#Oliver never cared as much for the idea of actually gaining powers and was more confident as a medic

[scootersscooter]

I think Oliver should've been allowed an arc where after being confronted with him not being naturally gifted with his powers he hid in medicine and became the team medic, eventually coming to the conclusion that he can't hide from everything that makes him uncomfortable, slowly becoming more confident using his powers in fights

[river-bottom-nightmare]

Nightwing #81 Review

i swear i actually thought no one was interested so i didn’t write one but a grand total of two (2) people said they wanted to read it, so here it is. honestly, my opinion’s been going a bit downhill, but the art is really cool and there are some decent parts so. holding out i guess? i really hope taylor has an end goal or at least a cohesive plan, otherwise i don’t see this series going anywhere i’ll particularly enjoy

the cover is very straightforward in its imagery, this villain has nightwing in the palm of his hand, easily manipulated, easily controlled no matter the action dick thinks he’ll take. 

what i find interesting is the colour: both previously and heavily in this issue, the colourist has chosen to make pink this villain’s main colour, with different shades of pink as accents. so why the red in the cover? possibly to just make it more eye-grabbing, though one could argue that pink is even more eye-catching than red. maybe to convey a sense of dread or fear that pink won’t fully get across. either way, it’s definitely a decision i’m curious about.

so melinda zucco is in a high enough political position within bludhaven that she is next in line to become the mayor after the previous mayor died and dick just,,,,didn’t have any idea she existed? dick didn’t know anything about her? forget dick’s own brilliant detective skills, forget his doggedness at anything zucco related, you’re telling me bruce never found her and told dick about her? maybe he wouldn’t have now, but back when dick was a young kid, he definitely would have at least made dick aware of her existence, to let dick know and ask if he wanted to interfere with her life or anything.

i have a thought about zucco’s facial expressions. she is very much stone-cold poker face throughout the entire issue. the only time i see her pull a different expression is near the end when dick corners her against a wall with an arm around her throat. 

this is most certainly intentional, what with the varied and intense expressions we see on other characters, dick most prominently. i’m wondering what exactly is the creative team’s reasoning behind this. in these panels, zucco is meeting with the most dangerous, powerful, near-bloodthirsty man in all of bludhaven and becoming the mayor of the city respectfully. in both of these panels, there is barely a hint of emotion in her face: no fear, no determination, no satisfaction. it’s just odd, considering the circumstances she’s in, regardless of any training recieved.

just spitballing here but. like. from what i’ve read so far, dick doesn’t really seem like bludhaven’s guardian angel. more like when peter parker first put on spandex and blindly stepped out into new york.

dick, how exactly can you underestimate someone from one move. so he caught your escrima. anyone with enhanced reflexes can do that. you still don’t know how he can actually fight, and this is shown in the next set of panels. 

i just don’t like the wording here. dick’s “underestimated” him, but beats him up easy in the next page. in addition, i don’t know much about combat, but i would assume it would take more than one move to determine exactly what an opponent’s skill level is, made even more complex when you add physical enhancements and metahumans and aliens into the mixture.

idk my first thought when i saw that he caught the stick was “ah ok he’s enhanced” because obviously he couldn’t have reacted fast enough if he wasn’t (as there are few people trained enough to catch it on human reflexes alone.) then the wording in the next panel, i’ve underestimated him, made me think “oh no ok so he’s not enhanced, he’s just a really good fighter and can give dick a run for his money in a fight.” then, it turns out my first assumption was proven correct in the next panel. it just comes across as misleading to me.

(also sidenote but his curls are cute.)

have i praised the art enough in this series? no, i have not.

i adore the way this is laid out and illustrated. without even having to read the text, the action sequence is visually engaging and intense, and easily followable from one panel to the next. dick’s physical expertise comes through quite efficiently, and i love the special attention shown to draw our attention to dick’s escrima in the bottom right corner.

also that move in the middle row leftmost panel that’s the mcu black widow move to get up off the ground it was the first thing i noticed and it made me laugh; thought it was worth noting

i’m really loving dick’s escrima sticks in this run. they’re just so multipurpose, it’s hilarious and exhilarating. kinda reminds me of bruce’s belt, the way the button in the middle does eevveeerrryyytthhiinngg. 

got a problem? don’t worry! dick’s installed a feature into his escrima that can fix that! (i like thinking dick helped make them it makes me happy and makes my engineer!dick side satisfied)

yawn. your big heart is your one true weakness yadda yadda the fact that you care will be used against you blah blah we get it. jesus can the villains please find a different weakness to exploit, this is getting old.

i need dick’s capacity to empathize and care and love to stop being a weakness that villains sneer about. bonus points if dick saves everyone anyway, either because of or despite his great big heart and the villain is surprised by the goodness of mankind or some shit like that.

i need it to be a strength, right from the get-go. the fact that he cares so incredibly much should be an asset that dick has and will use. he’s a very complex character with years of background, it can’t possibly be that hard to find another weakness of his. 

ooooh this is cool, gosh i absolutely love this.

because what exactly is the reader doing? we are seeing the fear in dick’s face, just as this villain intended. even better, we’re seeing the reflection of it from the villain’s glossy mask, telling us exactly what we’re seeing and exactly what he likes so much about it.

dick’s standing up straight, shoulders drawn back, looking up at this villain’s face with determination and resolve, but his suit is tattered. one eye looks to be swollen. his hair is falling limply around his eyes, as opposed to the curls from earlier. his escrima aren’t even part of the main focus, instead blending into the side of the mask in the outer corners of the mask’s eyes, which tells you exactly how big of a threat they are to this villain.

poor bitewing’s quite alarmed.

also on second thought why would you bring your puppy out like this, when you know you’re gonna end up fighting someone in the suit. a) how many grey three-legged adorable little puppies live in the bludhaven area dick? and how easy will it be to connect the doggo running around with nightwing with the doggo that dick grayson owns? and 2) is this puppers trained? does she have fighting experience? how exactly can you ensure she will survive this highly stressful situation?

dick take better care of your dog 

you know what? i was with tim on this one. why exactly is dick so optimistic and trusting about the people of bludhaven? bludhaven, which has been described as gotham’s smaller, smellier, more corrupt sister city once or twice. it’s not just the corrupt people in power, the entire system needs to change and people need to have faith and hope in order for them to come together, espcially if they’ve been living in conditions like how bludhaven has been described. from how clueless dick is about his own goddamn city, i can tell he hasn’t been here long.

it was a nice moment of hope, i’ll admit. but it was a tad unrealistic for me.

also it was in a weird place in the comic. this sort of confrontation and big get-together of the people to rejuvenate hope in each other feels like it should come near the end of a run, if not the end of an issue. certainly not in the first third of an issue. the pacing’s a bit off to me.

loyal little puppy patiently waiting for her human to wake up. i love her so much.

no it’s not. it’s bitewing.

living for this t-shirt honestly. do comics of dc characters exist in the dc universe? they must if the mug and the shirt are any indication

(now i’m imagining the first batman movie that came out in the dc universe and bruce just. being so offended at who they chose to play him.)

well, yes. but when a group of people are put through hellish conditions over and over again, they soon become desensitized to the pain and terror of their everyday lives in order to both stay sane and keep their life relatively stable, and part of that becomes ignoring or blocking out anything that isn’t directly important to you or your loved ones. having a bleeding heart will most likely get you killed in a city like bludhaven if you don’t have the same skills that vigilantes have.

and of course, people are more than capable of coming together and rallying under their city’s vigilante after seeing the good they’ve done and how they’ve helped the people, but that sort of trust takes time and effort to build. dick also had the whole ric arc and was gone for a while, which has been referenced several times in this particular issue in fact. that’s not going to make bludhaven’s citizens any more likely to trust him.

maybe i’m being a bit harsh but this comic is comic off as a bit too idealistic for the amount of change nightwing can do in a city given the present and past circumstances as well as nightwing’s own abilities. even dick grayson can’t pull off everything.

ok seriously this needs to stop this needs to stop.

right now, dick reminds me of oliver queen in the few episodes of the cw’s arrow i watched. he does the punchy-kicky-fighty and occasionally has smart insights due to the skills he gained from his past that he certainly definitely totally has but only ever exhibits once, while his team does all of the background research and information gathering and actual work.

this is dick’s city. if he has the same intelligence, worth ethic, and stubbornness in this run that he’s been shown to possess all his life, then he knows this city inside out. he’ll have meticulous notes organized in a ridiculously efficient system, he’ll have scouted out zucco long before this started, he’ll have known when anything big happened in the bludhaven political landscape in an instant.

i’m really not liking exactly how much dick’s relying on babs and tim in this series. sure, he loves them and cares for them and likes working cases with them. but he always pulls his own weight, has always been a mentor figure to tim instead of what’s weirdly becoming the other way around, and takes point on the cases in his own damn city.

what kind of weak-ass oracle is this?? redacted fbi files are child’s play. babs used to hack into the fbi for fun. this one particular picture is so out of character i want to laugh.

reading this series has unfortunately made me confront that, despite the tiny fluid acrobat dick that lives in my head 24/7, canon dick is impossibly 5′10 and muscular at that.

mmm. titties.

tim said hydrate or die-drate bitch

love how dick’s doing all this intense brooding and stuff meanwhile bitewing is curled up in a soft comfy post having the time of her life.

you don’t understand i would legitimately kill myself for her.

also the lighting in this one scene is cool. the blue tones come off so well.

they’re just. so multipurpose!! they can become a bo staff. they can cut glass. they can become a grapple hook/line. they can electrify someone. they’re a funky colour. i’m becoming really attached to these things. absolute solid choice in weaponry.

if you’re gonna write up every rookie mistake dick has made during this series to head trauma, then dick shouldn’t be out and about at all, much less in costume.

see this? this is just straight up wrong. dick most definitely should have spotted her, and would have immediately moved to take her down.

scratch that, dick would have done a full check of the building, because he knows not to break into places uninformed, especially if the owner of the apartment was raised by the maroni family. someone as highly trained, experienced, and competent as dick wouldn’t have done this.

and if you chalk it up to head injury, (which is probably true), than his ~love interest~ and his little brother should have done a much better job making sure he stays in his house.

zucco looks so awkward it’s fucking hilarious

are those shadows that mimic a domino mask, to both reflect and hide the fact that his mask is missing? are those bruises around his eyes, to show how, despite what good he’s doing, being nightwing is hurting dick right now? 

(isn’t his domino mask supposed to have an electrifying feature that keeps people from removing them?)

it’s a little odd how the three known villains of this series are all coloured in warm shades, more specifically pink. meanwhile, in earlier issues, dick’s fondest memories were in pink, memories of him and alfred in particular. why has the colour pink changed from signifying something benevolent to something malicious? idk i hope this gets explained later.

this i did like. either it’s just a display of brute force in anger, or dick slipped the ties and pulled them off once untied. both ways, it’s an unintentional display of power, and i think that’s kinda cool.

again. dick is,,,tall? sort of? weirdddd

i’m so glad most readers are unified in the notion that this was the absolute dumbest fucking thing.

i’m hoping this gets disproved or something soon. and i hope dick doesn’t fall for it, because he definitely knows better than to take something as important as this at face value.

what exactly is taylor trying to accomplish here? why is he trying to go back on what we all knew was a happy, loving childhood and throw strife and disharmony and (what i’m assuming will be) infidelity? this will not end well at all.

---

,,,,,this review got way longer than expected lol. and i realize most of it just became me ranting. i guess i didn’t realize how ticked off i was originally. fingers crossed it gets better.

tag list: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @anothertimdrakestan @subtleappreciation @screennamealreadyused @bikoncon @pricetagofficial @catxsnow @thatsthewhump @xatanna-troy @red-hood-redemption @capricorn-stark @batshit-birds​ @comics-observer

[mercy-burning]

A Fire I Can’t Put Out (Songbird Chapter 2)

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader Summary: One week later, a chance encounter leads Reader and Spencer to each other once again. Rating: 18+ Warnings: Smut (exhibitionism, penetrative sex, unprotected sex, creampie, thigh riding, male masturbation, fingering, oral sex - male and female receiving, multiple orgasms), Language Word Count: 10k (I got really carried away lol)

SERIES MASTERLIST SERIES PLAYLIST (new songs added with the release of each chapter)

NOTE: Alas! Our first inkling of fluff! While this chapter is very spicy (you get 2 smut scenes 😉), there’s also a very cute, fluffy moment at the piano that I hope you all enjoy! (Just thinking about it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside...) See you on Valentine’s Day for Chapter 3! 🥰

(Also, everyone should listen to the song I added to the end, it’s BEAUTIFUL and I changed the song/title of the chapter to match it last minute, because I just discovered it and it was too perfect not to use lol)

***

The note felt like it was burning a hole in my pocket. It may have one time been a crumpled receipt, but now it was a searing reminder of the one time in my life that I'd broken my own rule and allowed a man to stay. It hummed ferociously, screaming at me to do everything in my power to find him again and finally learn his name at the very least.

Because that was the thing that bugged me the most. I thought that by refusing to learn his name that night, I would save myself the potential attachment, but it turns out all that did was make me even more attached to him.

I tried to convince myself over and over that it was just because he fucked me so good I thought I hurdled through space and time, and not because he was incredibly gorgeous, respectful, and pretty much downright perfect. Maybe it was all of those things rolled into one perfect, blissful night that was meant to be just that—a one-night stand. The one-night stand, if you will.

But no matter what I tried to tell myself, my thoughts always drifted back to him. S...

What could his name be? Steven? Sam? Scott? Sonny? Saxon?

I didn't want to think about it anymore. Maybe his name didn't even start with S... Maybe he meant it to mean Stranger. That was possible, right?

That was probably it. That had to be it, otherwise I was going to lose my mind trying to figure it out when there was a high chance I was never even going to see him again.

My fingers drifted over the piano keys and tried to play anything, anything from memory, anything from scratch? God, just play something... And when I finally did feel my fingers press down into the keys, I didn't register what the song was until I was singing the words.

"Say you'll remember me..."

"No!" I slammed my hands on the keys and then leaned forward on my elbows, resting my head in my hands as the loud array of notes faded into the bright, morning air. I took a deep breath and started to laugh to myself. "What the hell, Y/N..."

He wanted to be remembered, right? He wanted me to remember him. And by leaving the first letter of his name—and a note in the first place—that surely meant that he hoped I'd see him again, right? Or that I'd try to find him? Maybe that was his subtle way of telling me he'd be at the bar for the next open mic night, just in case I decided to show up again.

Or, maybe he was just being a decent human being, Y/N, you know shit like that doesn't happen in real life. Don't fucking fall for it.

I sighed and hit random keys on the piano again before getting up and deciding to take a drive.

When even music didn't take my mind off anything—which was almost never—driving always seemed to do the trick. Sure, there was usually more room for thinking when it came to driving, but for me, it was almost panic-inducing if I wasn't giving the road my full, undivided attention. It's not that I was bad at driving, but I certainly wasn't great at paying attention unless I was fully committed. Since I didn't want to seriously injure myself or die in a car wreck, I found that the best option to get my mind off of anything that was troubling me was to just drive.

It hadn't failed me yet, but maybe this would be the thing that finally sent me flying off a bridge and into a river.

I promptly decided not to think about that.

While I was going out I figured I'd stop by the coffee shop on my way out of town, that way I'd at least have a nice iced coffee to indulge in while I just wandered around. I made sure my driving playlist was downloaded to my phone before also grabbing my bag and keys, and then leaving the apartment.

***

"Hi, I'll take a large vanilla iced coffee, please."

"Will that be all?"

I smiled at the barista, whose nametag read Reyna. "Yes."

"Okay, your total is $3.50."

After handing her a five-dollar bill and putting the change in the tip jar, I stood on the other side of the counter to wait for my order and scrolled through my phone as the next person came up and ordered. It didn't take long, which I was more or less thankful for, but when I turned around, I ran right into someone's back and almost dropped my coffee.

"Whoa! I'm so sorry!"

I instinctively looked down to make sure I didn't spill anything, or that the person I ran into didn't spill anything, and when I finally looked up to apologize to their face, I froze and almost dropped my coffee anyway.

There was no fucking way.

"Hey, Stranger," he said almost nervously, his cheeks flushed.

I wasn't sure when I actually answered, but it seemed like forever because I was just so shocked that I actually fucking saw him again. I truly didn't think in a million years I would live in a moment like this, but there I was, taking in this man in all his beautiful glory.

He was more dressed up than the last time I saw him, maybe for work, or maybe that's just how he dressed sometimes. Whatever the case, I didn't give a shit because it was hot as hell. The color of his corduroy jacket was the same as his eyes, which now that I could see him in better lighting were lighter than I remembered. Under it was a white dress shirt and some type of olive green vest. His hair was still messy and downright tug-able, light curls framing parts of his face. Which was currently in the process of taking me in as well.

I smiled at him, though I wasn't sure if it was coming off as too excited, revealing myself to him, or if it was underwhelming. Or maybe it was just right?

Oh, who cares, Y/N, just fucking say something back!

"Hey, yourself. I... can't believe I ran into you again."

My stomach flipped at the way he smiled back at me, like he was almost nervous to be in my presence. Like I would have shooed him away rather than acknowledge him. He was fucking nervous and I found it incredibly endearing. It was such a contrast to... that night. Once he gained confidence, he was really something... But even now he still was really something, just in a different way, as he visibly tried to find the right words to say.

Finally, he settled on, "Yeah, I... I didn't think I'd see you again. It's... a nice surprise."

Understatement of the century, I thought as I waited for him to speak again. His voice was so... I didn't know how to describe it, other than to say it was so fitting for him, and therefore it was perfect.

Was that weird? Was I being weird?

"Do, um... Do you want to sit down?" I offered, gesturing to the tables on the other side of the café.

"Oh, I don't want to keep you if you're busy, I—"

"Nah, I had nothing going on today, trust me." I gave him a wink as we started making our way to the sitting area. "Besides, Stranger, if we're gonna keep meeting like this, I'm gonna need to at least know your name, don't you think?"

He laughed a little before shrugging, waiting until we sat down across from each other to respond. "I don't know, I... I think I like hearing you call me Stranger. It has a nice ring to it."

We both took a sip from our drinks, our eyes never losing their contact. By the way his face turned even redder, I would have thought he'd look away first, but he didn't. I had to wonder if he didn't look away because he didn't want to, or if he couldn't. Either way, I liked it.

"So, Stranger, tell me..." I said, setting my drink down and folding my hands over the table. "You been thinking about me as much as I've been thinking about you lately?"

I could tell he hadn't been expecting that question, because for a second it looked like he was choking on his drink. He coughed before setting it down, though his hand never left the cup. "I— Y—you've been thinking about me?"

Suddenly remembering the note in my pocket, I scrambled to get it out. And as he looked at me, still shocked but a little puzzled now, too, I started to wonder if maybe it was a stupid idea. But there was no stopping it, now, because that would have been even more puzzling, not to mention embarrassing on my part.

I un-crumpled the note and held it in my hands, outward so he could see his handwriting. "I've been staring at this thing and carrying it around with me everywhere in my pocket for the past week, dude."

It looked like he was trying to hide a smile, and failing miserably at it. "So... Leaving the note was a good idea, then, huh?"

I smiled, though trying to hide it wasn't even an option. "Well, it certainly got me thinking about putting a name to the face... and the body... But in all honesty I think I would have been thinking about you regardless."

He studied me for a moment, and an unfamiliar feeling in my stomach just about sucker-punched me at the way he did it, his face softening and just getting lost in thought. Or me, though I didn't want to flatter myself. Even still, the thought of him being completely lost in my presence, in my just being here, discussing our brief past, was enough to tighten the knot in my stomach.

I couldn't tell if I liked that feeling or not.

Because while my body certainly seemed to like this uncharted territory, something tugged at the pant leg of my brain like a small child, looking up at me and saying with sad eyes that they wanted to leave and go home, back to the comfort and safety of what they already knew. And who was I to deny that?

But at the same time, I couldn't for the life of me let this man go. I wanted, ached to know more about him.

I was intoxicated, and it scared the ever-loving fuck out of me.

"Can I tell you my name?" His voice almost made me jump.

I considered it for a moment, before ultimately deciding that it would be a good small step to take. "Yes."

"Will you tell me your name?"

"Maybe."

We both smiled at each other for a few seconds before an idea came to my mind. He was about to tell me his name right then I think, but I held up my hand and leaned forward, tilting my chin up a little. "You know what... Before you tell me, I wanna know something... Have you ever fucked anyone in a public restroom?"

If he'd had any coffee in his mouth, it surely would have been all over the place right then. Instantly his eyes widened and he looked around the room as his cheeks flushed redder than I'd ever seen them. "What are you doing?" he gushed out really fast, almost refusing to look me in the eye.

"Giving you a deal. No one uses the restrooms here because people are always rushing in and out to grab coffee, or there's hardly anyone here to use them anyway. Bottom line is: we can easily be inconspicuous. So here's what I'm offering."

"This isn't a good idea—"

"You don't have to agree, obviously, but hear me out."

I waited for further resistance, but he just blinked at me, and I took that as my cue. "I'm gonna get up and walk to the women's room. You'll follow me after about a minute, and if you can make me cum twice then we can exchange names and numbers."

"We... We can do that without the exhibitionism, though, you know that, right?" He spoke as if anyone would be able to hear him if he wasn't quiet enough.

"Of course. But... I really haven't been able to stop thinking about you, and judging by the way you're shifting in your seat I can tell you're strongly considering taking me up on my offer. Because you haven't been able to stop thinking about me, either. And you really want to fuck me again, probably almost as much as I want to fuck you again. So what do you say?"

He still didn't speak, only stared at me, which left me to wonder what he was thinking. If anything, he almost looked a little petrified, so last minute I decided to take a little pity on him.

"Okay, new plan. I'm still going to go into the bathroom and wait a minute for you, two tops. I am gonna give you this, though..." I grabbed a napkin, a pen from my bag, and wrote my number down on it before sliding it to his side of the table. "I'll wait for you. If you don't want to go through with this, you can leave. But then you're gonna call me later, and we'll set a date to meet up if you want. How's that sound?"

I think he was completely overwhelmed by my ultimatum, because he still didn't say anything. Though this time he seemed... awed. Not necessarily as embarrassed as he was before, but more enchanted with the idea of what I was offering, the way I presented everything to him.

Figuring that was a good sign, I winked at him and made it a point to walk to the bathroom as seductively as I could without being too obvious.

Though, the further I got, and the longer I waited in the bathroom, the more I wondered if he'd already left the café. And then it started to dawn on me that I might have acted like an asshole, giving ultimatums to a man who was just trying to tell me his name. Why couldn't I have just let him tell me? We were right there, and I had to go ahead and turn it into a fucking game... And for what? So I could get laid? The thing is, I was so sure he liked me enough that after he told me his name we probably could have gone somewhere private and—

The door opened, and I was about to yell at whoever it was that someone was in the room already, but then I saw his face and felt myself relax.

"Hey, I'm... I'm sorry if I pressured you into doing this," I said sincerely, as he locked the door behind him. "We really don't have to if you don't want, I was... I was just trying to... I don't know, be mysterious or something? Which, I guess I can be, but I promise I'm not usually like this, and—"

"Hey, it's alright. I promise. Now... I don't mean to change the subject so quickly, but I do believe I owe you two orgasms. And I don't want us to get caught, so I'd like to get to it if you don't mind."

Holy fucking shit..

"You really know how to get a girl to shut up, Stranger," I said, grabbing him by the jacket and pulling him to me. I looked up into his eyes and smirked, walking us backwards until I hit the counter, just beside the sink. "How fast do you think you can get me there?"

A small smirk twitched at his lips before he surprisingly lifted me up and promptly sat me on the counter. "Depends... You gonna keep talking or are you going to let me do my job?"

The low tone in his voice was unlike anything I'd heard from him thus far, and it lit this fire in me that I didn't know I had. With a small, involuntary moan, I spread my legs wide and let him stand between them. He pulled me in for a long, hot kiss before dropping to the ground and wiggling me out of my pants. He ended up taking off my shoes, too, so he could slip my pants and underwear off my body completely. No sooner than they hit the floor did he get to work, his hands coming up to spread my legs once again, propping my heels up on his shoulders.

Unfortunately I couldn't keep myself from moaning out as he worked my pussy with his mouth, each long, wet drag of his tongue adding fuel to the fire he'd already kindled within me. I tried to bite my fist, hoping it would muffle some of the sounds, but it wasn't working.

I was thinking about calling the whole thing off and going somewhere we wouldn't get in trouble, when he seemed to have another idea.

Before I knew what was happening, my panties were shoved in my mouth, and my eyes were rolling to the back of my head as he slipped a finger inside of me with ease. In no time I felt my orgasm creeping up on me, every pump of his fingers and every quick, meticulous flick of his tongue on my clit getting faster and faster with each passing second. I shrieked into the ball of fabric as quietly as I could manage as I started to fall, clenching and shaking around him in record time.

Once I relaxed, he pulled himself away from me and stood up, licking his fingers clean and working at his belt as I stared at him with pleading eyes. I wanted to take the panties out of my mouth, but I knew that if I did I probably wouldn't be able to keep quiet. And the fact that he'd put them there in the first place, after so clearly being flustered at my suggestion to go have a quick fuck in a public restroom, completely turned me on and made me want him even more.

I did manage a pretty decent moan when he finally came forward and lined himself up with my waiting pussy. He smiled a little before leaning forward, never entering me but running his dick over it, coating himself with my arousal. He leaned his head in and brushed my hair from my neck before kissing it, and even softly biting me. If it was going to leave bruises, I didn't care. I welcomed every kiss, every lick and bite, and every slow, excruciating drag of his cock along my pussy.

He slid the tip of himself into me for a second before pulling out and moving my face with his hand, gripping my jaw and making me look at him. I whimpered at the loss of contact where I was clenching around nothing, patiently waiting for him, and also at the gain of our eye contact. I genuinely had no idea what he was going to do next, but I hoped it involved some semblance of a repeat of last time.

But once again, he surprised me, leaning forward and bringing his mouth to mine, ripping the panties from my mouth using his own. He leaned back, the pale blue fabric hanging from his teeth, and the sight drove me absolutely wild. It didn't help that he kept them in his mouth as he slapped my clit with his dick, and it took everything I had not to moan obscenely. He could tell, too, because he brought a hand to cover my mouth right as he pushed into me and held himself there.

He tossed his head to the side and dropped my panties on the ground, then ran his hands along the insides of my legs and rested them on my thighs. "I'll keep going as long as you keep quiet."

"You probably should have kept the panties in my mouth, then," I breathed, clenching myself around him and feeling him grip my skin tighter.

"Guess you'll just have to try and be quiet like a good girl, then, won't you?"

The whimper that escaped me was utterly pathetic. And I loved it.

Needing this to get going now, I reached forward and grabbed his hips, urging him to start moving, and thankfully he did. It was slow at first as we both just savored the feeling of being together like this again.

But in a matter of seconds all pleasantries were thrown out the window, and he slid his hands up to grip my waist as he pounded into me as quietly as he could. To ensure the skin-on-skin slapping wasn't too loud, he kept his thrusts short and staccato, but incredibly deep, setting my insides on fire and making me clutch onto the back of his ass for dear life. I tried so hard not to yell out that I was pretty sure my nails broke through his skin. He hissed out sharply, confirming that I was hurting him, so I let him go and opted to for gripping his shirt instead. I drew him closer, that way I could kiss him and feel all of him at once.

I might have also needed to find some way to keep myself quiet.

I moaned into his mouth as he kissed me back, every swipe of his tongue somehow managing to perfectly find a rhythm in tandem with his thrusts, despite how rushed and sloppy we were being.

It wasn't long before I felt myself start to fall apart, my hands clutching onto his jacket for dear life as my stomach started to knot. "Gonna cum, gonna cum," I murmured into his mouth, and he pulled away to kiss my neck.

My arms wrapped around him and pulled him as close to me as room would allow, right as my eyes squeezed shut and I saw stars, my second orgasm quick and intense. I mumbled little 'uh-huh's into his mouth as he fucked me through it, and when I was done, he pulled out, leaving me dazed but also confused.

It looked like it pained him to pull his pants up and tuck his still-hard dick away, so I reached out. "Why didn't you finish? We're in a bathroom, I can clean up just fine..."

"My orgasm wasn't part of the deal," he stated simply, straightening his clothes and trying to get comfortable.

"So, what, you're just going to walk around town with a boner?"

"No. It'll go away soon, I'll be fine." Once his clothes were all the way on, he reached into his jacket pocket, handed me a slip of paper—a business card it looked like—and kissed me quickly one more time. "Besides, the next time I cum inside you, I'd like to hear you saying my name."

And then he walked out of the bathroom without another word, grabbing my panties and shoving them in his jacket pocket as an afterthought before he disappeared.

I don't think I moved for a good minute or two before I finally looked down at the card and read his note. He must have written it down before he came in here.

Y/N, I heard them call your name at open mic night, and that's when I knew. I'm free tomorrow night. I hope you'll call. —Stranger

I turned the card over and saw his number, followed by his name.

Dr. Spencer Reid.

***

The second I got home, I ran to the bathroom and fixed my... problem... I wanted so badly back in the café to finish what I started, but I'd meant what I told her. I'd sighed her name out as I touched myself the few times since I'd met her, and I could only imagine what it would finally sound like to hear her say my name. I knew she could already tear me apart at her touch, but I wanted desperately to know if my name on her tongue would have the same effect.

I was almost positive it would, but I just needed to know.

It surprisingly didn't take long for me to finish, just the mere thought of her face and the way she looked at me as I shoved her underwear in her mouth enough to take me to the edge. And finally, when I felt them practically bruning a hole in my pocket, I tensed and sighed out her name, cum spilling out over my hand and into the toilet.

The orgasm should have calmed me down, should have relaxed me, but instead, as I cleaned up and changed into different clothes, I wondered if she would actually call me.

First of all, it was a wonder I'd ran into her at all. Truthfully, I didn't think I was ever going to see her again, and when I heard her voice call out an apology for bumping into me, I really thought I was dreaming. And yet, there she was, right in front of me in all her beautiful glory.

So when she offered to sit down with me, I couldn't say no. And when she asked, You been thinking about me as much as I've been thinking about you lately? ... I was pretty sure I couldn't breathe. I didn't tend to think of myself as the type of guy who would leave that good of an impression, so hearing her of all people say that sent my heart—and stomach—into a mess of flutters.

And though the confidence I had in my ability to flirt with women in any capacity was very slim, I must have done something right. Because when I picked up the phone later that night and heard a low, "Hey, Stranger," through the speaker, I couldn't stop smiling. "Or should I call you Doctor?"

***

"YN... I'm really glad you called."

Hearing him say my name for the first time did something to me I couldn't explain. The way he said it was innocent enough, but it still made me beam with excitement.

I was curled up on my couch, wrapped in a robe after my shower and having been contemplating whether or not to call all afternoon.

I didn't want to wait too long in case he ended up making other plans or something, but I was also apprehensive. Because as much as I wanted to keep seeing Spencer, I wasn't sure I could handle breaking his heart. That's what always happened, didn't it? I started seeing someone, things would be great for the first few months, and then as they fell more in love with me I fell more out of love with them. But even then I wasn't sure I could call it that, because I never fell in love with them in the first place. Not even gotten close to it.

Would... Spencer be different? It was hard to tell. He'd already made me feel things I'd never felt before, so maybe this time would be different.

Or maybe that would just make it hurt even more when I inevitably pushed him away.

But I didn't want to think about that. All I knew in the moment was that he intrigued me, and for the first time in my life I actually wanted to to be near him almost every second of the day. Even when I wasn't thinking about him, my body was buzzing with the aftermath of him. His entire being was so magnetic that I couldn't help but be drawn to him. Even if, ultimately, I knew it would end with one or both of us in shambles, I wanted it. I wanted him more than anything, to be with him, to see him smile, to hear him talk...

That little kid that was tugging on my pant leg earlier, warning me that it was time to go home, was screaming now. Scared for its life and begging for me to turn back.

And for some reason, against my better judgement, I ignored it.

"You really knew my name the whole time and didn't tell me?"

From the pause on the other end of the line, I could tell he must have been nervous. I could see him in my head, looking down at his twitching hands as he tried to find some explanation. "Um... Well, you said you didn't want to know names, so I... thought I'd keep quiet. I hope you're not mad about that..."

I smiled. "No, I'm not mad. It was nice of you." I paused a beat before changing the subject. "So, uh... Tomorrow night..."

"Oh... Yeah, I travel quite a bit for work, and I don't get many days off, but tomorrow night is the only time I'm free for a while. So I guess it was a good thing I ran into you when I did."

"Hmm... I guess you're right. In that case, I should probably take it easy on you. Wouldn't want to wear you out or anything."

He laughed a little, and warmth bloomed in my chest at the sound. I imagined seeing him smile, which made it fully blossom. "No need. You... You could wear me out any day."

"Careful what you wish for, Stranger. Time and place?"

"I can be by your place at 6? I'll even bring food if you want."

I paused, suddenly reminded of the screaming child again. This time it was yelling, "It's not safe! Don't let him in, please!"

But God damn it, I wanted to so bad...

"Uh, sure," I finally answered, playing with the hem of my robe anxiously. "You... remember where it is? As I recall, you were pretty nervous the last time you were here, and kind of occupied with... other things."

"Oh, I—I remember everything, pretty much. I know where to go, it's okay."

He didn't elaborate. I kind of wanted him to, but figured the less I knew about him the better. I was invested in him enough already, and knowing more would just plunge me in deeper than I was comfortable with. So, I told him, "Alright. If you need directions or anything though, let me know. Should I be... wearing anything in particular when you get here, Doctor?"

The line was silent, and I could picture that little shocked expression on his face, the one he got every time I said something suggestive that he wasn't expecting. It was cute. "A—Anything you want will be fine..."

I laughed and bit my lip, leaning back into the couch. "Okay... See you later then. Tomorrow night, 6PM."

"Tomorrow night. 6PM. Goodnight, Y/N."

My face felt warm and my stomach fluttered as I curled into myself and smiled into the phone. "Goodnight, Spencer."

What surprised me most about that night was that I didn't hang up right after. I waited. And waited, until he hung up, just in case he said anything else. And I think he was in the same mindset, because we sat in silence for a good fifteen seconds before I finally hung up, shaking my head and wondering if he thought that was weird.

As it turns out, he didn't.

About ten minutes later, as I was getting into bed, I got a text message that read: I hope you know that I always have your song stuck in my head. The one from the bar. I hope you'll sing to me again one day.

I promptly sent back: If you're a good boy for me tomorrow, I just might, and set my phone on my dresser, ignoring the way my heart swelled at his sentiment.

Sleep didn't come easily that night. And when I did finally drift off, my dreams were about Spencer.

***

Usually I was decently confident when it came to my 'date' outfits. I knew what looked good on me, and I knew what made other people go, "Holy shit," under their breath when they saw me, so it should have been easy. And to some degree it was, but with all these weird feelings I was having lately, I was second-guessing myself.

But no matter how badly I second-guessed my decision, I stuck with what I knew best, wearing a thin black long-sleeved shirt with a low neckline and form-fitting jeans that flared at the bottom. A necklace with a silver diamond that matched my belly-button ring sat nicely at my chest, right above my cleavage. I opted to leave my hair down in long, loose curls that curled away from my face, and framed my eyes with simple black eyeliner and mascara, leaving my lips alone with a peppermint chap stick. Remembering how Spencer had complimented and basically worshipped my hands, I accented them with a deep purple nail polish that almost looked black if there wasn't any light shining on them. I put on a few rings that matched my other body jewelry and wore a thin, braided rope bracelet that my sister made me for my thirteenth birthday. Since I didn't think we were going anywhere, I only wore black ankle-length socks, but kept a pair of simple black heeled boots by the door in case we did decide to leave.

As for my... undergarments, I chose a nice black lace set that I only brought out on rare occasions, and I felt like it fit. The material was sheer and lacy, and that was about it. It was simple, but sexy, and that's what I loved about it. And if I knew Spencer's taste as well as I thought I did, I was pretty sure he would love it, too.

And that fact alone was enough to snap me out of my worry.

Kind of. I mean, he was still coming to my apartment, and I was almost certain that he was going to look around and probably ask some questions about things. Which, normally wouldn't be a bad thing, and in a way it really wasn't, but it still made me nervous...

I just hoped that I could keep him occupied enough so that I wouldn't have to deal with it too much.

There was a knock at my door, and I was thankful, finally pulled out of my head and into the world around me. I got up and opened the door with a smile, leaning against it slightly and taking him in.

"Hey, Stranger," I drawled, giving him a wink as I stepped aside to let him in.

But he didn't come in. Not until he was done taking me in, of course. "You... Wow, uh, hi," he stammered, holding out a bag that had to be takeout. "You look great."

As he walked in, I shut the door behind him and looked at his backside before he turned around. "Speak for yourself."

He took off his shoes, which revealed one red striped sock and one purple and blue polkadotted one, which made me smile. He wore simple grey corduroy pants and a purple sweater that matched my nail polish almost perfectly. His hair was just as perfect as it was the last two times I saw him, rightfully messy and curly that made me want to skip dinner all together and get right to dessert.

I even told him as much.

"You're kinda making me want to skip dinner."

"Oh, we... We can eat after if you want to, I don't mind," he offered kindly. It was sweet.

I laughed and walked up to him, bringing my right hand up to run my fingers through his hair. Then I leaned up and kissed him hotly on the lips for a few seconds before pulling away and letting out a low 'hmmm'. "Probably a good idea, but I'm starving."

I turned and started to the kitchen, throwing back over my shoulder, "That okay with you?"

"Y—Yeah, of course."

I turned on the light above the table before pulling out a chair for him with a smile. "I didn't really eat much today, so takeout sounded really good. I hope you didn't have to go too far out of your way to grab it, otherwise I could have made something here."

He sat down and I went to the other side of the kitchen to grab forks and plates. "Oh! No, it was alright, it was on the way over. Plus, I guess I don't really mind the travel, since I already do so much of it."

"Right, you mentioned that," I confirmed, taking a seat across from him. My dining room table was small, since my apartment wasn't that big. Even sitting across from one another, if Spencer and I reached our arms out across the table, we would have been able to reach each other's shoulders.

"Hey, do you want anything to drink?" I asked. "I've got some white whine in the fridge, otherwise I also have water, milk, and I think some Sprite."

"Oh, uh... Water is fine, thank you."

As I got up to get it, he got out the food. "Not a drinker?" I wondered aloud, grabbing glasses and the pitcher of water from the fridge.

"Not really. I'll have one on occasion, but if I'm driving I like to steer clear."

So, he wasn't planning on staying the night, then... Ultimately that was a good thing, but a small part of me admittedly felt disappointed. Regardless, I didn't let it show. "Makes sense. I don't drink a lot either, but I've been known to have a good time occasionally. And I always need white wine in the house, that's a rule of mine."

I didn't see his smile, but I could feel it. Was that weird? Feeling a smile? I'd never been able to tell, never noticed that before, but right then I just knew it was there.

But maybe it was just the way he said, "Fair enough," that made me certain.

Whatever the case, I shook the feeling and made my way back to the table with full glasses of water.

We ate with few words between us, though occasionally Spencer would throw out a random fact about the origins of the food we ate, or we exchanged small stories of both of our inabilities to use chopsticks. It was nice, being able to eat with him and not have to talk about where I was from or what my family was like. I never liked sharing that much of myself with someone that soon, let alone at all, so I was thankful for the ease our conversation carried.

Though, at one point he asked, "So, you're a musician? Is it full-time?" And it stopped me in my tracks a little. I loved music, and I was definitely passionate about it, but again, it was so personal to me that for some reason my brain kept sending me signals to turn around and change the subject.

But it was an innocent question. And I used music to my advantage all the time, it wasn't a secret that I was good at it, so I could give him an answer. And I knew that I didn't have to tell him anything I didn't want to, so I just needed to get my shit together and stop worrying. I had to remind myself that not everyone was going to use the things I tell them to hurt me. Truthfully I don't know why I was so paranoid by that, because it never happened, but I chalked it up to just looking for any excuse to keep myself closed off.

I brushed off all the discomfort and doubt I had, and took a drink of water before answering truthfully. "It's not full-time, but I think I'd like it to be. I definitely love it enough, but whether I could handle the stress of being a full-time musician or not is... well, it has yet to be seen."

"Do you write your own songs?"

"Mhm. Have been since I could talk, really. But whenever I perform it's usually covers that everyone knows. Easier to get them excited, anyway."

Spencer smiled, leaning forward a little. "You know, actually I'd never heard the song you sang at the bar that night... That was a cover?"

"Yeah. You don't listen to the radio?"

"Not really. If it all sounds like that, I may have to start, though I'm pretty sure it's not."

I laughed a little. "You'd be right about that... Still, the radio has its merits. I'm a fan of more independent stuff myself, but I keep up to date with what's new. Kinda have to."

"Why's that?"

I chewed my lip for a moment before answering. "Well, I don't do it full-time since I have a day job, but on the side I've helped with writing and producing other peoples' stuff, and a lot of it is what you hear on the radio, so..."

"Oh, that's really cool," he mused, and his eyes gave away that he genuinely seemed impressed. I almost blushed at the sight. "Y'know, I'm sure if you did decide that you could handle the stress of being a full-time musician, everyone would love you."

I laughed again. "You've never even heard my stuff."

"I don't need to," he answered truthfully. "I've heard you sing, you're incredible. And you know how to produce and write music. And, if it's good enough to be on the radio, then I know you've got nothing to worry about."

He could have just been saying that to be nice, and if it wasn't so clearly written on his face that he really believed what he was telling me, I would have thought so. Heat crept up to my cheeks, and I smiled, telling him, "Thank you," before taking another drink of water to cool myself off.

We spent the rest of the meal talking about some of our favorite music, which was a nice way to end it. We had a decent discussion about classical music (He was surprised and I think a little turned on by the fact that I knew a lot of what he was talking about in that department), and as we cleaned up the dishes he happily told me about the story behind one of my favorite classical pieces (which I didn't know and was more than glad to learn).

And while we were on the subject of music, I took him over to my piano when we finished cleaning up, which sat under the only window in the main room of the apartment. The sun was setting, casting a soft orange glow over the sleek black of the piano. Since it was a small apartment, I couldn't have a 'fancy' piano like I wanted, so it was an electric one with a few settings to change the sound. I never messed around with it though, unless I was working on something for someone else. But even then, I did that work with other people in the studio, and not at home.

"Here, sit next to me," I said, patting the small space on the bench.

We barely fit together, but it gave us an excuse to be close to each other, which I think he liked. I know I liked it, at least.

"Are you gonna play something?" he asked. "I mean, you don't have to of course, I don't want to make you or put pressure on you or anything, but..."

"I wouldn't have brought you here if I wasn't going to play you something, Stranger," I said with a laugh, turning the piano on and nudging him with my shoulder. "Though, if you don't want me to, I can think of a few other things I could do for you instead..."

I looked up at him to see his face in a flush, and I smiled, my stomach knotting in that unfamiliar way again.

"Um... Maybe when you're done playing," he said finally, reaching out to ghost over the keys with his fingers.

"Do you play?" I asked, suddenly very warm, and turned on at the idea of watching his hands work around a piano.

"A little. I... I don't know much, but I'm a fast learner."

With a small smile, I grabbed his hand and placed his fingers over certain keys to make a chord. "There. Press all of those together," I told him.

He did, and a smile broke out on his face.

"C Minor," I said. "My favorite chord."

"You have a favorite chord?"

"What, you don't?"

"I... never really thought about it."

We laughed together for a few seconds before he played the chord again, this time tapping the pedal underneath to make it ring out longer. I looked up at him with a smile, right as he looked down at me with an even bigger one. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say we got closer, even though that was impossible unless I'd sat on him. Which I didn't do. Not right then at least.

No, I cleared my throat and messed around with a few keys, trying to decide what to play. Spencer removed his hands from the keyboard as I did it, and I could feel his eyes watching my movements. The thought sent more warmth through me, and I decided to go with something familiar.

My fingers settled on the right keys and started playing the chords to Wildest Dreams. And when I started singing, I swear I felt him melt beside me. It was different from the guitar performance, because at the piano I made it sweeter. My vocals weren't as strong, and I slowed it down to make sure I got everything perfect, but made it a point to look over to him occasionally, winking as I sang some rather sultry lyrics.

When I was done, I couldn't tell what he was thinking. He looked down at me, his eyes studying my face like he was going to kiss me, but he leaned away from me, like he was deciding against it. Finally though, he spoke.

"While I appreciate the performance, it completely juxtaposes the text you sent me last night."

I really didn't know what to say, mostly because I was having a hard time remembering what I texted. I would have been able to remember any other time, but in the moment I was just too entranced by his presence and the way he was staring at me. "W—What did I say?"

My hand was still on the piano, but I felt his reach out and lightly brush over it, caressing the lengths of my fingers. "You said you might sing for me if I was good for you... We haven't done anything yet, and you still sang for me anyway."

Oh, that...

I smiled, sliding my hand out from under his and dragging my middle finger along his own, up and then back down, over and over again. "Didn't you know that I can see the future?"

He looked amused. "Oh, really?"

"Mhmm..." I kept drawing lines up his middle finger, but leaned in closer to him. "And just before you got here, I saw that you made me cum three times."

He took a moment before leaning in closer and responding, his voice barely above a whisper. "You and your ultimatums..."

"It wasn't an ultimatum. It was the future."

Our faces got closer...

"Oh, okay. I believe you."

...And closer...

"Good."

My eyes fluttered closed as he kissed me, gently and with a care that was practically butterfly-inducing. I leaned into him further, finally moving my hand up his arm and snaking up to grab his hair. As his lips parted and his tongue gently swiped over my bottom lip, I climbed up onto his lap, placing my hands around his head to anchor myself to him. He used his to grab the piano in front of him, pushing us forward a little so we wouldn't fall off the bench. The mess of notes rung out loudly in the air, much like they had the day before, right before I went to the café and ran into him.

The coincidence of it all almost made me laugh, but the humor quickly dissipated before I could, because Spencer brought one of his hands to my lower back and groaned softly into my mouth.

I moaned right back, shifting my hips slightly so that I was straddling one of his legs. He spread them wider to give me more room, and I settled nicely, grinding down and almost whining at how little friction there was between the corduroy that adorned his leg and the denim that adorned mine. That didn't stop me, though. I rode his thigh as well as I could, relishing in the way his hand pushed me further into him and his kisses got deeper and more desperate.

Eventually, though, I had enough. I pulled my mouth away from his and clumsily got off of him, standing up and unbuttoning my jeans. He turned around and reached out to help, but I put a hand on his chest and pushed him back. "Stay right there. I'm gonna finish what I started, but I need to get these damn pants off first."

He didn't argue. I held eye contact with him up until I slowly tugged my pants down and stepped out of them, lifting up my shirt a little so he could see the underwear I was wearing. As expected, his eyes wandered south, and I could have sworn I saw his pupils dilate.

But I didn't give him a lot of time to take them in. I made good on my promise and climbed up on his lap again, wrapping my arms around his neck and biting my lip as I started to ride his thigh once more. I started off slow, pressing my forehead to his and enjoying how it felt when his hands firmly grabbed onto my ass. Our lips met again, slowly and yet, also just as desperate as they had before. And with each antagonizing slow roll of my hips, his kisses got bolder, and his hands kneaded my ass, urging me to go faster.

Thankfully for him, I was feeling just as desperate as he was. So I quickened my movements on his thigh and kissed him harder, taking his bottom lip in between my teeth and tugging it before tilting my head to the other side and kissing him again. Meanwhile I could feel that burning in my lower stomach that signaled a fast-approaching orgasm. So I ground myself onto him even harder and whined in his mouth, just before pulling away to speak.

"Fuck, I'm gonna cum already," I breathed, pressing small kisses to his jaw.

Spencer squeezed my ass and leaned into my touch. "Go ahead, Y/N..."

It wasn't like he was giving me permission, but just hearing him say my name regardless sent me over the edge, and in no time I was shaking around his leg, clenching my own around him and clinging to his neck for dear life.

Once I came down, I sighed and smiled into his neck, kissing it and moving up to his ear. "Two more to go."

What he said next threw me completely off guard.

"No."

It wasn't a command, or a threat. It was a matter-of-fact statement. I pulled away and looked at him, puzzled. "What?"

He only smirked. "You said I was going to make you cum three times... You did that one all on your own."

The sultry, cocky way he said it made me melt, and I knew then that I was in some serious trouble.

The first time he made me cum was right there on the piano bench. He insisted that I sit down while he eat me out, and I wasn't one to complain. However, he did drag it out so long that by the time I actually came, it felt like I'd done it a thousand times over.

So, to give myself a little break, I returned the favor, and we made it to the kitchen before I couldn't wait any longer and promptly decided to suck him off while he leaned back against the counter. I took the same courtesy he had in dragging it out, pulling off of him completely right as he was about to cum, and I absolutely melted into a pile of nothing upon hearing how he whined and panted while I did it.

I did that in about five long, excruciating cycles before he told me it was my turn and dragged me into my bedroom.

The second time I came, he fucked me against the door, one of my legs standing on the ground while the other lifted and rested on my dresser. He didn't waste any time, just pushing my panties aside and fucking me hard and fast. And fast it was. It only took about a minute before I was convulsing around him, every nerve I had set on fire.

He let me have one more break, laying me down on the bed and taking his time stripping off the rest of my clothes. He must have spent a solid half hour just licking, biting, and teasing my breasts, his hand occasionally reaching down to graze my clit for a few strokes before returning to touch the rest of me. All the while, he slowly rutted against my thigh, moaning into my skin when he got close and stopping his movements all together for about a minute before continuing.

But I was growing impatient and squirmy. So I grabbed his face, pulled him up to kiss me, and wrapped my legs around his waist.

"Fuck me, Spencer, please," I begged, kissing his jaw and shivering at the way he whimpered hearing his name fall from my lips.

He adjusted us for a moment before sliding into me slowly, and we both let out some of the most filthy sounds I'd ever heard. Every movement and sound we made from then on was frantic, desperate, and so full of need that I was almost positive I wasn't even alive anymore. Was I even ever alive at all? Did life exist?

"I can't... I'm go—gonna..."

Spencer suddenly coming to a halt and coming inside me was all I could feel, and it brought me back to my senses. I breathed out his name as he continued emptying everything he had into me, just like he'd admitted to me that he wanted back in the coffee shop. I was close myself, but with his halted movements, I didn't get there.

As I moved one of my hands down to rub my clit, he grabbed my wrist and pinned it above my head, pulling out and then plunging back into me, causing me to gasp.

"That's my job, angel," he murmured sweetly, just as he began slowly fucking his cum into me.

If I wasn't already in trouble, that would have destroyed me.

It didn't take long before I was crying out his name and orgasming for the fourth time that night. It was the most powerful one I'd had... well, ever, if I was being honest. My back gradually lifted off the bed and my eyes were screwed so tightly it felt like they were bruising.

But God be damned if I didn't want to experience that whole feeling over and over again for the rest of my life.

He stayed there for a moment, leaning over me and brushing the softest kisses to my temple as we caught our breaths. Eventually, though, and I wasn't sure how long exactly we'd been wrapped up in each other, he pulled out and laid beside me. And if it wasn't for his cum dripping out of me, I would have probably fallen asleep right there and been happy.

As if he was able to read my mind, Spencer sat up and brushed some of the hair from my face. "I'll go get something to clean you up real quick. Don't move."

I giggled, feeling light-headed and completely blissful as I caught him in our afterglow, taking in his beauty and basking in it like the sun. "I wouldn't go anywhere even if I could."

It wasn't until he came back and started cleaning between my legs with a warm washcloth that I realized what I said.

It took even longer for me to realize that he'd grabbed and put back on his underwear and pants.

As he tossed the washcloth into the laundry basket in the corner of my room, I sat up and reached for his sweater, slipping it on before he could say otherwise. It smelled like him and fit just right, which made me feel all warm and happy.

"Did you, um... want me to stay?" he asked softly not stepping any closer.

Yes.

"It, uh... would probably be better if you left. But... You can stay for an hour or two before you go home?"

Of course it was only a suggestion, because I couldn't make him do anything. But I asked it like a question, because I really wanted him to stay, just for a little bit longer if he couldn't stay the whole night.

Spencer nodded, smiling, and looking a little relieved if I was reading him right. "You should try to go to the bathroom first. Urination after sex is essential to prevent UTIs."

Smiling, I got up from the bed and kissed him on the cheek before grabbing a pair of clean underwear from my drawer and walking to the bathroom.

When I came back with a freshly washed face, my jewelry discarded, and feeling refreshed and ready to fall asleep, he was laying on my bed with his eyes closed and his arms crossed over his bare chest. Thinking better of it, I took off his sweater and threw it at him before rummaging through my drawers for a night shirt of my own.

"You could have kept it on," he said quietly, even as he put the shirt back on himself.

I shrugged, slipping on a large brown tee-shirt and climbing into bed under the covers. "You can't go home without a shirt."

"Right..." He sounded a little sad, but maybe I was just imagining it.

I rolled over on my side and looked at him, already feeling myself start to drift off. But I forced my eyes open and reached out to brush my fingertips through his hair. "Will you stay until I fall asleep?"

"Of course," was all he said, a small smile adorning his lips.

I hummed and nestled in closer to him, and his hand came down to rub the inside of my arm.

And as much as I tried to stay awake, just so he would stay longer, inevitably I fell asleep, hearing Spencer humming the melody to my favorite classical piece.

***

My arms stretched out, seeking his warmth even though I knew it wouldn't be there. I told him, made it a point to make sure he knew he had to leave after I fell asleep.

So why did I feel saddened by his disappearance?

I groaned into my pillow and stretched my body, already feeling it ache from all that... strenuous activity from the night before. When I opened my eyes and turned my head, I saw just a glimpse of the sun peeking through the curtains in my bedroom, illuminating what looked like a piece of paper on the other pillow next to me.

I slowly sat up and grabbed it, rubbing my eyes to will myself to read it. I already figured it would be another note from Spencer, but my hear fluttered when I read it nonetheless.

Not sure when I'll be free to meet again, but I'd like to keep in touch— As much as I love when you call me Stranger, I'd prefer to be anything but.

Sweet dreams, — Stranger Spencer

Yeah. I was definitely in trouble.

***

“All my pleasure choked by pain Since I let you get away. I should’ve tied you to the bed When I had you in the flesh. Now I’m chained to the memories.

How the music played loud. How my hair came down. How you kissed my mouth With a fire I can’t put out.

Why does it feel like torture Not to have your skin on mine?”

—Liz Longley, Torture

SERIES TAGLIST: @bluesunrise02 @meowiemari​ @teenwolfgirl90

PERMANENT TAGLIST:  @elldell1204 @muffin-cup @calm-and-doctor @slutforthegubes

(Please let me know if you’d like to be added to either taglist! Thank you!)

[hetalia-reacts]

I'm kind of experimenting with Yandere, so I'm going to send you at least 2 Yandere asks. This is the first one. May I have Yandere 2p Allies and Axis that's Vampires and they're falling falling in love with reader. But the problem is, the Reader is a Werewolf..... a very powerful one ( One that can rival them, and it's very possible if the darling can dominant them ). But other than that, the Reader is like this Huge energetic innocent puppy that likes to tackle hug them.

Allen

God he’s in love with your personality

He wants you all to himself for the rest of time

But of course there’s an issue

1) you’re a werewolf and he’s a vampire, you’d never willingly go with him even if you do love him

And then there’s problem number 2) you’re incredibly strong for a werewolf and Al’s a little afraid you might be able to take him down if he tries anything funny

And though Allen doesn’t have to worry about you not loving him or leaving him, he can’t have you the way he really wants you since you’d definitely could send him into a late grave

Allen would definitely concede to the best of his abilities and not completely take you and lock you away from everyone

He’d definitely try some mind games on you though, and try to occupy your time as much as vampirically possible

And after some time he’d probably consider changing you or attempting to change you so you could be with him forever, even if it makes you hate him

He just can’t bare the thought of living without you

Oliver

As yandere as he is Oliver has never truly considered locking you away

He’s not much of a fighter and every tactic he could use to get you and keep you would make him very unhappy to use

All of those plans include heavy drugs and poisons since you’re a werewolf and much stronger than he actually is

And he doesn’t much care for the idea of keeping you drugged and high since it might mean he’d never see you happily frolic or smile at him again

That is simply a sight Oliver cannot live without anymore

So he would never attempt to physically cage you, but he’d try to emotionally cage you

Always has an excuse to why he needs you home and why you can’t go out with your pack anymore or go hunting with them

Maybe sometimes gives small doses of drugs in food or drink so that your more complacent and easy to convince

Would regretfully drug you the day he decides to attempt to change you into a vampire/werewolf-vampire mix

He cant have you fighting back or saying no, that is the only day Oliver might get violent and super controlling towards you

He just needs you to stay with him forever so badly he wouldn’t mind shedding a bit of your blood

Oliver just gets so paranoid and scared one day you’ll never come back from seeing your pack so he has to do something, anything, that will keep you with him

Matt

As I’ve stated before Matt is a more lax and chill yandere

So he’d be more apt to just tell you he wants you home a lot and that he wants to spend forever with you

And with the fact that your incredibly strong even for a werewolf and could most definitely match him in a fight makes him a bit nervous to be sneaky with you

Tho he is confident he could take you, especially is Kuma(?) was around to help lock you up

Matt does psychologically mess with you

Just to make you more dependent on him and more likely to agree with him

He does this until he’s positive you’d agree immediately once asked if you want to become a vampire like him

He wants it to be as consensual as possible since he does love you and your innocent puppy personality and doesn’t want to corrupt it too much by having to physically force you while he changes you

Matt wants to keep you as authentic as he possibly can while keeping you all to himself

Francois

Absolutely hates this predicament

Out of everyone he could’ve easily loved it had to be an energetic, powerful werewolf that he couldn’t manipulate or overpower easily

Francois curses his bad luck in choosing a partner, but loves you never the less

Francois would end up coming up with an elaborate plan to lock you up after completely gaining your trust

Though he knows you love him, he knows you’re wary of him being a vampire even now

And he thinks your smart for being wary, but it honestly amuses him that him being a vampire should really be the least of your worries

He’d have you chained in only a few weeks after planning it out, keeping your shifting/breaking out at bay with drugs and strong silver bounds as well as keeping you far away from the moon and it’s light

Francois wouldn’t change you immediately

He honestly likes you being a werewolf and not soulless and hell-bound like him

But he might change his mind if you start getting more aggressive or show signs of breaking out

Francois can’t lose you, you make him feel happy even if you scream obscenities at him for locking you up

Viktor

Honestly he gets kind of pissy when he thinks about this perdicament

He’s a vampire ffs and yet he hesitates to take you, a literal ball of sunshine and energy, all for himself because you’re scarily powerful and dangerous

It really rubs him the wrong way to think about it

Viktor is no coward, however, so he’s going to make a very calculated plan to get you all for himself

Once he gets you, he confines you as well as he can somewhere far away from your pack, possibly even gets rid of them if he has the time

Viktor is not likely to drug you, he’s not very fond of that unlike some of the others

He will torture you in anyway he sees fit, even if he loses his precious ball of sunshine in the process, to him it’s just an unfortunate but needed loss in his plan

He changes you very quickly

Him changing you breaks your ties to the pack, if they’re still alive, and makes you weaker and easier to deal with and keep

Viktor does love you, and that’s why he has to keep you like this for the rest of your lives

Zao

Zao is a simple man with a simple plan

He just gets relatively comfortable with you and then boom, druggy time

He doesn’t care if you don’t act like yourself anymore

To him it’s all the same and as long as he doesn’t have to deal with you in your super strong werewolf form he figures your personality is an acceptable loss

Zao really did love your sunshine personality tho so sometimes it does bum him out that he’ll never see you like that again

Probably didn’t consider changing you until wayyy after kidnapping you

I’m talking like a year or more before he realizes that’s a thing he could do

When he changes you nothing much changes

He notices you’re a bit weaker and more lethargic after the bite, but your about the same as before after a few weeks so he figures you’re perfectly fine and frozen in time like he is

Luciano

So angry and vocal about the situation

Like why did you have to be the most perfect creature he’s ever seen? Why did you have to be so strong and clever?

So salty about it

Luciano would try to not lock you up, but the second someone looks at you the wrong way it’s to the basement with you and the death of whoever dared trying something with his darling

He’s not above drugging you but would prefer not to if you just behaved so he didn’t have to

Doesn’t consider changing you for a long time

Luciano is almost in love with the fact that you’re so fragile that the passage of time would make you weak

He’d eventually change you before you got really old because at the end of the day he realized he couldn’t live without you

Lutz

Lutz is so in love with you but so frustrated with what you are

He’s strong, but lazy

He could match you, maybe even overpower you if he really tried, but it’s so frustrating that the one thing he wants doesn’t come with ease

If you’d’ve been any other creature, or god even better human, he would have no trouble stealing you away

But of course you were a werewolf who everyone loved and watched out for

Lutz would get so frustrated with himself and think himself into exhaustion many nights thinking of a no hassle way to get you home with him forever

Of course he finally does it while you’re sleeping thanks to some super strong sedatives he slipped you

He would consider changing you before you woke up or before the sedatives wore off just so everything would be so much easier on him and you’d be too high and out of it to ever really question him

So Lutz would naturally go with that plan, he bites you after settling you down in your forever prison

He does it out of possession more than needing you forever, Lutz just wants your pack and every other vampire and werewolf out there to know that your his forever

Kuro

Kuro loves the idea of you more than he actually loves you

He loves the power and status he’d get from changing and keeping

Of course he still is madly in love with you, but he’s more so in love with his power fantasy

Kuro would love to just waltz in and take you, but even he can admit that he would barely match you in a fight and he certainly can’t take on you and the rest of your pack at the same time

So he lures you to his home as sweetly as he possibly can

There he quickly knocks you out and chains you away

He’s likely to play with you for a week or maybe even as long as a couple of months before he decides it’s no longer fun and just wants you to be his forever

Having some decency Kuro would attempt to ask you if you consented to being changed

If you said no or put up a fight he simply knock you out and do what needs to be done

If you agree you’re playing right into his sick little fantasy as he sees this as a sign that he’s completely tamed you now, both mentally and physically

[thebrownssociety]

Looney Tunes Headcanons - Off-Set, Part 2

This is a bunch of headcanons about what I think some of the LT’s are known for being like outside of the WB bubble. As there are a lot of them, it’ll be uploaded in stages.

References to homosexuality.

Porky Pig is well-known for being the off-screen face of Looney Tunes. Because Bugs and Daffy have a lot of filming commitments it’s Porky who attends Toon-town related things on behalf on the Looney Tunes. 

He’s judged fashion shows, cooking shows, car-races [Toon Town has a lot of car races. They have a lot of different terrains which provide a wide variety.] and Variety Shows. Unfortunately he’s also had to uncover various episodes of cheating during these competitions. [No, you C-C-CAN’T take a magic potion which g-gives you a p-p-perfect voice in a sin-sin-sing - vocalising competition!]

Porky is also known for being one half of the original Looney Tune Power Couple. Him and Petunia have been together forever and during that time, although they have had disagreements they’ve never been that serious. They split up once in the late 40′s and that was due to [unfounded] rumours about Petunia dating Elmer Fudd. [Of all toons!] They laugh about it today, but at the time it was rather difficult. 

He’s also the one who sticks up for the other looney tunes, major or minor ones, and in the olden days was well-known for challenging the producers the most. There was one famous incident in about the 70′s when Rocky and Mugsy were accused of having committed a series of well-known burglaries. Even when the rest of the LT’s were convinced they’d done it, it was Porky who was saying ‘Just because they’re t-t-thieves doesn’t m-m-mean they did this crime!’ Unfortunately it turned out Rocky and Mugsy HAD done it, but the thought was there.

Five opinions he’s well known for having:

1 - Just because we act a  certain way on screen doesn’t mean we have to act that way off-screen. [That being said, he doesn’t get drawn into arguments about what a toon is doing off-set. Reporter: ‘Pepe Le Pew has taken up cooking! Do you think it’s wise having a skunk in the kitchen?’ Porky: ‘A-a-as long as he can do it without b-bur-burn - destroying the place, I don’t care!’]

2 - Every toon deserves an education. [Porky is also off the firm opinion that there is no such thing as a ‘stupid’ toon, or one who is completely incapable of learning at least the basics of education. This opinion has been tested on many occasions but he still has it.]

3 - Petunia is amazing, fantastic, awesome, brilliant and the love of my life. Did I mention she’s amazing? 

4 - Everyone should go abroad. Porky loves travelling and has a wall covered in pictures of places where he’s been. He also likes buying hats from the countries [in a reference to his first short ‘I haven’t got a hat.’ now he has just shy of one for every day of the year.]

5 - Just because a toon isn’t working anymore doesn’t mean they aren’t a toon. To this day Porky is still in touch with Beans, Bosko, Honey, Oliver Owl, Foxy and Roxy and supports their endeavours. [Namely, Bosko and Honey’s restaurant, Oliver's mechanics, Beans chimney sweeping and Foxy and Roxy’s low-key acting gigs.]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elmer Fudd is known for a variety of things. In the olden days it was his extremely good acting skills, reserved - but not shy - personality and his debated relationship with Petunia Pig. [There was never any romance between them, just very good friendship and a deep level of understanding of one another.] Once Porky and Petunia got engaged he was an ‘established bachelor’ [despite being less than 21 at the time, it was more the fact he showed absolutely no inclination towards a romantic relationship with anyone that put him in that category.] 

When he was 24 [1959] it came out that Bugs loved Elmer. Elmer admitted he felt the same way and a relationship started. [Details of this can be found in my ‘Unsolicited’ Fanfiction.] It was quite an unusual relationship due to the fact they didn’t live together, didn’t spend a lot of time together [mainly due to a mix of filming commitments] and didn’t go out of their way to show affection publicly. 

They got engaged in 1982, then married in 1992. Both events were well-publicised in Toon Town. 

Aside from his relationship with Bugs, he’s known for surprising everyone by proving to be very smart when the toons were allowed to access proper education. As well as a teaching degree, he’s got a degree in Law. [Much to everyone’s surprise.] It only took him a decade to get up to an High School level of education, and he passed with flying coulors. [Despite a snooty human-teachers best efforts]

Five opinions he’s well known for having:

1 - Daffy Duck is not an idiot and is actually very clever. Elmer has been of this opinion since he first met Daffy and despite multiple instances when Daffy has acted like the dictionary definition of a complete and utter nimrod, he’s been unwavering in this belief. Thankfully when the toons got access to education Daffy proved Elmer right and gained a degree in Performing Arts. 

2 - Opera is brilliant. Elmer loves all kind of music [excluding heavy metal and some raunchier pop songs.] but opera will always remain his favourite. It’s one of the many things that bonded Elmer and Bugs. Elmer’s favourite song is ‘I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major General’ but his favourite musical is ‘The Phantom Of The Opera.’ 

3 - No one is a complete idiot and everyone should be encouraged to learn. Due to his own experiences of being treated like a complete imbecile by pretty much everyone - even Bugs has been known to do this on a few occasions - he does his best to be nice to those who are also utter idiots and encourage them. Unfortunately, like Porky, this approach has been tested to breaking point. Two words: Pete Puma.

4 - In the same vein, Books are brilliant. Elmer is a massive fan of reading and reads a wide variety of stuff. He reads non-fiction on a range of subjects [Cooking to real-life crime] and he also reads fiction again, over a variety of genres. [Crime, Romance, historical fiction, children's books, the works.] Elmer normally aims to read for at least 30 minutes twice a week. It used to be more, but parenting, filming and The Looniversity have restricted the time he can devote to it by quite a margin. 

5 - Everyone should be given three chances. Elmer does his best not to judge someone when he first meets them, especially if they’re acting like a bit of an asteroid. The second time he forms a bit more of an opinion, but normally keeps quiet about it [except to Bugs, Daffy and Porky.]. Third time he meets you he’s got a good idea of what you’re like and how others are reacting to you. Then he decides whether or not he wants to be around you. Once he’s made up his mind it’s very hard to change it. 

The main exceptions to this rule have been the Tiny Toons. Seeing as they’re literally little version of Elmer’s family [and he’s parenting three of them, namely Elmyra, Buster + Babs] he’s cut them a lot of slack. 

[captkirkland]

Alright, so some Arthur Kirkland headcanons from me per @shithole-state’s request:

Arthur is genuinely such a complicated guy that it’s hard to really.. quantify him easily in words, I think. At times, he can seem like the complete antithesis of himself, and it’s not like he does that specifically on purpose, but there are certainly things he does do to throw people off about him.

Firstly, to me he’s.. a very small man. Like 5’4”-5’6”. Not that this is bad, but it makes his life even more complicated because people tended not to take him seriously when he was younger. It was a quick and harsh realization that he needed to harden himself against a sharp world that’d run him through if he didn’t.

Having grown up the way he did, the youngest of four brothers, who (in the canon I usually write from full of my own hcs,) had to deal with quite a lot of bullshit from them and his father during his upbringing. He looks more like Britannia than Celt of course, but that is for some very specific reasons. (Cough. The saxons being such a big part of early English history. Cough. Those were Germanic, not Celtic.) Often times I feel like he was the subject of bullying, considering those very early on English traumas, and I don’t really feel like he ever came across a genuine way to express himself. Emotionally, he’s stunted as hell, and he doesn’t preform in very healthy ways in regards to himself.. which.. y’know, eventually did come out in the way he treated others. He was a magic user, a witch, which obviously did not work very well with the sharp rise of Christianity, Catholicism, and Protestantism— and really that only made things so much worse.

I have a very specific view of how the personified nations behaved compared to how the governments of certain times did, because I absolutely believe that sometimes the countries, as their own people, did not agree with their bosses all the time! How could they? Their own people are getting hurt, the people of their friends, family. They are severely impacted by the wants of the people they represent, the land they call themselves— so of course they’d dissent. That comes out a lot in my specific canon with my friends a lot because we like to merge the 2Ps, Nyos, and even 2P Nyos into the canon verse to get a wider view of history. But, saying that, I fully believe that pirate Arthur specifically had a moment in time where he was.. literally a pirate. Against the East India Company, thieving, fighting, what have you. It was short lived, but he’d been a privateer and a sailor much longer, the literal pirate bit was towards the end when he started disagreeing hard with his own actions and the actions of his nation as a whole. I mean, how could a dude colonized to fuck and back very PERSONALLY entirely agree with that? But there was a part of his head that wanted land, wanted people in his “family.” It wasn’t right or okay, but at the start.. the idea of an empire didn’t seem so bad to him. It’d just be people in a family. Even if it’s a little hard, families are hard. Plus, it gave him such a rush and surge of power. What could be so bad about it? Which.. is the thought process that lead to a lot of self loathing during those lapses of (coined term with my friends) “country brain,” where he could make out what what going with those affected humans and what was actually happening. He started drinking then more than ever before, and it’s really never gone away.

He takes the harder roads of English history I think, out of some wish to keep Oliver from having to deal with that, believing he’s a touch more steeled than the other. Though, granted, it’s a thought in folly. A lot of his thoughts of himself are skewed, which really plays into how he behaves. He doesn’t care for people knowing his real feelings, hardening himself against prying eyes with an anger and a pissy face he’s had ever since his childhood. He hates the thought of being belittled and ruled, yet for a bit that’s what he did to people. He’s a hypocrite, and the worst part is that he knows it. He hates so much about himself, and yet even that twists himself because he has to carry himself highly. Nobody can hurt him if he does it first, and nobody can hurt him if he makes himself untouchable. So, he comes off narcisstic at times, probably because he is one after so many years. There’s so much going on in his head that’s unchecked, and he’s too prideful and staid in his ways to get it looked into on his own. Sometimes it all becomes too much though, and that’s when he has almost visceral breakdowns and has lapses in sanity (Britannia Angel, anyone?) before it all snaps back and he’s embarrassed about even carrying himself that way. These days he needs to have a more gentle nature outwardly, because that’s what’s been deemed as appropriate. He needs to be a gentleman in front of everyone, but especially both those he hurt, those who are afraid, or those who would judge him harshly if he didn’t. However, the facade is absolutely shatterable. There’s so many cracks in it sometimes that it confuses people sometimes about what kind of person he is. Dude had a huge one during the rock movement, which is incidentally where he gained back quite a bit of actual confidence in his own personal abilities, which is why I think his guitar is so damn important to him. But he also was partaking in quite a bit back then, the man has a real problem with addiction, but these days he’s cut back on mostly everything but smoking and drinking. unfortunately you can’t take the bottle out of his hand, or the music out of his head no matter what it sounds like! (sea SHANTIES) but all in all I find the man absolutely fascinating just because he is so diverse as a person on his own. This doesn’t even touch on the fact that he feels responsible for most of the world and is willing to absolutely lay down his life for the people he cares about either. There is just so much I could say about him, like he was a knight once! he loves high fantasy, he plays dnd! the list goes on, he’s such a complex person because the life he’s lead has been so— but at the end of the day he’s at home watching the bake off and doing needlework and I absolutely can’t stand him LOL

[47-shades-of-hitman]

In Your Likeness | Chapter 5 - A sliver of humanity

“Hey, you down for a run?”

Agent 47 looked up from the folder Diana had given him and saw you standing on the threshold, hands on your hips. Your hair had been tightly tucked behind your ears and instead of your usual Assassin’s attire, you now wore a somewhat more casual fit.

“Why not.” he said, standing up and putting away the documents.

You hummed and plopped down on one of the available chairs.

“Well then, I’ll wait here for a bit until you’re ready to go.”

He frowned. “Wait for what?”

“For you to put on your training gear, or something more breathable.” you said.

After a moment of silence you turned to him.

“You aren’t going to tell me that your plan was to… To run in that suit?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Well, a lot actually.” you explained, “People will stare. Besides, it’s very hot outside.”

“I function just right in this no matter the heat.”

You arose from your seat and crossed your arms, opposing him. “It looks ridiculous. A man sprinting in a suit like that through ancient Jerusalem. Tell you what, we’ll take an alternative route instead.”

Agent 47 wasn’t sure what you meant – “Alternative route?”

Instead of answering, you turned on your heel and left the room, the hitman soon following. He easily caught up to you and in silence, you left the Brotherhood’s quarters.

Despite the scorching heat, you broke out into a slight jog to warm up.

“Do you do parkour?” you quizzed upon approaching a wall.

“Excuse me?”

You flung yourself onto it, grabbing ridges and bricks that were sticking out, climbing up with practised ease. In about six seconds, you stood on top of a two-story building, peering over the edge to see what was taking him so long.

“I’m not sure if I…”

You pointed at the drainpipe on the side of the wall, shrugging. “Just use that. You’ll learn.”

47 climbed up and dusted down his slacks right after. “Heavily reliant on scaling buildings, aren’t you?”

You chuckled dryly. 

“The Assassins have been doing that since the beginning of the Brotherhood. If anything, it’s one of our most important skills. It’s a fantastic way to go from A to B unseen, and way quicker at that. I don’t carry them on me at this moment, but on one of my bracers I do have a grappling hook which I can use to my advantage.”

Walking over the flat rooftops, you hopped from one house to the other, staying out of sight from balconies and cameras.

“The beginning of the Brotherhood,” Agent 47 repeated. “How far back does it date? Golden Age? Middle Ages?”

A laugh fell from your lips and you jumped down a ledge before propelling yourself up a higher wall, gripping the edge. After hoisting yourself up, you turned back to help 47 out, but he managed just fine on his own.

“No, 47. The Brotherhood of Assassin originates in ancient Egypt.”

“Egypt?”

“In the time of Cleopatra. The Hidden Ones were the first ones, but no one knows who they really were. Eventually, it grew out into a Brotherhood for people carrying out assassinations and protecting our employers. Long story short: through the ages, we spread all over the world. Greece, Italy, America, France, England… You name it.”

47 let out a sound of surprise, since he had never known that it dated so far back.

“Our cause was to fight for peace above all things. Protect the people who needed us to do so. Working in the dark to serve the light. Our motto –  nothing is true, everything is permitted .”

You halted and looked out over the Wailing Wall, folding your hands on your back. Taking in the sight of Jews gathering to pray brought a sense of serenity.

“We fight for peace in freedom. And in that, we differ from our enemies, the Templars, or their more public name nowadays, Abstergo Industries . Once founded in the early thousands, set on claiming back the Holy Land under a veil of Catholicism, but under the surface, a whole lot less to do with whatever peace the church preaches. The Order of the Knights Templar once believed that peace could only be gained through oppression of lesser people and dictatorship.”

You shuddered even though the weather was far from cold – thoroughly appalled by the idea of them.

“And eventually, it became an institute of rich men seeking to become more wealthy and powerful. And then came the Pieces of Eden. Of course they already existed, but the more modern war about them, I mean.”

For a moment, you looked over at 47 to see if he was still listening. His eyes were as blue as the sky and made your heart skip a beat. Every time you saw that colour you remembered that they were the bluest shade you had ever seen.

Deciding to proceed walking, you stepped away, 47 in tow.

“I promise I won’t bore you for any longer.” you said, “If I’m talking too much, just say the word.”

“Well,” 47 began, “I was the one who asked you to teach me about the Brotherhood of Assassins, did I not?”

Your lips quirked upward and you exhaled. “I suppose. Tell me about you first, it would only be fair.”

“If you insist.” he said, “At the moment, I work for the ICA. It’s an organization handling contracts given by clients. I’m their hitman for particularly difficult jobs.”

“Like seeking out a secret organization created by both of our enemies.”

“Correct. As you know, I’m genetically made to be the best assassin one can create, with a very low failure rate.”

You hopped down a few roofs and reached a lower wall, where you jumped off, landing on the cobble street. Your conversation hadn’t made you able to do some parkouring through the town, anyway.

“Since you told your story quite quickly, I shall make mine short, too. I killed Ort-Meyer, who created me through his experiments, wanted to leave the world of killing by living with a priest, but eventually, he got kidnapped and I was pulled back into the trade. After all, I barely know how to do anything else.”

A large grin spread over your face as you two walked down the street, pushing past a few tourists in the process. “A priest? Never expected you of all people to take interest in such things.”

“I tended to the garden.” 47 explained, unsure why he was telling you this – after all, he barely knew you and whatever he was telling could be used against him, for he couldn’t be seen as weak.

But your eyes were kind and glimmered in amusement as you looked at him.

“Look at you, the one purely created to take lives, tends and cares for it.”

47’s gut twisted in confusion at the lack of humour in your voice. Where he had expected you to mock him for it, you were inexplicably accepting. “I suppose.” he mused.

“And here we are.” you added. “This way.”

You guided him outside of the ancient city and went uphill for a while, the Mount of Olives at your right hand.

“The Pieces of Eden, then.” 47 reminded you.

“Oh, yes.” you breathed, “The Pieces of Eden grant the holder great power over others. The Templars want those artefacts for themselves, so the Creed countered by making it their duty to do all to prevent that. And if we know where those artefacts are, we can keep an eye on them, take them to hide them away and most importantly, avoid conflict.”

“Avoid conflict? That clashes with our current mission.”

“Well, if it  can  be avoided. We’re not afraid to fight for it. Peace through freedom, I mean. Sometimes force is needed, and so it shall be done.” you concluded, shrugging a little.

“And you, what is your story?” 47 quizzed as the pair of you halted on top of the Mount of Olives. You were slightly out of breath because of the heat, holding your hand above your brow to shield yourself from the sunlight. The golden Dome of the Rock stood shining brightly.

“I’m (Y/n) (L/n), thirty-five years old, Master Assassin of Jerusalem’s Brotherhood. Nothing that you don’t know of.”

Agent 47 huffed. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Why the interest?” you softly quizzed. “It’s not that it matters.”

“You said you wanted to become acquainted.”

You smirked, folding your hands on your back, closing your eyes to enjoy the light of the sun on your cheeks.

“I was born into the Brotherhood, like my father and his father’s father. Needless to say, we have a long history in the Creed. Not the most prominent or anything, but quite famous. My father’s side of the family consisted of ruthless Assassins, living for their trade. My father fell in love with a young female Assassin and married her – my mother. They had my brother, Joseph, and me. All was well and my parents were loved by the Brotherhood, but one day, my father died while on duty.”

Your voice faltered upon ending your sentence, and you looked at your boots for a moment, exhaling deeply. “I never really got to know the man who he was behind the blade. He trained us, and everything I know, I know from him. In hindsight, he was more a mentor than a father. I respect him greatly, but I never felt like I was his daughter. I suppose it’s a bit strange… Well, not for you. In theory, you killed the man who put you onto this Earth.”

Agent 47 hummed, breathing in the scorching air.

“And your mother?”

“She’s in Thailand, in a retirement home set up by Assassins. There she can live her final days in peace, try to forget about the passing of her husband and her son, but with her later stage of Alzheimer’s, I’m not sure where her emotions are at the moment.”

Gesturing to the side, you told Agent 47 to head down the street.

“What happened to Joseph?”

You halted in your tracks, a few tourists that had been walking behind you nearly bumping into you, muttering something angry in what you recognized to be Spanish –  Perdona , you murmured, shaking your head before resuming your walk, albeit at a quicker pace now.

“I don’t like to talk about it.” you said, “Maybe another time. I’ve already told a lot about myself. Enough for now. We should get to actually working out, now.”

Breaking out into a jog, you started running down the street, passing by tourists every now and then.

“Do you often run?” 47’s voice was unusually steady given that you were dashing forward at quite a pace.

“As often as I can. Keeps me fit.”

He hummed in agreement. “Can’t argue with that.”

You went running through a few streets before speaking again – “Mind if I spice this up a bit?”

Before 47 could respond, however, you were already scaling a high wall on your left, pushing yourself up with practised ease. He spotted a drainpipe and sighed in acceptance, soon following you up the roof.

When he finally vaulted onto it, he saw that you were already a few buildings away, leaping from one with so much as the bat of an eye.

“Are you seeing this?” he asked, then realizing that Diana couldn’t hear him – after all, he wasn’t on a mission and thus he didn’t carry his trackers – and he knew that pursuing you wouldn’t bring him anywhere. Another thing he recognized was that he lacked an important skill he hadn’t realised he didn’t have, until now. You leapt further and further away, gracefully so, as if you were dancing.

Where he mostly blended into the crowd, hiding in plain sight, you were away in the blink of an eye, gone with the wind.

You looked over your shoulder, seeing him just stand on the roof where you had left him. He was watching you with an odd posture, as if he wasn’t sure what to make of your antics.

Smirking, you shook your head, resuming your trip back to the headquarters. Bouncing to the edge, you peered down the side of the roof to see if it was all still clear, and upon seeing that the bushes were still soft and plump enough to fall upon, you spread your arms, diving off.

Agent 47 felt his stomach churn in shock, his breath hitching as he watched you jump. As if snapped out of a trance, he darted to the end as quickly as he could, immediately figuring out the importance of scaling and parkour in the speed at which he was currently going.

He came to a halt at the edge and leaned over it to find you standing with your arms crossed, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I thought you…”

“Hm…” you replied. “Come on, let’s get back to the headquarters.”

47 slid down a drainpipe and walked up to you.

“That was… Impressive.” 47 stated as you resumed your trip back to the base.

“Thank you.” you mused, “That dive was a  Leap of Faith. Took a long time to master.”

“I can imagine.”

You turned your face away, smiling in amusement.

Even though it was tiny, a bond was starting to form.

These months were going to become interesting, you figured.

[hayleyb100]

Light My Way, Part 3

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9 - Part 10 - Part 11 the end

⚠️ WARNING! ⚠️

-It is a twisted story of Pokemon Sun and Moon, and a crossover of Pokemon SM and SWSH.  -It features Hau and Kabu as the main characters. -Extremely angsty. -Everything is headcanon. -It isn’t spoiler-free.

Kabu was an ambitious man when he first came to Galar.

As his father was a craftsman for katana, he naturally became close to Fire-type pokemon, and He was determined to reach the top with them. His parents were also supportive of him and gave any help necessary. True to his ardor to reach the top, he became Gym Leader of Motorstocke Gym. But his ambitious dream tumbled to pieces over time. Kabu thought with his youth, vigor, and passion, he can burn down all the enemies in his way, but with time, his loss count stacked.

Too much until he was weeded out of the Gym Leader position.

Kabu felt lost. The only dream that motivated him to come to another region away from the parents was to become strong. But now that he was thrown out, he was too embarrassed to see them again after all their support. He hid the fact that he was thrown out to his parents. To continue to lie to his parents that he is doing well, Kabu started working for any job that he can lay his hand on to stay in Galar, but a young man wore out quickly with his wings to reach his dream snapped.

He became severely depressed that he lost all the wills for pokemon battles. He was busy maintaining his life in a foreign region and handling people's backbiting, that he forgot the purpose of why he even has to go on living like he is doing. Despite his distressed economic situations, he got drunk day after day to escape from the sad reality, but nothing helped. He started to disbelieve in himself and his potentials.

That's when his father reached him. As usual, Kabu lied that he is doing well. But his father quietly told him.

"If you are having a hard time there, always remember that you have home to return to. And even if the whole world turns cold back on you, remember you have your mother and I believe in you."

those simple but honest words woke up Kabu by far. That little fact where he has somewhere to return to gave him so much relief and consolation. After he hung up, he wept alone in his room for a long time. He felt refreshed than ever. He immediately cut off his drinking habit and started training hard with his pokemons again. He shed his old habits and mind set of power and started working on his tactics too. His passion burnt further with the fantastic match against Leon. With his efforts, he became the Gym Leader once again, and he was praised as one of the top Gym Leaders of the Galar who turned over a new leaf.

After getting back on track, Kabu dreamed of visiting Hoenn again to see his parents as a proud son. But his Gym Leader work kept him occupied that he just couldn't find the right time. His fear of losing his position again restrained him from going back to Hoenn to relax. He stayed in Galar to train and keep himself on edge. Days turned to months, and months turned to years. He rarely visited Hoenn and kept postponing his visit to his parents.

...Until it was too late.

When many years of peaceful days passed, Kabu received a call saying his parents passed away. As they were devoted to each other, they left on the same day together. He left the Hoenn at last to bid a final farewell. Unbearable heartache from regret devoured Kabu as he faced two portraits. He tried to stay as a strong Gym Leader to be the proud son as well, but he ended up not doing the basic duty of the child: Sharing his life with parents. He felt as if his bones were shattering, but he didn't just lie there crying. The flame of love that his father and mother passed on kept him firm. And all those years of hardship he went through taught him weeping and sitting down doesn't help.

After the funeral for 7 weeks, Kabu thought carefully about what to do in the airplane back to Galar. All his life he's been working hard to pursue his dream of becoming a great pokemon trainer, but upon his parents' death, questions started to brim in his mind.

So what was I stacking all this power for?

What was I burning for?

Was it just to show off?

Was it just for an honor?

Was it to become a proud son? But considering that, I ended up not able to pay the love back.

Kabu felt so much guilt of only receiving love from his parents and not repaying them with the love they deserve. And with Gym Leader work and the turmoil during his youth kept him busy, he never started a family either. It felt as if when he looked back, he had nothing to turn to. As he kept thinking in the airplane back to Galar, one thought came up in his mind.

'That's right. The least I can do to make sure my parent's love doesn't go to waste is to pass it down. I can pass down the love to who needs it the most as a legacy.'

Kabu resolved that moment. But considering people around him, there wasn't an appropriate person for him to do that. Most Gym Leaders were young of course, but they were all so mature and had a loving family. He knew it would be a hard and rough way, but there was one more option: Fostering. He was determined to help the one who is in the most need, like when Kabu was going through a hard time.

A week after Kabu returned to Galar, a video call from his great friend came. It was the most welcoming call Kabu had since the friend didn't contact him for quite a long while.

"Nanu, glad to hear from you. How have you been?"

"So-so."

Nanu was Kahuna of Alola who Kabu befriended during Nanu's trip to Galar. Professor Kukui of the same region wanted to start a Pokemon League in their place, so he was traveling around different regions to get an idea of how to run one along with other Kahunas who will be the Elite Four. Nanu grumbled in annoyance but still followed Kukui as Kahuna. At least Nanu gained one thing in Galar: A good friend called Kabu. They were about the same age and had the same interest which was pokemon, so they came close through pokemon battles and a glass of beer. Even after Nanu went back to his region, they constantly got in touch to babble old man's chat. But since quite a while ago, there was no call from Nanu whatsoever, so Kabu got a little worried. Well, until now that is.

"I heard that your parents passed away. I deeply sympathize. Sorry to hear."

"Thank you for the worries, but I'm alright now. I had plenty of times to think it over, so I have calmed down. However, I was more worried about you, honestly. What happened over 8 months? Were you busy building the League?"

"Well..."

Nanu scratched the back of his head and wore an awkward expression. Kabu was puzzled, as it wasn't the kind of expression that Nanu would normally wear.

"The plan to build the League was... abolished. For good, I guess."

Kabu was caught so off guard that he was stunned for a few moments. He couldn't believe that such a passionate professor like Kukui would throw a towel at his ambitious plan so easily.

"I... Wh... Did something bad happen?"

"Yeah... Bad. Very... Bad."

Nanu inhaled looking frazzled.

"It's actually the reason why I couldn't call for that long. Something bad happened in Alola."

"...Is it alright for me to ask why?"

Nanu seemed as if he knew the question was coming, but he sighed deeply.

"Kahuna of Melemele Island passed away."

Kabu gasped. He was shocked, as Hala was the most energetic Kahunas of all.

"His grandson has gone missing and his daughter-in-law died in an accident... His heart just gave out. After losing his mentor, Kukui was devastated and discarded whatever he was doing. The League, his research... Everything."

The Fire-type Gym Leader was lost for words. He didn't know where to start consoling.

"I... I am sorry."

"Hey, you're the one to hear sorry at the moment, right? Don't sweat it. I wasn't damaged as much as Kukui... Or the grandson."

The last words just pricked up Kabu's ears.

"Did you find him?!"

"Yeah... But in the worst condition."

Nanu shook his head as he told Kabu an unbelievable story of how the grandson of Hala was discovered in cold sleep.

Kabu couldn't imagine how ravaged the little boy was when he found out he was left alone in the world. That's when his instinct screamed him to go see that boy.

"Nanu, if it isn't too much of trouble... Would it be alright if I meet the boy?"

"Umm... Not without a purpose. He isn't fond of strangers now, you know."

"I know. But I need to."

Kabu inhaled deeply.

"I would love to foster him."

Nanu kept shaking his head saying the boy would be tough to foster as he was abandoned by the foster family twice and he isn't in good health. But Kabu insisted and pleaded, saying he will take good care of him. Nanu signed and approved, as he knew Kabu was pretty stubborn when he made up his mind and he was someone trustworthy.

In an airplane to Alola, Kabu studied the psychology of an adopted child, how to care for them, and what to expect and do. The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt the poor boy yet again due to lack of preparation. Nanu took him to the hospital, and he had a fateful encounter.

The boy was sitting on the bed quietly. Kabu was surprised at his lovely olive green hair like Oddish leaves and two round eyes like Deerling. But it tore his heart to see such an enchanting boy wasting away in sorrow. When Nanu called the boy, he looked back, and Kabu's eyes met a pair of eyes that looked like the night sky.

As soon as Kabu saw the eyes that looked like 2 black pearls, Kabu made up his mind. He wouldn't temporarily foster him. He will raise him as his own. He said he would foster him because he had to be careful with these things, but his mind was already inclined onto adoption instead of fostering.

This is the boy.

Kabu thought.

This is the child to pass down the love I've got.

[olivarryprompts]

Fanfic Friday #5

Welcome to Fanfic Friday! Each Friday I will post a new fanfic here and on A03. Enjoy x

Read/Save it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/32197966

{crossover}

Ship: olivarry

Warnings: small amount of angst, swearing

Status: dating

Wc: 2,413

Once again, there were some sort of god-like presents threatening Central and Star city, hence it was up to everyone’s favorite superheroes, and their teams, to defeat the crisis and save the world.

I am said superhero, the fast one specifically. Oliver and I have been dating from around since I awoke from my coma. How did we get together? That’s a story for a different time. Oliver and I, throughout all of this, have been able to keep our relationship a secret. I know, huge shocker.

“Oliver, Cisco and Ray have made the tech, but it needs to be tested.”

“So,” he said, with his Oliver look, “Test it.”

“How are we supposed to test tech that should defeat Aliens without actual Aliens?”

“Kara.”

“Ollie! We can’t shoot at Kara.”

“You're so cute,” Oliver said, under his breath, “Sometimes I just want to cuddle you like a teddy bear, however out of character.”

I blushed deeply, “Stop it. We need to save the world.”

He leaned it, laying a careful kiss on my forehead, “And we will.”

“You’ve really helped on the ideas front,” I said, sarcastically.

“Let’s get the teams together and discuss what we know so far. We can think up our next moves.”

“Okay, yeah. I’ll get everyone to the hub.”

“Barry Allen do not speed m-”

I sped him to the hanger.

“I hate you,” he commented with an underlying smirk.

“I love you, too.”

I quickly sped everyone into the room before returning to Ollie’s side.

“Yes Barry?” Sara Lance, captain of the Waverider, said.

“Well, I-i,” I looked over at Oliver for help.

He whispered, “Thought as though we should call a team meeting.”

“Right, I thought we should call a team meeting to, to discuss, uh, um-”

He continued in a subdued voice, “what we know, our plan, and our next steps.”

“To discuss what we know about our big bad, what our plan is, and our next steps to ya know, save the world.”

“Are we meant to pretend we aren’t hearing the brooding man?” John Constantine, local warlock, said.

“I give up. Ollie, lead the team. You know what to do.”

“You tried,” he smiled, a little over fondly, “Right so, Nate, Iris what have we got on her?”

“Well, she seems to have no record of life until she popped up in our time and attacked Central city,” Nate explained.

“We wondered if there was a chance of her being from another Earth, and Cisco tracked her residual frequency from the attack, and the frequency matched one from this Earth.”

“So that leaves us nowhere, loves,” Constantine said, lighting a cigarette, which Sara promptly knocked out of his hand and stamped on.

“Well, not necessarily. We know that she just appeared which narrows down the search to anyone without a record, which is very few people,” Cisco explained.

“If we can just get a strand of her DNA, I could take a look into how to gain her powers and where they come from.”

“To get the ladies NDA we need to find her,” Mick grumbled.

“Thank you Mick,” Oliver said, rolling his eyes, “Dig, did Lyla get anything.”

“Argus satellites haven’t picked up anything. She said she’d call and let us know.”

Felicity entered, and Oliver raised an eyebrow at me.

“She told me to put her back,” I said lowly to Oliver.

“I-i told you not to PUT me.”

“She’s scary,” I defended further.

“Sorry I was not present, I mean I wasn’t here because I was well-that’s the point. I was hacking, obviously, that’s what I do, I hack, but you guys know that-”

“Felicity,” Ollie said, “The point.”

“Right. There was something on her arm, almost underneath her skin. I looked further into it and it seemed to be of a technological origin. I came back and instantly drew the “thing.” I think it might be some sort of microchip. After consulting Ray, I did some digging, and I came back with some interesting results,” she projected the images from her tablet, “This was a theoretical experiment planned in-you guessed it, Star City. it was, well, awful. It was talking about mutation and how technology had the power to change any and all humans for the better. It was called Project Mutant.

“Oh yes Felicity, I bring you, Mutant, our big bad.”

“Not your best work,” Caitlin commented.

“Offended,” Cisco replied with a grin. Oliver was clearly getting annoyed, so I touched his arm subtly. His demeanor began to soften.

“Right,” he cleared his throat, “Can we track this chip?”

“Well, yes and no. The chip is on a completely different server to any domain I’ve come across. I don’t even know what it is. It’s essentially in a different world. I’d need to get track of her personal server to begin the hack, which-”

“You obviously can’t do,” Ray said, “Can I see the server?”

Ray, Cisco, and Caitlin all looked at the server Felicity pulled up on her tablet.

“Does that look like a wave function to anyone else?” Cisco said.

“A what?” I said.

“Somehow, her DNA, it’s acting like a particle on the quantum level,” Caitlin further explained.

“So we need to treat her, in essence, as a quantum particle.”

“So that’s why everytime I try to hack into the database it moves. Why it acts like a domain I’ve never seen before.” Felicity said in some sort of revelation.

“So how do you track a particle?” Ray said, “You can’t, wave function collapses.”

“So we can’t track her in any way.”

“No, no we can. The art of quantum mechanics is tracking particles, that's the whole point.”

“So you “solve” quantum mechanics before this looney destroys a city. Hell no.”

“Right, moving on from the science, which I am sure you guys will figure out, let’s say we can track her and find her. If she’s like a particle then can’t she just pop in and out of anywhere at any time, ya know wave particle duality and all. Light goes so fast that it theoretically travels through time. “

“Oliver, are you in there? When did you learn quantum physics?” I said, shocked.

“Y-you pick up things here and there. That’s relevant anyway. How do we stop her.”

“Simple, what stops a particle?”

“Cold.” Caitlin said.

“So, we need to track her, build a weapon to slow her down on the sub-molecular level, and keep her in that state. Easy,” Ray summarized, looking defeated.

“Hold up, she came back to this time for a reason. She clearly has motive. If we know her motive, we can predict where she will attack next. She can’t just pop out of existence if she has a goal she needs to complete. She can go back to this time for a reason, out of all the times she could have existed,” Sara said, “She came back now. This timing, this place, it has to mean something to her. That could hold the key to stopping her.”

“You’re right,” Iris said, “She has a reason.”

“We could run some samples of history through Gideon to look for significance,” Nate suggested.

“There’s an idea,” Sara said.

“Right, looks like everyoens got work to do, let’s get this rolling.

I brought Oliver into flash time. He was stressed and uptight.

“Ollie?”

“Barry, what-what are you doing? They can all..”

“Flashtime, remember.”

“Why did you-”

“Sometimes you just need the world to stop for a moment. You know that better than anyone.”

He just wrapped his arms around me and kept me close.

“We’re going to win this. We’re going to be fine,” I told him.

He just hummed.

He leaned in for a kiss, which we both needed.

“Let’s do this,” Oliver said.

“Let’s.” I pulled away from him and smiled.

The fight was intense and it was Oliver and I left with the task of finishing her.

“Ollie, go, go please. I can do this, I’ll be able to.”

“It’s my bow that has the tech, no way in hell I leave you here.”

“Think Oliver! I am the only one fast enough to stop her.”

“Barry, don't. Don’t grab my bow and speed off. Please,” he was begging. Before I could think much more about what was on the line, I kissed Ollie, grabbed the arrow, and sped off towards her. With her caught off guard, I was able to plunge the arrow into her forearm. When I pulled the bow out, I saw that the world around me had changed.

Oliver’s POV

Just like that he vanished. First from my touch and then from this time. My bear, bazza, barry, just, gone. I ran at the spot where he’d disappeared from yelling, “BARRY! BARRY!”

“Oliver,” A voice said.

“H-he can’t be gone. I-i can’t do this, any of this, without him. Please I need him. GET HIM BACK!.”

I found myself slumped against a wall. I threw my bow across the room and chucked some arrows wherever I pleased. I waited a few moments before collecting my bow and getting on my motorbike. Tears threatened to fall. How could I lose the one person in the world that matters the most to me?

Once I arrived back at the hanger, I immediately went into the storage room. I grabbed my phone and unlocked it. My back screen was a picture of Barry cuddled into my chest. If anyone questioned it, I’d tell them I lost a dare to Barry and this was my forfeit. Obviously it was a huge lie as it was one of my favorite pictures of the two of us. His cute smirk is on show as well as his clingy nature. I missed his reassuring touches already. Angry, I threw some boxes around the place.

I instantly drew an arrow back at the tapping of someone's feet. Closer, closer, here. It was just Felicity.

“Hey,” She said in her sweet voice.

“Hey,” I said, monotone.

“We’re going to find Barry, wherever he is.”

“Don’t tell me that! Don’t tell me that when he could be anytime and anywhere,” I sneered through gritted teeth.

“Okay,” Felicity said in her felicity voice, “What is going on? Not keeping a level head is not helping Barry.”

“Felicity you don’t understand.”

“Then make me understand, Oliver.”

“It’s HARD TO KEEP A LEVEL HEAD WHEN IT'S THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE!”

“Love of your life?” she questioned.

“Yes, love of my fucking life.”

“You and-”

“Me and Barry.”

“How long?”

“Long. Year and a half.”

“W-who knows?”

“No one does.”

“Oliver, look at me. We will find Barry, okay? We have all the best minds working in here, and we will get him. You have got to stay calm, though. We need you Oliver, okay? Do it for Barry.”

“Alright,” I said, sucking in a deep breath.

We entered the main portion of the hangar again, “Anyone got any ideas?”

“Ray thinks he can hack her biochip now that she is no longer in quantum flux,” Caitlin reported.

“Would that tell us the time or just the place?” Iris, equally as worried, inquired.

“Just a locational ping.”

I racked my brain, “When was she experimented on?”

“Around May 2012 they started.”

“Where?” I questioned again.

“Floy Woods Hospital, Central City. It had closed down by then but-”

Cisco took over from Cait, “It looks like their electricity was still on around that time.”

“Ollie, mind catching the rest of us up to speed?” Sara asked.

“Whenever I’m in a stressful or panicking situation, my mind always rolls onto Lian Yu. If she was in a similar state, surely she was thinking about where her trauma began. Or, if not that, a place that made her feel safe, her apartment, family home, ect. I’m hoping it's the former because the latter means she could be there at any point in time.”

“Right.”

“I’ll take Oliver and whoever needs to come on the waverider to check out his hunch. Hopefully we will find him then.”

“Let’s go! He hasn’t got time to waste,” I yelled.

“The rest of us will stay here and keep looking for clues,” Kara said.

I shot my way through the security detail in the building before carefully scouting out the rest. Heat signature saw three people in a singular room, one atypically warm. Barry. I bust my way through the door, easily taking out the two other people. I quickly cut off the restraints and picked off the metahuman dampeners.

“Ollie,’” Barry said, weak.

“Come on Bazza, let’s get you home,’ glad to have him back in my arms.

“What about her?”

“Sara should have taken care of her by now. She’ll be on the waverider, in cuffs.”

“G-good.”

“What did she do to you?”

“S-s-some s-s-s-”

Barry collapsed into Oliver, and Oliver cradled him in his arms. He carefully made it up to the roof where the waverider awaited. Barry needed treatment quickly.

They told the team to meet them back at star labs asap. Barry could be treated best there. I stepped off the waverider and quickly ran through star labs, trying to get to the cortex where the medbay was. Caitlin was already there, waiting to treat Barry.

I walked out of the lab, unable to see Barry like that. He’s going to be fine, I told myself. I went into the speed lab. I found some balls, and I began throwing them up and pinning them against the back wall with arrows.

Barry’s POV

My eyes fluttered open. I felt outstandingly weak.

“O-oliver? Where’s Oliver?”

“I’ll go get him,” Caitlin said.

“Gave us a real scare there Bear,” Joe said, concerned, “How are you feeling?”

“Weak, but I-i’ll be alright.”

“We got her by the way,” Cisco chimed in, “Locked away in iron heights.”

“Nice.”

“Barry,” Ollie said, making his entrance known.

“O-ollie?”

“Right here,” he said in his low, sugary voice.

“Thought you left,” I whispered lowly.

“Never, darling,” he said, equally as quietly.

“I’ll give you two a minute,” Joe said, leaving. Cisco and Caitlin followed.

Oliver wrapped his arms around me, “You idiot. My idiot.”

“I’m here, right? Nothing happened.”

“But it could have.”

“Hey, look at me. I’m fine, Ollie. We’re fine.” I leaned in for a kiss. He happily obliged.

“I just thought I lost you.”

“I thought I lost you, too.”

“Love you,” he smiled.

“Love you more.”

He let it slide. Just this once.

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

If the Democrats had one spine between them, this is what they should do

Nuke the filibuster, then immediately propose an amendment to bring it back for legislation and judicial appointments

For executive appointments, I don’t really care; the president can fire a secretary at any time for any reason, so it doesn’t matter how many senators voted to confirm them. We need a government, so it doesn’t make sense for congress to be able to block department heads when the president can just name acting secretaries until the actual secretaries get confirmed.

Next, push through legislation to expand the Supreme Court, but do not immediately fill the seats; let the Republicans know that if they don’t agree to play fair, then all bets are off. They want to keep the filibuster just as much as we do because everybody likes to threaten to get rid of it; if we actually get rid of it, then nobody gets to use the threat anymore, and we have carte blanche until it is restored through bipartisan amendment.

The SCOTUS seats become the next threat; either pass the amendment and send it to the states, or we start packing the court with all these wonderfully qualified, young, liberal PEOPLE OF COLOR. Republicans would never negotiate like this, they would just do it, just pull the trigger and get what they want. They’d get shit for it from the other side, but their constituents would love it and their approval ratings would skyrocket. Democrats need to be more diplomatic, and by showing restraint they can have plausible deniability (though the media would tear them a new asshole either way, so damned if you do, damned if you don’t). They’re not cheating, they actively want to limit their own power and restore bipartisan cooperation; that’s the biggest olive branch we could offer the Republicans, and if they don’t like it then they can go fuck themselves.

If Democrats got rid of the filibuster, there’s nothing the Republicans could legally do to stop them. Their best bet would be litigation with the 6-3 conservative SCOTUS, but then the Dems could just pack the court to get favorable rulings; does this sound familiar?

“I LEARNED IT BY WATCHING YOU!”

So, the Republicans can either pass the amendment and enshrine the filibuster into the constitution, OR they can let the Democrats run wild and hope for civil unrest and eventual war, because that’s the only thing that could conceivably stop a party with unlimited power.

Now, of course, this could immediately backfire on the Democrats. They could do it, and the Republicans could just pretend they don’t care and bide their time until the next election. They take back power and they’ll have the Democrats to thank for handing them a post-filibuster senate; the point of changing the rules is to stop the other side from gaining power ever again (2020 - 2022, Republicans are passing anti-voting laws because they hope that will make them win in 2024; Democrats need to balance this by doing the same thing in their own favor). But this back-and-forth is why the Supreme Court is so important. Liberal justices could regulate conservative laws, but once the Democrats show their hand and signal that they’re willing to change the rules, Republicans will use that to their advantage; we expand the Supreme Court now, they’ll expand the Supreme Court twofold (or perhaps something worse) the next chance they get. The idea is not to give them that next chance. It’s what they do to us, but our party is just too stupid or too unwilling to do it back to them.

Republicans change the rules to win, while Democrats never change the rules because they see the rules as sacred. Politics is a game; most people think it’s something intelligent like chess, when really it’s mindless like Mouse Trap. Sure, Mouse Trap has rules, you can sit down and play it as it was intended, but if the object of the game is to Trap a Mouse, then you’re more likely to do it by setting up the trap and playing with it by itself like a toy. Democrats play by the rules, rolling their dice and moving their mice, collecting cheese wedges, setting up the trap one piece at a time, whereas Republicans immediately set it up and let it go, winning on turn one. That’s against the rules, but there’s no higher authority holding them to the rules anyway! The Supreme Court used to be like parents, enforcing the rules and telling the siblings to play nice together, but now the parents have been replaced by the cheater’s best friends who let them get away with anything they want. It’s a total conflict of interest, but they don’t care because they get to win!

Nuke the filibuster, amend the constitution to bring it back, threaten to go full liberal if they don’t, then actually follow through on their threats when they don’t. That’s the only language they know, these are the only compromises they’ll listen to; force their hand, or they’ll shit all over you. They’re willing to change laws and steal elections to stay in power, then turn around and project their own crimes onto the other side, “we’re not cheating, YOU’RE cheating!” And this is all done while the filibuster is still in place; Democrats need to acknowledge that they can’t win by following the rules if the other party is cheating. The other party has said the rules don’t matter anymore, so it’s not cheating for the Democrats to stoop to their level, fair’s fair, it’s just business.

[this-is-what-makes-us-fandoms]

could you write headcannons or a fic of what u think would've happened in season 2 of lab rats elite force if it was continued ? i love ur writing sm!

Okay this is such a cool request because I honestly think about this way more than I should 😂

So here are some of my headcanons of what I think would’ve happened. Beware, this will be long because I have a lot of ideas...

So season 2 would have resumed to the fight against Rodissius, I feel like it would be an hour long special

I think we would have definitely seen some Chase angst with him blaming himself about letting Reese inside

We’d see some of the superheroes that the team is warning and/or asking help from

WE’D SEE HORACE AGAIN COME OUT OF HIDING AND EXPLAIN HE LET EVERYONE BELIEVE HE WAS DEAD SO HE COULD TREAT INJURED SUPERHEROES WITHOUT BEING TARGETED

That would be such a touching moment between him, Oliver, Kaz and Skylar

would also make a crack at chase being rude a little throwback from the crossover special lol

They’d ask him to help but he wouldn’t be able to because he has to continue helping the heros that have yet to regain their full strength

For the love of god I would hope to see Tecton, because I have an undeniable crush on him, at least once

A definite appearance from Leo and Adam for backup, maybe a few other bionic kids if the superheroes aren’t able to help

Also pretty much every superhero knew that Skylar lost her powers twice. Twice! Without chance of ever getting them back.

But then boom, she has powers again

Rodissius would undoubtedly search for answers of how that happened and trace it back to Chase

Which would lead to Chase getting kidnapped by Rodissius who would in turn make Chase look for a way to restore his powers

And in a sudden turn of events, Riker switches teams and helps the Elite Force

I mean during season one we see him express doubt about the whole thing

Like he left Roman to defend himself against the team

Which leads me to believe that he wanted no part in this but was heavily coerced into doing this

He tries to come in peace but obviously the team doesn’t trust him and he willingly gives himself up

The team comes up with a plan to use Riker as a bargaining chip for Chase but he tells them it won’t work

Why?

Because if there’s a chance that Rodissius might get his powers back, he’s willing to sacrifice his children to do so

So that plans scrapped and they’re back to square one

Until Riker tells them he can get them into wherever they’re hiding out

They agree but still keep him handcuffed so he can’t try anything

I’d say they manage to get inside and find Chase but are quickly trapped by Rodissius and his children

They think that Riker led them into a trap but he didn’t, Rodissius figured out they’d find the place when he noticed Riker was missing

Rodissius isn’t a man to give second chances so he easily disowns Riker

Don’t agree, go watch the ending scene in The List when he takes matters into his own hands

So that leads me to believe that once Riker tells him he willingly brought them then Rodissius would say something along the lines of

“You’re no son of mine, I didn’t raise a traitorous coward.”

Definitely thinks he has the Elite Force cornered but they made a plan in case Riker was leading them into a trap

They prove they aren’t trapped and a fight ensues

Definitely Roman vs Riker scenes where Roman pulls some crap about betraying family

Riker counters with saying they stopped being a family the minute they decided to stop helping people

BC LISTEN RIKER IS A GOOD PERSON WHO WAS MANIPULATED BY HIS FATHER

They manage to capture Rodissius and most of his children

Roman gets away for the sake of plot of course

They inform the superheroes and Rodissius and his children are taken away to Mighty Max

They ask Riker to join the team but he declines saying he needs to look for Roman who is still out there but promises to inform them on any information he finds

Now onto the aftermath

Okay so Douglas got injured by Reese when she did her mojo on his face

And obviously it seemed like he was rendered sightless

But I would say he didn’t lose his sight although it is going to take time before he completely recovers

Reese is the turning point in Chase’s trust and he would kind of close himself off

There would be an episode in dealing with that

I mean he’s been betrayed so many times by people he’s considered friends

Marcus, Sebastian and now Reese who he thought genuinely liked him

So definitely major trust issues there that need to be properly dealth with

I think he might try to like hide it away or play it off as he’s fine but there will be a couple of times where he lashes out

This would be a great brother/sister bonding moment if Bree is the one who helps him and obviously his friends

Definitely a “we’re a family, no one will ever mess with you like that again” moment with everyone

And that helps with his trust issues and whatnot

Okay onto Skylar and Oliver

THEY DEF BECOME A COUPLE OKAY DONT FIGHT ME ON THIS

I like to think that after fighting Rodissius and how they almost lost Chase after he was kidnapped, makes her realize that she doesn’t want to lose Oliver

So she makes it official and they become a couple

Um Bree also discovers a few more powers throughout the season

And Chase would unlock a few more hidden abilities

ALSO

With the new chip update, I think it would allow them to use more than one ability at once

So there would definitely be training in that because that would definitely come in handy

I think we would also see more growth in Oliver and Kaz’s powers since its shown that superheroes do in fact many, many superpowers

OH SEASON TWO WOULD BE HEAVY BASED ON CALDERA AND WHATS GOING ON WITH THE OPPOSITION

Since we never really got closure on what happened with the opposition

Also I don’t think that Scarlett actually died

For one that whole thing with her falling into the lava seemed sketchy

And I know it was for the sake of plot and whatever

But think about it, she was practically running the opposition or at least was high up on the chain of command

She’s not stupid and I doubt she forgot who close she was to the pit of lava

And second, all calderans have the same physiology bc they were genetically engineered the same way

So that means that Scarlett had the same powers as Skylar, all of them

And if you check Skylars wiki, its shows she had limb regrowth and super durability which means she’s pretty much indestructible

That would mean Scarlett too

So i think this was a tactic move on Scarletts move

Why? Well it was literally 5 against 1, not the greatest odds

So she needed to get away somehow and I think tricking them into believing she died was the best way

And to make them believe that the whole opposition thing was done and over with

But Scarlett did say that Caldera was torn so obviously there are more people on the opposition

So this way, Scarlett gains the upper hand in developing a better plan and kind of make the opposition grow more

And once that’s all said and done, she’s gonna reveal herself to Skylar as being alive

And that would prompt the team to return to Caldera to free everyone from the opposition’s control

So that’s definitely something that would be more touched on

And towards the remaining episodes of the season

It would go back onto Roman who devised a plan to help his dad and siblings escape Mighty Max and once again get revenge

We’d see Riker come back too, maybe show up at the team’s penthouse injured from fighting Roman

And explain what Roman’s up to but by then it would be too late bc Roman would have already succeeded

Also, Might Max was hundreds of feet below the hospital so I would say it’s still operational and they rebuilt the hospital right on top since they have to keep an eye out on the villains locked away

So i feel like what ever extractor they used to take away Rodissius’s powers is still there too

Roman would have found it and presented it to his father which he takes

They still pose a threat to his life but he doesn’t care bc he would rather have his powers and die than be powerless

And it’d be interesting to see how much more dangerous Rodissius is with his powers

I mean we saw what Reese could do so imagine the power Rodissius would have

Anyway, that’s my thoughts on what would happen/ what I’d like to have seen in season 2. If anybody has more headcanons, feel free to add to this list. I would definitely like to see what other people think!

[atopearth]

Piofiore: Fated Memories Part 5 - Gilbert Redford Route

Yayyy Gil time! I'll ignore his weirdness in Orlok's route because I know he's cool at heart hahaha. Anyway, it was so cool how he just gave the people around him money due to the commotion with Luca stealing money from a random. He obviously takes care of people well and tries to keep peace with everyone as long as they're in his governing area. I think in terms of all the routes, I like how this one handled the "getting taken to the Mafia manor" part the most. Yang appearing by her bedside is nightmare fuel though lmao, that would be so scary. But anyway, her running away and bumping into Gil is very convenient but I'll take it because I can imagine him randomly walking around enjoying scenery or doing patrols lol. What I liked most though was that in this route, Lili gets to properly assess her own situation with Gil, and she properly requests his help because she understands that she's in danger for some reason and he's the only Mafia boss that can help her if she doesn't trust the others after that gun fight. I also liked how Gil was very upfront with the fact that he's protecting her because he likes beauties, but also because he knows that she must be important for whatever reason if Yang and them are all after her, so this will most likely be a beneficial position for him if he can keep her. And I think that's what's been lacking for the other routes - proper communication from the beginning. I like how unlike in Dante's route, Gil properly told Lili how everything is going at the church and it's kinda cute how in the other routes, she's forced to stay at the manor most of the time, but here, Gil wants her to be comfortable and do what she wants, so he'll accompany her around town and stuff. It's kinda funny how in this route, she's the one that's like shouldn't I stay here in the manor instead of going outside for my safety hahaha. Anyway, when Gil reassured Lili that the safest place in Burlone was next to him, I wanted to squeal, he's so cute but confident, I love it🤣

Lmao, I love how Oliver called Gil an idiot for picking up Lili off the street especially when she's being chased by other Mafia😂 I love how Gil pisses Oliver off with something new every time he says something hahahah, I can feel Oliver's stress🤣 On the other hand, Gil is my favourite type of leader, I just love how up and personal with all the people in town he protects, and I love how everyone loves and respects him in the same way. If I had to compare him to someone, I would think of Laguna from Final Fantasy VIII, because they're both people who go along with the flow and are inherently kind to others as a part of their personality, they don't even need to try because it's so ingrained into them, and I guess that's their charm. However, it seems that Gil is a ladies man whereas Laguna is adorably shy haha. Okay, I'll admit that I have a weak spot for guys with an eyepatch so dang, the gelato CG is so niceeeee. It really ended up being just like a date as Gil said haha. Gil being so good at picking out dresses and hair accessories for Lili is pretty cool haha. What a riot for Gil himself to be arrested. I wonder if this means the power balance is shaking now~ Anyway, I really like Lili and Gil's relationship because they're both so upfront with their questions and both answer each other's questions properly, I think it's really nice. I think Gil also really appreciated it when she told him that she would believe him whatever his answer was (if he did counterfeit money), because she trusts the person that he is, and I agree so. Trust Gil to be the one that Roberto can't really refute against because he's so sincerely honest about wanting to protect the people just as much as him, it was cute to see Roberto less crazy and emotional haha. Lmao at Roberto's tunnel vision though hahaha, all he was focused on was Gil, he didn't even realise Lili was there with him hahahah. I think it's really cute how Gil loves dressing Lili up but wouldn't force her to wear anything she doesn't want to wear.

I was so excited when they agreed to have Dante send a bodyguard for Lili as a compromise with Gil, because it was obvious it would be Leo and I adore him!!🥰 It was really sweet of Lili to thank Dante for protecting her all these years. I hope Luca has a good ending in this route, he's such a good boy. Gil saving Lili from some guy coming on to her was cliche but it was still cute to see because it was Gil hahaha. Loll, Gil acting like a little kid excited about the new guns and stuff was cute, to be fair though, I get all happy when packages are delivered too🤣 When they started gambling, it was obvious that Lili was going to be a "prize", and that Gil wouldn't allow that, so it would have to be Lili herself who agrees to it. Anyway, even though it was expected, I think it was probably heartwarming for Gil to see how much Lili trusts him that she's willing to bet herself on him winning. Omggg after realising that the casino is dodgy with the counterfeit money thing, I honestly didn't expect Lili to suggest the church as a meeting place for the Mafia bosses lmao. Like yeah they're civil (most of the time) but it doesn't change the fact that she could be endangering Sister Sofia and them if anything were to happen. Lmao at saying God doesn't mind them talking about the stuff they do if he knows it's helping the city kinda thing hahaha. I mean, yeah God is understanding I guess loll. It was nice to see Gil's perspective towards his feelings for Lili, I buy their relationship, they're cute~🥰 I never knew I needed a reasonable Roberto in my life but I guess I do now, he's actually pretty cool haha. I also didn't realise I needed a CG of Gil putting earrings on Lili because omg it's sweet, I love the putting on necklaces or earrings etc CGs, they're usually so beautiful🥺 It's so adorable how Gil is concentrating so hard in the CG trying to put the earrings on for Lili, I love it. I never really thought about Gil's eyepatch but it's nice to know that it's because his left eye is weak, so it's easier for him to focus with just his right eye, but because of that, he can't gauge distances well apparently, and that's why guns work well for him. I guess when you put it into that perspective, you can kinda see why he would have quite a disadvantage against people like Orlok and Yang who are apt at fighting close range. It's kinda sad to think about his eye being weak because he got hit by his abusive father, but at least it led to him having a better future in Italy than staying like that in America. Personally, I'm really glad that there's so much progress with Roberto, mainly glad for him and Marco since after this, Roberto can definitely become an even greater person and policeman, and also glad for Marco because he puts in a lot of effort hoping that Roberto will be able to understand that not everything is so black and white. It's just a sweet thing to see. It's also nice to see that in this route, Luca will have the chance to live, that's something I've definitely been hoping for.

It was really cool of Lili to straight up tell Gil how she felt towards him. Anyway, that went from sweet to sad. I was honestly so worried for Oliver, especially since he's such a faithful guy to Gil and the only thoughts he had before he was nearly killed was that he needed to be at the trial to clear Gil of his charges, so he couldn't die yet. I'm glad Marco and Roberto made it in time to save him, but I hope Nicola is okay... Although I'm sure Dante would have wavered, it was nice to see him level-headed and calm over Nicola's "capture" and understood that even if he did listen to them, it didn't necessarily mean Nicola was safe, so he might as well do what he should to protect Burlone. Anyway, the trial has a very incompetent prosecutor, not only does he show his emotions, make careless remarks and not seem to know anything, I have no idea why if this trial was "so important" they would have someone like him be the prosecutor. Anyway, I thought it was going to be more dramatic when Gil went into the flames to capture the Direttore but I guess not loll. Seeing Luca so healthy made me so happy~ Lmao at Luca and Oliver being on Lili's side when she was mad at Gil, they didn't even care about what she was mad at, they just knew he was definitely wrong hahaha. Wait, that was the best ending?! So rushed and anti-climactic lol, it was like yay we captured the guy, the end lol. Yeah that story was boring lol. But I do like how in this ending, the Mafia are living peacefully with each other, Roberto isn't so obstinate and Luca is happily alive. But is Nicola dead? That's sad if he is.. Lmao at Gil getting Lili all dressed up just to take her to a hotel and take it off loll, I gotta admit though, that red dress she was too embarrassed to wear before is really beautiful on her, I can see why Gil wanted to see her wear it lol. I liked how Gil got to use those new weapons he bought in the good ending lol. Anyway, the tragic ending is rather..awkward? Gil being found guilty was expected, and I guess even though it was super dodgy, if they're corrupted it's understandable lol, but I just found Orlok dying was so random lol. Like excuse me?? Orlok is the one that prides himself for being fast and alert, how could he get killed by some random?? He's someone even Yang has trouble with lol. I also find it rather silly that considering Dante is supposedly righteous and always wants to be "fair", he's okay with sacrificing Gil to gain the continued support of the church to protect Burlone lol. It's kinda sad that in the end Gil refused to take Lili with him no matter what even though it killed them both on the inside, but I personally think Lili should have expressed her feelings better to him so that he would reconsider. Still sad but I think the other tragic endings are better.

Overall, I honestly really like Gil. He's cool, he's kind, he's sweet, he's the whole package with how much of a gentleman he is and how charismatic he is with others. I also loved how much Oliver cared for him over his own life, it's like Nicola and Dante without the obsession hahaha. However, I do think Gil's route was pretty lacking. Not only was the counterfeit bills plot rather boring, the ending for it was so short and inconclusive because it was obvious the Direttore was behind most of it but why?! I don't feel like I learnt anything more than I did before. As for the romance, it suffers from the cliche of Gil doing every gentlemanly thing possible to make you swoon over him, in which I admit that it did make me really happy and I did enjoy it, but in terms of the events themselves, sometimes they were rather silly and more gentlemanly for the sake of the stereotype rather than being from Gil himself such as Gil insisting on going further with their relationship only after everything is resolved and then once it is, he can't "stop" himself from desiring her like lmao geez he's constantly lusting after her it felt like his gentlemanly acts before were a facade hahaha. Anyway, so yeah even though I do like Gil, I do think he suffers from being more of a stereotype than a proper "character" to me. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the route because it was cute to see Lili and him have sweet little moments and build up their bond. I personally liked the Lili in this route the most because I thought she seemed the most mature, logical and honest with her thoughts and was straightforward about them with Gil, so extra points for that imo. Anyway if I had to pick favourite characters, it would definitely be in the order of Yang, Gil, Dante and then Nicola and Orlok tie, but when it comes to their route, it would be Yang, Gil and Nicola tie, Dante and then Orlok hahaha. Yes, Yang is practically perfect in terms of his character, VA, route and all the varying endings, I loved it so much I would play it again but I honestly can't say the same for the others lol. On to the finale!!

[hoodoo12]

Ménage (8/13ish)

SFW. Still snarky verbal sparring, but it’s lessening.

@beetlewise-and-pennyjuice @thewolfisapartofmysoul @dilfyjuice @janitor-boy @yogsathot

Enjoy!

She wasn’t sure why she couldn’t sit still, continually bouncing up to get something from the kitchen, drifting out of Beetlejuice’s hold even though part of her still ached to be close to him. It all just felt like too much, having gone from zero to a hundred in the attention department. It made her feel jittery, anxious, like an electric current of discomfort was buzzing just beneath her skin. Beej seemed to possessively drag his fingers over her every thirty seconds or so, and the way Dewey looked at her, turning the full force of those dark brown eyes on her, pinning her like a bug under a microscope . . . it made her uncomfortably aware of her physical self.

And then there was the apparent fondness he had for her. She supposed that angels were supposed to be fond of their charges to some degree, but the way he looked at her, the way a flush seemed to creep its way up his neck to his ears when he looked at her too long, suggested his interest was less than professional. Molly wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that. He was cute, and she liked the gentle tone of his voice, and if circumstances were different then maybe she would feel more okay with the concept. But the fact remained that they weren’t different.

She sighed and refilled her coffee cup, adding a splash of cheap whiskey to the bottom before digging out a battered plastic ramekin that would suffice as an ashtray until she could get a proper one. Despite the slight tug to stay in the kitchen and hide, she came back out into the living room, setting the ramekin down on the coffee table and settling back into place on the couch. What on earth had she gotten herself into?

Molly returning interrupted Beetlejuice’s next question--something about whether angels gained wings but lost their balls in exchange, hypothetically, of course; he knew the answer, from blush that hadn’t fully ever faded and the longing looks Dewey had cast at Molly. He also wanted to ask if Molly was his only charge, or the only one he lusted after.

But she settled back against him again, and once more he felt a surge of superiority that she’d pick him over an actual angel. It was nice for a second just to revel in that.

Her heat, where the skin of her arm touched his bare stomach, was intoxicating. He resisted the urge to nuzzle into her the crook of her shoulder and neck, not because he was too shy but because he knew he’d probably moan and pop a boner in these sweatpants, and he wasn’t sure how Molly would react to that. He had a feeling she wouldn’t just be okay with heading back to the bedroom with her guardian angel wringing his hands and tutting his disapproval outside her closed door--or fuck it, open door--while they were getting it on.

Running a finger under the hem of her shirt to touch her side, soaking up the warmth there too, his train of thought jumped the track. She hadn’t seem to care, but had Molly expected him to be warm? His skin was cool . . . so was an angel’s skin warm, then? His amber eyes scanned Dewey; not much of his skin was exposed. Just his hands and neck and face, really.

Beetlejuice had a near overwhelming desire to sit up and grab Dewey’s hand, just to see if there was heat there too. He resisted the urge, of course; he’d dislodge Molly and scare them both, and probably end up with a flaming sword through his gut or something.

He didn’t need a heavenly host raining holy wrath down on him in defense of one of their own.

So instead he went back to his cigarette, looking lazily through the wisps of smoke at him.

“Well. This has been . . . something,” he finally said, breaking the silence. “You checked in on your charge. You gonna float on back up to wherever? I bet there’s a shit ton of paperwork you’ve got to get done, huh? Molly and I had a full day planned, you know. She was going to show me her gardens, we were going to take a nap . . . boring stuff that couldn’t possibly interest an angel.”

Seeing the expression on the angel’s face pinch like maybe what he’d said had hurt, then grow a touch wistful towards the end when he mentioned the most boring plans ever, Beetlejuice narrowed his eyes. He snuffed out his cigarette in the makeshift ashtray Molly had provided, and turned his attention to her.

“Molly, baby . . . do you mind giving us a few more minutes alone?” he asked.

Both the other two looked up at him in surprise. And suspicion. And protests were building up, in both of them.

He continued to address her, but kept half a glance at Dewey.

“Infernal and celestial stuff. You know. Guy talk.”

Those protests were at the backs of their teeth, ready to spill out of their mouths; he could tell. He held up a hand to continue to stall them for the moment.

“I promise no physical altercation. I won’t even raise my voice!” he promised her, before turning to Dewey to sweeten the pot for him too. “And as much as it pains me to cover this fine specimen of ghostly demonhood, I’ll put on clothes.”

He raised his eyebrows and opened his hand in a more passive gesture, glancing between the two.

“Okay? I just want to talk.”

Molly was apprehensive to say the least when Beej all but insisted that he talk alone with the angel. She opened her mouth to advise that maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea, considering she didn't want her house smashed to pieces in some sort of supernatural altercation, but he seemed serious about keeping the peace. She looked back at Dewey, who looked stunned, but nodded, and she shrugged.

"All right. I needed to tend the gardens anyway. I'll be out back if you need me."

She let her fingertips drift over Beetlejuice's cheek, even tossing a reassuring, if brief, smile over her shoulder at the angel, and tossed her hair up as she walked out the back door.

It was cool outside, overcast, the clouds silver and shifting overhead, like a portent of something to come, and she couldn't help a shiver. There was a gnawing in her gut, some sense of foreboding she couldn't put her finger on. As she pulled weeds in her gardens, she tried to push the feeling away, but it persisted. She hoped against hope that their talk went well, and this feeling would cease.

Dewey was taken aback when the demon first scrutinized his face, amber eyes narrowing as if he could see right through the angel; he supposed he was easy to read--if there was no one to see his face, there was no need to hide his expression. He was dumbstruck, however, when a demon of all people asked to talk, offered an olive branch. Even offered to put on clothes.

His first instinct was distrust, wondering what sort of hidden agenda Beetlejuice had. Get the girl out of the room, then go for the throat? As a guardian, he wasn't allowed weapons, but he had a few tricks up his sleeve that could make a demon regret pulling any hasty moves. Even Molly seemed apprehensive, but to his surprise, she stood and left the room, smiling at him over her shoulder. Did she trust them alone together? Trusted the demon not to pull anything?

Dewey sighed, his wings ruffling as he turned to face the demon on the couch. If Molly trusted him, perhaps he could take that leap of faith too. After all, besides some snarky remarks here and there, Beetlejuice had never actually threatened him.

"All right," he said, wishing he had another cigarette. "What is it you wanna talk about?"

“What do you think I want to talk about? Whether or not that Tiger King show on Netflix is worth anyone’s time,” Beetlejuice replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. At the hardening expression on the angel’s face, he amended with, “Don’t get your panties in a twist. I wanna talk about Molly, of course.”

He stood up. “I suppose you’d prefer I not strip in front of you, right?”

Without waiting for a reply, he simply flicked his suit back on. The sweatpants were soft and comfortable, but the stripes were familiar, like stepping into his skin. It gave him a sense of power that was distinctly different than throwing his weight around half dressed because it made an angel uncomfortable.

He sat back down in the same position, leaning back against the arm of the couch, in a calculated manspread. Rolling his fingers together like before, two fresh cigarettes appeared between his fingers, and he offered one to Dewey. He even went as far as to light it for the angel, then dragged on his own.

Brown eyes narrowed at the demon's acerbic commentary; so they were already off to a bad start, it seemed. Even the display of magicking his clothes back in place seemed deliberate, a show of his ability. And, Dewey had to admit, while the stripes were shabby and threadbare, they were more intimidating than a pair of women's sweatpants.

"Are all demons so considerate?" His eyes rolled as well, though he took the offered cigarette. 

"Bold of you to assume I'm a full demon," he replied mildly. He let that statement float for a moment. Once Beetlejuice had gathered a lungful of smoke, he used the cigarette to point at the angel. “You’re her guardian, but it’s more than that, isn’t it? You have actual feelings for her.”

Dewey wouldn't go so far as to thank him for the smoke yet, but his expression softened a bit, his posture loosening from its tensed state. However, when Beetlejuice pointed accusingly at him, the tip of his lit cigarette trailing a thread of grey smoke, he bristled.

"I . . . I don't know what you're talking about." He grit his teeth; even he wasn't convinced by his protests, and he hated that the demon could see through him so easily. "It's complicated."

Beetlejuice smirked at the fire he glimpsed in the angel's eyes, blew out the smoke he'd held, and brought the cigarette back to his lips.

"Thou doth protest too much, methinks. You're not very subtle. You looked like you were sunburned, blushing so much when Molly was here."

He tapped the ash off his smoke, and stared down at it in his fingers for a moment.

Dewey quirked an eyebrow at the full demon comment, but the blatant call-out of his rather embarrassing reaction to being near Molly made him, of course, flush to the tips of his ears in indignation. He could explain that he didn't have to hide anything before the demon showed up, so he hadn't ever had to be subtle before, but he took a drag off his cigarette and said nothing. No reason to give him even more ammunition.

"Hey, what do I know about angels? Maybe up there's just one big never ending orgy. In the Netherworld, everybody swings both ways; maybe it's the same up there too." He lifted his gaze to Dewey's again. "All I'm saying is that if you're having non-angelic thoughts about your charge, maybe the whole guardian angel thing isn't for you. Free will is a hell of a thing compared to blind obedience.

"Just something to consider. Something to think about."

He sighed, smoke leaving his mouth in a thin stream.

"That's the thing. Thoughts are fine, they don't hurt anything. But acting on anything . . . it's a risk. A big risk." God, Dewey wished he could be having this conversation with anyone else, or better yet, not having it at all. "I know . . . I know Molly doesn't like me. It isn't a stretch to say she hates me, and I can't exactly blame her. I couldn't be there the way she needed me to be."

His eyes fell to the floor, the hand that brought the cigarette to his lips now shaking slightly.

"If I did . . . what you're suggesting, if I rebelled to be with her, I lose everything. And the likelihood of her wanting to be with me is slim to none. Apparently, I'm not exactly her type." He gave the demon a narrowed glance, but there was no real venom in it. "It's . . . it's too big of a gamble. I'm better off just standing to the side."

Hearing that, the resignation, Beetlejuice cocked his head as if trying to see the angel from a new perspective. He knew that feeling, the feeling of being trapped, no conceivable way to change his circumstances. It was crushing, and he half wondered if angels had the option of a Lost Souls room too, because an eternity of nothingness was sometimes more appealing than an eternity of pining and slog.

As to Molly . . . he didn’t quite have an answer to that. Well, maybe.

“She was fucking lonely,” he said, in faint exasperation. “I know you’ve repeated ad nauseum about rules and restrictions and all that, but it seems like a huge flaw in that system. It taking someone so desperate for someone that they literally open their door to whatever might be strolling by to waltz right in and make itself at home before you can help is really shitty.

“She’s damn lucky there were some typos on that page and she only called up me, and not something else.”

He looked at his cigarette again, but decided he was done with it.

“I’m gonna regret this, I just know it,” he sighed, mostly to himself even as he looked up and caught the angel’s eyes again. “But if you just talk to her, if you just tell her that you wanted to do more but you were afraid for the reasons you just told me, maybe that’d convince her how sincere you actually are. Leave off the stuff about ‘saving her soul’ or whatever. As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t have near that kind of pull.”

Suddenly the lit cigarette in his hand was fascinating again.

“You tell her all that, and you won’t have anything else to worry about, Dewey,” he finished quietly. “She’ll understand and realize how much better it’ll be with you, and then she’ll send me away. You’ll win either way: she’ll be safe from me, or you’ll have a reason to stick it to the man and get to be with her.”

Dewey opened his mouth to say something, perhaps to insist that even for knowing her only half a day, he’d already helped Molly more than her own angel had done in fifteen years, but he closed it and stood.

“I’ll go talk to her.” 

 tbc . . .

[fandom-writer642]

Easter Egg Hunt (YJ Team x Reader)

Summary: This is a spin off of Cursed Dead? which takes place in after part 1, season one. The team finds that the Mountain has been turned into an Easter egg hunt.

Note: I won’t be doing a part two to Cursed Dead?

Request: No but it's Easter

Pairing?: YJ Team x Fem!Reader. Robin x Fem!Reader

———

As the team entered the Mountain after a fake mission that Batman set up. They couldn’t understand why the man would play them but they only slightly understood when they got back to base. They couldn’t help but blink as a table was set out in the middle of the room. Baskets of different colors with one Easter egg inside each basket. (Y/n) sat on the table with a basket in her lap, as large smile spread along her face. Her image seemed to flicker from her translucent one to a solid one. “Happy Easter!”

The team smiled at the girl who looked at them excitedly. All their tiredness washed away as they grew curious and slightly excited. The third basket on her left was accented with orange ribbons while on the front was Aqualad’s symbol. Next to it was one wrapped in blue with a large red X on the front. The one right next to her left side was black with red Superman symbol on the front. The one farthest from her on the left was green with a lime green arrow head that was similar to the one on Artemis’s chest. Next to her on her right was a yellow one with a red flash symbol on the front. Finally, the one in her lap was red with a bat symbol on the front.

“What is this?” Aqualad asked.

“Well, it’s an Easter egg hunt! You have to follow the riddles and clues to find all of thirty of your eggs. Each person has thirty eggs with their corisponding color!”

“Where did you get the time for all of this?” Robin asked; his eyes narrowing at the girl who just smiled and approached him with his basket still in her hands.

“The League helped, mostly Batman though. I needed you guess out of the Mountain so he made a fake mission for you.” At their shocked expressions (Y/n) looked down at the basket her hair fell in front of her face. She had thought their shock was anger rather than actual shock. “Sorry! I knew it was a stupid idea but Batman said you wouldn’t be mad and that you’d enjoy it! I’m sorry.”

Robin put a hand on her shoulder, well more like above it since it would go through her. “We’re not mad just shocked. Really it’s a wonderful gesture.”

She looked up at him and he gave a kind smile to the ghost.

“Indeed, I think it would be fun.” Aqualad agreed.

Artemis and M’gnn nodded with wide smiles while Connor looked curious and slightly confused but nodded as well. Wally however looked thoughtful, the way she had put it made the hunt seem more like a challenge and a lot of challenges come with a prize.

“Is there a prize?”

“Yup! Agent A’s specially made cookies!”

“How much did B help you?” Robin said in shock.

“A lot! I went over to the Batcave and explained though I scared one kid-”

“Jay?” Robin cut in.

“Jay,” (Y/n) agreed. “And B told him off for throwing a bowl at me. But I told them my plan a few weeks ago and they all agreed to help me. Jay and B helped me paint the eggs and make the riddles and clues while Agent A made cookies.”

“So, when do we start?” Artemis asked. From the looks on Wally’s and Robin’s faces the cookies had to be something to die for.

“Well rules, no powers and,” she handed Robin his basket with a single egg and a riddle or clue inside. “Now.”

The team ran toward their baskets and looked at their hints while (Y/n) chased after Robin. The whole afternoon was spent Easter egg hunting and they had to admit it was fun.

•••

“Why would you plan this for us?” Robin asked her as he looked around his room.

“Why not?” (Y/n) shrugged. She sat on his bed and looked around the bare room. “Honestly Dick, you’re all my friends and I couldn’t have anyone better to hang out with.”

Dick turned to the girl who was now in front of him, “You’re amazing (Y/n).”

“Thank you. You’re fantastic, Dick, and don’t you ever forget it.”

Dick smiled at her, he wanted to hug her but he couldn’t, he would just go through her.

•••

Two hours later Robin found himself in the living area eating Alfred’s cookies while (Y/n) smiled and talked next to him. She took one and as a test to see if she could eat food from the land of the living she bit into it. To both hers and Robin’s surprise the cookie was actually bit into. They looked at each other in confusion before smiling at each other, having a small mental conversation with their eyes. They didn’t notice how close they were but they were just smiling and talking without saying a word.

Wally rushed in with Artemis not so far away but out of sight to the pair. They watched the two with sad eyes, not because of their defeat —though it was disappointing— but because Robin could never be with someone who was dead. Artemis saw how close the two were and saw (Y/n) whole body go from her translucent one to a solid one. Wally and Artemis shared a sad look as the rest of the team came behind them and joined in on watching. M’gnn gave a quiet gasp that barely reached the ears of the rest of the team.

Aqualad sighed and shared a look with Connor who looked a mix between sad and uncomfortable. Kaldur had similar thoughts to Wally and Artemis, that Robin could never be with (Y/n) because she was dead and Robin was not. That he would age and she would forever be the age she appeared. The relationship could never work. Yet, as he looked at the pair as they grew closer, making their gap close quicker he couldn’t help but hope it was some sort of trick and the they could be together.

“Happy Easter Robin.”

“Happy Easter (Y/n).”

Once again (Y/n)’s image turned solid and Robin took his chance. He pressed his lips to hers gaining a soft squeak for her before she returned it. She willed herself to stay solid knowing it was draining her energy but knowing it was worth it. Her lips were cold against his own from her ghostly state but he couldn’t care less, they were soft and molded well with his own. (Y/n) smiled against his lips as she felt more alive than she had when she was alive. Robin was well aware that she was willing herself to stay solid for as long as possible and couldn’t be happier about it because it proved something. If she didn’t like him she would have gone back to her ghost state and left but instead she was trying to stay solid and was kissing him back.

M’gnn cooed through the mindlink that was set up between the team, minus Robin.

They’re adorable, she spoke.

Artemis sighed as she looked at M’gnn, They could never be together though.

Artemis is right, Wally said through the link. Even if those two are making out right now it wouldn’t work, (Y/n) is dead and there is nothing we can do about it.

How come no one ever found her body then? Connor asked.

What do you mean Connor? Aqualad inquired. What do you mean (Y/n)’s body was never found?

It was never found, I asked Batman if I could visit her grave sight because we know her spirit but could never meet her person. He told me that she didn’t have one because no one found the body.

The team shared a look of confusion before turning back to the couple as Robin parted away from (Y/n) and her appearance flickered back to her ghost state. She was panting but smiling at him with happiness in her eyes. “Thank you Robin. Thank you.”

“Anytime,” he smiled. "I don't mind doing that again.”

“Oh, I know. But thank you, while I’m slightly drained I haven’t felt more alive.”

“Glad to hear.”

•••

The mentors watched the monitors with sad expressions also annoyed ones too. Batman wins every bet.

“They could never be together,” Barry spoke up sadly. “She’s a ghost and Dick’s still alive.”

“I’m aware,” Bruce said as he replayed the footage of the living area where the team was hiding and where Dick and (Y/n) were. “For now I think the two will manage.”

“Let’s hope so,” Oliver said. They all had watched (Y/n) and the team grow close and honestly it wasn’t far that her life had been taken away at such an age. “They both need each other.”

———

Note: This is bad but I liked it well enough.

[thebladeblaster]

Pokémon: the Dark Circuit (aka Vanguard Descends season 2)

Chapter 4 The Calm Before the Storm

Aichi’s current team

Level 79 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock

Moves:

Stealth rock

Crunch

Stone edge

Play rough

Level 77 Llew (Golisopod) water/bug

Moves:

Sucker punch

Blizzard

Liquidation

First impression

Level 78 Gancelot (Lucario) fighting/steel

Moves:

Focus blast

Stone edge

Meteor mash

Dragon pulse

Level 85 Soul Saver (Haxorus) dragon

Moves:

Outrage

Iron tail

Dragon dance

Scale shot

Level 100 Alfred (Aegislash) ghost/steel

Moves:

Sacred sword

King’s shield

Iron head

Shadow Claw

In Sanctuary town…

Some students sat around their desks chatting at Hitsue Middle. The residents of Sanctuary town recently returned. Thankfully there wasn’t much damage to the buildings in the town. Morikawa sat back in his chair with his feet on the desk.

“I wonder where Sendou is?”, one of the students murmured.

“Who knows.”, another replied.

“I heard a rumor that he has powers just like Suzugamori Ren’s.”, another whispered.

“Yeah, I heard he could also understand Pokémon and did you see when Sendou fought those dynamaxed Pokémon?”, a different student added.

“What if he’s been in cahoots with him this whole time?”, one of them asked.

“Hmph. Aren’t the same flies that were buzzing around him not too long ago, telling him how cool he is. Now the second he’s gone their trashing him like this. These guys were just trying to lick his boots to get in his good graces.”, Morikawa thought.

“Why would he beat him them?”, the other questioned.

“I don’t know, but Sendou looks an awful lot like Gin Gaillard. What if it’s some big conspiracy?”, one of them replied.

“Your right! They look almost exactly like except their hair and age!”, a different student replied.

They all jumped as they suddenly heard the loud slamming of a book against the desk.

“Ahem!”, Mark called out, to gain his students attention for their class about to start.

“Before we start I must inform you that Sendou Aichi won’t be with us today. Also, it's not very nice to talk about your classmate behind their backs.”, Mark added.

“Ah, sorry!”, they hastily apologized as a unit with no sense of individuality.

(Speaking of Aichi..) In Alola…

“Maximillion Pegasus?”, Aichi questioned, having no idea who that was.

“Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! Golisopod! (Don’t worry if these suits try any funny business we’ll just beat them up!)”, Llew assured, cupping his ‘fist’ with his claw.

“I guess so...why is he letting us in exactly?”, Aichi asked.

“No idea. I’m just following orders.”, the suited man with really pointy hair replied.

“Alright.”, Aichi nodded, still keeping his guard up as he started to follow one of the suited men in.

“So, who is Maximilion Pegasus exactly?”, Aichi asked.

“He’s a very wealthy businessman. He’s always had quite the interest in Pokémon battling especially after his trip to Kairos region. He’s held several Pokémon battle tournaments including the private Trainers Kingdom tournament which was held here in Alola. That’s what this castle was originally built for.”, the suited man explained.

“Kairos huh...Didn’t Pokémon battling originate there?”, Aichi asked.

“Yes, the sport of Pokémon battling as we know it originated from that region many millennia ago.”, the suited man replied.

They stopped before a door which the suited man opened. Aichi’s Pokémon kept very close to him preparing themselves for any sort of attack. They saw the back of a revolving chair. They could see someone holding a wine glass. With a swift kick the chair spun around and they could fully see the man sitting in it. He had long straight silver hair which covered one of his eyes. His eyes were brown and he wore a flamboyant red suit with red pants and white shoes.

“Hello, what brings you to the wonderful region of Alola? I am Maximillion Pegasus.”, Pegasus greeted.

“Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. Haxorus. (I wouldn’t call the locals wonderful.)”, Soul Saver said.

Aichi’s eyes widened in disbelief and let out a startled gasp at Soul Saver’s sass.

“Soul Saver! That’s rude!”, Aichi blurted out, briefly forgetting that other people can’t understand Pokémon.

“Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! Lucario! (Soul Saver! Wingal and Llew are native to Alola!)”, Gancelot hastily informed him.

“Hax...Haxorus. (Ooh...sorry guys.)”, Soul Saver apologized.

“Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. Golisopod. (It’s fine I’ve never been here before anyway and I have to agree a lot of the Pokémon here aren’t nice. Besides, I was born in Kakusa.)”, Llew replied.

“Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. Lycanroc. (Yeah, I don’t care. What Llew said a lot of the mon here are jerks anyway. They try to suck out your life essence or hug you to death or gush out poisonous gases with no regards to others or eject their organs at you. That’s why I left.)”, Wingal added.

They minus Pegasus and the suited man looked stunned at what Wingal told them. The suited man looked rather confused wondering why Aichi was talking to his Pokémon. Pegasus simply chuckled at this and Aichi looked rather embarrassed.

“How very amusing. The way you talk to your Pokémon. I met a person once who could really understand them. I wonder if your the same way.”, Pegasus said as Aichi flinched.

“Who was it?”, Aichi asked.

“I was at a rather fancy party in Johto when I met them. He was a bit younger than you and rather unruly. Way too much arrogance for his own good. For some weird reason he referred to himself as a number though he gave me a second name to make it easier. His other name was Christopher Lo.”, Pegasus answered.

“Christopher Lo”, Aichi muttered.

Lo definitely sounded strangely familiar to him like Ren’s name did. He tried to search his memory for that name. Slowly over time pieces of his past in Galar had been returning to him. So far he was mostly remembering the moments he had with Oliver. Perhaps it was triggered back when his mother mentioned him? After all he didn’t remember 002f.

…

Aichi struggled a bit before he suddenly had a brief flashback.

Flashback…

“I don’t see much of a reason to create another Psyqualia user.”, Gin replied, boredly to someone.

One of the men had short desaturated pink hair and blue eyes. He wore glasses and a green suit with a red A. He had a name tag that said Jonathan Lo. The other man who was with them was Ryuzu. 003v looked up a bit curious about what they were talking about.

“Another one. Dad’s right we don’t need another one. I’m all we need.”, 003v thought.

“Well, Jonathan here has contributed about as much as Katsuki and Triton so why not?”, Ryuzu replied.

“You say that as if their just rewards. I don’t think we should have too many. If we had a large number a few might get some unsavory ideas.”, Gin replied.

“I’m not saying we’ll make a bunch. It’s just one more.”, Ryuzu replied as Gin narrowed his eyes.

“I’m not sure...I’ll have to think about it.”, Gin replied.

Flashback end

“Jonathan Lo...that’s his father right?”, Aichi asked.

“Oh you know him?”, Pegasus asked.

“So, they went through with it didn’t they…why! Why! How could he allow another to be made! Doesn’t he believe in me! I can fulfill father’s ambition on my own!”, Aichi thought.

He felt a weird feeling in his chest that he tried to push down. Part of him felt a bit outraged that they felt the need to make another one after him. Like a wounded pride. It felt like the more he remembered the more 003v’s thoughts and feelings started to blend into his own. Aichi blinked, shaking his head to snap out of it.

“No! I’m not him! Why does this keep happening? I don’t want to help my father with his twisted ambition!”, Aichi thought.

“Don’t we though? Can you really resist it when it’s hard coded into your brain?”, Aichi flinched confused, were those his thoughts? Or 003v? He wasn’t sure and it was worrying him.

Soul Saver, Gancelot, and Alfred looked rather worried. Soul Saver could feel his emotions through the link. Gancelot could read his aura so he knew exactly what he was thinking and feeling. Alfred being the wise old ghost he was he knew how to read people well. Wingal and Llew were a bit confused and concerned by Aichi’s strange behavior.

“...Kind of...I think I’ve met his father before.”, Aichi replied simply.

“Something seems to be troubling you ah…”, Pegasus trailed off awkwardly, pretending not to know his name.

“O-oh! I forgot to introduce myself! I’m so sorry. My name is Sendou Aichi. I am from Kakusa. As for how I ended up here it’s kind of a weird story…”, Aichi replied sheepishly.

“Ah, I love stories!”, Pegasus replied.

“Oh...okay well…”, Aichi replied as he started to recount when he met Leon and him getting hit by a tsunami.

In Kanto…

“He’s at that Pegasus jerk’s doorstep!”, Honda said.

“Pegasus? You mean like the business man?”, Misaki questioned confusedly.

“It’s...a long story.”, Yugi replied.

“He stole Yugs gramps soul!”, Jonouchi blurted out and Anzu face palmed.

“Say what?”, Kourin questioned.

“Oh Arceus…”, Anzu groaned.

“And he got better!”, Honda added.

The Kakusans looked at the Kantonians like they were insane minus Kai.

“Uhh...well you see it all started when I got this weird video and somehow I battled Pegasus on the video…”, Yugi started.

“How did you battle a video?”, Kamui questioned.

“Magic!”, Jonouchi replied, like that explained everything.

“Anyway there was a time limit, it ran out and he took my grandpa’s soul and forced me to battle in his tournament…”, Yugi continued as Misaki and Kourin looked at each other with the ‘these people are crazy look’.

“Then you know I participated with Jonouchi and I beat Pegasus and won my grandpa's soul back.”, Yugi finished.

“I know it sounds like they're clinically insane, but it’s actually true.”, Kai said.

“Sure...whatever you say Kai.”, Misaki replied.

“So, we have to get to Alola!”, Yugi said.

“Alright. Let’s go.”, Misaki replied.

In Galar…

Oliver looked determined as he got the back of his Garchomp. With him on their Pokémon was the tall brown haired teen, the short dark skinned girl, both from before and Raul. The tall teen had a Corviknight. The dark skinned girl had a Mismagius. Raul had a Hydreigon. He wasted no time flying towards Alola full speed while the others tried to catch up.

“He really can’t wait to meet 003v can’t he?”, the dark skinned girl questioned jokingly.

“Oliver, wait up! Oh whatever...you want to make this a race Oliver? I’m going to win!”, the tall teen yelled.

“Oliver. Neve. Ah...those two and their rivalry…”, Raul sighed face palming a bit.

The tall teen was now known as Neve. Raul and the dark skinned followed after the two who were going rather fast.

In Kanto…

They had gotten to the boat they had arrived in and were now setting course to the Alola region. Yami looked over in the direction of the Johto region with a concerned expression. Yami closed his eyes looking away.

“Yami?”, Yugi questioned.

“I’m just worried about 004a attacking, but with their friend we should be able to stop him.”, Yami replied.

“Don’t worry about it too much. We won’t be gone for long. And once we’re back we’ll be able to stop him once and for all.”, Yugi assured and Yami nodded in response.

“Hey just in case we should avoid getting as close to Johto as possible. It’s been occupied by Team Asteroid.”, Yugi warned, the Kakusans.

Thus the race to find Aichi began between our heroes and Team Asteroid.

In Johto…

A boy around Kamui’s age yawned. He had desaturated pink hair in a ponytail and blue eyes. He wore a green Teddiursa hoodie and jeans. He sat on a throne, his feet rested on a trembling person bent over.

“Your shaking is getting quite annoying foot rest.”, the boy said in an annoyed tone.

“S-sorry!”, the poor person being used as a footrest hastily apologized.

The poor guy was covered in sweat with his heart beating loudly against his chest.

“Footrests don’t talk. You stupid Caterpies keep forgetting that.”, the boy replied as the guy shook more in fear.

The boy showed no empathy to the man’s frightened expression. The man let out a pained whine as he was surrounded in gold aura and was forced to uncomfortably fold his limbs. He felt extremely uncomfortable as his face was pressed against the ground and he was folded unnaturally into more of a foot rest position. Bits of drool leaked from the guy’s mouth as he tried to hold in another whine. The boy looked down still rather unamused and dissatisfied. Loud cracking sounds could be heard as the man yelped in pain. Though all you could really see was his hands in foot in awkward positions and the boy sitting there with an unfazed expression.

“Hmm...that guy is leaving? Why? Maybe I should burn down that little town. Nah, that would be lame without him there to try and stop me. Maybe I could inconvenience him?”, the boy thought.

The boy had a dark expression as he held out a master ball. All of the citizens turned servants flinched as they saw the master ball. He jumped off his chair making sure to land on his human foot rest before walking forward. The servants had rather horrified looks and reluctantly went back to their labor.

In Alola…

“Wow! It sounds like you experienced something like something out of an old story! Well, you are welcomed to stay here for now Aichi-boy. You look like you need to wash up anyway.”, Pegasus said.

Aichi looked rather embarrassed when he mentioned washing up. Yeah, with how much he was sweating under Alola’s searing sun he needs a bath. He was still a bit cautious, but the offer sounded rather alluring. He looked down at Wingal. All of his Pokémon were hurt by the tsunami, but Wingal had it the worst. He needed help quickly or...he didn’t even want to think about the or.

[our-heroes-rise]

Hi there!!! First time requesting... I'll use this chance to request a Midoriya x reader story where reader is small breasted, tall, thin, shy at the beginning, cheerful when they're comfortable, nerd, gamer, wears glasses, brunette and olive skinned. I'll leave the plot on your capable hands, I just want a happy ending, please!!! Izuku and reader ending up together!!! Thank you so much!!!

i think i had a bit too much fun writing this, haha. i deeply apologize for the ridiculously long wait though, hun, and i hope you enjoy what i’ve written for you. i rewrote this three times then finally got something i was happy with on the third try. think i’ll try to incorporate the “realistic” messages more often, they’re sure fun to make. anyway, hope you like it!

———————————————————————

Your fingers thrummed anxiously against the hardwood table as you stared blankly at the textbook before you, not at all taking in the very much helpful information it provided for figuring out the problem you had been stuck on for the past ten minutes. It wasn’t entirely your fault that you couldn’t bring yourself to focus though.

Ten minutes. They were all ten minutes late.

It wasn’t normal for all of them to be late. Momo was always on time -- always early, in fact. She never allowed herself to be less than five minutes early. Which was why you were extremely surprised when you entered the small coffee shop to find your friend’s usual table vacant of the beautiful high black ponytail.

There were no new messages in the group chat, you had already checked about a million times since you had arrived.

Nothing to let you know that anyone would be running late, or had canceled plans. It was so unlike Momo -- so unlike everyone, honestly. And it made you nervous.

Had something happened to them? Did a message not get through to you or something? What if they had all said that they couldn’t make it and he showed up expecting everyone to be here but all he found was you sitting at a table by yourself? Oh God, that would make it look like you lied to him. Would he be mad and want to leave? Why would he want to stay? He had probably only said he would come because he didn’t want you to feel bad if he rejected your offer.

That didn’t make sense anyway, he was in the group chat so even if you didn’t get the message that didn’t mean he wouldn’t. Why would he even bother coming then?

Dear Lord, you wished your brain would shut up.

Two years. Two whole stupid years you have had a crush on him and never once had you tried to “shoot your shot”, as Mina would put it. You would face a hundred villains and All Might himself before you decided to muster up the courage to shoot your dumb friggin shot and face the possible embarrassment of rejection. It had taken you months to actually stand there like a big girl and have a decent conversation with him without stumbling over your words and averting your eyes away from him every two seconds. Then even longer to just ask him to hang out with you.

But not alone. God, no, not alone. You had to have other people there or else it would be too intimate, at least with other people you could have other things to distract yourself with if things got awkward. Keeping up a conversation with people you liked or weren’t extremely familiar with wasn’t exactly your forte. Your brain always seemed to draw a blank, which made normal human interaction a pain.

If you got stuck alone here with him you weren’t sure that you could forgive your friends for ditching, unless something really serious had happened. Geez, how would you even focus on your work? The study session hadn’t entirely been a ploy made up by your friends and yourself just to get to spend time with your crush. You had actually planned to study for the upcoming math test. You weren’t exactly terrible at math. Usually, you didn’t have much of a problem with it, but this unit had been utter hell, to put it bluntly. If someone is trying to become a hero, why do they need to know how to calculate the length and space between a curve on a graph? Really, what was the point?

A shrill ping echoed through your headphones, interrupting your blaring music and causing you to flinch slightly out of your thoughts.

Your eyes narrowed as they trailed further and further down the paragraph, suspicion settling into the pit of your stomach. All three of your most family-oriented friends forgot they had previous arrangements with their families? Doubtful. Mina getting food poisoning sounded about right, she sat with Sero and Kaminari during lunch sometimes, who are always daring her to eat disgusting food combinations. Jirou offering to help take care of said sick Mina? Absolutely not. Jirou can not stand to be around sick people, it grosses her out. She would rather spend ten minutes flirting with Bakugou than smell another person’s food-poison vomit.

If they had wanted to lie they should have tried a little harder to make it believable.

You weren’t going to call them out on it, though. Not once the realization dawned on you that your friends had, in undeniable fact now, left you all alone with your crush. And on purpose.

Why do they hate me?!

Your fingers hovered over the keyboard, at a loss for what to say, until you saw his message slide through the chat.

Your heart lurched into your throat at his question. Now was your chance to ditch, to reschedule the plans for another time, and you were already typing up your excuse when another message pinged through your headphones.

This was completely unfair. They had all promised to be here with you and now they were all dropping out on you at the last second like they had planned this all along. Which, honestly, is probably what they had done.

You let out a heavy sigh, slumping further down into your seat, textbook and notes completely forgotten.

Truly, you knew your friends meant well in all of this, you just wished they had chosen a better way to go about it.

But, there really isn’t a better way, is there?

You certainly weren’t going to make the first move and Midoriya probably wasn’t either - if he even liked you that way. Despite the great amount of confidence he had gained over the past few years, mostly regarding his fighting style and the way he spoke to Bakugou, he could still be easily flustered, even if it wasn’t as common as before. So, no, you supposed there definitely wasn’t a better way your friends could have pulled this off.

Another heavily anxious sigh pushed past your lips as you fixed your slouching posture and reopened the group chat.

You let your fingers loom over the keyboard, once again, seriously contemplating your original idea to take a raincheck. Midoriya wouldn’t be upset with you, he would be completely understanding, especially if your excuse was good enough. Period cramps were a thing, ya know? Sometimes they caught you off guard and maybe you just didn’t -

Oh, for Christ’s sake, screw it.

That wasn’t too bad.

No, it was perfectly fine and he would be here in a few minutes.

He would be here in a few minutes.

Oh, for the love of All Might, he would be here, with you, alone, in a few God forsakenly short minutes and you had not a clue in the whole stupid world how this was going to go. You were panicking, a sort of pathetic amount, if you were going to be honest with yourself.

This was just Midoriya.

Midoriya, the cute nerdy kid who was the absolute sweetest person you had ever met in your entire life. The I Can And Absolutely Will Give My Life To Protect Everyone I Know And Love, Midoriya. The Midoriya who could shatter ten brick walls with less than a fifth of his power and still have enough to fend off three hundred more waiting villains.

Midoriya, the kindest, most gentle, and fiery soul you had ever known. The soul you had so stupidly allowed yourself to fall in love with these past few years.

Love.

That was a strong word, but something about it felt right when you applied it to your feelings for the gentle green-haired boy, which was a little terrifying, considering that most of his perspective of you was largely unknown. It was probably just your overly hormonal teenage brain trying to convince you that this emotion could only be found in the green eyes of the one and only class nerd. That didn’t matter anymore though. You knew you had already let yourself fall too far from the cliff edge to have any hope of saving yourself now.

Screw it, you repeated to yourself, tossing your phone back onto the table to resume staring blankly at your textbook, your brows only slightly more furrowed than before.

You had already started digging this grave two years ago, fully aware of the consequences, might as well finish it up and lay in it, nothing worse could come of it. Except, maybe, being buried alive and suffocating under the weight of your own regret.

It’ll be fine. It’s just Izuku. My friend. My friend... that I’ve had a crush on for -

It was a long - but still too short - couple of minutes.

Midoriya arrived at the cafe ten minutes later looking surprisingly out of breath. The freckled bridge of his nose and cheeks were a bright rosy red, bitten from the crisp winter evening air. He slumped into the chair across from you, flashing you the brightest smile you had ever seen while he set his bag down beside him.

“Sorry, I’m late,” He said, voice garbled through the noise of your headphones, which you immediately yanked out. “I was talking to Kirishima and completely lost track of time. I’m glad you waited for me though.”

“O-Oh, it’s okay,” you stammered, doing your best to return his smile just as confidently, though you were sure anyone could see how terribly flustered you already were. “I really hadn’t been waiting that long, I’m just happy you were able to come.” His breathing still sounded slightly labored as he pulled out his notebook and Algebra textbook, your brow quirked up in curiosity. “Izuku, did you run all the way here or something?”

A flush that you know has nothing to do with with the cold flares up his entire face to the tips of his ears, and his green eyes flicker sheepishly towards yours. “Uhm - Well, yeah, I felt bad for keeping you waiting for so long. Don’t worry, it was just a couple of blocks, I’m okay.” A small breathless laugh bubbled past his lips, “I’m thankful for Aizawa’s endurance training though.”

“Yeah,” you laughed with him, too aware of the heat you felt crawling up your neck. He had actually ran all the way from the dorms to the coffee shop just for you, because he felt guilty for keeping you waiting, even if it had only been a couple of minutes.

It was silly for you to dwell on such a thing, honestly. Midoriya really was just that type of person, it wouldn’t be considered a big deal to anyone else, but to you it meant the world. And you couldn’t do anything to tame the butterflies in your stomach when you pictured him, face scrunched with slight panic and focus as he rushed through the evening crowds all the way here, just to get to you quicker.

“I know it’s a bit late and all,” Midoriya mumbled, bringing you back into reality with a small jolt that, thankfully, went completely unnoticed by him as he still had his face in his bag. “But did you want anything from the cafe? I brought some money with me.”

“No, I’m okay, thank you though.” You were wide awake right now, caffeine wouldn’t do anything but make your nerves worse.

A small frown tugged at the corner of his mouth once he came back up from his bag, beaten up All Might wallet in hand. It was a challenge not to crack a smile in its direction. “You sure? I really don’t mind getting you something. I feel like I should pay you back for waiting for me.”

You rolled your eyes picking up a playful smile so he knew you weren’t actually irritated with him. “I told you, it’s fine, Izuku. You didn’t keep me waiting long, I promise.” You waved a hand in the direction of the cafe bar, “If you want to get something, go ahead, I don’t mind waiting a few more minutes.”

Midoriya paused for a moment, casting his gaze off to the side for a second before he shook his head. Seemingly having made a decision he tucked his wallet back into his backpack and gave you a warm grin. “I’m fine, I was really just asking for you, but I’m glad you’re not upset. You’re really too sweet, Y/n. Anyway, was there anything you wanted to go over first? Ochaco said you were struggling with-”

But your mind had started buzzing the second his compliment had reached your ears. A part of your brain was screaming at yourself to get a grip and the other part of you just really, really wanted to hear him say it again with that same heart-melting smile of his.

“Yeah,” you said absently, unaware as to what you were actually agreeing to. You knew the smile you were giving him must have made you look like a lovesick puppy ready to barf rainbows, yet you didn’t have enough properly operating brain cells to make you care. “We can start with that first.”

“Okay, that’s great! I have some notes you can look over if you want, or I can explain it if you’d like. I was also having trouble with this, but Iida was able to explain it to me in a way that actually makes sense, so I can try to explain it the same way. Is that alright?”

It took all of your focus to make yourself look down at the notebook he was holding out for you and actually process the words written on the paper. Then another few seconds for you to realize that you had no clue what in the hell the notes were talking about. Yeah, you definitely couldn’t zone out anymore or else you would be utterly screwed by the time the test came around.

“Uh, explain it, please?” you mumbled, casting a quick shy glance in his direction. “If you don’t mind.”

He chuckled and the sound made the heat in your cheeks grow a little hotter. “Not at all. So, the way Tenya explained it was like this...”

It was quite a feat to keep your brain focused on the task at hand rather than on the way Midoriya’s hand would brush against yours every once in a while when he was showing you how to solve a problem. Or the way his nose crinkled when he thought something you did was funny, but clearly didn’t want to laugh at for your sake. Or the way he had asked if he could sit next to you instead of across from you because it would be a lot easier for him to show you what he was doing. And the way his warm shoulder - covered in a large grey hoodie that had no right looking that good on him - pressed gently into yours.

It had been a difficult battle, but you had won. By the end of the night, you were caught up on everything you hadn’t understood in Algebra a couple hours prior. Midoriya grinned proudly down at your practice problems, unable to find a single mistake this time.

“You’re a really quick learner, Y/n,” he laughed, tilting his head to look back at you, his green eyes sparkling. “Are you sure you needed my help in the first place?”

You flushed, letting out a small giggle. “Oh, definitely,” you responded softly from behind the hand you had brought up to cover your mouth. “I didn’t know what the heck I was doing until you got here. It all just looked like a bunch of-”

“You shouldn’t hide your smile like that. It’s too beautiful to keep hidden.”

“H-Huh?” Oh, your face was totally on fire now.

Had you heard him correctly?

“I-I mean - U-Uhm - I’m really sorry!” Midoriya stammered, his hands immediately flying up into the air as if he didn’t know where to put them anymore as he quickly shuffled away from you on the booth. “That was really weird of me to say, sorry. I just - well, uhm - just -” he moved his text book over towards him and stared intensely at it, obviously intent on not making anymore eye contact with you.

Which was the absolute last thing you wanted right now, but you were still trying to wrap your head around everything that had just happened. That wasn’t the usual Midoriya compliment. He didn’t tell all of his friends how beautiful he thought there smiles were. It didn’t even seem like he had meant to say it in the first place, he was so flustered now.

“Was there - uhm - anything else you wanted to go over? I’m pretty much caught up on everything, so it’s - it’s whatever you want to do.”

Well, that definitely caught your attention. “You’re caught up on everything?” You asked slowly, brain still buffering severely. Midoriya nodded, green curls bouncing with the jerky movement. He didn’t look at you though. “Izuku, did you rush all the way out here just to help me?”

Again, not a thing Midoriya wouldn’t naturally do on his own, but the way he was reacting was a clear sign that this wasn’t just because of that fantastically kind heart of his. Warm hope, that you didn’t have the willpower to crush, bloomed large and all consuming within your chest.

He nodded once again, but this time you caught the apprehensive glance he shot at you from the corner of his eye. “Y-Yeah.” You noticed how prominent his freckles looked against the firey color of his cheeks, and it made your heart flutter. Midoriya let out a heavy sigh before finally looking back towards you, textbook forgotten. “Ochaco said it was a good idea for us to hang out together because - well - I - she knows that I - that I’ve liked you for a while.” The last part was barely loud enough for you to hear over the night time rush of the cafe, but your ears had most definitely not failed you that time.

“M-Me?”

Yes, you idiot! Who else would he be talking about?

Ochaco had known about it. Your best friend had known about it and hadn’t told you? Had let you keep your feelings for him buried deep within your heart for all of that time.

You couldn’t blame her, no matter how terribly you wanted to. You knew Ochaco did it with the best intentions. Ochaco wasn’t one to go around spilling everyone’s secrets. She had probably kept hope that Midoriya - or maybe you, even though the chances of that were slim to none - would finally admit to one another. That made this grand scheme of hers her way of telling you and Midoriya that even she had gotten tired of waiting for you two.

“Yeah, I told her this was a bad idea and that you probably didn’t feel the same way, but she insisted,” he added quickly, hands gone back to moving around the air awkwardly. “I’m really sorry that I’ve made this really weird now, I - I can leave if you want.”

Without thinking - just as you had been through out the course of this entire conversation - your hand shot out to wrap around one of his to keep him in place, even though he had made no indication of getting up.

“No!” You winced at your sudden volume, face burning again. “No, you can stay. Trust me, you haven’t made it weird, I’m just - uhh - trying to, I guess, process everything. Give me a second, please?”

Midoriya looked visibly stunned, but nodded his quick jerky nod nonetheless, bouncing his green curls again. Your brain ran through everything he had just said over and over until you were absolutely positive you hadn’t imagined any of it. Until you were absolutely positive that the boy you had so stupidly allowed yourself to fall for had just admitted having feelings for you. It wasn’t a trick of your mind from lack of sleep or too many hours of work, Midoriya had really just said all of that. That he thought your smile was too beautiful to hide, that he had ran all this way not because he needed to study but because he wanted to make sure you didn’t need his help, that he liked you. But not just liked you, he had liked you for a while.

A while. How long was that?

Probably not as long as you, but the answer didn’t matter. You were sure that he could have told you it was for the past couple of hours and you would still be just as happy.

A gentle squeeze around your hand from calloused fingers pulled you back to Earth, and you looked down to find that his hand - only slightly bigger than yours - was still wrapped up tightly in your own as if you were too scared to let go of him, scared he would disappear like the remnants of a dream.

“A-are you sure I didn’t make it weird?”

You laughed breathlessly, a bright grin lighting up your face as you lifted your eyes to meet his. His shoulders had relaxed a tiny bit, but his emerald eyes were still swimming with anxiety, even when you shook your head no.

“I’m - I’m sure, Izuku. I promise you didn’t make it weird.” You glanced down to pull his hand into your lap as you shifted in your seat to face him properly. Truthfully, you should have let go of his hand a while ago, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to do it yet. At least, he didn’t seem to mind. “I just - I dunno - I guess, I thought I would never be able to hear you say those words and I’m still having a hard time believing that you’ve even said them-”

“I said them!” He jumped in, the anxiety replaced by overwhelming joy. “That was all real, trust me, my heart is still pounding from the anxiety.” He let out a shaky laugh to which you joined him in. “I wasn’t at all sure how tonight was going to go. All Ochaco had told me was that I should trust her and that everything would be fine and, honestly, I didn’t know whether to believe her or not. But then when I got here and I saw you I knew there was no way I could keep this from you anymore. I had planned to tell you on the way home, except, well, I guess spending all of this time alone with you was enough to push me over the edge.”

You grinned and softly breathed, “I’m glad.”

——

There hadn’t been many people left out on the streets, this part of town never really got busy after dark because there were no bars or clubs. Only small shops and businesses that closed no later than ten lined this city block and every city block within a five mile radius of U.A. The frosty night air nawed at the warmth from your cheeks, washing them with a deep shade of scarlet. You curled into the warmth of your thick wooly sweater, thankful that you had thought to put it back on before leaving the cafe.

One of your hands took refuge in your cozy double sleeve so that it was no more than a nub of thick cloth, while the other, wound frigid fingers through the tender warmth his hand provided. A small, content smile adorned your face as you walked closely together, shoulders brushing with each step, to conserve the heat between you two.

Midoriya was beaming. He hadn’t stopped since he had left the cafe with his hand in yours, heart singing in delight at the sensation of your fingers slotted perfectly through his, like the missing pieces of a puzzle. His joy and excitement was so clearly bubbling past the brim of his self-control, you were sure that if he could smile any brighter that he would, just to show how proud he was to be holding your hand.

Neither of you said anything on your walk back to the dorms. You didn’t have to and neither did he, even if his posture said that he could barely contain himself. Midoriya could speak if he wanted, knew that without a shadow of a doubt, but he chose not to. He chose to walk with you, hand intertwined with yours, on a blissfully quiet trip back to the dorms, basking in your presence. Just as you did so happily with him.

Minutes pass much too quickly though, and it seems like you’re upon the entrance steps of the dorms only seconds later. He pauses and you stop with him, turning to face him, eager for the buildings heat, but more eager to understand the hesitation that flickers in his gaze. Another moment of silence passed before he turned to you, freckled cheeks flushed a bright red that once more has to do with far more than just the cold.

You wait patiently, eyes soft and mouth still pulled into a gentle smile that wordlessly urges him to speak his mind. He takes you in for one last moment, his beaming grin grown slightly muted as he searches for the confidence he needs, which he quickly finds resting in your own gaze.

“I - uhm - I just wanted to thank you,” he started quietly, “for making tonight so amazing. I really can’t tell you how happy it made me.”

Oh, you were going to swoon, truly.

This boy...

After all that he had done for you tonight, he still wanted to thank you. To thank you. When all you had done was show up and bottle up your feelings for the past two years. You didn’t deserve him and you weren’t sure if the universe had already realized its mistake, but there was no way in hell you were going to give him back now.

“Izuku,” you sighed, your smile lifting fondly at the edges, “I should be the one thanking you here. You went through all of this trouble today just to help me out and if it weren’t for you I would still be sitting there with that stupid text book and my harbored feelings not knowing what the heck I was supposed to do. So, thank you for all that you did for me tonight and making it one I will forever remember.”

His mouth fell open in a look of awe and soft adoration, then within one swift step forward, he swooped down and gently pressed his lips to yours. The kiss was short and sweet, a fleeting brush of his lips, but it was enough to warm your entire body in a flood of overwhelming heat.

Midoriya pulled away, cheeks flushed with embarrassment, likely matching your own, and gaze slightly chagrined. “S-Sorry, I should have asked.”

You beamed, shaking your head vigorously as you moved to wrap your arms around his neck, bringing your forehead to rest against his, “Stop apologizing for silly things and kiss me again.”

“S-Sor - I mean - wait, really?”

You couldn’t stop yourself from giggling at the genuine surprise in his eyes, it was adorable. “Yes, Izuku, yes, kiss me again.”

And so he did. With a grin that reflected your own, he pressed his lips against yours once more, this time more firmly than the first, and brought his hands to your hips to pull you closer.

The night wasn’t so cold anymore. He warmed your heart, your chest, your body, your soul. Everything you could ever ask for, he was a brilliant pillar of light that radiated comforting heat and he was all yours. Your own personal ray of sunshine that you would hold on to for as long as you could.

———————————————————————

✨ written 10/9/19 ✨