#I was gonna make it so he was standing in the drive-thru line on foot

[kingkatsuki]

Bakugou groans when the fast food worker does a double take of him waiting in line at the Drive-Thru, the McDonald’s on the outskirts of Central Musutafu the only place open after two am.

He probably should’ve changed out of his hero costume before turning up to the restaurant, but when he received a call from you just before the end of his shift he knew it was an emergency. The adorable, sleepy lilt to your voice had him dropping everything in favour of sourcing nuggets in the early hours.

Only his pregnant wife could coax him away from his regular commute to pick up something that should satiate the cravings, thankful that somewhere was still open so he didn’t have to disappoint you with something from the local kombini.

Sending you a tired selfie with the bag safely in the passengers seat before making his way home to you🥺

[1kook]

commercial break: twelve

this is part of my netflix & chill series a prelude to part 10 <3

SUMMARY Anyway, if it was up to Jungkook, Kim Doyeon would not be a member of the Engagement Ring Committee.  WARNING none !! we r safe MISC jk and doyeon mortal enemies, nearly everyone is mentioned, thank u namjoon, jk loves oc, the end <3 jimin makes his first appearance O_O WC 1.4k

NOTES we just having fun with it!!! jk’s friendship with everyone else <3

Doyeon says you have fat fingers, and Jungkook takes great offense at that. “Who cares about the size— __ has pretty hands, idiot,” he mutters, and almost wants to feel bad about being so childish in the middle of this jewelry store. But Kim Doyeon is a pest— a fly who just won’t stop buzzing by his ear with each ring they look at, and she has the audacity to look disgusted with him now. Jungkook very much regrets inviting her along. She exudes very similar energy to the popular girls he used to go to high school, the ones that would only talk to him because he was friends with Namjoon and wanted Jungkook to help them into his pants. Lo and behold, Kim Doyeon is very acquainted with whatever’s inside Namjoon’s pants. She hits the mark perfectly. 

“Oh, definitely get her a rock. Like, one of those obnoxiously bing and shiny rings, maybe?” And she never stops talking. 

Jungkook hasn’t had to spend this much time with her in months, the last time being Namjoon’s birthday when you had tasked the two of them to go pick up the cake together. Not only was Doyeon adamant on passenger-seat driving — “Turn here,” she says a moment too late, “no wait, here — but she had been an absolute heathen outside in the bakery parking lot. 

(“Okay, now take a picture of me by this wall,” she says, artfully holding up the box of cake in two hands, dark hair flipped over her shoulder. Jungkook doesn’t know how to tell her that there is no significant difference between this brick wall and the brick wall they just took a picture by two minutes before.)

Anyway, if it was up to Jungkook, Kim Doyeon would not be a member of the Engagement Ring Committee. It would be him and Namjoon, and maybe Namjoon’s blunt roommate Jimin if he was feeling down for it, but that was pretty much it. Even Taehyung, a very close and dearly cherished friend, had not made the cut. He was too lazy, didn’t offer much concrete advice other than the occasional, “that one looks cool” comment. 

The great thing about Namjoon is that he’s highly educated on just about every aspect of life; he knows the best hairstylists — “You can always ask Hobi,” Namjoon offers, “he’s married.” — and the best lawyers — “Oh, and Yoongi can help with your prenup.” — for no reason other than the fact he is Namjoon. 

The bad thing about Namjoon is that he’s dead set on including Doyeon. “Doyeon is ___’s best friend,” he says calmly one night after dinner. You’re at your friend’s house this weekend, something about a midnight revenge plot against a shitty ex-boyfriend. He isn’t too clear on the details. “You have to let her in on it.” It’s been decades since Jungkook last stomped his foot in annoyance, but the urge wells up strongly in him now. 

Jimin is on the couch. “Oooh, you don’t like her?” he asks, flipping his platinum hair away from his eyes. Jungkook doesn’t answer, only because it would be rude to confirm it in front of Namjoon. Jimin presses on. “Is she, like, an evil best friend?”

“Yes,” Jungkook says at the same time Namjoon says, “no.” Jimin’s got this highly intrigued smirk on his face, and Jungkook hates how similar it is to your own mischievous grins. He’s glad you haven’t met Jimin, mostly because he knows you have your mean moments and meeting Park Jimin would only exacerbate them. Namjoon frowns anyway. 

Jimin says, “oh, you guys should duel. Like, whoever knows __ the best gets to keep her.” 

Namjoon jumps to stop that thought. “No— they’re not gonna duel, Jimin. ___ isn’t an object to win,” he scolds, and Jungkook nods along agreeingly, pretends he hadn’t seriously considered Jimin’s idea for a solid ten seconds. 

Long story short, Doyeon has tagged along to this jeweler and the past two jewelers to make sure Jungkook doesn’t give you “an ugly ring,” as she claims. 

“Wait, what if you get her this one,” she says, on the other side of the store. Jungkook sighs, but hurries over anyway. Hey, he’s here to see some rings, okay? 

Doyeon is looking at the most ugly ring Jungkook has ever seen, a mix of a braid and a snake, that is just too… not you. “This is hideous,” he says, disregarding all and any notions of being polite because at this point, she had to be pulling his leg. “___ would hate this.” 

At his side, Doyeon huffs. “Oh, ‘cause you know ___ sooo well, don’t you?” she snarks. 

Jungkook levels her with a glare. “I do, actually,” he says, “that’s literally what made me want to marry her.” And because Kim Doyeon sparks a very immature flame within him, he feels the need to add, “I probably know ___ better than you,” to top it off. 

Doyeon scoffs. “No, you don’t— you will never know her like I do, you overgrown fungus,” she spits. “Me and ___ have exceeded any level of trust you could ever hope to have, a friendship forged on the grounds of love and equal values. A nerd like you can’t even begin to fathom the absolutely crazy shit we’ve shared with each other.” 

If he was eight years younger, Jungkook is certain he would have gone home and cried. Mid-twenties Jungkook, on the other hand, has had one too many rodeos with mean girls — he’s dating a retired high school cheerleader, for goodness sake, an apex predator if he’s ever seen one — and will not stand for it. Besides, Jungkook has received your blessing to check Doyeon into place if ever she crosses the line. 

(“Sometimes you just gotta knock her down, maybe call her a dumbass if necessary,” you had said one night after Doyeon had unceremoniously barged into your apartment to monopolize your evening plans with Jungkook. Now it’s nearing midnight and as much as Jungkook wants to spend time with you, he’s deathly tired. “Just tell her off.” 

Jungkook frowns, snuggles closer until he’s so tightly pressed against your body that he can’t tell whose heartbeat is whose. He likes it like that.

There’s just something about your annoying best friend that activates this feeling in Jungkook’s chest. If anything, Jungkook imagines it is similar to that of having a bratty little sister. But Doyeon as his sister? He rolls his eyes so far back he swears he sees his own brain. 

It’s childish and petty and unlike Jungkook — or at least, unlike the Jungkook he knows you think he is. Which is flattering, to be thought of so highly, but sometimes Jungkook wonders where on earth you got that idea from. Because whenever he’s around you, Jungkook becomes increasingly immature, grows so greedy and needy, desperate for anything you have to give him. 

And because he’s so immature, he settles on tattling to you instead, “she called me a sweaty meat bag,” to which you snort in amusement.) 

For now, he calls on the spirit of the most mature person he knows (Namjoon). Jungkook takes one last look at his millionth silver band of the day before turning to address the Wicked Witch of the West. “I might not know ___ like you do, but that’s fine,” he says calmly. “We’re gonna spend the rest of our lives together anyway.” 

In front of him, Doyeon’s eye twitches and Jungkook senses he has won. For now. See, the thing is, Jungkook knows that using Namjoon-level logic against her is foolproof. For one, Namjoon’s logic is always solid. But also, as much as Jungkook despises Kim Doyeon with nearly every fiber in his being… ultimately, they share a common interest: cherishing you. 

Had it not been for your existence in their lives, Jungkook doubts he would have ever spent his Saturday morning at a jeweler with the likes of Kim Doyeon, especially not after she had spent ten minutes in the Starbucks drive-thru ordering the most bizarrely complicated drink. But deep in his heart Jungkook knows that she loves you, though not as much as him, and he respects the fact she is willing to accompany him in the name of buying you a beautiful engagement ring. It’s a friendship solidarity he admires, and for that he stomps down his childish pride to answer in a way that would impress, well, you. 

(Even when you’re not here, Jungkook always wants to impress you.)

At his side, Doyeon huffs. “I should’ve never taken ___ to that party.”

Copyright © 2021, 1kook on tumblr

[jiminrings]

last chronological part for stem koo... WHEW I WATCHED THEM GROW WHAT’S GONNA HAPPEN NOW

cold senior!y/n x stem major koo masterlist :D

they finally become lunchbox lovers

“you’re asking me what’s jungkook like?”

jimin couldn't be any more surprised

first of all, his day started with yOU texting him and asking if you can drop by for a second, and the moment he texted "sure???", you're literally already knocking on the door

and second, you're asking him???

“oh come on. he clings to you with every chance he gets. i thought you gave him a chance already.”

your eyes only deadpan that jimin actually gets the hint, his mouth curling in a eureka moment that he managed to figure out himself without you talking

“oH! so that’s why you’re asking me because you’re thinking of giving him an actual chance.”

alright finally

you slump in relief over not saying it out loud, expressing the slightest bit of worry you have to someone (that's not as close to you like yoongi and jin are) who'd get where you're coming from without bias

“i just wanna know how he usually is when he’s not on my heels.”

“honestly? the same. probably even a bit more clingier.”

jimin wastes no time in ratting jungkook out, even leaning back to the couch with how relaxed he is

“talks about you too. i’m sorry y/n but even i know what shampoo you use!!!”

jimins knows your wHAT

"my shampoo???"

“mhmm. made me drive him to a grocery store at 10 in the evening so he can individually smell all the shampoos without anyone calling him a creep or something like that,” he nods earnestly and doesn't look like he's playing with you or the sort

you're quite frozen and jungkook's roommate isn't at all fazed and is even pulling up pICTURES of their impromptu grocery trip

“he even made it in a scientific paper format. with the hypothesis and conclusion and everything.”

he points it out just in time when you swipe to jimin's hand holding a printed piece of paper with the document in the monitor right behind it, the next pictures being blurry because that's when jungkook freaked out

jimin gets his phone back but not without sending you the pictures you just saw even if you didn't ask for them, trying to hide the amusement in your eyes when you decide to scroll through them again later

“cut him some slack though. he’s never really had a girlfriend, y’know? or like even a crush. he’s just navigating it with his instincts and all the advice he gets.”

hold on a second

“... advice?”

he thought you'd never ask (he'll still say it even if you don't) which is why he brightly grins, hunching over as if to let you in on a guarded secret

“i’m one of his consultants!!! didn’t suggest the shampoo part though.”

who could have possibly thought of that idea then ://

you hum in faux complacency, trying to get this as fast as possible so you could make up your mind quicker

“what else?”

jimin's relaxed now that he's had a proper laugh with you and realized you aren't as Intimidating As He Thought You Were, recounting the things in his mind like a to-do list

“he’s sickeningly kind.”

the gravity of his words strike him before they do with you, straightening his posture to clear up the air right away, “but i knoW that what he did to you is the furthest thing from kind, and trust me, i really got that point across!!!”

by point, jimin means cooking him burnt meals and jungkook having to endure it because he doesn't like wasting food

additionally, that also meant jimin served kook a cRISP smack on the back of his boba ball head into next week

look at him <3 seokjin, yoongi AND jimin gave him shit!!! now isn;t that teamwork

you're unable to paint the mental image in your head because he continues, grabbing your attention once again

“but apart from that, jungkook could just be too kind for his own sake,” he says sincerely. “he’s like the kid the principal refers to in elementary when they talk about peer pressure!!!”

your first instinct is to snort at that, the mental image definitely forming in your head now

is it just sO bad that you and jimin agree on this

“jokes aside, jungkook’s really genuine.”

it's the last thing jimin wraps it off with when you stand from the couch, cheeks still a little warm when he trails you behind the door

you're just about to thank him when the door in front of you opens and almost hits you in the process, the person behind it just as alarmed

jungkook’s just now coming home because he had to pick up some last-minute groceries from the convenience store downstairs that jimin forgot from his last run, clearly startled to why would wou be here

"oH???? y/n??? what are you doing here???"

his pupils are shaking between the two of you and he's not even trying to hide is incoming panic

“.... a-are you and jimin-“

“yup! sorry bud! we were just-...” jimin's attempt at a lighthearted joke is halted as fast as it was introduced, getting a smack on the middle of his back that makes him wince

“you’re annoying, jimin."

oOOOOH you just put your palm on him!! yea at this rate he's gonna be your best friend too won't he

jungkook's processing things as fast as he could, getting a reassuring glance from you that puts him at ease

“we were just talking, kook.”

he nods even if he's still a tiny bit unsure, calling for you when you're on your way out the door

“a-about what though?”

:-)

“you’d know soon enough.”

( ♡ )

“you wanna tell me now why we went on this drive?”

seokjin yawns at a stoplight even when his car is the only one waiting on the intersection right now, not in the mood for a ticket with a printed traffic light picture of him mid-yawn in his matching pajamas anytime soon

“no reason," you sing-song and it makes him snort, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “couldn’t sleep."

“well that makes one of us.”

you've unabashedly knocked on jin's door and even if it took you two tries, he still answered nonetheless, not even asking for an explanation why before he sleepily took his keys and grabbed his house slippers for shoes

you had no destination in mind at 3 in the morning which is why jin’s just driving for no rhyme nor direction and is just going with his brain’s one-second impulses of where to turn

he’s game for anything, actually — that much you know

although you do know that jin literally wouldn't do this for anyone else besides the people he find worth all this (aka everyone except you and yoongi and ok maybe namjoon sometimes)

the drive is beyond serene and even with repetitive radio music playing in the background, you don't actually mind it

when you're with jin, it just feels like you're in a constant bubble of comfort and ease that you always try to look for in everything

he doesn't necessarily need explanations,, he just deduces from things at face-value and later ask about it when you're comfortable enough to share

jin points at a drive-thru he suddenly had a craving for as you were about to suggest it anyway

you're not even quite sure why there's a line but neither of you complain, the situation more than bearable that a little waiting wouldn't dampen your mood

the words you've been thinking of the whole day finally slip across the silence, as casual yet as sincere as they could be

“i’m really thankful that you’re in my life, jin. you know that right?”

he seems pleasantly surprised when you look at his side profile, shaking his head

“mhmm. you only tell me a couple times but you put your knee on top of mine everyday,” he chuckles at the habit of yours and he kNOWS for a fact you would put your knee on top of his if only he wasn't behind the wheel. “tell me all about it, kid.”

it's genuine laughter that encompasses the whole car, his chuckles suddenly ceasing when he realizes another possibility

“you’re not asking me for allowance, are you? because yoongi’s already bugging me for his next month’s.”

wait what

“you give yoongi an allowance???”

“you didn’t know???”

:///

“... i’m not asking for an allowance.”

“..... but do you want it,.,..”

jin sees you pursing your lips and intentionally looking at everywhere but him, already getting his answer

“fine. that’s the furthest you two could get from me!! don’t expect me to pack your lunchboxes to school now. you must be crazy.”

jin, in fact, packs you and yoongi lunchboxes more often than not

jin, aLSO, does all the paper rolling for you so when the three of u get occasionally high, it’s all nice and tight

jin is also the one who does all the talking on the phone to customer service when neither of you are willing

he asks the moment he relays your usual midnight snack slash early breakfast order he's already memorized to the attendant, patiently looking at you

“you want anything else with that?”

“i’m all good.”

it's in between cars and stoplights that the car is filled with more emotion again, acting on it when you realize it when seokjin's mid-bite on his hashbrowns

“jin?”

“yes?” he speaks muffled, looking at you once before bringing his attention back on the changing stoplight

“love you.”

he feels himself still for a second even if his foot's on the gas and one hand is on the wheel, a somber look on his face that he later smiles sincerely

“love you too, kid.”

( ♡ )

“it’s not my birthday if that’s what you’re thinking.”

yoongi sleepily mumbles the moment he feels his bed dipping, his side that was once holding a pillow now being occupied by you

“i know.”

you wedge yourself between his heavy comforter, tossing and turning until it feels comfortable

“but i actually don’t know your birthday lol it’s-...”

“fuck right off.”

yoongi doesn't question why you're in his bed, because the last time you did, it was because you were left traumatized after seeing a genuinely good horror movie that it was pending to give you nightmares

he didn't see you watch any movie today though, but he'll take you in nonetheless

“kidding.”

you offer in consolation because yoongi's birthday is in your calendar even if you know it by heart, a mindless hum in reply

it's when you drop your arm on his waist like it's dead weight and relax completely, your face near to his mop of hair that it's making him think you're actually cuddling him rn

quick how can he get a picture of this to get this framed

“are you telling me now?”

he questions with his eyes half-open, shimmying backwards so that you're able to hug him more comfortably

“my airconditioner’s busted.”

“mhmm. give me ten minutes. i’ll fix it for you.”

it's 4 am and if your airconditioner really was busted, you wouldn't have let it stay busted for that long

“don’t. it’s okay. i wanna be here anyways.”

both you and yoongi know that your airconditioner’s in tip-top shape and is actually the one that blows the coldest air in the dorm

sometimes you think he’s an angel in disguise because there’s no way you deserve a human best friend like him

“yoongs?”

“hmm?” he hums before he falls asleep again, trying to keep up while having his eyes closed so he could listen to you

“you know that i’m really glad you’re in my life, right?”

oh

:)

“mhmm. you don’t say, sweets," he teasingly chuckles, feeling his ribcage rise in amusement under your arm

“fuck-“

“yeah, i know. i do, because you put me as your family member in your emergency contacts, but you don’t know that i know that.”

... oh

you don't even know how yoongi came to know but you don't question it, the warmth in your heart doubling

“love you.”

“love you too, y/n.”

( ♡ )

jungkook’s the most nervous he’s been in awhile

and that’s coming from him who sees yoongi in almost a daily basis

after all, jin did tell him you can be quite forgetful becasue you tend to take care of things all at once

he’ll sTILL try to be as smooth and casual as much as possible though

“big game tomorrow huh?”

and by big game that means as in your last qualifying game to whether or not your team would compete in the yearly (not to mention prestigious) soccer tournament

you chuckle at the thought because by now, you should already be sleeping and getting some rest even if it’s just seven in the evening

but you’re here <3 out at a park near jungkook’s dorm, sharing hand warmers <3

“yeah. it’s a make or break match.”

“i actually haven’t seen you play before, y’know," jungkook silently admits, looking down on his shoes as he thinks if he's just offended you

“really?” you ask in genuine curiosity, “then how come you interviewed me for your little survey when you haven’t watched me play before?”

oh

tHAT

“i uh, i actually just really wanted to talk to you that day. i-i don’t normally approach people first, but you just looked warm enough for me to reach out first.”

he's babbling before he even knows it, oblivious the growing smile on your face

“then i asked jimin because he kNOWS everything, and it was all in good fate that it turned out you were the soccer captain!! i was excited because i had a legitimate reason to talk to you that day.”

so that’s why

he wanted to talk to you even before his lunchboxes were taken out of the situation!!!

“how about me? why was it me?”

ahem

you're not trying to be funny but you can't help but chuckle, scratching the back of your ear in thought

“i honestly couldn’t tell either, jungkook.”

he almost coughs in shock, masking it off with playing it off for the bite of the chill of the night

“all i know is that something told me it was you,” you timidly add, looking down on your hands. “and i went for it.”

right can he chalk up mad blushing to the night air

he fiddles with the drawstrings of his sweatpants this time, his eye contact with you becoming fidgety

“big game tomorrow,” he repeats and you're just about to tell him that your conversation sounds like it's gonna be repeated

“don’t forget your eyedrops, alright?”

....

was that smooth enough

“eyedrops?”

yeah

uhm

that was... random

“oh right! you gave them back to me.”

“yeah. you should open it tonight, probably. to see if it’s already all-evaporated, y’know? if it is, then let me know tomorrow so i can buy you new ones.”

“highly doubt that they would, but alright, kook.”

you take the little banter to be your cue to walk back to your dorm, about to say goodbye to him when he makes an audible sound of confusion

it confuses you even more when he's trailing behind you

“your dorm’s twenty feet away from where we are, jungkook.”

“y-yeah i know that!! i’m walking you home, silly.”

right!!

hee-hee

he’s keeping his hands to himself even if he BADLY wants to hold your hand or even your forearm but he has to resist that urge rn

but he does intentionally brush shoulders with you and mumble “pothole.” so he could nUDGE you to the side even if there aren’t any to begin with

silence with jungkook now is comfortable as it has been for more than awhile, the walk passing by faster that you almost wish you walked slower

goddamn it he should've said there was a pothole atleast ten more times to make the walk longer

“goodnight, koo.”

“goodnight, y/n.”

there’s obviously no goodnight kiss but he dOES get a squeeze on his bicep

you take your time when you come home — to unwind as much as you could before you stress yourself out tomorrow

your shower routine may have took a little longer this time but it makes you get dressed as quick as you could when your eyes see the origami box you've been putting off from opening, one that jungkook just told you to open, because as far as you knew they were just EYEDROPS!!!

... the supposed bottle of eyedrops that’s too well-packaged and clearly thought-out

an origami box, a carebear heart initial drawstring pouch AND a plain ziplock baggie as if the other two weren’t enough

it’s when you open the box within the ziplock bag that you feel it’s definitely not as light as a bottle of eyedrops would be

there’s a very visible dent weighing down on the pouch (that’s within the origami box) that’s cLEARLY not your eyedrops

you’re actually nervous to the point that you just open unfurl it with your eyes closed, feeling two items in there

the plastic bottle of eyedrops, and definitely the cool surface of what feels like

a bracelet?

it’s a pretty straightforward yet timelessly elegant silver link bracelet, equipped with a couple options for how tight or loose you want to wear it

it hits you all at once and god does it just render you speechless

jungkook has this bracelet too.

you’re quite speechless and in between looking at it up-close to avoiding looking at it at all, trying to calm your breathing by focusing on the eyedrops instead

the said eyedrops you've been so used to seeing that you immediately sense that there's something oFF with the label???

its stuck-on, that's for sure, but something about it is not as seamless and stationary and official as it should be

it's almost as if there's something snuck inside it and-

...

..... there is

it's scotch tape that's just as thin as the actual label of the bottle itself, having to peel the whole label in order to see it in entirety

it's the same double-sided label jungkook worked so hard to peel flawlessly so he could try and replicate it in the same exact design and measurements, having to even take it up to a classmate from stem he once knew that transferred to graphic design

(yeonjun did ask for a science paper in exchange for his replication of the eyedrops slash adhesive label because who fucking kNEW he still had science even when in graphic design, but jungkook thinks it's fair trade so it's worth it)

it's the same exact label jungkook's had for a month and only recently gave it to you a week ago, a truth he's long since known

it's the same exact label that reads —

i love you

— in his handwriting you've come to known by heart, the label in your hand feeling much more heavy than the bracelet in the other

you already know what to do.

.

.

.

it's game day and u are about to launch yourself into orbit if you hear oNE more drum cheer because it just makes you nervous even more

yeah SURE it makes you pumped when it's the actual game itself but not now!!! not now when you're pumping yourself with electrolytes and at the risk of peeing from nervousness and too much hydration

you haven't seen seokjin nor yoongi yet and as much as that lessens the pressure on you, that alsO makes you nervous because they're your emotional support people!!!! where r they

usually you would see them in the front row of the bleachers and neither of them have any snacks because all of their focus would be on you

jin is nOT mr. kim from student affairs when it comes to your games,,, nuh-uh sir,,, he's that guy from the other team that glares so hard it dISTRACTS me from scoring in the perspective of the opposing team

coach's about to whistle like five minutes from now for a final huddle and everyone's getting their final stretches in

you're too busy looking for people that you actually want to be here that you're taken off-guard when one of them grasps at your forearm, a breathless smile one his face

"give them hell out there, alright. you're a champ."

it's jungkook!!!

IT'S JUNGKOOK!!!!@&$&":@:"$

he looks especially handsome today that you just short-circuit immediately

he's wearing a shirt with your team colors on it aND!!!

he ditched his glasses today to wear contacts, not only because he wanted to look a bit more different and special today, but because he's also scared that a ball would be thrown in his direction and injure him with the additional impact of his glasses

his hair's pushed back with his forehead showing instead of his usual hairstyle and god is it making you a little dizzy

he's beaming at you and his eyes immediately wander to your wrist, not expecting the feeling in his gut next

you're not wearing the bracelet.

jungkook feels the sudden urge to cry even when in public but it's when you grip at his forearm tightly that he stays still, squeaking when you realize his line of thought

"can't wear any jewelry on the field. i-i'm wearing your bracelet as an anklet for the meantime, it's underneath my sock."

...

....

...... oh my god

jungkook's never felt this frozen and euphoric at the same time, sputtering over nothing when your face looks like the furthest thing from joking

you're about to excuse yourself suddenly when your eyes finally take notice what's thrown on his shoulder, something about it being so familiar that it throws you off for awhile

"is that my jersey?"

he nods eagerly to your query, proudly unfolding it for you to see your spare soccer jersey with your surname and number right on it, the exact marks being the same from when you tried to use a laundry pen on it

he didn't get it replicated???

"h-how did you get that? where did you get that?"

jungkook thought you'd never ask, the words he never thought he'd say already leaving his lips

"yoongi gave it to me."

you only have a handful of jerseys on-hand and even if you could always request for more, the ones you have at home are a little more sentimental

you gave jin and yoongs one each from the only several ones you had, and you know yoongi would not give up his for jungkook

but now, you do know that he snuck to your closet and took one to give it to jungkook willingly, trusting him enough to give it to you behind your back

kook's sTILL not fully-forgiven but they're getting there sooner or later

wait why is this making you cry

before you know it, you're pushing yourself to jungkook to hug him tightly, the boy being surprised for a second but ultimately reciprocating once it registers

"i love you too."

.

.

.

.

.

this is the last chronological update for stem koo aka lunchbox lovers!! however, this is not the end of them!! with the end of this chronological series, this means that all the future updates don't necessarily have to be linked — they're miscellaneous and don't have to follow a specific layout like this part of their arc.

with that said, feel free to send in asks on what you want to see from the lunchbox lovers (misc. requests, questions, and everything in between) and i'd love to fulfill them because after all, this series was born purely out of your ideas <3 also pls send in ur thoughts and feedback and love because i have da greatest time reading through all of them!! thank you for all the love for da stem koo universe <3

[majesticbrownjawn]

I was almost done writing this when I came across this post that’s a perfect for this little jawn.

Drive-Thru

Rated: NSFW 😈

———————————

“Watch where you’re going, babe. You gone fuck my shit up.”

She’d nearly hit a stopped car in the drive thru of Erik’s favorite fast food spot. The line was wrapped around the building.

“Well that’s what you get for making me drive. You know I hate driving,” she pouted.

Erik simply raised a brow at her and pointed to the boot on his foot. He broke it trying to break her fall. He told her it wasn’t a good idea to climb her ass on the counter and stand on it to reach the top shelf of plates. But he still flew to her rescue when he saw her wobbling, not knowing the floor was wet from a glass of water she spilled on her climb up. She regained her balance before she fell but he instead cascaded to the floor with a loud thud. He hobbled on his foot for a week before she made him go to the doctor. That was yesterday.

She felt guilty about it, which is why she was the one driving and not him like always. But she didn’t have any less of an attitude about it than she normally would.

“Cool ya puss, baby...” He gripped up as much of her thigh as he could squeeze. The short, thin, baby doll dress she wore made it easy. “...before I cool it for you.”

She huffed in frustration at him telling her to chill but also because his warm, rough hands had worked her up that quick. They always did, no matter the time or place. Even in the drive thru of Erik’s favorite chicken spot.

“But Eriiiiiiik-,” she whined.

“Hush,” he whispered as he leaned over and nuzzled his face in her neck, attaching his supple lips to her. She soon realized the attention to her neck was merely a distraction when she felt two fingers gently pressing against either side of her clit.

“Fuh-fuck, Erik.” Her fingers dug into his forearm but it did nothing to stop him from making circles up, down and around her sensitive bundle. She let out a silent scream when his thick finger slid between her engorged pussy lips and went inside her.

“That’s what I thought. Shut the fuck up.”

She looked at him with pleading eyes, vigorously nodding her head like the good girl she was.

They were so wrapped up in each other that they missed the car in front of them moving up in the line. A honk from another car momentarily brought them out of the lusty haze they created within the confines of his SUV.

“Think you can pull up with two of my fingers inside you?”

He slid another digit in before she could reply. The surprise and pleasure of his action shot a jolt of pleasure through her body, causing her foot to hit the gas pedal unexpectedly. She had to slam on the brakes to not hit the car in front of them.

“Careful baby. I’d hate to have to chastise you for fucking up my car...but then again, I’d love to punish yo thick ass right now, especially after what happened to my foot.”

“But daddyyyy—“ so much pressure was building from the work of his fingers inside her that her vision was blurring. “You said—you said you didn’t blame me.”

He used the pad of his other thumb to wipe a single tear from the apple of her cheek. The guilt and pleasure she was experiencing was too much.

“I don’t blame you, baby. But next time imma let cho hard-headed ass fall.” Erik’s head nodded to the front of the car. “Time to order. You know what I want.”

“Welcome to Clucky’s, what can I get you today?” The voice from the intercom was bright and clear.

“Umm, hi,” she replied with shaky breath. “Can I get a number threeee?”

Erik decided in that moment he’d latch himself to her nipple. He didn’t even bother to lift her dress up. The warm breath of his mouth seeped through the material, completely overwhelming her senses.

“Is that all, ma’am?”

“Order my shit,” he demanded in her ear as his thumb flicked at her clit tirelessly.

“And a number 10, please.”

“Look at this pussy, got you creaming down my fingers. You wishing it was daddy’s dick, don’t you?”

“Did you say cream, ma’am? We don’t sell coffee after breakfast.” The cashier obviously heard Erik’s nasty ass.

“Uhhh I mean mayo, shit!” She said, trying to cover it up, embarrassed.

She quickly closed the window and lifted her dress, whimpering as she watched his fingers go in and out of her. The milky, creamy wetness she produced was having a serious effect on her man too. Her eyes traveled over to the ever-growing pipe in his joggers, yearning for her hands, begging to feel as good as her pussy felt right now. His eyes caught hers and gave her a silent warning not to touch him. She ignored it and reached over anyway, gently massaging the bulb of his dick over his sweats. He grunted in pleasure, despite the look of disapproval on his face. She couldn’t help herself. She loved to make daddy feel as good as he made her feel.

“Ok babygirl, since you don't want to listen, you better make me cum before we get to the window or imma bend your ass over the trunk and fuck you in the parking lot. You want everybody to see me wrecking yo shit?”

Part of her did. And he knew it.

Her cheeks burned at the thought of Erik fucking her pussy with dozens of eyes on them but the thought of other women looking at him in the lustful, longing way she did filled her with unwarranted jealousy. A jealousy that made her pussy all the more slippery. To know women wanted him but he only wanted her was a turn-on itself. He knew how her mind worked and that the words he said would have the exact effect on her that they did.

“Aye—“ he pinched her hardened nipple to bring her back to the moment. “Make me cum.”

She was excited and nervous. Erik had the stamina of a marathon runner. The nigga never came fast, her begging him to ‘please nut’ was a frequent occurrence during their lovemaking. Now he was demanding she make him cum in a matter of minutes, and now the line was actually moving past a snail’s pace. Sis was running out of time.

She widened her plush thighs to give Erik more access and a better view. He always praised the beauty of the deep brown to bright pink ombré of her pussy when he was in it. It was a start, but she’d certainly have to do a lot more.

“Daddy, why’s your dick so hard all of a sudden?” she asked innocently, sliding her delicate hand into his pants and pulling out all 8.75inches. She gasped at the sight of it. Seeing it in the daytime with rays of sunlight shining on it was a sight to behold. “Is that my fault too?”

The only answer she received was the visible tightening of Erik’s jaw and beads of precum slowly trickling from his tip. She moved his natural lube around him, focusing on the head of his dick, knowing it was his most sensitive area. Her hand cupped the soft skin of his tip and made circular motions around it while he continued finger-fucking her.

“Ooo shit Erik, that feels so good baby. Can you add another finger, please?” His eyes bulged and she felt his dick twitch in her hand. “Fuck daddy, yes, yes. I’m gonna cum so soon...thank you daddy, thank you... You’re making me cum so hard for you, I can’t take it...fuck I can’t...fuhhhhhkk!!”

Her hand momentarily paused the work it was doing on Erik’s dick as she came, but that didn’t stop her from noticing the rapid pulsing of it as she orgasmed. Her daddy loved to watch her cum with his thick fingers inside of her.

“That’s my pretty baby, get that good nut.” The sound of his voice with his fingers still filling her hole had her wanting her another cum, but it was his turn.

“Can I make you cum now, daddy?”

“You better. We’re almost at the window.”

She glanced down at his hand inside of her and gently pulled out his fingers, her aroma filling the confined space even more. Erik closed his eyes and deepened his back into the seat, the smell of her bringing him to that familiar, blissful state she and her pussy always put him in. His moment of calm was quickly lifted when he felt his own hand sliding up and down his dick. Erik looked down to see his babygirl’s hand over his using the juices from his fingers—from her pussy—to wet his dick up.

“You nasty, clever little slut—you making daddy use his own hand to cum? Hmm?”

“Please don't be mad daddy. I’m helping, see?” She guided his hand back to her glossy pussy and scooped out more of her sticky cum and made him stroke himself with her juices again. This resourceful bitch. He smiled proudly at her, his eyelids slowly fluttering from their collaborative stroke.

She leaned over to him, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him into her for a slow, lazy kiss. She dominated it and him in a way that was rare for her. They moaned into each other with need as she continued the swift cycle of wetting his fingers with her pussy and jacking his dick.

“Mmmm daddy, I think imma cum again…” she whispered against his lips.

“Do it. My baby deserves another nut.”

“I do? Cuz I’m a good girl for you?” She kept up her motions on them.

“Yes. Only for me. My good girl with the pretty kitty.”

She unexpectedly bent down to deep throat Erik. The taste of herself on his dick excited her. She gagged on his thick member a few times before looking up at him and letting out a mangled “I love you.” He held her head in place as he exploded in her mouth, cum escaping out the sides as she desperately tried to swallow it all. When she was done, he pulled her back up to his lips and kissed her gently, despite his heavy breathing. He released her in time for her to pull up to the window.

“Sorry for the wait ma’am. Y’all had the number three and—“

Her eyes followed the cashier’s line of vision back into the car and straight into Erik’s lap, where his dick stood erect against his stomach.

“The fuck you looking at? You ain’t never seen a dick before?!” Erik’s girl’s attitude and acute jealousy was unmatched. It was part of the reason he stayed on hard for her. She was like him in a lot of ways, just wrapped in a fluffier , cuter package.

“Baby, chill,” he requested softly. She yanked their food from the cashier and sped off without paying.

“...and what the fuck you mean ‘baby chill’ you the one with cha damn dick out in the middle of a drive-thru!”

“You pulled it out though.”

“Whatever nigga, I’m never driving again. Fuck this and fuck you!”

“I love you too, babygirl.”

[macamonium]

god help

I'm writing this thing and it's gonna make me cry lol

this is (hopefully) gonna be part of a larger fic, but as I was jotting down the outline this just dripped out. its abt self-love thru good food and Bakugou learning to forgive himself the right way

maybe tw for eating disorder stuff, though that's not what the fic will be about

Bakugou emptied a full-sodium packet of beef bouillon into the pan. The smell drafted through the dorm’s empty kitchen, and his mind wandered with it.

He knew, regrettably, that he reflexively went for the full-sodium bouillon because of his mom. Mitsuki had the same impatience for low-fat and low-calorie “diet” foods that she did for backtalk and attitude. She scoffed at the TV whenever it lit up with commercials of dancing, ever-thinning crackers, or the new zero-calorie alternative for something that was never meant to be low-calorie. Sour cream, for chrissakes! It’s fucking dairy, it’s meant to be that way!

She lectured Bakugou about it when he was really little, on some Saturday in the middle of summer. He was inside for the afternoon nursing an injury from what he reported was a particularly slippery log in the forest. Really, it was payback from a sore-loser gang of fifth graders. So his ankle wasn’t really twisted, but his chin sure was bruised - that log had a mean right hook. No way in hell was he letting the neighborhood kids see his face like that, so he was there, in the kitchen, pretending to take extra care of his left foot while Mitsuki made them lunch.

Stirring the curry in his own pan, which was now simmering, Bakugou could picture it more clearly than he had in a long, long while. He had been sitting on the farthest barstool - yeah, it was that one because one of the legs was loose and he was rocking back and forth, back and forth, and when his head swung along with it his mom’s hands, stirring the pan, popped in and out of view from behind the milk carton. He smiled softly to himself now, taking stock of how he was standing. How similar it was. Was she making curry that day?

If Bakugou couldn’t remember exactly what she said, he could make a pretty good guess on how she’d phrase it. He just knew her that well. He could hear her now - it'd have gone something like this:

“You see, when they first started puttin’ the nutrition facts on the packages of food products, back in, like, the 1920s, the chemists had a field day. I mean, really, they ran that industry.”

Katsuki didn’t know what industry was, but he liked hearing his mama talk.

“And at that time, chemistry wasn’t what it is now. It wasn’t molecules and atomic structure and that kinda thing, it was grams of this and milliliters of that. Still, that was more than regular people knew, so it was left to the specialists.”

She held the spatula out for him to lick. He took it in two chubby hands.

“More spice, mama.”

“Whatever you say, baby. And wipe your chin.” He used the bottom of his shirt, but she didn’t say anything. His dad wasn’t around for that kind of thing.

“Don’t get me wrong, knowing what’s in your food is great.” She gestured carelessly with the lick-marked spatula before plunging it back into the curry. “Certainly better than whatever was going on before. They used to put cocaine in Coca-Cola, you know.”

“What’s cocaine, mama?”

“A drug, baby. Makes you go crazy for a while. Don’t go trying it, and don’t go repeating it - though I suppose that’s hard in earnest, it’s what the ‘Coca’ in Coca-Cola is named after.”

“It’s named after D-RUGS??” Katsuki sat forward in his seat, but the squeaky leg cursed a whine at him and he sat back.

“That’s right: Drugs,” Mitsuki said to her eight-year old, her eyes wide. “Though people don’t make that connection anymore so they didn’t ever rebrand. They used to drink Coca-Cola when people got sick. It cleared out your sinuses, sure, but it also made you shout really loud and go streaking through the park. Ha! Anyway, where was I?”

“The. Uh… oh, the nutriss- nuturish-”

“Ah, nutritional facts. Say it with me, baby: Nutrition. Noo-trish-un.”

“Nutrition,” they said together. Katsuki smiled. Bet dumb Deku doesn’t know that one.

“So, the legacy of old-fashioned chemistry is that the nutritional value of foods isn’t really evaluated beyond the physical makeup of the food.” These were big words but Katsuki got the gist, and Mitsuki knew that. “It doesn’t tell you what those things do for you and your body, beyond ‘fat is bad, protein is good,’ and even that’s just considered on a physical level in regards to your body. There is so much more to food mentally, and emotionally, that goddamn counts as nutrition.”

“God-damn.”

“Yeah, don’t say that,” she said half-heartedly. “And I don’t just mean ‘veg out whenever you need it solely because it makes you feel good.’ Don’t totally disregard physical nutrition. I mean that food making you feel good shouldn't be totally disregarded either. Spices, for instance.” Katsuki cheered from his seat. “Yeah, you like spice.

“Food should taste good. It drives me up the goddamn wall when I see those health bitches on the TV drain out the grease from their meat. Right down the sink. That’s what makes it taste good! If you don’t want grease, eat turkey! And the ‘nutritional’ benefits of draining the grease hardly outweigh the emotional satisfaction of a good-tasting meal. At that point, it’s just a practice in self-sabotage, in pointless, self-inflicted suffering. And for what, so you get kudos from Nestle, who happens to be rolling out their new line of trans-fat free crackers? Please.”

She ladled the curry onto a plated bed of rice with a sigh. The smell made Katsuki’s tummy gurgle. He licked his lips really slowly, the same way he saw Spongebob do on the TV that morning.

“Anyway, my point is - when something tastes good, that’s good nutrition. Being healthy is being happy, and if the food you’re eating makes you happy, that is healthy. I’ll eat my pickles whole from the jar, even if Dr. Oz gives me a lip about ‘it’s too much sodium,’ and do you know why? Because I love the crunch of a fresh pickle, and I know that as sure as I know that there’s two grams of carbs in it because the sticker on the side tells me so. I know I love it so I do it, and that’s a beautiful thing. That’s something I deserve.”

She slid the steaming plate, loaded with peas, potatoes, and carrots in curry, across the table to her son. He reached for the fork, but she snapped it away at the last second. Katsuki looked into his mom’s eyes. “Say it back to me, baby: ‘Food should taste good.’”

“Food should taste good, mama.”

“I deserve this good food.”

“I… I deserve this good food.”

“That’s my baby, now eat up.”

A tear squeezed through Bakugou’s eyes at the memory, and fell down his cheek into the pan. He didn’t even remember the last part until it all ran through his head.

God, he couldn’t help it, and there was no one around to prove anything to - he made the effort to muffle himself with shallow breaths, but he let the tears flow free and hot down their tracks. This time they reached his chin. He asked the ceiling, berating himself on how foolish he was to think it would answer: did he still even deserve it?

[elsanna-shenanigans]

June Contest Submission #12: Boom Boom Pow

Words: ca. 3,300 Setting: mAU Lemon: lime CW: sand, alcohol, beanbags, dash of lime, language

“Do you like the stars?”

“Anna it’s fucking noon, the sun is up, it’s bright as shit. Why are you asking about stars?”

“Yo, my dude, chill. The sun is a star… right?”

Elsa rolled her eyes and turned up the radio, blasting 80’s music, but only the good songs. “I don’t know why I agree to come with you on these things.”

At this Anna laughed and danced a bit offbeat to the song that was playing. She didn’t know the lyrics, but the bass line was nice and she could vibe with that. She let the whole song play out before answering.

“Because you loooove me” She sing-songed, earning another eye roll from the driver. “You love me and we’re going to the beach and it’s going to be a good time.”

“If I didn’t love you, would it still be a good time?” Elsa asked, smirking.

As a response, Anna reached over and changed the radio. A loud, bass-heavy rap song overtook the speakers. The signer immediately spitting out questionably appropriate lyrics for the radio. Elsa’s face reddened under her large glasses and she reached to change channels so quickly that she turned it off. Enveloping the small sedan in a brief silence till Anna’s laughter filled the space.

And it went on like this the entire car ride, bits and pieces of random songs rapidly changing. Anna would allow something Elsa liked to play out entirely but when it was her turn she either skipped around or Elsa changed the station for her. The older woman apparently hated both rap and country music. The first part Anna didn’t understand and the latter, she agreed with. She was desperately trying to find a gospel station, just to see her sister’s reaction, but she found nothing but commercials.

Finally, she heard what she was looking for and turned to see Elsa’s reaction just as the other girl reached over and turned the radio off again. Anna was going to protest when she realized they were in a drive-thru.

“What can I get started for you today?” a tired-sounding voice asked over the intercom.

Anna leaned over Elsa to get closer to the open window and thus the speaker box. Making sure to be just close enough to be annoying.

“We would like to get married please, with Elvis if you have him, if not we’ll take what you have.”

“Anna!” Elsa exclaimed, slapping her on the shoulder.

There was an audible sigh come over the loudspeaker, “Ma’am this is a Wendy’s.”

“Oh right, then I’ll take a cheeseburger and a medium Coke, no ice. Thank you!”

“Anything else?” the tired voice asked. “I’ll have the same thing.”

They continued driving towards the beach after the drive-thru. Cupholders full of sodas in flimsy paper cups, and Anna’s lap full of white paper bags of greasy food. She kept sneaking a fry when she thought Elsa wasn’t looking. But it was a small car and Elsa could see every bit of fried potato Anna took.

The closer they got to the beach, the darker the sky became. Tall looming clouds crept over the horizon. They couldn’t see the beach yet as it was the east coast, and most roads took you to the beach straight on instead of winding down cliff faces like the Pacific was famous for. But still, the clouds loomed. Elsa knew there was a storm somewhere off the coast, but it seemed far away last she checked, which wasn’t today. She refused to check the weather today for fear of bad news.

On the main highway, traffic was starting to get heavy, more tourists were headed for their long-awaited vacations and the road ahead was either congested to the point of slowing down. Or there was an accident and everyone had to slow to a crawl to creep a glance at the carnage.

Thankfully the girls weren’t tourists, unthankfully they lived close to this tiny town that became a major city in the summer months. Having to deal with millions of tourists every year meant that locals had a series of short-cuts. So when traffic started building, Elsa took the next exit rather suddenly, cutting across the solid white lines and nearly missing the crash barrier.

“Elsa! Shit! What the fuck!” Anna yelled and shot out her hands with nearly inhuman speed to catch the drinks before they spilled out of their too-small cupholders. “There’s a backup, I’m not sitting in that,” Elsa replied, taking the next turn so hard that the car nearly tilted on two wheels.

“But I saw flashing lights, it could have been a firetruck!”

“It could have been a police car…”

“But Elsa you don’t understand, the hot firemen! …and women.”

“Anna I’m not sitting in traffic for 30 minutes or even longer, just for you to ogle at people in uniform.”

Anna took another fry, “Not people in uniform, F-I-R-E-M-E-N and women. It is very different.”

Elsa let out a heavy sigh as they came to a stop at a red light. “If I buy you that stupid Australian calendar will you shut up?”

“Wow, harsh.” Anna dramatically threw one braid over her shoulder. “But, yes.”

Again, Elsa rolled her eyes and continued forward when the light changed. It was only a short while later that they left the main road and turned into a small, older housing development. The narrow street lead them all the way to the ocean, coming out on the far end of the main strip. Highrise condos and hotels dotted the skyline to their left, but right in front of them was the beach, concealed behind a short sand dune. Because life is a bitch like that sometimes.

Luckily for them, there was also free parking at this end if you didn’t mind a bit of a walk. Which, for the price of 17 bucks to park next to the beach, who wouldn’t mind the walk. 17 dollars could buy many cheeseburgers, Anna pointed out.

The beach wasn’t nearly as crowded down where they were, away from the boardwalk and the hotels. The sand also happened to be rockier, rough and pitted with long-forgotten footprints and broken shells. The beach groomers didn’t come this far. Which was fine by them, they would take a rough sandy beach with fewer people over a crowded hellscape any day.

There’s nothing more relaxing than simultaneously listening to eight different speakers all playing different music. While children screamed for no reason and the air was filled with a mix of sunscreen and cigarette smoke.

So yes they will miss out on the hot lifeguards and yes there will be fewer people to watch. But you can’t put a price on the quiet and the fresh air that this section of the beach had to offer.

After crossing the highway on foot, climbing the dune, and laying out their towels, only then did they pause to look out on the water. The ocean was angry, white caps dotted the surface as far as they could see. The horizon line was blurred with fog or rain and the dark clouds from before were more ominous than ever. Why the two women didn’t notice all these signs until now was some kind of act of God. Or stupidly. Probably the latter.

The beach itself was even more sparsely populated than normal. A smart person would have gone home after seeing all the warning signs. But this was Anna’s only day off for the next few weeks. And Elsa, well Elsa was too stubborn to admit her beach idea was a bad one.

They both laid down, on separate towels, choosing to ignore the warning signs and attempting to soak up as much sun as possible before it was swallowed by the coming storm. Elsa tried not to think about it too much. Neither was sure how long it had been before they were interpreted.

“What are you two gay ass losers doing?” Came a female voice.

“Ch’yeah it’s like gonna rain bruh.” Said a male’s.

Elsa opened one eye to see her cousin and her boyfriend, or so it fiancé now? Standing over them. The sky beyond them somehow looked even darker than before, which was very rude.

“Trying to enjoy the sunshine, obviously.” She mumbled in response.

“What sun?” their cousin asked, in a weird out of place, and badly performed accent.

“Wait but what is that voice?” Anna asked, sitting up and brushing the sand off her arms. How that girl could get sand everywhere, Elsa would never know.

“It’s like our new characters,” Eugene answered, earning not an eye roll from Rapunzel but a nod of approval.

“I’m New York and he’s Los Angeles. Both strong and independent cities that you could almost say are their own character. And those characters are us.” She added

“Why though?” Elsa was also now sitting up and confused, though nowhere near as sandy because she wasn’t a dirt gremlin-like her sister.

“Because we wanted to be unique characters, otherwise we’re just boring white people and where’s the fun in that?” Eugene or rather Los Angeles answered.

“Oh boring, like you watch Star Trek and try to fit it into everything even though it has no business being there?”

Eugene shot Anna finger guns, “exactly, this one gets it… bruh.”

A boom was heard in the distance and it sent a few people running towards their cars, towels billowing behind them. A long-distance away, over the water, there was a flash and with it, the wind picked up.

“Looks like our beach day is ruined, I’m sorry Anna.” Elsa stood and began to roll up her towel. Even with the limited sun, she was already red on her front, making a stark difference to the pale skin of her back.

“Nah we just getting started, come back to our place and play some ping pong. We just pulled the table out of storage.” Rapunzel aka New York offered. The two of them didn’t live far from the beach, having taken over Rapunzel’s parent’s beach house. It was very old and run down, but the pair was fixing it up in exchange for free rent.

‘Aye New York is right, and we can take my new whip… bruh.” Los Angeles gestured over his shoulder towards the dunes. They couldn’t see it yet because that dang dune was blocking things again. But everyone knew he was referring to his new golf cart.

Reluctantly the girls agreed and a few long minutes later they were rushing inside an old house to avoid the rain that had just started to fall. Their car was left abandoned in the free parking lot.

Inside was an odd mix of old and new. Brand new stainless steel appliances dotted a kitchen with dark wood cabinets and a yellow linoleum floor. A half-torn-down wall gave way to the living room with floor-to-ceiling wood paneling and floral print furniture.

“It ain’t much but it’s home.” Los Angeles said once everyone was inside. He walked beyond the torn-down wall and slapped his hand on the wood paneling. “New York over there hates this stuff, but it’s hella soundproof if you know what I mean.” With this, he wiggled his eyebrows and finally, earned an eye roll from New York.

“How did you know we were on the beach by the way?” Elsa asked as she took a step further into the kitchen to look at the collection of magnets on the fridge.

“Your sister posted about it on her tumblr of all places. Honestly, get an Instagram like the rest of us already.” New York said throwing her hands up dramatically. The drama ran in the family apparently.

The ping pong table was in the basement, a dimly light space with concrete walls and a tiled floor. Mix-matched chairs lined the walls and a mini-fridge sat in the corner next to a shelf full of liquor bottles.

The ping pong game quickly descended into beer pong with a twist. No one had to drink from the cups the ball landed in. Because that’s gross, don’t do that. Inside if someone managed to land the ball in a cup the other team had to take half a shot of vodka. Los Angeles had wanted to do full shots but Elsa and New York talked him out of it, if only for not dying reasons.

Even so after a few games with no true stand-out winner, just a bunch of dumb luck, they were all fairly buzzed. Flushed creeks and slurred speech. Outside the storm finally hit. Rain battered the small basement windows and thunder boomed overhead.

With each thunderclap, Elsa reached for Anna’s hand and wouldn’t let go till the other girl gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Finally, everyone seemed to have enough of the game and collapsed into bean bag bars that Anna and Elsa had both not noticed before. Elsa scooted her bean bag closer to Anna’s, the other two people didn’t seem to notice. New York was hanging all over Los Angeles. Her fingers tracing the curve of his jawline down, her eyes practically boring holes into his face. He acted like he didn’t see, but it was obvious he knew.

“You guys can stay here for the night if you want since the storm sounds so bad,” Eugene said, dropping his horrible accent.

“That’s very kind, but it’s just a little rain, we’ll be alright,” Anna replied, completely forgetting their car was many blocks away.

New York stopped messing with her man and turned to them. “Anna, it’s more than a little rain. It’s a hurricane, I mean it was a tropical storm and it was supposed to miss us. But you know how it be sometimes.” She said with amazing clarity for a drunkard.

Elsa’s hand shot to Anna’s and she let out an audible gasp. She had refused to check the weather before heading out the door today, figuring what she didn’t know, can’t hurt her. Which was stupid and out of character for someone who claims to be responsible.

Another boom followed by a bright flash of lightning illuminated the room for a brief second. Elsa looked terrified so Anna took it upon herself to change the subject.

“So we will be seeing you in two weeks right?”

Rapunzel playing New York smiled and clapped her hands together, “Yes! At the church!”

“For things better left unspoken,” Eugene playing Los Angeles groaned, covering his eyes with his forearm.

Another boom and the room was suddenly cast in darkness and accompanied by an eerie quiet. You never notice how much sound your electronics make till everything is off. Elsa grabbed Anna’s entire arm, holding it so tightly Anna was worried she would lose it.

“Ah fuck the power is out. We have some candles upstairs, I’ll be right back, Rapunzel can you see if the camping lantern is over on the shelf?”

“Um excuse me, it’s New York, but yes I will look.”

Two bodies moved away in the darkness, their paths illuminated by the small light on their phones. Next to Anna, Elsa’s breathing became rapid and she clung to Anna as if she was in danger of being blown away.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright,” Anna whispered, using her free hand to pet the top of Elsa’s head. The older girl shifted so in one fluid motion she was off her beanbag and on Anna’s before curling into the young girl’s side.

“I found it!” Rapunzel slash New York exclaimed. She turned it on and the room was partly lit up. She walked back to where the other two women were cuddled together and sat back down in her own beanbag.

“Wow, that’s like hella gay.” She said, pointing to the pair.

“Oh shut up, she just doesn’t like storms, you know that.” Anna quipped

Elsa let go of Anna’s arm long enough to extend a hand and flip off her cousin, earning her a laugh in response.

Eugene returned shortly after with the candles, a tray of food, and some cards. “Anyone up for a game of hurricane poker? It’s like regular poker only there’s a hurricane.”

He rejoined the group, placing the tray in the middle of everyone and paying no mind to the two women who now shared a beanbag.

Elsa lifted her head to look, the tray was adorned with a random assortment of food. Celery sticks, M&M’s, KitKat bars, Cheetos, Grapes, and some animal crackers. She made a face.

“What’s wrong uh bruh?” Eugene asked in a bad attempt to get back in character. Los Angeles would never quite be the character that New York was.

“I’ll only eat celery sticks if you pay me,” Elsa responded.

The next few hours consisted of Eugene completely wiping the floor with everyone. They played for the M&M’s, of which he now owned all of. With the power still out and the storm still raging on the decision was made for the sisters to spend the night over.

Their room was completely unrenovated, the same wood paneling from the living room made up the walls and the carpet was a thick green shag rug. Eugene was right about one thing though, the paneling sure did dampen the sound. Once the door was shut the two women could hardly hear anything, which was good because Rapunzel had started blasting Mandy Moore music for some reason.

There was only one bed, pushed into the corner, but it didn’t matter anyway. There could have been 80 beds and they still would have shared just one.

Anna laid down on her back and traced the grains in the wooden wall. “Really makes you want to carve something in this stuff you know? Something that would be around for hundreds of years.”

“Please don’t vandalize our cousin’s house,” Elsa said before sitting on the edge of the bed. She turned the lantern off so the only source of the light in the room was the candle on the nightstand.

“You alright?” Anna asked, propping herself up on one elbow.

“Yeah, I’m just worried about the storm, I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Anna reached out and gently grabbed Elsa’s arm, guiding her back to lay in the bed next to her. “Do you want to sleep or keep your mind off things?”

Elsa paused for a brief moment before removing her arm from Anna’s grip. “I don’t know…”

“It’s your choice, either way, I’m here for you.” Anna smiled at her, a flash of lightning lit up the room but no thunder.

It startled Elsa but she remained where she was, staring at Anna. Thinking, always thinking.

“It’s just a storm and this old house seems to be built like a tank anyway.” She made a fist and pounded the wall to prove her point.

Elsa started twirling the end of one of Anna’s braids but her eyes remained locked on Anna’s. The delayed thunderclap came and Elsa inhaled sharply. Anna leaned over and kissed the top of her forehead.

“You sure this is okay?” Elsa asked and Anna nodded, running the back of her hand down the other girl’s cheek. “Let’s get our mind off of things then.”

Elsa crawled till she was straddling Anna who gazed up at her with eyes that shown like stars in the candlelight.

“What’s your favorite constellation?”

“Hmm, probably Orion, because you can find his belt so easy,” Anna answered, “Yours?” “Your eyes”

“Ew, that’s so fucking cheesy.”

Elsa leaned down, her mouth slightly agape. Anna’s eyes fluttered shut as her hands found their way to the other woman’s shoulders.

The storm, the damage, their car, all these things could wait until tomorrow. Tonight they were out of their control so for tonight they didn’t matter.

Elsa blew out the candle, and they both plunged into the sinful escape of the darkness.

[amjcpvr]

“Where are you going?” My brother, Woogie, asks as he comes home from work. His colleagues and him had gone out to have a drink after a long day and he had just gotten home. I was pretty dressed up for a night in, especially since it was getting late into the evening.

“Umm…” I follow him to the kitchen where he thanks me for making dinner for him and begins to dig in.

I grab my phone and keys and put them in my bag before glancing up at him.

“So I have to tell you something and you have to promise me you will NOT freak out.” I speak slowly as if that will make this better.

“Just spit it out.” He snorts. He probably thought it was something stupid like I got period blood on the sofa again.

“There's this guy and-” before I could say anything else Jay, one of my brother’s coworkers, interrupts me. My eyes widen as I suddenly jump and back away from the kitchen entrance.

“The fuc-” Another coworker, Harry, who had tagged along, quickly covers Jay’s mouth and smiles nervously.

I should’ve known. These guys always come over with Woogie. I had known them for the longest time, and if this was any other day, I wouldn’t have a problem with their visit. Today just wasn’t good timing.

“We’ve been talking for a long time and I really like him bro. He’s so sweet, and I know you’d like him too!” I quickly say before anyone else could interrupt me. I look at him with my Puss In Boots eyes as I await a response.

“The fuck-” Jay curses again but Harry once again covers his mouth.

I hear an engine coming from the distance and immediately recognize it. My heart skips a beat and I glance up at my brother.

“He's here.” I reveal as I look at the street from the kitchen window. His car pulls up a few seconds later.

I look over at Woogie with questioning eyes waiting for him to say something, anything. He stands from his seat, this whole time he had remained silent and I could feel sweat building on my forehead. He silently exits the house and I quickly follow behind him. Jay and Harry follow closely as well.

He looks over at the car and puts up two fingers before rolling them towards him In a “come here” manner.

The guy who was here to pick me up immediately steps out of his car and runs up our driveway.

“H-hello,” He bows down to show respect.

He walks over to my side when Jay puts out a foot to trip him.

Harry helps him stay steady and smacks Jay uptop his head.

Jay shrugs his shoulders and childishly sticks his tongue out directed to the back of my date's head.

I smile at the interaction. Jay was so silly.

“Woogie, meet my date, Woojae.”

Before he could respond, Haon comes walking over from Minsiks house.

Haon and Minsik were my next door neighbors. We were all pretty close since we had no one else to hang out with growing up. They knew Woojae and were waiting for us to reveal the news to my brother.

He was just passing to his house when he noticed Woojae’s car. He looks from the car to us back to the car over and over again.

He randomly runs back to Minsiks house and yells.

“They finally did it!” Out of nowhere, Minsik comes running out and also notices the car.

He looks over at us and gives us a thumbs up.

They walk over to us and immediately back us up.

“Dude! Woodie here is a good guy. He's been staying single as a Pringle just for ya daughter, you know?” Minsik starts as he hooks his arm around my brother.

I groan and pull him off.

“Not helping.” I growl at him and he immediately cowers away like a sad puppy.

They stand at the sidelines next to Jay and Harry. I see and hear all four of them asking questions to get caught up on the situation. I ignore it and continue looking at my brother.

“Why do you like my sister?” My brother finally speaks after what feels like years.

“The fuck that's the only thing you gonna ask. Let me at him bruh.” Jay threatens as he throws air punches while Harry holds him back.

“I've been training with Zombie. You better catch these hands mother-” This time it was haon who cut him off and mumbled something about 'if you're angry just take a moment and look at yourself, the person you see is not you…”

I roll my eyes and focus back on My date and brother’s interaction.

“Why do you like drinking?” Woojae asks my brother. I look at him bewildered.

This better be good.

I could tell my brother was thinking the same thing.

“It tastes good.” My brother comments with a smirk. He knew where Woojae was going with his answer so he was probably expecting Woojae to say.

“Well your daughter tastes good.”

Or something like that.

“Exactly. Everybody has different taste buds. For example, my mother hates beer but my father loves it. Taste buds are different in everybody's mouth. Your sister likes spinach and I hate it. Taste buds are like feelings. Everyone has different feelings for different people. You might see Minsik as a nice next door neighbor but I see him as guy who loves to party. I like her because she tastes good to my taste buds.” Woojae finishes.

I stared at him with tears in my eyes before I hug him. I could see Jay tearing up as he curls up next to Harry.

Woogie was still emotionless as always.

“Okay. No later than 9pm.” He quickly replies before he sits back down, this time on a chair we had outside on the porch, and takes a deep breath.

I look at Woojae and hold my hand out to him. I already know I had an embarrassingly bright grin on my face. He gladly takes it and leads me down to his car.

“After you, milady.” He coos sweetly as he opens the door for me.

“Why thank you, mister.” I reply as I get in and make myself comfortable.

“Where did you learn that?” I ask him as I stare at him with hearts in my eyes. We were on our way to the movies already.

“What?” He questions with a giggle. He was getting shy.

How cute.

“That amazing way with words.” I flirt exaggeratedly as I continue to stare at him dreamily.

“From you. You're my muse.” He responds but then shys away and cringes.

“Ahh” he screams like a little girl.

I burst out laughing but my heart skips a beat nevertheless.

“Ah! My heart is beating too fast!” I tease as I hold my heart.

He screams again and makes the final turn to enter the parking lot.

“I like that.” I continue with a smile.

“What? The movie theater?” He asks as he focuses on parking perfectly.

“No. I like that corny mouth of yours.” I purr as I send him a wink.

“Oh baby. This mouth can be more than just corny.” He winks back, but he can’t hold his face for more than three seconds before screaming and cowering away.

“You know what my mouth could be?” I challenge him as I lean closer to him.

“What?” He glanced at me suspiciously.

“Yours.” I whisper in his ear. I back away to catch his reaction and witness a horrified look cross his face.

“Baby, I wasn't ready.” He quickly says while shaking his head.

I giggle and another beat skips in my chest.

He quickly gets out and opens the door for me.

I exit and immediately intertwine our hands and swing them back and forth as we walk into the theater.

“I can't believe we didn't go on a single date these past few weeks.” I make conversation as we wait in line.

“Me neither. You know how long I've been wanting to hold your hand?” He cheeses as he holds our hands up.

“Mmm… a few weeks?” I tease him. I laugh at his eye roll that follows and lean into him.

“Finally.” I snuggle into his arm and freely breath in his cologne.

We pay for our tickets and snacks and sit in our spots.

Before the movie starts we talk about what had happened earlier.

“For a second I thought your brother was going to throw me into a trash can.” He explains his worries as he digs his hand into the popcorn bowl.

“What? My brother isn't that mean.” I laugh quietly as I recall the events from earlier that day.

“If anything you should be grateful Harry was there to stop Jay from jumping you.” I retaliate as I laugh out loud.

I visibly see woodie shiver as he remembers Jay's words and actions.

“Does he really train with Zombie?” He quizzes with fear in his eyes.

“Yes.” I reply teasingly. His eyes grow before he looks away in fright.

“Don't worry! I won't let him.” I quickly reassure him as I squeeze his cheeks.

He groans and gets another fistful of popcorn.

“Stop it or else you'll finish all of it before the movie even starts and I am not sharing my nachos boi.” I nag him as I smack some popcorn out of his hand and back into the bin.

He squeals and reaches for it again before fitting it all in his mouth.

I burst out laughing, earning a few daggers and a “shhhh” from somewhere.

We giggle quietly and wait for the movie to begin.

Throughout the movie, we held hands, and leaned on each other. The date was even better than I imagined.

“You want to go eat? It's 8:30… oh wait, gotta be back by 9.” He finished with a sigh.

“We can get McDonald's and then eat at my house.” I suggest.

“What if everyone's still there?” He worriedly questions as he looks at me doubtfully.

“Well everyone already knows how much we're seriously about each other, so I don't think It's a big deal.” I respond with a shrug.

He thinks about it for a while before nodding.

We pass through the l McDonald's drive thru and get our food before heading home.

When we get there, haon and minsik, are gone. Jay, Woogie, and Harry are the only ones still outside just sitting around and talking. Thankfully they aren’t consuming alcohol, that would’ve been both hilarious and disastrous.

“Here goes nothing.” Woodie whispers as he opens his car door. He runs over to my side and opens my door as well.

“Thank you, sir.” I playfully curtsy after stepping out.

“You hired your own valet boy?” Haon jokingly asks as he comes walking down the road with a basketball in his hand.

There is a group of guys behind him. They call themselves Kiff clan or something like that.

“Haha very funny.” Woojae replies with a stoic expression.

I pinch his cheek to break his angry expression and sling my arm around his neck.

“No, even better, I got a date.” I counter as I squeeze him to me. He giggles and pushes me away only to give up and squeeze me just as tightly.

“Eww. Let's go Kiff We GOt a SWaG.” Haon exclaims as all his buddies follow him into his house.

“Okay now let's go eat. I'm starving.” Woojae Says as he rubs his tummy . I could feel his cheek moving because we were right next to each other, cheek to cheek.

We separate and grab the bags out of the backseat as well as the drinks.

“Hi brother.” I greet as I lead the way up the stairs with Woodie behind me.

Before he could ask what Woodie was doing back here, I hold up a bag of food.

“Who's hungry?” His eyes immediately light up and he snatches the bag away.

“I brought some for everybody, even you Jay.” I tempt evilly.

“B-b-but my diet.” He cries. He literally looks like he is about to die.

I shrug my shoulders and wink at him.

I place four drinks down and realize I have an extra one.

“Minsik was gonna come back for a shirt he left over here or something like that. Not sure what he said, just give it to him.” Woogie comments as he pulls the drink down and places it on the table.

I nod and walk inside with Woodie.

We walk to the kitchen and dig in.

“Yo if this big Mac was a person, I'd leave your ass.” I joke as I take another bite.

I feel a balled up napkin hit my forehead but ignore it.

“Oh yeah? If pizza was a girl I'd leave your ass too.” He turns away with his arms crossed.

I choke from laughter. Once I recover, I get up and give him a back hug, because his back was still to me.

“I'm sorry.” I apologize as I pry his arms away from each other.

“No, you're not.” He childishly replies.

I sigh.

“You're right.”

He looks at me with a bewildered look on his face and pushes me away.

I laugh and sit back down.

We finish our food with me trying to get him to talk to me and him continuously ignoring me.

“Wanna play Mario Kart?” I question as we throw our trash away.

His face immediately brightens.

“Is that even a question?” He asks as he runs to the living room.

I follow him with a chuckle and set the game console up.

We begin with small bets of 5 dollars but it soon increases to dares like “I dare you to go on the roof and throw something on Jay.” Which we end up not doing because we are too scared.

“This is the last game okay? You have work early tomorrow.” I state as I hit the play again button.

After an intense race I win.

“Okay whats the last dare?” He asks as he looks over at me with pleading eyes.

“I dare you… to…” I meet his eyes and wiggle my eyebrows before continuing. I crawl closer to him and sit down.

“Make my lips yours.” I finish as I look up at him.

He sends a small grin.

“Now that, I can do.” He whispers as he leans closer.

Our lips meet and I swear I hear fireworks go off in the distance.

We kiss until we can’t breathe anymore.

When we finally pull away we look into each other's eyes and smile.

I give him another peck and he does the same. We keep doing that until he engages me into another long kiss.

Finally we pull away, for real this time, from each other and he gathers his things.

“Thank you for today.” I tell him as I smile. He looks down at me with a smile too.

“I'll see you later babe.” He tells me sweetly.

We open the door and see Jay passed out on Minsiks lap. Minsik is just surfing through social media completely unbothered.

My brother and Harry were busy talking about work.

They look up when they hear the door open.

“Thank you for letting me take your sister out tonight. I promise I will protect her.” He smiles politely as he bows his head.

“Yeah. Thanks for the food I guess.” My brother gives in awkwardly as he gives Woodie's shoulder a pat.

Jay wakes up as if he senses my date’s departure.

“You!” He points at woodie.

Woodies eyes widen and he freezes in place.

“M-me?” He asks as he points at himself.

“Yes, you! How did you know I liked chicken nuggets? Come here bro!” He grins, to everybody's surprise. He pulls woodie to him and shakes his hand.

Woojae gives a nervous smile and reciprocates the handshake.

“See you man.” Minsik says as he also shakes Woojae hand.

It seems like Jay just barely notices him.

“What the- Minsik? Da fuq? Why am I sitting on your lap? You pervert!” Jay yells. He tilts the chair they are sitting on and Minsik falls with it.

I sigh and a few chuckles escape.

“Sorry.” I apologize to him. He shrugs.

“I'm used to it.” He replies as he rubs his arm.

I walk woojae down to his car and we sadly say our goodbyes.

“Text me when you get home.” I demand as I begin walking away. Our hands are intertwined but our fingers begin to separate the farther I go.

“Okayyy. Come here.” He whines as he pulls me back. He hugs me and gives me one last peck before we finally let go.

He drives away and I wave to him until I no longer see his car.

I walk back up to the porch and hear minsik comment something.

“What is this? Your first date or your first anniversary?” He asks as he rolls his eyes.

“Youre just jealous because your single.” I retort as I stick my tongue out at him.

“Jay is still single and he's 31.” He points out carelessly.

We laugh at the mentioned man’s hurt face and then run when he gets up from his seat looking like he was going to murder us.

I walk inside after seeing Minsik get spanked by Jay and get ready for bed.

When I get out of the shower I realize I have a message from woojae.

Just got to this house.

He then sends a picture of his house and I laugh.

Whyd you call it this house?

Because my only home is you.

I could already see him squirming around in his bed and screaming into a pillow.

Go to sleep you teenage girl. I can hear your screams all the way over here.

Why you gotta be so rude~ don't you know I'm human too~

Good night woodie.

Okay okay. Good night babe.

————————

Wrote this when I was on something or sleep deprived idk. I had this in my drafts for like 3 years and I’m just cleaning out my drafts and deciding whether things should be posted or deleted. DID NOT PRROFREAD! I’m sorry! I will proofread soon, probably after finals!

Let me know if this type of writing is something you’d like to see again in the future!

———————————

Woodiegochild x oc

Woogie as your brother

Jay as your brother’s overprotective friend

Haon and sikk as your neighbors

———————————

Enjoy!!!

[meganshinsou-tm]

Sugarcoated. (m)

↳ chapter seventeen: the void

❧ genre: pro-hero hitoshi, adoptive siblings, happy ending

❧ chapter warnings: mentions of suicide/self harm, depression, anxiety, comfort

[multi-chap masterlist] [previous chapter - next chapter]

The loud and obnoxious sound of the alarm on your phone woke you from a deep slumber. You groaned and reached behind your head to the arm of the couch and grabbed the device, picking it up and touching the 'off' button. Your fingers went to clutch the phone but it slipped from your hold and landed straight on your forehead.

"Oh for the love of fucking christ why!"

Groaning and moaning in pain, you rolled over and fell straight off of the couch with a yelp. 

"I'm just going to lay here and die," you thought to yourself as your face stayed buried into the rug. 

The phone started to ring only a few seconds later, startling you from the serene quietness of the house. With a sigh you sat up on your elbows and grabbed the phone, seeing that it was Hitoshi calling, more than likely to make sure you were awake from your nap.

"Ayeeee," you answered with a tired and un-enthused tone.

"I swear you're something else woman, are you awake? Like awake awake?"

"Yeah I'm awake, trust me," you replied rubbing your forehead.

"Okay, just making sure sweetness. The kid has dance this afternoon right?"

You confirmed Hitoshi's question as you rose from the floor with a groan. The two of you continued to converse as you put on your hoodie and coat, shoes and grabbed your car keys. It had been exactly three weeks since you moved in with your now boyfriend to help him with the care of Eri. It was an exhausting and busy three weeks but so wonderful at the same time. You liked the hustle and bustle of bringing Eri to and from school and her different lessons. More than anything you loved being part of Hitoshi and Eri's life, sharing a home with them both and having your own life full of love and happiness, all because of them.

"How about I meet you two after her lesson and we'll go out for dinner since it's Friday?"

You quirked a brow and counted back your days, realizing that Hitoshi was right but also causing another important detail to pop into your brain as you saw a sparkly pink duffel bag by the front door.

"Uh – I think it'll be just me and you actually. Eri is supposed to go to some little slumber party tonight after dance. I just remembered!"

"That's fine then, you know what, since you'll be back at home before me I'll just pick up some take-out on my way home and we'll have a night in together. It's been a while since we've had one of those, kid free. Maybe even have a copious amount of sex squeezed in between some movies and video games?"

You laughed as you were already out the door and getting into your vehicle, knowing good and well that your lover was at his work desk surrounded by his colleagues and not giving a single fuck about if they could overhear him or not.

"Mmm, food, movies, video games and sex. Should I wear my 'holey' pants, I just know how turned on you get when I strut around in them!"

A sharp inhale was heard on the other end of the call, making you laugh again from imagining Hitoshi grinning through his gritted teeth as he thought of your pair of pajama pants with pink pineapples all over them and a good number of frayed holes. You never cared to throw them away because they were the most comfortable pair of pj's you owned.

"Oh now you're talking, maybe even wear a matching trash bag top. Mmm, that'd be so fucking hot!"

More laughter erupted from your mouth, making Hitoshi laugh as well. You sank back into the seat of the vehicle after starting the engine and turning the heater on full blast. "I love you weirdo."

"I love you more sweetheart. Be careful on the road please, and text me when you get there."

"You got it captain!"

After picking up Eri from school, the two of you had a small amount of time to drive-thru and grab a quick snack. Eri sat in her booster seat, eating her fries and drinking her juice happily as you did the same. You turned down the music on the radio and glanced at the little girl in your rear-view mirror.

"So cutie, what do you want to be for Halloween? We're gonna have to start looking for a costume because you got that party coming up, plus we're all going to the festival at UA."

As Eri chewed on a mouthful of salty fries she thought with a finger to her cheek. After a few seconds, her ruby eyes lit up and she looked at you.

"I want to be Alice!"

"Ooh, that sounds easy enough! You'd make a very cute and fitting Alice! You know I think we should make Toshi be the Cheshire Cat!"

"Yeah! He's purple already!" Eri pointed out.

You laughed and agreed with her. You couldn't wait to tell Hitoshi the decision you and his sister made in regards to his Halloween outfit. Eri followed with asking what you would be, which actually stumped you. You weren't much of a fan of the classic tale but you had a general knowledge of it. The Mad Hater or Queen of Hearts just didn't really float your boat. 

"Hmm, who else is there?" 

A light flickered in your head as you thought about making you and Hitoshi match at least in the animal department.

"What about the White Rabbit?"

"Yeah! Then we would all match!"

The rest of the drive you and Eri planned out the pieces of your costumes. Once at dance you walked in with her, hand in hand and helped to get her dressed in her dance outfit and put her long silver locks up into a nice and neat bun. You stowed her stuff away and walked to the dance room, crouching to her level before she went inside.

"Alright, you're going home with Mai and her mommy today for her slumber party. All your things are in your bag, and if you need absolutely anything you let her mom know and she will call me or Toshi."

"Okay Unnie, you and Sou-Sou will come get me tomorrow?"

"Absolutely, whenever you're ready to come home, we'll be on our way!"

Eri smiled and nodded before hugging your neck tightly. You placed a kiss to her head before standing and coaxed her into the dance room. She smiled and waved goodbye to you and ran to join her little group of friends. You waved back and proceeded to give the other girls mother yours and Hitoshi's numbers and made your way back home, more than ready to have a lazy night with your equally exhausted boyfriend.

Hitoshi struggled to open the door of his home, after many failed attempts of calling your cell or kicking at the barrier since his hands were full, he had to manage by himself knowing that you wouldn't be coming to help him. Once inside he heard it was quiet for the most part, which had him worried until he walked more into the kitchen and could hear a vacuum cleaner running down the hall. His heart was put at ease, realizing that's why you didn't answer him.

The hero placed all the bags of food on the counter, he went all out and got everything the both of you enjoy from your favorite take-out place. You had been working so hard the past few weeks caring for Eri, cleaning the house and cooking in your free time, even if it was already spotless. 

Of course Hitoshi wasn't the type to just sit back and let you do these things, either you'd have them all done before he could get home or when he'd offer his help you'd decline it and suggest he spend time with Eri helping with her homework or just playing games with her. Tonight he wanted to make sure you were satisfied in more ways than one, a belly full of good food, a nice bath to relax your tired body, nice soft and comfy clothes and a whole bunch of doing nothing.

After Hitoshi's arms were empty he slid his shoes off and made his way towards the whirring sound of the cleaning appliance. It led him to Eri's bedroom and he poked his head around the corner of her door frame. The sight his eyes fell upon was very welcomed, making him chuckle and smile. 

Your ear buds were snug in your ears, your phone on the toddlers dresser. As you vacuumed you danced along with the music flowing into your canals, singing to it as well. Your hips swayed in a hypnotic way and you had great footwork as you stepped along with the beat. Your entire body was moving - shoulders, waist, head. (H/c) locks swayed along and your free hand was raised up dancing along too.

"Y se emociona, ya no razona. Y me empieza a cantar, me canta así, así. Bidi bidi bom bom. Bidi bidi bom bom."

Hitoshi's eyes lit up as he heard your voice speaking the Spanish language so flawlessly. He knew you liked many different types of music and knew countless songs word by word, the language barrier being no problem. 

This wasn't the first time the male had caught you like this either, there were multiple times he'd walk in on you dancing and singing in the shower, while baking or cleaning. Each time he'd scare the piss out of you by not making his presence known and you'd stop immediately. It wasn't like you couldn't dance or sing, because you could and so well. The sheer embarrassment of it all though is what would make you end the show. 

This time though, he didn't want that to happen. With the help of his own sounds being muted by your ear buds and vacuum, he was able to sneak inside the room and place himself a close distance behind you. His violet eyes watched your foot work and learned it quickly, they'd also gaze to your ass as you'd roll your hips and stick the plump flesh out.

He panted, seeing you in black leggings and a plain long-sleeve shirt. You didn't have to wear fancy or revealing getup's to get his blood pumping and his tongue hanging from his mouth. 

Hitoshi held his hands up and lined them with your hips as he got ready to step in with you. You sang the song so well and perfectly it's like he could hear the beat of it and easily became in-tune with your movements. Hitoshi took a deep breath and waited for just the right moment and took it. 

One arm wrapped around the front of your waist, pulling your gyrating hips into his, the other grabbed hold of your hand that swayed up in the air. Chuckling, his lips brushed against the skin of your neck, making a shocked gasp escape from your mouth. You hadn't fully registered what was happening as Hitoshi danced with you, moving his hips along with yours and pressing his hard chest to your back.

You stopped vacuuming, letting go of the machine and Hitoshi took the chance to twirl you around and face him. He took a bud from your ear and placed it in his so he could hear the music you listened to. It was lively and fun, his hands took hold of yours, fingers intertwining and holding them in the air as he danced along with you quite well.

"Toshi-ah! What the – you never told me you could even remotely dance!"

Hitoshi twirled you, making you giggle and tugged you towards him and kissed your cheek, "You never asked."

"That's my line you turd!"

Smiling, Hitoshi pulled you into his chest and dipped you, timing it perfectly with the end of the song. He was so pleased with himself and placed sweet kisses up your neck to your cheek before standing you straight up again. His arms wrapped around you and hugged you close, you hummed and hugged back burying your face into him. Hitoshi pulled away and removed the bud from yours and his ear, grabbed your phone and shut off your music.

"Come on sweetness, let's get that thing put back up and get our night started!"

After eating all the food you could until you were miserable, Hitoshi ran a bath and you both bathed and relaxed until you were prunes. Now you laid on the couch together watching a movie. Hitoshi played with your (h/c) hair as you laid on his chest until you lost interest in the film and moved to sit up and straddle his lap. He smiled and touched your warm cheek, drinking in the site of you wearing one of his shirts and looking adorable.

"I didn't ask yet, but how was your last full week at the agency?"

Hitoshi explained his week and you listened closely, your hands playing with his.

The time had come finally for him to start his teaching job at UA that following Monday, you were excited and nervous for him, he was more excited than anything. All week after he'd get off work, he'd stop by the school to set up his classroom and get everything in place and ready. 

You and Eri stopped by one day to bring him dinner and you weren't exactly surprised to see just how much he put into the room. It looked chaotic with all the sketches, posters and prints that hung from the walls but it was somehow like an organized chaotic. Everything flowed together well, it was cozy and very inviting. As he stated before, there was a big print of your picture from Disneyland on one of the walls, along with an equally sized picture of Eri. Hitoshi said he was going to make the classroom his own and make it his own he did.

"You excited for your first day of teaching?" You asked, moving your hands up Hitoshi's chest to wrap around his neck and play with his hair.

"Definitely, it'll be a nice change and new journey. I can't wait to meet my students and see how creative they are."

You smiled at your lover's excitement and leaned forward to kiss his lips softly. Hitoshi hummed as his hands rested on and squeezed your hips. He grinned after you broke away, asking what the kiss was for.

"Just because. I'm really proud of you Hitoshi, you set your sights on something and you go after it."

"Well thank you sweetheart. I'm so lucky to have you," he replied and pulled your lips to his again, giving you a kiss to express his gratitude.

You smiled and leaned down, hugging his chest and pressing your cheek to it. Hitoshi wrapped his own arms around you and kissed the top of your head.

"It's definitely the other way around Toshi."

Shinsou smirked as he rubbed your back and you went back to watching the movie on the tv but suddenly it's like your words brought a past memory up, from that night in the bathtub a few weeks ago. 

"I don't know how much longer I would've lasted in this world." 

Somehow he had forgotten to ask you about that night, about your life and emotional health before moving in with him. Looking down at you, Hitoshi figured now was a good enough time to ask you, you were awake and aware and already in a somewhat mushy and open mood. You never had been the type to really hide anything from him, even before your relationship became official. Hitoshi picked up on clues to your moods and he'd ask you about them, sometimes you'd be hesitant or annoyed with his line of questioning but you always answered him. In the end you'd feel better having him to vent to.

"Hey baby," Hitoshi started off as his hand on your back squeezed, "I've been wanting to talk to you about something."

You remained in your place, your hand holding onto Hitoshi's bicep and your thumb brushing his skin under the sleeve of his shirt. "What is it Toshi?"

"Do you remember a few weeks ago, when you and Eri made that cake, me and you took a bath that night and you were dozing off? You said something to me, something about how if I hadn't come along with my job offer then you didn't know 'how much longer you would've lasted in this world'. Does any of that ring a bell?"

Your brows knitted, trying to recall that nights events. The memories were blurry, you were in a dazed state after all. You remembered Hitoshi bathing you, holding you close and letting you melt into him. When you're extremely tired and trying to fight it off, you tend to blabber a lot about your hearts innermost feelings. More than likely that was the case that night, no denying it.

"I don't remember it exactly, but it sounds like something I would've said."

"What exactly did you mean by that? You weren't planning on hurting yourself ... were you?"

There was a pause before you replied, letting out a long and ragged breath as you thought how to form the words that wanted to fall from your lips. 

You had thoughts before, of how much easier life would be if you didn't have a life at all. You wouldn't have to worry about meeting due dates for bills, wouldn't have to be bothered with your families problems and above all, wouldn't have to see that monster you worked for ever again. Each day going back and forth to that café seemed to just break a piece of your soul off more and more. The looks, whistles and words that you'd hear. 

Your only saving grace being Hitoshi when he'd stop by and grace you with his company. For those few moments or hours, you'd feel that everything was good in the world, that maybe you could make it one more day if it meant seeing that tuft of purple hair and those glistening amethyst eyes one more time.

"Uh – not exactly, I guess? I don't know. I think back then I honestly had just given up on caring about my life Hitoshi. I was in the mindset that if something 'bad' did happen to me then I'd be okay with it. Truthfully, I'm too much of a little bitch to ever off myself, I wanted it to be done for me. I'd go as far as seeking out dangerous situations sometimes."

Hitoshi clenched his jaw, letting your words hit him hard, his hold on you grew tighter. You kissed the inside of his elbow that your face rested in and continued.

"I – I'd purposefully walk through the rough and bad areas of the city on my way home some nights. Hoping someone would think I was good enough to mess with and even hurt. Other times I wouldn't pay attention to my surroundings as I walked crosswalks during heavy traffic. I feel disgusted with myself that I even thought of giving into that man I worked for, then trying to back out of it, hoping he'd get mad enough to lose his control and just ... end me. I almost got what I wished for huh? Except that night, my entire view had changed, I didn't want that situation anymore but still it ended up happening, like some sick joke."

Hitoshi could feel his chest tightening, his heart aching and squeezing. The thought of seeing a story on the news about a girl with your description found behind a dumpster in the slums of Japan had his stomach in knots and made him nauseous. The fact that you sought that out, made it even worse. 

If you truly had gotten everything you wished for back then, Hitoshi would've been guilt ridden for sure. It was his fucking job to read people, how did he not see that dead and hopeless look in your eyes? 

Was it because when he was around, even if you acted annoyed, that you were at your happiest? Just the act of him stopping by and requesting you, was that what kept you going? What about your own family, there's no way they didn't play a part in your life and no way they wouldn't have helped you, had you asked for it.

"(Y/N), what about your family?"

Your shoulders shrugged and you hummed. 

"Well, I distanced myself from them. My parents especially, I just wanted to escape all the – the idiocy. My brother and his wife, their kids, they were another reason I kept going. My mother and father though, nothing happy every comes out of those relationships. Just being let down time and time again, picked over for something better."

You had no family really, except for your sibling and his small family. Those two kids of theirs were your entire world. Then Hitoshi and Eri came along and your world grew. You and brother would go a few weeks without talking to each other, it was normal. They would get busy with the kids and work, and you would be busy with whatever was going on in your life. Always though, you'd check up on each other after too long and pick up from where you left off.

Hitoshi was silent as you explained your sad and chaotic life to him, taking it all in. He never knew any of this went on, had he known, he would've done more, made his move earlier! You finally pulled yourself from his chest, going back to straddling his hips and looking at him. The man looked to be on the verge of tears. 

You pouted and cupped Hitoshi's face, leaning forward and resting your forehead to his.

"I'm sorry Hitoshi. I'm sorry I didn't value you my life like I should've. Sorry for not being strong enough and being a coward, for being stupid and endangering myself. I just, I had enough of it all, I was tired," a shaky breath left your lips, " - so tired. I wasn't going anywhere fast enough for my liking, I had these dreams that seemed so unrealistic and I got discouraged. You saved me though and each day I'm so thankful you walked into that café almost every goddamn day and showed me that smile and kindness. It got to where I lived for it, now wholeheartedly I live all because of you."

Tears flowed from your eyes and from Hitoshi's as well. When he felt a tear drop onto his shirt the hero captured you in his arms holding you as close as humanly possible. Your cries rippled through him as he held your head to him and pet your hair. You apologized over and over, for the smallest and most unnecessary reasons. Hitoshi quietly cried with you, comforting and shushing your un-needed words.

"You have nothing to be sorry for towards me (Y/N). I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner or did something about it. The thought of you suffering alone, not being this person I've been so blessed to see these past few weeks, it fucking kills me. As long as there's a breath in me, I promise to do everything in my power to make sure you're happy. I'll support and back all your dreams like you do for me, I'll always be here for you to vent to and let your frustrations out on, I'll be absolutely any and everything you could ever need. You have to promise me though that if you ever feel yourself slipping, even just the smallest bit, back into that void, you'll let me know."

You nodded, sniffling and wiping your nose and eyes with the backs of your hands and arms. "I promise Hitoshi. Thank you so much, for everything. I love you so much."

Hitoshi closed his eyes and squeezed you tight, placing a kiss to your temple and wiped your eyes. "I love you so much more."

The next few minutes were spent with Hitoshi holding you close, both of you calming down and getting back to normal. Your boyfriend instructed you wrapped around and hold him tight as he got up from the couch, carrying you to the kitchen and sitting you on the counter. He grabbed a clean rag and wet it with warm water, wrung it out then placed himself between your knees. As you sniffled, Hitoshi used the rag to wipe and clean your eyes and face. The warmth of the cloth made you relax and you gave the man an appreciative smile.

"Sorry I kind of ruined the whole vibe tonight Toshi."

"Baby, you didn't ruin anything. As painful as it was, I'm glad we had this talk. How about we play a friendly game of Mario Kart to get the mood back up?"

You chuckled as Hitoshi took your face in his hands, pulling you to look up at him towering over you and placing a kiss to your lips. Your hands hung from his as you kissed back eagerly. His warm and soft lips were helping to bring the warmth back to yours. The taste of spicy curry was still on his tongue that was welcomed into your mouth and lapped at your own muscle, you enjoyed it honestly. Tongues retreated back to their own caves and your lips enveloped each other one last and long time before breaking away.

"You're on Hitoshi, get ready to get your ass kicked!"

A cocky grinned grew on Hitoshi's face and he quickly tossed you over his shoulder, placing a firm smack to your ass as he carried you back into the living room. It stung more than usual being you weren't wearing pants to protect your skin. You playfully bit at the back of his shoulder, making him only bite your thigh in retaliation.

"Ow you fucker! I'd be nice if I were you, I do get to put together your Halloween costume in fact, and I could be evil about it!"

"What costume? I haven't told you what I wanted to be yet."

You smiled as Hitoshi flung you onto the massive couch from over his shoulder. His arms trapped your head and he looked down on you and leaned on the couch.

"You don't get a say in the matter, Eri chose for you and it's great! You see, you'll be going as the Cheshire Cat, ears and all! For once I'll be the one drooling over you in a kitty cat getup!"

Hitoshi narrowed his eyes at you and grit his teeth. Your finger reached up and glided under his chin then to bop the tip of his nose as you giggled.

"Cat got your tongue Toshi?"

"Bite me," he snapped back.

Propping up on your elbow, your hand cupped his neck and tugged him down roughly and closer to you, the tip of your tongue licked up the side of his throat and stopped at his jaw where you nipped lightly. "Don't mind if I do!"

[lurafita]

It IS easy to kidnap Spiderman (If Peter Parker has to go to a board meeting)

This has also been posted at AO3, but I thought it might be good to have a back-up of the story on another website. Just in case.

Summary: Slightly crack-ish, not to be taken too seriously, mostly just written for fun. Peter has to go to an S.I. board meeting. Peter doesn’t want to go to an S.I. board meeting. Peter can’t come up with an excuse to not go to an S.I. board meeting. Peter needs a miracle. … Or, alternatively, a van full of kidnappers.

“I’m going to die!”

Peter whined as he, Ned and MJ crossed the street. Ned shot his best friend a somewhat sympathetic look, while the girl in the group rolled her eyes.

“You are not going to die because you have to sit through one measly big wig meeting.”

Peter ignored her.

“Goodbye oh cruel world. How heartlessly you rip me from existence.”

MJ folded her arms as they kept walking.

“You do realize that as the official heir to Stark Industries, you are going to have to deal with this stuff all the time, right?”

Peter dramatically gripped his chest, looking up into the sky.

“The lights… are fading… Limbs… growing cold… I see… a tunnel… Mother, is that… you?… Begging me.. to go… into the light?… Must. Move. Towards. The. Light! I am… going… Home… Goodbye cruel world! … Rose…bud.”

And then he gracelessly slumped against the store front to his left, slowly sliding down. Ned clapped politely, while Michelle kept frowning.

“Really? The possum from ‘Over the hedge’?”

Peter was up in an instant.

“Don’t diss the classics, MJ.”

And there went the eye roll again.

“My point stands. You are one day going to head one of the most, if not the most, successful and important enterprises in the world. You are going to need to learn how to do it. And like it or not, that includes sitting through board meetings.”

They stopped at an intersection, waiting for the light to turn green.

“But it’s gonna be so boring! They will be talking about market value and sales figures and the development of our sister companies and the possibilities of future trading partners, and I’m going to fall asleep, okay? I’m going to fall asleep right there, and then I will slide from the chair and crack my head open on the incredibly expensive meeting table, and then I will be bleeding out on the floor, - which is probably carpeted with imported, high quality, unicorn hair. And then everyone is going to look at me all judgmental like, and Pepper and Tony are gonna rethink leaving their billion dollar baby in the hands of a super spaz like me. And if I somehow survive bleeding to death on unicorn hair carpet, I will die of shame.”

The light finally turned and the three friends proceeded.

“Unicorn hair?” Ned questioned.

“It’s so soft!” Peter answered with huge, awe-filled eyes. “And you guys haven’t even heard the worst part! Pepper said I can’t bring Hope!”

Now his best male friend looked appropriately shocked by this absolute travesty, but his best female friend just continued to roll her eyes at him. Peter wondered if she ever got dizzy from it.

“Seriously? You are not allowed to bring your overly affectionate and enthusiastic dog to an important board meeting? What is the world coming to?”

Her sarcasm went right over the brunettes head.

“Right?”

Peter and Hope, his shelter rescue Pit Bull, had been pretty much inseparable ever since the teenager adopted the beautiful ball of barely contained love. The only times you would find one without the other was when Peter went out as Spiderman, or when he needed to go to school. He had actually tried sneaking Hope into school with him on the first day, after summer vacation had ended. Needless to say, that plan had been thwarted by the ever present eyes of Friday.

It was a bit of a miracle that Ned and MJ had been able to talk Peter into trying out that new diner that had opened up a few streets away from their school, without the other teenager running home first to bring his loyal follower with them. Though that had probably to do with Peter’s unwillingness to step foot in the tower until he absolutely had to. After all, there was always the chance that Pepper or Tony would just keep him there to further prep him for the upcoming meeting.

Ned nudged him playfully in the side.

“You know, most people would be fruit loops ecstatic about being gifted the inheritance of a multi-billion dollar company for their 17th birthday, instead of complaining about having to attend a meeting.”

Peter just loved that his best friend had picked up his way of swearing.

“I’m not trying to be ungrateful here, I just don’t see the point! After all, it’s not like I will be running any of those meetings once I take over.”

This statement was met with curious stares from both of his friends.

“And how do you figure that, loser?”

Said teen casually threw up his arms and intertwined his fingers behind his head.

“Well, I thought I would just hire you as the acting CEO, so, you know, you can completely dominate the business world and make everyone your little licorice. And everyone will of course include Ned here, who will be head of S.I. Robotics department by then, and yours truly, as I will be french frying around our biochemistry labs whenever I’m not 'on the web’.”

(Which was their extremely unoriginal code for Peter’s Spiderman activities.)

Peter was only slightly surprised by the twin slaps he received to both of his arms.

“The hell, Parker!”

“Dude, that’s not how you tell someone they have an amazing job waiting for them after university!”

To which he just shrugged his shoulders.

“What? It’s pretty much how Tony told me I was the god donuts heir to his and Peppers company. Well, actually he came into the kitchen on the morning of my birthday, while me and Hope were just enjoying breakfast after our early run, and dropped a stack of papers right before me. Then he waved a pen in front of my face and tapped it onto the bottom line on the paper on top of the stack and said: 'Sign here.’ So, naturally, I did, and as soon as I had finished signing, he snatched everything back and said: 'Congrats, kid. You are now the official heir to Stark Industries. Happy Birthday.’ And that was that.”

He immediately received another slap on his arm from MJ.

“You signed something without reading it first? What kind of a moron are you? That’s not how you run a freaking business!”

Peter pointed at her victoriously.

“See! This is exactly why I need you! You are already better at it than I am.”

He looked incredibly satisfied with his reasoning. Ned, who was still not completely over the shock of the metaphorical bomb their friend had just dropped on them, still couldn’t help but agree.

“He’s got a point, MJ. I mean, can you really imagine Pete here, sitting at the head of a table, filled with twenty suit wearing people, and telling them what to do? Face it, you are just way more intimidating than him.”

Peter was nodding along quite happily, though the girl only snorted.

“Please, a marshmallow stuffed cupcake is more intimidating than Parker.”

“Hey! I mean, that does sound ridiculously delicious so I’m kinda flattered, but still!… Do you think we can get that cupcake somewhere?”

Ned smirked. “Well, seeing as you are about to die a horribly pathetic death, I guess we can at least ask when we get to the diner. They are bound to have something overly sugary to satisfy your sweet tooth.”

And Peter slumped once more.

“Did you have to remind me of my impending doom? Why is there never an uprising of the mole people when you need it? Not that I want anyone to be in danger or anything, but a minor little catastrophe, to keep Spiderman occupied long enough to have a valid reason to miss the meeting, would be really, french fruit loops frying appreciated right now.”

And for once, it seemed like some higher power had heard and took pity on the spider-enhanced teenager. Because at exactly that moment, a black, large van was barreling down the street behind them, coming to a screeching halt right next to the three on the sidewalk. Peter instinctively took hold of both of his friends arms and drew them back behind himself, as the side door of the van slid open, and three masked men with guns in their hands emerged out of it. The other pedestrians on the street fled in a light panic at the sight of the armed men.

One of the men, apparently the leader of the group, pointed his gun right at Peter.

“You! Peter Parker! Get into the van, and no one is gonna get hurt!”

Peter looked at him with wide, stunned eyes.

“Are you… trying to kidnap me?”

The leader waved his gun impatiently.

“Not trying to. In the van! Now!”

And to the three kidnappers absolute astonishment (as well as their driver’s, who was still seated behind the wheel) the kid threw his hands up in the air, joyfully whooped, and then sprinted, actually fucking sprinted, right by them to leap into the vehicle. A timeless second went by, as everyone was trying to process what had just happened. (Well, not everyone. Michelle and Ned were simply sending their friend completely unimpressed glares)

Then the teen leaned slightly out of the car.

“Look, I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job or anything, but maybe we should get going? You know, before someone calls the cops? Just saying.”

That seemed to rouse the masked men from their confusion and spurred them into action. Before the door slid shut behind the last one, Peter pinned his two friends with a very serious look.

“Don’t call him! At least not before six o'clock!”

The meeting was scheduled for 18:30, and he was supposed to be at the tower no later than 18:15. He would never make it! With that gleeful thought, Peter relaxed into the backseat and faced the group leader.

“Do you think we can make a quick stop at a drive-thru or something? I was actually on my way to lunch, you know?”

And then Ned and Michelle were left in the figurative dust, as they watched the van speed away, transporting their friend to who knows where.

The inherently more worried Ned turned to his female companion.

“Should we… like call the police? Or Mr. Stark? Or the other Avengers?”

Michelle scoffed.

“Calm down, Leeds. The loser can handle himself. Besides, our future employer has given us strict instructions to not call anyone and report what happened just yet. We will shoot Stark a text at six. It’s not like he won’t find his idiot son in a heartbeat. Until then, let’s go to that diner, I’m starving. I’m also gonna have to research some meditation exercises or something. My future self is going to need all the patience in the world if I’m expected to deal with this kind of bullshit every time I have to drag Peter to a meeting.”

“Pep, Pepsi to my Coke, Pepperoni on my pizza, love of my life! Why do I have to go to the board meeting?”

Pepper ignored her fiance’s whining, something she had tremendous experience with, and instead held up another tie against the man’s white shirt, comparing it to the maroon one in her other hand.

“Because you thought it would be a good idea to announce the heir of Stark Industries on live television. And now the board wants to meet Peter.”

Deciding on the maroon tie, she laid the other one over the back of a nearby chair. Tony huffed as Pepper expertly bound a Windsor knot.

“Exactly. They want to meet the kid. Not me. They know me! Everyone knows me! My name is on the building.”

Having finished with the tie, Pepper grabbed the dark suit jacket next.

“It’s your own fault. If you had waited to reveal Peter as the heir to the company until he finished college, like you were supposed to, you wouldn’t have to deal with this now.”

Tony shrugged the jacket on and tried to look as innocent as possible when he countered with “I had no choice! Ellen totally tricked me into it.”

The flat stare his fiance shot him spoke volumes. “She asked you what exciting new surprises the next Expo held in store for everyone.”

To which the billionaire waved his hand dismissively. “Semantics.”

Pepper rolled her eyes.

“It will be a good experience for Pete. He pretty much knows all about the inner workings and procedures in the labs, but he needs to get to know the business side of things, too.”

“Which is what he has you for. Why do I have to be there?”

She adjusted the jacket, righted the tie and gave him a quick kiss.

“As moral support. And to set a good example. Which means no playing on your phone, no snorting or groaning noises when you get bored, and no rolling your eyes when Henderson brings up project 99.”

Tony groaned. “Henderson always brings up project 99. The guy is like a broken record. It was a bad idea the first time he proposed it, and it continues to be a bad idea now. Why is he even still on the board?”

“Because he is six months away from retirement and we wouldn’t be so cruel as to demote or fire him before then. And now stop whining and get ready. The meeting starts in twenty five minutes and Peter should be here any moment now.”

With an overly dramatic sigh, the man let himself fall backwards onto their king sized bed. Much to the displeasure of Hope, who had curled up on one of the pillows to mope until his favorite human came back again. “Sorry buddy.” Tony scratched the dog behind his ears in apology. Then he looked forlornly at the ceiling. “Why is there never an alien invasion when you need one?”

Which was, naturally, the perfect moment for Friday to announce “Incoming Video call from 'Boss Junior’.”

Pepper crossed her arms under her chest. “Oh, he better not try to get out of this meeting.”

Tony’s line of thought was similar. “He better have a damn good excuse for getting out of this meeting.”

The vid-link opened via the towers holographic screens, and the couples eyes immediately focused on Peter. Who was sitting in a badly lit room, empty of all furniture save for the chair the teen was tied to (with what looked like completely normal rope, which they knew Peter could snap like silly string), and behind him a tall, well muscled man, dressed completely in black, donning a black ski mask, and a hand gun pointed right at Peter’s head.

Now, a sight like this would usually propel Tony right into heart attack territory, - if it wasn’t for the big ass grin on the kid’s face.

“Hi Tony! Hi Pepper! So, as you can see, I have been kidnapped.” (Under his breath, Tony couldn’t help but concede “Damn, that’s a good excuse.”) “It was completely unavoidable and absolutely against my own will.” (Pepper groaned. “Are you kidding me?”) “I mean, of course it was against my will! Because who in their right minds would jump into a van full of armed kidnappers, when they have an important meeting to attend later that same day? Certainly not me!” (“That clever little shit!”)

By that point Hope had recognized his owners voice and was crawling all over Tony to get a better look at the holo screen, barking happily. Peter’s whole face lit up at the sight of his dog.

“Hey Hope. Yes, I miss you too. Are you a good boy for Tony and Pepper?”

And as Peter cooed at his dog, Tony tried to not have his nose constantly slapped by a wildly wagging tail, and Pepper was burying her face into her hands, the looming, dark figure behind Peter apparently decided that he had been patient enough with his 'victim’, and slightly nudgded the teen’s shoulder. Peter looked up at the man with a sheepish grin.

“Sorry, dude. Anyway, I’m supposed to tell you that if you want me to be returned in one piece, you need to transfer one million dollars-” Then Peter turned back to the man behind him. “Are you sure you only want a million? Think about it. You need to split this up between the four of you, which is only 250000$ for everyone. And you will have to withdraw the money pretty much right away, otherwise Mr. Stark will be able to follow the money trail right to you. Also, you will want to leave the country pretty quickly after this, cause, you know, that’s Iron Man you are dealing with here. But with that much cash in your possession, you can’t use a commercial flight, cause they check your bags and stuff and 250 grand would probably raise a few eyebrows. Which leaves you with the only option of paying someone to get you out under the radar, and that probably won’t be cheap… Have you really thought this through?”

The man looked at Peter (his posture had lost it’s threatening stance long ago), then at the person who was obviously holding Peter’s phone to record the video, then at Peter again, and then he made the universal sign to 'end the call’ at the camera and with that, the feed cut off.

Friday’s helpful: “The video call has been cut off, boss.”, was followed by “You have also received a text message from 'The Scary One’, which reads: 'FYI, your idiot son has let himself get kidnapped in order to avoid shameful death on unicorn hair.’ - End message.”

And while Tony had no idea what the part about unicorn hair could possibly be about, he had long since learned not to ask questions.

Pepper did not have to look up to know that her fiance was sporting a downright gleeful look right then.

“So… looks like the Spiderling needs rescuing.” He was edging off his seat on the bed (having deposited Hope from his lap earlier) and had already taken off his tie and suit jacket. “What terrible, terrible timing. And here I was so looking forward to talking about project 99 with good old Henderson. Such a shame.” He was halfway across the room, the Iron Man armor already forming around him. “Oh well, can’t be helped. Gotta go save Pete from his evil kidnappers now. Fri, locate his watch, please. Thanks, girl. Guess we will have to postpone this whole business meeting introduction thingy. Gotta get going before the kid accidentally teaches these guys how to be real criminals. Love you, Pep. Have fun at the meeting! Bye!”

Then the sound of the opening of one of the large windows, followed by the thrusters of the suit, and before Pepper even had time to wave him off, Iron Man was flying through the New York sky.

For reasons Pepper was quite comfortable never to examine, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Like Father, like Son. Both running from meetings whenever they can and leaving me to deal with it.”

A warm, furry body cuddled into her legs and she smiled as she lovingly pet the Pit Bulls head.

“You know what? Screw it. Peter is going to sneak you into one of those meetings sooner or later anyway. (And I will get him to attend one, he can’t get himself kidnapped every time). Better to get the board used to you. And if they can’t meet their future boss, they will at least meet his dog. What do you say, Hope, do you want to go to a boring board meeting with me?”

Her answer was an excited bark and a lot of tail wagging.

“Good boy.”

The End

I wasn’t actually sure how to end this one. There was always the option of following Tony to the hide-out the kidnappers had Peter at, just for him to burst in and see Peter (free of any kind of restraints), sitting in a circle with his kidnappers (all of whom had divested themselves of their ski masks), and explaining to them various ways on how to better plan their next heist. Or how to make money without using illegal means. Or giving them advice on going back to school/getting their GED (-that is what it is called, right?), or how volunteering at an animal shelter might help them with their parole officer later on…

But then I thought, nah, leave that to the imagination of the readers, or refer to it in a later part of the series if you want.

As I said in the beginning, this was basically written just for the fun of it. Never the less, I would be happy to know if you liked/enjoyed it.

Thanks to everyone for reading!

[lostinaseaoffictionalbliss]

Every Rose Has Its Thorn Part 11

A/N: If you enjoy this check out my bio for my masterlist and the link to my Etsy

Summary: The battle for New York begins

Pairing: Steve x OC

Warnings: violence, language

Word Count: 1340

I spent the whole flight to New York stealing glances at Steve. After what Fury had said and the look he had I couldn’t help myself. I had been pinning for Steve since the moment I had walked into the gym to recruit him…Okay I was pinning the moment I watched the videos of him after he came out of the ice. But that was a well kept secret. It wasn’t as if my feelings were out for everyone to see. I wasn’t like Phil; gushing about Steve to anyone who would listen. But when I finally met Steve it became harder to hide my feelings, even though I tried.

However the looks Nat kept sending my way made it painfully obvious that I was failing miserably. Thanks for that Nat. Like I wanted your smug assassin smirk that says ‘I know you want him’ thrown my way. I didn’t have time to be worrying about my feelings and the fact she was looking at me like that made it hard not to think about them.

We were heading to New York to take on an alien army. Aliens! From outer space! Of course I knew that they were out there. I had known Thor since his first trip to earth. But he was a kind, sweet, goofy guy. He reminded me of a big puppy in that way; loyal, caring, but extremely protective and capable of protecting. These aliens Loki was about to unleash on earth were a far cry from the god of thunder and his goofy antics.

I was willing to fight to protect my home, to protect the people of earth. There was no doubt in my mind about that, but I wasn’t sure I actually wanted to see how hideous these things were going to be.

My gaze once more drifted to Steve and all thoughts of the looming battle left my mind. It was as if he was some kind of cathartic for me. One look at him and all my problems melted away. I smiled at him warmly and he smiled back. There was something there, I could feel it, but at the same time I didn’t want to get my hopes up. If this was one sided I didn’t want to go confessing my feelings before the battle like some lovesick idiot. That would be embarrassing. And so I stayed quiet.

The quinjet finally approaches the city and I stood up to get ready for the impending fight. There’s already aliens flying around and I can see things getting destroyed from inside the jet.

“Stark we’re on your three heading Northeast,” Natasha says as the jet dips toward the left.

“What did you stop for drive-thru?” Tony sassed.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah we did. Got a double quarter pounder with cheese in here when this is all done.” If he wanted to play that game then I would too.

“Oh hush Lilah. Swing up Park I’m gonna lay them out for you.”

I shrugged as the gun dropped from the bottom of our jet and started to rapidly fire at the aliens. We took them out rather easy. Looking out the window I noticed Loki and Thor fighting. “Well that doesn’t seem like a friendly brotherly competition to me,” I mumbled.

Steve chuckled softly. “No it does not.”

The jet turned to face Stark Tower, firing at Loki. Not that any of the shots actually landed. His unfortunately was spot on and took out our engine.

“Fuck me.”

“Lilah!”

“What?! We’re about to crash land. Seems like the perfect moment to be allowed to say whatever I want.” I grabbed onto the roof and swung as we went careening toward the ground.

Luckily, the crash wasn’t as bad as I expected and we were all okay as we went running out the back of the now-destroyed jet. I looked up at the sky as a roar sounded. It was one of the most terrifying things I had ever heard. There was this large gaping hole in the sky that lead to some place in space, blue energy pulsed from the sides.

That wasn’t what made it all so frightening.

It was the extremely large, massive, huge, monstrous serpent like creature that was coming out of the hole that was horrifying. The thing was bigger than anything I had ever seen before and more of the Chutari were popping off the side of it onto the buildings around us.

“I stand corrected. This is a more appropriate time. Fuck me.”

Steve either didn’t hear me or decided to ignore me as he looked around at all the aliens. “Stark are you seeing this.”

“Seeing. Still working on believing.”

“Yeah, I get that. I’ve had some jacked up nightmares over the years, but these guys make those murderous clowns seem like sweet innocent puppies.” I noticed Clint staring at me and shrug. “What?”

“Murderous clowns?” He raised a brow.

“It’s a thing. Leave me alone.”

Stark snorts as he listens to us. “Where’s Banner? Has he shown up yet?”

“Banner?” Steve asked.

“Just keep me posted.”

Lightning came crashing down striking some of the aliens in front of me. “Thor!” I beamed. After he had fallen from the Hellicarrier I had been worried. Seeing him fight Loki and now having him here in front of me put me at ease.

“Lady Lilah.” Thor smiles softly before turning to Steve.

“What’s the story upstairs?” He asked

The smile fell from the god’s face and he sighed. “The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable.”

“Thor’s right. We gotta deal with these guys,” Tony said.

I looked around and hugged myself. “Sure only like a million of them against the six of us.”

Natasha glanced at me with a look of ‘you aren’t wrong’ on her face. “How do we do this?”

Steve kept looking up at the sky. “As a team.”

“I have unfinished business with Loki.”

I walked over and bonked Thor on the head. Now wasn’t the time for his brotherly rivalry or whatever the hell he wanted to call it.

Clint fiddled with his arrows and snorted. “Yeah? Well, get in line.”

I shot him a scathing look. “Barton don’t make me come over there and shove my foot up your ass.”

“Save it.” Steve started walking toward him. “Loki’s going to keep this fight focused on us and that’s what we need. Without him these things could run wild.” He stopped and turned to look back. “We got Stark up top. He’s gonna need us to-”

A motorcycle pulling up cut him off. I laughed softly. “That thing’s a little small don’t you think?” I looked Bruce over as he climbed off the bike.

The whole team was here now. It was now the seven of us against an alien army. Maybe we wouldn’t win, but we were for damn sure going to try.

Steve started to give out orders, “Alright listen up, until we can close that portal our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out you turn it back or you turn it to ash.”

Clint looked to Tony. “Wanna give me a lift?”

“Better clench up Legolas.”

I giggled and shook my head. “Only you, Tony.”

“Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Try and slow them down. You’ve got the lightning, light the bastards up.” Steve looked to me and Natasha next. “We stay on the ground. Keep the fighting here. And Hulk?” He looked to the big green guy. “Smash.”

The orders seemed relatively simple. I nodded and went running to take on a group of the aliens not that far off. I tied them up with some vines and everything seemed to be going well.

“Lilah!” I heard Natasha yell. But I turned too late. One of the transportation devices was coming straight for me and I couldn’t move in time.

****

Likes don’t spread my work! Please reblog and leave a comment if you enjoyed this! I love hearing from you guys and knowing what you think and hope to see!

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

“So Happy Together” Analysis

i don’t sleep

tl;dr: tbh not much to go off on about. i think we see a new skin for Iron Bear, one with some stripes. amara smiles, i do talk a little bit about little sisters in bioshock but tbh i think this was all just a stylistic choice lol. oh and handsome jack’s masks- probably Mount Jackmore. i don’t want to get to freaked out over jack returning, but damn gearbox lol u had me there for a second. im pretty sure it’s just a reused cut quest from bl2 that they never got to implement. 

EDIT: here’s all the cut content in bl2 (plus all the non-cut content as well for funsies). you can go to the cut quests and see the audio files for claptrap’s jackmore quest

holy shit can i just vomit all my emotions rn, they’re all good so imma do that so im rational when i start analyzing stuff okay? okay! 

holy shit that was fucking great and im really glad i tempered my expectations to something smaller than i thought because i feel bad for people expecting something huge, i was under the assumption we’d be getting a new mechanic that was like ‘choose ur +1 and they’ll be able to play the game with you if you’re both online even if they don’t have the game’ which was what someone said on reddit. altho im sure the poor company is gonna get spammed now with hate like ‘WTF YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE BUILT THIS UP AAAA’. not to lie, i was slightly disappointed it wasn’t a longer stream, but i mean if they’ve got nothing to announce, they’ve got nothing to announce and HEY! new trailer!!! gonna be combing thru on the assumption this has some easter eggs like the MoM trailer did, just in case. i thought it was a cute trailer, gearbox never explicitly said what it was gonna be, a lot people all just assumed what was gonna happen was a demo/beta which sucks so i hope this doesn’t negatively impact people’s perspective of the game. im staying off reddit for now bc when i first checked it people were pretty pissed and i dun need that negativity lmao

okay! emotions are LOCKED behind closed doors. i am shifting into study mode. here we go boys/girls/those of us who know better. haven’t done one of these in a while, let’s see if im rusty at all.

claptrap! and the skull on the chair which reminds me of tyreen’s “favorite skull”. 

tv says “we are under attack, please stand by”

and afaik claptrap is near the beginning of the game, you can see part of the recruitment center behind him when the camera pans.

im thinking there might be something in the roses, specifically the hand-drawn roses later on in the trailer. will be keeping an eye open for that.

this is specifically a jakobs brand chest. i really like the see-through aesthetic of it

intro area of the game again. possible hint to the opening cutscene? tbh i was worried that’s what we were about to get because i haven’t finished the roughs of my mock up lol

so what i didn’t notice my first time through is that you can then see claptrap, also being shown in the chest

waving up at the camera. that’s not trippy at all or anything lol

this car in the foreground (with no one driving it, mind you)

randomly combusts, looking quite like elpis in that one shot of the claptrap presents pandora trailer. wonder if that means it’s gonna ‘splode.

ohhh it spins. please no spin imma get motion sick blech

shot of some cultists. one appears to have a jetpack near the bottom right there

another explosion to the beat

the shock wave!!!! that’s awesome

shock nomads cultists are back. f in chat for our shields

another cultist seconds before he gets blown to bits

it cuts to black for a secco as it moves thru said explosion

another cultist, i assume a psycho

finally some good fucking angles

heh.

idk what i expected from someone who’s first action skill line i ever heard was them shouting MAGIC WALL!!! TAAAADAAAAAAAAH

as a side note

who is shooting those lasers

we see them coming from behind the VHs, but

there’s nothing there

SPOOKY~

they’re coming from... the wall???

tfw u shot urself in the foot on accident

amara is not amused

`is this some human custom i don’t understand yet`

also i hate that i’ve done this exact dance before when i took dance classes as a kid

with less style of course, i was like 7

moze is into it, hell yeah

this reminds me a lot of Kingsman. where all the blood is like fireworks and stuff. i wonder if that has anything to do with the psycho brainwashing. like little sisters in bioshock. they see roses instead of blood, right? maybe there’s something like that going on with the psychos

i’d certainly hope our vault hunters aren’t brainwashed, anyway.

this dude looking SHOCKED to see that tho, lmfao

i relate to this man on a spiritual level i stg

man he looks pissed

omfg lol

“um”

“i guess this is okay”

the body language in this is gold i am just having the time of my life

adsfdgfhgjhgfk

this is so cute

also in retrospect, i think this is one of the turrets we see on promethea. i wonder what it’s doing here!

moze u ok?

oh nvm she’s into it, look at her! she’s dancing! She’s Dancin’!

oooo one of the robots from the we are mayhem trailer! okay you can totally see why i think they’re jakobs, RIGHT???

iirc this is a maliwan soldier

man this is a crossover event, isn’t it?

i get it now. togetherness. i gotchu gearbox.

some maliwan ships in the sky. possibly sanc-iii on the right? or a ship of the same model as sanc-iii!

this is a magitek dropship, change my mind

eh, they both start with M, fuck it.

no idea what fl4k is doing here

mayyyybe shielding themselves from the ‘firework’/confetti shower

i like that the confetti explosions are backed up by purple, you know like eridium/slag/siren powers. seriously, maybe this is just how to cultists see us Vault Hunters and the mass murder.

at the very least, the psychos.

fl4k’s into it. i wish we knew the name of their skag, if it has one. i hope it does.

well now the lasers are coming from the other side! what the hell

moving on

i think this is the HBC from the speakers, plus im pretty sure that skull and the stained glass are the entrance to mouthpiece’s arena

we also get a different colored explosion. im paranoid jack is somehow making a return (please god no), so i’ll just note it’s the same color as his eyes.

AND the chests are vomiting out gold guns, which i think, gold-plated gear, is the cult’s way of signifying standing. which im sure is a tongue-in-cheek commentary as gearbox gives out a gold weapon pack as a pre-order bonus. no, like, it even shows up as an ad on the video

smh gearbox lmao

oh, also, the cultists are doing fuckin flying impressions

im not saying its a reference to the cultist with rakk wings on the cover, buuuut

bitch it might be lol

it’s an upside-down vault symbol! ive been trying to figure out what that is in those screens for the longest time!

back on promethea and we get to see fl4k’s spiderant in action

their skag, too, of course

the jabbermon in the back there, too! i wonder if they’re going to be shock or cryo. i would imagine shock given how they’re glowing

also i love the way the flowers look in contrast to the character models

moze is so happy aw

i love the way fl4k’s skag comes flying in and slides to a stop. such a good doggo ;-;

this is beautiful, i want it as a wallpaper

moze skipping? holy shit

100% verified the best thing i’ve ever seen

i lied. this is.

is this the fast travel station effect?

also! IB is looking a bit different

i wonder if this is a redesign or if IB is wearing a new skin moze picked out

pan over to zane who clearly doesn’t notice the being of darkness and horror in the doorway

oh also, we’re on eden-6 now. which would explain the fast travel effect

psychos dancing on the rooftops lol

oh god my eyes

nothing to really say here, i just like this screenshot

pink shields booyah

this is so fucking cute

we also get a better look at that one facility on eden-6

is that... red i see? >w> i won’t say it i won’t i won’t say it i swear i just- ATLAS

fuck

i like that zane’s clone spawns with his melee attachment

not AS excited as the real life version though

GB pls let this be a zane emote

is that a varkid? on eden-6?

wtf is a varkid doing on eden-6???

more shots of the facility btw. reminds me a lot of sanc-iii so maybe this actually is the supamax mfg construction facility like i originally thought. hmmmmmmm

ah yes, of course

holy shit what is this a reference to?

im told it’s the sex pistols

the back of the bullet turns into Athenas

pans in

amara!

enemy with a top hat on. some variation of/upgraded gravedigger? it’s like a psycho but recolored with blue pants and a top hat. you can see it fall off when amara shoots him

y’know, these guys

some rakk in the background

i am hoping bc this is a celebration of togetherness we’re seeing all enemies everywhere, not that the planets don’t have their own unique fauna.

she’s so happy omfg

oh, you want some?

Uhhh then there’s THIS sequence

they’re doing the flying thing again lmao

there’s also whatever that black blob is on the left. a spaceship maybe?

car wheel

all their eyes started glowing red. uh oh gamers

also another fast travel effect

hmmmm... zarpedon is that you??

back on pandora.

“super 87 racetrack”, maybe this is near that motorcade fast travel we saw?

huzzah! rainbows!

i do believe that’s sanctuary-iii

another ship. drop ship?

elpis is looking nice this time of year. definitely not explode-y. yet.

pret-ty sure that’s iron bear. moze is standing atop the tower lmao

also! back to it’s old paint scheme. looks like moze was using a skin or smth

we also have this. are my eyes failing me or is that a big cross on the left? could be where jack was buried. 

also i know there was cut content in bl2 about Mount Jackmore! and this looks like a Mount Jackmore to me. it’s a cut quest where claptrap asks you to basically ruin the thing. but since the quest was cut, it’s still here in bl3. maybe they’ll reintegrate the quest lol

i can’t imagine it being roland’s gravesite. because it looks like the below.

i do know we’re going to roland’s grave in bl3, but the statues don’t really match up. maybe it is and the statues were broken, or ruined or something and replaced by a cross. could be then that the gravesite was defaced with, well, the guy that killed him. 

im really hoping jack doesn’t make a return. im fine with dealing with what he set in motion, and his influence, and probably even some ECHO logs and movie trailers, but please, for the love of god, don’t actually bring him back, AI or otherwise. im really excited for the calypso twins, i’d really hate to see the focus shift back to that guy. he’s had his fingers in every borderlands game. it’s time to let him go.

idk what this is exactly. it looks like maybe that weird eye bot troy stands next to in the intro for the behind closed doors panel?

goodbye mr magical jakobs chest, it’s been real

the RC now has red drapes going down it. have those always been there? i don’t remember those

hmmmmmmmmm maybe we’re looking at it from the back 🤔

anyway, that’s all she wrote. i haven’t see any hidden morse code messages or anything yet, but if something surfaces, i’ll be sure to add it here.

[bodega-daydream]

September 25, 2021

i had a dream that i was in walmart at christmas time and seth meyers came out with a line of 3 different christmas lights, a stop light, some glow lights in a jar, and like an led desk lamp. i was just gonna get one or two of them but then i saw that they were on sale for a dollar if you bought all three. samara came to see if i was ready to check out and was happy to see that i was using the purse that she had given me (moms purse). i had all these things i was getting, the lights and a roll of artists tape and a bunch of stuff really i had spread out all over a shelf. then some little black boy grabbed a project i was working on out of my purse, also sitting on the shelf. it was a half finished tiny crocheted tiny black kid. he was either deaf or mute or both but somehow told me he’d never seen anything like it and was really attached to it. i couldn’t give it to him bc it wasn’t done and i think i needed it for some commission or something. samara and nathan took my stuff to the check out and car while i talked to him. but i told his mom which was some ginger white lady. i told her what he said and that i’d like to make him one of him, that i just needed her to send me pics of him to my email. she started to say how she was a woman of faith and that this felt like a miracle and i was feeling increasingly less like doing it if she was just gonna thank god for it instead. but i was in a rush anyway. i ran out to what was my car (some oldish silver sedan) with nathan driving and samara on shot gun and they had used some of the stuff i bought to make the car look beat up, like sloppily putting clear packing tape over the gas cover and something on the opposite rear window. i was like why would you do that as i climbed into the back seat and they were like cause it’s funny cause you love this car. but then i had to go get my body covered in a layer of pink wax for some reason. i think like A mold fitting of some kind.

i was driving a car on a highway with sinead and there was a tornado off to the side. i think we were in kentucky. but as i keep driving we see dozens of tornadoes. i lose control of the car in this high way traffic in that i guess that the brakes stopped working because the wind was too strong. i finally weave my way to an exit ramp and, not knowing where to go, i pull up in front of a school. the teacher and kids come out to look at the tornados and the teacher shows me this big clear tub of water she’s carrying to show me it’s rained at least a foot of rain (even tho the weather was perfect now).

I’m on holiday or something. im at the top of elaborate tourist trap. only someone doesn’t want me to leave because everything is covered in grease and the only way to go is back up.

dream that i guess i was having a wedding in a water gel cube. it filled up the garage and didn’t need anything to contain it really. i tried it out in my dress and out swimming but even easier and lighter. but then a bunch of people arrived home, i think my random bridesmaids, and one of them popped it. when popped tho there was nothing, it was just gone. then trying to get into the house the front changed and i was super pregnant. i was so hungry and trying to make a sandwich with the platters that everyone brought home. they were supposed to be for the wedding but everyone was being a dick and eating them anyway but then i couldn’t find them and was so annoyed. then they kept trying to keep me from going into the basement that they decorated as star wars themed but we got down there anyway and it looked like absolute trash but i didn’t say anything. sean s was over to congratulate me and that was my first time trying to hug straight on with a pregnant belly and i hated it and started freaking out and made him give me a side hug instead. my baby was kicking a whole lot and i could hold his individual feet thru my stomach. then just hanging out down there it turned out i was having a super carlin bros baby tho idk who with, i guess ben. one of the girls was like omg first baby of the fam! and i was thinking like uhh are you forgetting J’s three children?? but then my baby who had been licking just starts straightening out and it’s really freaky. i think one of my sister in laws starts doing that too but i ignore that bc too freaky. i’m running around trying to get an answer and then i’m finally standing outside on a balcony at a hospital watching people arrive. 3 ppl on motor cycles eat it and i listen to them slowly skid in and scream in pain. i think i was crying but no one came to comfort me.

[bornsingerwiththem]

Men Who Can’t Love (Final)

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader Genre: Angst Word Count: 4.3k

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Summary: You are finally doing okay without Jungkook in your life, but he can’t be happy without you.

A/N: Hello guys! I’m finally done with my first story! I want to thank everyone who’s been following along. This is the angstiest chapter so, hope you enjoy! 

It’s only been a few weeks since his life took an unexpected turn but it felt like years. Jungkook was genuinely trying to work things out with W/N in hopes to give his child the best life he could. Some days he would treat her to breakfast in bed, give her foot massages, and even do every chore there was. If his wife was now carrying his first child then he had to treat her with utmost care making sure she didn’t do too much.

Things were going well with his company too. With the new marketing strategies that his partner suggested they’ve seen an increase in their revenue. They were doing good financially but things were more stressful than before. Employees were being more demanding and having to deal with this along with his personal problems were taking a toll on him. Not to mention Y/N. He couldn’t stop thinking about her as much as he tried.

Every morning his thoughts are full of Y/N while he gets ready for another day of work. Just remembering her warm smile was enough to get him through the day. He missed her so much but he couldn’t bring himself to visit her.

 Knowing he had no self control when it came to Y/N, he tried to stay away. He has been working too hard to restore his relationship with his wife to let it all go to waste. His child did not deserve that.

“Hobi get up” you nudged him until you scared him awake, “I’m starving let’s go get dinner. My treat!” you shot a smile while getting dressed. Today he came over unexpectedly like always and you hadn’t even eaten lunch yet.

“Aghh Y/N.. can’t you give me like ten more minutes?” he groaned and pulled the sheets back over his head. “I’m so tired, those kids always wear me out so much.” He had just recently started working at a dance academy that focused on hiphop which was his specialty since he’s been dancing all his life basically.

“I know, I know. But I also know how I get when I don’t get my daily dose of food so.. SEE YA” you said and ran out the room. He immediately jumped up and started collecting his clothes from the floor, “Noooo wait I’m hungry too! Don’t abandon me!!” he rushed and got dressed before you left him.

Lately that’s been your life. Go to work, come home, and meet Hobi later in the day. You forgot how funny he was and having him around really helped you keep your mind off Jungkook.

Hobi always has the most interesting topics to talk about and it honestly motivates you to get your life together. He found a job where he gets paid to do something he loves and you couldn’t be happier for him. He also keeps talking about this certain girl he just met at the academy. You knew his frequent visits will eventually stop once he finds the guts to ask her out.

Right now he’s keeping your lonely self company which you’re completely grateful for, but if he ever settles down with someone you would be happy for him. He’s a great person and deserves nothing but the best, and sadly you’re not the one destined give him that.

“Hey baby?” W/N calls out for Jungkook who is downstairs vacuuming, “Are you hungry?” she asks as she hears him coming up the stairs.

“No not really I already ate at work. Why? Do you want something to eat honey?” he says and sits down on the couch in front of their bed taking a break from cleaning.

“Well I was kind of craving a chicken sandwich. Lately chicken is the only thing on my mind” she laughed into the pillow to hide her face of embarrassment and Jungkook couldn’t help but smile. He was reminded of old times.

“Don’t be shy it’s okay. Our little child wants it so I’ll go get it” Jungkook said as he stretched his back before getting up “I know a good place.” he walked towards the closet to grab a coat. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

The line at Chick-fil-A was ridiculous! ‘I mean I get it, it’s Friday night and everyone is out but today of all days it had to be packed’ Jungkook complained to himself and pulled out his phone. 

He was scrolling through his Instagram feed looking at all his friends post and seeing how happy they looked. ‘Why can’t I be happy too?’ he sighed and looked up from his phone. For a second there he could have sworn he saw your face further ahead in the line. Was he imagining things now?

You used to always drag Jungkook to this place because chicken was what you lived for and this was your favorite spot to eat at when you wanted something quick. Even now.

‘Some things just don’t change’ he leaned back on the wall as he reminisced. He just wanted to walk up to you and ask how your day was or something. Anything just to talk to you. But wait.. Who was that next to you?

You were standing next to Hoseok and he was making you laugh like always. Perhaps looking a bit too comfortable with you to Jungkook’s liking. The line moved up but you didn’t notice so Hobi lead you forward with his hand low on your waist. Jungkook rolled his eyes at the gesture.

“What are you getting Hobi?” you asked but he wasn’t paying attention to you. 

Hoseok caught Jungkook glaring but tried to not be obvious and simply looked away. “Hobi?” you nudged him.

“Oh you said something?” he asked and looked up at the menu.

“Yes I asked you what you were getting dummy.”

“Well I don’t really come here often now do I pretty lady?” he booped your nose, “So I’ll just get whatever you get.” he said looking back but Jungkook was nowhere to be found.

Jungkook was fuming. He couldn’t bear staying there a second longer and stormed out opting for the drive thru instead. He still had to get his wife that chicken sandwich she craved. 

But why was he so angry? He couldn’t understand it. Sure he missed you but what what this feeling? It wasn’t even something he should be mad about.

Seeing you with another man made him want to go and yank you from his arms. Who did he think he was? Touching you like you were his. What he hated the most was that he couldn’t do anything about it. You weren’t his girlfriend to begin with and he already had too much on his plate. Why couldn’t he just be happy?

Jungkook finally got that damn sandwich that his wife so conveniently craved today and headed back home. He was so not concentrating on the road and had a heart attack when he nearly rear ended the car in front of him. “Fuck! What’s up with all these red lights!?” he hit his steering wheel.

‘Music always helps, right’ he turned up the radio in an attempt to calm down and distract himself. It sure as hell wasn’t working but he was already pulling into his driveway anyway. He quickly made his way to the house not wanting anything else but to sleep.

W/N heard the door shutting loudly announcing her husbands arrival. “Hey he’s here. I’ll talk to you later okay? Bye, take care.” she hung up and made her way down.

“Here’s your sandwich.” Jungkook grabbed the brown bag and tossed it on the table making his way upstairs.

“Aren’t you gonna eat with me?” she looked back at him “Let’s eat toge..” Jungkook cut her off.

“Do you not listen to me?? I told you I already ate. And I hate chicken sandwiches!” he slammed the door behind him.

Of course he doesn’t like them. He only liked them when he ate them with you. But now you’re doing the same things you did with him with another guy. ‘I guess she already forgot about me’ he sighed and leaned against the door.

“Are you serious?! I can’t believe she made a move before you Hobi!!” you hit the table and continued your laughing fit that brought tears to your eyes.

“Okay, okay laugh all you want” Hoseok said looking around at all the people that were now staring at you. He leaned closer to tell you something privately, “but don’t you think that’s hot as fuck tho?” he shot you a smug smile when you finally looked up and took a sip of his coke.

“I mean yeah she’s my hero and all but what happened to you? Did you forget about all the messages you sent me?” you noticed his lightly colored cheeks deepen in color.

“I know but that’s another story Y/N. I actually feel nervous around her you know?” he said looking out the window. “Just the way she carries herself. She’s so confident and it makes me want her even more.” he touched his forehead dramatically. “You should see how much patience she has with the little ones we teach. I wonder if they ship us?”

“Oh my God Hobi I’m sure they do now eat your sandwich before it gets cold.” you pushed his untouched food closer to him. “So where is she taking you?”

“I don’t know actually. She said it’s a surprise so that’s exciting..” he said before taking a bite, “Wow Y/N this shit tastes better than you!”

“Did you really just compare me to a sandwich?” you shot him one of those looks he does when he’s disgusted. “Speaking of that.. I don’t think we should fuck around as much anymore.”

“Why is that?” he said looking a bit surprised, “You don’t love me now?”

This kid. Why is it so hard to have a serious conversation with him? Boy were you gonna miss him.

“No Hobi it’s not that but I think you should dedicate yourself to her. And only her.” you said giving him a serious expression.

“Yeah i guess you have a point there. BUT HEY!! We’re still gonna be friends forever right??” he was actually serious this time. “You’re honestly one of my coolest friends..”

“Of course Hobi!” you said and started throwing your trash away, “Are you done? Let’s go.”

The next day Jungkook wakes up to an empty bed. ‘Hmm where is she..’ he thought as he went to the bathroom to wash his face. It was supposed to be his day off but he doesn’t feel like staying at home trapped with his thoughts.

He decides to go make breakfast for him and W/N. But wait.. the door is locked. Did he accidently leave her out last night? ‘Ugh I’m such a dumbass.’ As he makes his way downstairs he sees the brown bag where he left it yesterday. She didn’t even eat it. W/N was downstairs too laying on the couch.

He walks up to her sleeping form. As much as he nudged her he couldn’t get her to wake up. ‘She must of not gotten a good night’s rest’ he says and carries her bridal style up to the bedroom. She’s as light as ever, is she not eating enough?

Jungkook goes back downstairs and cooks up enough eggs and bacon for two people. While eating he contemplates sending Y/N a message but quickly stops himself. He was already an asshole to W/N last night, he didn’t have to do this to her as well.

“I should get her flowers sometime.. maybe she’ll like that.” he said and put on coat, getting ready to leave.

Just like you thought, Hoseok stop coming over as often. And when he did it was to chit-chat and catch up which you were totally okay with. His company was the only thing you wanted anyway. Although he rarely came over because now he had other priorities.

Honestly you were not as lonely as you thought you’d be. Of course having your family far away didn’t help but at least you were doing well on your own.

Jungkook still crossed your mind every now and then but you weren’t sad anymore. Closure would have been nice.. yeah, but now you were over it. You didn’t want to see him. That would just break you again.

What would you even tell him anyway? Hey why did you leave without saying anything? That’s kind of fucked up.’ Noooo that’s stupid. You would sound crazy. He probably doesn’t care about what you have to say.

Jungkook was so excited and couldn’t wait to go home. He bought the biggest and prettiest bouquet of flowers for W/N and he felt like he was finally doing the husband thing right. Perhaps things could actually work out and he can be happy with his child and W/N. He felt proud of himself because now his baby will have a happy family to be raised in. That’s all he wanted.

He arrives home earlier than usual to surprise W/N and quietly makes his way to their bedroom hiding the bouquet of flowers behind him. Midway through he hears her talking. ‘Did she invite a friend over?’ he thought and kept getting closer until he could make up the words she was saying.

“Yeah I can’t believe how easy it was Jenny. He fell for it with no questions asked!” he heard W/N laugh and stopped walking up the stairs. What is she talking about?

“What do you mean why? I don’t have or want a job and his company is finally reaching the six-figures! Best believe I’m not saying bye to that!” she said and got up to grab her glass of wine from the coffee table.

‘Wine!? How can she be drinking wine right now??’ Jungkook was about to go in and confront W/N about drinking wine but stopped when he heard her speak up once again.

“Well I don’t know when exactly. Once I have him wrapped around my finger again, I’ll fake a miscarriage or something. I mean I can’t come out clean Jenny.” Jungkook had enough and walked into the room to sees W/N in her silk robe sipping on some wine, and talking on the phone.

He drops the flowers to the ground and the thud got W/N’s attention. She quickly tries to hide the glass of wine like Jungkook hasn’t already seen it.

“Fake a miscarriage? W/N what are you talking about, are you not pregnant?” Jungkook said in a soft voice trying to choke back his tears.

“No Kookie of course I am, why wou..” she was cut off.

“No don’t even try to cover it up. I heard you!! I heard everything you had to say. What a disgusting bitch you are.” he said surprising himself with his choice of words while W/N was incredulous to what was happening right now. Did she really just admit to everything?

“Here I am like a dumbass trying to work things out with you for OUR CHILD that doesn’t even fucking exist. Just because you want my money? You’re pathetic. Worst than I thought.”

“Jungkook please let me explain” W/N said  getting closer “you don’t understand!” she tried clinging on to him but he just kept backing away from her.

“Get off me already! I don’t want you!!” Jungkook walked to the bed and grabbed W/N’s phone throwing it at her feet. “Call your friend Jenny again. Tell her how your plan just backfired and that now you need a new place to stay in.” he told her with the darkest gaze she’s seen on him. This was the first time she’s ever been scared of Jungkook.

He went to grab a leather jacket, “Pack your things. You better be gone by the time I get back.” he said as he put it on, walked down the stairs and slammed the door. The walls trembled with the force he closed the door with. W/N could hear one of their wall decorations fall on the ground breaking and she throws her glass of wine to the wall.

Why? Why did Jungkook have to find out and ruin everything! Only if she wasn’t stupid enough to be speaking it out loud. Even if she thought Jungkook wasn’t home. But she can’t call Jenny. How embarrassing would that be?

W/N began packing her bags. She didn’t know where she was going but she couldn’t bear seeing Jungkook again. She felt so humiliated and seeing him would only make it worse. She grabbed everything in sight that belonged to her and put it in her luggage.

She couldn’t help but get nostalgic while packing. With a blurry vision she looked around the room that felt so empty without her things. She loved this place so much.. It was hard to think this would be her last time seeing it.

Before heading out the door she stops and slowly gives the house a final scan. Everything was designed to her liking. It was so simple and minimalistic. But now it’s not hers anymore.

Jungkook had left his home without a destination. He just couldn’t stand being in her presence anymore. He was slowly achieving happiness until it all came crashing down like always.

How could W/N do something like this to him? He was right all along. She wasn’t the same person she was when they got married. She no longer had life goals. Always wanting to stay home and do nothing. So used to an easy life and having everything laid out for her. How can someone live like this?

Tears started rolling down his face. The betrayal of his life sinking deep within him. He didn’t have a place to escape to anymore but all he wanted right now was to hug you and tell you how stupid he was for not reaching out to you. If only you knew how pathetic he’s become.

Deciding he’s given W/N enough time to pack and leave he heads back home. His headache was killing him and he couldn’t stand driving aimlessly anymore.

There’s a deafening silence in his home that makes him feel suffocated. He’s not used to this. Everywhere he looks reminds him of how he imagined his little child running around having the time of their life. His creation, so tiny and beautiful. But it was all a lie. That only makes his heart hurt even more. He was so used to the idea of being a father that he had anticipated his child so much.

No he can’t do this. He needs to get out of here.

Jungkook mindlessly texts you.

You jumped up when you saw his contact name pop up in you screen. He was the last person you expected to message you on a Tuesday night. What does he want? By the looks of it he seems sad. Why didn’t he talk to his wife, was she out of town or something?

And he wanted to come over?! You didn’t know how to feel about that. You’re not his toy that he can use whenever he pleases. But he said he wanted to talk.. maybe that’s not a bad idea. Ugh what should you do??

Before you regretted it you sent him a text giving him permission to come.

Oh but look at you! Your hair is a hot mess and your lounging outfit wasn’t the cutest.. Well whatever. Who were you trying to impress anyway.

“Y/N!” you heard a broken shout from the living room, “Where are you?” you peeped from your room door.

“Oh it’s you? Omg you almost scared me to death Jungkook! Ever heard of knocking?” you said sitting down on your favorite spot of the couch. “Whatever you need to say, make it quick. I’m busy watching my drama” you said trying to sound as uninterested as you possible.

Jungkook couldn’t believe his eyes. It was you, finally. Everything about you was perfect right now. Especially your messy bun with the random strands falling effortlessly on your face. Just the sight of you was enough to let him breathe peacefully for once.

Giving him the cold shoulder after not seeing him for so long was honestly the hardest thing ever. He looked so good in that white t-shirt and his fluffy hair, ugh you loved his fluffy hair. You slowly looked up at him and noticed how swollen his eyes were.

“Jungkook what happened to you? Why were you crying?” you suddenly forgot about your facade and walked over to him. This was your first time seeing him like this and it broke your heart.

“Y/N.. I missed you so much. How could I have left you? I’m so stupid. And for what? That crazy bitch?” he said as he dropped onto the couch averting his gaze from yours. You had no idea what he was talking about but did he just say he missed you?

“She lied Y/N! She trapped me with her lies! And my baby.. ” his eyes were starting to water again. “My baby wasn’t even real!” he said throwing his head at his hands in defeat. He didn’t want to break down in front of you.

“Jungkook calm down” you said sitting down next to him and rubbed his back. He was very distressed, you thought it’d be better for him to get some rest so he can properly talk. “It’s okay we can talk about it later. You need some rest right now” you said guiding him to your bed.

It felt silly tucking him into bed but he was already drifting into sleep. You didn’t really feel like it was right to stay with him so you made your way out the door, but before you got further away you felt him tugging at your wrist.

“Don’t leave Y/N..” he said quietly but you continued walking instead. He didn’t let go of your wrist so you looked back at him. He looked so cute in his sleepy state, almost like a child.

 “Please?” you heard him say.

A loud bang startled you awake. You give yourself a big needed stretch on the bed before sitting up and looking at the clock that read 11:36pm. When did you even fall asleep? There’s another loud noise coming from the kitchen so you decide to get up and investigate.

You find Jungkook trying to work the oven, “Jungkook why are you making so much noise?’ you say before yawning and rubbing your eyes.

“Oh sorry Y/N did I wake you? I just got really hungry so I helped myself to one of your frozen pizzas” he gave you a cheeky smile, “but how do you work this thing?” he said looking back at the oven like it was alien technology.

He was like a completely different person than from earlier. You help him turn on the oven and prepare the pizza together. He seemed to be enjoying himself, smiling at you often. You both sit down on your dining table to talk while you wait for the pizza.

“So you’re saying that your wife faked a pregnancy?” you say, shock evident in your face.

“Don’t call her that. I’m filing for divorce as soon as possible.” he said with a serious tone. 

“I was so used to the idea of having a baby on the way. That’s why I didn’t contact you. I was trying so hard to prepare myself for my kid.” he said looking down at his hands.

It was hard to think of something comforting to say. You could only imagine how much pain he had to go through.

“It broke my heart to know that I was waiting for nothing all along” he sighed. 

”All this time without you made me realize how much I need you in my life Y/N..” he grabbed your hand and interlocked his fingers with yours.

You weren’t over what he did to you despite the situation so you were about to let his hand go but you heard him speak again.

“Y/N I love you.” he looked at you with sincere eyes.

Your heart started to beat faster and you were suddenly nervous. What just happened? Is this a dream?

He squished your hand a little to get your attention. He wanted a response. What should you do? Of course you loved him back but he’s a man who can’t love. Was he serious right now? You can’t confess your love to him this quickly.

“Jungkook I..” you were about to say it but the oven timer interrupted you, “Pizza’s ready!” you quickly got up and ran away.

“Damn baby this pizza tastes amazing!” Jungkook said with his eyes closed as you focused on the drama you were watching earlier. “But not as good as you..” he said looking at you with a smug face.

You laughed harder than you intended to, “Stop comparing me to food!!”

“But this is the first time I do?” he looked over at you with suspicious eyes, “By the way, who was that guy you were with at our usual place?”

“Huh? What place?” you said trying to stall.

“Our chicken sandwich place Y/N!” he whined like a child, “I saw you there with another guy. He wasn’t even as cute as me.” he said pulling one of the pettiest faces.

“Ohh Hobi? Haha he’s just a close friend of mine.” you told him nervously and took another bite of your pizza. You weren’t about to admit how he fucked you in the same bed Jungkook just woke up from.

“Hmmm a little too close I’d say.” he drops his pizza and makes his way over to you, “Now c’mon we got a lot of catching up to do” he smirks down at you before picking you up and giving your ass a spank playfully.

“Jungkook my pizza!” you say as he drags you away.

“The pizza can wait baby, but I can’t.”

He carefully put you down on the bed and passionately kissed your lips like his life depended on them.

You thought you were over him but having him close to you one more time made you appreciate him that much more. Finally he was yours, and yours only.

[dsmroleplay]

#PaintTheWallsRed #DSM #SPN #RP #ChapterFive

Written by: @LegacyHunterDW & @JulianRyker Warning: Rate R Violence, Sex, Mature Themes. Fiction

Julian: -Julian wanted to smack the hell out of Dean but he couldn't for obvious reasons. He just shook his head, he couldn't say anything to many people around. Coming to a stop behind his "savior" and waits for the clerk to acknowledge their presence. It was like the world lit up for the portly woman who was probably in her seventies. Eyes glued to Dean, Julian just watched holding back his smile. He'd seen the magic effects the Winchester had on women more than a few times.- ::::::::::::::::: Dean: Dean smirks seeing the look on Julian's face turning his attention back to the Clerk's desk. When the lady calls them forward Dean leads Julian to the desk. Keeping his hand around his upper arm Dean smiles charmingly at the elderly lady behind the desk. Laying his forearm across the counter he leans forward just enough to see her smile brighten even more "You look like you are having a rough day. I do believe you should go home and soak in a hot bath with a nice glass of wine and leave all this stress here." He flashes that charming smile again and nods down to the file that has 'Julian Ryker' on it after seeing the grumpy detective tosses it in front of her and walks away "Detective Grumpy Pants must've signed off on my prisoners transfer. :::::::::::::: Julian: -He hoped Dean went easy on the lady, she'd probably have a heartache if he got any sweeter with her. He shifted from one foot to the other, his body ached. He wanted to soak in hot water and drink a fifth of whiskey right about now.- :::::::::: Dean: Dean can relate to what Julian is going thru. He spent months locked in a tiny room with no communication from the outside world, his brother, not even a TV. He had a cot, a sink, and a toilet with 3 meals put thru a slit in the locked door. No shower, no booze, no nothing until he made a deal with a reaper and literally had to die before he was able to escape the nightmare. He even said that it was worse than when he was in hell The clerk handed him the proper papers and a big brown envelope that contained Julian's property. Dean gave her that charming smile and a quick wink before standing back up fully. He pulls as gently as possible on Julian's while still making it look good "Don't forget, hot bath and glass of wine." Turning his attention back to Julian "Come on, let's go. ::::::::::::::: Julian: -Julian was pretty sure the woman had a small orgasm just picturing Dean and that glass of wine but he kept that to himself and followed him down the hallway and outside. He squinted his eyes it was bright out here and he'd been in a dark room a couple days now. Following Dean out to the car he smiled.- Still, got her huh? I have to respect your loyalty on keeping her and in top shape no less. :::::::::::::: Dean: As soon as they get out to his baby Dean open's the passenger door and puts his hand on top of Julian's head to lower him inside taking a quick look around. Not seeing anyone watching them or even giving two shits what they were doing he closes the door and walks around getting into the drivers seat. He looks over at Julian and grins patting her dash "Hey, she's my girl. We've been thru a lot together. Gotta say, she's the only one who's never let me down and loves me for me." He starts her up grinning hearing her engine purr. Dean has never been lucky when it comes to relationships. Even his own brother has skipped out on him once or twice but this car, she's always been here waiting on him "As soon as we get outta this lot i'll pull over and take those restraints off. I seen a Taco joint down the street. We can stop there and pick up some grub or i can drop you off at the motel and you can shower while i make a supply run. I just got into town, stopped changed and came straight to you but i have some beer in the cooler i can take in. ::::::::::::::::: Julian: -Julian was breathing fresh air and it felt damn good. His big hands rested in his lap the cuff's on him. He looked over at Dean and for the first time saw him in a different light. Who else would have showed up without being called? Put their neck on the line for a guy they barely knew. This guy was a really awesome guy, Julian would return the kindness one day he promised himself that.- Dean I'm okay man, I'm not a fan of being restrained by strangers anyway. -Tries to make a joke and lighten the mood.- I'd say let's go back to my place but I'm not sure if there will be reporters... although there wasn't anyone around just now in front of the precinct... I mean if you don't want to crash in a hotel. Least I can do is put you up? Besides you said I stink I doubt your clothes would fit me since I'm four inches taller than you and shopping for new clothes would probably bring out the press quicker than us going to my place? We could pick your stuff up then go to the penthouse? :::::::::::::::::: Dean: Dean clicks the radio on but keeps it on low looking in his review mirror. Once he sees they're not being followed Dean pulls off to the side of the road and shuts her engine off. Leaning over he pulls out the handcuff key and pulls Julian's arm up until he's able to reach the small hole. He unlocks both of his wrists and takes the cuffs. Holding them up he smirks with a nod "These might come in handy later." Opening Julian's left hand he sits the key in his palm and sits back upright turning the key in the ignition again. Putting her into drive he checks the mirror and pulls back out onto the road with a chuckle using an english accent "We could go to the penthouse..." He glances over at Julian with a grin licking his lips then quickly snorts "Wait, did you just call me short?" Rolling his eyes he shakes his head to that idea after giving it a quick thought "I don't think that's the best plan to hang low. Is there anyplace else you have access to that the cops won't think to look at? A friend you can stay with maybe? I'm used to staying in lousy motels, it's part of my everyday life. :::::::::::::: Julian: I wasn’t calling you short, just stating a fact I got a few inches on you. I wouldn’t want anyone involved... I’m good with the hotel and believe me the navy didn’t give us much to sleep on. My first year back I felt like the bed was melting because it was so soft. So your brothers hunting alone just like you? Dangerous isn’t it? :::::::::::: Dean: Dean stops at a light and quickly puts the shifter up into drive. Reaching into the backseat he opens the cooler and grabs out an ice cold can of beer. Closing the lid he turns back around and holds the cold beer out for Julian giving him a quick wink The light turns green and Dean pulls off again "I know Bobby used to have a bunch of cabins scattered throughout the west coast. How close are we to a place called Big Bear? It won't be much but it'll have running water, a stove, fridge and a generator if that sounds better than a motel? :::::::::::::::: Julian: It’s about two hours away. -Taking the beer he relaxed a little.- I’ve got a beach house in La Jolla, it isn’t my name it’s under my companies name I lend it out to my guys during the summer for their families... :::::::::::: Dean: Dean raises both his brows and glances over at Julian. He can't imagine what the man has been thru. It's one thing knowing the supernatural exists but a whole other thing when you have something happen to you and the men he lost weren't just employee's of his, they were his friends and if anyone knows what it's like to lose them, it's Dean "Then we go to your beach house. As far a me and Sam goes, him and Cass are out on a case together. I sprained my ankle pretty bad on the same hunt that got my faced bruised up and had to stay off it for a few days but even so, Sam has kinda been doing his own thing these days. As far as it being dangerous the answer to that is it's not actually safe but knowing Sam is doing less and less of it since meeting that chick it's worth the risk. I'm gonna clean up that bite when we stop to pick up my stuff. Those hellhounds aren't known for their gentleness so that arm of yours must be hurting like a mother fucker. I have all the supplies in the first aid kit in the trunk. ::::::::::::: Julian: -Julian downed his drink as he listened to Dean. He felt protective all of a sudden. He wouldn’t leave his guys for a piece of ass no matter how awesome. But he didn’t comment.- Dean, you got me out of there if you need to get out of here and go take it easy you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll figure shit out somehow I’m stubborn like that. :::::::::: Dean: Dean turns into the motel where he was staying and into a parking spot killing the engine. He turns to look at Julian shaking his head "That's not gonna happen so don't say it again. I drove a 24 hour trip in 17 hours to help you and that's what i'm going to do, caphice? Now, let's get you inside and get your arm taken care of. Sam usually keeps a duffel in the trunk for emergencies so you can jump in the shower and throw on something of his. He's like 6'4" so his jeans and a shirt should fit ya then we'll head to your beach house.  

[sweetnestor]

You Look Happier | Chapter 7

university au, teamiplier + jack

platonic/romance/angst/(smut at one point but it’ll only be on ao3)

previous chapter

I didn't see Ethan at all the next day because I was knee deep in marching for basic human rights. The day after that, Ethan was busy at his place, prepping videos for an upcoming convention. He only had time to send one heart emoji in the span of a couple of days.

Now, my usual self would feel super discouraged because this was a new relationship and we were hardly talking to each other. But this wasn't your typical relationship. Our jobs were pretty demanding, especially Ethan's. I was trying to upload videos twice a week now, but he was uploading every day alongside working for Mark. I knew what this meant, and having the experience of dating in these circumstances made me deal with it a little better.

The biggest downside at the moment, though, was refraining from speaking about it in a video. I always tried to find something to ramble about when I filmed a tutorial, but the only topic in my head was my new relationship. Either that, or my depression, but there was nothing new to add there.

“I'm gonna do something simple, but different,” I said to the camera. “I used to do this in high school a lot - which reminds me, should I do one of those ‘how I did my makeup in high school’ looks? Let me know - anyway, we're making a wing from eyeshadow. I'm feeling fucking wild today, so we're using this.”

I held up a single, bright blue pigment that was cased in black packaging. I couldn't flat out say I had a boyfriend, but I could do things like this.

“All you'll need is your shadow, a liner brush and setting spray,” I explained. “This color is called ‘Paranoid.’ Just like me,” I added, smiling sarcastically. “Okay, but for real, the KVD single shadows are amazing for things like this.”

At first, I was joking about the “paranoid” comment, but after I had finished the video, I couldn't help but feel exactly that. It wasn't a secret to the Internet that Ethan and I knew each other. Some people from his community had migrated towards my channel recently, what if they found out he and I were dating now? What if they knew from a single eyeshadow? God, I could see the memes now: “remember when Bella outed her relationship with a blue shadow?”

Needless to say, I scrapped that video and started over. I used bright pink eyeshadow and talked about the Women's March. Had to act like I was single and sad.

~

I finally got to see Ethan the night before he left for PAX South. It was nearly our one week anniversary, and he was flying off to San Antonio the next day. Missing anniversaries and important dates were expected. I didn't mind, despite that I missed him every time we were apart. I know, how gross.

It was another car date. These were becoming a regular thing, and I liked it. There were plenty of drive-thru places around town. We just sat there, eating and listening to music.

“So when do we start telling people?” I asked in thought.

“Um, who knows right now?” Ethan replied. “Because I haven't told anyone, not even my parents.”

I wasn't sure what that meant. Although, I realized I didn't have many people to tell, or any. Was that sad?

“Well for me,” I told him, “Jack is probably the only person I have right now, and he already knows. But he won't say anything to anyone.”

“The only person?” Ethan asked. “What about Mark?”

I raised my eyebrows. “You sure you want him to know just yet?”

He hesitated and then shook his head. “Maybe later.”

I decided to change the subject. “So what classes did you pick for this semester?”

“Editing… lecture.” He shook his head like that was a ridiculous thing to say. “Video production… and biology. One of those things is not like the other.”

“Yeah, those general ed policies are kinda useless,” I said with a chuckle. “But I'm taking biology too, so maybe we'll have that class together. I also have psychology, video production, and I might try to crash a Spanish or LGBTQ+ class.”

“Hm, nice.”

Just then, Intertwined began to play on the radio. My heart fluttered, and I looked at Ethan, who had broke out a smile.

“Can’t believe it’s been almost a week,” I spoke. “And I haven’t seen you in almost week.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean for… I don’t know, I just got busy. And now I’m leaving for the weekend, too, and… agh, I’m sorry.”

I reached over and placed my hand on his arm. “Hey, it’s totally fine, I understand. There’s things that need to be done, things we both have to do. We just have to make time for each other. Besides, I’d rather see you once a week than not at all.”

Ethan slipped his hand into mine and nodded. “Okay. We’ll make time. Just… text me when I’m gone.”

“Okay.”

At that moment, I really just wanted to kiss him. I was looking at his face, and then his neck and down his chest. In the past, I usually tried to resist the indulgence, but now I really couldn’t help it. By the time my eyes were trailing back to his face, he caught me.

“What?” he asked.

My cheeks flushed. “You’re just really cute,” I admitted shyly.

Now Ethan was the one blushing. Seeing him sheepishly duck his head made me smile disgustingly huge.

“I’m not cute,” he mumbled. “I’m… a man.”

“Shut up, you’re adorable,” I told him, poking his cheek.

Ethan grabbed my wrist before I could retract it. He smiled and then kissed my hand. This was absolutely cheesy, but I was melting at the gesture. I felt like I was sixteen again.

~

Honestly, I expected complete silence from Ethan over the weekend. I was pleasantly surprised to find a text from him. It was a selfie with his friends, Brian and G.

“They didn’t believe me when I told them we’re dating! :(“

So he was telling people now. It made my stomach turn, because I knew that meant that I would have to meet them at one point. It also meant that there were more chances of this getting back to Mark before we were ready to tell him.

That was a conversation for another time, though.

“Well duh! I’m not your actual girlfriend, you’re just paying me to hang out with you! :p”

I giggled to myself, and even more when he responded again.

“No one is supposed to know, though!”

Having a constant smile on my face was something I wasn’t used to anymore. It was strange. I tried to hide my tiny grin as I met up with Jack by the front door.

“Can you believe the semester starts in two days?” he said as he opened the door to step outside.

“I know! We’re dying,” I replied, following his trail. But I suddenly stopped when I felt drops of water hitting the top of my head.

I looked up and saw nothing but grey clouds to accompany the bitter and cold air. Any attempts I had made to hide my cheesy smile disappeared as I continued walking to my car. Once we were in, engine on, I adjusted the volume on the radio. I bopped my head to the song playing and then took off down the street. Things felt… not so terrible, for once. Wasn’t sure if I should get comfortable with it just yet.

At one point during the ride, I noticed Jack looking at me. When I reached a stoplight, I returned the gaze. “Can I help you?”

“You’re singing again,” he pointed out in a teasing voice.

I didn’t notice until he had said that, and all I did was shrug in response. “So?”

“You seem… less down,” he said. “That’s all. It’s different, I like it.”

Don’t overthink it. But I thought I was always singing. Wasn’t F.U. by Little Mix something I always belted out in the car? The only thing I had noticed about myself was the fact that every time I thought about Ethan, I couldn’t stop smiling.

This month started badly, but it felt like things were starting to look up.

At least, I thought that. We got to campus - or, rather, we were down the street from YouTube University, stuck in a line of cars. I was so used to driving here without traffic issues, I had forgotten it was moving day for most of the student body.

“Are they still doing schedule handouts in front of the fountain?” Jack wondered. “Because I do not want to stand in those fucking lines again.”

“You and me both,” I replied.

A knot was forming in my stomach as the line of cars moved forward. I didn’t want to stand in a crowd of loud, pushy people. With how insane vlogger mentality had gotten over time, I was terrified of stepping foot on campus. I had heard horror stories from Aria, of how people would sneak her and her ex-boyfriend into vlogs. I was afraid of stepping on campus with Jack now.

As soon as the thought hit me, guilt covered the knot in my stomach. Did I really have any other choice, though?

“Hey, why don’t you get off here while I find a parking space?” I offered as we got closer to the roundabout in front of the office.

Jack was surprised. “Uh, are you sure?”

“Yeah, I mean… you said you wanted to get recording as soon as possible today, right?” I tried to sound casual and calm.

“Well, yeah, but are you gonna be okay by yourself?”

Probably not, but why would I tell him that? “Yeah, I’ll meet you back at your dorm.”

“Are you sure?”

“We’re missing the roundabout! Line is moving!”

“Okay!” Jack quickly grabbed his backpack and got out of the car.

I took a deep breath as soon as he was gone. I also tried not to regret making him leave. I tried to ignore how vulnerable I felt now that I was alone. New generation vloggers were scary. Big crowds were scary. My best friend/safe buddy was a comfort, but he was also hard to miss, which gave a bigger chance of people approaching and possibly vlogging him.

Finding a place to park was hell, as always. But as soon as the car was stationary, I found myself not wanting to get out. I suddenly felt like I was twenty two again. First semester, fearing the unknown so badly it made me vomit. The only difference now is 1) I had a friend waiting for me, and 2) I was trying to fight off the unnecessary suicidal thoughts. Or, “intrusive” thoughts, to make them seem less daunting. They were just thoughts after all, and those were far less intense than actually acting them out.

I nodded to myself and pushed myself out of the vehicle. So far, I hadn’t seen anyone I knew. I put my hood on for good measure, hiding my pink hair inside my sweater. It was an odd comfort to be covered and concealed by a huge piece of fabric.

As I got closer to the building, I heard music booming from within the campus. I knew YTU was a party school, I just didn’t think it would happen so soon.

However, once I was past the office doors (swimming past groups of people), I saw that it wasn’t a party, but the dance team. It appeared to be the same group I had seen perform on stage a year prior, and I couldn’t help but smile. I hadn’t seen Sophie and Aria since that day in my apartment, and they looked ecstatic and graceful performing in front of the fountain. It was actually impressive, given that the ground was slippery from the rain. The whole team held their ground.

A crowd was forming around them, blocking my view from where I was standing. I wanted to get closer, but I hesitated. Did I want to risk crowding myself to see Sophie and Aria, or did I want to risk looking like a bad friend and walking away? I took a few steps closer to the source of the sound, not really watching where I was going until I practically ran into someone.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry!” I frantically said, nearly scared out of my wits.

“It’s okay,” replied a familiar voice.

It was Amy. I was already mildly distressed. Now, I could feel myself short circuiting.

She seemed just as surprised that I was here. Instead of just shrugging it off and moving along, we stood there staring at each other in shock. Why was she here, if not with Mark? That had to be why she was here, right?

Think later, I reminded myself. Then I turned on my heel to go to the boys’ dorms, until:

“Bella, wait!”

Fuck.

Hesitating at first, I turned to her again, trying to keep the fear out of my eyes. Panic was crashing into my like a tidal wave.

“Can we talk sometime?” she asked.

If you want to punch me in the fucking face for talking to your boyfriend, then just do it! Knock me unconscious! I wanted to say.

“W-Why?” I stammered out instead.

Amy hesitated, but then took a step closer to me.  “Mark wants you back in his life. I think we have some things to talk about too, if that’s gonna happen.”

This wasn’t helping at all. She somehow picked up on it.

“It’s nothing bad, don’t worry,” she added. “Just… at one point, we should… meet up, over coffee?”

I’m making amends with Mark, not you, I thought bitterly. But if I’m going to be friends with him again, then you’ll be apart of the mix regardless.

“Okay,” I said softly.

“Okay, great,” she said, looking like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. The air was still pretty awkward, though. “Keep your… Twitter open.”

My head was spinning wildly by the time I made it to Jack’s dorm.

~

“Don’t I look dreamy when I sleep?”

Attached was a rather interesting picture of a sleeping Ethan, although he didn’t exactly look asleep. His head was shoved into a pillow, and his eyes were half open. It was a little shocking, to say the least.

“Hermoso,” I replied with some heart eyes. Then I sent, “When do you come back? I miss your dumb face.”

“Later tonight. I miss your dumb stupid face too.”

“You missed the first day of the semester! D:”

“I know lol luckily my classes start tomorrow! And I can see you tomorrow too :D”

“Excited ♥”

________

next chapter

[reecesfleeces-blog]

Chaplain of the Lot

Some guy once said religion is the opiate of the masses.

The sun rose on a Tuesday morning in the summer of the year two-thousand and twelve. She rose and floated low in the sky, nudged the people to wake up.

The light came in at an angle through the large showroom windows of Joe Capini Honda and the tables in the middle of the showroom floor cast long shadows. The sales manager, a man with pale blue eyes and a well trimmed white beard, who went by the name Roger, stood in the front office, looked out its floor-to-ceiling window, saw the sun floating in the sky and sipped his coffee.

The first employee to arrive at the dealership was Ryan Delotte. Ryan had just graduated from high school and planned on working through the summer, making a little money and enjoying his foray out into the world. He was somewhat short, at least relative to the salesmen who all seemed to be giants, and he was a bit gaunt. He had a pierced lip and ear, but he only donned the jewelry away from work.

The dealership proper was composed of two buildings: in front, facing a busy road, was the showroom and beyond this was the finance and automotive service building.

Ryan parked in the employee lot, a place in shadow and sandwiched between the showroom and the finance building. He jingled his keys as he locked his door and meandered to the side entrance. The side entrance was locked and so he continued to the front. He saw Roger through the front window and smiled and waved.

He liked Roger, Roger was kind to him. When he gave him the job, it was with utter faith.

Roger had shook his hand, looked him in the eyes, and said “it will be boring sometimes, stressful sometimes, but I think you can handle it.”

The job was small, but he was proud of it. He complained to the salesmen when they smoked cigarettes together, “fuckin’ four sales this morning, that’s four fuckin’ cars I got to detail in like half an hour. Calm the fuck down with the sales, huh?” But he loved it. He loved it as far as he knew that he loved anything. The part of the job detailing cars was even pleasant, these were new cars; mostly it involved removing the window sticker, taking it through the car wash, wiping the dash and hitting the tires with “tire shine”.

He stepped into the building and noticed it was much cooler inside than out. The cool and the smell of new tires enveloped him.

He said, “Mornin’ Rodge.”

Roger said back, “mornin’ Ryan.”

Ryan proceeded to the back of the showroom, poured himself a little styrofoam cup of coffee, walked back to the front office and sat on Roger’s big desk, sipping coffee.

Roger said, “have a good night, last night?”

Roger had this sort of trust with everyone that worked at the store. He knew everything everyone did, and so long as it was irrelevant to the smooth sale of cars, he judged not in the least. As it turned out, Ryan had a party he went to last night.

Ryan smiled, said, “oh hell yeah.”

Roger lifted his eyebrows, “girl?”

Ryan smirked, said, “girls”, and laughed.

Roger smiled, “hope you didn’t get too drunk.”

Ryan was a little more serious, “no sir, not in the least.”

Roger said, “that’s good,” he looked at his watch and said, “hey look, I need you to put up the balloons.”

Ryan nodded, hopped off the desk, and walked back through the showroom to the back office. The back office was a bank of six small desks, each with a phone and dividers so that salesmen could call their customers without polluting the main showroom floor. In one of the corners was an upright-standing large helium tank, and on the nearest desk was a spool of red ribbon-thread and a package of balloons.

It had been a learning experience when this first happened. Before he arrived, the salesmen took turns “doing the balloons.” All of them were better at it then him, and he marvelled at the idea that it could be so well done. They would have 50 balloons done and tied up in ten minutes. They taught him to start the knots of ribbon before filling the balloon. You cut fifty lines of string, start the knots, and lay them out across the desks. Then you fill the balloons, attach the string — finish the knot on it — then let it go. It floats up to the ceiling, and eventually the whole room is filled with balloons.

With great care he gathered the fifty dangling red strings and began the process of moving outside. Moving this assembly through doorways was yet another skill he was still mastering. It was a good thing that it happened in the morning, and that it was before other salesmen got there, because he was sure it would be an enjoyment for the salesmen to watch him struggle through this.

Ryan made it outside holding the great mass of balloons. For the hell of it, just because it was who he was, he found a particularly ugly balloon, dark green that clashed with the red ribbon, pulled the ribbon from the bunch, and let it go. He watched it float away, thirty seconds there, up, up and away. It tickled his stomach.

The sun was up a bit higher now and the road across from the dealership was gathering traffic. Down the road was a McDonalds, and its drive-thru lane was packed with breakfast customers.

As cars whooshed by, Ryan took the time to tie three balloons to the side-view mirrors on the front row of new cars. It was slightly difficult to hold some forty balloons while tying the another handful to the mirror, and even the very gentle wind tangled the balloons considerably, but in a few minutes he had mostly accomplished the task. There was sweat running down his neck when a salesman, Frank, drove up toward him and stopped, rolled down his window.

Frank said, “‘ey Ryan, gotchu somethin man.”

This lit up Ryan’s heart and he beamed, said “nice, nice.”

The salesman said, “you on balloon duty, huh?”

Ryan looked at him, feeling his own sweaty face.

The salesman looked up and down the row, saw he was nearly finished, and said, “ay I guess you started last night huh?” and he burst into laughter.

Ryan blushed.

The salesman continued, “aight man, well come see me when you get done.”

Ryan tied the last wad of balloons to the last car in the front row and knotted it about fifteen times. He looked back on the row of cars, each with its bundle of balloons gently waving in the air, and was thoroughly satisfied with his handiwork.

He found Frank, who he considered he best friend among the sales staff, in the back office, unwrapping a breakfast burrito and sipping a 32oz Coca-Cola. He had, in fact, three burritos.

Frank said, “one’s ham, one’s sausage, one’s… I don’t know what the fuck, oh yeah, bacon.”

Ryan sat down next to him and Frank asked, “you want one? Got it for you.”

Ryan looked at the burritos sitting on the desk and said, “yeah.”

Frank slid the burrito over to Ryan’s desk. Ryan was in the process of opening the burrito when Frank took the first bite of his own, then immediately spit it out.

“Yuck, man.”

“What?”

“Shit sucks.”

Ryan sat there looking at his own burrito, it looked just fine.

As he was contemplating eating it, Frank took the remainder of his own burrito and threw it in a trash can nearby.

Ryan took a bite. It tasted just fine. Pretty good. Eggs, sausage, potato, cheese. It could use salsa. He said, “what’s wrong with it?”

Frank looked at him, almost in disbelief, then said, “you mean to tell me you can’t tell what’s a shitty burrito?”

Ryan shrugged and continued to eat.

Frank took a package of cigarettes out of his slacks, flipped it open, took one out and put it to his mouth, said, “you want one?” and Ryan nodded. Frank handed him a cigarette.

“And that’s not aaaall,” he said.

Ryan was chewing the burrito, trying to finish quickly now that they were preparing to go for a smoke break.

“Check this out my man.”

Frank turned the cigarette package on its side and out fell a tiny ziplock bag, the kind that would normally hold a button. Inside was a single nug of weed.

Ryan’s heart lifted. He’d asked Frank if he could score for him two weeks ago, just a few days after he started working.

Frank waved it under Ryan’s nose and said, “how’s that shit smell, man?”

Ryan nodded and said, “yeah.”

Frank said, “tell you what, I got a piece in my car if you wanna hit it.”

Ryan continued to chomp down the rest of his burrito, swallowing, mouth full with his last bite, he said, “fuck yeah.”

Ryan stood up, balled up the wrapper for the burrito and threw it in the can. Frank said, “hey you want this other burrito?” Ryan shook his head ‘no’.

“Ah, fine, I’ll try to pawn it off on one of these other retards.”

They left out the side door and stood beneath a wide awning. Outside was another salesman already smoking. His name was Carl, and Carl was old and grumpy as hell. He hated working here, and, indeed, had worked here for so long that virtually all of his business was repeat customers. He saw two or three a week, customers he had last seen maybe five years ago, and each time, without fail, sold them. At this point, he simply showed up.

When Frank saw him, he tilted his head back in a gesture of recognition.

“‘ey Carl, you have breakfast yet?”

Carl removed the cigarette from his mouth and as he spoke smoke came out of his mouth, “no. Don’t eat breakfast.”

Frank said, “‘ey well look, I got an extra breakfast burrito. I’ll sell it to you for a dollar.”

Carl glared, “I’m gonna have to pass, Frank.”

Frank shrugged, pulled a lighter out of his pocket, lit his cigarette, then handed the lighter to Ryan.

“ey man, you know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. How can you expect to sell cars on an empty stomach?”

Carl dropped his unfinished cigarette on the ground, twisted it out with his foot and went inside through the side door.

Ryan looked over to Frank and laughed, said, “fucking asshole” and laughed again.

“It’s cause he don’t eat breakfast.”

Frank turned, motioned with his head for Ryan to follow him, and started walking back toward the employee parking lot.

Out from under the awning, the world was a nice gold color. The cement of the lot was tan, and when the morning light fell on it, it gave off a welcoming vibe, said “you are here.”

Cigarette hanging out of Frank’s mouth, sweat glistening on his bald head, he said, “it’s fucked up we got to wear pants and you don’t.”

Ryan shrugged, but since he was behind Frank it was a useless gesture.

They approached Frank’s car, a relatively new Chrysler sedan. Frank clicked the keyfob in his pocket, pulled open the driver’s side door, and sat. Ryan waited at the passenger side, Frank clicked the keyfob again, and Ryan opened the door and sat down.

Frank pulled out an aluminum foil pipe from his driver’s side door. He had fashioned it by rolling up a sheet of ~5” wide aluminum foil into a tube, then bending it at the end to form a bowl. He glanced down at this pipe, then glanced around the parking lot. He turned it over in his hand, emptied the bowl of ashes, rolled down the window and dropped the ashes out.

Then he handed the pipe and cigarette package to Ryan, fastened his seatbelt.

He said, “you get that shit ready,” and with a gentle dinging noise, turned on the car.

They drove out of the lot, down the road a little ways, and turned into a neighborhood. As they did, Ryan unzipped the little package, took out the marijuana flower, broke it into pieces, and put the pieces in the pipe.

After passing a ways through the neighborhood, Ryan tried to hand Frank the pipe, but Frank said, “nah man, you start it,” and handed Ryan his lighter.

Ryan looked around, saw houses and no one else, bent down, lit the lighter, felt the heat from it on his forehead, and inhaled, pulling the flame through the aluminum foil pipe. He sucked through several times before it started burning well.

Holding the smoke in his lungs he passed it to Frank. As he held it out, there was a coil of smoke coming from the bowl, Frank said, “you hit it too hard man,” and still looking toward the road, pulled the pipe to himself and gently sucked on it, stopping the bowl from emitting this smoke into the car. Then he took a hit, light, as though it were a drag of a cigarette, rolled down his window and exhaled, then took another light hit, gentle, so that it soothed the bowl, tempered the cinders, and exhaled through the window again, then passed it back to Ryan.

Ryan already had a feeling of giddiness. He could tell that while right now there was little effect, it was going to blossom into a very nice high. He put the lighter to the bowl, gently inhaled, rolled down the window, and let the smoke out.

He tried to pass it back to Frank, but Frank said, “nah man, I’m good.”

By the time they returned to lot, Ryan felt stoned. His eyes were red, and he knew he was going to have trouble acting normal. As he left the car, he kinda stumbled, and had to stifle a giggle. Frank went to the backseat, pulled out a bottle of Febreeze, sprayed it through his car, then sprayed it into a little mist cloud in front of himself then walked through it.

He had taken out a cigarette and was holding it in his mouth when he said to Ryan, “c’mere man”.

He sprayed Ryan with the Febreeze up and down, then pulled him by the shoulder so he’d turn around, then sprayed his front.

Frank put the Febreeze bottle back in the back seat, went to the front seat, grabbed a couple starlight mints and a bottle of visine. He stood beside the door, and said to Ryan, who was standing looking like an idiot at the front of the car, “ey, keep the rest if you want.”

Ryan thus opened the car door, withdrew the pipe from the passenger seat and stumbled over to his own car. He was having trouble unlocking his car door when he heard Frank say, “ey man, stop fucking around.” He succeeded, opened the door and stowed the pipe beneath his front seat.

Frank was standing along the backside of the building in shadows, holding a bottle of Visine up and squeezing drops into his eyes. Ryan came up alongside him and Frank handed him the bottle of Visine. Ryan tried to do the same thing, but flinched several times and Frank had a look of disbelief, mumbled “jesus christ.”

Ryan finally handed the bottle back to him, and it looked like he had been crying he missed so many drops. Frank told him so and laughed.

Frank then took out two cigarettes, handed one to Ryan and said, “here, smoke this cigarette.”

They stood there, behind the painted cinderblock back wall of the store, and smoked in relative silence.

After they finished, Frank handed him a mint, looked at Ryan and said, “good?”

Ryan half-laughed, unwrapped the mint, mouth hit with peppermint, and said, “yeah.”

When they returned to the showroom, all the salesmen had arrived. Frank made eye contact with one of the salesman, a massive polar bear looking like guy, and shouted, “hey, buddy!”

Ryan was having trouble walking normally, told Frank he had to go wash the cars, and left out through the front door.

Beyond the first row of cars with the balloons was the second row: the second row of cars was composed of the “premier” cars for the day. These were the ones that would be test driven and given walk arounds for new customers. The next part of Ryan’s job was to run these cars through the car wash.

He came up to the first one, a mid-sized SUV, and squinted at the number on the sticker in the top-right corner of the windshield. He said to himself, “five two two two six, five two two two six, five two two two six,” and walked back inside, turned into the main office where the key machine was. Roger was at the computer and without looking over said, “should already be halfway done with those cars, Ryan.”

Ryan muttered under his breath as he punched in the numbers, “five five two two six.”

The digital display said, “no such key.”

He punched it in again, this time getting it right, the machine whirred, and out popped a box with a key inside it. He turned to Roger and said, “sorry, Frank made me get breakfast with him.”

Roger turned in his chair, raised an eyebrow and said, “did he get me anything?”

Ryan said “uhh” and Roger turned in his chair, leaned back and shouted, “Frank! Get in here!”

Frank half-slid into the doorway of the office and had a huge smile on, he seemed to have been in the middle of telling a joke and said, “what is it, boss-man?”

Roger said, “how come you got breakfast but didn’t get me anything?”

Frank’s smile expanded, he looked up to Ryan then back to Roger and laughed, “you think I’m gonna forget you?”

Then he dashed off to the back office.

He returned wielding the burrito with pride, “now, I wasn’t sure which was your favorite, how do you like, uh, bacon?”

Frank placed the burrito on Roger’s desk, Roger opened it, took a bite, chewed, then his chewing slowed. He pulled out a trash can from under his desk and spit it out.

He said, “that’s worst damn burrito I’ve ever tasted.”

Then he turned to Ryan and said, “how come you aren’t washing the cars?”

Ryan left, and as he went out the front door, he heard Frank slap Roger on the back and say, “Rodge, we are going to sell some cars today!”

Ryan drove the SUV, smelling entirely of brand new car, by the finance building, and onto the back service road. This service road was shared by three car dealerships, and along this road was a body shop, a couple reserve lots — where the new shipments were held — and, most importantly, the car wash.

He drove up to the keypad, pressed on the square metal buttons, “3, 1, 2, 4”, and pulled around to the tunnel. The first drive through the car wash was perhaps the holiest experience of the day. The sun was fairly strong by now so that the tunnel felt like a cool enclave.

He pulled up to the tire grooves, set the car to park, and lay back in his seat while the machine did its work: rinse, water streaming down the windows, soap, the spinning cylinders with lapping fingers, wax, green, yellow and red in blurred stripes, sweet smelling, then rinse again. The machine retracted its tools and it was time to pull forward through the air dryer. Slowly, slowly emerging out from this enclave and entering the world anew with a wonderfully clean car.

He pulled up in front of the showroom, saw that it was busy with salesmen on the phones — it was too early for walk-in customers so they could call from their showroom desks — and came to the next car in the row.

He repeated the routine: check the window, repeat the number to himself, get the key, drive to the wash, return. He repeated it again, and again, and on the fourth time through the high was leaving and he was feeling a bit tired, so he stopped, got another little styrofoam cup of coffee, and went to the side of the store to see if anyone was on a smoke break.

…

Sure enough, there congregated were four salesmen: the big polar bear guy was telling a story from the era when he worked at a custom shop in Chicago, he told these tales beautifully, that they worked on Porches and Ferraris and Lamborghinis. Somehow Ryan could only imagine that he worked at a shitty lot in some suburb.

“Anyway, it was a red ferrari, it was Michael Jordan’s. Now, he didn’t come in the store, he had an agent bring it in, but the license plate said MJ 23 and it had dark tinted windows.”

He scratched his head with his cigarette-empty hand as if he were trying to remember exactly how it went, his voice was soft and he meandered on: “I had to take it to another one of our shops, and driving on the highway everyone slowed down around me, trying to look in through the windows, and little did they know, it wasn’t Michael Jordan in the Ferrari, but me.”

He grinned, took a drag from the cigarette, looked around from person to person, seeming disappointed by the tepid reaction, lifted his eyebrows, and said, “he had a Porche too, a sweet setup; a black turbo.”

He continued to talk and Ryan nudged Frank, who was standing in amazement, and Frank responded by throwing his hand out as if he was sweeping away a fly.

Ryan sighed, went back through the building, prepared the fifth car for a car wash. This time, however, he stopped on the way to the car wash in the employee parking lot, sat halfway in his car, legs still facing out, retrieved the pipe from under the seat, a lighter from the cupholder, and took a deep hit.

He let out his breath and the smoke coiled around the footwell, the pedals, of his car. He leaned out, waved his hand to ward off the smoke, returned to the still-running uncleaned burgandy sedan, and proceeded through to the car wash, listening to the radio at very loud volumes.

He was determined now to make it through the rest of the row of cars before his high went away. Boom, wash, boom, wash, boom, wash.

He parked the final car in the row, closed the door, stood away and looked at all the cars facing the steps to the dealership. Beautiful, shining, spotless. A bright point of light was reflected in each of the roofs of the vehicles. Ryan, shielding his eyes from the sun, looking like he was giving a salute, turned and went in the showroom.

At this point, Frank had got himself a customer, Ryan was familiar enough to understand that the man wanted to buy the van, but he was in the delicate act of maximizing his gains by choosing accessories. He could drive away with the van today if it were just the van he wanted, but he was going on a roadtrip Friday and he wanted the luggage rack. He needed to know how long it would take to be installed, and Frank was in a gleeful back and forth with the man.

This sort of information went through Ryan’s head unimpeded. It was the daily rhythm and the song and refrain of the days. People came in, full of anxiety about being sold, and were eased into it. He imagined that, in their younger years, the salesmen must have been pretty good lovers. Been very good at easing her tension: no, no, honey, yes, it’s okay to say no, we can lay here and relax, and then they start rubbing her shoulders, and finally she gives in, just barely, leans back into him, and he kisses her on the neck. It’s smooth sailing from here. The man buying a van was well into the process of love, would be willing to spend a hundred years in the dealership, and the salesman was giving him all the peace of the world.

Ryan sat in the back office, legs propped up on another chair in front of him, and sent text messages on his phone. He wanted to let his girlfriend know that he had some weed and that he was going to save it for them tonight and that they’d have a wonderful time.

It was at this point that there was a knock on the open door.

It was Roger.

“Ryan,” he said, “did you wash the burgundy Accord this morning?”

Ryan turned from his chair and looked at Roger, he said, “yeah?”

Roger smiled, and said, “I thought so.”

He said, “come with me.”

Ryan stood up and walked out of the room. Roger held his hand lightly on the small of Ryan’s back and led him out to the side entrance door.

Ryan said, “where are we going?”

Roger responded, “finance building.”

The walk from the side entrance to the finance building was changed from the morning. It was high noon now, the sun was directly overhead and the tan cement was so bright it seemed white. The sky was so clear Ryan expected a buzzard, or maybe a hawk that fly across and cry out, ba-kaw!

He heard his own footsteps, tennis shoes on pavement: contact, contact, contact.

As they approached the finance building, Roger took the lead and opened the door for Ryan. They walked down a hallway, and Roger stood by an open door, made a motion for Ryan to enter and sit down.

Roger closed the door behind him, looked at Ryan with his soft, gentle, pale blue eyes.

Then he looked down at the floor and said, “let me ask you Ryan,” looked back up, “why do you think we’re here?”

Ryan said, “huh?”

Roger said, “I mean, why do we come to the dealership?”

Ryan felt that he understood the right answer, he trusted Roger to ask questions honestly and in earnest.

“Well… to make money.”

Roger nodded, “Close. To sell cars.”

Ryan was vaguely confused.

Roger put his hand on Ryan’s shoulder, gave him a concerned look, said, “and do you know what makes it hard to sell cars?”

Ryan looked up and shook his head “no”.

Roger smiled, “when they smell like weed.”

Ryan frowned and felt very small.

Roger patted him on the back, looked Ryan in the eye, and said, “you need to be more careful.”

Roger turned to leave the room, but in the doorway he spun on his heel, and then said, “Ryan, do you know the difference between working to make money and working to sell cars?”

Ryan shook his head.

Roger nodded, “The difference is… you work for money if you need something: if you need a house, if you need food — whatever.”

Roger took a moment to compose himself, then said, “But what if you have enough money for food and shelter and security and all that?”

Ryan said, “you buy stuff.”

Roger said, “exactly, you buy stuff, you work for stuff not for money. And why do you buy stuff? Because you want it. What is the opposite, what must it be like to want nothing?”

Ryan thought about this, he assumed that to want nothing must have meant pure bliss, but now he could see that it was much more a kind of depression. Apathy, pointlessness. Even a preacher wants for the salvation of his congregation.

Roger saw the conclusions being reached in his head.

He nodded, “and so, what do we do here? We sell cars. We give people meaning.”

Roger took a second, smoothed out his shirt, and said, “It’s bullshit that people think meaning is a singular thing, like, ‘oh if god just sent me a message then I would know exactly how to live my life’, no. It’s a collection of things, it’s about girls,” and he raised his eyebrows at Ryan, “and it’s about good food, and it’s about many, many things. We give people a small chunk of meaning too, a pursuit of a nice car, the bliss of taking ownership, and the several years thereafter where they have pride for it.”

He smiled at Ryan, turned to leave the room, and in the doorway he stopped and knocked on the frame, looked at Ryan, said, “people are fulfilled, so long as they want.”

Roger left the room, and as he was on his way down the hallway, he stopped at another door, leaned in, looked at the finance guy at his computer and said, “look alive! Frank’s about to sell a van!”