#I’ve been grabbing at every single little scrap of this game since it was first announced. I’m very excited it’s finally here :)

[chiwhorei]

green scrunchies

pairing: dom!k. ukai x sub!fem!reader

genre: smut, 18+ minors dni

word count: 4.1k

warnings: swearing, spanking, smoking, daddy kink, dom/ sub dynamics, brat taming, subspace, dirty talk, degradation, age gap(reader is 22ish and ukai is 26ish) spitting, fingering, oral (fem receiving), edging, orgasm denial, dacryphilia, a little dumification, public nudity (kinda), unprotected sex, tattoos (there’s a tattoo in a really unholy place), this is just filth okay

a/n: i have been sitting on the bulk of this piece for a fucking month and am honestly so surprised i finished it. this was inspired by a picture i saw of a really naughty tattoo and my mind want crazy and vomited on to a google doc.

hymn: nothing’s gonna hurt you baby by cigarettes after sex

“but today isn’t a day of honey-sweet ministrations.”

Ukai Keishin is a gentle man. The team of highschoolers he coaches, his friends, hell, even his mother would beg to differ. But they were not privy to the Keishin you know. The man that serenades you with Elvis Presley while cleaning up after closing the store, grabbing your waist and pulling you into a clumsy slow dance as his gravelly voice croons into your ear. 

He’s entrancing. Hypnotizing you, almost two years ago now, in the most tender pursuit possible, so softly you were unaware of falling deeply in love with him until you had already tipped completely over. Turning to an ink pen and scraps of receipt paper to flesh out the feelings he worried would not sound perfect when they hit your ears. To this day, you’re not entirely sure if he meant to leave the pages to his extemporaneous romance novel for you to find on purpose, but you have your suspicions.

You were in your second year of college when you met Keishin, only 20 years old at the time and clueless to any world outside of studying frantically from one exam to the next. Chasing after a degree you could pursue your dreams with and getting tattoos that would piss your parents off, you crashed into him, literally. 

While walking to class with practiced steps and flipping through a small stack of notecards, you frantically try to accomplish last minute cramming and making it to class promptly at the same time. With one final attempt to understand the scribbles in front of you, you take a sharp turn into a brick wall. A flurry of white papers thrown into the air and falling back down like snow.

It happened in a minute, a minute that held sixty of the longest seconds to ever pass; from the moment you smack your nose into his cemented chest to the moment he saves your head from kissing the ground below. “You need to watch where you’re going, kid.” He says with a cigarette pressed between his teeth. It all happened in that single minute, your soul escaping and crawling into his jacket pocket without even realizing. It’s been there ever since, for safekeeping, of course.

He’s perfect in every way. But just as he is soft and loving, Ukai is not one to take shit. Especially when his sweet, shy baby girl is being a raging brat. It’s like any normal fall afternoon, slightly chilly and crisp on your walk from class. The air is biting at your skin, but the temperature is not what sends a piercing shiver down your spine. You know that as soon as you get home, Ukai Keishin is going to ruin you. 

“What are you doing here, princess?” Your presence is made known with a soft ding from the bell above the door, but Ukai doesn't look up from his magazine when acknowledging you. 

“I live upstairs?” Your tone is light and playful. You decide to test the waters, wondering how much Keishin will let slide today.

“Don’t be dense, little one.” He graces you with his eye contact for the first time, “I know you have a Biology lecture on Friday afternoons. So, why is that cute little ass here instead of on campus?” His lips are pulled tightly in a thin line and he rakes his eyes down your body. You’re wearing a short pleated skirt and a baggie pull-over. Exactly what he picked out for you this morning. Well, almost exactly. He was already opening up the store by the time you woke up, so the clothes were placed neatly on his side of the bed. What he didn’t pick out though, were the stockings currently brandishing your mid thigh, cutting off the supple skin with the soft, black cotton. 

“Oh! My professor cancelled lecture today so I came home early to have lunch with my loving boyfriend.” You smile sweetly, dropping your backpack and rounding the corner of the counter he is sat at. Ukai hums softly- dismissively- and lights a cigarette, his eyes don’t give away any emotion, so you are left hanging off the end of the burning cherry. Has he caught on yet? Maybe the thigh-highs would be enough to distract from your real surprise. 

Before you can ruminate on the thought, a wide, kind smile spreads across his face. If you didn’t know any better, this smile would be comforting. Your boyfriend pats his lap, motioning for you to take a seat. You adjust yourself to fit snugly and lean into Keishin’s chest. He presses a chaste kiss to your temple and takes a drag from his cigarette. Customers trickle in slowly, and you stand a few times to ring up their purchases, always the dutiful girlfriend. Keishin watches you with adoration in between paging through a magazine, everything you did was so perfect, even if it’s just scanning a few groceries. Such a good girl you are. 

It’s not until you sit back down, and he adjusts your hips to settle back into him that he is made aware of the game you’re trying to play. And he is pissed.

“Princess, did you not like the clothes I picked out for you this morning?” He has fully caught on to you at this point, and you both know it, but he isn’t going to show you his hand quite yet. 

“Of course I did, Daddy.” You bury your burning cheek into his neck, letting the familiar smell of cologne and campfires calm your clambering heartbeat. 

“I see, then why are you wearing these…” Keishin’s voice trails off and pulls at the material of the thigh-highs, snapping it against your skin.  

“Actually,” he interrupts, “I have a more important question. But I need you to be a good girl and answer honestly.” Keishin whispers into the shell of your ear and nods a goodbye to the elderly man leaving the store. You two were alone now, the promise of other customers wandering in diminishing quickly with the time of day. 

“I’ll be a good girl Daddy.” You try to coat your words in velvet as best as you can, but Keishin scoffs, clearly unamused. 

“That’s rich, princess. Now tell me, did you go to campus this morning without panties on?” You knew the question he was going to pose, you could have even saved him the breath. You knew you were going to get caught, I mean, that is why you did it. But now, faced with having to atone for your sins, the confidence in your original actions was melting away. 

“I forgot to put panties on this morning, Daddy. I’m sorry.” You try to pout in the sweetest way possible, but Keishin knows. You’re lying through your teeth.

“Tsk, you forgot. How could you forget if I laid them right on top of your skirt this morning?” He fishes in his pocket and pulls out a damning article. As he moves the exhibit into evidence, light pink thong hanging off of fingers, you resolve that your little game was over long before you even tried to start. All you can do now is wait with baited breath and flushed cheeks for his next move. 

“Stand up princess.” Ukai grabs onto your hip bones and lifts you upward. He spins you around to face him and perches his elbows on his knees. “Show me what’s mine baby girl.” His request, his demand, rolls off the tongue like icicles. You know what he means, but still stare back dumbly, mouth wide at what he was insinuating.

“You know I don’t like repeating myself, little girl.” His words stir inside you. If he sees how wet you’re getting, you’re done for. There’s no escaping this moment though. You take a deep breath in a feeble fight against the suffocating feeling in your chest, and lift up the end of your short, black skirt so he can see you. All of you.

Your precious, sumptuous thighs now in his view. He studies the lines of the tattoos not covered with your stockings. Beautiful floral designs in delicate black ink. Keishin thinks the work you get done is always so beautiful. Every addition befitting you perfectly. He loves tracing the pads of his fingers over the art in softer moments. This moment though, was not soft, and the tattoos on your thighs were not the subject of Ukai’s attention. 

He flicks his eyes up to meet yours briefly, and trails down from your quivering bottom lip, to your delicate, freckled collarbones peering sweetly from your large sweater. He drags his darkening gaze down further, cherishing every inch until he reaches your hips. Nestled in between the apex of your thighs, in small, dainty writing lays his prize.

“My Daddy Will Kill You.”

No matter what you did, he would always be there, snugly under the second layer of skin. When his fingers weren’t intertwined in yours, when he couldn’t have a protective hand in your back pocket. Whenever he was away with his team for tournaments or just when you were in class. He was always on you.

“Such a gorgeous little cunt you have.” He leans back in his seat, watching you fidget under his stare, “Whose cunt is this, baby? Is it your classmates? Is it your professors?” You bow your head in shame at Ukai’s insinuation, you know that going to class with a bare ass and a short skirt was going to get you in trouble. How could you resist though, when the punishment always feels so good.

“You’ve been acting like a petulant brat recently. I’ve been letting things slide because I know how stressful your senior year of college has been.” His tone is exasperated, but his eyes are calm, level, dark, “I can’t ignore this, you know that right?”

“I know, Daddy.”

“Your class was cancelled. So that means we get to start the weekend early.” He pulls your hands from your skirt, letting it fall back into place and holds both of your hands in one of his much larger ones. “Go upstairs and sit on the bed. I want you in just your skirt and those cute little tights you were so keen on wearing. I’ll be up in a few minutes.” 

“But Daddy…” you really did like to test your luck sometimes, but the look he gives you, slightly shocked and more than lightly infuriated, was enough to make you hurry to the back and up the stairs to your shared apartment. You kick your sneakers off at the door and head straight to the bedroom. You pull the sweater over your head and unclasp your bra. Usually Keishin likes to do that step for you, savoring the way you shiver as he brushes the straps off of your shoulders, but today isn’t a day of honey-sweet ministrations. 

You tremble like a puppy as you wait for Ukai and almost jump out of your own skin when you hear the front door creek open. Usually you are met with a bellowing voice upon his entry, walking through the door with a hearty, “Honey, I’m home!” even if you had only walked in a few steps ahead. Now, all you can do is wait as he mulls about the apartment with lackadaisical intent and a deafening silence. After a few agonizing minutes and feeling like he made his point, Ukai finally appears in the doorway, arms folded and pressed tightly to his hard chest with a categorically sadistic smile on his face.

“So, you do know how to follow directions?” You gulp loudly and nod your head, but quickly correct yourself. If you don’t use your words you’ll make things worse for yourself. “Yes, Daddy. I know how to follow directions.” It’s not a lie, obviously you are aware of his rules, you just prefer breaking them. Your response is small compared to the loud, sarcastic laugh falling from his throat. Ukai steps towards you slowly. 

“You are such a little tease, I came up to kiss you goodbye this morning and found these still sitting on the bed.” He pulls the thong out of his pocket again and drops the lace into your lap. “You left them there because you wanted me to find them. You wanted me to know you were sitting in class with a bare cunt.” There’s no use trying to find an excuse to push past your locked jaw, because he’s not really asking a question. 

“I left them on purpose, Daddy. I’m sorry.” Your mea culpa is underwhelming to say the least, and you both know it. You may be pleading guilty to all charges, but you don’t seem eager for absolution. 

“You are such a little attention whore. My timid, darling girl has been acting like an insolent slut recently. What am I going to do with you?” His voice sounds questioning, but unmistakingly rhetorical. He’s known what he was going to do to you from the moment he spotted your panties weighing the bed down this morning.

“Turn around baby.” Ukai unbuckles his belt, and you turn away from him, tucking your legs to sit upright. He gathers your long h/c hair from where it was settled around your face and meticulously braids it to lay flat on your back, attaching the green scrunchy from his wrist to the bottom. 

Just like a calling card, Keishin always had a scrunchy of yours around his wrist. Whenever you are hunched over the kitchen table in the middle of writing a paper, he pulls your hair behind you and fastens it into a bun, careful to keep it loose so as to not invite a headache, and kisses the crown of your head. Regardless of where you are: shopping, date night, visiting him at practice, if he notices your hair becoming annoying he will slip it from your neck and twist it into the green scrunchy.

And when you are about to be punished, Ukai pulls your hair into a neat, low braid.

You feel him run his hands from your shoulders to your wrists, pulling them gently behind your back. He presses your palms together and gives them a squeeze so you know to keep them together. Ukai pulls off his shirt, and  frees his undone belt from his jeans, folding it in half and running the cool leather up your thigh. He swats softly at your skin, just enough to make you flinch. 

Ukai tosses the belt to the ground, deciding he would rather you feel the sting of his palm, and sits down next to you on the bed. You face him with your hands still laced together behind you and let him position you to lay across his lap. The side of your face and your shoulders lay flush against the bed and your ass is raised up above his jean-clad thighs. 

“You know the rules, right my love?”

“Yes, Daddy. If I lose count you have to start over.”

“There’s my smart girl. You look so beautiful like this.” He lands a smack on your right cheek, actions greatly contrasting his soft, almost taunting tone. “It’s such a shame you’ve been acting like such a whore.” 

He delivers slap after slap on your bruising ass and you count every one out to him, briefly considering what would happen if you stopped counting, but you know that your punishment is already going to be harsh enough. You’re a masochist, yes, but not an idiot. 

“Why do you always seem to be on your best behavior when I have you over my knee, darling?” Ukai connects his palm with your tender flesh again. “How many was that baby?” 

“Fifteen, Daddy.” You speak in an even tone, if your boyfriend catches on to how much more you like this than he already knows, you’re, quite literally, fucked. 

“You really know how to play me, baby. I’m always wrapped around your little finger.” He starts to knead your ass cheek with his large hand, skimming the tips of his digits against your wanton cunt. He’s testing you, wanting to see if you’ll start squirming or unclasp your hands from their position behind your back, but you hold steady.

“You leave me naughty little surprises. I had you on my mind all day, thinking about this naked little pussy walking around campus. One tiny slip and you would have shown everyone what’s mine.” Another sharp swat to your butt reverberates through the room and you can barely mumble out your counted response. 

“But that’s what you wanted isn’t it? You wanted everyone to see this slutty pussy of yours didn’t you?” Whether that was the truth or not doesn't actually matter, you know not to make an excuse. You are just meant to count and thank. 

“You need to stop squirming, princess, or you’re going to royally piss me off.” Ukai continues his relentless pace, two thick fingers pistoning deep in your dripping pussy. This was one of Ukai’s favorite games, finger-fucking you to the point of the bed under you slamming into the wall. Your job was to keep completely still. One arch of your back or escaped moan and he would land a sharp slap to your puffy, untended clit. 

He’s actually being quite generous despite the circumstances. Usually, you would be propped on your hands and knees, but Ukai has laid you flat on your back with one leg tossed over his broad shoulder. The position, while easier to keep your body still, does mean that Ukai’s piercing, hungry gaze has you pinned like prey under him. The completely pornografic sounds of his fingers are making your head spin. The fact that he’s been hammering his fingers relentlessly into your g-spot for an hour, is starting to make your mind foggy, all thoughts are starting to slip from your brain and your boyfriend can tell.

“God, baby, I love making you absolutely stupid for me. I bet all you can think about is my cock filling this little cunt up, huh?” His words are sneering, taunting. Your response is a babbled agreement and plea for his cock, and the sight of you so completely fucked out makes the bulge in his jeans strain even further. The feeling of his fingers in your squelching pussy is dulling all other senses, so when he pulls the digits away, you can’t help the cry that rips from the back of your throat. 

“Don’t worry, precious girl, I’m going to give you what you want. What you’re fucking desperate for.” Ukai pushes himself from the bed and removes his jeans and boxers, and you watch as his thick cock springs free to slap against his abdomen. The sound makes you mewl, your cunt clenching in anticipation. 

As Ukai crawls back onto your shared bed, his head dips down in between your legs. He licks, flat and languid across your slit, collecting your arousal on his tongue with a feral groan.

“Please, Daddy. Please fuck me. I- I need you. Wa- want to be your good girl.” You find your words as best as you can to beg for him, the sweet cadence of your voice and the way your weak arms reach out for his messy bleached hair signals to him that you’ve fallen completely into a foggy, submissive haze. You tug lightly at the tresses and the impressive self-control he has kept up thus far snaps like plywood under a heavy boot. 

Ukai takes one more deep, hungry lick at your soaking pussy and sits up, pushing your legs further apart, digging his nails into the soft skin under your knees. 

“Open your mouth, Princess.” You are quick to comply with his request, sticking your tongue out and looking up at him through your lashes. You hear the sound of him spitting, his saliva and your arousal coats the thickest plane of your tongue, but connecting one thought to the next becomes impossible as Ukai pushes his thick cock into you at the same time.

“Jesus Christ, no matter how much time I take to get you ready you’re still so tight. God, you make it really hard to stay mad at you.” His hands keep your legs pressed up to your chest, pushing his thick cock into you at an agonizingly lazy pace. Ukai was right, it didn’t matter that he had finger-fucked you into the mattress for an hour, taking him was a tight fit every time. As he buries himself in you, the intoxicating burn of being so full takes all of the air out of your chest. His thick cock stretches you so far, you swear he can feel your own heartbeat within the walls of your tiny cunt. He’s barely halfway into you and you can’t help but constrict, the tinny flavor of your orgasm crawling up from your spine to your mouth. 

“There’s no way I’m letting you cum already.” Ukai snickered sadistically, thumb brushing across your tattoo, the dirty secret you shared, right over where you need his fingers most. He wasn’t going to touch your deprived clit yet, and hoping for him to do so was a waste of energy. 

“I’m sorry Daddy. I promise, I’ll be good.” Your tears are rolling down the side of your face, wetting the sheet next to you. 

“You’re a pathetic mess and I’m not even all the way in you yet. I would save the tears if I were you, babydoll.” You try to compose yourself, but Ukai’s words of dismissive degradation give your whimpers more body, sobbing and babbling as his cock bottoms out. 

You can feel every inch of him, hard and thick and so so full inside of you. Ukai pulls out of you completely, his soaking tip rubbing on your labia before slamming back in to the hilt. His pace becomes brutal with every thrust, original slow pace completely unknown to you now. There’s no way you're going to be able to stand properly after this. 

“Daddy, please. Please let me cum. Need to cum, Daddy. Need to be your good girl.” A series of calls for your daddy and prayerful begs are the only things you know at this point, drool and tears covering your face.

“You know what, Princess? I bet I could make you cum with just one touch to that little clit.” Ukai takes one hand off of your thigh and hovers over where you have needed him since you woke up this morning. “If I’m right, I’ll make you cum again. If I’m wrong, you’re not gonna cum at all.”

You can feel the warmth of his finger looming over the neglected bud, the anticipation is overwhelming and cruel, but all worth it as soon as he pushes the rough pad of his thumb down. Ukai presses a single, taught circle into your clit and the coil wound tightly in your stomach snaps with incredible force. You know there is a scream that rips from your dry mouth, but you can’t hear it with the blood rushing through your ears. Ukai works you through your first orgasm, stilling his thrusts as until you come floating back down.

“I know this slutty little cunt better than the back of my hand. Now, my precious little thing,” You watch as Ukai hooks your limp legs over his shoulders, lining his throbbing cock back to your slopping entrance. “Let’s do that a couple more times.”

“Wise men say, only fools rush in. But I can’t help, falling in love with you.”

You feel your senses coming back to you slowly, with every delicate touch Keishin glides over your skin. He pulls you back to reality with sweet touches and the deep, gravely sound of his voice. After several meticulous moments and even more words of praise, Kei delivers a delicate kiss to your forehead and carries you to the shower. You take a deep, relaxed sigh as he massages your aching muscles under the hot water. After drying your exhausted body with a fluffy towel, Keishin helps you into a comfy pair of leggings and one of his sweatshirts. 

“Take my hand. Take my whole heart too.” Your boyfriend’s broad arms wrap around your waist, hands finding purchase under the orange sweatshirt currently drowning your form, and you melt into his chest. “Because I can’t help, falling in love with you.” You turn around in his arms to steal a kiss, but as your lips attach to his a small laugh bubbles up from your stomach. 

“What are you giggling at?” Keishin eyes you curiously, and you start laughing even harder.

“Oh nothing, I was just thinking about the bloody nose you gave me when we first met.” You cackle at the memory and feel Keishin take an exasperated but amused sigh, joining your laughter with his own.

“First of all, Princess, you ran into me.”

all writing is dymphnasprose’s original content, please do not repost or modify. do no read my content as asmr.©️

[works-of-fanfiction]

“He’s the Best.” - 90s!Graham Coxon x Reader

Summary: Graham struggles with his self-esteem within the band and the reader tries to cheer him up.

Requested by: Anon. I hope you like this <3

Warnings: Swearing (literally once).

Word Count: 3.3k - a bit of a longer oneshot from me! I didn’t mean for it to be this long.

A/N: I’ve been writing this and putting it off for days because I just don’t know if I like it, but I don’t want to restart it. Argh… I hope someone enjoys this cheese fest.

* Gif credits to the linked creator

_______________

No one in this life is born ‘better’ than anybody else. It’s not a competition or a game of comparison. Every single human on this planet has their own unique qualities that make them interesting and most importantly, worthy. However, humans sadly aren’t wired to see those qualities in themselves. They spend the majority of their lives obsessing over others; wondering if they’re as talented as the next man, or if they’ll ever look as good as whatshername. Sometimes, it gets to a point where even the deepest of friendships can become strained due to one or more parties comparing themselves to another’s achievements.

And seeing Graham go through exactly that, has been killing me. There was a time when everything Graham and Damon did together, was truly that - together. Every single melody, riff, lyric - it was theirs. Neither one did more work than the other, neither was more musically talented. They were both kids crammed inside a Portakabin with their very first instruments, strumming and plucking and making probably rather bothersome noise. They had no idea what was to become of their lunchtime jam sessions and after school practices. Both were just excited to have a friend that liked the same things as them, and enjoyed the noise the other was making.

But Graham has since become a shadow of who he once was around Damon - he’s become Damon’s shadow. Or so he thinks.

Being in a band with a boisterous frontman like Damon was bound to become hard work for the other members at one point or another, but I never thought it would affect Graham like this. It’s getting harder to communicate with him, and I know it’s not his fault but I’m running out of things to say to fill the silences. There’s only so many times I can ask if he wants a cup of tea, or tell him about the encounter I had at the bus stop earlier that day. I’m sick of hearing my own voice, so I can’t imagine how he must feel. The silence seems to be the only thing he wants; he doesn’t write anymore, he hardly plays guitar outside of work commitments, and he hasn’t picked up his sketchbook in weeks. He just seems to stare at the TV or sit on the sofa with his head buried in a book that’s stuck on the first chapter. I watched him the other day and in forty-five minutes, he turned the page once. I bet if I asked him about the story he wouldn’t be able to recall a single character’s name, never mind the plot.

Watching him struggle with his self-esteem is crushing, and I don’t want him to live another second feeling the way he does. I know it may take a while for him to find himself again, but if I can do anything to help move things along, it’s worth a try. I’d drop everything for Graham in a heartbeat.

“I dropped those music stands off today. Did you get them?” Dave asks, his voice a little crackly on the other end of the phone.

“I did, thank you!” I chime, balancing the phone between my shoulder and ear as I assemble the very same stands.

“Oh, good. I was a little worried about leaving them outside. I thought somebody would take them… What do you need them for anyway?”

“That’s something for me to know and you to find out, Dave.” I laugh, tightening one last knob on the second stand and straightening it out. I stand back and admire my handy work, smiling at the prospect of what they are to become.

“Alright, alright. Well, I hope they come in handy! I’ll see you later.”

“Thanks again. See you next week!”

We both hang up and I grab the stands, climbing up the stairs and into the spare room, placing them in their desired places. Grabbing two pieces of sheet music, I slot them onto the stands neatly and adjust them until they’re perfect. With one last thing to check, I turn on the projector I borrowed from an old university friend and let the film play out on the blank wall opposite. I mess with the sound a little, making sure it’s loud enough before rewinding the footage to the beginning and turning it off until later.

Standing in the middle of the room, I turn around and admire everything on the walls. Everything from lyrics to old album art concepts, to still life paintings from Graham’s time at Goldsmith’s. Beside the music stands, there’s crates filled with records, decorated with lyrics scribbled onto scraps of paper, some in Graham’s handwriting and others in mine. I of course, couldn’t resist writing them out in various colours and covering them in star-shaped stickers. The finishing touch is a large beanbag against the wall for us to sit and watch the projector from. I fluff up the beanbag for the thousandth time before heading downstairs to wait for Graham to get back.

It takes around two hours for Graham to arrive home. As soon as I hear his taxi pull up outside, I jump up from the sofa and head into the kitchen to flick the kettle on. Nerves bubble through me as I anticipate his entry. It’s impossible to predict how Graham’s going to be feeling on any given day. He could come through the door and speak to me as normal, or he could disappear into his studio until he’s tired enough to head to bed. Through the rumbling of the kettle I listen out for the door, fingers impatiently tapping on the counter as my gaze fixates on a magpie outside, shakily balancing on the washing line. A second joins it and I smile, muscle memory taking over as I pour the boiled water into two cups, not taking my eyes off of the birds.

“Hi.” Graham’s voice peeps behind me. Putting the kettle down, I turn around with a warm smile on my face. Despite everything Graham has been going through, seeing him come through that door every day is still my favourite sight. Having him come home to me will simply never get old. I don’t know what I’ll do when he has to go out on tour again in a few months.

“Hey.” I breathe, the sides of my face already beginning to feel sore from the ridiculous grin stuck on it. He smiles back, the expression not quite reaching his eyes but I know he means well. He’s trying. “You go and sit down. I’ll bring these in.” I gesture to the brewing teas on the counter and he nods, hanging his bag on the nearest kitchen chair and leaving the room without another word. I finish the drinks as quickly as possible, grabbing the stack of takeaway menus from the junk drawer and bringing them with me, the pieces of paper clamped between my teeth as I concentrate on carrying the two steaming hot cups in my hands.

Setting the cups down on the coffee table, I toss the menus onto the sofa next to where Graham is very aggressively, trying to pull his Docs off. “Need a little help?” I ask, laughing as I kneel down and bat his hands out of the way. “It would help if you untied them.”

“It’s easier to leave them tied.”

“Oh, really?” I scoff, gesturing to his feet still stuck in the cherry red boots. The laces are a complete mess with three bulky knots in them. I sit down cross-legged on the carpet, carefully plucking and unravelling each knot whilst Graham buries his head in the takeaway menus. “How do you even - “ I struggle, pulling at the frayed shoelace whilst trying not to damage it further, “- get these things on?” With one last tug, the first lace loosens and I’m able to slide the boot off with ease. Graham’s face pops out from behind the menu, a side-smile plastered onto his lips and a cheeky glint in his eyes. I know he wants to laugh.

“Shall we get Indian tonight?” He changes the subject, flipping over the tatty piece of bright orange paper as he squints at the options. He always orders the same thing, yet still insists on reading the whole menu front to back. He does it for every restaurant.

“Indian sounds good.” I nod, pulling the second boot off and shoving them to the side. “I’ll call them now.” Jumping up to grab the phone, I type the number in from memory and hold it up to my ear.

“What’s the rush?” Graham mouths and I hush him when somebody answers. I order the usual along with some extras and give them our address, despite them not even really needing it anymore. The phone call is no longer than a minute and Graham sits staring at me, nose scrunched in confusion. “Are you going to tell me what’s going - “

“Follow me.” I blurt out, stretching my arm towards him and rising onto my tiptoes out of excitement. He stands slowly, shrugging off his jacket and leaving it on the sofa. “I was going to wait until we’d had our food, but I have to show you now.”

“Show me what?” He asks as I grab his wrist and drag him up the stairs. We squeeze up the narrow staircase, almost tripping each other over a couple times until we stop on the landing, feet overlapping one another’s on the small square of carpet.

“I know you haven’t really been yourself lately.” I start, my fingers slipping from Graham’s wrist to entwine with his. He looks down, sucking his bottom lip between his teeth. His eyes watch our hands as I lightly stroke the back of his thumb in an attempt to relax him. He has a habit of tensing up whenever I broach the subject. “So I wanted to remind you just how great you are.”

I watch his face intently, the corners of his mouth twitching and trying to smile. With my free hand, I open the door and flick the light on, pulling Graham into the room with me. His hand slips from my grasp and I back up to stand against the wall, watching as he takes in the room around him and everything in it.

He walks to the music stands first, fingers tracing the notes on the pages, flipping them over then back again. He walks towards the canvas on the back wall - a woodland painting he’d won a prize for back in college - running his hand over the textured patch of paint that forms the trees. I nervously bite the back of my thumb as he kneels down to sift through the records in the large black case below, flicking through every Blur album and single released to this day. My favourite lyrics are scattered on sheets of paper all over the ground, and he picks up the second verse from Coffee & TV. “You’ve always loved this one.” He says, turning to me and smiling.

“I happen to really like the guy who sings it.”

“He must be pretty good then.”

“Oh, he’s the best.” Resting my foot against the wall, I kick my body forward and stand straight, joining Graham beside the projector.

“What’s this for?” He asks, hands hovering near the buttons but not daring to touch anything. I take his hands in mine and give them a loving squeeze.

“Sit down and I’ll show you.” I chirp and he sinks down onto the beanbag. I mess with the projector until the sound starts to creep in, stretching over to switch off the light. Graham shuffles to the side to make some room for me on the beanbag and I flop down beside him, nestling into his side.

The image from the projector is surprisingly clear against the wall, although could’ve been improved had I borrowed a screen from somewhere. A variety of different clips play out in front of us, ranging from Graham performing onstage to snippets of his band members talking and praising their guitarist. I try my hardest to focus on the film in front of me, but I can’t help glancing over at Graham to see his reactions. His brows are furrowed, but not necessarily in a bad way - he’s focused, fully concentrating on everything he’s seeing and hearing.

I fidget with my hands, twiddling my thumbs and quietly cracking my knuckles. Graham notices this and grabs my left hand, squeezing it tightly and bringing it over to rest in his lap. Laying my head on his shoulder, I press a kiss onto his sleeve, rubbing my head against him and breathing in his familiar scent. He lays his head on top of mine, but never looks away from the video playing on the wall. Absentmindedly, his fingertips dance on the back of my hand, the drumming following the beat of Song 2 as it plays from the projector. I too can’t help bopping along to the beat, my foot tapping softly on the carpet.

The video closes with one final clip, a message I recorded for Graham. Too embarrassed to watch myself, my focus stays on him as I squeeze his hand a little tighter and snuggle up as close as possible. The picture begins to fade and the sound plays out until there’s no footage left, and the whirring of the projector becomes background noise in the room. Graham doesn’t say anything at first, but as I try to stand to turn the projector off, he pulls me back down onto the beanbag and rotates his body to face mine.

“Hey.” I whisper, my right hand supporting his cheek as he leans into me, his eyes closed and lips pressed into a line. Our bodies slot into one another’s on the beanbag, the very little space between us growing warmer by the second.

Graham releases a deep breath, his eyes slowly opening again with a small smile spreading across his face. It’s hard to see him properly in the dimly lit room, but I could never mistake those big brown eyes staring at me. “I can’t believe you did all of this for me.” He says, his voice low as he leans in close to speak like we’re the only two people who matter inside a crowded room.

“I wanted to show you how incredible you are. You’ve been so hard on yourself and I just - “ As I speak, tears start to well up in my eyes and I look up to the ceiling to try and stop them from falling. I’d already told myself earlier that I wouldn’t cry, because I don’t want Graham to think he’s upset me. I press at my eyes lightly with my fingertips in an attempt to push the tears away. “I can’t stand seeing you this way because you don’t deserve to feel like this. If it wasn’t for you, Blur wouldn’t exist! Everything you’ve all achieved wouldn’t have happened.” My voice begins to shake and I feel Graham’s hand on my arm, rubbing it gently to try and calm me down.

“Y/N.” He starts, before reaching up to turn on the light. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust, before my gaze falls to the ground to avoid his. If I look at him properly, I know I’ll start bawling. “Look at me. Please.”

“I can’t. I can’t because I’ll cry, and then you’ll get upset and I don’t want to make you feel any worse than wha - “

“You won’t upset me. Y/N, I’m sorry I’ve - “

“No, Graham. Don’t apologise.” I grip onto his shirt tightly, my fingers tangling in the fabric. Graham bows his head and nudges it against mine, edging closer until he pushes my head up with his and our noses are almost touching. We both open our eyes, our faces too close that my vision is distorted and I’m seeing double. I pull back, sniffling once and dabbing at my eyes again, still not allowing any tears to actually emerge.

“I’m sorry,“ he starts and I sigh at his words, but he hushes me by holding his finger up to my face, “for putting you through this. I was so caught up in my own head that I didn’t realise how it was making you feel.”

“Graham, this isn’t about me.”

“But it affects you. Bloody hell, if I had to live with this miserable twat - “ he points to himself and I scoff, slapping the back of his hand playfully. “ - I’d have given up by now.”

“I would never give up on you.” My voice is barely above a whisper, the lump in my throat making it difficult to speak. Graham goes silent again, staring down at our joined hands and moving his thumbs around. I nudge his head with mine in the same way he did previously and he sniffles, his chest rising and immediately falling again. “Graham?” I bring my hand to his chin and push his face up to find his eyes watery, and cheeks significantly more red compared to a moment ago.

“God, look at me. What the hell are you still doing with me, ay? I’m a bleeding mess.” He sniffs, roughly wiping tears off of his cheeks with the backs of his hands.

“Because I wouldn’t want to be with anybody else.”

“Not even - “

“Ah! Stop right there. There’ll be no more of that.” I take his hands away from his face, holding onto them loosely. “Graham Coxon, you are the best thing to ever happen to me. And I’ll give you a free pass to slap me silly for being so cheesy.” I laugh, his grip on my hands tightening as he awkwardly slides closer on the beanbag, his body sinking into it at a strange angle and pulling me with him. “I love you.”

Within a second, Graham’s hands are on both sides of my face, pulling me in for a kiss; the kind of kiss that feels like the person is pouring their entire heart out to you. Like the kiss between the main characters of a movie, when they’ve just ran across a field or a busy road to collide with another at the centre. His lips messily press against mine and I can feel the stray tears running down his face as they dampen my cheeks. My hands rest on his legs, holding on firmly as his thumbs dig into my face a little. It doesn’t hurt, but he soon pulls away and swipes at my face softly as if to apologise for it. He uses his sleeve to dry my face and I do the same for him, small gasps of laughter exchanging between us.

“Thank you for doing this. If you can’t tell, I really love it.” He says sincerely with a genuine smile, the biggest smile I’ve seen from him in weeks. The expression is infectious and I can’t help mimicking him as I grin back like the Cheshire Cat. The faint sound of knocking from downstairs pulls us out of our romance film-esque daydream and we both clamber to our feet.

As we approach the stairs, Graham stops and spins me around, pulling me into him. I land against his chest with a huff, before adjusting my hair and looking up at him. “After we eat, can you show me the film again?” He asks, his hand meeting mine to help me fix the loose hairs falling in my eyes.

“We can watch it as many times as you like.”

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Stalker x Stalker, Part 1

Part 1/13, 51.3k words

Next part

Guys, I'm a whole five layers into procrastinating right now. Procrastinating my schoolwork with Alternate Ending, Alternate Ending with Miraculous TikTok, Miraculous TikTok with house chores, and house chores with this... it's like when you do something long enough in a game and you level up at it except instead of getting really good at jumping I'm extremely productive in the worst ways

Nonetheless have some Timinette

Perma taglist: @nathleigh

When Tim learned that his favorite designer was moving to Gotham, he had been conflicted.

On one hand, she was coming to Gotham! Things he ordered wouldn’t take what felt like years to arrive! There was a chance of actually seeing her in person!

On the other hand, why would anyone even want to move to Gotham? Sure, Tim had never left despite his wealth, but only because he’d gotten Stockholm Syndrome-d into liking the place by the time he was legally able to leave. MDC had no such attachments. If she was moving to America then why not pick Metropo -- ew, actually, no, fuck Metropolis -- somewhere safe?

He tipped his head back against the couch to stare at the ceiling for a moment, mulling over his options in his mind.

He sighed and pulled his laptop to himself. He’d watch her for a bit to make sure she adjusted well to Gotham and that would be the end of it.

~

Marinette hummed as she fell back on her new bed.

It had been a long few months for her. She’d thought she’d be happy when Hawkmoth was finally defeated but, in the end, she’d just been bored. It turns out that adrenaline and dopamine are hard to get when your brain is wired for only using them in life-or-death situations.

And what better place to experience life-or-death situations than Gotham?

Of course, it wasn’t as consistent as Paris’ one or two akumas a day, but she could make do. One scrap of adrenaline a week was better than none at all.

So far, though, she hadn't had much of a chance to get that adrenaline. She’d spent the first seven days moving in. Obsessing over what color drapes she should use, obsessing even more about the locks she needed to put on her windows…

But now she was done with all that. And she had underestimated the time it would take to get settled in so she wasn’t going to be getting any commissions for the next week or so. Which meant the boredom was back tenfold.

Until, suddenly, it wasn’t. High-pitched screaming started up, growing in intensity until it was practically rocking the foundations.

Marinette ran to the window and her face lit up when she saw a green gas slowly rolling over the city and heading her way. “YES!”

Tikki gave her a disapproving look.

“I mean… oh nooooo those people are so scared I guess I’ll have to help them.”

She smiled ‘innocently’ at her kwami before grabbing her purse and ducking out her door. She looked around and saw all her fellow tenants looking confused.

“It’s just fear gas, right?” One of them asked.

She didn’t know why they were asking her, she was just even less likely to know what was going on than they were, but she answered nonetheless: “You’d think so, but everyone has gas masks, so… there’s probably something else going on.”

Her neighbors exchanged grim looks before disappearing into their houses.

She shrugged to herself and locked her door. They were dealing with it, probably.

She found a dark alley and did a quick glance around -- left, right, right, left -- before mumbling to transform.

(She made sure that every part of her was covered, despite not really liking the look of it, because there was no way she was just going to step into an unknown gas without making sure that it wasn’t going to hurt her.)

Marinette hesitantly walked towards the green cloud despite her instincts and the people around her yelling that it was a very, very bad idea. She couldn’t feel anything, thank the kwamis, but her suit was steaming which was decidedly not good. She stepped further inside, her skin crawling (she had to hope this was unrelated to whatever acid was in the air).

She kept her gaze up determinedly to avoid looking at all the quickly decaying bodies on the ground as she slipped through the cloud in search of the source of the gas.

She came upon Poison Ivy after an hour of searching. She was, predictably, sitting on a giant flower. Less predictably, though, smaller versions of the flower sprouted off of it and released the acidic gas into the world. She considered just trying to sneak up and cut off all the stems, but decided against it. Even if Ivy somehow missed her doing this, she would probably just be able to regrow everything.

“Hey!” Marinette chirped as she dropped from a roof.

Ivy turned to look at her and Marinette saw confusion make its way across her face. “Who’re you?”

She looked down at her suit. Her entire torso was red with black polka-dots, her arms and legs were pure black save for red fingers, her face was blacked out and almost featureless outside of white lenses over her eyes.

“I’ll give you one guess.”

“... I don’t know. Polka-Dot Man’s daughter or something?”

“No! I’m Ladybu -- wait, did you just say Polka-Dot Man? That’s a thing?”

Poison Ivy shrugged. “I mean, he’s dead, but yeah he was a thing. Anyways, are you on my side or not?”

‘No! Obviously not!’ her mind screamed, but outwardly she just shrugged and said, “Depends, why’re you doing this?”

“Humans are killing the earth, so I found a way to kill humans without killing the earth, too!”

No one could see it because of her suit, but Marinette opened and closed her mouth like a fish for a good minute before she brought her brain back enough to choke out her answer:

“Oh. Bold choice. Really interesting. Um. Consider: no?”

Poison Ivy sighed. “Listen, kid. I like ladybugs, they help my plants, so I’m going to give you one chance here: leave.”

Marinette brought her finger to her lips, tapping the fabric over her mouth repeatedly as if thinking, and then tossed her yoyo and cut the flower that Ivy was sitting on.

Ivy gasped in surprise as she fell, but Marinette’s moment of victory lasted approximately half a second before Ivy was lifted off the ground via vine.

Every single plant in the area suddenly perked up and made a beeline for her.

‘Oh. I’m fucked.’

Marinette jumped to avoid the initial attack and summoned a lucky charm. She looked down at the machete in her hand and her nose scrunched. Great.

A vine wrapped around her ankle and yanked her back to the ground and she hissed out a curse as her legs protested the harsh landing. She had bigger problems than probably broken legs, though, because there were other vines heading her way. She looked at the machete in her hand and swung it at the vine attached to her foot.

Well, at least the machete was sharp, she supposed.

She rolled away from the attacking plants and her legs screamed in protest at the fact that she was putting weight on them, but she took a few quick breaths and bit back bile and continued on like everything was a-okay.

She looked at where the flower had been. Ivy had made a throne of sorts out of flowering vines. She laid across the armrests and conducted the vines attacking Marinette with a lazy finger.

Marinette yelped in surprise when something wrapped around her waist and pulled her away from the plants. She hit ground -- or, rather, roof -- and skidded over the concrete for a few feet before she came to a stop.

Black Bat and Signal. Oh, thank the kwamis. Help had finally come.

“Thanks,” she said shortly, slipping out of the grappling wire.

The three of them made a hasty retreat, disappearing inside a place a few buildings down. An office building, she thought as she dropped herself into a desk chair.

“How do you deal with her all the time?”

“Well, usually, she doesn’t do this much,” said Signal with a half-hearted smile. “It’s been a while since she’s been on the whole ‘kill everyone on Earth’ thing.”

Marinette raised her eyebrows behind her mask but then shrugged it off and took a quick look out the window. Ivy’s plant throne was rolling around on the ground as she searched for them.

“She’s got plants releasing something airborne that apparently kills everything but plants. Best option is knocking her out somehow. You got something in your tool belts for that?”

Black Bat shook her head.

Marinette hadn’t really been expecting them to, but her shoulders still sagged a little with disappointment.

“I can distract her pretty well,” said Signal after a few moments. “You two can work at taking her down.”

She hesitated. “It’d probably be more efficient to have two people as bait. I’ll help you.”

��I don’t like the idea of putting you in danger,” said Signal.

She shrugged. “I’ve already got two broken legs... and I think a dislocated ankle but not really sure on that one.”

“You what --?!”

“You heard me. Hurts like hell. It’s fine, though.”

How did she know they were looking at her with wide eyes when she couldn’t see their eyes?

She leaned back in her chair, twirling her machete absently as Signal and Black Bat talked.

(Well, they weren’t exactly ‘talking’. Black Bat and Signal just looked at each other and made vague hand motions every once in a while. She tried to follow along, but apparently her ability to know every language did not cover bat-ese.)

Black Bat, eventually, gave Marinette two thumbs up and apparently that was all she was going to get because Signal and Black Bat were already heading out the window they’d come in through.

Marinette sighed and followed after them.

Was it easier to dodge when there were two people? Not really. Or, maybe, Ivy had somehow gotten stronger in the five-ish minutes they’d been gone.

The two of them stood back to back, slashing and hacking through as many plants as they could, but there were far too many and they were quickly getting overwhelmed. Marinette barely managed to notice the one trying to snake around their legs before it could turn them upside down. Signal had grabbed her by the shoulder once to keep her from getting clobbered by a vine carrying a bat (which, by the way, what the fuck?!).

She yelped when she felt Signal get torn away from her and turned to watch him get thrown into a car. The metal crumpled under the impact, which did not bode well for the not metal person that hit it.

She managed to weave her way over and cut him out of the vines attempting to cocoon him, then wondered how she was supposed to check his pulse when any exposed skin meant touching acid. Thankfully, though, he stirred and his mask tipped up to look at her.

“’m fine,” he slurred.

She was skeptical, but she stepped back a step.

“Three!” Said Signal suddenly, which would have been helpful if her brain was in fight mode and not ‘help partner’ mode. It wasn’t, so a vine attempted to impale her Dean Winchester style.

The vine did not succeed in its murder attempt, but she kinda wished it did when it sent her flying into a nearby telephone pole headfirst. She groaned in pain and slid to the ground, head spinning with what was probably a concussion if the way her stomach turned meant anything.

She didn’t get to throw up, though, as something came up and blocked her throat. She struggled against the vine around her neck, hands fumbling for her machete at her side. How does one close their hand again?

Nope, those are eyes. Open those again, please. Please?

And then, suddenly, she was able to breathe again. She slumped against the wall and took deep breaths to get her lungs back into working condition.

She peeled her eyes open despite the pain and looked around. Black Bat had knocked out Ivy and was now tying her up. Signal was making his way over, using an escrima stick as a kind of cane.

She shook her head as if trying to clear it and then looked at the ground until she found her machete again. She struggled for a moment to get her body to work enough to reach for it and grab it, but she got there eventually so it was fine.

“Miraculous Ladybug,” she murmured, tossing it and watching it dissolve into ladybugs.

She blinked until her brain started working again and looked up to see Signal and Black Bat both leaning over her. She couldn’t read their expressions through their armor, but she was pretty sure they were more tense than they had been since the last time she’d really looked at them. Which was wild, because the last time they’d been surrounded by acidic gas.

“You’re a meta.”

She gave a shrug. “Kinda. You’re welcome, by the way.”

He sighed. “There’s a no meta rule in Gotham.”

“Aren’t you a meta?”

Signal didn’t answer, just offered her a hand up.

She hesitantly allowed him to pull her to her feet and she stretched out her newly fixed body. Kwami, she wouldn’t take being intact for granted ever again (or, at least, not until the next fight).

Signal and Black Bat had another one of those silent conversations and eventually Black Bat went over and collected Poison Ivy.

Marinette raised her eyebrow at the hand still in hers and Signal sighed and moved his grip up to her bicep.

“Can I take you to see Batman?”

“Do I actually get a choice in this?”

Signal winced. “Not really.”

She sighed. “Thought so. Alright. Let’s go.”

Welp. She’d lasted a whole week in Gotham. It had been fun while it lasted, she supposed.

~

Listen, sometimes you accidentally stumble across someone’s secret identity. It wasn’t like he was trying to figure out who Ladybug was, hell there was no way he could have even known she was going to show up in Gotham at all.

But then a cloud of green gas started rolling towards them while he was… watching over her and he had paled. He didn’t know if it was Joker Gas, Fear Gas, or something of Ivy’s creation, but if there were that many people screaming it probably needed more than just the usual gas mask or respirator.

He hadn’t relaxed until Marinette had ducked out of her apartment and started running away from the gas. Good. Despite her being new, she wasn’t stupid --.

Except then she swerved into an alleyway. Tim’s eyebrows furrowed and he ran across rooftops to where he’d seen her disappear. He saw her look around anxiously, checking for something. She was panicking, he thought -- of course she was, she had no real experience with Gotham’s bullshit.

He prepared himself to drop down, to be all ‘Hello random citizen who I do not know, I’m here to take you to safety’, only for red light to envelop her. He stared in stunned silence as she shifted awkwardly in what seemed to be a knockoff Spiderman costume and then headed out.

Ah. Well, now he understood why she had picked Gotham of all places.

He didn’t get much time to mull it over, though, as the gas started getting closer. He hesitated before calling it in, just in case his family had somehow missed the giant thing slowly taking over the city.

“Hey, so… bad news, guys, there’s apparently something going on downtown. Gas. Seems to work with just skin contact.”

“Black Bat and I are on it,” said Duke.

Tim nodded despite knowing that they couldn’t see it and started working on getting civilians to safety. Most of the bats had some parts of their faces or arms uncovered for reasons to connect with victims, so it was really up to Cass and Duke this time.

He worried his lip anxiously the entire time.

And then the ladybugs washed over the world and he felt his lip tear. Ah. That wasn’t great. Bruce was going to be fucking pissed about the newest illegal meta.

‘Well, guess it’s time to learn how to be a defense attorney in the half hour it takes me to get back to the batcave’, he thought, pulling out his phone…

It took him an hour to get to the batcave, which was both really good and really bad. Good because he’d gotten twice the time to learn defense than he’d thought he would; bad because he was the last one there and Bruce looked like he was about to explode.

Marinette had pulled the top part of her suit down like a hood -- he hadn’t even realized there was a zipper over the face -- and was now sitting on a railing and sipping at a Caprisun beneath a black surgical mask.

She looked up at him briefly when he dismounted Redbird and he watched her eyes narrow just slightly before her gaze returned to the bats on the ceiling.

“Since everyone is here, I suppose we can start,” said Bruce, his voice carefully calm.

Marinette finished off her Caprisun and pushed herself up to stand on the railing. “Hi. Ladybug. French hero. Nice to meet you guys.”

Tim waved at her and she smiled enough under her mask for her eyes to crinkle.

“I know about your no meta rule, but I’m not really a meta. Got magic jewelry.” She pushed some hair behind her ears to show off her earrings. “So I really don’t count myself and you shouldn’t either.”

Bruce shook his head a little. “It doesn’t matter that you’re not a meta on your own, you’re a liability to have in the city.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and wordlessly pointed at Duke, which was a good point.

“We know we can trust him.”

“We can trust her,” Tim cut in. His entire family turned and gave him wide-eyed stares behind their masks and all he could do was shrug. “She’s been doing hero work for four years, if she was going to go bad she probably would have already done so.”

“How do we know she’s the same person?” Asked Bruce.

Tim tipped his head towards Cass.

Cass huffed a little and then looked at Marinette.

Marinette shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. “Um…?”

Cass nodded slightly and then made a motion not much unlike a referee at a baseball game. ‘Safe’.

Everyone in the room visibly relaxed. Marinette, upon seeing this, relaxed herself.

“Seriously, though, don’t you guys want someone that can reverse physical damages on the team, anyways? None of you have powers of any kind except him, it’s probably better to have me for now and risk me turning later than not having me at all.”

Bruce sighed and shook his head exasperatedly. “That’s not the point.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Oh? Can someone tell me what the death count would have been for today if I hadn’t stepped in?”

Silence stretched for a few moments.

“Exactly. I get you’re cautious or whatever, that’s your whole ‘thing’, but kwami you’ve passed cautious and gone all the way to paranoid and stubborn. Relax.” She hopped over the bats and pulled the bottom of her surgical mask up to try and take another sip of her empty Caprisun. “Right, someone get me out of here? I’m tired of being questioned.”

The bats were all quiet for a moment as they considered this.

Tim hesitantly raised his hand. “I can take you home.”

She grinned and pointed at him. “Congrats, you’ve officially won second best bat.”

“Who’s first?” Said Tim, who was not offended.

She pointed at Cass. Cass perked up a little.

Ah. He rescinded his offense -- his not offense, sorry -- because, yeah, fair enough.

Marinette smiled and turned to Duke. “I guess you’re going to blindfold me again?”

“Yeah, sorry,” said Duke, rubbing the back of his neck. “Bats orders.”

Bruce grunted, which was B for ‘Yes, but why would you call me out for it?’

Marinette smiled and rolled her eyes. She turned to Steph. “How do you put up with all these guys? You only have Black Bat and she doesn’t talk -- or, at least, I don’t think she does.”

“Oh, there’s more --.”

“Spoiler,” Bruce warned.

Steph rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Yeah, she’s not the only one but the other two are a little… uptight sometimes. Glad to have you on board.”

Marinette looked a little confused but she nodded. “Fair. I like your mask.”

“Thanks! Yours is cooler, though.”

“They’re… they’re the same…” said Duke with a confused frown.

Marinette and Steph both gave him affronted looks.

“Excuse me?” Said Marinette, and Tim was reminded that she was a fashion designer. He silently said a prayer so Duke could get into heaven. “They are completely different! Look at the stitching, hers has a --.”

Bruce strode away, fingers pressed to his temples despite his cowl being in the way, which amused Marinette enough for her to stop chewing out Duke for not noticing the all-important stitching. She shook her head slightly and turned back to Tim.

“You said you were gonna take me out?”

He nodded slightly. After Steph tied the blindfold on Tim led her to Redbird and Cass helped her get on behind him. He made sure that she was holding on tightly before sending his family a tiny two-finger salute and taking off. She buried her face in his back.

He came to a stop outside a cafe and, when he propped his bike up, she pulled her blindfold from her face. She scrunched up her face at the sudden light and he pretended to fumble with the clasp of his helmet to hide his smile.

“I can walk you the rest of the way home,” he said. “If you’d like.”

She laughed a little. “I’m a hero, too, y’know. I don’t need your protection.”

He crossed his arms. “Oh? Then why were you using me as a shield from the wind earlier?”

“Because you assholes didn’t give me a helmet!” She said, giving him a playful punch on the arm. She hesitated. Her head tipped to the side. “Thanks for coming to my defense earlier, by the way.”

He smiled. “It’s nothing, really. And don't worry about B, he’s just a bit of an ass when people first show up.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks, I was so worried about what the guy that dresses up like a bat to fight crime thought of me,” she said, but her shoulders relaxed all the same. She glanced at the cafe he had pulled up to and smiled. “Do you know if this place is any good?”

“I know it has coffee,” said Tim.

“Ah, the world’s second greatest detective strikes again.”

He grinned. “I assume you're the greatest detective?”

“Of course,” she said. She looked inside and tipped her head slightly, considering. “Everyone in there is hipsters, so it’s either really bad or really good. Either way it’s really overpriced.”

He hummed his agreement.

She sighed and pulled her wallet out of a hidden pocket. If they lived in a cartoon a fly would have flown out of it when she opened it.

“I’ll pay,” he offered.

Her eyes widened and her face lit up for half a second before she schooled it into a teasing smile. “Wow, gonna buy me a drink and I don’t even have to pretend to flirt with you? Score!”

“Do that often?”

She batted her eyelashes. “No. I’m a law abiding citizen who would never use creepy old men to give me drinks while underage because America’s drinking laws are bullshit. I’m a hero and I would never break the law. Obviously.”

For some reason, he didn’t quite believe her.

Nonetheless, he just rolled his eyes and led her inside.

[avengerscompound]

Running to a Standstill - 9

Running to a Standstill: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers x F!Reader

Word Count:  1774

Rating:  E

Warnings: sex talk

Synopsis: While on the run from an unknown organization trying to take your son, you meet two super-soldiers.  While they try to help you get to the bottom of who is hunting you and your son, feelings come out and admissions are made that make your personal life even more tricky.

Chapter 9

When Steve left on a mission in the morning without coming to talk to you, the choice he had made seemed obvious to you.  He’d been in love with Bucky since he was a teenager.  He used Bucky as a baseline to judge every single person he was interested in.  Yes, the two of you had been growing something, and you were most definitely falling in love with him.  That wasn’t enough.  He had chosen Bucky.  It was obvious when you’d left them alone to talk.  Steve being gone in the morning was just confirmation of what had been obvious.

That didn’t make it hurt any less.  You had been falling in love with Steve.  The two of you had started talking about future plans.  What would happen after they got to the bottom of everything.  What you both really wanted with your lives.

Maybe it was meant to be?  At least that was what you were telling yourself as you moved your things back out of Steve’s room.  You’d been having feelings for Bucky too, and really if you were supposed to be falling in love with one guy, maybe it wasn’t totally real if you were also crushing on his best friend too.  You had to put it all aside.  This was just a false start at your first try at dating again after the death of your husband.  It was bound to happen.

You didn’t have time to cry.  If you broke down in front of Geo it would upset him and he needed you to be strong because your strength was the only stability he had.  You liked living with Steve.  You liked how you’d made a little family unit start to happen, and you definitely didn’t want to let it go.  There was always the possibility of trying to keep it.  You could stay in Steve’s spare room with Geo.  He’d offered it to you even before you were technically a couple.  He was a good man, it could work at least for a little while.  It would hurt seeing them move on together while you were just hanging onto scraps of affection.  And worse, eventually, you would have to leave and the longer you waited, the stronger the bonds Geo got, and the worse it would hurt him when he lost them.

You needed to move on now.  You’d wait until Steve got home, have the talk, and work out how you could move out.

The front door opened and closed, and you had a moment of panic.  There was no way Steve could be back already.  Your mind immediately went to someone coming to take Geo and you rushed out into the living room, to see Bucky and Geo rushing to him.

“Hey, bud,” Bucky said, picking Geo up.

“Hey, Buck,” you said.  “Steve’s not here.  He left first thing.”

“Yeah, I know,” Bucky said.  “Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy, but he has been pulling the ‘run headlong into danger rather than be emotionally weak’ shit since the day we met.  It’s gettin’ old.”

You snorted and shook your head. “Can I ask… how did the talk with him go last night?”

Bucky carried Geo into the kitchen.  He took a Yoo-Hoo out and gave it to Geo.  “You want a beer?”  He asked.

You sighed and collapsed onto the couch.  “You got anything harder?”

Bucky laughed and grabbed you both a beer and came and sat on the couch beside you, putting Geo on the ground, where he sat happily drinking his chocolate milk.  You took the beer and drained half of it in one go.

“Hey relax,” Bucky said, putting his arm around you.  “You asked me about it.”

“I know.  And the longer you don’t answer the worse my head gets, which is stupid because you guys have known each other since you were children and you deserve a happy ending,” you explained.  “But it still hurts.”

Bucky nodded and rubbed your arm.  “We talked about how long we both felt like that.  How dumb we were.  Then I went to kiss him and he said he was in love with you and he needed time.”

You blinked up at him, your insides frozen.  You had so expected him to tell you how they had admitted to each other how they’d been in love this whole time and to have been relieved they finally both knew.  You’d expected that they’d have kissed and he’d tell Bucky that he’d tell you it was over.  You hadn’t expected this at all.  “Oh.”

“Yeah,” he said.  “So he wasn’t just running away from dumping you.  I don’t even know what he wants.”

“I’m sorry, Bucky,” you said, wrapping your arms around his neck.  “You deserve better.”

He pressed his cheek against yours as his arms closed around you and took a deep breath.  “Yeah.  So do you.  You deserve a happy ending too, you know?  You’ve been through enough.”

You pulled back just a little.  Just enough to look up into his stormy blue eyes.  He returned your gaze and for a moment you forgot everything except how hurt you felt and how good Bucky was at alleviating that.  Your eyes flicked to his lips, watching as they parted ever so slightly.  He leaned in just a little and as you imagined what it would be like actually kissing him, everything came crashing home all at once.  You pulled back and shook your head, placing your hand on his chest.  “Sorry.”

Bucky shook his head too and ran his hand through his hair.  “No.  Right.  I’m sorry.  That was…”

“Yeah,” you agreed as you both moved to opposite ends of the couch.  “This is all such a mess.  Everything.  I am starting to wish you’d both never met me.”

Bucky nodded and went to stand and you realized how hurtful what you just said must have sounded.  You grabbed his metal hand and tugged it, coaxing him back into the seat. “Sorry.  I didn’t mean that how it sounded,” you said.  “I am glad I met you both.  But I’ve fucked up your lives.  And whoever it is hunting me found us.  If I hadn’t met you, we’d still be on the run, but at least I’d have that routine.  You guys wouldn’t have been dragged into my shit.  I wouldn’t be fucking up whatever you have with each other.”

“Don’t,” Bucky said softly.  “It’s not your fault and if it wasn’t for you, neither of us would have ever found out about each other.  We’ll figure this out.”

You sighed and sunk back into the couch.  It was nice to hear but you still couldn’t shake that feeling that it had you never met Bucky and Steve things wouldn’t be such a complete disaster right now.  Geo put his now empty bottle on the ground and climbed up on the couch between the two of you.

“Bug-key,” he said, patting Bucky’s metal arm.  “You wanna pway?”

“Okay, kiddo,” Bucky said.  “You get the tablet.”

Geo climbed back down and toddled away to find the tablet Tony had given him.

“I do like you, Bucky,” you said.

Bucky looked over at you with his brow furrowed.  “Why?”

You reached over and took his hand.  “I don’t know what they did to you to make you doubt yourself the way you do,” you said.  “But all I have seen is a guy who is sweet and gentle and with a killer sense of humor and who is a fantastic cook.”

“You just want me to make dinner,” Bucky said, picking up Geo when he returned.  “I’m on to you.”

You laughed and Bucky and Geo started playing with a game on the tablet.  You got up and went to the kitchen, Bucky’s little mention of dinner making you realize someone should get started on it.

“What is with two people saying they like me and then flinching when I try to kiss them?”  Bucky called out to you.  “That’s not great for the ego.”

“I gib you a kiss,” Geo said, standing up and kissing the ex-assassin on the cheek.

You and Bucky started laughing and Bucky cuddled the little boy.  “Thank you, buddy.  That makes me feel very special.”

“It’s a pity we can’t just all be together,” Bucky called out to you.  “Would save some heartbreak.”

“Yeah, right,” you chuckled, as you put a pot of water on to boil.  As you were cutting vegetables you started to wonder why you couldn’t all just be together.  Natasha and Clint were a couple but they saw other people.  They were one of the happiest couples you knew.  Why couldn’t you do that too?  If the three of all loved each other, then why couldn’t you just all be together.  Maybe it might be a little strange to begin with, and maybe they had a connection that you didn’t, but you had your own thing with each of them too, and going from friends to lovers was hard.  So regardless of what happened now, there would be hurdles to cross, you might as well try to make the most people happy while you were all crossing them.

You put down your knife and went back over to the couch, perching on the side of the chair.  Bucky looked up from the game and tilted his head.  “You get sick of cooking already?”

You shook your head.  “Why can’t we?”

Bucky blinked at you, not quite being able to keep up with where your head was right now. “Why can’t we, what?”

“Why can’t we all be together?”

Bucky stared at you and Geo began to tug on his hand trying to get Bucky to pay attention to him again.  “Bug-key…” hey whined.

“Hang on, bud,” Bucky said, pressing his chin on the top of Geo’s head and looking at you.  “I … don’t … know…” he said.  “Can we?”

“I mean… we couldn’t get married, but… yes? If we all agreed,” you replied, putting your hand on his.  “We could.”

“We should… we need to talk to Steve,” Bucky said, slowly.

“Yeah, we should,” you agreed.

“We could actually do this,” Bucky said looking at you.  “And I kinda want to kiss you right now.”

You smiled and pressed your forehead against his.  “Gotta talk to Steve.”

He grinned and pulled back.  You went to say something but realized you didn’t really know what.  So instead you ruffled Geo’s hair and let Bucky go back to playing with him, returning to the kitchen.  You couldn’t remember the last time you felt this nervous and excited.

// NEXT

[tigerkirby215]

5e Rell, the Iron Maiden build (League of Legends)

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

I SHOULD BE MAKING AKALI RIGHT NOW :))))))

I did a coinflip with Rell: it was either her or Akali and she ended up winning. I’m honestly super hyped for Rell which is odd because I don’t really play tank supports. I find Leona and Nautilus boring as sin, though I do enjoy Galio and Maokai on occasion. I guess I’ve just been playing in top lane a lot more and I want a big bulky tank who I can dive into teamfights with as a support.

Also the memes for this champ are freaking golden.

But Rell presents a very unique kit that has a lot of potential in D&D. Basically I get to make a character other than Nunu & Willump who rides a mount and I get to stick everything I can remotely justify as being Ferromancy onto this character.

GOALS

Run ‘em all down - Rell is the third champ to have a mount. Aren’t horses just the best?

We fight together - Your outside may be cold but connecting to people is how you move on from trauma... or use that trauma for a massive stun in a teamfight.

I’ll bust you down to scrap! - Rell’s quirk is Ferromancy, the magic of manipulating metal, most specifically through magnetism. Fucking magnets; how do they work?

RACE

Rell is a human... but we can’t always go for Variant Human, so let’s spice it up a bit! She may not have divine blood but I’m sure someone at the academy had healing magic. So since she’s a support with eyes aglow with energy why not go for an Aasimar? More specifically a Scourge Aasimar. Your Charisma increases by 2 and your Constitution increases by 1.

Your glyphs give you a big mix of magic from your friends back at the academy: Darkvision for darkvision, Celestial Resistance for resistance to necrotic and radiant damage, Light Bearer for the Light cantrip, and Healing Hands for a bit of healing magic. Your Scourge subrace also gives you Radiant Consumption at level 3, which I’ll cover when you get there.

If you’re set on playing a human: A Variant Human (+1 CON, +1 STR) with either the Mounted Combatant feat or Heavy Armor Master feat would make sense. There are other feats to consider but these would be the most in-character for Rell.

ABILITITY SCORES

15; STRENGTH - Iron stands eternal, and iron is heavy.

14; CHARISMA - You may be a grouchy teenager, and you may also be incredibly awkward when hitting on people, but Charisma is considered as “inner strength” in 5e. You’ve certainly got plenty of that!

13; CONSTITUTION - You are a tank after all, and with the +1 from our race that equals a 14 for a nice boost to HP.

12; DEXTERITY - As heavy as iron is you were trained for peak physical condition. DEX is tied to many things, notably Initiative which is very important for a frontliner.

10; INTELLIGENCE - You went to an academy, but it was a Noxian war academy. Still it’s possible that you got some history lessons.

8; WISDOM - You’re a hothead in both the metaphorical and literal sense. You think asking questions is on the mind of a teenager who’s angry with the world?

BACKGROUND

There’s a lot of backgrounds that would fit Rell, though unfortunately nothing edgy enough like “Test Subject Turned Human Superweapon.” But considering your lifestyle of roaming the Noxian countryside Outlander is probably pretty accurate. You get proficiency in Athletics and Survival and while you’d normally get a Musical Instrument I’d actually suggest you grab Smith’s Tools instead because... yeah duh. You can also learn a Language of your choice so pick whatever you think would constitute Noxian.

Your Wanderer background feature will make sure you survive and thrive on the Noxian countryside. You always remember the general layout of the land, and you can find food and fresh water for yourself and up to five other people each day. And you can even rip some iron out of the earth to make them bowls and cups to eat and drink with!

(Concept art by Riot Games)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - PALADIN 1

Starting off as a Paladin because even if proficiency in Wisdom saves is weird we need the Heavy Armor proficiency because... yeah duh. Speaking of proficiencies take Intimidation because you’re a murder-hungry metalmancer, and I dunno Medicine would make sense since you’re a support and all.

You also get Divine Sense, as the magic in your veins helps you detect celestials, fiends, or undead. And because you’re a support you can use Shattering Strike to heal thanks to Lay on Hands. I could explain both these abilities in detail, but I’m also an angry teenager who’s sick of explaining abilities with insanely long descriptions that you can read for yourself.

LEVEL 2 - PALADIN 2

Second level Paladins get their Fighting Style, and of course for a tank support Defense would be best for more AC. You also get some Ferromancy Spellcasting. (Well technically Divine spellcasting but don’t tell anyone that.) You can prepare a number of Paladin spells equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level:

To sharpen your lace (or more realistically pike) a little more Divine Favor will make every blow hurt just a little bit more.

Heroism will help in times of strife to let your anger take over any fear.

To manipulate armor to block some more blows Shield of Faith will increase the target’s AC for a time.

To stun with Attract and Repel Thunderous Smite will do damage and knock enemies prone, making them easier to hit and forcing them to spend time getting up.

But of course you can just as easily ignore all of that in favor of Divine Smite, channeling all your magic and hatred into a burst of Radiant damage on your weapon attacks. Particularly effective against undead!

On Rell’s weapon: I’d suggest a Pike over a Lance because a d12 isn’t worth Disadvantage in melee range, even if you will eventually be performing mounted combat. Feel free to have a lance as backup for when you do start riding a horse.

LEVEL 3 - PALADIN 3

At third level you can choose your Sacred Oath, and I know how much you hate Noxus but Oath of the Crown actually has some pretty good abilities for our purposes. Yup of all the champions to break out the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide for it’s Rell.

You get two Channel Divinity options: Champion Challenge makes enemies unable to move more than 30 feet away from you for a Magnetic Overload, and Turn the Tide will heal everyone of your choice for a d6 plus your Charisma (if they’re below half health) for some Redemption saves.

But both of these Channel Divinities are admittedly situational, so if your DM allows Tasha’s rulings then Harness Divine Power will also let you recover a first level spell slot. Speaking of spells as a Crown Paladin you get Command to twist your enemy’s armor to your whim, and Compelled Duel for a single-target Concentration version of Champion Challenge.

And as a Scourge Aasimar you get now get Radiant Consumption. As an action you can unleash the magic within you, glowing violently and doing Radiant damage equal to half your level to everyone around you. Additionally, once on each of your turns you can deal extra radiant damage when you damage an enemy with an attack or a spell. The extra radiant damage equals your level. You can only go all out just once per long rest, so if your ever wonder why anime protagonists keep their ultimate attack until the end of the fight: it burns you so much you can only use it once.

LEVEL 4 - PALADIN 4

4th level means another Ability Score Improvement but instead we’re going to be taking a Feat. You’re probably thinking we’re going for Mounted Combatant, right?

WRONG! We’re taking Heavy Armor Master, because you can literally control your armor to make it stronger! Your Strength increases by 1 and any damage you take from non-magic weapons is reduced by 3!

You can also prepare another spell, but we’ll wait for...

(Concept art by Riot Games)

LEVEL 5 - PALADIN 5

5th level time for Extra Attack. Two attacks in a turn to pretend you’re the ADC!

Also time for HONSE! Find Steed lets you summon a Warhorse, and others but a Warhorse is probably the most accurate representation of your mount. The steed is considered a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice), and its intelligence is set to 6. It can also understand one language you can speak, which is good because you can speak to it telepathically.

You can make any spell that only targets you also target your steed, and when it drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. You can dismiss your steed at any time as an action, causing it to disappear. In either case, casting this spell again summons the same steed, restored to its hit point maximum.

And thanks to your subclass you also learn Warding Bond to bond with an ally, and Zone of Truth to get the Black Rose to admit to what they did. Technically speaking you can’t put a ring on your horse, but as a DM I’d probably allow you to make a 50 gp platinum horse shoe to give the honse a Warding Bond.

LEVEL 6 - PALADIN 6

6th level Paladins get Aura of Protection. You and everyone within 10 feet of you gets a bonus to saving throws equal to your Charisma modifier, because iron stands eternal and so does teenage angst.

You can also prepare another spell like Aid to steel your party’s resolve for any danger. Metal pun unintended.

LEVEL 7 - PALADIN 7

Here’s why we aren’t taking Mounted Combatant. 7th level Crown Paladins get Divine Allegiance, allowing you to use your reaction to take damage for a creature within 5 feet of you. They take no damage, but the damage you take can’t be reduced or prevented in any way.

Sure a 5 foot aura is just objectively worse than the Redemption Paladin’s 10 foot Aura of the Guardian that does literally the exact same thing (pro tip: ask your DM to just increase the range of the aura), but you know what’s always within 5 feet of you? Your horse. So feel free to take hits for your trusty mount. And if an ally is nearby you should probably tank for them too.

LEVEL 8 - PALADIN 8

8th level means an Ability Score Improvement. We’re still riding around in big bulky armor so more Strength to carry that armor would be nice.

You can also prepare another spell like Lesser Restoration for some Tenacity.

(Concept art by Riot Games)

LEVEL 9 - BARD 1

How’s this for a surprise? Multiclassing into Bard gives you proficiency in one skill, and one musical instrument. Take Animal Handling because you literally summon a horse for yourself, and a Noxian War Drum.

Bards get Bardic Inspiration: d6s equal to your Charisma modifier to help support your allies. They can add the d6 to an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw they make. Buff up their armor, or weaken the enemy’s armor!

But of course as a Bard you get more Spellcasting! Check page whatever-it-is for how multiclassing works. You get two cantrips from the Bard list: Mage Hand will let you magnetize an object closer to you, and Vicious Mockery will let you yell angrily at the enemy not to hurt your friends.

You can also learn 4 spells from the Bard list: you are a support so you can take Cure Wounds for some Summoner: Heal. Disguise Self will help you if Noxian police are looking for you. And both Earth Tremor and Thunderwave will help you manipulate the metal beneath your enemies’ feet and sunder the ground beneath them.

LEVEL 10 - BARD 2

You have a little bit of everything in your glyphs which means Jack of All Trades will always be able to help you. You can also recuperate after a long night on the Noxian countryside thanks to Song of Rest.

You can also learn another spell but we will wait for...

LEVEL 11 - BARD 3

Third level Bards can choose their Bardic College and you did go to the academy to become a weapon after all. College of Valor Bards are instruments of war with Combat Inspiration, letting allies use their Bardic Inspiration to hurt more with their swords or defend themselves better with their armor. “Fight like you mean it. Die for something that matters!” You do also get some skill proficiencies but... you already had them.

You do get Expertise in two skills however! Intimidation comes naturally to a living weapon, and even though it’s technically not a living animal in LoL you still need Animal Handling for your mount from Find Steed.

And finally you can learn spells. If you want the honest truth the only reason we took Bard levels is for Heat Metal, the obligatory Ferromancy spell. But you can also grab Hold Person to lock a foe’s armor in place.

LEVEL 12 - BARD 4

4th level means an Ability Score Improvement, and since we’re now investing in the spellcasting side of things I’d recommend some Charisma to make that better. Remember that more Charisma does mean more Paladin spells, so be sure to hop back there to prepare more.

Because I’m not going to tell you what to prepare, as we need to concentrate on your new cantrip! You are the ferromancer, so Mending is kinda obligatory. You can also learn another spell but again we shall wait for...

LEVEL 13 - BARD 5

5th level Bards get Font of Inspiration, letting their Bardic Inspiration come back on a Short Rest. Which is good, because your Bardic Inspiration increases to a d8!

You can also learn third level spells now which means we can finally take Mass Healing Word to further our support role, and Hypnotic Pattern for a massive team-wide stun.

(Artwork by @Cookie3v3 on Twitter)

LEVEL 14 - SORCERER 1

You were born with magic after all, so I’d have to go into Sorcerer at some point. It’s just that the other levels were more important, and this kinda ends up being more for flavor than anything. Regardless you get your subclass at level 1 as a Sorcerer and hey I actually get to use the Clockwork Soul for a Ferromancer. You can Restore Balance at level 1, denying Advantage or Disadvantage and turn it into a straight roll.

Oh and hey: more Spellcasting! But this time with a side of Clockwork Magic for Abjuration or Transmutation spells. Since both the spells you’d normally get a little iffy I’d suggest replacing them with both Absorb Elements and Shield for some Magic Resistance and Armor.

You also get four cantrips and two leveled spells. Fire Bolt lets you fling a piece of molten metal at the enemy, because you may as well have a ranged weapon. For some basic metal sundering from the ground Mold Earth will let you manipulate small pockets of iron in the soil. Message will let you coordinate with your teammates without yelling everything in /all. And because you’ve got a ridiculous amount of cantrips you may as well grab Prestidigitation for basic magic manipulation.

For your leveled spells Magic Missile will let you fling metal with the utmost precision, and Burning Hands for burning metal addressed to “whom it may concern.”

LEVEL 15 - SORCERER 2

Second level Sorcerers get a Font of Magic. You get 2 Sorcery Points that can be converted into spell slots... for now. So basically you get another first level spell slot!

LEVEL 16 - SORCERER 3

3rd level Sorcerers get their Metamagic. These are features that use your Sorcery points to augment your spells: to make sure that no one lives to hide the tale of the academy Heightened Spell will give an enemy disadvantage on their first saving throw against one of your spells. Alternatively if you want to both stab and smash Quickened Spell will let you cast a spell as a Bonus Action, to really maximize your APM.

You also get more Clockwork Magic, but since you already have both Aid and Lesser Restoration I’d instead suggest taking Levitate for some reverse-magnetism, and a little spell from Elemental Evil called Maximilian’s Earthen Grasp.

If your opponent doesn’t know how magnets work then Blur can really mess with their ability to hit you. And you know I haven’t taken Flash yet so... Misty Step!

LEVEL 17 - SORCERER 4

Fourth level Sorcerers get an Ability Score Improvement and well we did invest in 3 different spellcasters, so increasing that spellcasting with more Charisma would probably be smart. Remember that more Charisma means more Paladin spells! As well as a stronger Paladin aura and more Bardic Inspiration.

You also get another spell known and honestly there are a lot of great ones at second level of Sorcerer but Shatter is the best for ripping through metal. You also get another cantrip because I guess Sorcerers don’t have enough cantrips: if you get surrounded you can sunder the ground as if swords were bursting around you... in a Sword Burst... yeah...

(Artwork made for Riot Games)

LEVEL 18 - SORCERER 5

5th level Sorcerers get third level spells and I’d hate to admit it but both Dispel Magic and Protection from Energy from Clockwork Magic do make sense for Rell.

But you know what we don’t have enough of? Ground-based attacks. So take Erupting Earth, because your magic is Ferromancy. Not Fireballs or Haste, both of which would probably honestly be stronger. Honestly feel free to drop some of your early Sorcerer spells, because you’ve got more than enough spell slots for the big stuff.

LEVEL 19 - SORCERER 6

6th level Clockwork Soul Sorcerers get the feature we kinda went into this subclass for: Bastion of Law. As an action, you can spend 1 to 5 sorcery points to create a magical ward around yourself or another creature within 30 feet.

The warded creature gets a number of d8s equal to the number of sorcery points spent to create it. When the warded creature takes damage, it can expend any number of those dice to roll them and reduce the damage taken by the total rolled on those dice. This is going to be one of your main supportive features... atop of all your other “main supportive features.”

Oh and you’d get more spells but I kinda want...

LEVEL 20 - SORCERER 7

7th level Sorcerers can learn 4th spells like Sickening Radiance for some good old-fashioned war crimes, and Fire Shield which was added to the Sorcerer spell list thanks to Tasha’s! Clockwork Magic also lets you weaponize your horse with Summon Construct, but I’d suggest grabbing Banishment as your other spell to lock the weak away like they did to the Null.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Fighting together? Guess it's not too bad - You’ve got plenty of good assists. Bardic Inspiration and Bastion of Law shields, and a big pile of spells to help the team.

Nothing gets in; no one gets out - Turns out that manipulating metal means very little can get at you. Strong AC, very good range with Reach to play keep-away in melee and a horse to run around, and of course Aura of Protection to turn your weakest save into a +5! And decent HP to boot!

This is who I am now - It wasn’t my intention when making the character but... turns out Jack of All Trades does in fact make you a jack of all trades. Decent skill checks all around and a crazy good Intimidation check means that while you maybe won’t be the first choice you’ll always be up for the task.

CONS

“Excellence is measured in sacrifice”... or whatever - Three way multiclassing gives you a lot, but not a whole lot of it. Your spell slots go all the way up to 8th level but your best spells max out at 4th level. Smites exist and you can always melt down your spell slots, but perhaps it would’ve been smarter to lessen the number of classes and get more value out of what you have.

That's... that's cool... I'm cool... - Ever heard of the concept known as “choice paralysis?” With so many spells to choose on top of subclass features that take your actions it can be hard to pick what’s right in every scenario. Woes of playing support, where you need to think of everything at once. Can’t just run in and stab.

The helpless fight; the hardened live - Jack of All Trades is good for skill checks... not for combat. You can fight, heal, and sling spells decently but don’t really stand out in any particular area. You’ve got a hundred different tools to deal with the rabble but when your friends go All Out you’ll likely be stuck getting assists.

But you’ve got all a girl could ever ask for: a cute pony and enough armor to survive a ballistic missile. You were built to be a weapon and a damn good weapon you are: as sharp as you are sturdy, and as versatile as you are resourceful. Who cares if you’re a little rough around the edges? You’re sixteen! You’ve got your whole life ahead of you! Minus the lingering trauma of being tortured by your own mother... Eh. Who doesn’t have a tragic backstory nowadays?

(Artwork by @dreadstardraws on Twitter.)

[weasleywinchester]

Not A Shrine

Eyyy Ohh! First fic for Mr. Marcus Magnet Hands Moreno! I’m excited to jump into this universe because there are just so many ways to go! This fic is mainly banter between (Y/N) and Miracle Guy (Whom I’ve decided to name Murphy Jones). Hope You enjoy! Also this is probably my last fic for the next week as I will be out of state for my birthday!!

Miracle Guy x Reader (New Friends)

Marcus Moreno x Reader (Romantic)

Summary:

You’re a huge fan of Marcus Moreno: leader of the Heroics, sword fighting, ass kicking extraordinaire. You got to see him once after he and Miracle Guy completed a tough mission, capturing your favorite moment between the two. But that was a long time ago when you were just an intern, now you’re part of the team that helps Heroics transition from the spotlight to civilian life. Miracle Guy happens to be on your list, and when your work partner points out your collection of Marcus photos and memorabilia to him, he’s dead set on embarrassing you just a little.

P.S. I think this might will get a part 2, because there’s just not enough Marcus tbh 💙

 “Shannon, I bought coffee, lord knows we’re going to need it.” You set her coffee on the desk, sitting across from her. She squeals in delight, taking a big gulp. She’s not going to tell you she’s already had a red bull, because coffee is just so good. She claps her hands together and takes a deep breath, practically vibrating.

“WOO! Well I’m going over the roster of Heroics, and it looks like a lot of them are ready to start planning, but most are not ready to actually retire.” She hands you a print out of the current full time Heroics. You scan the list, which she has already split between you and her, when you see-

“Miracle Guy?” you sigh, squeezing your eyes shut.

“I knnnoooow. I tried already to bring up the planning phase and he’s not budging. I thought you could take a crack at it?” She begs.

“Fine. On one condition.” 

“I already assigned Marcus to you.” She shrugs playfully. Marcus… assigned… to...you? Your mouth goes dry as you gape like a fish.

“(Y/N)... You can do this!” Shannon pounds the table. You’ve had a crush on him longer then Shannon has known you. And he’s been single for a long time, you’ve been single for a long time, you’re both amazing, you just need a nudge.

“The job ya, but… how am I supposed to focus if he’s so close.”

“You don’t have to be nervous, I promise to be nice.”

You turn to see the one and only Miracle Guy himself, one Murphy Jones. He’s got his signature smirk on his face, but otherwise he’s out of costume for once.

“Miracle Guy! What a surprise.” Shannon bubbles, shuffling some papers away.

“Shannon, lovely as always. Ms. (Y/L/N), I’m ready to talk retirement.” He gestures widely with his arms, as if he’s Jesus. You roll your eyes and lead him back to your office, gesturing for him to take a seat as you organize your desk.

“Ok so what exactly did you want to start talking about?” You turn to him, notebook at the ready.

“That I’m not ready to retire, and never will be.” He smiles like he just told you you won the lottery.

“Murphy, Wheels is ready to start taking over the family business. Which means you need to get ready to let go.” You laugh. 

His smile falters a little. Being a Heroic, and in front of the camera, is what he’s always wanted to do. He’s done a lot of amazing work that he’s immensely proud of. And the people of the world love him, he can’t abandon his fans. Although it would be nice to have time to teach Wheels new things, and actually do stuff with his wife.

“This is what I know how to do.” He states, looking at the floor.

“Yes, but now we can move those skills into other areas. Take Marcus for example.” You ignore the eye roll from him, “He’s technically retired from the Heroics central team. But he still works here, using his skills to help the team in the field. Teach, train, and coach from a distance.”

“Well, hooray for him.” 

“Murphy, You can’t physically fight monsters forever. Unless you want Wheels to have one parent. Why don’t we explore options. Marcus chose to observe from the main office, to use his highly trained mind to anticipate and analyze attacks. We could do the same for you.” 

“I don’t do behind the scenes.” He growls. This face? Meant to be in front of a camera, meant to be saving the world crowds at a time.

You hold your hands up in mock surrender.

“Hear me out. Maybe we can have you as a spokesperson. You love doing all the ribbon cuttings, first pitches at baseball games, kissing babies and hugging old people. Work with the image side of the Heroics, the press. You’re a fan favorite! That’s not going to stop anytime soon, and an easy way to do the parts of the job you love, and to lower the chance of immediate death.”

You take a sip of your coffee as you watch him. He’s twiddling his thumbs, trying to nitpick your proposal apart. What he doesn’t know is you’ve been researching possible jobs for him ever since he stormed out of Shannon’s office a month ago. You had talked to the press team, the board and Ms. Granada; everyone thought it was brilliant. 

“Hypothetically, if I agree to this plan, when does it start?”

“It’s just planning for a while. We have to go through everything with a fine tooth comb. There’s no shortcuts, once we establish a plan you are 100 % satisfied with, then the actual transition will start. But since the new generation are still very young, it’ll be a while.” You smile, trying not to look like you won the war.

_______

It’s been about two months since Murphy agreed to your retirement plan. And he’s been in your office at least twice a week, which makes you think he’s just coming to annoy you. Both you and Shannon have a bigger case load than normal, most of the new generation is the same age, so quite a few of the current team are ready to let them take the reins. You’re in the middle of Shark Boy and Lava Girl’s files when Murphy knocks on the door. You open your mouth to tell him to come in but he’s already plopped into the chair across from you.

“Moreno said he’s doing all of his planning via email.” Murphy states, slightly annoyed.

“Well good afternoon to you too.” You raise your eyebrow at him.

“I never got that option.”

“Like you would give up the opportunity to harass me in person.” You laugh, turning back to your paperwork. He frowns at you as your reach to grab something from your bookshelf. He wouldn’t say harass… more like friendly banter. That’s what you two were by now right? Friends?

“Well you’re never going to get him to notice you if you don’t actually meet in person.” He smirks, that should get your full attention.

You read the same line about Shark Boy’s request to be able to swim at the aquarium three times before your brain processes what Murphy just said. 

“What.” You blink, slowly looking up at him.

“You, Moreno, meet.” He claps his hands together, a cheshire grin spreading across his face.

“You talked to Shannon.” You grit your teeth. 

“That, and when she mentioned your shrine...”

“It’s not a shrine.” You clench your jaw. You want to punch Miracle Guy in his miracle face, but it would only hurt you and make him laugh.

“You have a collection of photos, limited edition merch and even a few newspaper clippings about the guy. It’s a shrine.”

“Not a shrine!”

“Anyways, I noticed you didn’t have anything signed by him. So, get him in your office!” Murphy throws his hands in the air, exasperated. You mentioned Marcus constantly, and Murphy can’t stand the guy on a good day. But oh man when the shire was mentioned, that meant he could tease the heck out of you.

“I’m going to kill both of you.” You put your head in your hands, taking a deep breath. You can’t hurt him, it’ll only end badly for you.

“Well that’s a bit harsh. I thought I was an excellent retired Heroic.”

You can hear the smile, but it’s not Murphy talking. You peak from behind your fingers to see Marcus Moreno standing in your doorway. You shift your eyes to Murphy, his stupid smirk on his stupid face.

“Mr. Moreno, I didn’t realize you were coming by.” You smile, sitting up straight. You hope he can’t hear how fast your heart is beating.

“Since when do you call him mister? How come you don’t call me mister?” Murphy says, feigning outrage. He can see the steam shooting out of your ears. Perfect, his suspicions that you had a Class A crush were correct.

“Mr. Jones, our meeting is over.” You answer. He grumbles while he stands; as he passes Marcus  you swear you hear him say, she’s a very big fan.

“Mr. Moreno-”

“Marcus, please.” He smiles, sitting in the chair Murphy just vacated. God, his smile… you could stare at him all day.

“Ok. Marcus, what can I help you with today?” You bring out his file, everything neatly organized and prepared. Unlike all the other files you’re working through, which have sticky notes and scraps of paper that you scrawled on sticking out from every angle.

“I just wanted to make sure everything was still going ok; since I was switched from Shannon’s roster to yours.” Not that he minded. Shannon is great, but something about the way you talk to him over email and the phone is... different. He always wants to keep talking to you, but he’s not sure how to jump from retirement talk to more personal stuff. And then Murphy showed him a super cute picture of you and he felt things he hasn’t felt in a long time.

“Oh, uh, ya everything is still on track. Shannon just had some… other cases that became more complex than we originally thought. Plus she’s making me deal with Miracle Guy, so my reward is you.” And you immediately regret the last part. Oh god, now he thinks you’re weird.

“I mean... your plan is pretty much done, so simple case.”

“Good. I guess it helps to get a head start.” He laughs. 

“That it does. I’m also handling Missy’s transition into fill time Heroic, which is also very much on track. Father like daughter.”

He smiles, a far away look in his eyes. He's so proud of her. She’s strong, brave and every bit just like her mother, and him. He’s glad you're helping her, you’ve already helped him so much.

“I’m glad to hear that. Well, I don’t have anything new to add, so...” He stands from his seat, as do you. He wishes he would have stayed seated, asked you about your day or if you wanted to take a walk with him. 

“Uh ya, I’ll let you know if there’s any changes or if I have questions...” You look just past his arm to see both Murphy and Shannon waving their arms like idiots. Shannon is gesturing writing on a piece of paper, and then pointing at Marcus. Murphy is mouthing ‘ask for his number’ while folding his hand into a telephone shape and holding it to his ear. 

“Is there something on my arm?” Marcus looks down, moving his gaze to try and look behind. You quickly grab his bicep, which is very firm, and you both freeze.

“No, just looked like there was a hair, but I don’t think it’s there anymore.” You stammer. He gives you a look, and you realize your hand is still touching him; you quickly let go and gesture to the door. When his back is turned you swat your hand at your friends, telling them to go away.

“I’ll tell Missy you said hello?” He smiles at you.

“Ya, that would be great.” You smile back. He waves and walks down the hall to the elevator. You let out a long breath, going back into your office and collapsing into your chair. “Did you have him sign anything?!” Shannon squeals as Murphy asks “Did you ask for his number?” 

“You two need to stop.” You mumble, rubbing your eyes.

“You literally had him in the palm of your hand.” Murphy snickers as Shannon nods furiously.

“Look, I’m his retirement planner. And he’s probably not looking to date anyone. I’m here to do my job, as a retirement planner.” You shake your head at them both.

They share a look and Shannon goes back to her office. Murphy stays seated, watching you put your belongings in your purse. He was so sure you two would get talking, you drool over Marcus all the time and Marcus actually mentions you a lot. You tend to be the center of conversation between them, which oddly enough has reduced the friction.

You stand, opening the door and gesturing from him to get out. He gets up, silently walking with you until you get to your car.

“I think you two would be good together.” Murphy says to the floor.

You’re not sure what to say. You always thought so, but you also think you’d make a good match with that one guy from Game of Thrones. Also, since when did the great Miracle Guy care about your love life and Marcus Moreno’s?

“That’s really nice of you to think that Murph. But just because I’m ready, doesn’t mean he is.” You give the man a big hug. You always knew there was a kind person under all the swagger; and you’re very happy he’s now a friend.

_______

Two Weeks Later

“Alright. Shark Boy and Lava Girl are about a quarter of the way through their plan. Which is major progress. You said Blinding Fast is still slow going, ha, but that-”

“OOHHH MY GOOODD” Shannon squeals.

“What?” You ask, your blood pressure skyrocketing.

“I am SO PROUD of yooouuu! You finally asked him!” She squeals, clapping her hands together.

“Asked who what?” You scream back. She gives you a look, gesturing to your wall of Marcus behind you. 

“See I told you it would be fine! He probably thinks you’re a bit fangirl-ish, but that’s fine, you are working with him now...” She continues to ramble as you turn around. You scan the wall, your eyes landing on your favorite photo of Marcus and Murphy. It now has the two very recognizable signatures.

“So congrats” she claps again.

“Oo, what are we congratulating (Y/N) on.” Murphy walks in, throwing a smirk at you.

“She finally asked Marcus to sign her favorite picture!” Shannon claps again, her glee very overwhelming at this point.

“I didn’t.” You look between her and Murphy. Shannon frowns, now just as confused as you.

“I did.” Murphy shrugs. Your jaw drops to the floor, you look over at Shannon to see her face mirrors yours.

“I didn’t hear about any fights amongst the Heroics.” You sass. Murphy mocks you in response.

“Well, I guess I should congratulate you then.” Shannon laughs.

“You should.” He winks at Shannon before turning to you, “ I don’t remember that picture being taken. It’s after the spiro monster attack according to our suits.”

“OMG! You never told him the backstory that you repeat all the time?” Shannon howls. You roll your eyes, glancing back at the picture.

“It was my first day as an intern here. I was an intern for the director’s assistant so after the spiro monster mission I was allowed to be in the debrief. You two had taken the mission together, fighting back to back; it was incredible. But you two had sat on the platform while the director was saying what a fine job you two did. I thought to myself fine? They did a kick ass job! Except I said it out loud instead of in my head.”

“I remember that actually.” Murray laughs. 

“The whole day was amazing, filled with moments like that. Back when the team acted like a team.” You smile at the signatures that now decorate the picture, reminding you that friends always have your back.

“How did you even get it out of my office?” You frown, spinning to look at your friends. Shannon immediately drops her gaze, mashing her lips together.

“I had no part, and the piles of paperwork are calling me.” She bows out of the room, leaving you and Murphy alone.

“It did leave its place in the shrine briefly… but I wasn’t sure you would want the original print signed on the front.”

“That’s why Wheels asked for the digital file.” You laugh, he said he needed it for a project the kids were putting together.

“Yes. So That is technically one of three prints.” He takes a folder out of his bag, opening it to reveal a second copy. “I was hoping the artist would sign this one.” He smiles. You grab a marker from your desk, and take the print. You hesitate, you’ve signed plenty of your own art, but Murphy went through the trouble of printing these, just so you could have a signed one. You smile and sign it in a flourish. 

“Will it hang in your house now?” You smirk.

“Actually, ya. And if Marcus is a smart man, it’ll hang in his too.”

“What?”

“I got three printed you dork, one for you, one for me and one for-”

“Marcus.” You smile and shake your head.

_______

Paperwork, it just never ends. You’re up to your eyeballs in it, and you’re not sure when, if, you’ll ever get out. You’re ready to shove all of it into the trash and set it on fire when a gentle knock pulls you out of the stress spiral.

“Hi.” Marcus gives you that super adorable smile.

“Hi.” You smile back.

“I was wondering if I could entice you to dinner.” He nods behind him. Your brain comes to a halt, did he just? He frowns a little when you don’t answer right away, making you realize the screaming yes over and over is only in your head.

“Yes, that would be great.” You laugh, his smile returning. You gently scoop everything back into the folders, and let him guide you to his car. 

________

“Welcome to… I would say the best restaurant around but that’s not true.” He laughs as you pull into his driveway.

“Missy?”

“Is at camp for the week.” He slides out of the drivers side and runs to open your door.

“So what brought this on?” You ask as you reach to take your stuff from him. He waves you off, gesturing for you to walk up the pathway.

“Just decided to branch out my circle of friends, retirement leaves a lot of free time.” He unlocks the door, shuffling you inside. It’s been cleaned, like deep cleaned. There’s not one hint that a tween girl lives here.

“I can see you’ve already utilized the time, pre retirement.” 

He shrugs in response, setting your things down and walking into the kitchen.

“Before you get to watch the master chef cook, I wanted to ask you something.” He leans on the counter across from where you sit. You nod for him to continue. “Will you tell me the story of this picture?” He brings out a folder identical to Murphy’s, opening it to reveal the picture. 

“Of course.”

“And will you sign it for me?” He holds out a marker to you. You take it and quickly sign the photo. He smiles and leans it against the fruit bowl, the two of you looking at it as you recount the story that goes with it. 

And of course you don’t notice, but he’s looking at you, not the picture. If it weren’t for Murphy, out of all people, he wouldn’t have given a thought about anything romantic with you. Granted he’s not sure how ready he is for something romantic. But Missy is gone for a whole week, plenty of time to figure out if his stomach fluttering every time you look his way or say his name is something that is more than a day dream.

[mcfanely]

Nightowls

With Chamille’s idea running none-stop through his head, Cole found himself more and more sold on the idea of donning a mask again, but for a completely different reason than being a ninja. Now, it all comes to whether Cole can make himself do something he hadn’t done seriously in years. 

Chapter 04 - I’m Thinking, 1886 words

As the night drew to a close, and the sun had already passed the horizon and was steadily rising into the sky, Cole still hadn't made his way back to the monastery. The night like always, had been hectic and fun. Chamille had grabbed onto the hood of his jacket a few times to try and drag him into the stage area, and Cole had successfully nearly choked himself by refusing to move anywhere that wasn't that little bit further away from the centre of the crowd. But he had been thinking. 

To say he was hung up on what Chamille had said was an overstatement, though he was giving the idea a bit of thought. That, just like when he was a Ninja running around in a mask all those many years back when their faces weren't on the front of newspapers and their names weren't attributed to being the saviours of the city multiple times over, having his identity under wraps had provided clear advantages. 

The main one, before he'd told his dad the truth, the secret identity had allowed him to keep up the lie that he was still attending Marty Oppenheimers' even when he'd run away, whilst actively being a ninja and helping people. It was nice because he could go from a Ninja that people could look up to, to a random guy on the street that no one batted an eyelid at. 

The fact that people knew who he was and what he did now? Cole didn't mind. He knew that he was good at what he did, he knew that now that people knew him, that they had a face to put the Elemental Master of Earth; he could stop feeling like he needed to keep that part of his life a secret and just live it up to the fullest. He was a Ninja, he was happy for people to know that. 

But the idea of wearing a mask, to put distance between himself as a person and something he was totally not thinking about doing, was a good idea. 

So much so that when it had passed six in the morning, Cole had successfully stayed awake for twenty-four hours, and he was still up and about a couple hours later. Why the single arts and crafts store in Ninjago City had later opening hours than every other store on the high street, he had no idea. Though it did give him time to up his coffee intake to a total of three cups from three different cafés, along with commandeering a public restroom to wash as much neon paint off his face and his clothes as he could in order to stop himself from looking like a walking advert for a traffic cone. All before the store opened.  

It came off his skin and out his hair easy enough, but his hoodie was definitely a lost cause. He'd have to have faith that a wash would fix it, but he didn't have high hopes. 

So with coffee in hand, and an extremely vibrant jacket tied around his waist, Cole was the first customer into the crafts store and he had some form of idea as to what he needed. Cardboard, a plastic mask base, some thicker and stronger elastic and an assortment of paints. Specifically, oranges, blacks and whites.

The more he looked around, the more that caught his eye and the more ideas he got about what he was going to do. So maybe he bought a few extra things, like some paint that apparently glowed in the dark? Or an assortment of his own neon paint since he had to make up for purposely spilling a load of it over Chamille somehow?

Cole left the store with a full bag slung over his shoulder and set off back to the monastery. Now all he had to do was come up with an excuse for why he was walking into the monastery nearing midday after he'd clearly been shopping, and why no one had seen him leave that morning - because he hadn't even been there. 

He had time, though. The trek up the stairs back to home was enough to think up a multitude of excuses, the only hindrance to his plan was the absolute mess that was his hoodie and jeans, decorated artfully with paint. 

The plan was to get to his room, change, then make an appearance. 

Only sometimes, as good as Cole was at strategic thinking and plans, there were always hiccups. That being on his way past the living room after sneaking past Kai massacring a training dummy in the courtyard, he hadn't taken into account that anyone would be sitting down and having a rest. The sound of the game console should have clued him in, but Cole had already stepped past the open doorway without much thought. 

"Cole, you're back!" came a loud voice, and internal cursing quickly followed. 

He situated himself with his head poking into the living room, his painted clothes carefully hidden behind the wall so they weren't on show. 

Sat on the couch, the light from the TV reflecting in their eyes and the music paused along with the game, was Lloyd and Jay. Jay beaming with a wide smile and a crooked eyebrow, he'd probably just beaten a particularly hard level. 

"Where were you?" Lloyd questioned after a moment, his tone far too measured and concerned for someone his age; and in the space of a second Cole realised that if they'd found out he wasn't there that morning, that they might have worried. 

He hadn't even thought of that. 

Cole let out a small breath and gave a smile, "Headed to the city pretty early on, walked there. I didn't mean to worry you guys or anything."

Jay interjected, "Worried, us? Nope, you just missed train-- oomf."

Lloyd's hand came to a stop over Jay's mouth, and the lightning ninja gained a glare that could strike fear into the lesser man, "When you didn't come out I tried your door, it was sorta open." He said, then winced a little, "I didn't go in or anything, but I could see you weren't in there."

The tone was careful and casual, and Cole almost felt bad that he was going to lie. Or at least, he wasn't going to be fully honest. Why lie if he didn't necessarily have to, anyway? "Sorry, kiddo. I should have told you what I was doing before I left."

Even though I've never even been here since last night. 

Cole held up his bag in one hand, as physical proof that he had been somewhere, and he had bought something, but that still didn't seem to sway the calculating expression on Lloyd's face. 

Though whatever tension there was, if any, was broken when Lloyd's face shifted into one of disgust and promptly pulled his hand away from a cackling Jay's mouth. 

"Ew, gross! You licked my hand?" He questioned, his voice moving up in pitch at the end. 

That just made Jay laugh harder. 

Cole took that moment as the excuse he needed to leave the situation. Only when he was half way to his room did Jay's head poke out the lounge. 

"You know you have paint in your hair?" He called, questioning. 

Cole's hand quickly went up to the back of his head, to be met with the coarse feeling of dried paint that was in fact there, and had been missed during his effort to clean it all off earlier that morning. He cringed, but shot Jay a slight smile, "Got pranked by some kids walking back. I thought they'd missed." Cole grinned, then shrugged. "I'll be in my room, showering."

"Dude, too much info!" 

"Wait until you realise what I do with my clothes when I shower." 

Then it was Lloyd's turn to give a holler of disgust. 

Cole laughed at their revulsion, and slipped into his room without much fanfare. 

Twenty minutes later, and a fresh change of clothes, he was sitting in the center of his room with a towel wrapped around his damp hair and his morning purchases neatly arranged on the floor in front of him. 

He knew what he wanted to do, he already had a rough design sketched out on a rogue piece of paper; his pencil was held between his teeth and he was staring at the paints. 

The dawning realisation of what he was planning to do finally hit home. It wasn't as if he'd told anyone about his idea, it was currently just himself and his thoughts, and Cole was already second guessing himself. 

"This is a stupid idea." He mumbled to himself, his voice quiet in the already present silence of his room. Usually he had music playing on his phone or something to the like, but now all he was doing was thinking. Thinking that what he was going to do- no, not what he was going to do, what he was debating on doing- and just realising how much he hadn't even taken into account. 

Cole didn't dance for anyone. Sure, maybe he'd do a general jig if there was a good song on the radio, but who didn't? Yet dancing, proper dancing, he hadn't done it for years; and not for anyone but himself. 

Why was he even contemplating going against the grain? Why now? What made that moment different, what made that time the right time to consider getting back into dancing? Was it the fact that he now saw these amazingly talented people every time he went to Nightowls? The way they just so easily stepped into the centre of attention, directly into everyone's line of sight and not get bothered by the many pairs of eyes staring back at them? That they could blank it all out in favour of just performing and doing what they loved? 

Cole let out a heavy breath, before he lifted the scrap piece of paper with the mask sketch up in front of him. He had a good idea what he wanted to do, a design that would be pretty ironic, a personal victory in a way. One that only he would be aware of, really. He had everything he needed. It was all out in front of him. 

Cole set the paper down, took hold of the towel in his hair and started rubbing the last of the dampness away. He stood, folding the towel over the chair at his desk before he left for training. 

He needed to stave off exhaustion first, he needed to get his blood pumping and muscles warmed. He needed to wake himself up as much as he could after such an extensively long day, then he'd think logically about what he was going to do when he wasn't feeling as tired. 

Maybe that night Cole had gone to sleep as soon as his head had hit the pillow, at the late time of seven in the afternoon. Maybe he even slept solidly through the night and woke up on time for the following days training, not a nightmare in sight. 

Maybe his mask was already under construction, pencil markings already sketched out on the mask base, the idea already blooming into fruition. 

Maybe he would dance.

-

From the beginning

Ch 03 > Ch 04 > Ch 05

AO3

[dakotacrisis]

Deal’s End (4)

Operation: Get Marinette a Boyfriend Through YA Novel Shenanigans is a go!

(Read on AO3)

---

It took Marinette a whole of five minutes to start regretting making her deal. After the contract was signed and they shook on it Felix went into planning mode. He was rambling off a bunch of ideas on how to get Adrien to notice Marinette more and get them alone together. That itself wouldn’t have been bad, in fact she was actually impressed with his forethought to the situation.

No. It was when the ideas came into practice that she started to panic. She was sitting in her seat waiting for class to start and Felix was standing next to Adrien talking. Felix had said he would talk her up to Adrien and to not worry about it.

She had entrusted her love life with a demon. It felt like there was plenty to worry about!

The two continued talking and a couple of glances got sent Marinette’s way before class started.

Her leg was bouncing the entire class period. She couldn’t wait to know what it was her demonic wingman had said about her to her crush.

At long last the bell rang and Marinette shot from her seat to ask Felix what he had told Adrien.

“Cool down, love.” He assured her, “I didn’t say anything weird. All I did was spin a tale about a funny moment we had back at your place.” “What funny tale? How is that supposed to help?”

“The story was a subtle way of conveying that you are fun and funny. Therefore you sound like an entertaining person to be around.” he tapped her nose.

“That’s…” Marinette thought it over a moment, “not totally dumb.” “Oh why thank you.” Felix rolled his eyes.

“Can you blame me for being worried? Whether or not Adrien becomes my boyfriend is in your hands.” She dropped her head to the desk, “Oh god, why did I make this deal? This is a disaster.”

“God isn’t here, love.” Felix tilted her head back up, “Will you trust me? If you have forgotten I have lived a long time. I know how and when to be serious about something. Especially when it concerns one of my deals. I’m not gonna blow this. If you two don’t end up together then I’ll be unable to fulfill the deal and Hell help me if that happens.”

“Does something bad happen if you’re not able to fulfill it?”

“To me, not you. Don’t worry about it.”

“Wait, Felix, what is gonna happen if for some reason you can’t deliver on my wish?”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“But I…” Marinette caught herself. She shouldn’t go around saying foolish things.

“But what?” Felix leaned closer with his mischievous smile. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about a spiteful entity like me?”

“I’m not!” Marinette said but she knew it was useless. Felix could see through her lies like glass.

“You humans are so strange.” Felix shook his head. “You find sympathy for everything and anything. Is it humanity that causes this kind of naivete?”

“Not wanting others to hurt is not naive.”

“It is very human though.”

“And what of you, mister demon? Have you never felt a need to spare someone some pain?”

“No. It’s in the job description.”

“Then what of me? You worked to find a middle ground with me and spare me some pain with my fate instead of using your powers to tempt me into a deal. It couldn’t have been just because you were bored.”

“Says you.”

“And it’s true.” “Stop smiling.” he grabbed her and pulled her along to the next class. “What are you doing talking to me anyway? You should be spending this time talking to mister perfect. Remember?”

Marinette didn’t argue with him more. He obviously wasn’t going to hear about him not being ruthless. They continued on to class and by lunch time Felix had come up with another idea. Not that he told Marinette any of this. For some reason this demon found it funny to jump into action without letting her know what the plan was.

Marinette trailed close behind as Felix approached Adrien and threw an arm around him. “Adrien, lad,” Felix said, “I was talking to Marinette earlier and she recommended that the three of us have lunch.”

“Oh really?” Adrien looked back at her with a surprised smile. “Just the three of us?”

“That was the plan. If you’d rather not tag along that’s fine. Marinette and I can have our own fun, can’t we love?” Felix glanced back at her with a wink. “But you are her friend and she talks about you often enough I have to admit I’m curious to get to know you better.”

“I’m looking forward to get to know you better too.” Adrien nodded. “I’d love to come to lunch with you.”

“Perfect, there is the sweetest little cafe Marinette was talking to me about earlier that sounded like it would be perfect.” Felix reached for Marinette and pulled her up alongside the two boys so she was sandwiched in the middle of them. “You can take the lead, love.”

“Thanks.” Marinette was trying her best to not freak out. But Felix was keeping a close but subtle push on her left side so that her right side bumped into Adrien as they walked. She hadn’t mentioned any cafe to Felix but now that she was out she was gonna have to find one.

After a couple minutes of walking they came to a cafe Marinette loved and the three sat down to eat. They had just ordered their drinks when Felix’s phone began to ring. Wait, since when did Felix have a phone?

“Well darn,” Felix sighed dramatically, “I gotta take this. You two order without me, I don’t know how long this is gonna take.” And with that Felix was out of his chair and around the corner out of sight.

This was his plan! To force them out on a pseudo lunch date by taking a fake phone call? What kind of romantic comedy shenanigans was he playing? This is what she gets for letting him read her YA novels. At least this was better than him suggesting they fake date in some dumb reverse psychology way of making Adrien jealous.

“That’s a shame.” Adrien shrugged after Felix had gone. “I hope he won’t be too long.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Marinette concentrated on her breathing.

The pair sat in silence for what felt like a lifetime. Shouldn’t she say something? It was Adrien, he was her crush but he was also her friend. She should be able to come up with some form of conversation.

“So,” she started in hopes that something charming or funny would spring forth in the moment. It didn’t. “Nice weather today.”

“Yeah, I guess it is nice out.” Adrien leaned back soaking in the sun of the afternoon. “Summer is right around the corner.”

“I can’t wait for it to be warm enough to break out the sundresses.” Marinette thought of the good chunk of her closet reserved for the light flowy dresses. “They’ve been locked up for too long.”

“Right, you and the girls have that sundress day, don’t you? Every year you pick a warm day and everyone comes in wearing a sundress. Even Chloe does it.”

“Yeah. It’s a lot of fun.” Marinette relaxed as the conversation eased into more topics. She was pleasantly surprised to realize how easy it was to talk to him once she got over her fright. He really was like any of her other friends. Why had she been so scared before?

Neither of them particularly noticed Felix’s absence until Marinette found herself telling an edited version of the time Felix almost threw her game controller into the screen after she won again and had to quell him with chocolate.

“Did someone say chocolate?” A waiter different from the first one approached the table with a plate and set it down between them. “Good thing I’m here then.”

“Oh, we didn’t order any dessert.” Adrien said.

“It’s on the house. For such an adorable couple.”

“Oh we’re not…” Marinette trailed off as she caught sight of the waiter’s eyes. Silver.

He caught her gaze and gave her a wink before walking away. Marinette looked back at the plate of dessert and had to resist a bark of laughter. It was a single slice of devil’s food cake.

“Well I’m not gonna say no to free cake.” Adrien beamed. “How should we split this?”

“I say we just eat our fill.” Marinette stabbed a fork into the cake taking a sizeable chunk off it. She popped it into her mouth and almost moaned at how moist and rich the flavor was. “Wow, that is good.”

Adrien took a bite as well. “You were right, that is delicious.”

“Someone might say downright sinful.” Marinette chuckled at her own joke.

“It is devil’s food cake. I guess if we were having angel’s food cake it’d be heavenly.”

“I guess it would.” They polished off the cake as they continued making bad food based puns. Felix came back just as they were wiping the crumbs from their mouths and sat down.

“Sorry for missing lunch, call took longer than I thought and then I got put on hold. It was a whole big thing.” He waved it off, “Hope you two weren’t bored without me.”

“No. Marinette is always excellent company.” Adrien said causing a wave of warmth to wash through her. “Sucks that you missed lunch though.”

“I wasn’t that hungry anyways. I have a bag of crisps in my locker I’ll nibble on before class.” Felix shrugged. “Looks like you two were rather peckish though. Order dessert without me?”

“We didn’t actually. A waiter came over saying it was on the house.” Adrien swiped a bit of frosting left on the plate. “Accidentally took us for a couple but it was rather fortuitous in the end. I think that was some of the best cake I’ve ever had.”

“Now I’m really sorry I missed it.”

“Don’t be. It was indeed great but everyone knows the best cake comes from Marinette’s parent’s bakery.” Adrien waved for the check. “I’ll get this one guys.”

“But we invited you. I’ll pay for what I got.” Marinette pulled out her wallet.

“Seriously, it’s okay.” Adrien said.

“I insist.” Marinette handed over her own money to the waiter.

“Alright, but next one is on me though.” Adrien put away his own wallet. “Should we be heading back?”

The three stood up. Felix stayed behind as Marinette and Adrien took the lead. Their conversation from the cafe continuing into their stroll back to the school. There were scraps of an attempt to include Felix but he was giving little response to them. Marinette knew what he was playing at but she couldn’t help but feel bad of his exclusion. She never wanted anyone to feel like they weren’t a part of the conversation.

After classes wrapped up Marinette and Felix returned home. Marinette flung herself onto the couch with a squeal of delight. “It worked! I cannot believe that actually worked!”

“And to think you doubted me.” Felix stood triumphant, “I told you, love, I know what I’m doing.”

“Sure, it was incredibly cheesy but it worked out in the end.” Marinette sat up. “Also, wasn’t the cake a little much? Don’t want to be too on the nose do we?”

“You loved it. I say next time I can have you two feeding each other.” Felix flopped down next to her. “See what happens when you actually put in some effort? The boy was practically mooning over you the entire time.”

“We’re you watching us?”

“Duh. I needed to make sure you weren’t going to drop the ball on the conversation. Had me worried there at first what with that remark about the weather. Was that really the best you could come up with?”

“I panicked! And you,” she smacked his arm, “You need to tell me what the plan is before you go about starting it! You threw me into the deep end without any warning!”

“It was the only way to get you to stop overthinking and embrace the moment. That is a huge problem I’ve come to realize about you. You think about everything! Did you know that?”

“I do not!”

“Yes, love, you do.” He flicked his wrist and a calendar appeared in his hand. “Every second of every day you have planned. I mean, look at this mess. Not to mention you take half a lifetime to pick out what you’re going to wear the day before.”

“Lots of people choose their outfits the day before.”

“They don’t spend that much time on it. I mean, look at me.” He gestured to his dark jeans, red shirt and black vest. “Took me a whole of ten seconds to put this together and I look great. You on the other hand spend half an hour picking out a cardigan.”

“Well I’m sorry if I don’t have your demonic good looks. I need to put in a little more effort.”

“You don’t though. You’re beautiful enough already.” He made the calendar disappear again.

Marinette felt herself blush slightly at the compliment. Her friends called her cute and pretty all day long but no one had ever looked at her and said beautiful before. No one outside of her parents that is. It hit different hearing it from someone not her family.

“Thanks.” She caught his eye and she immediately turned away. “I um, I don’t have any homework today so I thought I’d get some work done on my designs. Were you okay to chill down here?”

“Go on,” Felix looked at her with a knowing expression. “I have some work of my own to do.” He pulled a notebook out of thin air.

“More brilliant date ideas I’m assuming?”

“If you want this boy pulling you into a brooms closet for some hot and heavy makeout sessions then I need to get these right.” Felix tsked as he looked over his notes. “You are a lot of work, love. I hope you appreciate the effort I’m putting in for you.”

“I do.” Marinette smiled. “I know you didn’t have to do any of this middle of the ground work but I am glad you did. I’d almost go as far as to say it was rather nice of you.”

“Don’t let down below hear that. I’m not supposed to be nice.” Felix scoffed.

“You’re not supposed to but you are.” Marinette pointed at the fridge. “And since you missed lunch you can help yourself to anything in the fridge.”

“I don’t need to eat.”

“But you still like to.” Marinette called back from her room. She sat down on her chaise with her sketch book in hand. She had a million other designs to start and finish but her creativity was flowing as she put pencil to paper. She didn’t know what she was going to make but she was certain that it was going to be silver.

---

(1) (2) (3) (5)

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(tagged)

@sannsibarr @miss-mysterys-blog @maribug-adrienoir @mermaidreject @corabeth11 @goblinwhoships @symwinter

[bonniebird]

Let Me Show You

Brett x Fem!Reader

Summery: Brett reveals how he really feels about you.

Warnings: +18, Swearing, sex

"Brett's coming?" You asked when your friend finished listing off the people she'd invited.

"It's a party to celebrate the team winning all their games so far... why wouldn't I invite Brett?" She asked, glancing at you in the mirror as she put her makeup on, frowning when she looked over the jeans and t-shirt you were wearing.

"Well... because he's kind of a jerk." You mumbled, playing with your fingers as you scuffed your feet on the foot of her bed.

"It's a big party and he's supposed to be coming late so don't worry about it." She smiled and went to her wardrobe before coming back with a dress, bikini and some sandals. "You can borrow these just promise to have fun and try not to hide up here until you're super sure you're not having fun, you did last time."

"Ok fine but no makeup." You pointed at her and you both laughed when she nodded in agreement.

When you came out of the bathroom to find her she'd gone so you hurried downstairs to find her, skipping out onto her front drive where she was talking with people.

"Aw look who's trying to be a big girl and got all dolled up." Brett's voice hit you before you'd even noticed him and your friend quickly grabbed your hand to stop you shoving past him and running home barefoot.

"I think she looks cute and if Liam drops by he'll be all over her." She winked and you and for a moment Brett looked furious before he chuckled.

"Yeah you and the angry dweeb can have fun at the kids table while the big kids party." You could see him watching you through his shades, waiting for you to attempt to retaliate knowing you'd trip over your words and hurry off to pout out of his sight.

"Oh, yeah well at least Liam has... a better... body than you!" You squeaked trying to find one single insecurity to prey on the way Brett seemed to pick at yours but he just shrugged.

"Who cares, I'm set." He hummed, tugging up his shirt to reveal his washboard stomach and laughed when you started to get even more flustered.

"Brett come on let's just go inside." Your friend's boyfriend muttered and shoved him inside.

"Just ignore him." She told you with a sigh but you were already feeling self-conscious.

"Everyone else will be wearing tiny dresses or just their bikinis and I'm... wearing this." You sighed looking down at the knee length skater dress.

"Are you saying my clothes aren't good enough?" She joked but you were to upset to tell.

"No!" You gasped and shook your head. "They look good on you, I guess nothing looks good on me."

-----------------------

The party gradually built and your friend was right, despite avoiding Brett as best you could you were enjoying yourself. At least you were until Brett shoved you in the pool, his laughter died as soon as you pulled off your dress to reveal the borrowed bikini underneath and if you were honest the people crammed in the back yard as well as the several barbecues had made the evening rather stuffy so you weren't too bothered.

Brett left you alone after that, once or twice he'd been staring at you but once someone handed you a drink you didn't think too much of it.

"Oh, is it time for you to go hide?" Brett drawled, making you jump when you finished stacking plates and cups in the kitchen, wanting a break from the loud music and dancing outside.

"What do you want Brett?" You sighed and scowled at him, crossing your arms as you waited for him to speak.

"You know some people think you hate me." Brett leant on the fridge as you continued to gather things into piles in the kitchen in hopes of making the clean up after the party a little easier.

"Why does it matter to you?" you sighed and he shrugged.

"Maybe I don't want you to hate me." He muttered, following you to the other room, not noticing when you stopped and turned to face him so he almost sent you toppling backwards.

"You don't want me to hate you?" Your teeth ground together and he looked a little concerned at the furious look on your face. "You Brett Talbot who makes fun of one of my best friend and who spends every waking minute I see you tearing apart my confidence and then make fun of me for being self-conscious?" Your breath was rapid and even though you almost only just reached his shoulder he looked genuinely worried.

"I'm not even that bad." He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Besides Liam is a crappy friend he gets mad all the time."

"You are the worst person in the world and I don't even understand why some idiotic part of me likes you so much." You sighed and went to hurry off before you burst into tears only to be hoisted into the air over Brett's shoulder.

"You want to know why, I'll show you why." He snapped as he bounded upstairs, setting you on the floor in the spare room you'd decided to stay in and grabbed at your bag. "You always carry your favourite books with you overnight because you don't want to be without them and somewhere at the bottom of your bag is a stupid stuffed toy that you've had since the first day on kindergarten."

"So, what you've made fun of me for both those things." You sighed and crossed your arms.

"You wear a plastic ring with a fake green stone in it to the games because you think it's lucky, you made me a charm for my bag when a bunch of people made them for the team and no one remembered to make me one... even though I make fun of you all the time." He smiled and moved a little closer. "You're so nice to everyone."

"If you know all this and you think I'm nice why're you so mean all the time?" You sighed and for a moment it looked like the jerky side of Brett might emerge.

"The first day of school I knocked you down and you scrapped up your knees, we sat together and I cuddled you till the teacher came to fix you up and after the nurse's office I kissed your plasters and we split your sweets, I thought we'd be friends but when we came back on Monday you were hanging around with Liam and wouldn't pay any attention to me." He sighed out sounding hurt as he glanced away from you. "It was just easier being mean to you than admitting I liked you."

"Well it wasn't easier for me!" You sighed, running your hands through your hair until he suddenly pulled you into a hug and you found yourself engulfed in him. He smelt like hot grass and the woods not like the other Lacrosse players who could drown you in the smell of their spray from across the street.

"Hey (Y/N) are you... oh." Your friend knocked and pushed into the room.

When Brett went to pull away he felt your hands fist the back of his shirt so he decided to stay with his arms wrapped around you and looked over at the concerned girl in the doorway.

"She's ok, I think." He chuckled when you nodded against his chest. "Yeah, she's ok... hey can you tell the guys I've gone home, they're pretty drunk and... they're kind of loud and annoying when they're drunk and it's pretty calm up here."

"Yeah sure, you can crash if you want but you have to help clean up tomorrow." You could tell by your friend's tone that she was giving Brett a hard stare that warned him not to be a jerk.

You woke up the next morning and jumped, it took you a while to remember why Brett was asleep next to you and that the two of you had stayed awake all night talking which was horribly cliché but at least you got to see how sweet Brett actually was under his douche like façade.

"Hey." He groaned as he sat up and watched you look through your bag.

"Hi... I'm going to get dressed." You muttered and blushed when he chuckled and nodded.

"I need to grab my kit bag and get changed too." He smiled at you as you awkwardly nodded before hurrying to the bathroom and almost tripping over your own feet.

---------------------------------------

"Where is everyone?" You asked as you came down and found Brett alone cleaning.

"Picking up lunch and more cleaning stuff." He muttered, setting the plate in his hands down.

"Oh cool." You mumbled.

You both stared at each other for a while before Brett slumped on one of the chairs, smiling when you sat next to him.

"So, are we friends now?" You asked and you were sure Brett muttered no.

"Are we friend zoned friends or maybe... the friends that like each other but won't admit it and are to blind to get together but all their friends know and hope they do because the sappy looks they give each other are gross?" Brett asked and you shrugged.

"Or we could..." You started but Brett interrupted.

"Be the kind of friends that are close and tell each other everything and only have sex with each other and go on dates and wear each other's jerseys to Lacrosse games?" He asked and you giggled as he stood and tugged his shirt off.

"Maybe I like the sound of that." You muttered and he grinned, leaning down and kissing you softly as he pulled your chair towards him.

"We're going to be alone for a while." Brett mumbled and his eyebrows shot up when you tugged down his shorts. "I was going to try a lot harder but... not going to complain."

"Well you can try harder another time?" You asked shyly and he laughed as he knelt in front of you.

"You're too cute." He muttered to himself, grinning against your thigh when he bit a soft his against the sensitive skin and you made a small squeak before you relaxed into the kisses, your fingers twisting into your hair as his pulled your shorts to the side and he continued his trail of kisses. "The sun. The moon. The truth." He whispered softly, letting out a low breath before tugging your shorts off and grinning up at you.

"Brett..." you mumbled, blushing when he let you pull him up so you could kiss him.

"I think to make it fair we should get rid of this." Brett muttered and pulled your shirt over your head, laying you back across the chairs as he looked you up and down. "You're so beautiful."

His eyes widened when he realised he'd said it out loud and kissed you, one foot touching the floor to balance him as he moved your leg over his shoulder and gently ran his nose against yours.

"You think I'm beautiful?" You asked as he lined himself with your entrance and gripped the sides of your chair.

"Yeah." He said as he slid into you, both of you groaning as he bottomed out, slowly rolling his hips as he lent up to run his bottom lip up your neck. "You know how many times I've wanted to do this... in the showers, the locker... under the bleachers." He smirked when you moaned at the thought.

Each roll of his hips slid the chairs further apart but he didn't pay any attention to anything other than his rhythm and the sweet spots up and down your neck. Your fingers reached up to tangle in his hair and slowly pull his head away from your neck, meeting his lips in a soft kiss which quickly deepened as he lost himself in the kiss.

Each thrust dragged Brett's body across your and seemed to spark your body to arch against him as your hips tried to match his thrusts. He groaned as your body clenched around him, the swirl of head burning through you as he gently bit your jaw.

"Fuck." He grunted, speeding up his pace as he lent back a little and watched your lips part, memorising how you looked with your head tossed back and moan escaping you while your fingers dug into his arms. "I did not think this would happen." He muttered with a cheeky grin.

Before you could answer you both heard voices and the front door being opened so Brett practically dove for your clothes before rushing you to the back room.

"Brett!" You mumbled through kisses as his hands ran up and down your sides.

"Yeah?" He said with a soft sigh when you let him hug you.

"We should get dressed before they find us." You mumbled and he pulled a sad puppy dog face as he watched you get dressed before doing the same.

"There you are!" Your friend gasped as you found her in the kitchen.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up and eventually everyone had gathered together to eat and chat. Every now and then you'd catch Brett looking at you but instead of quickly looking away he'd beam you a bright smile which made you melt with a blushing grin of your own.

"You're cold." Brett said as he sat next to you, moving you to sit on his lap as he wrapped his jacket around you.

"Thanks." You muttered as he pulled you against him tightly and rested his head on your shoulder.

"Finally!" Your friend sighed as she kissed her boyfriend.

"About time buddy, disappointed it wasn't me though." One of the lacrosse players winked and you and Brett glared at them without moving an inch.

"Did you just wink at my girl?" He asked, the group laughing as he held up his hands. "It's because you're so nice... and pretty." Brett whispered and laughed when you smiled before leaning in to kiss you gently.

[peter-pan-on-neverland]

Caterpillar

Request: Imagine playing hide and seek with the lost boys and it's turning out that every boy is in love with you and wants to 'hide' with you to do stuff so you go with Felix since he always seems odd and cold. Turns out he is also in love. In the end pan gets also jealous when he finds out what they did while hiding (what they did is up to you if you like that request:) )

Pairings: Felix x reader

Warnings: there's no smut but there's a heated make out session 🤣

I AM SO SO SO SORRY THIS REQUEST TOOK SO LONG TO GET OUT IM REALLY REALLY SORRYYYYY (please forgive me) ❤

I have been living on Neverland for as long as I could remember and to say that I was a little uncomftorble at times is a huge understatement. It's not that I'm happy here because believe me, I am, but the constant flirting of the boys just got too much at times, they would really start to peck my head and as sweet as the boys could be it would just get annoying. If it wasn't Noah commenting on the way my ass moved as a walked, or James saying to his friends about how much he'd love to have my lips on his, it was Will bragging to everyone about the things he would do to me if we were alone. No matter what, every single one of the lost boys had something to say about me, even Pan had an opinion, but there was one boy who hadn't commented on my body once, Felix.

He was odd, to put it lightly, keeping to himself a lot, we never really spoke other than an awkward 'hello' if we were ever alone with one another. If I were being completely honest, at first I thought he was gay, not that that's a bad thing, he just had never expressed a desire to have me, wether that be in a sexual way or not and if I was the only girl that had stayed on the island for years then I would've though the boys would jump at the opportunity, but not him. He was always so calm and collected, never once showing a hint of emotion, but the slightly red scar that ran down is face gave me some idea about the boys temper. His eyes were the complete opposite from the angry red scar that was permanently etched into his skin, his icy blue orbs remained cold and hollow, never once faltering or giving away any clues as to what he was feeling.

The sun had set on the island long ago, the sky burnt a golden glow no more so that the stars could come out and play. The cool breeze of the night sweeped it's way through the island, touching every plant and animal in sight, dipping into every cave and touching every river or stream. We all sat around aimlessly in a circle on the dirt floor, everyone waiting in anticipation, eager to see what game we were going to be playing tonight.

“I have an idea!” a lost boy exclaimed, excited to share., everyone's ears perked up at his voice, leaning in closer to find out what his suggestion is "How about we play truth or dare?"

"No, Alex, we played that last night, remember?" Another boy chipped in, clearly annoyed at his friend "How about we play hide and seek?"

The boys pondered on the though for a while, still not everyone was in total agreement.

"I’ve got an even better game!" A boy named Oscar exclaimed as he crawled his way up onto a rock.

"What’s your bright idea this time?" Another lost boy chimed sarcastically, making a few other boys laugh, even I let out a little giggle.

"Its called Caterpillar. It’s like hide and seek but when you find someone, you stay by their side the rest of the game!" He exclaimed proudly.

The boys all exchanged glances at each other, smirking into the night, was there something I was missing? One by one the boys eyed my hungrily, causing my arms to explode with goosebumps. I kept my e/c eyes focused on the dirt ground, trying not to draw too much attention to myself.

All the boys had seemed to reach an agreement

"Ok, what are you all waiting for? Everyone Scram! Ten seconds to get to your hiding spots!" Pan boomed as he got up to his feet, his thick British accent standing out loud and clear for everyone to hear.

Within a flurry of laughs and scurrying, everyone seemed to vanish into thin air as they blended in perfectly. Peter climbed up a tall evergreen tree as fast as he could, his rough hands scrapping along the bark and started to count down at the top of his lungs. His voice echoed through the trees, reaching every nook and crannie on the island, undoubtedly reaching the ears of the lost boys.

"Ten, Nine..."

Quickly, I rushed to my feet, taking off into the forest as fast as my small legs could carry me. There was a burning in my chest as I pushed my legs harder, my body was screaming for more oxygen as I keep on pushing, the jungle around me became a blur of dark green as I ran further and further. Finally, deciding that I had come far enough I began to slow my pace down until my light jog became a steady walk. With nothing to but wonder around, hoping that I didn't bump into Pan, I had nothing to do but be alone with my thoughts. Looking down at my feet I made sure that I didn't stumble over any stray logs or tree roots, but making sure that I wouldn't trip up sure didn't stop me from falling over as I smacked into something hard.

"Woah." A familiar voice cooly exclaimed "You better watch were you're going."

Looking up, my eyes were met with none other than Felix. His icy blue eyes stared back at me coldly as his tall body loomed over mine. The scar that ran down his face was almost completely cover by his hood as his wooden club was slung effortlessly over his broad shoulders. I was stuck in place, permanently staring up at him.

"Well," he spoke, sticking out a hand for me to grab onto "looks like we're stuck with each other for the rest of the game."

I smiled up at him as our fingers intertwined causing butterflys to aimlessly flutter around in my stomach, why was I feeling like this? I had never felt this way around any of the boys before, what made Felix so different? Shrugging off the thought and the weird feeling which welled in the out of my stomach, I got back up onto my feet.

"Uh... thanks" I said as we began to walk, not fully sure if I had just imagined his fingers lingering on mine or not, "You know I'm kinda glad I ran into you and not one if the other boys."

He looked at me confused, "and why's that?" He asked, his voice was as deep and husky as ever.

"Because, you don't try to flirt with me 24/7 Like everyone else." I said.

"What, you're telling me that our one and only lost girl doesn't like the attention?" He says sarcastically, placing a hand on his chest in fake shock causing me to let out a little giggle.

"Well, ok I do kinda like the attention, the boys can be so sweet to me but it just gets annoying sometimes." I explained.

His face softened and the corner of his lips curled up as he let out an low chuckle.

"Do my ears deceive me, or did I just hear the almighty, cold-hearted Felix giggle."

I couldn't be sure if it were my eyes playing tricks on me or if it was just the lack of light hiding it well, but I couldve swarn I saw a light brush dance across the second in command cheeks.

"Shut up." He said, turning his face around in an effort to try and hide it from me, in the process giving a glimpse of his very nice jaw line.

Damn.

Finally, we had arrived at a quite spot, somewhere deep in the jungle of Neverland. We took a seat in a secluded, well hidden area were no one would be sure to find us, the bushes and trees kept us well hidden from everyone's else. An awkward silence hung over the both of us, nether of us really had anything to say.

"So...." he began, but we both knew that this conversation wasn't going to go anywhere.

You know that awkward giggle people do when you have nothing to say to each other so you just end up retardedly laughing? Well that's exactly what I was doing.

"What's so funny?" The tall blonde asked me, with a bashful smile on his face.

"Ah, it's nothing." I said, returning to the awkward silence "ok, I have a question."

He looked at me with a raised eye brow "And what would that be?"

"When I first came to the island, what did you think of me?" I asked innocently.

"Well don't get me wrong I obviously thought that you were pretty." He said as pink dust coated his cheeks "I also had my doubts about you, I wasn't sure if you could handle what the island would throw at you, but now I know that you can."

"Awww, you had me at 'I thought you were pretty'" I joked.

"Oh, fuck off." He said letting out a little laugh before our surroundings became silent once again "So, what did you think of me?"

"Honestly?" I asked "I thought you were gay."

If Felix was drinking water he would've spat it out, looking back at me in disbelief.

"W-why did you think I was gay?" He asked me in shock.

"Well, like I said before you never flirt with me like the other boys do so I just kinda thought...."

"I. Am. Not. Gay." He said, looking me right in the eyes.

The tone of his voice sent a shiver to run up and down my spine, but I couldn't work out weather it was because I was scared or not.

"Are you sure?" I teased.

"Yes! I've been here for over a hundred years, I think I would know if I was attracted to boys." He laughed at me.

"Well what if you didn't know?" I suggested "What if you just haven't had your sexual awakening yet?"

He chuckled at my comment, "Still, I'm not gay."

"Prove it." I said to him.

He looked me dead in the eyes, hesataiting for a moment before grabbing my by the collar of my cloak and smashing his lips against mine. To say it was perfect was an huge understatement, the kiss was sweet with whispers of desire. His hands moved to the smol of my back, pulling me close towards him until my legs were resting ether side of his torso. Our tongues met as they danced together, my finders intertwined themselves into his blonde hair, causing him to kiss me harder. Slowly, his fingertips wonder further down my back landing in my ass before squeezing.

"Felix." I whispered against his lips, he took that as an invertation to pull me in even closer, my chest was flushed against his while his hands travled up my thighs gentally rubbing circles on my clit through my underwear. Moaning into the kiss I started to grind myself against him, causing small grunts to fell past the boys lips.

"You have no idea how bad I've wanted this." He whispered hungrily in my ear before returning his lips to mine. I felt my cheek reden as he smirked into the kiss as a consequence of my reaction.

"Y/n?" Someone asked.

Quickly pulling away from Felix, I turned to face the boy. There stood a tall boy, no older than sixteen, his brown eyes stared at us in shock.

"U-um... Nick!" I exclaimed, not expecting anyone to find us.

"Uhhhh guys!" He yells over the the group of lost boys which were undoubtedly watching mine and Felix little rondevouez through the bushes "I found them!"

"Oh so they were here-" Pan says, stepping onto out little hiding place, his eyes darkened when he saw his second in command sitting on the floor, a dark blush coating his cheeks and me awkwardly sitting beside him, "Come on boys, let's go back to camp."

The boys left, leaving me and Felix awkwardly sitting beside each other.

"So uhhhh...." he began, scratching the back of his neck "I wouldn't mind doing that again."

He bit his lip as I leaned in, straddling his waist once again before kissing him deeply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO GET OUT!!! Anon, I hope you're still here and you can across this I just want you to know how sorry I am and I really hope you liked the story 😍❤ xxxxx

@britishfangirlxo @lady-of-lies @nevereverlandboys

[weepingvoidpenguin]

Confession

ENDGAME SPOILERS!! READ AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE, SIS BECAUSE THIS IS NOT A GAME. I’VE WARNED YOU!!

PETER PARKER X READER

Summary: It’d been five years since you disappeared in Peter’s hands right after he’d broken your heart. Now, after so long, there’s a chance to get you back and Peter will stop at nothing to ensure so. He has to get you back, has to tell you that he was lying. That he did want to be with you and he’d never throw away the opportunity again. But the question is, will you let him?

Warnings: Uh... none? Some swearing

Word Count: 3k

FEELING CREATIVE.. IDK MIGHT DELETE LATER (BUT ALSO FR MIGHT MAKE A SMUTTY PART 2)

   “Kid, get out of here, I don’t want you to be a part of this,” Mr. Stark hollered to me when I walked up from behind to see what they were looking at.

   “But Mr. Stark, I’m already a part of this,” I said back, trying to still be respectful. I didn’t want Tony to get mad at me but if he thought I was just going to leave when we were so close to getting them back . . . to getting her back, he thought wrong.

   “Listen, kid, I know how much this means to you but I‘m not letting you get squashed like a... well, like a bug,” he responded.

   My head snapped in his direction at the comparison, Really, Mr. Stark? Really?

   “Mr. Stark I’m not going anywhere,” I repeated, a little more edge to my voice.

   “Queens, Tony’s got a point. This is gonna get really ugly, really fast,” Cap tried to reason but I wasn’t hearing any of it.

   I took a deep breath, an anger starting to brew in me that I’d never felt for Cap or Stark, “And I said-”

   “Let him fight,” Thor interrupted.

   I looked up at him from behind, my mouth still hanging open from my defense.

   Thor shrugged his shoulder, never once taking his eyes off the man that killed his brother and then half of his people, “Those who fight for others and not themselves fight valiantly,” 

   My eyes shifted from Thor to Tony and Cap, they barely glanced at each other before nodding.

   “Alright, kid, but from a distance only,” Mr. Stark ordered and I nodded.

   If that was all he was going to give me then I wasn’t going to push it. 

   Thanos had been a nightmare in my head for five consecutive years now but it’s not his face that haunts me when I close my eyes, it’s hers. The look she gave me when I spoke the words that felt like acid in my mouth, that heart-wrenching image is what keeps me up at night. I should have told her the truth. 

   But if Banner’s snap worked, like really worked, and she was back then nothing was going to stop me from confessing. Not even this purple titan. 

   “You know it’s a trap, right?” I asked, the boyish tone in my voice long gone, for about five years now. 

   “Yup,” Cap mumbled, his glare piercing through the man they’d already killed once, “But we don’t really have any other choice. Keep the stones away from him,”

   Lightning and thunder clouded from nearby and a blast of white surrounded Thor for a second, changing his garments and hair. 

   I didn’t hear what he said after that, too focused on where I should hit Thanos first, but then they sprinted at him. One right after the other they attempted to land a grave blow but Thanos was too strong, too fast, too smart. It appeared that he knew what they were going to do next and deflected all of their attacks. 

   I stepped down from the rock and ran towards the scene of the battle, my heart in my throat and my mind racing with pictures. Her (h/c) hair, her (e/c) eyes, her soft skin, her beautiful smile and her immersive mind. Just her. She was all that ran through my head as I charged at the man that took her away from me. The man that turned her to dust just hours after I hurt her. She was in my arms those last seconds of my life, clinging to me as tightly as she tried to hold onto life but she vanished all the same. I wasn’t sure if she heard what I said to her as she turned to dust but I was hoping, praying, that she knew. That she knew I was lying to her, that she somehow figured it out while she’d been gone. But she couldn’t and I knew that. 

   You can’t think if you don’t exist. 

   I threw a few webs at the enemy, pulling his arm back when he was going to land a fatal hit to Tony. He grabbed the web attached to him and tried to throw me around but I cut it off and kicked him in the face with the momentum he tried to use against me.

   “What did I say, kid? From a distance!” Tony yelled as Thanos grabbed my calf and chucked me straight towards a ragged rock.

   “Karen!” Tony yelled and activated the legs from my suit to catch my fall. 

   The metallic legs pierced into the rock, smashing it into smaller, more jagged pieces. A few of which stabbed my back. The pain shot from my back to my head and I hunched over, gripping my stomach as the air was forced out of my body from the impact.

   “Kid!” Mr. Stark shouted as he ran towards me and Thanos grabbed him by his arm, hitting him square in the face and sending him flying. 

   I tried getting up, I really did, but my eyelids grew heavy and my vision began to blur at the edges. 

   Get up.

   My arm, heavy from exhaustion, barely moved at my side despite my command.

   Get up.

   Thanos’ blade cut through Cap’s shield and continued to destroy it, breaking it until it could only be considered scrap metal. My chest grew heavy and any anger I had for the titan was diminishing, not because I was no longer angry but because it was replaced with fear. Fear that we would lose again. That I would lose again. 

   Then, even from this distance, I could see a strange look come across Cap’s face. He shook his head, as if hearing a voice in his ear or trying to fight pestering wind. His hand slowly came up and rested on his head and he looked around as if looking for where the interference was coming from. 

   The sight of the familiar yellowish circle appearing out of thin air made my heart stop and my jaw went slack, hoping beyond hope that it was who I thought it was. 

   Figures began to emerge from the portals and I was walking towards them without a single registration of the pain in my body. 

   Y/N.

   One by one they exited the portal. Dr. Strange. The antenna lady. Quill. Bucky. Sam. Scarlet Witch. Even a tree thing. 

   But Y/N was nowhere to be seen. 

   “Please,” I choked out, the knot in my throat tightening as my legs carried me towards their exit. “Please, God,” my legs burned with exhaustion but my will won out and I was lost in the crowd of our army looking for the familiar sight of (Y/N)’s (h/c) hair.  

   “Avengers . . .” I heard Cap order, “ . . . Assemble,”

   The sounds of thousands of warriors shouting overwhelmed me and I knew she wouldn’t be able to hear me if I shouted her name. 

   But that didn’t stop me from trying.

   “(Y/N)!” I yelled, my eyes scanning the running bodies. “(Y/N)!” 

   A single figure, just one, hesitated before taking their next step. The (h/c) hair of a girl moved as her head turned, looking for the source of my calls.

   “Here!” I shouted, my arms flailing in the air to catch her attention, “(Y/N)! God, please just look at me! See me!” I shouted over the sounds of war.

   She turned towards my direction and the sight of her face hit me harder than any force ever has. Fuck, I miss her.

   My steps faltered despite wanting to do the exact opposite. “(Y/N)!”

   She scanned the battlefield. I knew she couldn’t hear me but her ability allows her to hear thoughts in her vicinity and it gives her an advantage in battle. Her eyes flickered to every moving figure, one by one, until finally, finally, her eyes landed on mine.

   And she looked away. 

   No, please, please don’t.

   She faced the war ahead of her and ran directly into it upon seeing the familiar red glow of Wanda’s power. (Y/N) jumped into the air and gracefully landed next to the witch who had her sister power. (Y/N)’s power was almost identical to Wanda’s and it helps her feel stronger when she fights alongside her but they’re not the same. Wanda was made of an infinity stone while (Y/N) was granted her power by something called The Raven. She claimed it was a force identical to that of another celestial power and was meant to subdue it if it ever got out of hand. 

   I wanted to chase after her, to grab her by the shoulders and force her to look at me while I confessed that I lied to her. That I tried to make the decision I thought was best. But I was wrong. 

   I was gonna get to her if it was the last thing I did, literally. 

   My legs pumped with adrenaline and incentive. I had to reach her. To tell her. Then the cries of pain rang through the air and I saw T’Challa being wrapped in rock. I looked back at (Y/N) who was throwing bad guys left and right and tearing them apart. She was fine. She was strong. And she wasn’t the one that needed help. 

   I changed my direction and grabbed the Gauntlet that was thrown in the air before slinging my web closer to the van that Cap said it should go so we could put the stones back in their rightful time. 

   I’ve just gotta put the stones back and then I’ll talk to her. 

   “Karen, activate instant kill,” I said to the AI built into my suit as the beastly aliens swarmed around me.

   “Peter!” I heard my name being shouted and the voice was angelic. Scared and in pain but angelic all the same.

   The beasts were blasted away by a surrounding purple light and I knew it had been her. She still cared. Or maybe it was just a courtesy, she would’ve done the same thing for any other teammate. And that’s a fact. 

   “Queens!” Came another shout followed by Mjolnir flying past my head. 

   I shot a web at the hammer and was pulled out of the remainder of the swarm just for a blast from above to cut the strand, sending me hurtling straight for the ground. 

   “I got you, kid,” yelled Mrs. Stark in a suit of her own before sending me towards a girl flying a . . . a Pegasus? 

   I didn’t get to observe the horse for too long as I was yet again being tossed to the ground because of a cut web. Colors flashed by my vision while I clashed against the debris of the destroyed property. 

   A groan of pain escaped my lips and the laser blasts hitting the ground next to my body made me curl into a fetal position with the gauntlet in my grasp. I plastered myself as close to the boulder behind me as possible, using it for a makeshift barrier of sorts. My arms burned with the blasts that landed a little too close to me, causing cuts to my limbs and side.

   This was it, this was how I was gonna go. Without ever speaking to (Y/N) again, without saying good-bye to Aunt May or Ned. No one. I was going to die on the battlefield protecting a glove that had six of the most powerful forces ever to exist on each knuckle. 

   (Y/N), I know you can hear me, I wasn’t sure if it was going to work, but I had to try, I wanted to let you know... I just... you should know that I- I’m... I’m sorry, I thought, my body now racking with each sob as I said my good-bye, (Y/N), I lo-

   “Peter,” she called my name. “Peter, get up,” 

   I opened my eyes and rested my gaze on the glowing colors of the gauntlet, too ashamed to look up at her. It’d been five years since I let her down. Since I broke her heart. And now, here she was, waiting for me to look up at her just as I wanted her to look up at me,

   “Peter, give me the gauntlet,” she ordered, her hand coming into view as she latched onto it.

   The gauntlet? 

   I looked up at her then, confusion etched in my features as I wondered why she even came up to me in the first place. “The gauntlet?” I asked incredulously, “Didn’t you hear what I was thinking? What I was trying to let you know?” 

   Her grip on the gauntlet tightened just as mine did, “I heard,” was all she responded. “And I don’t need your pity,” 

   “Pity? (Y/N), I-” 

   “Give me the gauntlet, Peter!” She shouted, her eyes beginning to glow a purple hue as she attempted to pry it from my hold.

   “(Y/N), please I just . . . I just want to look at you,” I begged, my voice faltering by the end.

   Her pull on the gauntlet slacked and she looked me in my eyes for the first time in five years. Those mesmerizing (e/c) eyes of hers. The whites of her eyes were red with oncoming tears. And suddenly it was like I was looking at the same face of heartbreak I caused her to have so long ago. 

   “Look at me?” She pulled away, dropping the gauntlet completely. 

   A glowing figure landed next to her and I hesitated to pry my eyes off of (Y/N), fearing that if I did, she would disappear again. 

   I handed the gauntlet over to the glowing lady, earning a sad smile from her. She seemed strong and merciless but also caring and understanding. She was letting us have a moment as she continued the gauntlet’s journey to the time travelling van. She flew off with an army of women to back her up and I had to grab (Y/N)’s wrist as she tried to leave with them.

   “Stay,” I whimpered, “Just for a second. Stay,” 

   She shook her head, no longer facing me and tried, in a half-assed manner, to pry her hand from my grip. “Let me go, Peter,” 

   “(Y/N)!” I shouted, making her freeze in her stance, “I can’t! I couldn’t! These past five years all I could think about was YOU. Your face was the one that haunted me every night. Your voice, your smile, our talks, all those memories kept me going for five years. Years, (Y/N).” 

   “Stop,” she whispered under her breath, her head now facing me but her eyes still glued to the ground.

   “I lied to you, (Y/N), okay? I lied! That day where everything went to hell and you told me how you felt? I lied! And that’s all I‘ve wanted to tell you since you were . . . gone.” I gripped her wrist tighter and pulled her to the ground with me. 

   “You lied?” she reiterated.

   “Yes. I lied.” My hand trailed up to her face as our surroundings changed into one of a glass like structure. We were in Dr. Strange’s mirror dimension. He had given us a minute alone. And I knew a minute was all we truly had. 

   “I thought that if I died, it would help you to move on, that you wouldn’t feel guilty. That you could... you could love someone else happily.” I tried to explain, “But then . . . then it was me who survived, who had to move on without you and I couldn’t because I know I broke your heart and I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorry, (Y/N),” 

   “Stop!” She shouted, shoving me away. “Stop doing this! It might’ve been five years for you but it’s only been hours for me and the pain is just as raw as when you told me that you didn’t care for me that way. Don’t you get it? I love you, Peter Parker! And if you even remotely cared about me you wouldn’t have lied to me,”

   “I lied to you because I care about you!” I shot up off the ground and followed her, “Because I thought it’d be selfish if I made you wait for me or confessed that I loved you too only for me to die! I wanted you to move on! I wanted you happy!”

   She stopped mid-pace and lifted her gaze towards me, “You what?”

   I huffed and blew a loose strand of hair out of my face, “Fuck this,” I mumbled and glided over to her, grabbing her by the waist and pressing my chapped lips onto her soft ones.

   She froze for a second, fighting the urge to let me in, to believe me, but all I’ve been waiting for again is to see her. Even if she never forgave me for being so cruel or decided that her confession was only a heat of the moment thing, I just wanted her alive again. Alive and back in my life, one way or the other. 

   And she knew. She could feel it. She was an empath after all, and she knew that I was telling the truth. 

   And she kissed me back and I could’ve cried with joy. Her lips pushed up against mine, melding together and divulging in it. My grip on her body tightened as I brought her close to me. I’ve missed her warmth, her smell, her hold. Especially her hold. I’ve just missed her.

   “I love you, (Y/N),” I confessed, finally confessed.

   “How are you so certain that you love me?” She asked, making sure I still wasn’t lying despite the emotional certainty.

   “Because I know what it’s like to lose you,” I pulled her into me again, resting my head on her shoulder, “And I’m never doing that again,” 

[jewels2876]

I Like Your Style

Pairings: Reader x Scarlett Johannsson, Reader x Elizabeth Olsen, Reader x Sebastian Stan

Word Count: 2421

Warnings: swearing, condom reference - but mostly FLUFF and shopping

A/N: Oh my god, the rewrites! I kept adding and deleting; I don’t think it’s one of my best but I wanted to keep writing – it’s good for my soul!

divider by @firefly-graphics​

You had been a fan of Sebastian Stan the minute he stepped on screen in Captain America: The First Avenger. His beautiful blue eyes alone had been enough to draw you to him; that is until you saw Captain America: Winter Solider. The sheer virility on screen had you hot with desire; he only had one line and it still broke your heart every time you re-watched the movie. Since then you had indulged in every movie, show, video, ANYTHING you could get into your hands.

With the approaching Infinity War untitled movie, Marvel had thought it would be a great idea to set up contests for fans to meet their favorite Marvel heroes. Marvel was woefully naïve about the turnout they were expecting. Fans worldwide had crashed the Marvel site; the female contest numbers were through the roof and Marvel had to scrap the idea all together.

Or so they had led the world to believe – One of the contest sections, aside from the standard name, age, and email address, had been deceptively obtuse, asking the person to tell them who their favorite character was and why in 150 characters or less. Most of the entries had been underage teenagers telling emoji stories, while the vast majority of female entries had admitted vulgar suggestions for the actors involved.

You had chosen to answer honestly: I’ve been a huge Bucky fan – living in a world that never wanted to accept him, I could empathize – I learned my place was to help others, and I think he’s learned that as well. The only other question Marvel had put on the online form was a daytime phone number. So when your cell phone rang, showing a California number, you hesitated. You were on your lunch hour, what would one phone call hurt? Apparently, it could hurt an eardrum! You screamed louder and higher than normal when Marvel asked if you would be interested in walking their red carpet. Um, duh!

So here you were, at LAX, looking around for the car service. You spotted the sign “Y/l/n” with a sharp dressed man in sunglasses. You approached him with a smile. “Hi, you’re waiting for me.” He nodded without saying a word, which you thought was just a tad weird. But hey this is LA, right? They have weird people too.

You approached a large black town car, your luggage in tow. The driver put your luggage in the trunk, then opened the door for you. “Thank you,” you smiled again. He seemed unaffected as he moved around to the other side. You chuckled to yourself and shook your head. As you slid in you noticed the driver in the front seat already. The car started up quickly and in short time he dropped you off at your hotel. You thanked him again and left him a tip.

The hotel was standard by your experience. You weren’t expecting the royal treatment; the only thing you were really here for was the movie premiere! But as you emptied your luggage you realized the dress you brought didn’t seem nearly as special enough. You reached for your phone and dug around your emails. Marvel had said if you needed anything to call them, and what you needed now was directions to the nearest shopping mall and maybe a partner? Before you overthought it too much, someone answered your call and put you through to Marketing. The woman you spoke with didn’t even hesitate when you asked; she promised another car and a shopping partner in one hour. You thanked her and hung up to put away the rest of your stuff.

An hour later, the front desk called your room to let you know someone was here; you grabbed your purse and room key and headed down to the lobby. As the elevator deposited you on the lobby floor, you scanned the room. “Over here!” you heard someone yell. You did a double take at a blonde woman who was waving you over and the brunette beside her. You gave them both a polite smile. “Um, hi… Sc….”

“Shhh! We’re on a covert mission to get you a hot dress,” Scarlett Johansson deadpanned. “This is our deciding vote, Liz.” You giggled and extended your hand. “Y/n.”

“Enough with the introductions, let’s get out of here!” Scarlett ushered you out the door and into the other black town car they brought with them. The next hour flew by as you befriended the two actresses; even going so far to admit your huge crush on Sebastian. “Really?” Elizabeth smirked. “I’m pretty sure the guy’s single at the moment.” You blush hard. “Let’s not go there right now. I have a red carpet to get past, then I’ll let you set me up.” Elizabeth giggled. “Yes!”

The car finally came to a stop; Scarlett and Elizabeth got out first, you at their heels. When you step onto the sidewalk, your jaw drops slightly. “Um, I think we’re in the wrong place?” The two women smirked as you stared up and down Rodeo Drive. “No seriously, I’m not going to be able to afford anything here!”

Scarlett pulled out a card from her back pocket. “Who said you were paying?” You squealed in excitement. “OH MY GOD! Ok I have to chill, I know, but this is so NOT what I expected when I agreed to do this.” You stared again at the street full of stores, trying to put a game plan together.

“No way,” Elizabeth stated firmly. “We’re starting at Saks; if you can’t find something there this could be a lost cause.” You laughed and agreed to let the two pull you in tow. It didn’t take long for you to find a tasteful sheath dress, a standard little black dress. Scarlett gave you the once over in the fitting room. “I mean it’s nice, but it’s not… red carpet, wow, awesome. You need something… vibrant!” You liked your reflection in the mirror, but agreed to keep looking. Another hour and three dresses later, all of you were getting a little frustrated and punchy. You spied a bright blue dress, pulling it out to view. There were small cutout on the sides, but the back was nothing but straps and cords at the top. You hopped back into the dressing room again. Your eyes popped out a little and your jaw went a bit slack; you looked… hot! You stepped out of the dressing room and heard a few audible gasps.

“That’s the dress,” Elizabeth intoned. “I’ll say,” Scarlett concurred. With a satisfied fist pump, you went back into the fitting room and changed back into your clothes. Scarlett took the dress from you and went to be rung out; Elizabeth waited for you just outside the dressing room. “Well that was fun! You two are a riot!” you thanked them both in the car ride back to your hotel.

“Did you think this was over?” Scarlett asked. “We are taking you out; you cannot come to LA just for a lousy movie premier!” You stared at her in mock horror. “Did you just call the Infinity War (part 2) movie premier LOUSY?” The three of you all fell into a fit of laughter. “Seriously though, I have hair and nail appointments tomorrow; I’m glad I saw those silver strappy shoes on our way out or I would have needed another shopping trip! I’m tired.” To emphasize that point, you sank back into the car seat.

Elizabeth looked at you thoughtfully. “You know, you’re right. You’ve been flying all day; we kidnapped you to go shopping on Rodeo Drive. You get a good night’s rest; I think you’ll need it for tomorrow.” She grinned and winked at you. You groaned good-naturedly. “You guys are going to do something crazy to me aren’t you?” The car pulled up to your hotel lobby. You gave both women a hug goodnight. “You never know with us,” was Scarlett’s parting reply.

You woke up with a start; the blackout curtains were open just a tad so you could see soft sunlight peeking in. You glanced at your watch on the bedside table and groaned inwardly. It was early enough that you had nothing to do but kill time until your hair appointment, but late enough that you should not consider lying in bed for much longer either. You decided to keep up the yoga stretches you had been doing to de-stress, so you hauled yourself out of bed. Thirty minutes later and several yoga poses later you felt more refreshed. You started into the bathroom when you heard a knock at your door; you cracked the door to see your new friends. “Come on in ladies,” you held the door open. “What brings you here this early?” Scarlett threw herself in the armchair while Elizabeth settled onto a corner of the bed. “We’re here to take you to your appointments; make sure you get to your destination in one piece.”

“Ok, entertain yourselves then! I’m going to jump in the shower,” you grabbed the plushy bathrobe. “Should I be expecting anyone else before I get out?” Elizabeth chuckled at the question. “No,” she answered, “but we all get a memo this morning about treating our ‘fan’ with lots of attention.” She gave you a side-glance. “If that dress is any indication, I may not have to play matchmaker!” You blushed and giggled, the bathroom door closing behind you.

Four Hours Later

“Oh my god, this is fucking amazing!” A pair of strong hands was massaging your hands, as someone else finished your pedicure. You took off the cucumber slices and turned to the other women. “If this is the pampering you get for being an actor, I’ve been in the wrong business!” The nail tech declared your pedicure done. You admired the bright fuchsia polish on your toes and the French manicure on your fingernails. “This looks awesome! Thank you so much!” You shuffled off to pay for the services; Scarlett waved the black card around in the air. “Don’t even think about it y/n! Marvel is still footing the bill, I promise!”

“No way! I can afford a mani/pedi, along with the lunch and hair appointment,” you handed over your own debit card. “I came for a premiere, not for all of this.” You waved your hands around to make your point. “You ladies have been great friends; I think footing my bills is going a bit overboard.” Scarlett and Elizabeth snickered as their own pedicures were finished. Elizabeth confirmed everyone was done and you went with the two women to change.

Two and a half hours later, you emerged from the hotel all glammed up; your two pals gave you a once-over just to be sure there were no rips, tears, makeup stains, etc. “Damn y/n the guys are going to be drooling!” You smiled and clutched your purse a little tighter. It was holding the only things you needed that night: your phone, lip-gloss, and what Scarlett jokingly referred to as a “lucky charm,” a condom. You made your way down to the hotel lobby and escorted to a limousine. You slid in, followed by Elizabeth & Scarlett. The driver sped off; you used the time to calm the butterflies starting in your stomach. Elizabeth seemed to notice your distress. “Don’t worry; most people at a premiere are here to get us ‘big’ stars so you won’t have to worry about cameras being shoved in your face or being asked stupid fashion questions. Who are you wearing by the way?” You continued to stare out the window as you answered “Aidan Mattox dress, Jimmy Choo shoes.”

The limo came to stop; you started to get out, but Scarlett held you back. “Let me go first, then Elizabeth, then you. Let’s see what kind of trouble we can get you into.” You chuckled to yourself as you watched them get out. The bulbs were already flashing and the butterflies hadn’t left as much as multiplied. It was your turn, and already the lights had ebbed. You flashed a grin and stood tall for just a moment getting your bearings.

You heard a low whistle and turned to your right. The limos had been lining up, and right behind you had been none other than Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan. Your heart did a flip, and then flopped HARD. Sebastian’s hair was shorter, but the beard had been trimmed back to just scruff. His blue eyes were bright and shining, which seemed to match your dress. The two men approached you with friendly smiles. “Are you the fan we’re supposed to pay attention to?” Chris asked. You nodded, not trusting what might come out of your mouth. “I don’t think we’re going to have much trouble with that, are we Seb?”

“Nope, not at all,” Seb smiled and offered his right hand out. You glanced warily at him, not 100% sure of the intention, but took his hand. His other hand rested on the small of your back and he escorted you up the carpet. “I might give you all my attention,” he murmured low in your ear. Other parts of you were clenching in desire. Dear LORD, what that man’s voice was doing to you was sinful enough. You let him lead you a short way before the reporters started getting his attention. He let go of your hand, and whispered, “Don’t move” while he keeping a hand on your back and answered questions easily, with you by his side.

One reporter, whose microphone had the ET logo, asked how long the two of you had been dating. Without missing a beat, Seb answered “It’s new” with a smirk in your direction. You couldn’t help it; you rolled your eyes and laughed. He laughed with you, thanked the reporters, and continued further down the carpet. The process repeated a few more times, the last time one actually asked you about your outfit and you answered with a friendly smile.

Finally, you made it into the theater, trailing just behind Seb, taking the experience all in. “You ok babe?” he asked. “You seem awfully quiet.” You took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m just… happy, you know? This weekend has been awesome. The minute that movie is over, this is over for me. But meeting you, seeing this movie, I’m going to remember this.” He squeezed your hand back. “Who says you won’t see me again?”

Tag list: @sarahivi @lokiandbuckyaremine @pseudonymfox @puckerupplum @writing-for-a-chance @woodworthti666 @greenarrowhead @thejemersoninferno @marvelc00kie35 @lovely-dreamer19 @moondancewrites @ticklikeabomb @white-chocolate-mocha-fan @thenormreedus @lionhe04 @yafriendlyfangirl @lokilvrr

[n7soldiered]

1, 14, and 18 for the meme where you answer questions about john c:

WHAT MAKES YOU THE MOST EMOTIONAL ABOUT YOUR MUSE?

ugh, sara.  what doesn’t make me emotional about john?  okay, so i’ll be looking at this all through a paragade lens.  let me just say, i know i’m going to start blubbering somewhere, at some point, and i’m sorry about that lol.   @arianashepard

where to begin?  his awful childhood;  his constant loneliness;  his willingness to shoulder every burden, every responsibility, without a single word, because he would rather bear the weight of this onus than have someone else suffer with it.  when i think about john, in the midst of war, how the galaxy entrusted him with its fate and held him and every decision he made under relentless scrutiny, and yet, such a heavy burden never broke him as a man, the weight of responsibility never compromised his judgment? — wow, excuse me as i cry actual tears gbye

there are some events that continue to loop endlessly in my mind, too, like ME2′s opening events:  his death.  dying alone in space, burning up on re-entry and spinning down, down.

horizon.   horizon was such a hard time for john, and that makes me emotional because i don’t see john as someone who ‘breaks down’ easily.  he knows he can’t let shit get to him, can’t let it affect him, and when i ( over )think it, how horizon genuinely broke his heart, i wanna YELL.  it’s john’s whole self-conflict, really–that whole paradox in his mind, that’s what gets me.  he’s heartbroken after kaidan spurns his offer to join him, at the same time, it’s a direct contradiction to his own beliefs, because despite his reliable sense of optimism, john was certain he’d die destroying the collector base.  gosh, he was just so damned lonely, then.  seeing another familiar face had lifted his spirits so high, too, but it was ultimately fleeting.  the thought of john, desperately searching for something familiar—kaidan—but his blind, desperate grab for a scrap of familiarity overshot the one thing that could’ve possibly grounded him during all that chaos?  yo, catch me cryin’ in the club

ME3 is all-around emotional.  especially, when certain scenes/events makes shit really sink in for both the player and shepard:  john’s awareness that the darkness is real, his failures and fears are real, and the whispers that haunt him in nightmares and pursue him in consciousness are real — but wait, ( another favorite aspect ) that keen awareness never slowed him down, nor did it ever compromise his performance out on the field, because nobody knows it more than him;  one mistake, one slip-up, and it’s lights out.  for everyone.

this always makes me want to cry:  the brave and total acceptance of his fate — martyring himself for the chance the universe may keep going, even if only for a little while longer.

there’s so, so much.

oh, WAIT—thinking about how long john will live also gets me so ridiculously emotionAL AAA.  of course, in my canon, he survives the war.  a part of me thinks he’ll live to be 150 yrs old, no doubt, since he’s at least 30% synthetic post-ME2.  but the other part of me thinks he’ll live a shorter life for the same reasons.  will his cybernetics grant him more time to live?  or has this all been borrowed time?  will his cybernetics start failing when he’s older?

TIM spent 4 billion credits on bringing shepard back, but as far as we know, bringing someone back from a state of ‘meat and tubes’ has never been done before.  so, was that all ‘experimental’ technology?  who’s to say that tech was meant to last for years??    ugh.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSE TO SOMEONE ABOUT TO MEET THEM, IN PERSON, FOR THE FIRST TIME?

his name is john shepard, and he’s a fucking legend.  how you’ve never heard of him, i haven’t got the slightest idea, but he’s the nicest man you’ll ever meet in your entire life.  so, wipe the mud you’ve got smeared all over your hands ‘n face from the rock you’ve been living under and get yourself cleaned up, ‘cause i dunno if i mentioned, but he’s also insanely Good Looking.

WHAT ASPECT OF YOUR MUSE’S PERSONALITY IS MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU?

holy fucking shit—hands down, john’s mental + physical drive to keep going.  perseverance maxed-out at 200%, 24/7.  john’s his own damn unit, okay, and he tries so hard to stay optimistic.  he keeps fighting, despite everything.  it’s actually so moving, i can’t even begin to find the words to explain slkdfjkdf  excuse me, as i get a little personal here, but this is genuinely important to me.  as i’ve stated in my rules, i suffer from severe anxiety ( ocd ), add, depression, and i am fully diagnosed.  i’m physically disabled and visually impaired;  i have several chronic pain conditions that’s caused by damage to, or malfunction of, the peripheral and central nervous systems.  there’s not a day that goes by that i don’t feel like my nerve endings are fraying apart.  it’s excruciatingly painful, even agonizing for me to move some days, but—shit.  

john powers through his physical and mental exhaustion/pain like a one-man war machine.  he takes everything the universe throws at him in stride, and soldiers on—no matter what.  he doesn’t weigh his pain against the trillion or more lives he’d shouldered, won’t ask for a lighter burden—but for broader shoulders.  he constantly lives in the moment and holds his smile up, regardless of how strained it may look, with sheer willpower, even as the weight of the moons, the stars, and all the planets collapse on him. … and that’s so frickin’ inspiring, i really can’t help but to look up to the guy and draw strength from such a mindset.

hmm … above all, it’s how john never lost his humanity.  he never grew cold because of what happened to him.  reserved?  yes.  quiet?  yeah, sometimes.  but never cold.  never cruel.  he’s remained humble and kind and he’d never place himself above anyone.  he’s a gentle soul who’s suffered through hell but he refuses to allow his past to define him and how he treats others.  that’s how i wanna live my life, too, no joke.  john makes me wanna be a kinder person.  one of my favorite quotes from the game:  ❝i won’t let fear compromise who i am.❞   that mentality applies to more than just fear, i’m positive, and that’s just.  that’s just so good.  i love him sm sara omg

[thecryoftheseagulls]

Writer Reflection Meme

thank you to @emotionalmorphine for tagging me in this one! <3

Rules: answer the following questions about your own writing, whether fanfic or original. If you can’t/don’t want to answer a question, just put N/A. If you don’t have that many posted works, tell us about your WIPs or individual chapters/drabbles or even your ideas! Then tag as many writers as you like!

AO3 name and link, if applicable:

thecryoftheseagulls because I'm all about The Brand™

What’s your most popular fic, by whatever metric is most relevant to you (hits, kudos, comments, reblogs, some other trait)?

My size difference sheith fic with tol!Keith, We're Giants In A Little Man's World, quickly soared to the top of my stats, by every measurement. It's got 486 kudos, which is over a hundred more than my next closest fic, and it has an astonishing 291 subscribers right now because it's still a WIP. I've been writing rarepairs or for smaller fandoms for a long time so it's still hard to believe I have so many people waiting to read anything I'm writing...

What’s your favourite fic that you’ve written?

I'm so bad at picking a favorite of literally anything ever... I might say my most popular fenders fic, I Am Yours, because I took a lot of tropes that I had loved for a long time for that pairing and made a fic out of them. And it is also Complete, which is still an accomplishment for me, haha.

I also really, really love my fenhanders fic Reconcile because it's pretty damn unique in the scheme of DA2 fics, because I was/am writing it to be the fic I wanted when I was playing DA2 for the first time. But it's not complete yet, and it hasn't been updated in a long time. I will finish it someday, but I don't know when.

What’s your best fic, and is it different from your favourite fic?

I’m not sure how to measure my “best” fic. Most of my fics are only minimally polished -- I generally post slightly edited second drafts, and I don’t usually have a beta.

There are a couple of fics that stick with me because of their subject matter.  My Body is a Cage (My Mind Holds the Key) and these hands are not mine both deal with feeling uncomfortable in your own skin, which is something that I’ve thought a lot about over the last few years as I’ve come to understand my own trans-ness. They’re both about entirely different characters from entirely different fandoms - Desmond Miles from Assasin’s Creed and Shiro from Voltron: Legendary Defender, respectively -- but they’re kind of spiritual twins in my book, about something that weighs on my mind a lot. I spent more time working and reworking them both than I usually do. 

I’m...not sure about We’re Giants in a Little Man’s World right now. Originally, I had planned to write the entirety of that fic ahead, and then post it in installments. So I wrote a substantial chunk of the first five chapters in advance, and polished them more than usual. I’m proud of that. But I worry that the alternate universe elements, the timey-wimey stuff, is taking me away from an accurate portrayal of Keith and Shiro’s voices. They’re not their canon selves, but I don’t want to make them unrecognizable, an I worry that I am. Voice has always been very important to me in my writing; it’s the thing I get the most compliments on across my fandoms and even in my original fiction. It’s important to me that I get it right, which is why I’m working on editing that one a bit before I finish the next chapter. I’m not sure that We’re Giants is going to be my best fic, even if it is far and away my most popular. I think I’ll have to finish it to find out.

Do you have a fic whose popularity surprised you?

Anytime I write for a large or active fandom, I’m always surprised by how popular my stuff is. I have a stucky one shot that’s like, the barest scrap of a thing, and it’s in my top 3 for kudos. All my sheith stuff is still surprisingly popular. But the one that surprises me the most is this weird little series here, which aren’t even fics at all, just some roleplays that @delazeur and I did together that I wanted to archive. They’re very cute and they’re some of my best roleplays ever but like...I literally did not expect anyone else to ever read them, and yet the first installment in that series has 26 kudos and nearly 1000 views. It’s REAL wild to me.

Do you have a fic you wish more people would read?

So 4 years ago or so I wrote this fic on tumblr in installments that I called “bad decisions one night stand fic” while it was in progress, which was just my Shepard like, getting drunk and having a one night stand before the start of the first Mass Effect game. It was one of if not the first times I ever wrote smut, and it does not get much attention because it’s Shepard/OC (it’s literally got 2 kudos since I moved it to ao3 lol) but I still like it. I think it’s a decent character study of my colonist + sole survivor Shep.

Is there a ship or fandom you haven’t written, but really want to?

After The Force Awakens came out, I got sucked into kylux because of the Children, Wake Up series. I’ve lowkey wanted to write something for that pairing since then, although it’s not a ship I have a lot of Feelings about these days if I’m being honest. I had Ideas, though; there’s this astolat fic with some really....intriguing dom/sub dynamics from an entirely other fandom that I wanted to steal some ideas from and iirc Hux was going to be force-sensitive too and Ren was going to be a bottom and it was all very kinky, I’m sure.

I have also never written anything for Harry Potter because I came super late to that fandom -- I had very religious parents, so I didn’t see any of the movies or read any of the books until I was 18. But I’ve been watching nyxrising’s The Growing Pains of Harry Potter videos on youtube lately and like, god, I have a lot of feelings??? I want to do something inspired by that. Maybe a drarry fic, maybe not. But it would have a trans Harry and it would be set post-series in a kind of epilogue-what-epilogue scenario and it would be all about like, what do you do, when you’re a chosen one who was destined to die, and then you didn’t? What do you do with the rest of your life? I’m just really interested in ex-chosen one stories and stories about learning to Adult in the real world ok.

Tell us a random fact about your writing process:

I’ve probably said this before, but I make a lot of playlists. Music helps jump-start my writing, gets me in the mood I want to be able to actually sit down and write a fic and avoid writer’s block, so it’s pretty important to me. Often I’ll have a whole playlist for a fic or for a pairing; sometimes I’ll just listen to a single song on repeat while I’m writing a chapter or a one shot. That’s part of the reason why so many of my fics have song lyrics for their titles; it’s really easy to just grab a line from whatever song I’m using for inspiration at the time in order to title a fic.

Tagging: @rosemary-andtime, @khirsahle, @neyasochi, @bemused-writer, @draco-illius-noctis, @penthesilea1623, and @shadoedseptmbr (and if you wanna do it and I didn’t tag you, feel free! I’d love to read your answers)

[babylon-bitch]

Just Friends ~ Best Friends (part 77)

A/N: this is it, the final chapter of Just Friends. It's been like a year and a half, give or take, and it's a bitter sweet moment. I've loved the process, this is the first fic I've finished, but I'm also glad for it to be over, so I can move on to other things. This whole fic was more for me, I needed to finish it for myself, and I'm proud of it, I've been busting out 3k chapters every week (well not so much this past month lmao) so it's going to be weird not having to write so much and have a sort of deadline. Idk what to do with my life now ahh, this was a big part of me for a long time. Hope you guys loved this book as much as I did, come cry in my inbox :(

Harper White is best friends with Luke Hemmings, they always have been. Not only is she  friends with the rockstar, but with the rest of 5 Seconds Of Summer, as well as a really nice girl named Erika.

Harper has a few secrets, she can play all the instruments the boys play and many more. It's a talent she has kept hidden, only very few people know.

What will happen to the six teens, wondering around the world together?

***

Picking my pen back up, I write down the new chords after scrapping the last 3 attempts of writing a third verse. Going back to Luke's guitar, I play around, looking for the next sequence.

Mumbling the lyrics from the start to myself, I get all the way to the thrid verse, but I don't know where to go next, I know what direction I want to go in, but I'm not sure on what chords to use next.

Groaning, I rest my head on the headboard, deciding to take a break.

"What's up?" Luke asks from his side of the bed where he's on his phone, who was enjoying the quiet background music until it paused.

"I can't find the next piece. I know where I want to go, it needs to go lower, but I'm already on second fret, and anything on first sounds too clashy or not what I want." I explain.

Luke and I are both at his house, hanging out as we haven't seen too much of each other these past couple days, as I've been busy with revision, and Luke's been busy getting ready to move and spending time with his family. Originally we were having laptop time, but then I had an idea and I didn't want to forget it, but now I wish I did because it's going to bug me that I can't figure this out.

"Why don't you barre first fret for an f." He suggests.

"Tried it, it's a little too high." I reply, doing a demo for him.

"What about you take this shape up to seventh fret, and then go down to second." Luke tries to help, and I test it out.

"It could work." I muse.

"Or you could take your middle finger off." He says, tapping my finger.

I nod, and work on it some more, gaining some new found motivation from him.

There's a gentle knock at the door, making both of us pause, looking over towards the door.

"Come in." Luke grants access and in comes Liz.

"Hey, we're going out now, and I'm expecting a package so if you could keep an ear out that'd be great." She informs.

"Yeah, of course." He nods. "How long are you going to be?" Luke asks.

"An hour or so, not too long." She shrugs.

"Okay, bye." He waves.

"Bye." I smile with a wave.

She leaves the room, quietly closing the door behind her, and we hear her whistling as she goes down the stairs.

"Do your parents know we're together again?" I ask.

"I think they have an idea, I haven't told them I don't think." He replies.

"What makes you think they have an idea?" I raise an eyebrow, quietly strumming the piece I was previously working on.

"Well for starters we've been spending more time at each others houses, without the group, and I think my mum saw us kiss the other day." He answers. "They're not mad about it, so it's fine." He shrugs, and I get up, putting Luke's guitar back on the stand, deciding to give my brain a break.

"So you're saying they left two teenagers alone in a house that they know are romantically involved with each other?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"I guess so." He nods, struggling to contain his smirk.

"Bye!" We hear multiple voices shout.

"Bye!" We say back and then the door slams shut, leaving us alone.

"I have no idea what we could do for over an hour all alone." Luke says.

"We could watch tv." I suggest, and straddle his waist, his hands instantly reaching for my hips.

"As if." He tells me.

"Or we could take a nap." I reply.

"You're gonna need one later." He winks, making me me laugh.

"In your dreams, Hemmings." I chuckle, leaning down. "If anything it's me tirering you out."

"What can I say? You're a piece of work." He claims.

"I'm offended." I state.

"And overly sensitive." He pokes my sides, making me annoyed.

"Stop." I whine, swatting his hands away.

"Yeah the weather is nice today." He ignores me, continuing to poke at my sides, causing me to wiggle around.

"Stop." I tell him, grabbing his hands and pinning them on either side of his head.

"Ooooh, getting confident are we?" Luke teases and I stare down at him in annoyance.

"I hate you so much." I mumble making him smirk.

"Sure you do, babe." He smirks, pecking my lips, making me smile.

I close the gap between us, shutting him up effectively, and he seems to like my action of choice as he kisses me back just as eagerly. His hands travel from my hips, going up and down my back for a few moments, before he buries a hand into my hair.

Luke swipes his tongue over my lip, but I deny it and bite his lip, letting it snap back into place when I inch away slightly with a small smirk. He whines, and I kiss him again, enjoying the feeling of being in control, it gives me a thrill because usually it's Luke in control.

Feeling Luke's fingertips lift my shirt up slightly and tracing random shapes on my sides, I lose concentration very briefly.

"You're really pretty." I mumble against his lips, making him smile slightly.

"You're really hot." He tells me.

"Straight to the point as always, Hemmings." I chuckle.

"You love it." He replies, trailing his hands up my thighs that are planted on either side of his hips.

I connect our lips again, our lips moving in sync and are super urgent. Just as we're finding common ground, Luke takes me by surprise and flips us over, me squealing in the process. I open my legs wider for him to settle in between more comfortably. Luke slips his tongue into my mouth, and I lightly suck on it, making him groan slightly and I wickedly grin.

"You're wearing way too many clothes for my liking." Luke informs after some time as he finishes marking my skin.

"Yeah?" I breathe as he devotes some time to my sweet spot.

"Mm." He hums, pulling away, admiring his work.

I sit up slightly, pulling my shirt over my head, throwing it off to the side. Luke groans, before leaning down to attack my chest, I move some of my hair out the way as he decorates my skin.

"Can I?" Luke asks as he traces his fingers over the clasp of my bra.

"Only if you take your shirt off." I respond.

Luke and I haven't gotten this far in a while. Since we've gotten back together, we've made out many times, he's taken my shirt off a few times, as has he, but we always stop before it gets too heated. There's been one time where he got slightly further than taking my shirt off, but then my family came home so it put a pause on that.

Throwing his shirt to the floor, he slightly anxiously reaches behind me for the clasp, and lets put a tiny breath when it unhooks. Gingerly pulling the straps down my arms, he discards the rather expensive garment, then leans down again, beginning to lick at my nipple, whilst his other hand does a mix between playing with my other one and wondering over my body.

His fingertips trail down my stomach reaching my jeans when he kisses me, making my breathing hitch ever so slightly. Ghosting over my jean covered heat  I let out a heavy exhale, a little annoyed when he doesn't do anything else, he just travels further away from where I want him.

"Don't play that game, Hemmings." I warn him.

"What game?" He smirks.

"This game." I tell him, and run my hand over his progressively hardening length making him bite his lip, then keep going until I reach his chest.

"I'll play fair." He caves, making me smile in triumph "For now." He mutters.

"Is this okay?" Luke asks as he plays with the button on my jeans.

"Please." I urge, and he undos the button, followed by the zipper, he slides my jeans down my legs, dropping them without blinking. Starting from my ankle, Luke runs his hand all the way up my leg, to the place that's practically been crying out his name. Rubbing loose circles over my clothed clit, making me let out a small whimpers, he then runs a single finger down my heat, causing me to bite my lip.

Moving my underwear to the side, Luke runs his fingers through my folds collecting all my juices, bringing it up towards my clit.

"Damn, you're absolutely soaked, baby." Luke groans and I let out a moan at the pleasure of his fingers.

"Fuck." I mutter, arching my back.

"What do you want? Do you want my fingers babygirl? My mouth maybe?" He questions.

"Fingers." I manage to get out.

Luke slides down to my entrance, circling briefly before slipping his finger inside me, and I cry out his name, biting my lip to suppress any noises.

"Let it out baby, you know I like it when you're loud. We're all alone, scream out my name." Luke says, dragging his bottom lip over my shoulder as he adds another finger.

Curling his fingers up, I let out a moan, gripping the sheets tightly, as the feeling ripples over me. Feeling Luke's other hand go to my clit, beginning to rub the throbbing nub, giving me another level of pleasure that drives me closer to my high.

Luke begins to pump his fingers faster and picks his pace up on my clit, making me a moaning mess. He takes his hand off my clit briefly to push my leg back down, but quickly resumes, and edges me closer.

"You close baby?" Luke asks.

"Yeah." I manage to get out.

"Good." He smirks, and without warning pulls his hand away, gently slips his fingers out, which are covered in my arousal.

"Wha-What are you doing?" I question, feeling my orgasm slip away from me.

"Suck." He says, ignoring my question and brings his fingers towards my mouth.

"I thought we decided to play fair." I state, Luke opening my mouth by pulling my jaw down with his thumb.

"I didn't promise anything, I just said for now. Now be a good girl and do what I say." He tells me, and I take his fingers into my mouth, splitting his fingers between either side of my tongue, tasting myself. "That's right, just like that." He praises as I finish. Luke connects our lips, wanting a taste himself, and he moans slightly, situating himself between my legs.

Pulling away Luke stands up, taking his jeans off, stripping all the way down, and I feel my stomach flip in excitement. Climbing back on top of me, he presses a few kisses to my collar bones.

"Do you want to do this?" He asks.

"Yeah, it's all I want right now." I answer.

"Alright." He nods, and pumps himself a few times, before reaching into his bedside table, pulling a condom out. Opening it up and rolling it over his length, he hovers over me again, pecking my lips lightly.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" Luke asks.

"Yes, just go slowly at first, because it's kinda been a while." I explain and he nods understandingly.

Teasing my entrance slightly, he edges himself in slowly, groaning in the process. Eventually he's all the way in, and pauses to let me adjust. "You okay?"

"Yeah, move." I give him the green light and he begins to slowly move his hips, not being able to control his moans.

"Fucking hell." He curses, burying his head into my neck, and I moan, tugging at his his curls.

***

"How much have you learnt so far?" I ask Luke as we both sit on the stool that accompanies a piano.

"Well I've picked a few things up over the years, but I've been properly learning over these past few weeks, it's not much, just a few songs, the terminology, and new chords." He explains, pressesing a few keys down. "How long have you been playing exactly?"

"Since I was like 10 or 11." I answer, playing the riff to one of my songs.

"Woah." He mutters.

"I could teach you, that'd be quite cute." I tell him, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Maybe." He nods, running his fingers through my hair. "Have we ever sung together?"

"Yeah, many times." I say.

"But like, properly, no messing around, and taking it seriously." Luke explains.

"I don't think so." I shake my head.

"Do you want to sing something together?" He suggests.

"Yeah, any ideas on what?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Death Of A Bachelor by Panic!?"

"Let me just look up the chords." I mumble, picking my phone up, and search it up.

"1, 2, 3." I count, placing my phone in my lap, Luke taking a big breath before beginning.

"Do I look lonely? I see the shadows on my face People have told me I don't look the same Maybe I lost weight I'm playing hooky With the best of the best Pull my heart out my chest So that you can see it too." Luke sings his verse as I concentrate on the piano.

"I'm walking the long road Watching the sky fall The lace in your dress Tangles my neck How do I live?" Luke sings.

"The death of a bachelor Oh oh-oh Letting the water fall The death of a bachelor Oh oh-oh Seems so fitting for Happily ever after Whooo How could I ask for more? Lifetime of laughter At the expense of the death of a bachelor." We harmonize, our voices moulding together perfectly.

"I'm cutting my mind off Feels like my heart is going to burst Alone at a table for two And I just want to be served And when you think of me Am I the best you've ever had? Share one more drink with me Smile even though you're sad." I sing.

"I'm walking the long road Watching the sky fall The lace in your dress Tangles my neck How do I live?" Luke sings.

"The death of a bachelor Oh oh-oh Letting the water fall The death of a bachelor Oh oh-oh Seems so fitting for Happily ever after Whooo How could I ask for more? Lifetime of laughter At the expense of the death of a bachelor." I sing

"The death of a bachelor Oh oh-oh Letting the water fall The death of a bachelor Oh oh-oh Seems so fitting for Happily ever after Whooo How could I ask for more? Lifetime of laughter At the expense of the death of a bachelor." We both sing, the high notes falling effortlessly.

Adding a little unnecessary lick once we're done singing, I look over at Luke who's staring at the keys.

"We should do that more often." I smile.

"Totally." He agrees, leaning down slightly to peck my lips, making me smile.

"Hey guys." A voice pulls us away as they knock on the door.

Turning around we see Liz with her camera by her side, leaning against the doorway.

"Most of the people are here now, so if you want to come down feel free, even your friends are here and Calum's complaining about you not being there." Liz softly explains.

Luke's parents are hosting a party/bbq this afternoon/evening, it's kinda a thing for everyone in Luke's family to see him before he leaves, but apparently they haven't seen everyone in a while so it seemed like a perfect plan.

It's been going on for about an hour and a bit now, originally we were outside with everyone saying our hellos and having polite conversations, but we got bored soon enough and Luke dragged me upstairs to his room.

"Okay, we'll be down in a second." Luke sends her a small smile, she nods and walks away. "You should really put some of your music out, your voice is so good, and you're so talented in all these instruments, you could really make something big out of it." Luke comments, standing up, holding his hand out to help me up.

"We've gone over this before." I tell him, hooking my arms around his neck.

"We have?" He raises an eyebrow with a smile, wrapping an arm around me.

"Yes. My music is for me and only me, I don't want to go anywhere with it, I'm happy with where I am." I exasperate.

"Whatever makes you happy, babe." He mumbles against my lips, and I capture his lips.

"We really should go join everyone." I inform after a few minutes of kissing.

"But you're so much more interesting." He whines, clinging onto me for dear life, burying his face in my shoulder.

"You get to see me for another day, these people won't see you for ages." I tell him, rubbing my hand up and down his back.

"I haven't seen these people in months/years, I think they can manage it again." Luke replays.

I laugh shaking my head, pulling away from him, I grab his hand beginning to pull him out his room.

"There you guys are!" Calum exclaims as we walk out the door.

"What have you been doing?" Michael wiggles his eyebrows, and Luke does a half nod with a smirk, making me punch him.

Sitting down, Luke sits down next to me lifting his arm up, and I lean into his side playing with his fingers, firing up some conversation with multiple people.

***

Throwing the lid on the table, I lean back into Luke taking a sip of my beer, watching everyone. Some people are a little too tipsy for a family gathering, some people are laughing loudly, some people look as if they're in a deep conversation, some people are in little groups that they haven't left all afternoon, some children are playing together and running around, and then there are people that are taking in the moment. 

"What you thinking about, pretty girl?" Luke asks quietly, kissing my temple, making me look up at him.

"Just looking at everyone, they all look so happy." I answer.

"Yeah, it's nice." He agrees. "'m gonna miss this."

"What?" I question, looking at the golden patch on his hair. It's golden hour so there's patches of gold everywhere.

"Hanging out with everyone, being able to relax, everything is so calm." He says.

"Yeah?"

He nods. "I'm going to miss you the most though."

"Me, too." I pout, and he pecks my lips, making me smile at the gesture.

"When are we gonna see each other again?" Luke asks, pulling some hair away from my face.

"I don't know, maybe at Easter, or even later." I sigh, fiddling with the loose thread on his jeans.

"We'll make it through right? We're going to be okay with the distance right?" Luke questions.

"Of course, we managed to practically get through a whole year without seeing each other, so a few months is nothing." I reassure.

"You know that was one of the hardest things I've had to go through in my life, and a couple months ago this is what I dreamed of. I felt as if this could never happen, I honestly thought my life was over, there was nothing fun in it anymore once you left, my main source of happiness left me, I didn't know what to do. So I guess you're right, a few months is nothing."

"This time we're going to go through it together, our relationship is completely different from what it once was." I say. "Ride or die, remember?"

"I sure do." He laughs.

"I used to think I hated you for a solid 6 months, I'd avoid everything to do with you, despite the cost. I'd just sit there, despising you, my blood boiling, replaying everything we'd ever been through, I created this character in my head that was so unlike you. We could've handled the break up a lot better than we did."

"You think?" He raises an eyebrow.

"For sure, there were so many things we could've just talked about. We could've dealt with it in a more... responsible manner." I shrug.

"I guess someone is super stubborn, sensitive, and can hold grudges until they die." He teases.

"And that someone is you." I drawl, poking him.

"Sure, babe."

"Uh, excuse you, you're unbelievably stubborn, can be sensitive, and you still despise Jordon from primary school because he copied your drawing, so pipe down and look in a mirror." I state, getting worked up.

"I am not sensitive." He defends, and my jaw drops.

He laughs at my expense before kissing me, and I can't help but lose myself in it, blocking the world out so it's just him and I. Luke slips his tongue into my mouth, squeezing my side, letting out a quiet moan when I play with his lipring. I can't help but laugh against his lips for no real reason, I just got this wave of laughter.

"What?" He says, laughing with me, neither of us pulling away.

"I don't even know." I say, struggling to contain my giggles. Luke captures my lips again, our laughter being mixed in between.

"Guys, can you keep your hands off each other for 5 minutes?" Michael groans.

"We're at a family gathering, its inappropriate!" Ashton exclaims.

Luke and I pull apart, looking at each other annoyance before looking at everyone. "One day you'll understand, but for the time being, you enjoy your lonely single life." Luke pats Ashton's arm.

"To be fair, would you rather the both of them being all moody and annoying or quiet?" Calum states.

"You've got a point." Ashton nods.

"It's still gross." Michael mumbles and I flip him off, which causes him to flip me off too, with a smile this time.

"I hate you guys." I tell them.

"I hate you too."

It's weird because when we say that, it actually means we appreciate each other, but because feelings are too sappy, that's our substitute. I don't know what I'd do without these guys, we've been through everything together, and you can't really ruin that kind of friendship.

"Could you hold on to my camera for a minute? I need to sort something out." Liz requests.

"Of course." I say, taking it from her hands and placing it on the table.

"Thank you, I'll be back in a second." She smiles gratefully, then she walks away. She's been snapping pictures all afternoon, it'd be interesting to see what she's captured.

Luke leans forward, snatching the camera off the table, taking the lens cap off, and starts pointing it at random things/people.

"You know Liz won't be very happy with you if you keep that up." I sing, and he points the camera at me, I flip him off looking at him in annoyance.

"She doesn't need to know." He says.

"I'm in love with an idiot." I faceplam.

"Yeah, you are." He smiles, giving me a knowing a look. "Who would've thought that I'd get Harper White?" Luke smirks.

"Everyone, everyone besides us." I deadpan.

"How were we so oblivious for so long?" He laughs.

"No idea, all I can say is that I'm happy with how we've turned out." I tell him, intertwining our fingers.

"It's kinda strange how you're drawn to certain people. Like I could never imagine not being drawn to you, and everyone around this table are some of my favourite people, we've drifted apart this past year and there's been a few other times where that's happened, but we've always come back. We always come back to each other, despite how far apart we manage to drift. I honestly think it's always going to be like that, I couldn't imagine not seeing everyone all the time, even when we're like 70, I still see it. You and I are weird because I've spent my literal whole life with you, when I was a kid I always saw you in my life, not necessarily as lovers, but you were always there, and I don't want to not have you in my life, that's one of my nightmares. It's funny how the people you love always seem to come back." Luke tells me, squeezing my hand.

"And you said you weren't sensitive." I tease.

"Shut up." He laughs.

"I guess the heart wants what it wants." I state, and he smiles pecking my lips, before wrapping his arms around me, and giving me a hug.

Even though I tease him, he's right. The people you truly love, find their way back to you. Whether that's platonic, romantic, even family relationships. You're automatically drawn to certain people, and eventually you find your ride or dies, for some people that takes years, but for me I found mine really early in life, and I'm so happy.

My best friend is still my best friend, despite our relationship, he's always going to my best friend. And honestly being in love with your best friend is one of the most amazing things ever.

[strangerstuffandthingsimagines]

Even Though It Hurts Pt.1 (Steve Harrington x Reader)

Song Inspiration: “Hoodie” - Hey Violet

Request: how are you i’m good lol okay so can you make some about steve the kids and them fighting demodogs and stuff and can you make it more than one chapter but still long you don’t have to omg i am asking for to much sorry to bother you hope your day is great also if you do tag me -  @im-a-stranger-thing 

Part 2

Warning: Curse words

A/N: I hope you like it so far! I plan on making this a two part series (depending on the next part, we could get three). This first part might not be as good as this is my first time writing for Steve, but I want to make the second part more deep so please be patient! haha hope you like it!

P.S. I finished the show “Star” and Brittany O’Grady has been my latest obsession, she’s really great in broadway productions and acting in drama, so I had to make a gif of her and use it for this story.

GIF Info: I’ve recently discovered the beauty of GIPHY so I’ve been making my own so yeah lol

“I’m coming!” you called, jogging down the hall toward the kitchen, nearly tripping over a heap of hockey gear. You rolled your eyes and shoved the pile to the side with your foot, muttering under your breath about how messy 12 year old boys were.

You entered the kitchen were your aunt stood stirring a pot of something, probably a new experimental dish.

“Did you need something?” You asked as she had called to you only moments ago.

“Oh yes dear!” She said twirling around, her cheeks rosy from the warmth of the stove. “Dusty went out to look for mewsy but it’s getting dark and I’m a little worried.”

Ever since the youngest Byers boy had gone missing the year before all parents seemed a little on edge.

Your family was having some financial issues so to help take off some stress your aunt had offered to take you in. You weren’t new to Hawkins, in fact you visited every summer since you were three.

“You want me to go look for him?” You asked, already pulling on your coat that had been sitting over the kitchen chair.  “I think I know where he is.”

Whenever  Dustin dragged you along with him you’d go to this junkyard and help him look through the scraps. You’d look for cool things to make Star Wars replicas with and things like that.

“Can I borrow the car?” You asked your aunt, who was probably the sweetest woman on the face of the earth.

“Sure thing sweetie, the keys are by the front door.” She said as she continued to stir the...soup? The woman wasn’t the best cook but you’d never tell her that.

You squinted as you tried to navigate through the fog, the headlights barely making a difference.

The car struggled to get up the hill, the tires had hardly any grip on the dirt backroads. You recognized the old school bus, from what you could tell and pulled over.

You hugged yourself as the air was cool and the fog thick.

“Dustin?” You called out, your eyes squinting through the fog. “Dustin are you out here?”

A hand wrapped around your mouth, you trashed around in their grip.

“Stop it’s me.” A voice said, you were too scared to process whose it was.

You jerked backward as more hands grabbed and pulled you into the school bus. You fell to the floor of the bus from the force of who ever was tugging at you.

“Y/N what the hell are you doing here.” Dustin said crouching next to you.

You gave him a bewildered look, as if you were in the wrong. You looked around to see the three others who accompanied your younger cousin. You recognized Lucas, he’d gotten a little taller but looked otherwise the same. He gave you a little wave, you returned with a nod.

“What am I doing here?” You said a little angry now. “What am I doing? What are you doing Dustin? Your moms worried sick, it’s dark out. The least you could say is ‘thanks Y/N for making sure I wasn’t dead in a ditch.”

Dustin shoved a hand in your face, using his other to motion up and down.

“Keep your voice down, they are going to hear you.” Dustin warned, Lucas nodding in agreement.

You rolled your eyes and swatted his hand away.

“Listen if this is some dungeon and dragons shit I’m going to-“

“It’s not.” The same voice from earlier said, now realizing you never noticed who it was. Steve Harrington stood with a serious look on his face, a baseball bat with nails hammered through it resting on his shoulder.

“Steve?” You asked, now completely confused with a horrified expression plastered on your face.

The summer before he and Nancy Wheeler got together you had shared your first kiss with him. Not only that but you had become good friends that summer, and to find out from Dustin that Steve was now with Nancy hurt quite a bit.

“Okay that’s it,” You said throwing your hands up in defeat. “I’m going home, have fun playing your little games. Get a ride from Babe Ruth over here.”

“Babe?” Steve repeated with eyebrows raised.

“The baseball player dumbass!” You explained, trying to get around steve.

“Y/N, no! I’m being serious, you can’t go out there. If you leave I’ll never- Uh- never talk to you again.” Dustin threatened, frantically trying to block the door to the bus. “I’ll eat all your mint ice cream!”

You rolled your eyes giving him irritated sigh.

“Are you being serious right now?” You said, finally surrendering to his silly attempts to make you stay.

“They are being serious, I didn’t believe them at first but they are.” The red head girl piped up, dustin rolled his eyes.

“No one asked you, why are you even here” he snapped, completely out of character and out of line.

You smacked the back of his head, obviously not aggressively or too hard but just to snap him out of his attitude.

“Why are you being such a dick?” You scolded, becoming motherly.

“Ow, jeez Y/N!” Dustin said, adjusting the hat you had nearly taken off.

You sat at the back of the bus, one knee bent as the other leg extended off the seat. You fiddled with the fraying thread on the knee of your jeans, waiting for whatever the fuck was going on to be over. You weren’t sure why you decided to say, it wasn’t like you really believed the bullshit story they were feeding you. You convinced yourself it was just something to do, considering you read every single one of Dustin’s comics and there was no way you were actually going to do homework,

“Hey.” Steve said, taking a seat across from you. Your chest tightened, feeling nervous around him for whatever reason.

“Hi.” You said without looking up, now picking at the nail polish on your thumb.

Steve shifted uncomfortably, turning his bat around in his hands.

“So, how’ve you been?” He asked, glancing up from his hands to see if you were going to look at him.

“Shitty.” You said with a shrug. “I didn’t have much of a choice moving here, my grades are pretty crappy and I’m pretty sure you are all lying to me about whats really going on.”

Steve ran his tongue along his bottom lip before letting out a dry laugh.

“If you knew, you’d lose your shit.” He said a playful grin on his face.

You moved to the edge of your seat, your knees now nearly touching his.

“Would I?” You asked, returning the look. “I don’t know Harrington, living in New York makes you see some pretty bizarre things.”

As he was about to say something in return, he took a double take at your outfit. 

“Nice sweater.” He said, his grin now twisting into a smirk .

Your eyebrows furrowed as looked down at the sweater you wore underneath your denim jacket.

“Thanks?” You replied,  wondering what Steve was on about.

Steve turned toward you, elbows on his knees his chin resting on top of his hands in a prayer like position.

“You don’t remember do you?” He asked, the corners of his mouth still pulled upward.

You shook your head laughing still not understanding what was going on.

“That’s my sweater, remember? I gave it to you when you were cold, like two, summers ago.” He explained, a proud look on his face.

You reached behind your head and pulled at the nape of your hoodie, pulling it as far as you could to the side to get a better look at the tag.

“shit” you thought to yourself. You had kept his sweater, never really making an effort to give it back. You had worn it to bed a few times, because it was warm, not because you missed Steve or anything like that...that would be weird.

You saw the “S.H” written in a faded sharpie on the tag, now having no way to get around this mess.

“Oh shit, you’re right” You said scratching the back of your neck. “Do you want it back?”

His chin held high and clearly smug about the idea you still had and wore his hoodie. You looked away from him, tapping your knees as you tried to find somewhere else to give your attention to.

“How’s Nancy?” You asked, finally returning his gaze. “Dustin mentioned you guys are going steady.”

“Going steady?” Steve said giving you an amused look. “I didn’t know we were living it up in the 50’s”

You gave his shoulder a shove, now laughing with him.

“Says Elvis Presley himself” You quipped, playfully reaching up to mess up his hair, in which he caught your wrist still laughing himself.

“Not the hair!” He dramatically exclaimed, falling backwards on the seat. Pulling you down with him, you rolled off his chest and onto the floor with a thud.

“Would you two stop making out for five minutes and keep your voices down.” Dustin whisper yelled, giving Steve an annoyed look.

“Yeah Steve keep it down.” You mocked between laughs, placing a finger over your lips to jokingly scold Steve.

The two of you regained some composure and just sat in silence for awhile.

“Listen, I’m sorry I stopped writing to you. Things just sort of got busy here, a lot was going on.” Steve tried to explain, a mixture of guilt and regret on his face.

You looked up from under your eyelashes, your mouth in a hard line.

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Steve, it’s fine. It’s not like we were together.” You sadly admitted. You arms crossed tightly as you glared out the window, although there wasn’t much to look at.

Steve let out a whistle, tapping his foot as the atmosphere was getting more and more awkward.

“I guess karma got me,” he announced, this grabbing your attention. “Nancy dumped me...pretty sure for Jonathan Byers.”

Your eyebrows tilted upward sympathetically, the hurt evident on Steve’s face. From what you knew of Nancy, she seemed pretty nice, and you only knew the surface of the situation so you weren’t going to pass judgements on her too quickly.

“That’s...rough man.” You said, patting his knee in a poor attempt to show your sympathy. “If it’s meant to be, it’ll be...right?”

“Thanks?” Steve responded giving you a funny look.

Lucas climbed up onto the roof of the bus acting as the lookout, You and Steve joined Max and Dustin closer to the front. Steve flicked the lighter on and off, the clicking slowly driving you up the wall.

“So you really fought one of these things before?” Max asked as she watched Steve mess around with the lighter. “And you're, like, totally 100% sure it wasn’t a bear?

Before Steve could answer your younger cousin piped in, almost aggressively.

“Shit. Don’t be an idiot. Okay? It wasn’t a bear. Why are you even here if you don’t believe us? Just go home.” He snapped at Max who had done nothing to provoke this behaviour. This obviously pushed her away as she now joined Lucas on the roof.

 You sat across from Steve watching in horror at Dustin’s behaviour, your lips pursed and your eyelids fluttering quickly in disbelief.

“That’s good.” Steve complimented, clearly impressed. “Just show her you don’t care.”

“I don’t,” Dustin said shortly, Steve shooting back a wink.

You were pissed off, to say the least, not only by Dustin’s behaviour but Steve’s encouragement of it.

“Um excuse me?” You questioned, eyebrow raised at the boys. “But what the fuck was that? What the hell has gotten into you?”. Dustin rolled his eyes, slumping in the seat where Max had sat before.

“You wouldn’t get it.” He explained, his hands balled into small fists.

You stood up from your seat and walked over to him, hands placed firmly on your hips.

“Yeah? Why is that? Last time I checked I’m a girl, and I know for a fact that girls don’t like being treated like shit.” You snapped, clearly upset by how he was treating Max.

“I don’t know what Mr Casanova has been telling you, but from a girls perspective, you’re acting like a tool.”

Before either of them could respond to you, the eerie sound of some sort of wailing animal cut the conversation short.

Steve and Dustin scrambled to the window, peaking through the blinders, watching the fog for movement.  Your arms rested on their shoulders, now joining their gaze.

“What the hell is that?” You whispered, your stomach buzzing with nerves.

“What’s it doing,” Dustin said, his eyes not moving away from the fog.

Your fingers moved toward the window, clutching the grate that covered it. You analyzed the creature that moved around in the distance.

“It looks like a big lizard, like a Komodo dragon. You know those things with the poisonous spit? From Indonesia, I think.” You rambled on, trying to wrap your head around what was happening.

“He’s not taking the bait, why isn’t he taking the bait?” Steve asked.

“Maybe he’s not hungry,” Dustin replied, both breathing rather heavily.

“Maybe it’s sick of cow.” Steve said backing up, eyes fixed on the creature.

Steve grabbed his bat, Dustin following after him with concern. You came to your senses and realized what Steve was doing.

“Steve, you can’t go out there.” You said, now closely behind him.

“Be ready.” He said dismissing your concerns, tossing Dustin the lighter.

Steve hesitantly stepped out, making his way carefully toward the pile of raw beef that laid a few feet away from the bus.

As he taunted the creature you could hear Lucas muttering about something on the roof, you climbed the later to see what was going on.

“Holy shit there’s more of them.” He said frantically. “Steve, Steve there’s more!”

You quickly climbed down the latter, jumping from the third step. You got on the floor and crawled, looking for a weapon to help Steve.

“What are you doing?” Dustin asked, peeling his eyes away from the scene unfolding before them.

“Buses.” You said with a gasp. “Buses they-they have emergency axes in case the bus flips on its side.”

Your hands reached around under the spot where the bus driver seat was, although it was lopsided and a falling apart. Your hands now coated in dust and grime as you wildly rummaged around.

“Got it.” You said getting up as you pulled the axe out and up with you.

Without hesitation you ran off the bus, quietly closing the door behind you, careful not to alert any of the creatures that had begun to lurk around Steve.

You got into a low crouched position, keeping the chances of detection low. Crawling on top of the nearest cars hood, you slowly inching yourself further onto the windshield. You cringed every time the glass cracked under your weight, already weak from the cracks created over time.

You caught a glimpse of one of the lizard demo-thingy’s, its tail waving around as it focused on its prey.

It was getting the upper hand on Steve, but you had the upper hand on it. You got to your feet, careful not to lose balance. You let out a slow breath, trying to calm down before swinging the axe and slicing into the demodog.

This now taking the attention off of Steve and onto you.

“Shit.” You said as the dogs began closing in on you, gooey blood dripping down the handle of your axe. “Shit. Shit. Shit.” 

Steve regained his composure and began swinging at the demodogs that had begun toward you, allowing a window of time for you to sprint to his side and help mow down the creatures.