the door and gave them a polite nod. “Hello Auntie. Hello Rei. I hope your plane ride here was comfortable. I’ll help you with your bags.”

“What a responsible boy you’ve become, Mahiru.” His aunt said as he led them into the apartment. “Your uncle spoke highly of you and I’m glad that I don’t have to worry about my daughter if you’re watching over her. Where is your uncle right now?”

“Uncle Toru is out of town because an emergency at his workplace came up. He doesn’t know how long it’ll take to resolve the situation.” Mahiru didn’t know if his aunt knew about C3 so he kept his explanation vague. “He already told me the rules you gave him and your phone number in case anything comes up. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay in Tokyo.”

Mahiru sat on the couch and worked on his math assignment. He petted Kuro on his lap and he purred contently in response. Usually, Kuro would rest his head on him while he worked but he had to stay in his cat form. He looked up from his textbook when his cousin entered the living room. “Is there anything you need, Rei? You can ask me if you’re looking for anything.”

“You’re only a year older than me, Mahiru. You don’t need to act like a babysitter.” His cousin rolled her eyes at him. She turned her back to him to get a water bottle from the fridge. “I told my mother that I wanted to stay at a hotel for the concert but she said I should stay with a relative.”

“I understand that it’s frustrating that your mother is controlling. She does sound strict. Maybe you can talk to her when you return home and figure out a compromise. My friend had a protective father but he was able to convince him to trust him more after they discussed it.” Mahiru suggested. “On the other hand, I agree that it’s dangerous for a teenager to stay in the city alone, even if it’s just for the weekend.”

“You’re lucky that you never had to deal with parents. You can do whatever you want since your uncle works out of the city.” She said and didn’t notice how loneliness briefly passed his face. Kuro sensed his pain and nestled against Mahiru’s hand. He knew how difficult losing his mother was for Mahiru. He also had to raise himself while his uncle was working.

Rei noticed a photo on the wall and exclaimed: “Is that Licht Todoroki? He’s a famous pianist.”

“He’s my friend.” He told her and he could see that she was starstruck.

She took the picture off the wall and walked to Mahiru. She persistently pointed to Kuro in the photograph. “Your friends in this photo are handsome. You should introduce me to some of them and set me up on a date.”

“Most of my friends are already dating someone.” Mahiru told her and shook his head. His phone vibrated and he glanced at the screen. He forgot his earlier feeling of sadness when he saw that it was his uncle. “My uncle is coming home tonight. We don’t have enough food to cook dinner for four people. I’ll go to the market down the street. Please tell your mother that I’m going out for a bit.”

Mahiru grabbed his jacket and scooped Kuro into his arms before he left his home. He walked into the staircase and set him down on the ground. He understood Mahiru’s intention and Kuro returned to his human form. They took each other’s hands and walked down the stairs.

“I’m going to cook my specialty hamburgers since my uncle will be coming home. I wish you could eat with us too.” They stepped out of the store with an armful of food. Mahiru glanced over his receipt and paused. “We forgot to buy tomatoes. Wait out here while I run back inside for them. This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”

Mahiru handed the bags to Kuro before he walked into the store again. He watched him through the shop’s window until he was out of sight. Kuro searched for a shaded bench where he could sit and wait for him. He didn’t want to wander too far from the entrance or Mahiru wouldn’t be able to find him. He sat down and took out his phone to pass the time.

Footsteps approached him but he knew that it wasn’t Mahiru since it was too quick for him to return. He looked up and he was surprised to see Rei. Kuro didn’t greet her and looked back down at his phone. While she was Mahiru’s relative, he didn’t like how she spoke to him. She said, “Hello. You don’t know me but I think I’ve seen you before. Do you know my cousin, Mahiru? I saw you in a photo of him and a bunch of his friends.”

“I know Mahiru. I’m dating him.” Kuro said and held up his phone. His phone’s background was of him and Mahiru together on their first date. He returned to his game and said, “If you’re looking for Mahiru, he’s in the store.”

“Mahiru didn’t mention that you two were dating. I’m kind of surprised since he’s a simple guy and it must be boring dating him.” She said and sat next to him. Kuro bit his tongue to stop himself from giving her a retort. He wanted to defend Mahiru but he couldn’t upset one of his cousins. He shifted his grocery bags between them but then she leaned over the food to touch his arm. “It looks like you’re strong.”

“Excuse me, Rei, you shouldn’t touch Kuro like that. He doesn’t like it when strangers get too close.” Mahiru’s voice came between them. He grabbed the grocery bags and then took Kuro’s hand to pull him away. He didn’t look back to see his cousin’s reaction.

After they walked a block, Mahiru stopped and looked at his bags. He felt embarrassed that he let his feelings get the better of him and acted rude to his cousin. He had overheard their conversation so he knew that Kuro had told her about their relationship. Yet, she still tried to flirt with him. Mahiru let go of his hand and touched Kuro’s bell. “I want to invite you to dinner. My aunt won’t mind since we’re dating.”

“I wasn’t looking forward to eating out of the cat bowl so I’ll love to eat with you. Your cooking’s great.” Kuro threaded their fingers together and they walked down the street.

[saijspellhart]

Oh noes! They're snowed in! And it's SOOOOO cold, they even have to share a bed! 😱😱😱

“Avalanchemon!” was the last thing Ladybug heard before she—and subsequently half of Paris—was buried under a mountain of snow.

She expected the cascade of snow to hit harder, to feel more crushing, feel colder, and even braced herself for it. But… something hard and warm had barreled into her chest at the last second, painfully knocking the wind from her lungs and sending them tumbling through the door of a nearby house. A wall of snow followed them inside, spilling harmlessly over their legs, but woefully sealing their exit.

“I take it that akuma was a digimon fan…” grumbled a very familiar voice. “I bet the new reboot really pissed him off.”

Ladybug coughed out a mouthful of snow, and managed to chortle, “He’s certainly raising hail.”

Her partner’s sweet timbre returned a chuckle next to her ear and added, “You’d think all this snow would help him chill out.” It was enough to send shivers down her spine that had nothing to do with blanket of snow covering them both.

For a moment it felt like home, like old times and security. It wasn’t until she opened her eyes to blink up at him that the sleek black leather and warm chartreuse of her memory melted and she was left staring up at pale ivory and sinister magenta.

An awkward silence settled between them, like someone driving a wedge between hearts that had, for the briefest moment, locked fingers. His pupils narrowed into nothing more than slits, as realization seemed to dawn on him. That once soft expression hardening until it was just as cold as the snow around them.

Chat Blanc pushed himself off of her, dislodging some of the ice, and shook himself free from the rest of it. Her breath held when he crawled away from her, slinking low. The temptation to laugh scraped the back of her throat because those Floofy ears of his were stained pink on the tips, and his usually luxurious tail fur was caked with clumps of snow.

“We can’t get out,” he stated flatly.

“What?” Ladybug kicked free of the snow mound and turned towards him, brushing it off her suit.

Chat shoved at a window, but it wouldn’t budge against the wall of white outside. She watched him stalk across the room to the other side, and attempt the other windows, all yielding the same results.

“We should try a higher floor,” she suggested, “maybe something up there will open?”

Chat Blanc started for the stairwell before she even finished the sentence, all too eager to find some sort of escape. No doubt, dreading the thought of being confined so near the spotted heroine; the only person capable of taking away his akumas. Ladybug followed after him, her heart holding out hope that they weren’t trapped inside this building while a snow akuma plunged France into an early ice age.

“No!” Chat bellowed, his voice echoing down the stairwell. “No no no no!”

Ladybug arrived on the top floor only to witness Blanc acting like a caged animal; he scratched against blocked windows, pushing at panes that hardly budged. His claws gouged paint chips from the frames and splintered wood. In one room he ripped the widow from its frame, and began digging wildly into the snow. His hands shoveling desperately at the wall of packed ice until his breaths came out as ragged wheezing.

And still he never reached the top.

About five feet up his tunnel of desperation, the snow collapsed.

If she had not been there to dig him out he might’ve been stuck, might’ve frozen to death. That close shave seemed to finally bring the realization of their predicament down upon Chat Blanc.

We’re trapped in here, together.

Him and Ladybug, snowed in together, until one of the other heroes defeated the akuma and dug them out. It was Blanc’s worst nightmare made a reality, while on the other hand it was Noir’s dream come true.

Chat felt all sorts of conflicted.

Ladybug on the other hand was weighing her options. There were at least five other heroes, and Carapace was more than capable of bestowing a new miraculous if the situation called for it, being the new Guardian of the Miracle box. Statistically someone had to be able to fight this akuma.

She gave her lucky charm a shot, but only managed to conjure up a blanket. It seemed to be a sign that even their miraculous thought they should just wait this one out.

“This is your fault,” Chat snarled, curling his lip at her.

“Excuse me!?” Ladybug retaliated, planting a hand on her hip. “I didn’t cause that akuma!”

“You almost got yourself trapped under that avalanche. If I didn’t have to save you we wouldn’t even be stuck in here now!”

“You never had to save me! That was a decision you made all your own, Chat.”

He opened his mouth to object, but shut it again, pressing his lips in a tight line.

Their argument interrupted when her miraculous beeped its warning. 

To her absolute surprise, Chat Blanc offered her privacy while she slipped away to the seclusion of a closet to feed her Kwami and recharge her powers. He muttered something about having no interest in her miraculous, and that he wasn’t like other akumas. Despite his earlier unfounded accusations Marinette couldn’t help but feel a sting of fondness for his more gentlemanly side.

It was Noir. Chat Noir would never take her miraculous. Just like it was probably Noir that tackled her, to protect her from the avalanche. Before he’d turned white she’d trusted him implicitly. It seemed that trust was not misplaced, because even as an akuma he was trying to protect her.

“What did you see when you conjured the Lucky Charm?” asked Tikki between nibbles of a macaron.

“The uhhh… the magic highlighted… Chat.” Marientte played with one of her pigtails, and tried to will the blush out of her cheeks.

“Nothing else?” the kwami pressed, “What part of Chat was highlighted?”

“All p-parts of Chat,” she stuttered out, “and nothing else… just Chat. I didn’t tell him that though,” she quickly amended. “He thinks the Lucky Charm didn’t work.”

“Seems to me the Lucky Charm wants you to stay warm… together?” Tikki winked and took another mouthful of cookie.

“Oh god… I can’t be trapped in here with him!” Marinette hissed in protest. “He kissed me last week!”

“Well technically he kissed Marinette, and you’re trapped with him as Ladybug. Besides he’s been trying to pretend like it never happened anyway. Or at the very least that it didn’t mean anything. As long as you suit up before he smells you, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

Tikki had a point. Luckily the Miraculous’s magic rendered Ladybug’s scent unrecognizable. Unique only to the hero when transformed, and masking all her civilian smells.

“And didn’t you say you liked that kiss?” added the Kwami with a sly smile. “Seems to me like this would be the perfect opportunity for it to happen again. Chat stills likes Ladybug after all~”

“Tikki no! Spots on!”

Ladybug found Chat Blanc sulking near his collapsed tunnel, flexing his claws like he was contemplating a cataclysm.

“Don’t you dare, you could bring this whole house down on us, or worse.”

Chat flicked an ear in her direction and snorted. But he retracted his hand anyway, folding it over his knees. The clumps of snow on his tail had melted off now, and when he whipped said tail indignantly it made a soggy slapping noise against the wood floor.

Ladybug found herself getting lost in thought, watching the way his suit molded over his shoulders like a second skin. She noted the contours of his shoulder blades, and the muscles in the back of his neck, the way they subtly flexed every time he shifted, made even more apparent by the sheen of water coating the suit material.

“I’ve sent a message to all the other heroes, letting them know of our predicament,” she informed him, peeling her eyes from his back and attempting to find some other place to stick her gaze. “So long as I can keep my transformation up, they’ll be able to track our location.”

He flicked his tail again as some sort of acknowledgement, and it made the sad wet-mop noise once more.

“Did you want to help me find some towels so we can dry off?” The suggestion was more for his benefit than hers, as her detransformation and retransformation had resulted in a new dry Ladybug suit.

“No.”

Despite the sketchy electricity that continued to hold for now, the temperature in the building continued to plunge. Chat was sopping wet, and if she watched close enough she could see him shiver. In spite of his declination, she had a feeling he was going to want those towels sooner or later.

He’s being stubborn because he doesn’t want to be trapped with me, she reminded herself. The one person who could potentially steal all his akumas away and purify him.

“Fine, I’ll get them myself.”

He didn’t so much as react when she stalked away.

She wasn’t sure whose house this was, but it was fortunate that no one was home. Her Miraculous cure would put things back to normal before anyone realized Ladybug and Chat Blanc had raided their home.

And curled up in their bed.

That was another conundrum. There were two bedrooms in this house, but only one had a bed. She supposed someone could take the couch—should it come to that—but that would be in the same room that the avalanche had chased them in. And the floor in there was looking to be a bit flooded at the moment.

The other bedroom had been an office of sorts, and Chat had collapsed his tunnel in there.

Really the only rooms that weren’t a mess were the kitchen, laundry room, and main bedroom.

She briefly contemplated making Chat sleep on the dryer like the cat he was.

Ladybug made quick work changing the sheets on the bed with fresh linens, collecting clean comforters, and raiding the towels. She was on her way back with a stack of towels when she peeked in on Chat.

The office-like room was vacant, he wasn’t where she’d left him. But rather she found him curled up on the bed in the bedroom. Drooping ears, curled back in contempt, with eyes closed, and soggy tail wrapped around his soggy leather clad body.

“Get off that bed!”

“No.” Chat nestled deeper into the nest of blankets he had made.

“You’re getting the bed all wet!”

“Guess it’s all mine then.” Like a spiteful man child, Chat Blanc proceeded to rub his hair all over the blankets.

*Crack*

Ladybug stalked to the end of the bed, and snapped the towel tight between her fists. It was enough to make the akuma still, eyes narrowing. She noted the way his tail arced just slightly and the fur bristled.

“If you don’t get out of that bed and dry off, I will do it for you.”

“Such big talk from the weaker Miraculous holder,” he sneered up at her. “But, you’re welcome to try, Bug.” The inflection he put in that nickname dripped with challenge.

Don’t play this game with me, Blanc.

Ladybug lunged for him, but Chat was prepared and met her in a grapple, sending the two tumbling back, rolling around atop the blankets. He made a snatch for the towel, and she twisted it from his reach, taking swipes to mop the moisture from his suit and hair.

Amidst the power struggle, she purposefully knocked her yo-yo loose, and let it fall from her hip to the mattress, the twine anchored to her left hand. Chat didn’t seem to notice, or if he did, he wasn’t concerned with her yo-yo. This gave her the chance to kick it beneath him, before using her other foot to kick it once more, looping it around one of his legs.

For next five minutes they continued to wrestle, and it was clear Chat had the advantage. His superior strength never giving her an inch, all the while she began to fatigue, her own muscles trembling to match him and keep from getting pinned, or thrown off. It was her own flexibility that saved her, managing to slip his holds and wiggle out of his grasp, keeping her yo-yo moving with precise kicks, taps, and flicks. Even taking note that he was being incredibly careful with his claws.

She wasn’t oblivious. All it would have taken were those cruel fish hooks to dig in, and he would have had her. His hellish claws able to pierce her suit, and cause all kinds of damage to her otherwise impenetrable Ladybug exoskeleton. And yet, through their entire brawl, he kept those claws retracted, relying solely on his own strength and agility to keep her at bay.

This was play. Despite his insistence that Ladybug was his enemy and his continued frosty attitude towards her, right here and now, she recognized that he was having fun. Their entire physical engagement nothing more than a game to him.

And something about that realization sparked hope, and the cozy embers of warmth in her chest. Every restrained swipe and every half hearted hold, only stoking her endearment, and although she fought with everything she had, exhausting herself to keep up with him, it felt more cathartic than perilous.

One of her trembling arms gave out, and Ladybug collapsed to her side, losing a grapple with the white cat.

Chat twisted and pounced, pushing her into the bed, face first, finally managing to pin her to the mattress. Futilely Ladybug slammed her foot into the mattress, seemingly one last attempt squirm free, but Chat kept firm his hold, failing to notice that the impact of her foot bounced her yo-yo one last time, where it landed just inches from her hand.

His palm applied pressure on her shoulder, making her bones creak, and he leaned down to growl next to her ear.

“I win.”

Yeah, you go ahead and relish that victory, Kitty.

She responded by tugging on her yo-yo sharply, causing the weapon to retract its twine. The string suddenly drawing tight, as all the looping and weaving she’d done during their scuffle came to a head.

“Whaaaaaaahhh!” Chat made an inhuman screech as twine tightened around him and he came down, crashing into her back, writhing like an animal. The struggling causing her yo-yo to pull tighter.

She released a breathe of triumph and rolled over to face her prey.

“I win,” she jeered back, a devilish smirk etching her face. Snatching up the towel, Ladybug shoved it into his stricken face, mopping his wet hair while she relished his immobile state.

Chat had no words, just made angry huffing sounds through his nose.

Slowly and methodically, Ladybug ran the towel over him. Though most of the water had been rubbed off onto the bed, she wanted to relish this and take her time drying him off. One floofy ear, then the next. She paused when her hands brushed his earrings. Maybe he noticed her open admiration, the way she ran her thumb over the simple gold hoops.

When she snuck a glance at his face, his gaze was turned pointedly away, frowning so hard his fangs dug into his bottom lip.

This was a familiar scene. Outside the mask, Chat often treated Marinette with this sort of indifference. Never wanting to make eye contact even whilst he pushed his head into her lap, demanding to be petted.

The temptation to stroke his ears was too much, and Ladybug chanced it.

But Chat Blanc must’ve had a lock down on his vulnerable side, because the only noise she got out of him was an annoyed growl. A stark contrast to the ease of which he would purr under Marinette’s fingers.

You would have enjoyed this if I wasn’t in the mask.

She cast a look at the trussed up and quite helpless cat, and proceeded to run the towel over him. Starting with his shoulders and working her way down his chest, then over his stomach, stopping just above his belts.

Chat made another huff, testing the binding, before letting his muscles go lax again.

“Roll, over so I can get your back and tail.”

A feral hiss spilled from his throat, and Chat barred his fangs at her.

“Don’t be a pill. I wouldn’t have had to tie you up, had you simply let me dry you off to begin with.”

Too petulant to use his words, he opted to snap at her when she attempted to touch him again. Teeth narrowing missing her wrist. Rather than be intimidated, she sharply yanked on his shoulder, forcing him onto his belly.

And that’s when she discovered the source of his foul temper.

“Oh, shit.”

Somehow, amid all their wrestling and her careful weaving of the yo-yo twine, she’d managed to catch his tail in it all. But Instead of pinned securely against his leg, it was caught between several loops, and kinked at an odd angle; no doubt incredibly painful for him.

“I am so sorry.”

Ladybug reached to free his abused tail, but the moment she touched the fur he loosed a viscous snarl and fought the bindings. I was enough to make her withdrawal.

“Do you want me to help you or not?” she snapped, pressing her hands against her thighs and leveling him with a hard look.

“You did this to me,” he spat, still barring teeth.

“You didn’t leave me with much choice,” she countered, and the lights in the apartment flickered as if responding to her ire. “And I seem to recall you welcoming me to try. That’s a challenge if I ever heard one.”

Chat looked like he was about to respond when the lights flickered again, then went out completely, plunging the room into darkness.

Oh sweet mother of mercy… Not only was she trapped with Chat, but now she couldn’t see anything.

Not that Chat will be overly affected by it, she lamented to herself. Kitty night vision and all that noise.

The excessive snow had finally managed to knock out the power in their building, and no doubt the rest of the surrounding neighborhood. Which meant no heat, and no lights. And the absence of the latter was going to make untying Chat a real chore.

“So about that tail…” Ladybug reached a hand out to his side, and placed it on his ribs.

“You know,” he rasped, sounding much less combative than before, “staying tied up until the turtle and foxy dig us out doesn’t sound so bad.”

“—I think I can get it free.” Feeling confident she knew where to touch, she moved her hands farther down, reaching out for where she thought the start of his tail might be.

“I’d rather you noAaaaa—,” Chat broke off in a strangled noise.

“That's—” Ladybug stilled her hand, and had to will herself not to squeeze. “Oh. That’s uh, nice—I mean—did I hurt you?”

“This is harassment.”

She bit down on her lip to keep from snickering. Reminding herself to focus, she slid her hand over the one cheek until she found the top of his tail. “You can sue me later,” she replied, surprised at the amount of control she had over her voice.

“I will,” he groused, “I can file sexual assault. You’ll be receiving a strongly worded letter from my—aiiiiittt!” Chat suddenly bucked beneath her hands, and she felt all his muscles go tight, even the ones in his glutes. “You do NOT need to put your fingers there!”

“Would you calm down?” she rebuked. “I’m not trying to finger you, I needed to get my hand under your tail.”

“You need to get your hands OFF my tail.”

Ladybug heaved a sigh through her nose and ignored him, following the direction of the fur until she came across the first loop of twine. Taking a moment to feel it out, she attempted to pull his tail through it.

“Stop! P-please stop!”

Immediately her hands stilled.

“Did I hurt you?”

Chat let out a shuddering breath, “…yes.”

She sucked in her own breath, and tried to calm her nerves. “Ok. Let me find my yo-yo. It’ll probably be safer if I untangle all of you, than trying to manipulate your tail from the twine.

There was a moment of two of silence as she patted around the mattress for the mechanism of the yo-yo, her hands bumping into him on occasion.

When Chat Blanc finally did speak again it was to ask, “I take it this means you’re going to be feeling up the rest of me.”

Her hands located the yo-yo next to his chest, and followed the twine along his defined shoulder blades before it disappeared below his rib cage.

“Why, Chat,” she teased, “before you were akumatized you would have loved that.”

His response was a snort that she could have sworn sounded amused, before arching his body so she could reach below his chest. “Just, tell me how I need to move, my La—uh… Bug.”

~0000~

This part one of a two part uh…. drabble? Oneshot? This got a lot longer than I expected. There’s another part coming. 

Part of my Floofy-eared Chat Blanc AU. 

If you guys like what I do and want to help support me, consider buying me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/z8z299sh

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Been having a weird/off week. But you know what’s made it better?

Spending some more time in Midvale with Supergirl Ep. 6x06, “Prom Again!”

Spoilers!

So! Last week was the fun shenanigans/set-up, THIS WEEK we get the emotional pay-offs and oooooh. So good. So good.

Historically, Supergirl kinda struggles to stick its landing when it comes to paying off its set-ups, but I think this episode is really solid in that regard.  

And thus, we begin! With the forest showdown! And I love it. Love every part of it. Love Kara flying in and freeing Nia and Brainy with her heat vision, love that one of Kenny and Kara’s go-to plays is called ‘Speed Racer’, love Brainy’s whole, ‘my buddy’s gonna BLAST YA if you don’t cooperate’ and Kara just. Threatens the bad guys from the shrubbery.

She’s supposed to be scary and intimidating with the heat vision eyes but dagnabbit...it’s just kind of cute.

Last week I completely forgot to mention how much I love that Kenny and Kara have go-to plays WITH NAMES. (NERDY names at that!) And also that Alex is so exasperated by it.

JUST YOU WAIT, KIDDO. 

Fast forward to the Fortress and everyone’s happy! The day is saved! The timeline is restored! Alex apologizes for being a bit of a grouch!

*cough* understatement *cough*

And Brainy doesn’t get the fist bump, d’awwwww. XD

Nia has a lovely chat with Kara wherein SHE is the elder hero who inspires the youths. Nice. NICE.

And THEN, the first of some good Danvers Sisters scenes...we’ll call this one ‘the mini-van chat.’ 

Kara apologizing about the ‘Zookeeper fight-y thing’ and the GLASSES FIDGET.

Shout out to the writers, who were ON-POINT with the dialogue for both parts, and shout out to the young actresses as well. It’s...honestly uncanny, how well they nailed playing Kara and Alex. 

(I mean, we knew this already, of course, but GOSH. What a wonderful showcase. So, so glad, that we got such a large Midvale story in the final season.)

Right, so, another dialogue highlight from the mini-van chat (but like, not in a silly way. More in a, ‘oh wow that’s very sweet’ way) Alex, to Kara about her choice: ‘It’s the right one because you made it.’

THESE KIDS.

Then we go to Nia and Brainy on the Legion Cruiser!

Nia’s outfit? Outstanding. Brainy’s mask? Admittedly a little distracting because it didn’t look like it was fitting quite right.

But A+ song choice for their dance, show. 

(Really, A+ song choices across the board. You can tell they were absolutely LOVING getting in all those needle drops.) 

And then we discover--ALL IS NOT WELL! THE TIMELINE IS STILL BROKEN!

Cat Grant has released the aliens! And she has been captured! And yet she remains heckin’ fearless!

Love that she calls Mitch ‘Mr. Blue Sky.’

It took me a while to warm up to this ‘new’ version of Cat Grant but this episode really gave her some fun stuff to do and yep, I dig it. Great stuff. 

Meanwhile, back at the prom...

I'm taking this moment to applaud the Supergirl folks for their very nice workarounds for ‘crowded’ locations this season thus far. The episodes have never felt like, overtly obvious in terms of Covid protocol impacts (I mean there are a few scenes here and there where you’re like, ‘oh, yeah, this is set up in this specific way to probably account for some production changes) but I’ve never felt that the episodes are losing anything, you know?

Case in point! Two episodes, set in a crowded high school! But most of the stuff takes place before/between classes, or outside!

(Specifically enjoyed all the outdoor stuff and natural lighting. It’s not quite the same as that LA sunshine, but. Still nice.)  

Anyways, in “Prom Again!” the action/discussions are set in the hallways/classrooms outside of the actual Prom. Inobtrusive! Makes sense for the story! Doesn’t compromise!

Gold stars for everyone. 

Kara and Kenny are BOTH unrelentingly cheesy--Kara even says as much--and it’s wonderful.

‘Hey Stargazer.’ Kara, you smooth operator you.

Shout out to Kenny’s bowtie, it’s great.

...Shout out to Kenny in general.

(Like, Will is great, but he’s got a lot to live up to, now.)

So FURTHER PROOF THAT THE TIMELINE IS BUSTED: Kara is going to stay in Midvale!

:O

Me, knowing full well that Kara has to go to National City, but also being...just a liiiiittle bit team Kenny: 

And then...THE METEOR!

That Kara just. Body-slams.

It reminded me of another Danvers, who also body-slams some space stuff:

But UNLIKE Kara’s cross-company cousin, this particular move does not end well!

Because there’s KRYPTONITE! And also, a CLOAKED SPACESHIP, BLOCKING THE FALLING METEOR DEBRIS! And, you know, ALIEN HUNTERS THREATENING HIGH SCHOOLERS! And Kenny SACRIFICES HIMSELF FOR KARA!

(Well, okay. It’s tonight but you get the idea.)

Poor, sweet Kenny. Who feels WAY out of his depth as he’s imprisoned alongside Cat on the alien ship...but it does bring us one of her patented ‘tough love pep talks.’ Wherein she calls Kenny brilliant.

And also, Kendall.

Never change, Cat. Never change.

Also, “Go, go.”

Okay, some more rapid fire specifics that I enjoyed so that this list doesn’t get...too? Long? ...No promises.

Smol Kara squaring her shoulders in that classic Kara Super Pose! 

Alex being able to pick a lock!

Kara using the reflected sunlight from the moon to heal!

‘That’s an 80% failure rate’ ‘Oh yes it’s terrible.’

The scene where the police have Kara, and Alex comes rushing out all, ‘that’s my sister!’ and Kara’s gonna just RISK EVERYTHING to fix this?

100/10, excellent, love to see that Danvers Sisters angst in the Worst Timeline. Also? Alex’s desperate little headshake, silently pleading for Kara to NOT DO THE THING???? Devastating. In the best way.

‘The world will know that name...Keira.’ 

No Plutonian Landshark sightings!?!? Not even a graphic on a computer screen? FOR SHAME!

(Personally, I’m imaging that they look like Jeff, pictured below.)

Kara stowing away on the Cruiser, and her very cute, ‘Don’t be mad!’

Her entire speech about her future--She’s just seventeen! She doesn’t have her driver’s license yet! Eliza’s only let her do the laundry once! She’s not even sure she can make rice!

(Eliza, I love you, but for Pete’s sake, let your kid do her own laundry.) 

Brainy and Kara trying to play it cool upon being discovered by Kenny and Alex! 

Their story involving an excess of formal wear!

Nia inspiring Cat to start CatCo, and telling her she’s CAT FREAKIN’ GRANT!

“If you say Lois Lane I will expire.”

Wait, did I mention the lucid dreaming power yet? ...Nia’s lucid dreaming power!

The entirety of Kara and Kenny’s talk in the gym!

Kara in the Worst Timeline tell Alex, ‘you don’t have to shout’. And then in the Fixed Timeline: ‘inside voice please.’

And she quotes Monty Python that lil GOOBER.

THE WHOLE EPISODE(S) was a GOSHDARN DELIGHT, I TELL YA. (Did I say that last week? I might’ve said that last week, but I don’t care.)

And now, some slightly more in-depth, overall thoughts:

So, How ‘Bout Them Danvers: Not surprisingly, the girls end up in, if not the exact same place as the end of “Midvale”, then pretty darn close. I’m trying to avoid, like. All of fandom, these days, but unfortunately, the bad takes are numerous, and often untagged. So I did see a bunch of people insisting that Kenny living ‘ruined the Danvers’ relationship’ and that the show is ‘taking away everything that makes Kara Kara’

To which I say:

In the broadest terms, what needs to happen by episode’s end to match up with “Midvale”, and prep the kiddos for the stuff that happens in the Pilot - Kara needs to put the aspirations of super-ing on the backburner, and Alex needs to like. Not hate Kara, but also be committed to helping Kara keep her secret, you know...secret. 

All of these things are set up. I repeat: All. Of. Them.

And Kenny didn’t have to die!

(I will admit, I chuckled that they so blatantly teased an untimely demise for him...because I know it will annoy select corners of fandom.

Muhahahahaha.)

But anyways, back to those key ingredients for making a ‘Danvers Sisters in the same emotional place they were in @ Midvale’s end’ soup: Alex deals with that simmering resentment. Seeing Kara handle herself well in a super-ing context gives her that little, ‘hey, this isn’t so bad!’ outlook.

BUT INTERESTINGLY, in the Fixed Timeline, Alex and Kara don’t have that chat in the supply room, where Alex is like. ‘You CANNOT reveal your powers, BAD THINGS will happen if you do.’ 

That is saved for the Pilot!*

MEANWHILE. The Kara ingredients! She puts super-ing on hold. 

Her chat with Kenny functions as a replacement for her chat with J’onn-as-Not!Alura, in the sense that it’s here that she reveals that she didn’t choose to come to Midvale, she didn’t choose these powers. 

(...I can already sense fandom using those lines to prove their end-of-series theories and like. Ugh. Ugh.) 

But anyways. It’s also here that we get shades of Pilot!Kara, what with the season one conflict of being Super vs. being normal. 

It’s ALL THE SAME STUFF.

Fandom needs to like. Chill. 

And their (fake) concern for Kara’s characterization is entirely misplaced, because this was a really wonderful showcase for Kara in particular.

Like. The first episode was really Nia’s time to shine, and we still got solid Brainy and Nia action in this episode!

But man. That good Kara content.

THE CONTENT I CRAVE!

So speaking of good Kara content in particular, I LOVED Kara’s prom dress. It's got both a SKIRT. AND PANTS!

Amazing.

I know nothing of fashion, but it was very cute, very girly, and okay. Though I hate the comic, the one thing I actually liked about Future State is Kara’s costume. This was similar!

(Thank goodness it looked nothing like the prom dress from Rebirth. That...was a bit of a train wreck.)

(Look, not all comic artists are great clothes designers, it’s just how it is.)

We see the empowerment theme come up with Kara inspiring Kenny; he describes her as ‘an amazing light in a world of darkness’ and tells her that, ‘you changed me, Kara Zor-El.’

We love to see it. 

They also agree that stargazing and Monty Python make for the perfect prom these absolute NERDS I love them.

*Quick wibbly-wobbly, timey-whimey note WRT making this episode ‘fit’ with the Pilot: I’m not saying that it 100% does. There’s already the change with the Kryptonite, and the added info/awareness of the DEO. 

Those little changes, though, don’t really impact the overall arc of Kara and Alex, the way the emotional stuff might. 

Thus! The ‘Pilot’ of Earth Prime, and in fact, the ENTIRETY of the show’s run thus far most likely involved little differences throughout, but the emotional core is very close, if not the exact same.

BUT EITHER WAY, it doesn’t matter, because our Kara and Alex are still our Kara and Alex thanks to the multiple sets of memories! 

(So all of fandom’s freaking out is for naught. As it almost always is.) 

I bring this up because, again, as much as I talk about setting stuff up for where we find Kara six years from now--this Kara is a little different! She comes across as more confident, something Izabela Vidovic mentioned in an interview, when discussing her approach to playing Kara this time around. 

And now, Alex: Admittedly, she gets less focus as like, a solo-entity in these episodes--she really is there to serve the more Kara-centric plot. Personally, it didn’t bother me too much because outside of these flashback episodes, Alex has had some solid development and screen time, so. It balances out.

And the scenes we did get with those 2? Solid. Top tier. There was even a couch scene! Like, technically. Because there was a couch in the supply room. XD  

Spotlight on Kenny: fandom kinda loves to insist that all the men on Supergirl are trash, because, ya know. 'Feminism’ or whatever. It’s ships, it’s always ships. But, in fact! The dudes on Supergirl? Are actually wonderful! And Kenny is another example of a guy who isn’t afraid to be emotionally vulnerable, who 1000% supports Kara, but is also like. His own person. 

GOOD JOB, SHOW. GOOD JOB.

Brainy too, had some really nice stuff in terms of dealing with his emotions!

And it’s Brainy who gives us our closing line, as Nia asks him how he’s feeling now that they’ve accomplished their mission:

“Hopeful.”

NOICE.

In conclusion! “Prom Night” and “Prom Again!” were EXCELLENT! They had heart! They had stakes! They had the promised time-travel do-over alluded to in the titles! Outstanding performances from the entire cast! Tthe ‘young’ versions of characters in particular! And I WILL be watching these episodes on repeat throughout the three-month hiatus! XD

But before the Super Friends take their break: NEXT WEEK! The Quest for Kara Concludes!!!