#a permanent fumble. until i move at least.

[be-good-to-bugs]

i wish i wasn't so shy

[jungshookz]

y/n doesn't know how to be petty & jealousy is not a good look on jimin

➺ pairing; park jimin x reader // balletteacher!jimin x ballerina!y/n

➺ genre; balletteacher!jiminiverse!! i think there’s a fairly good balance of honk honk humour and angst and fluff in here but i could be wrong!! seulgi (once again) is a pot-stirrer and you can either love her or hate her for it!! jungkook’s cute and is a really good dance partner!! 

➺ wordcount; 12.1k

➺ summary; surprisingly enough, both y/n and jimin are great at acting unaffected by their devastating breakup — it’s only when they’re reunited two weeks later in class that their nonchalant, callous composures begins to crack.

➺ what to expect; “i just think the respectable move is to wait until we’re done learning, mr. park. or would you like to continue wasting everyone’s time by singling out jungkook and i just because you’re clearly in a sour mood for no reason and seem to be enjoying using us as your emotional punching bags?” 

➺ currently playing on cee.fm; need you now — lady antebellum 

»»————- 🥀 ————-««

the feeling of your phone buzzing rapidly against the mattress is the thing that rouses you from yet another restless night of sleep 

you kept waking up every few hours and every time you woke up you’d be awake for at least another hour before dozing back off 

you’re pretty sure you fell asleep close to six in the morning and according to the clock on your bed stand it’s already 1:30 but somehow you still feel so, so groggy despite getting seven and a bit hours of sleep 

you peel an eye open reluctantly, staring at the bright vibrating rectangle for a few seconds before you drag your arm up lazily to grab it because something crazy must be happening if the group chat is chirping away like this 

you’ve had your phone on do not disturb for the past week (except for the few times lisa clearly hit the ‘notify anyway’ button to get your attention) so you’ve kind of been out of the loop but being present and a functioning member of society isn’t exactly the first thing on your mind 

people are right when they say time just melds together when you’re going through a breakup because you honest to god do not even know what day of the week it is 

“okay, what’s going on…” you mutter to yourself, voice thick with sleep as you roll over onto your back and bring your phone up to your face to unlock it 

it takes you a couple of tries to get into your phone because of how bright the screen is and you curse before resorting to typing in your passcode with fumbling fingers instead 

you haven’t been on your phone too much because… well, you’ve just not really been in the mood to do anything but rot in bed all day with the curtains drawn — and not to mention, every time you’re on your phone you’re just waiting for a text or a call or literally anything from jimin but unsurprisingly it’s been complete silence on his end

you’ve mostly been ordering takeout and also you’re pretty sure you went the whole day without drinking water yesterday, so all in all, it doesn’t seem like you’re handling this very well 

what makes things worse is that you have class today and it’ll be approximately a week since you last saw jimin and the two of you officially ended things and seven days is simply not enough recovery time — you haven’t even accepted the fact that you can no longer call him your boyfriend and that you have to call him your ex-boyfriend now (and teacher, but it’s not like that’s anything new)

i think we should end things permanently, because i want to be in a real relationship instead of whatever the fuck this has been. 

jimin’s words ring loudly in your head and you feel your eyes starting to well with tears for the trillionth time in a row as you mindlessly scroll through all the notifications that have been marinating on your phone for the past seven days 

the only thing you’ve been able to focus on is replaying that last conversation with jimin in your head and it’s driving you up the wall

i never said i was ashamed to be with you, jimin. 

you never had to say it for me to see it. 

“god…” you mutter, reaching up to pinch the bridge of your nose in a poor attempt to stop the tears from flowing 

you haven’t been able to stop thinking about jimin and what makes it harder is the fact that you can’t talk about this with anyone without exposing yourself and jimin 

and as much as you love lisa, you know that if you told her she would of course be concerned about you but would also have a million questions for you and you’re just not in the mood for an interview at the moment 

another thing you’ve been thinking a lot about is what would’ve happened if you grabbed the phone and called lisa when jimin told you to call your friends and tell them the truth

would he have stayed? 

was that really the proof that he needed to show him that you wanted to be with him? 

would that have fixed everything?

you’d still have to hide your relationship — the only difference that telling your friends would make is that mr. park would be accused of playing favourites and knowing a few of the chatterboxes in class, word would spread very fast and it probably wouldn’t take long until you get an email from the dean asking you and jimin to come and speak to him 

and then either jimin would get fired or you’d be expelled and both those options sound like hell 

with that being said, wasn’t it an incredibly unfair move on jimin’s part to ask you to do that for him? 

what if you’d asked him to call the dean to tell him that you two were together? 

given the circumstances, wouldn’t jimin be hesitant to do it as well??? 

well, you suppose in your scenario it’s a little less high stakes because you’d just be telling a close friend, but still… you did the right thing, didn’t you? 

it was irresponsible of both you and jimin to enter into a romantic relationship when you guys are teacher and student, and you had to put an end to it before the truth eventually came out and tore the two of you apart

this was the right thing to do 

now jimin can continue teaching, and you can continue learning at this very prestigious dance academy that you worked very hard to get into 

plus mom and dad would probably kill you if you got expelled over something as scandalous as this

sometimes doing the right thing feels bad! and it’s okay that you feel very, very bad at the moment, because feeling bad is just a normal part of the human experience.  

you let out a huff of frustration, rolling onto your back as you look up at the ceiling 

…but how do you know if you did the right thing or not? 

you let out a slow exhale, shaking your head as you bring your phone back up to look through all your texts

you can’t help but wince a little looking through all your missed notifications throughout the week

most of your texts are from lisa and you know she’s going to want some kind of an explanation of your disappearance 

from: lisa [wednesday 9:08am] — are you okay? barely heard from you all week 

from: lisa [thursday 6:23 pm] —  ?? 

from: lisa [friday 10:32am] — y/n 

from: lisa [friday 11:02am] — helloooooo some kind of indication you are alive please 

from: lisa [friday 8:14pm] — okay well you’re still sending me tiktoks so ik you’re alive 

your thumb goes tired from scrolling through all of lisa’s texts and you finally reach the end to see that she texted you a few minutes ago 

from: lisa [1:22pm] — are you coming to class today? 

your fingers pause slightly as you think about how to respond and how to act casually about the fact that you’ve been a ghost for the last week 

to: lisa [1:34pm] — yes!! i’m coming 

to: lisa [1:34pm] — SORRY i haven’t been responding to your texts, social battery’s been weirdly low and feeling blegh bc period but i’ll see you today mwahaha 

unsurprisingly, lisa doesn’t take too long to respond because she’s always on her phone and it’s never on do not disturb- 

from: lisa [1:35pm] — hmmmm okayyy hope you’re feeling a little better at least? just glad ur alive! i’ll see u later ALSO read the group chat bc omg i’m dead 

from: lisa [1:35pm] — mr. park

your stomach dips a little in anxiety at the mention of mr. park because the point of looking through your texts was to distract yourself from any thoughts of jimin, but then again, why are you surprised? the girls are obsessed with him and he’s always a hot topic in the group chat 

one time he showed up to class wearing a pair of jeans that made his butt look really good and it was a topic in the group chat for like a week and a half straight 

you switch over to look through the group chat, scrolling up the literal hundreds of texts until you get to what’s clearly the meat of the conversation 

seulgi [best ballerinas 🤍] — You guys aren’t going to believe what I heard

seulgi [best ballerinas 🤍] —  Rmb how I said I’m pretty sure Miss Im and Mr Park are like meant to be 

seulgi [best ballerinas 🤍] — Apparently they were out on a date this weekend

lisa [best ballerinas 🤍] — wtffff NO WAYYY wait where’d u hear it from 

seulgi [best ballerinas 🤍] — One of the guys from Miss Im’s class 

seulgi [best ballerinas 🤍] — He slid into my DMs after their performance 💅🏼 as he should 💅🏼 and then we were texting for a bit and he just told me that he saw them walking around downtown together lmfaooooo I totally called it 

you don’t even bother reading the rest of the messages but through your frantic scrolling you manage to catch a message from seulgi teasing you directly about losing your precious mr. park and- “oh, just give me a break!” you groan obnoxiously, tossing your phone aside before flipping onto your stomach and letting out a muffled scream into your pillow 

great!

good for them!

good for jimin, good for nayeon, good for the happy couple! you’ll have to make sure to ask jimin if you’re allowed to bring a plus-one to their wedding and what colour they want to paint the nursery for the child they’re going to have who’ll undoubtedly be the cutest baby on the goddamn planet- 

the thought of playing hooky and calling in sick so you don’t have to go to class crosses your mind briefly, but then you remember that in order to do that, you’d have to call mr. park to let him know (one time, lisa asked jisoo if she could let him know that she wouldn’t be in class because of a bad cold, and both lisa and jisoo ended up getting mildly scolded because why are you asking your classmate to talk to me for you, and why are you talking to me on behalf of your classmate?) and needless to say, the last thing you need is to talk to jimin and pretend like the only problem you have is that you’re not feeling well and you don’t think you can come to class today 

and not to mention, with this new piece of information of him and miss im going out on a date over the weekend, you don’t want him thinking that he won the breakup because you’re so heartbroken that the only thing you can do in stay in bed and cry (even though technically that’s what you’ve been doing all weekend, but whatever) — as heartbroken as you are, you’re just as stubborn so you will be going to class and you’re going to try your absolute best to keep it together… you have to.

»»————- 🥀 ————-««

jimin splutters after splashing icy, ball-shrivelling cold water onto his face, blindly fumbling for the towel in his duffle bag before using it to pat himself off 

he looks at himself in the mirror, leaning closer and reaching up with a finger to pull at the bags under his eyes

the last time he had bags this bad was when he would stay up all night rehearsing for his own exams 

there’s not enough concealer in the world to hide the bags he has now 

needless to say, this breakup has completely destroyed him and this is the first time he actually has no idea to conduct himself after ending things with someone 

he’s had flings and short relationships all throughout high school, undergrad, and even at the academy, and it usually only takes him a few weeks to fully flush his ex out of his system, but he can already tell that this breakup is nothing compared to those ones 

sure, he was sad after his breakup with nayeon and couldn’t even force himself to get over her for much longer than he’d anticipated, but that was then and this is now — and now, he can fully say that the breakup with you is one of the most devastating things to ever have happened to him 

he’s been so out of it all week that he even ordered pizza for himself on friday night instead of digging into his usual meal of [insert choice of lean protein here], roasted vegetables and brown rice… a family sized pizza 

a family sized pizza!!! a pizza for an entire family!! 

the only time he went out this week was saturday afternoon when nayeon texted him to ask him if he wanted to go out for coffee and also to discuss what they wanted to do for their conjoined class today 

and to be honest, jimin barely remembers what they talked about that day and he’s hoping that nayeon will carry them both through today’s class because mr. park is just not mentally here at the moment 

to be honest he’d kind of been dreading coming to class (can you blame him?) and he considered calling in sick and cancelling class today, but if he cancelled today, that’d mean he’d have to have an extra makeup class next week and- well, he can’t avoid seeing you forever 

it’s just that he doesn’t even know if he can look you in the eye after you basically showed him that you don’t want to be with him 

it’s embarrassing 

he’s heartbroken and humiliated and hurt and you’re basically the only thing that’s been on his mind this whole week 

admittedly it was a little selfish of him to demand you to call your friends to tell them that you were dating him

it was an unfair move on his part and he knows he acted out of emotion, but… well, he just wished that you fought harder to keep him, that’s all 

and it’s true that he always felt like you were slightly embarrassed to be with him — he was never afraid to hold your hand in public and act like a normal couple but it was always a little upsetting to turn and see you cowering down or hiding behind a pair of sunglasses or baseball hat or something to conceal your identity 

he knows that you only did it to protect the both of you from being exposed, but you didn’t have to hide yourself all the time 

you guys couldn’t even go to restaurants without you quietly requesting for a table at the very back to avoid being seen by anyone passing by 

maybe this breakup was for the best, now that he’s had a week to think about it…

sure, his relationship with you was one of the best he’s ever had and he’s pretty sure he’s head over heels in love with you and would 100% say it back if you said it to him, but hey! he’ll get over it one day 

you’re his student, he’s your teacher — it was inappropriate from the start and it was irresponsible of him to pursue anything with you, so this breakup was a good thing 

it never would’ve worked out in the end, and it’s better that it ended sooner or later

this was just a lesson from the universe that he had to learn, and yes, it was a very hard lesson, but he’s always been good at learning and he’s just going to take this as a sign to not get involved with another one of his students ever again!

it was silly of him to think that it would ever work out in the first place, anyway, so if anything, he should be able to move on and move on fast 

easy peasy 

“easy fuckin’ peasy.” jimin clears his throat quietly, running his damp fingers through his hair as he looks at his reflection in the mirror from side to side, “i’m park fuckin’ jimin. top of my class, aced all my exams, youngest and most sought after teacher at this academy,” he puffs his chest out slightly, nodding to himself as he feels his confidence coming back to him

he’s mr. park, he knows he’s hot shit! 

he doesn’t need you to feel complete

he doesn’t need you at all

he hears the voice in his head let out a laugh of disbelief followed by an all-knowing alright, keep lying to yourself if this is how you’re planning on coping with this breakup and immediately shuts it out before bending down to grab his duffle bag, swinging it over his shoulder before putting a pair of thick-rimmed, square framed glasses on 

he forget to order more of his contacts over the weekend so he’ll have to wear his stupid dorky ass glasses today (the memory of you telling him how much you love it when he wears his glasses flashes in his mind and he shuts it out as best as he can, but the thought of getting you flustered today in class with these glasses makes the corner of his mouth twitch in a cocky smirk.) 

»»————- 🥀 ————-««

“wow, look who’s alive!” you jolt in surprise when lisa slings an arm around you from behind, leaning her head against yours with a grin as the two of you continue walking towards the main doors, “period cramps are brutal this month, hey?” 

“yeah, it’s been- ha, not great, you know how it is-“ you press your lips together in a tight smile as you pop your airpods back into the case so you can give your friend your full attention, “sorry i… barely texted you all throughout the week, i’ve just- um-“ you clear your throat quietly, pausing for a second to think about what excuse to give lisa

you feel awful for lying to her about all of this because you know that lisa would never be upset or angry with you and is only here to help you because she’s your friend, but still… the wound is a little fresh at the moment so lying will have to do 

because if you rip this bandaid off right now and she gives you that sympathetic head tilt and shoulder droop and big sad eyes combo, you are 100% not going to be able to make it through this class without completely losing your mind and you are certainly not about to burst into tears in front of your classmates 

“you’ve just what?” lisa nudges your side to get your attention and you look over at her, your mouth still hanging open with no fake excuse sitting on the tip of your tongue 

you’ve never really been good at thinking of things on the spot

you’ve also never been good at lying so there’s that to consider as well 

“i just… i don’t know! weird mood. one of those weeks, you know?” you shrug weakly, lisa’s brow raising slightly before she purses her head and nods slowly 

“no, that’s okay! i was just worried about you, that’s all. but you… know you can talk to me about anything, right?” she holds the door open for you and you offer her a meek smile, swallowing the lump in your throat as the two of you head towards the changing rooms 

“yeah, i know.” you respond quietly, choosing not to say anything else after that even though you know you’re acting very suspicious and you have a feeling lisa knows you’re hiding something from her 

“you excited for class today?” she changes the subject swiftly and you immediately nod even though you have no idea what’s happening in class today, “i’ve been buzzing about it all week. miss im’s boys are so fine.” 

“they’re- oh, we have the, uh- they’re coming to our class today, right? we’re, like, pairing up with them or something like that, right?” you clear your throat, opening your locker door up before sitting down on the bench to take your sneakers off, “yeah, they’re all very nice to look at. that jungkook guy is nice, i follow him on instagram.” 

“oh, jungkook is- mmph-“ you can’t help but giggle when lisa bites her fist, “he’s more than very nice to look at. you should ask him out. he was making googly eyes at you at mr. park and miss. im’s performance.” 

the reminder of that night immediately kills the vibe and you feel your mood drop, but you focus on taking your socks off instead of thinking about i think we should end things permanently, because i want to be in a real relationship instead of-

the sound of lisa’s locker door slamming shut snaps you out of it and you turn to see that she’s already fully dressed and ready to go with her water bottle in one hand and her phone in the other, “you want me to wait for you?” 

“you can go in first! i’ll be a while, i-“ you look down at yourself and your sweatpants, letting out a breath because you’re already exhausted and changing into a leotard is no easy feat, “i still have to change and then i have to pee and stuff, but i’ll see you in there.” 

as soon as lisa leaves, you feel yourself slump as you lean over with your elbows on your knees, your mind immediately spacing out 

you are not mentally here right now and you don’t know how you’re about to go through a two hour class where the main thing you have to do is focus otherwise you get in trouble for it 

“it’s a guy.” 

you immediately perk up when you realise you aren’t alone and you turn to look over your shoulder, your brows knitting together in confusion as you blink up at seulgi before looking back down at your duffle bag quickly and pretending like you were in the middle of going through it, “what are you talking about? and how the hell did you get in here so quietly??” 

“it’s a guy. am i right?” seulgi sighs, ignoring your second question (though you are genuinely curious how she managed to come in without you noticing, or maybe you’re just really really checked out that you didn’t notice her at all) and plopping herself down on the bench next to you before crossing one leg over the other and crossing her arms over her chest, “that’s why you’ve been acting so off all week.” 

“what are you on about?” you snort, though you can’t help but think to yourself how true it is that women are very intuitive when it comes to pretty much anything but especially when it has something to do with men 

and seulgi is the best at figuring things out — especially when it comes to things that are literally none of her business like this! 

“you’ve been weirdly civil with me over text when you usually bite back with something.” she raises her chin slightly, her gaze never leaving your face, “you never just sit there and take it.” 

your eyes flicker slightly and you find yourself unable to look seulgi in the eye for more than two seconds before looking away, and you feel the hairs on the back of your neck prickle when she gives you that one look that screams i’m not going to stop pestering you until you tell me what drama you’re swept up in 

“what makes you think that me being civil has something to do with guy problems?” you blurt out, your cheeks starting to grow pink out of anxiety because now you know that seulgi’s onto you, “also, we rarely text and talk outside of class except for when we’re out with the other girls for brunch or something. why do you care about my texting style all of a sudden?” 

“well, you didn’t deny anything.” seulgi points out, and your hand immediately freezes in your bag upon the realisation that yeah, you didn’t deny anything and seulgi is definitely onto you and is also definitely right because you definitely are going through guy problems right now 

but how much can you trust seulgi? you haven’t even told lisa who is arguably your best friend in the class and also the entire world

“we aren’t friends, seulgi. you don’t have to pretend like you care.” you mutter, voice wavering slightly as your eyes begin to brim with tears because this is the first time someone’s asked you if you’re okay in person and clearly you’re an emotional wreck if seulgi is the one asking and it’s making your eyes tear up 

keep it together, keep it together, keep it together, you remind yourself, chewing on the inside of your cheek as you pull your leg warmers on and quickly reach up to wipe a rogue tear away before seulgi sees you crying 

“so it is a guy.” seulgi hums, nodding her head to herself before clicking her teeth, “knew it. is it someone we know? was it a hookup? long time situationship? did he ghost you? have you been secretly dating someone this whole time and you just got dumped by them?” 

all the blood drains from your face as you turn your head to look at seulgi with wide eyes (nearly snapping your neck in the progress), your lips parting before you quickly shut then and turn back to pull your slippers on 

seulgi’s eyes widen before she blinks rapidly 

no way 

this whole time you’ve been dating someone?! 

to be honest seulgi’s always thought you were a massive prude who would crumble at the sight of a couple holding hands in public so this is actually a pleasant surprise for her 

“no fucking way!” seulgi delivers a harsh slap to your shoulder and you press your lips together, your eyes fluttering shut because fuck, the jig is up and now you have to confess to your sins to someone who cannot be farther away than good and holy, “oh my god. y/n y/l/n, you sneaky, sneaky girl. who?!” 

»»————- 🥀 ————-««

“are those new leg warmers?” lisa looks over at you as you stretch beside her, and you look down at your brand new (grey, with little thunderclouds on them) leg warmers before nodding, “yet another pair for your already extensive collection…”

“well, what can i say?” you chuckle, reaching down to smooth them down a little before shrugging, “i wasn’t gonna get them, but retail therapy always makes you feel better when you’re feeling like shit.” you blurt out, looking up slightly when you realise that saying retail therapy implies that something happened in which you need to make yourself feel better 

…

“retail therapy? what on earth bugged you so much that you needed to buy something?” lisa snorts, pulling her hair up into a ponytail in the mirror 

“probably just dealing with the fact that she knows she’ll never be as good of a dancer as i am.” seulgi butts in, letting out a sigh before shaking her head, “it’s okay, y/n. not all of us were meant for the stage.”

“thank you for the reminder, seulgi. you keep me humble.” you joke, giving her a soft smile and acknowledging her attempt at a distraction with a little nod — you ended up telling seulgi absolutely everything in the changing rooms (but not before triple checking that nobody was around to listen, because that would’ve been a disaster for sure) because… well, it was killing you having to hold everything in! and seulgi, believe it or not, was willing to lend an ear and actually listen for a change instead of blabbing her mouth off like the know it all she is 

much to your surprise, seulgi told you that she wouldn’t tell anyone about this (to be perfectly honest, seulgi thinks it was kind of sick of you to break the rules and date your own teacher, because it’s very unlike y/n y/l/n to do something as taboo as that… she has a newfound sense of respect for you because she would probably also do the same thing if she was in your position because who in their right mind wouldn’t launch themselves full speed at the chance to date mr. park?? but she’ll never tell you that because she knows it would go to your head and you would try to become best friends with her and she’s pretty sure that your relationship works better when you’re frenemies who are constantly trying to one-up each other.) 

“they’re a little… gloomier than what you usually get…” lisa giggles, reaching over to jab a finger into one of the thunderclouds, “still cute, though! and it matches the weather.” you turn to glance out the window, frowning at the sight of the dark grey clouds hanging in the air as the the windows tremble from the weight of chubby raindrops smacking against it rhythmically 

the weather for the past week has been absolutely dreadful and definitely hasn’t made you feel any better, but you have to admit that it was kind of relaxing laying in bed all day listening to the sound of the rain 

“well, the weather is shit, but what makes me feel better is knowing that in a few minutes this room is going to flooded in an ocean of hot testosterone-“ lisa wraps her arms around herself before shimmying her shoulders with a squeal, “aren’t you guys excited?! i don’t know why you aren’t more excited that we basically get a free pass to flirt with boys for the next two hours-“ 

“i’ve got my eye on seokjin,”  ailee chimes in, “god, i would climb him like a goddamn tree.” 

“you know who’s actually built like a tree? kim namjoon. you seen those thighs of his?” 

“well, i’m gonna see if i can get paired with hoseok — i’ve seen him dance, he’s super good. he does hip-hop too, the man can do it all-“ 

“yoongi and i already spoke last time so i’m pretty sure we’re gonna hook up in class and also out of class-“ 

“you guys just stay away from taehyung, because i’ve been eyeing him for so long-“ 

“y/n, what about you?” you feel lisa nudge your back with her foot and you spin around on your bum to face the group, “well, i don’t think i need to ask you who you want to be paired up with.” 

“you seem to be convinced that jungkook was making googly-moogly eyes at me but i’m telling you that he was just being friendly-“

“oh, well- yes, jungkook was definitely making googly-moogly eyes at you and i’m pretty sure he’s going to try to get paired up with you so don’t even worry about that- i was talking about mr. park!”

“wh- what?” your eyes widen slightly and you let out a nervous laugh, “i- what- what makes you think that i- why would i get paired up with mr. park?? that’s not even- that’s not even allowed, i don’t think a student is allowed to be paired up with a teacher for an exercise like this-”

“why are you getting all flustered??” lisa laughs, reaching over to pinch your thigh, “oh my god, i was just teasing you because of the fat crush you have on mr. park, i’m not actually saying you’re going to get paired up with him, dummy-“ 

“even if y/n was paired up with mr. park, she’d probably clomp all over his feet.” seulgi snorts, “besides, she- oh, shit-“ she immediately gets up and you turn to see jimin walk into the room, muscle memory forcing you up from the ground so you can stand with your feet in third position with your hands behind your back next to seulgi 

you feel your heart racing in your chest as the familiar smell of his cologne wafts past you and you immediately look down when he walks past you

you just hope that no one can hear how hard your heart is pounding because you would’ve appreciated some kind of warning before jimin came into the room 

you’re just going to keep your head down and stay in the back of the class for this lesson, and then you’re going to slip out with the girls at the end of class as quickly as you can 

“good afternoon, ladies…” jimin greets lowly as he makes his way towards the front of the room, his voice slightly raspy from the complete lack of sleep he’s gotten 

he drops his duffle bag on the ground as he looks out at the godawful weather, frowning slightly because no one’s responded to him and he thought he taught you guys better than that! it seems like two weeks without class has turned you girls a little sloppy…

“i said, good afternoon, ladies…” jimin tries again, emphasising his tone before turning around swiftly with a tilt of his head, leaning back against the counter with toned arms crossed over his chest, “what’s the matter, you guys forget your manners?”

“good afternoon, mr. park!” everyone fumbles to respond to his greeting, and you find yourself barely mumbling out a barely coherent ‘afternoon’ before continuing to stand in your spot obediently 

“…alright, jesus, i don’t know what the hell that was-“ jimin scoffs, shaking his head with a mild expression of disgust on his face, “maybe it’s a good thing miss im and her students are coming over today so you can see how proper students are supposed to act!” he claps his hands together before reaching into his back pocket for his phone, “miss im will be leading the class today, i’m just gonna be hanging around the back as her co-teacher, but please do your best and try not to embarrass me in front of her students. she just texted me and let me know that she’ll be here on time, so just continue warming up until they get here…” 

“someone woke up on the bitchy side of bed this morning. what do you think his problem is?” lisa mutters to you as the class disperses back into doing warm-up exercises, and you shrug with one shoulder and plop back down on the ground 

“i bet i know.” seulgi snorts, and you shoot her a warning look before she smirks and sends a blowing kiss in your direction 

you turn your head slightly to look over your shoulder, surprised to see jimin looking right at you before his eyes flicker and he quickly turns and looks down at his phone instead 

»»————- 🥀 ————-««

“now, the purpose of today’s class is just to familiarise yourself with dancing with a partner — after all, it’ll be one of the things you have to do during your exams at the end of the semester!” nayeon chirps, standing tall with her clipboard held close to her chest, “mr. park and i were dance partners, as you know… it’s also important to develop a bond with the person you’re partnered with. if there’s no bond, there’s no trust, no warmth, no chemistry, and all of that will be visible on stage through your dancing, so i cannot emphasise how important it is to really strengthen the connection you have with one another.” 

“well, there’s more than one way to do that-“ taehyung mutters, the class breaking into a collection of snorts and giggles before going silent again when jimin gives them one of his signature unimpressed death glares 

he’s barely spoken a word since nayeon and her boys came into the class ten minutes ago because that’s how mentally checked out he is 

it’s actual torture having to be here with you standing across the room as if he doesn’t have a million questions lined up and ready to go 

were you just lying when you said you loved him? did you know he was awake? did you do it on purpose to get him to become more attached to you??? did you date him so that you would be chosen for the nutcracker at the end of the year?! 

he made brief eye contact with you earlier (he was staring at the back of your head and wasn’t expecting you to turn and look back at him) and he swore he was going to start tearing up when the two of you locked gazes which is why he had to look away so quickly 

“i’ve paired you up randomly, so i’m just going to read your names off my list. when you hear your name, pair up with your partner and stand to the left side of the room and wait quietly until everyone’s been paired up,” nayeon clears her throat, looking down at her list, “lisa and taehyung, jisoo and seokjin, seulgi and namjoon…” 

jimin resists the urge to blow his cheeks out and roll his eyes out of complete boredom as he stands next to nayeon with his arms behind his back, occasionally glancing down at her list to see how many people still have to be paired up

“-y/n and jungkook-“ 

he immediately perks up at the mention of your name, eyebrows furrowing when it’s followed by jungkook’s name because what the hell does nayeon mean by y/n and jungkook?? 

“oh, uh-“ jimin nudges nayeon’s arm, “you- you paired y/n up with jungkook? we, uh, did we… did we talk about that, or…?” 

“what do you mean? i asked you if you had any preferences for partners and you told me to sort them out, don’t you remember?” nayeon whispers, using the tip of her pen to trace a line down her page before tapping right next to your name and jungkook’s name, “plus y/n’s clearly your strongest student, and jungkook is mine, so i’d like to see how they work together. i think they’ll work out quite well, they already seem to be pretty friendly with each other…”

“y/n and jungkook.” 

you look up when you hear your name being called and you immediately look over at jungkook, offering him a shy smile when he beams and starts to make his way over to you 

what a pleasant surprise!

you actually really like jungkook — sometimes he sends you memes on instagram or he’ll swipe up and respond to your stories, so the two of you have interacted more than a handful of times and you think he’s a pretty solid guy 

and you’d be lying if you said he wasn’t handsome (and it kind of gives you an ego boost knowing that he might have a teensy weensy crush on you)

“pst- make him jealous.” you hold back a yelp when seulgi suddenly burrows her fingers into your side and you turn to glare at her 

“what?”

“make. him. jealous.” she enunciates through gritted teeth, eyes flickering over to jimin before she looks over at a smiley jungkook, “nothing wrong with being a little petty.” 

“what- i’m not going to make him jealous, that’s not going to solve anything-“

“it won’t solve anything, but would it be so wrong to have a little fun to make yourself feel better?” 

“seulgi, i don’t like being petty and- hi!” you turn your head and greet jungkook with a bright smile, letting out a chuckle afterwards, “nice to see you again.”

“likewise! i’m glad we got paired up.” he nods, standing a little closer to you as the two of you return your attention to the front where miss. im is in the middle of giving her tips for the girls 

“try not to help your partner! you kinda just have to trust them — i know it’s very tempting because you know the combination and you know what step comes next, but the best thing to do is to just keep a strong core and focus on yourself! that way, your partner can- you know, kind of put you where you need to go. so, what we’re going to have you do for this exercise is, girls, you’ll make up a short combination, tell your partner what that is, and then immediately perform it on the spot.” miss. im turns to look at jimin, “so, mr. park, do you have any tips for the boys?”

“uh, i mean…” jimin purses his lips slightly, “use your palms, not your fingers. it wouldn’t feel good for your partner to have your fingers digging into their ribcages especially. also, you’ll be able to have more control when you’re using your palms instead of lifting with your fingers. just, uh… yeah, trust in your partner.” he nods, looking over at nayeon to signal that he has nothing more to add

god, he really is out of it today 

“any volunteers?” nayeon purses her lips as she looks around the class, not surprised to see that majority of you are avoiding eye contact with her (it is pretty intimidating dancing with all of your peers looking at you and judging every move, but it’s something that all of you will have to do eventually), “alright, then i’ll have to choose, since no one is taking the initiative.” she chirps, smacking her palm flat against her clipboard before turning to look right over at you and jungkook, “jungkook, y/n — would you like to come up here and demonstrate for the rest of the class?” 

you feel the hairs on your arm prickle in anxiety as you stand there for a second in silence, both you and jungkook exchanging glances before you turn back to look at miss im with a meek smile, “ah- yes, miss im.”

you were expecting everyone to break out and scatter around the room instead of immediately performing in front of the class, but you suppose everyone’s already warmed up and ready to go… 

“bepetty.” seulgi coughs quietly, and you turn to see jungkook holding his hand out for you to take

“shall we?” he grins, clearly very confident in your guys’ ability to impress the whole class with your little routine, “don’t worry miss im, y/n and i will try our best not to completely amaze you with our routine, but no promises…” jungkook’s comment gets a couple of laughs and you giggle lightly before taking his hand and letting him lead you to the front 

“that’s easy for you to say, i’m the one who has to come up with the routine-“ you add on, the corner of your mouth lifting in a knowing smirk when jungkook lets out a laugh and a nod 

his hand feels quite warm in yours and your eyes widen a little when you feel his thumb rub over your skin soothingly

“do your best!” miss im smiles, flicking the main lights off and turning the spotlight ones on as you guys get to the front, “y/n, what combination will you two be demonstrating for your peers?” 

ah, shit

“i….” you’ve never been good at thinking of things on the spot, and you can’t help but look over at jimin for a split second who seems to be shooting daggers right at jungkook as he stands leaning against the wall by the door, his arms crossed over his chest and his tongue poking against the inside of his cheek before he clears his throat quietly and rubs his lips together a couple of times 

his eyes are lidded slightly and to be honest, if looks could kill, jungkook would be bleeding out on the floor right about now and you can’t help but feel a little pleased at the obvious fact that jimin doesn’t like that you were paired up with jungkook and definitely doesn’t like the fact that miss im chose you and jungkook to demonstrate in front of the class 

“y/n?” jungkook elbows you slightly to get your attention and you clear your throat before standing up a little straighter, sorting through all the moves that you know and trying your best to come up with a quick routine on the spot

“oh! i, uh… okay, first, i’m gonna piqué attitude to the left, tombé… uh, double stepover, and then i’ll do… ah… i’ll do… échappé-echappe… passe-passe, i… suppose i’ll do a spin and then finish in arabesque?” you smile sheepishly, looking over at miss im and jimin for validation only to get a grunt from jimin and a pleased nod from miss im 

that seems like a doable combination, right?

god, you hope so 

lisa shoots you a thumbs up from the audience and you clear your throat quietly, taking a few steps back and waiting for your cue as miss im lowers the spotlights slightly 

the last thing you see before the lights dim is jimin’s furrowed brows and clenched jaw and you press your lips together in order to suppress a grin 

»»————- 🥀 ————-««

“wonderful job, you two. impeccable!” nayeon claps her hands gently along with the rest of the class, a proud smile on her face as she nudges jimin with her elbow, “see, what’d i tell you? the two of them fit together like two puzzle pieces, don’t you think?” 

“yep.” jimin licks over his front teeth in irritation when he notices the way jungkook’s hand lingers on the small of your back (a little too low for his liking, and if he was grading jungkook for an exam he’d immediately dock off a point for hand placement alone) as the two of you bow/curtsey at the front to thank your classmates for the applause and he feels his blood beginning to boil when he sees the shy little smile on your face and the blush spreading across your cheeks when jungkook whispers something in your ear 

what the fuck is he saying to you that’s making your cheeks red?? 

“you have something you want to share with the class, jungkook?” jimin blurts out right before he can even process that he’s blurted something out, his hand instinctively reaching over to smack the main lights back on 

the light switching back on so suddenly makes a few of you flinch and you reach up instinctively to shield your eyes, a little puzzled by what the problem is 

jimin is completely unbothered as he looks at jungkook and tilts his head, “well? if you can whisper it to y/n, you can share it with everyone.”

you and jungkook exchange glances of confusion 

“oh, i-“ jungkook stands up a little taller and jimin can’t help but feel drunk on power because of how intimidated he looks right now, “i just said that she did a really good job, mr. park, that’s all. a-and that she looks very pretty when she’s focused.” 

“interesting. well, i don’t think that’s a very appropriate comment to make to your peer,” jimin responds immediately, shaking his head before looking over at nayeon, “miss im, you need to control your hormonal students-“

“woah, my boys aren’t the hormonal ones here-“ nayeon scoffs, and jimin’s eyes widen in offence at the dig at you guys even though he technically made the first jab (and also, nayeon’s probably right about that because he’s seen the way you guys look at him and has also heard many of things said about him), “and it’s perfectly fine to compliment a peer! maybe keep the second half of your comment for after class, but don’t listen to grumpy mr. park, you two — again, great job, you can go back to your spots.” 

awkward, scattered applause makes its way around the room as you and jungkook return to your spots, and lisa gives you a look that says “what was that??? we’re definitely talking about this later” to which you respond with a quick shrug as you pass by her 

“okay…” miss im clears her throat quietly, letting out an uncomfortable chuckle before flipping to the next page on her clipboard, jimin following close behind her as the two of them head back to the front of the room, “let me see… jisoo, seokjin, can you guys come up next?” 

“i’m sorry if i- if i made you uncomfortable with my comment, y/n, i really didn’t mean to-“ jungkook whispers, and you shake your head quickly as you look up at him with a frown 

“no, not at all! it was very sweet of you-“ you reassure him, reaching down to give his hand a squeeze, “really, it was very kind of you to say. and you did a great job as well- sorry i almost stepped on your foot when i-”

“oh, that’s- no, it was really all you, i basically just followed you and made sure to spin you and stuff-“ 

“jungkook!” jimin’s voice is crisp and it makes you stand straight up as you turn your head to look back at the front, “talking again while your peers are getting ready to perform up front?” 

jungkook’s face turns bright red and he shakes his head quickly, “i- no, sir, i’m- i wasn’t-“ 

“i talked to him first, so if you’re going to bark at someone, you should do it at me-“ you raise your hand to get jimin to look over at you before giving him a casual shrug, “my bad.” 

“‘your bad’?” jimin repeats with air quotations, narrowing his eyes at you and almost daring you to continue speaking to him in such a casual tone when you know he’s made it very clear how important it is to speak to him formally when it’s class time, “well, is there something that you’d like to share with the class since it was so important you had to speak to jungkook about it right now?” 

“just that he did a fantastic job and he looked incredibly handsome doing it,” you chirp, maintaining a smile on your face, “i also said that we did completely amaze everyone with our routine because i guess we just fit together so, so well and- well, the second half of my comment, i’ll say to him when the two of us are outside of class, as miss im suggested.” 

your comment doesn’t get any snickers, which isn’t a surprise considering the fact that everyone is probably terrified of how angry jimin looks — but honestly, you have no idea why he seems to be picking on you and jungkook but you have a feeling it has something to do with the breakup 

and when you think about that, you can’t help but get more infuriated because can’t he see that he benefits from you breaking up with him?! now he’s free to date whoever he wants to date

like he said, he can be in a real relationship instead of whatever the fuck the two of you were in 

not to mention, you haven’t brought your personal feelings into the situation the same way he has (this is a lie, you are definitely acting on your emotions right now but the denial is slathered on thick today) so what makes him think that he has the right to treat you and jungkook like shit just because he’s all pissy?!?! 

“i’d like to pull y/n out to talk to her for a moment.” jimin immediately turns to look at naeyon with his hands behind his back, nayeon frowning as she looks back and forth between him and you, “now please, miss im. we won’t be long.” 

“well, can you wait until we’re done?” you pipe up, and that gets you a little stomp on the toes from seulgi because now you’re just doing too much but the rage that’s building inside of you from having jimin clearly picking on both you and jungkook is becoming unbearable, “i just think the respectable move is to wait until we’re done learning, mr. park. or would you like to continue wasting everyone’s time by singling out jungkook and i just because you’re clearly in a sour mood for no reason and seem to be enjoying using us as your emotional punching bags?” 

the silence is almost palpable, both you and jimin glaring at each other from across the room as everyone stands silently, awkwardly, because what the absolute fuck is going on right now? 

jimin’s eyes have gone completely dark and if it weren’t for the fact that he used to be your boyfriend, you would probably be terrified for basically cussing out your teacher in front of the whole class — but the scale feels balanced now because the current conversation taking place doesn’t seem at all like a mr. park vs miss. y/l/n interaction… this is a jimin vs y/n interaction. 

“leave this classroom right now.” jimin says through gritted teeth, his voice eerily low and quiet as he continues staring at you without a single blink, “right fucking now, y/n.” 

“no problem.” you snap, swiftly moving your way through the crowd and heading straight for the door, your fists clenched at your sides 

you let the door slam shut behind you, angry tears beginning to brim at the edges of your eyes as you storm down the hallway towards the changing rooms so you can get your bags and go home

you shouldn’t have come to class today — you knew that seeing jimin would be too much for you and now look at where it’s gotten you! 

openly disrespecting jimin not just in front of the girls but also in front of miss im’s boys, which probably mortified jimin because he prides himself on how well-behaved you guys are whenever you’re paired up with students from another class… you have a feeling this isn’t going to end well at all. 

the thought of being grilled not just by jimin but also the dean of the school sends a lightning bolt of anxiety right into you and your brain immediately begins to conjure up an email of what you’re going to say in your apology letter because that’s the type of student you are, not whoever you were just a second ago 

you just couldn’t help yourself!! you’re running on an inconsistent sleep schedule and you haven’t been eating right and you’ve barely been drinking water and you’re sad about the breakup and mad at the circumstances and also feeling a little bit like maybe you acted too hastily in the first place and should’ve communicated with jimin about how you were feeling and what you were insecure about instead of diving head first into the whole crazy jealous girlfriend act and driving him away 

and now it seems to be your ego and your pride standing in the way of making you turn around and just talk to jimin because walking away and accepting that this is just the way things are is the much easier option 

“so stupid,” you sniffle, reaching up to wipe away a stray tear as your bottom lip starts to tremble 

you’ve ruined everything 

“hey, i didn’t say you could leave-“ you glance over your shoulder when you hear jimin’s voice as you continue making your way down the stairs, but you pick up your pace when you see him starting to follow you, “y/n, i swear to god-“ 

“i’m going home, i’m clearly not in the right state of mind to be here right now, mr. park-“

“oh, don’t give me that bullshit, y/n-“ jimin snaps, “i think you and i both know we’ve been avoiding each other but we need to talk because your behaviour today isn’t coming out of nowhere-“ 

“i’m sorry for talking back to you in class, but you were clearly picking on jungkook and i and i was so fucking over it-“ you swing the main door open, sneakers squeaking against the linoleum when you come to a sudden stop after seeing how heavy the rainfall is 

you contemplate staying and waiting until the rain calms down a little but the thought of having to stay and talk to jimin is just a little too much for you at the moment 

“it’s raining out and you don’t have an umbrella, you big baby-“ jimin changes the subject when thunder suddenly rumbles from outside, stopping at the top of the stairs to look at you, “what are you gonna do, walk in the rain?!” 

“if that’s what i wanted to do, then i have every right to do so!” 

you came here by bus and you know it doesn’t come for another twenty minutes, meaning that not only are you going to have to walk in the rain to the bus stop, you’ll also have to wait in the rain until it comes and that’s just a recipe for the nastiest cold in the entire world

and the thought of having to nurse a horrible cold and nurse your poor heart sounds like a nightmare 

“y/n, i know you’re upset but you’re being irrational-”

“so what if i wanna walk in the rain?!” the emotional side of your brain takes over as you glare up at jimin before storming towards the doors, “i’m an adult, i can make my own decisions-“ 

“i know you are, and i know you can, but, y/n, please-“ jimin grabs the back of your arm right as you get to the bottom of the stairs and you immediately fling his arm away, “just talk to me, please-“

“about what?!” you adjust the strap of your duffle bag over your shoulder, “we broke up, it’s for the better, you’re my teacher and i’m your student and we never should’ve started dating in the first place because it never would’ve worked out anyway and-“ before you know it, everything is coming out of you and you can’t find a way to stop or control the words coming out of your mouth, “and i think maybe i shouldn’t come to class for a few weeks because it’s going to be weird and i can’t- i can’t be in the same room as you, jimin, it’s killing me-“ 

“it’s killing me, too-“ jimin admits softly, brown eyes glistening slightly underneath the lights, “i just- i can’t stop thinking about you, and i- baby, i- i miss you so much, you have no idea-“ your eyes immediately well with tears and you shake your head quickly as you take a few steps back, pushing the door open and stumbling out while unable to tear your gaze away from jimin’s, “please, we can figure something out, i know we can. i know i want to be with you, y/n, i don’t want anyone else, i just want you-“ his voice tremors slightly and he reaches out for you, “and i didn’t mean it when i called our relationship nothing, i was just hurt and- and angry and- i don’t even know why we broke up-“ 

“you should be with nayeon, she’s better for you and-“ you lower your voice slightly, “i know you went out with her over the weekend, so-“

“went out with her??” jimin gawks, almost letting out a laugh of disbelief, “we met up for coffee to talk about the lesson plan for today- don’t think i didn’t hear what everyone was muttering about before class, you guys need to cut the gossiping and- oh my god, y/n, is that what this is about?? you think i want to be with nayeon? we broke up for a reason, you- this is so incredibly frustrating, y/n, why can’t you just believe me when i say that i want to be with you?!” 

everything that’s coming out of jimin’s mouth makes you feel ten times worse knowing that the two of you can’t be together 

“this is why we need to sit down and talk about things, be honest and give each other our side of the story, because clearly something’s been miscommunicated and-“

“it doesn’t matter, jimin, at the end of the day, even if we talk about what happened we still can’t be together-“

“we can, we just- we can figure something out-“ the overwhelming reminder that you’ll have to tell the dean and all your classmates and face judgement and be gossiped about on top of the already overwhelming emotion of seeing and talking to jimin is just too much for you to bear, and you find your heart skipping more than a few beats out of anxiety because the only thing on your mind right now is to run away and hide from all of this 

“i can’t be here, i have to go home, i can’t be here right now-“ you whimper, turning around to head into the rain, “you just- we can’t be together, jimin-“ 

“y/n-!” the last thing you hear before you sprint out into the dark, misty rain is the sound of jimin crying out for you and you can’t help but burst into tears, covering your mouth with your hand to muffle your sobs

run away run away run away run away 

water splashes up and around you at every step you take, adrenaline coursing through your veins as you keep running down the sidewalk with your duffle bag flopping behind you wildly 

this is too much

everything is just too much 

you just need to go home and then everything will be fine 

it doesn’t matter that jimin wants to work on things with you (it does, because you do, too), it doesn’t matter that he wants to find a way to make things work (it does, because you do, too), it doesn’t matter that he’s clearly stated that he wants to be with you and not nayeon (it does, because it reassures you and now you really know that jimin just wants you and you know that you just want him too) because all that matters is that everything is too much to handle and you feel like your head is about to explode 

“so what am i supposed to do then?!” the sound of jimin’s voice down the street immediately makes you stop and turn around, and you’re glad that it’s raining like this to mask the tears streaming down your face

you aren’t surprised that he’s caught up to you, and you stand still as you look at him standing across from you, all the way at the end of the block, “what the FUCK am i supposed to do, y/n, huh?!” he yells, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and pounding against his chest a few times, “you want me to stand here and act like i don’t love you?! like we never happened?! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?!” 

“i…”

“tell me that’s what you want and i’ll leave it alone, y/n. all you have to do is tell me that this is what you want.” your feet are stuck in place as jimin jogs right over to you and you resist the very strong urge to look away from him again but he just looks so sad and you hate yourself for doing this to him

“it was wrong of me to pressure you to tell your friends about us the way that i did, i know that.” jimin nods, slicking his hair back with a hand, “i fucked up, and i’m sorry for doing that. but i meant it when i said i wanted to be in a proper relationship, y/n, because i want to be able to hold your hand in public, i wanna take you out for dinners without constantly feeling like we’re going to get caught, i- i want to show you off! i wanna show you off because i… i love you, y/n…” 

jimin shakes his head in disappointment when your only response is to stand there, staring at him with wide, trembling eyes 

he waits one, two, three seconds for you to say something, to say literally anything and he hates that you still have nothing to say to him 

even if you said you didn’t want to be with him, that would be a better response than you just standing there staring at him 

forget it 

obviously you’ve made your answer clear, and now he knows that he was 100% more invested in you than you were in him 

if you want him to pretend like he doesn’t care about you and that you’re just another one of his students, he’s perfectly capable of doing that 

he was a little out of control today, but he’ll be able to manage it in future classes

the thought of transferring you to another teacher’s class briefly flits through his mind but he’s reminded by the fact that he’d have to talk to the dean about that and then the dean would have to ask why jimin wants to transfer you and that’d just be a whole thing 

plus, the semester’s nearly over so pretty soon jimin won’t have to be forced to be in the same room with the woman he loves but he can’t say he loves 

it’s going to fine

everything is going to be fine 

he’s been broken up with before, and he’s picked himself up and has moved on 

he can do this 

“fine, y/n.” he scoffs to himself, turning on his heel to head back towards the building, “if that’s what you want, i can’t change your mind. i’m sorry. i won’t push it any further.��� 

“i was gonna talk to the dean!”

jimin stops in his tracks when you finally speak up, and he turns to look over his shoulder to see that you’ve taken one step forward but hesitating to come any closer to him like a scared baby deer 

he doesn’t move, afraid that if he moves too quickly he might scare you off and stop you from what you’re about to say 

“what?” he asks quietly, turning around to face you and relieved to see that you don’t seem like you’re about to take off again 

“i was- i was gonna talk to the dean.” you repeat quietly before averting your gaze, “i’d made an appointment and everything, i was gonna talk to the dean about us because i- i love you… too.” you blurt out, looking back up at him, “i love you too, but i’m… scared.” 

“scared of someone finding out?” 

“well, that’s a pretty big chunk of it because i could get expelled and you could get fired, but i’m also scared because… the last time i felt this way about someone, they left me for their ex six months after we said i love you to each other.” you swallow thickly, feeling slightly ashamed and embarrassed to admit that about yourself since it’s not something you like to bring up, “i… if there is even a 1% chance of you and nayeon getting back together, i don’t want any part of it. and i know that’s unfair of me to say because life happens and i get it but-” you whimper, feeling your heart splinter at the reminder of how broken up you were over your previous relationship, “as much as i love you and i want to work on things with you, i don’t wanna be hurt again-“ 

“you won’t be, y/n-“

“you don’t know that-“

“but i do!” jimin drops to his knees, looking up at you from the ground as he keeps his hands firm on the sides of your thighs, “baby, i do know that- i don’t know what crazy rumour you guys cooked up but i’m not secretly in love with nayeon- i wanna be with you, please, please just give us a chance to make it work-“

“i’m still your student, jimin…” you sniffle, reaching up to wipe at your red eyes, “all of this doesn’t change the fact that you are my teacher and i am your student, and the both of us never should’ve started doing this in the first place-“ 

“i’ll talk to the dean about getting you transferred to another class, or- or i can transfer to another class- i will make it work, y/n, we can make this work.” 

you chew on the inside of your cheek anxiously as you look down at jimin, jimin who you’re hopelessly in love with, jimin who you love waking up next to and falling asleep beside, jimin who wakes you up with kisses on the face and a mug of tea (you hate tea, you just drink it because it’s him), jimin who you know you want to be with because it’s been so long since you’ve felt so strongly and so surely about someone and… well, it’s jimin. 

“okay.” you nod slowly, reaching down to cup his cheek gently before swiping your thumb against his skin, “okay, we can make it work. i wanna make this work, but i think the first thing we have to do is talk to the dean because i don’t know how much longer i can hide it from everyone-!” you don’t get much of a chance to say anything else before jimin’s shooting up from the ground, pulling you in for a kiss as your duffle bag drops to the ground 

“oh my god, i missed you so much, you have no idea how much-“ jimin murmurs against your lips, his arm looping around your waist to pull you in closer, while your arms sling around his neck and your fingers curl into the hair at the back of his head 

“i missed you too-“ you laugh lightly, heart thrumming happily in your chest as you find yourself pressing closer into jimin’s familiar warmth, “we can make this work.” 

»»————- 🥀 ————-««

(“are we going to talk about how you were basically bullying me and jungkook?” “…no comment.”) 

🎙️ ask y/n where she gets her leg warmers (talk to my characters!) 

📚 why not explore the rest of the library while you're here? (full fics!) 

💫 or perhaps you want something shorter to read? (drabbles and mini series!)

🌟 or something even shorter? (teeny tidbits!) 

[imaginedreamwrite]

A Permanent Claim: Part 1

Your knee bounced to the tune of the song playing through the speakers of your Uber driver’s vehicle, your lips moving to the lyric you recognized.

It might have seemed as if you were paying attention to the ride or the direction of the driver as he took you to the house of your potential job.

The interview with someone he trusted, this Curtis Everett guy, and wouldn’t be with the man himself, a fact which had made you more anxious and unsettled about the interview processes that would make or break the job.

You had prepared yourself as best as you possibly could with background checks and re-certifying yourself in first aid and CPR, and you had sent your references and all your university coursework to the nanny agency that had set this up. You had presented everything you needed, you had gone through two interviews already and this, possibly, would be the last.

Your friend’s reassurance that this was a goo-paying, well-paying job, hadn’t made it any easier to potentially land. You had almost thought there were more hoops for you to jump through, even if it was slapped with a label of being a high-turnaround job. The job paid well, the kids were rather sweet and cute and yet they couldn’t keep a nanny.

Maybe you should have asked yourself why they couldn’t keep anyone down instead of being so eager to dive in.

However, the reality was quickly set upon you with the reminder that bills needed to be paid, rent was due and you had student loans that you wanted to get off your shoulders. There was more to be done than not and that required a steady income.

“We’re here, I can’t get passed the gate.” The driver informed you when he came to a stop outside of an iron-wrought barricade that kept you from accessing the rest of the property.

The tall barricade and fence were simple yet effective, the steel bars trapped between stone or concrete headers and footer had given somewhat of a glance at the house, or mansion rather, that lay beyond.

The gate itself would have opened both doors if you were given clearance but as it stood neither you nor the driver was given access now. To make it to the house, you could have had to hike it up the curved driveway to the front of the house and that was if they would even let you beyond the gate in the first place.

“I can take you somewhere else or you can get out but we’re not sitting here.” The driver had snarked, looking at you through the rearview mirror with a scowl on his face and his eyebrows furrowed.

You weren’t given much of a choice with the Uber driver, you could have tried calling the number given to you but the driver wouldn’t let you stay in the vehicle. You would have to get out of the vehicle and speak to the security speaker or at the very least get out and call the number.

“I’m getting out.” You unbuckled and tossed it to the side, scrambling to grab your purse and phone before you fumbled with the door.

You stepped out of the Uber and nudged the door shut with your hip, the latch catching and the driver starting to roll away from the gate. You threw your bag over your shoulder and walked toward the security box before the entrance of the gate, briefly listening to the driver abandoning you before you pressed your thumb into the call button.

You waited for someone to either let you in or deny you completely, the crackle of the system reminding you of the white noise machines your college roommate had used night after night until she moved in with her boyfriend. She swore she couldn’t sleep without the crackling background noise, even though you were vexed by the sound and didn’t find any comfort from the sound.

Despite your asking if she could wear headphones when she used the machine because it was preventing her from sleeping well, your college roommate refused and made the rebuttal that you could wear headphones instead.

“I’m here to interview for the nanny position.” Your voice and lips had moved without your knowledge, and you hadn’t been aware that anyone was even had spoken to you until you heard your reply.

“Y/N L/N?” The voice through the speaker had huffed, irritated by the intrusion or maybe it was you being here ringing the buzzer that annoyed them.

Regardless, the gate had begun opening after their snort of derision and you were given access to the grounds.

The mansion stood out against the dark asphalt driveway that extended from the road to the edge of the steps. The light-coloured brick and mortar seemed altogether unassuming and ordinary yet beautifully designed in conjecture with the double french doors that were shut tight.

Even as far away as you were, you could make out the design of the detailed glass set into the dark wood of the double doors. The overhanging arch that protected the door from less-than-ideal weather if it had inflicted itself upon the earth was made of light sandy and taupe-coloured bricks set into place with matching grout.

There was a set of matching arched cutouts above the welcoming arch that served no purpose but decoration, embedded with sconces and security cameras aimed at the front door.

The door opened before you even had an opportunity to ring the doorbell or use the brass knocker, the woman that had come peeling out of the house had knocked into you with brute force. You harrumphed and braced yourself against the wall as she passed you with a reddened face and spittle gathering at the corner of her lips.

“Those demons-“

“Y/N L/N.” another woman stepped into your view, looking you up and down with a passive smirk on her face.

You didn’t know what drew your attention first, whether it was the septum piercing she had that glittered in the light or whether it was the full sleeve of tattoos covering her right arm.

“You’re…” You stuttered and looked over your shoulder toward the older woman who couldn’t have gotten out of the house fast enough. “Is she okay?”

“Come inside.” The woman with long plaited black hair had stepped aside to let you pass into the house and as you passed you took notice of the largest tattoo on her right shoulder, the image of a goddess that wasn’t at all familiar to you.

“You have tattoos?” She wasn’t bothered at all by you staring at her, neither was she put off by your wide-eyed gaze when she closed the door with her foot, bringing attention to the piercing in her hips and belly button.

“No.” you squeaked, intimidated by the woman who looked as tough as nails and unapologetically in touch with herself. “I don’t…I’ve never-“

“Curtis trusts me to find the little hellions a good nanny.” She tilted her head to the side, an indication to follow her into the kitchen, neither waiting nor checking to see if you trailed after her.

“Twins, right?” You scurried after the woman as she crossed into the kitchen and immediately reached for a glass of water before pushing another toward you.

The kitchen, like the exterior of the mansion, was beautiful and aesthetically pleasing though it seemed as if it was relatively untouched.

There was a massive island in the middle of the kitchen with sleek marble countertops that were heralded by deepest cupboards and a breakfast bar on the far side. There was a dangling chandelier that hung above the middle of the island, accompanied by pot lights set into the indented ceiling although few were on.

“Theo and James are five turning six.” She had spoken, yet to give you her name, and looked you over once more before she rest her hip against the counter and lift the glass to her dark-stained lips. “Do you drink?”

“Not often.” You answered her directly, tapering off at the end of your speech while trying to be subtle about taking in every detail of the kitchen. “I’ve never been drunk before, I don’t know what it’s like to have a hangover.”

“You do drugs?”

“Do you?” You asked in retaliation without thinking, drawing a laugh from the woman whose name you still hadn’t known. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-“

“Curtis is protective of who comes around his kids. There have been more nannies coming and gone because of who they pretend to be or how they treat their kids. His kids are his whole world-“

“I’m not looking to make their mom mad, or try and infringe-“

“Curtis isn’t married, he brings women home but he keeps that away from his boys. He won’t let his boys see any of the everyday shit that could be harmful to their psyche.” She had continued to size you up, a smirk tugging on her lips until she rolled her shoulder back and exposed a waterlily tattoo on the side of her neck.

“I’m sorry,” you furrowed your eyebrows and pursed your lips, remunerating on what your friend had told you earlier about Curtis Everett being frightening without her ever giving up his profession, “but what does Curtis do?”

There was a moment of silence that fell between the two of you, the silence that lingered as she drank from her glass of water before eventually setting it back against the marble. The clink of the bottom rim against the smooth countertop had nearly been overshadowed by the sound of boyish laughter and thundering footsteps coming straight toward the kitchen.

The twins you might be in charge of had come bustling into the kitchen heading straight toward the woman you had been talking to. They hadn’t faltered in running up to her and slamming themselves against her legs, hugging her tightly while talking at the same time. She had somehow embraced them both while lifting them onto the kitchen island, neither one paying attention to you until she had whispered to them.

The twins themselves seemed to exude trouble from their matching green eyes that sparked with mischief and secrets. Their dark brown hair had been cropped short in a Caesar cut, the two nearly identical cuts making it almost impossible to tell one from the other and yet one had a slightly more pronounced jaw than the next.

“My name’s Theo,” the seemingly bolder of the twins had lurched forward to stare deep into your eyes, sprawled across the marble surface, “how old are you?”

“Have you ever eaten a spider? A live spider?” The other twin crawled across the surface of the island toward you, his fingers spread and squeaking upon the surface. “Are you allerganic to fun?”

“Allergic,” you corrected, glancing between the two boys as they rapidly fired off questions to you, one after the other, “I’m allergic to crustaceans-“

“What are crust-ashes-“ the quieter twin had piped up, kicking his feet twice.

“Shellfish,” you looked from James to Theo and back again, unable to keep your eyes on one and not the other, “lobster and crab, oysters…”

“I don’t like lobster. I like chicken.” Theo huffed and flopped onto his back, holding his arms and legs into the air stiffly. “I wish I was a turtle-“

“Pari.” She held her hand out to you to shake, delicate and light tracings of ink on her left hand and forearm drawing your attention, even momentarily. “It’s what my boyfriend calls me.”

“Pari.” You repeated the name she had given you, shaking her hand while the twins continued to rattle off questions one after the other. “Y/N-“

“Curtis trusts me to make a good decision. You seem well rounded and you’re not a psycho, the twins like you-“

“You like me?”

“Do you have cooties?” Theo bound to his feet in a single moment, standing on his tippy toes in the middle of the island.

“I took my cootie shot and islands aren’t for standing on.” Your gentle scold had been met with a bout of energy from Theo, and a startling scream as he jumped off the island and goaded James to follow him.

“I’ll show you around tonight, give you the schedule and all the codes.” Pari had motioned for you to follow her out of the kitchen, across the entranceway into a study. “Tomorrow you’ll meet Curtis.”

“What does Curtis do?” You asked again after not getting a direct answer the first time.

“I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out yet.” She opened the door for you to step into the study, a contract sitting in the middle of the desk with a sleek silver pen on the paper. “His reputation is usually well known.”

“Oh, but I don’t…” You sat down before the desk while she sat on the other side, another smirk toying at her lips.

“He runs a motorcycle club and has half the county’s richest men in his pocket,” her smirk widened at your silence, “I’m surprised you didn’t know.”

Permanent Tags List: @jennmurawski13-writes @beardburnsupersoldiers @rebekahdawkins @supraveng @bookfrog242 @old-enough-to-know-better73 @loveitorleaveit20 @alexakeyloveloki @socalgem1124 @mogaruke @dreamlessinparis @frisky975 @dispatchvampire @hereforbuckyandsteve @jesgisborne @fairybnha3 @hallecarey1 @tang082646 @mrslokibarnesrogers @deputy-videogamer @posionivy0061 @loving-life-my-way @kaylamcd2000 @mercyy98 @rootcrop @whatinthestyles @slutforsteve @cornmousequeen @rededfoxy @yagurl-snow @glimmering-darling-dolly @patzammit @buckymydarlingangel @missusbarnes-rogers @andy-is-gay @nervousfandom @rileyloves5 @emi11ie @carelessreadersstuff @readingandwritingandreading @cynic-spirit @inkedaztec @gh0stgurl @cats-and-sheep @pono-pura-vida @seitmai @teambarnes72 @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory @miss-rebel-without-applause

[barely-coherent]

Asexual GN Reader coming out to Karasuno

Surprise I'm also asexual even though it's literally in my bio so it's not really a surprise. It was also my birthday 2 weeks ago, lol.

Daichi

• Oh me, oh my, this man

• You're like watching a movie

• And he leans down for a kiss

• Obviously you kiss back

• He pushes you onto your back and remember he doesn't know

• You gently push his chest away

• "Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?"

• "No! No, it's just me. Uh… Promise you won't get mad?"

• "Promise."

• You took in a slightly shaky breath and just went "I'm actually asexual…"

• He was quiet for a few seconds

• Was he still processing? Was he mad? Was he gonna break up with you? Was-

• "That's it?"

• What

• "I'm sorry?"

• "Sorry, I'll rephrase. Why did you look so scared to tell me?"

• You were shocked for some reason

• "You're not disappointed?"

• "Why would I be? I can take care of myself."

• You immediately felt embarrassed

• Daichi has supported you through everything, why wouldn't he with this?

Suga

• He has gaydar but for every sexuality

• So he's just staring at you

• "Stop, it's getting weird."

• "Sorry, I just can't get a read on you."

• "What?"

• "I'm getting asexual but there's something else there."

• You clench your fists at that

• "Maybe it's because I didn't want to be outed!"

• "Alright, I'll drop it, sorry."

• Good job Suga

• Real smooth of you

Asahi

• You were sleeping over at Asahi's house not for the first time

• But you just really wanted to be close to him so as soon as he got into bed you climbed on top of him just to cuddle

• But he immediately got red in the face

• "Uh, right now? I mean- It's just- Um, this- Aren't you tired?"

• You were confused until it hit you

• "Asahi, I don't want to have sex with you!"

• He let out a sad little "Oh…"

• "That's not- It's not just you, I don't wanna have sex with anybody."

• "Oh… OH, okay sorry."

• He started apologizing

• "Asahi, shut up."

• He immediately closed his mouth

Noya

• Almost a permanent resident of horny jail

• You know, I know, we all know

• He's not ashamed

• He said "So what if I like getting my dick wet?"

• It's true, I was there

• ANYWAY

• You're staying over for the first time and nervous as all hell

• What if he's expecting something? What if he's upset? What if he's disappointed? What if-

• "Are you alright? You've been in there for 15 minutes and I'd rather you not pace a hole through my bathroom floor."

• You open the door and walk past him, trying to hide your nerves

• Key word, trying

• He grabs your wrist

• "Are you alright?"

• Fuck

• "Yep, all good!" And you speed walk into his room and crawl under the covers

• He joins you and turns off the light

• There are about three feet between you and you lie ramrod straight, not daring to move.

• "I can feel your anxiety from over here, also why are you so far away?"

• You fumble for an answer before you stuff your face into your pillow

• "'m askshal…" You mumble

• "Did you just speak in tongues? I couldn't hear you."

• You say it a little louder into the pillow

• "Babe, I can't understand-"

• "I'M ASEXUAL"

• "Okay? And?"

• "You know you're practically a permanent resident of horny jail, right?"

• "Obviously."

• "As someone who literally cannot go to horny jail, there might be a little bit of a problem."

• He laughs a little which makes you angry, totally reasonable

• Then "Babe, I would suffer erectile dysfunction until the end of time if it would make you more comfortable."

• You physically cringe, just your entire body just cringes

• "Please never say that again."

• "Well it's true and a total mood killer so it works out for the both of us, now c'mere."

Tanaka

• Not as bad as Noya

• He's more discreet at least

• But it's still pretty obvious

• You kept getting nervous that once he finds out, he'll leave you for Kiyoko

• So you didn't tell him

• For YEARS you kept this secret

• He never initiated anything so you were like "It's fine, he doesn't even want to."

• But you were still like "Maybe he doesn't want me."

• You really went Antihero by Taylor Swift

• So one day you're like "Tanaka, can we talk?"

• And hes like "Sure, what's up?"

• While on the inside he's freaking out "OH MY GOD THEY'RE GONNA BREAK UP WITH ME FUCK, WHAT DID I DO WRONG"

• And then you ask why he hasn't initiated anything, asking if he finds you undesirable

• And he's confused like ???

• He explains he doesn't want to make you uncomfortable if you're not ready

• And you melt

• Broski was fr waiting for you

• And then it hits you

• You would never be ready

• You start freaking out

• "Hey, hey, are you alright?"

• He asks and you can't look him in the eyes

• "What if… What if I'm never ready?"

• "What do you mean?"

• "I, uh- I'm asexual… Actually."

• "And? That's fine! I'm a big boy, I got this. We have a bathroom."

Kageyama

• Sweet, sweet boy

• He doesn't care

• At least he doesn't show it if he does

• Just goes "Okay"

• And then a couple weeks later he comes up to you "What does that mean? Hinata just laughed at me."

• You stifle a giggle before explaining to him

• Don't mind me projecting real quick

• "Oh! There's a word for that? I am too."

• So y'all are two ace people in love

• We love to see it

Hinata

• I feel like he kinda knows

• Like he's preeeety sure but he's not certain

• So one day he straight up asks you

• He pulls you away from a group so to not out you when you weren't ready

• "So are you asexual?"

• You're pretty taken aback

• "Uh… Why do you want to know?"

• He just cocks his head in confusion

• "I'm just making sure, don't want to assume anything!"

• So you tell him and he smiles

• "Alright! Thanks for trusting me with this information too!"

• Which is the only acceptable way to react when someone comes out to you

Tsukishima

• Mans literally does not care

• If anyone brought up sex he'd probably just say "Gross" and move on

• But you figure he should probably know anyway

• So you're sitting next to him, probably watching a movie or something

• That classic trope of sex scene comes on with your partner

• "Are they even trying? It looks faker than it is!"

• Poor Kei is sick and tired of bad sex in movies

• Akiteru came down the stairs but then saw the TV

• He knew it was a movie but knew the trope of movie sex leads to real sex so he just went back upstairs

• Kei notices you're unusually quiet and is like "Hello? Earth to s/o?"

• Obviously you're paying attention

• Probably too much attention

• He realizes your nervous and that has him worried

• What has you so nervous all of a sudden?

• "Are you all good? You're really tense."

• "Uh, well... I'm asexual"

• "Okay? And? It's literally fake."

• "TSUKISHIMA KEI"

• "Not asexuality, the movie! God, I'm an asshole, not cruel."

• You eventually skip the movie and Kei checks his phone just to see a text that says "Use protection ;)" from Akiteru

• "You're fucking disgusting!" He calls upstairs and laughter immediately comes from Akiterus room

Yamaguchi

• Baby boy. Baby

• He's so nervous

• You know if you do the "can we talk?" He's gonna have a panic attack

• So instead before you walk home together you're like "I need to tell you a thing" to make sure he doesn't think it's anything bad

• He just looks at you for you to continue, smiling

• "Okay, so... I'm part of the LGBTQ community"

• You figured you should start with that

• His smile doesn't falter so he nods

• "Okay! Do you have a specific label? Or would you rather not tell me?"

• "Yes! I'm asexual, so... yeah."

• That's when his smile falls

• Oh God

• Oh no

• "Which one is that again?"

• Oh

• "It's the one where I don't want sex."

• "Oh, cool. I'm glad you told me."

[lavenoon]

Imagining Dawn and Robin get called to separate day missions unexpectedly and both desperately claw to find valid excuses to slip away and do their job without being “that” person who leaves every social interaction

Anon your mind. It keeps happening, and they're both so preoccupied with their own social blunders they don't even notice the same thing happening with the other lmao

In fact, have a little drabble though be warned, it's been a while since I published some writing

Your phone chimes, that particular sound announcing work specifically, and there's a twitch in your easy smile as Sun tells you about his latest project. It's rude to interrupt him, you know that, but the urgency combined with his extensive explanation has you biting the bullet.

"No, yeah, a birdhouse for the garden sounds great! You don't need to ask, really, you rent it too and as long as it's nothing permanent, I don't really mind."

"Great!"

There's still a certain stiffness to him, and you fear you only worried him more with your rudeness as you watch him wring his hands.

"A birdhouse... Will surely liven up the place."

A soft hum from his pants - now his phone is going off, too. Faint as they are, you see his pupils flicker down, and jump on the chance.

"Do you want to -"

"Yes! Yes, could be urgent. You also?"

"Ah, yup, yes, didn't want to be rude -"

"Of course, yes, I won't be offended."

You manage a tight-lipped smile at the awkwardness, but then take out your phone to check the message.

Great. A spontaneous mission - your least favorite. Today was supposed to be your day off, too. You mutter some half-audible expletives under your breath, though you miss how Sun turns to look at you at that.

"Something bad?"

You jump, quickly turning off the screen and shoving the phone back into your pocket.

"Ah, no! I mean, uh, just something. With work, they, well, need me to come in. Unexpectedly."

Sun's smile may be permanent, but you can see his expression fall nonetheless. You try not to think about that too hard.

"They really shouldn't demand your time like that. Can you decline?"

Oh, if only he knew. You chuckle.

"Unfortunately no. It's okay though, really."

His frown tells you that he isn't convinced, so you scramble for a deflection.

"What about yours? Nothing bad either, I hope?"

Wrong move - the tension is back. Curse you and your fast mouth.

"... Also work, a slight... change of plans. Neutral, as far as changes go."

The curiosity really is killing you, but you're not sure the satisfaction would be enough to make up for the risk of having him ask for details, too. Sun is a good tenant, and you'd hate to lose him, for multiple reasons. So you'll simply have to live with the mystery. You'll get a birdhouse for your trouble, even.

You still need to exit this interaction stat though. Time waits for no one.

"Soo..."

You trail off with an awkward wince, and you swear Sun's hand (still holding his phone) twitches. As if noticing your look, he glances down at it before pocketing it again.

"I really don't mean to be rude -"

Yes, good, perfect.

"No, no, it's all good! Work's important, and all that!"

"I suppose you also have to get ready?"

"A-yup, might need to. Need to hurry, actually -"

"Well, don't let me keep you!"

Both of you fumble slightly, and the embarrassment at how clumsily you're handling this is almost enough to make you shrivel up right then and there. Your only saving grave is the fact that Sun struggles just as much, wringing his hands until you can hear them creak.

You take a step back towards your door, and he takes it as an excuse to take a step towards his door, too. He blindly reaches for the handle, but finds it immediately. You're not quite so lucky, and miss it on your first try.

"Good luck! I do hope that one coworker will leave you be!"

Oh, right, Dusk. You don't think you'll see him today, you don't think you've seen him during any of your day missions. That's a thought to pocket for later...

"Right! Same to you, hope things go smoothly! Looking forward to that birdhouse!"

By now the awkwardness is so palpable, you don't blame him for freezing. Your grin feels pretty stiff by now, too. You both duck further into your spaces, a tense chuckle shared between you.

"Quite, yes, I'll - I'll let you know when I finish."

"Bye!"

"Goodbye!"

Two doors click shut, and you breathe a sigh of relief.

Time for work.

[thenavysealkie]

Charging Station|| Luci & Marcus

Timing: Current-ish, later at night

Location: On the street in front of Like A Charm

Parties: @thenavysealkie @luci-in-the-stars

Triggers: None

Hungry. Marcus’s pelt had finally grown hungry. While it could go long periods of time without  being fed magic, that also meant it took more magic to fill it up completely. He took no pleasure in robbing magic users of their abilities, if only temporarily, but what else could he do? The time had come for him to go hunting again for the first time in about a year. And he knew the perfect spot to stake out. 

Like a Charm was a busy place for real magic users and edgy “wiccan” girls alike. It sold a variety of actual magical items as well as some more novelty pieces for the unpowered. Determining who was a real magic user and who was cosplaying as one was generally pretty easy, so all Marcus had to do was wait outside in his car until he sensed somebody who was powerful and alone. 

After several groups of teenagers came and left, he was worried he’d strike out tonight. But just then, he saw a girl leaving the store, and he could sense real power within her. She was also alone, so he would be able to follow behind and try and sap her power discreetly. A pit formed in his stomach, as he didn’t enjoy doing this. Yet, all the same, he left his car and conspicuously followed behind the girl just a few steps behind. 

__

Luci stretched slightly as she waved to Vera telling the owner that she was heading out, brain focused mostly on her latest circle. She got a “yeah kid, good work,” as she left, her mind still puzzling out the circle the other had given her. While Vera was - odd with most of the customers she was somewhat caring to the young Alchemist and wanted to help her. So she had taken to given Luci circles that she could work back from and tell her in the next shift what they were for. 

Still, while she used to be able to sit on public transport and work on things and get home - Luci couldn’t do that anymore instead walking most places in Wicked’s Rest. So instead she sighed and put her trusty pen behind her ear wanting to get back to the apartment as quickly as possible. “Yeah - I think the C is for sure carbon -,” she muttered under her breath noting it as she moved, not realizing the steps behind her and instead focusing on the problem. “Or maybe it’s a K again - I need to check when I get home that it hasn’t moved again.” 

Her footsteps slowed for a moment, thinking of checking the paper before she heard something that wasn’t her feet behind her. “Oh sorry - Don’t mean to block the sidewalk,” Luci said moving to the side for the other as she went to grab the paper to confirm. 

__

As he followed, Marcus fumbled with his pelt, trying to get it out and ready to steal away some of the girl’s magic. He found that taking little bits at a time was helpful to ensure that they didn’t lose too much of their powers for too long. The pelt was hungry, and could easily overfeed and leave a magic user completely powerless permanently. Marcus was intent on not allowing that to happen tonight. 

While he was fumbling around with his pelt, the woman in front of him suddenly stopped, causing his long legs to close the distance between them quickly. She turned around and acknowledged him, confirming that his cover was now completely blown. 

Ever quick with charm, Marcus smiled broadly and nodded towards the woman. “No problem at all, ma’am. You look like you’re deep in thought about something. Just be careful stopping out on the sidewalk at this time of night. You never know who’s out there.” 

Guys like him, for instance. No, there were plenty worse than him. He’d be so subtle she probably wouldn’t even notice that much of a difference. At least, that’s what he’d continue to tell himself as time went on. Regardless, he needed to keep her attention and also try and keep his pelt out of view as much as he could. 

“Late night trip to the magic shop, eh? Never really got interested in all that kind of stuff myself.” 

Luci was half distracted, her mind still on her puzzle as she realized the other was talking to her. Looking up she raised an eyebrow at the idea that she was in trouble. It was something she had heard a lot, and sure she should be more cautious especially after the caves, but she had made the walk quite a few times. 

“Oh - Yes I was. Still, I shouldn’t block the road. It’s not too late is it?” Luci said her mind was wondering how late it might have been looking at her phone lightly to see it was later then she had realized. Vera normally did have to scoot her out of the place, probably because she wanted to close the shop. In anycase, the other didn’t seem particularly dangerous or frightening. He seemed rather normal, although Luci was hardly a great judge of any of that. 

“Oh It is late. That’s no good. My brother’s probably already worried. - Oh no I work here,” Luci said at the question with a little chuckle. “I just got off my shift. And no? I mean that’s understandable but I do like it there.” She did love magic after all, even if hers was broken. 

As Marcus listened to the woman talk, he finally got his pelt in a workable yet conspicuous position. 

“A bit late, but not extremely late by any means. Otherwise I’d already be home in bed.” 

He could sense his pelt attempting to drain the woman but…something was off. It was almost as if nothing was happening at all. 

“You work here? Oh that’s great, I’m assuming you know a lot about these sorts of things then. How long have you worked there for?” Marcus continued, trying to figure out what the issue was. Had he clocked her incorrectly? Was she just a normal human? 

“Either way, I’m glad you like it. I tend to the lighthouse over on Hanging Rock, always been drawn to the see so it works for me too. Always do what you love, that’s what my dad always taught me” He officially gave up on trying to troubleshoot his pelt. He’d simply need a different target. 

“So…do you believe in any of that stuff? Have you personally seen anyone there show off anything magical?”

Luci nodded at the thought wondering if she should call Milo. Chances were he was still out and about though. While she tended to go to bed fairly early she wasn’t sure what he did anymore. Still, she also knew that she had some studying to do as well. 

At the series of questions Luci was pulled back to the present looking at the man and not thinking about what she was about to do. “Oh yes. I mean not all of it works obviously some of it is just nonsense. If you ever come in I can show you. Last semester really, I got the job right before school started.” The other seemed nice after all, and while she finally put her notebook into her back she nodded. 

“Oh, that must be a lot of fun the lighthouse seems like a great place to see - although shouldn’t you be going back then? To watch the light?” She wasn’t very good at knowing what they all did, but surely when it was dark he should be there. 

At the question Luci’s eyebrow raised a little bit caught off guard. “Oh. I mean magic is just science that isn’t explained. Isn’t that what someone said? So yes I do.” Still she wondered now why the man was asking it like that. Why she felt a tug at her magic. It made her feel off as she saw a purple spark on her hand. 

Was it just a trick of being tired? Her magic didn’t normally do that, and her eyes widened realizing that the brokenness might be getting worse. She hoped the other didn’t see it as she moved back the sparks concentrating in her hand where she had been holding the equation she had. It was like it was trying to channel through that and she needed to go. She hoped he didn’t see her hand as she put it behind her back hoping the sparks faded. 

“Uh - well I should probably be going. It was nice to meet you,” Luci said nicely with a nod. 

____________________________________________________________________________

While Marcus normally watched the seas during the night, it wasn’t exactly a requirement for his job description. Just as long as the light was working properly to guide the ships toward safety, the lighthouse was considered kept. It wasn’t like there were many swimmers out at this time of year, although he did admit he should probably keep an eye out for any shipwrecks. The icy chill in the ocean air didn’t serve as any deterrent to the fishermen or merchant ships sailing through the frigid waters, and there was still always the chance of a wreck. 

Marcus was about to say something about Luci’s statement regarding magic. He was going to say that many things in life were more than they seemed, and that he liked her outlook on magic just being a form of science that hasn’t been explored. He was going to say that. Until he saw a crackle of amethyst energy leap right from her hand. He had had her pegged correctly after all, she had magic. And by the looks of it, a rich amount of it as well. 

Casually, and covertly as possible, he managed to successfully move his pelt to the front of his body, hopefully close enough for the pelt to siphon whatever magic flowed from the girl in front of him. 

“I’m sorry…here I am talking your ear off in the dead of night. If you want I can walk with you until you get home, make sure you get back safe.” 

God, he really did feel like a sleaze. A predator in every sense of the word. Even know his pelt may be sapping this poor girl of her magic, and he was trying to paint himself as some sort of protector. It was a messy part of being what he was, and he’d of course move the pelt away before draining her completely. A few days where her powers are “dull” or “funky” is something he could live with. Robbing her of them completely was not. 

Luci didn’t know what was happening, as she tried to move her sparking hand away from the notes. Normally she didn’t worry about it, if she wasn’t intentionally flowing magic through the circles they shouldn’t glow with magic - but with how odd her magic was lately she wasn’t sure it wouldn’t catch the careful drawn lines of the circles. 

A circle she hadn’t fully studied. One that could easily be very dangerous. The rest of her notebook was fairly mundane but that may not be. 

It could be a disaster. She could end up hurting the man. For a moment panic kept her feet still as she thought about what she could do. Maybe Vera was still in the shop and could help her through the sparks. 

“Oh uh - no I don’t think you need too,” Luci said thinking she should move as she saw a spark jump towards her bag she instinctively threw it to her side away from her freezing for a moment as she did before calming down when she realized that the spark didn’t get to it. It was a fast movement, almost violent. She was just lucky she didn’t have her laptop or phone in her bag. That would have been bad. It was lucky that Vera hated laptops. 

Then she realized how weird she was now acting and  said quickly and not at all afraid, “Oh - thought there was a spider. I’m deathly scared of them. You should go in case there is a spider.” Gripping her right hand she was trying to stop the sparks coming out, knowing at this point the other might see them too. 

__

At this point, it was clear to Marcus what was happening. The pelt was already draining it’s prey of her magic. Right now, it seemed as if the magic was draining far more quickly than Marcus would have liked. At this rate, he may do serious long lasting harm in a matter of minutes. Like a dog owner pulling their pet away from a dead animal, Marcus quickly reared his pelt back away from Luci, hoping his sudden movement hadn’t raised any suspicion. 

“Sorry. Thought I might have felt it crawling on me. You’re right, I should probably get back to the lighthouse” he said, now feeling like the awkward one. “It was nice meeting you! Please be careful going home.” 

Marcus could see the distress on her face. She was clearly confused as to what was happening to her. And afraid. Now he could only hope that he hadn’t done any long lasting damage. He really did wish there was a more ethical and reliable source of magic for his pelt charging. In the meantime, though, he’d just have to make whatever he got tonight last as long as he could.

__

Luci looked at her bag her left hand shaking into a fist hoping to stop the magic. It wasn’t right, something was wrong. Was she getting worse? She had been so careful but it seemed like the wrongness of her was building. 

She noticed a movement, looking at the other after a moment and wondering if he was seeing what was happening and when he said he had seen a spider she stilled. “Oh -uh yeah. Have a good night. Hope nothing crashes - you know into the rocks.” She started to move the sparks stilling as she tried to take back the bag. Maybe it had just been temporary - something new she would have to work out with Vera about her ‘special magical circumstances’. Still that scary as she tried to right herself. 

Maybe she should tell Milo? - The thought quickly went away sighing as she checked the time again. Luci needed to figure this new worry alone, after all it wasn’t really surprising she was getting worse even if she wished she wasn’t. Feeling oddly tired she walked away hoping that some rest would help.

___ 

After achieving something that some may consider success, Marcus walked away from the encounter with a pit in his stomach. It wasn’t the first time he had done something like this, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. Even when he fed his pelt in a way that he deemed “harmless”, it very plainly left the other person in clear distress. He didn’t want to be the cause of that kind of feeling for anybody. 

With a simple nod of his head, eyes glued to the ground in below him, Marcus tucked his hands into his pockets and moved back towards home before any more damage could be done. One silver lining to William being alive was he didn’t have to do any of this dirty work himself. Now, he was on his own again. Survival of the fittest, as they say. 

He remembered the encounter he had with Cass in the cave, and what a long lasting impact he had left on her life from one encounter. He could only hope that this girl wouldn’t be as affected, that she’d chalk it up to some weird glitch with her powers that will blow over in a few days. Either way, he was already dreading the time that he’d have to do this again.

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Code Words: Bacon?

Hi, I absolutely loved your CodeWords fic! It had a good conclusion, but if you were to continue that verse I would definitely read it. Like if it was something like Roman and Janus go on a new mission/adventure or just some fluffy bonding with the agents we love in this fic. – creativia10

Read on Ao3 Masterlist

Warnings: nightmare, sleep paralysis, aliens/monsters

Pairings: none

Word Count: 5008

In an epilogue of sorts to the main story, Janus and Remus show Roman one of the training simulations.

    The worst part about waking up from a nightmare is how truly exhausted his body is.

Roman winces, still staring at the ceiling as he struggles to convince the dead weight that should be his limbs to at least move a little bit. But no matter what he tries, they refuse to do so much as twitch, thrumming with the same bone-weary ache that comes from being put through the Blender; when he first started training at the higher agents' level, they introduced him to the obstacle course that would serve as his qualifier. He almost ended up permanently paralyzed the first time something came at him too fast, and spent the next six months in various stages of pain and suffering until he was finally able to put the fucking thing in the rearview mirror.

Come on, you assholes, he bargains with his limbs as he just manages to roll from his side to his back, just let me fucking move!

But they don't, and so he doesn't.

Closing his eyes to muster up the courage to shift again only serves to reinvigorate the horrors living on the insides of his eyelids. He wrenches them open again, trying doggedly to stay awake until he can convince his body to move. The dark of his room presses closer as he tries to move just enough to where he's not actively restrained by his own stupid limbs.

The ball of fear in his chest doesn't deflate.

His fingers wiggle on one hand, then the other. Bit by bit, he reclaims the use of his arms, but that doesn't mean shit if his lower body won't get with the fucking program. He wriggles around for a bit like a truly pathetic worm until he can flop himself over to the bedside table and grope for his phone.

Logan picks up on the third ring.

"Roman? Little one, is everything alright?"

"How the fuck do you sound this 'wake right now?" he slurs against the wave of relief that threatens to send him back to the bed.

"It's a skill, I'm afraid, but what's the matter?"

The obvious concern lacing his words strikes Roman's chest. "I…it's stupid."

"It's gotten you to call me in the middle of the night," Logan corrects gently, "that's not nothing."

"It's just—never mind."

"Roman," Logan says, a touch firmer this time, "tell me what's the matter."

And suddenly he's eight years old again, in a room that's too big and too small, and he mumbles: "I had a nightmare."

"Oh, little one, I'm sorry to hear that. Would you like me to come over?"

His heart leaps. "You…you would?"

Logan's quiet for a moment before he sighs. "Roman, perhaps I haven't made myself clear over the past few months, but there is very little that I would not do to ensure your comfort. If having me there with you will help in this moment, then that is what I shall do."

"Okay," Roman mumbles around the lump in his throat, "I…um…can you come, please?"

"I'll be right there."

True to his word, it feels like scarcely any time at all before there's a soft knock on his door and Roman's fumbling to pull up the app on his phone to check that it's Logan and let him in. The door swings open with Logan's soft hello, it's only me, and then he's appearing from around the corner—

Roman blinks at the flannel shirt and pants as Logan comes to sit on the edge of the bed. He notices the look and the corner of his mouth quirks up.

"Never thought you'd see me in pajamas, did you?"

"To be honest, I don't think I really believed you sleep."

"Of course not, this is part of my ruse," Logan says immediately, gesturing to himself, "I'm told that most normal humans wear specific 'bed clothes' when they go unconscious, apparently it's quite the intricate ritual."

Roman manages a weak laugh and Logan chuckles too, before his voice gentles and he shifts a little closer.

"What can I do for you, little one," he asks too softly for Roman to keep the whimper inside his chest, "what do you need?"

"Can I have a hug?"

"Of course you can, come here," he murmurs and leans forward to tuck Roman into his arms. The smell of pine and cedar wafts into his nose as he buries his head in Logan's shoulder, clutching the back of his shirt. "There, is that alright?"

He nods and Logan hums, shifting a little bit so there's less of a strain on Roman's still non-functioning legs. The phantom pain still thuds in the back of his brain like a too-loud stereo system, making him whimper again and try to burrow closer to Logan. One of his hands rests at the small of Roman's back as his head turns.

"Are you hurting, little one?"

"'S just phantom pain."

"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt."

He shifts a little more. "…yeah, it hurts a little. But I don't want pain meds," he says when Logan goes to pull away, "just—stay?"

Logan stops, to his credit, but he can feel the frown over his shoulder. "Why not, if I may ask?"

"It's more psychological than physical, at least that's what the doctor said. If I try and medicate it away, it makes it…it makes it worse the next time."

"Is there anything that does help?"

"Well, moving them helps, but I'm currently very stuck, so…"

Logan pulls back again, just enough to cup Roman's head so they can look at each other in the half-dark. "Do you want help?"

He opens and closes his mouth a few times. Something works at Logan's forehead before he makes Roman look at him properly.

"I am offering to help you because I care about you," he says, gently yet firmly, "and you are in pain and I wish to help you. This is not a trap, this is not something I will hold against you in the future. You are my charge and I will care for you as best I can."

"I know," Roman nearly whines, "I do, I promise, I just—my brain just fucking sucks."

"Hush, now," Logan soothes when Roman's fists clench, "it's alright, I know it's hard."

"Why is this so hard?"

"Brains are very good at pattern recognition," he explains, stroking his fingers through the hair at the back of Roman's head, "and it is very difficult for them to unlearn them. The brain acts as a muscle with a reflex; if it gets very used to doing something as a reaction to certain stimuli, it will continue to react in the same way until it is unlearned."

"You're too eloquent for this time of night," Roman mumbles, halfheartedly swatting his shoulder, "small-word me."

"I thought those were small words."

"Smaller words. Two syllables only."

Logan sighs in that fondly exasperated way but nods. "The brain is like a muscle."

"Okay."

"Muscles can have a reflex."

"Okay."

"It's very hard to stop a reflex."

"That's stupid."

"Well, I would argue that having reflexes at all is one of the evolutionary advantages that humans—" Roman glares at him and he cuts himself off with a sheepish cough— "the point I'm trying to make is that it's not your fault that you're having a difficult time, little one. You can be a little kinder to yourself over it."

"But that's hard."

"I know, little one, I know." He chucks Roman lightly under the chin. "But a good way to start is by letting others be kind to you."

"I don't have the brain to keep up with you in a debate right now," he says weakly, to which Logan only chuckles, "okay, okay, fine, you can help me."

Logan leans forward to kiss his forehead, which he swears he did on purpose so that Roman's hands would stutter and let him go long enough to slide further down the bed. "Can I take the covers off?"

"Mhm." Only for him to wince at how cold his legs feel, which only worsens the pain. "It's cold."

"I know, little one, I'm here to help. I'm going to walk you through a few physical therapy exercises that Medical had me do in the past, okay?"

"How are you gonna walk me through them when my legs don't work?"

Logan gives him a look and scribbles his fingers across Roman's right foot. Roman yelps, betrayed, and jerks his foot slightly away.

"Well," Logan says, slightly smug, "I think that's a promising start, don't you?"

"If you're just going to tickle me and call it 'helping,' then—"

"I won't," he says, softening immediately when he sees Roman's shoulders hunch, "I'm sorry, little one, that was mean."

"Yes, it was."

"I'm sorry." He takes Roman's ankle gently in hand. "I'll make it up to you, you have my word."

Slowly, Logan starts to bend and straighten Roman's leg, rotating his foot around his ankle, moving up to stretch out his hip too. He does the same with the other leg, working slowly and carefully so as not to strain his muscles. The ache ebbs and flows as Logan moves, still tingling in the very recesses of his brain as his legs slowly start to feel like legs and not useless sacks attached to him. Still, his breath hitches a few times when the pain decides to throb and Logan always stills, lowering his leg back to bed and waiting for Roman to nod that it's okay again.

"You're doing so well," he murmurs as he works, "so well."

"Thank you," Roman mumbles when he can actually move his legs a little bit again, "that's better."

Logan hums, sitting back near Roman's headboard again. When Roman leans closer, he lifts his arm and gathers him back in for a cuddle, kissing his temple and helping to tug the covers back over him. "Are you still cold?"

"Not really."

"That's good." His fingers card through the hair at the nape of his neck. "Do you wish to talk about it?"

"No."

"Alright."

"Wait, really?"

"I'm here for you, little one, if something I suggest will not help you, there is absolutely no obligation for you to do it."

"Why are you being like this now," Roman can't help but whisper, "you were so—so—so not this for so long, why are you doing this now?"

His head goes up and down as Logan sighs. "Believe me, little one, you have no idea how much I wish I could go back and change some of the things I've done, or how I chose to train you. I—in my own arrogance, I couldn't, or refused to see past yours, to see how hard you really were trying just to keep your head above water."

There's a pause, then Logan turns his head and his breath warms Roman's forehead.

"I thought I knew what was best for you," he says, a tremble in his voice, "and I helped deliver you to the hands of a monster. And for that, I will never forgive myself."

The words shoot a pang through Roman's chest. "Logan, you…you can't blame yourself for that."

"I can and I do, Roman. It was my job to make sure you were safe here, because that is the responsibility of a mentor, and I did not want—or perhaps I was just unwilling to admit that I didn't feel qualified to help you. I am aware," he says when Roman starts to say something, "that Michael was incredibly good at his job. I am aware that I cannot blame myself for the actions of others. But…look at me, little one."

Roman does and balks at the sight of Logan's tears. "Logan—"

"It was my fault that I was not honest with you that I didn't know how to help you," he says, his voice still remarkably clear, "and that I never made any effort to make sure that you knew that I was here to support you, no matter what."

And fuck it, Roman's crying now.

He throws himself at Logan's chest and Logan catches him, holding him as tightly as he can as he murmurs nonsense into Roman's hair. And maybe this really is better than he ever could have hoped for, because as Logan eventually coaxes him to lie back against the headboard, he clings to the flannel shirt with all his might and Logan comes with him, lying partly over him as though he's another blanket to shield him from the world.

There are far worse fates.

But tears have to run dry eventually because the human body has its limits, and when Roman sags against Logan's hold, he moves just enough to ensure Roman can still snuggle into his side and lies next to him. It's a different sort of exhaustion now, one that seeps far more into his chest and stomach than his limbs. He keeps a loose grip on Logan's sleeve as he nuzzles into the crook of his shoulder.

"Better?"

"Mhm."

"I'm glad." His hand cards through his hair again. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

There's a pause. Then: "Can you see if Janus is awake too?"

He can tell he's surprised him by the way Logan's hand falters, but after a moment he murmurs an affirmative and pulls away. Roman lets his eyes slip closed as the bright light from the screen illuminates the side of the bed. After another moment, he hears the telltale buzz of the phone beginning to ring and frowns. Logan shrugs—with the shoulder he isn't leaning on—and answers the call.

"You're on speaker, Janus, and Roman's here."

"Hey, sweetie," comes Janus's voice, "I heard you had a nightmare, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he mumbles, burying into Logan's side, "just…wanted to see if you were okay too."

"I'm alright, sweetie, I'm fine." They hear a muffled voice and Janus sighs. "Look, I'm going to put you on speaker too so Remus doesn't have to act as a cartoon Greek chorus."

Roman snickers as there's a fumbling from Janus's end of the call and then a clunk as the phone must be set down on the table.

"Can you still hear me?"

"Yeah. Hi, Remus."

"Hey, squirt. Welcome to the cool kid's club of not being able to sleep at night."

"Remus," he hears Janus scold, followed by a soft thwap and a muffled yelp, "ignore him, sweetie, he's a terrible influence."

"Okay, one of us started sneaking out of the dorms way earlier than the other, and I'll have you know that your disciplinary record starts much earlier than mine."

"Yeah, well, one of us had to go figure out how to mop up a bunch of green slime because the other one was laughing too hard to be useful to anyone, so there."

"And you know, I've never once heard you say thank you."

"For dousing me in green slime? No, you haven't, and you won't, because that's not something I would thank you for."

Roman chuckles as the two of them keep bickering, his eyes growing heavier and heavier. Logan sets the phone on the bed so he can still hear them, before coaxing Roman to lie back down properly. He drifts off to sleep with the three voices in his ear, laughing about some prank that had gone hilariously wrong.

***

    "I think he's asleep," Logan says over the phone and Janus immediately lowers his voice.

"Is he alright?"

"Exhausted, by the looks of it, and probably more than a little affected by some of the phantom pain still, but he's alright."

Remus grunts, taking another swig of his drink. "Has he had his follow-up with Psych yet?"

"It's at the end of the week."

"They really fucked him over with their booking shit, huh." He drums his fingers on the table. "Is he booked the rest of the week too?"

"No, not as far as I know."

"Might do him some good to get out and moving," Remus suggests, glancing at Janus, "just so he's not sitting in it."

"We have a sim mod coming up," Janus agrees, "it would be nice to do with a team."

"Why don't I see if Roman's up to breakfast with you two again tomorrow," Logan suggests, "then you can ask him?"

"Yeah, that works. Are you going to stay with him?"

"Yes. Don't worry, I'll look after him."

"Thanks, Logan." He hangs up and scrubs a hand over his face. "Well, we should probably get some sleep, then, huh?"

Remus huffs and finishes his drink. "Yeah, probably. Poor kid."

"Yeah."

"Nope," Remus says, pointing a finger at him, "none of that self-deprecating shit. Get that out of here. We've all been over this, now knock it off or I'll come in there with a crowbar."

Janus chuckles and waves him off, getting up slowly from the table and making his way over to the bed. After a moment, he feels the other side of the mattress sag as Remus joins him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," he sighs, "just…you know."

"Yeah." The mattress shifts as Remus rolls onto his side. "You should probably change into something more comfortable to sleep in."

"So should you."

And so, neither of them moves, and they wake up the next morning with slightly bizarre marks from sleeping on things that aren't meant to be slept on, but they clean themselves up and go to meet Logan and Roman at the nearby diner. Roman looks a little tired when he sits in the booth, but he visibly brightens when he sees them walk in and scoots over to make room for Remus to sit next to him.

"Hey, squirt," Remus greets, ruffling his hair until Roman squawks, "what're you having?"

"Bacon, hashbrowns, pancakes. You?"

"That sounds great to me, I'll steal your bacon to go with my omelet."

"Hey!"

Remus winks as Janus rolls his eyes. "Ignore him, sweetie, he'll steal mine instead."

"Look, it's your own fault if you leave the plate right next to mine."

"Or you could order your own and we wouldn't have to deal with this." Remus swats a hand dismissively. "Fine, you can have my bacon, then—"

"Deal."

"—if you promise to give me the long-range flashlight in the sim later," he finishes smugly and watches Remus glare at him, "do we have a deal?"

"I'll order my own damn bacon, keep your paws off my flashlight."

"What flashlight?" Roman stage-whispers to Logan who shakes his head.

"They're talking about a combat training simulation. It's meant to help you refine your stealth skills, though from the sounds of it…"

"We don't use it the way you're supposed to use it," Janus confesses, "we use it to goof off and have fun."

Roman's eyes widen and Remus cackles. "Oh, yeah, we use it to practice stealth, alright, just not the kind they wanted us to."

"Wait, wait, wait, what kind is that?"

"Well, there's the leave-no-bodies-for-the-guards-to-notice stealth, and there's the leave-no-guards-to-notice-the-bodies stealth," Remus explains with a grin, "there's also the who-cares-fuck-it-we-ball stealth, which is my personal favorite."

"And also the least stealthy, look at that." Remus sticks his tongue out at him. "It's meant to be done in teams of four, but Remus and I normally do it just by ourselves."

"Since everyone else gets on our asses about 'not doing it right,' whatever that means."

"If you wanted," Janus continues, smiling as Roman laughs at Remus's disgusted expression, "you and Logan could do it with us. It doesn't count for anything, it's not something you're going to be tested on, it's just for fun."

Roman glances at Logan, who shrugs, before looking back at him. "Yeah, sure. Can we, um, can we eat first?"

"Sweetie, I'm not letting Remus near any sim until he's got at least three cups of coffee in him."

"Yeah, yeah, it was one time."

"Wait, what happened?"

Janus raises an eyebrow at Remus who groans and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Look, you mistake an old broom handle for a combat shotgun one time…"

They trade ridiculous stories throughout breakfast until Roman's grinning more than he is frowning. They walk back to the base two by two, Janus walking with Roman as Remus and Logan debate the technicalities of one specification that Janus apparently never bothered to look up. About halfway there, Roman shyly asks if he can hold on to Janus's sleeve and Janus simply tucks Roman's hand in his until they're all the way at the sim room.

"Alright," Remus says, snapping into a somewhat professional manner—at least as close as he gets when he's not on mission— "so the way this works is we're going to be dropped into an abandoned complex. There are going to be clickers in there—those are weird alien-looking motherfuckers that react to light and sound. We will be given something to accomplish while we're in there and we have to do and then make it to the extraction point. Very similar to a lot of video games except this one you actually get to fuck around in."

"How do we deal with the clickers?"

"You can bash 'em over the head with a hammer," Remus continues, taking one of the big melee hammers off the wall, "you can stab 'em with a spear or a knife, or you can shoot them. Shooting them will make noise and wake any others up that are in the area, so only do that as a last resort or if a bunch of them are running at you. There will be alarms inside as well, which will wake a bunch of them up, so that is the time to shoot."

"Are those our only choice of weapon?"

Janus catches Logan beaming with pride as Roman asks all the right questions as Remus walks him through gearing up, leaning close when the two of them have a moment.

"He's an incredible agent, Logan."

"I know," Logan murmurs back, "I can't wait for when he gets to run a sim like this solo."

"Oh, those two are going to be insufferable once Roman gets good at this, I know it."

"Oi, you two! Stop gossiping and get over here, we're ready for the drop."

Janus walks over as Remus secures Roman into the first of the drop pods, ruffling his hair again as Roman gives him the okay. He does Janus next, securing him in before making sure Logan's gear is all good to go.

"He's good at this," Roman mumbles and Janus glances over, "is he, like, is this his sim?"

"It might as well be, he runs it a lot even solo, which is meant to be impossible. He has fun with it, but he'll behave since it's your first run." Roman nods and reaches out. Janus squeezes his hand. "And if at any point you decide you're done, we'll end it. I promise."

The corner of Roman's mouth quirks up. "Should we have a code word that means we're done?"

"Sure," Janus chuckles, "what do should it be?"

Roman thinks for a moment, then smiles. "What about 'I want some bacon?'"

Janus laughs so loudly Remus looks over at him with a frown. He waves him off and nods at Roman. "That's perfect, sweetie."

"You have to use it too, if it gets too much."

"I will, don't you worry."

"Alright," Remus calls, clicking himself into a drop pod too, "let's do this shit."

The room's lights turn low and the drop pods begin to lower slowly into the simulation room proper. As soon as they emerge beneath the floor, Janus squints through the musty gloom of an old industrial prison complex, lit with flickering faraway lights and the eerie glow of something not-quite biological growing along some of the walls. The pods land and disengage with a soft hiss and immediately Remus is out, prowling along the floor until he's scanned their immediate area, returning to the group and beckoning them closer.

"Comm check," he says quietly and they all confirm their lines, "alright. On your wrist there's a map that shows how much of the place we've found. It also has the objective in the corner."

"We need to find the…stasis unit?" Roman glances around. "What does it look like?"

"We need to find a terminal and query it to figure out exactly what we're looking for. Janus and I have sentry turrets," he says, motioning to Janus, "those'll be helpful when we have to deal with alarms. Their fire isn't live, per se, but it will hurt you, so stay out of their range as much as possible when the clickers come. Logan, you've got the gooey globby stuff that slows 'em down, so we'll gum up the floors and doors if we need to. Roman? You've got the scanner."

Roman immediately checks the thing on his belt, squinting at the screen and turning slowly to get his bearings. "This says there's one about five meters that way."

"Any others?"

"Not that I can see."

"Alright, keep your eyes on that. We're gonna go look for a terminal first, okay?"

"We're following," Logan says, taking out his knife and a flashlight, "lead the way."

Remus glances at Janus and he nods, taking the rear position behind Logan. Roman follows Remus, calling out markers when they appear on the scanner. Remus navigates them through the dark halls until they come across an intersection where Roman says there's one right in front of them.

"You can see it, be quiet now, over there," Remus mutters, gesturing, "there, see?"

"Oh, fuck, that's horrifying. Wait, what are you doing?" he hisses when Remus flashes his light at it and it burbles. "I thought you said they were attracted to light and sound!"

"It's a duration thing more than a disturbance thing. You can flash and get away with seeing what's in the room without waking them up. If you ever think you're in trouble, crouch, don't move, you'll be fine."

"Okay."

"You wanna kill this one?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, it's on its own, the rest of us are right here, go on, squirt, you got this."

Despite Remus's assurances, Janus feels as nervous as he's sure Roman does, watching him reach for the massive hammer on his back and slowly approaching the clicker. His footsteps are near-silent, his breathing over the comms is a little heavy, but even. The clicker burbles as Roman gets right up next to it, then the hammer swings—

"Nice one, squirt," Remus says as the clicker falls to the ground, limp, "good job."

"That's it?"

"Yep. Now it does make some noise, so you gotta be a little careful, but for the most part, yeah, keep doing that and you're golden."

He catches a glimpse of Roman's proud little smile as they keep going. Sure enough, the rest of the sim runs pretty smoothly. Roman keeps up the work with the scanner, Logan can type faster than literally anyone he's ever run this sim with before, and Remus behaves. For the most part. There is one time where he goes to scout alone without them and they hear him muttering over the comms.

"I should not have committed to walking into this room by myself."

"You need some help?"

"Nah, nah, I got this. Ooh," they hear a moment later, "I have even more friends over here, awesome."

"If they react to light and sound," Roman whispers to Janus even though they're all on the same comms, "why is he talking?"

"Because he's Remus, sweetie, he does that."

"Hah, take that, you absolute pile of ballsacks," they hear a moment later before Remus reemerges, "okay, we're all good, we can go in there now."

Roman just gives him a look before looking down at the scanner and frowning. "Wait, what does a moving orange thing mean?"

Remus doesn't stiffen, but Janus can see the way his hands twitch on his flashlight. "Let me see?"

Roman holds it out and he sighs.

"That's a scout."

"What's a scout?"

"It moves around and has these long tentacle things that can detect stuff. Basically it's a huge fucking headache to deal with because it can sound alarms and draw a whole bunch of stuff to us."

"Uh-huh. Uh, so it's probably a bad thing that it's in the room we have to go in, right?"

"Yeah, it's not great, but we'll make it work. Stay close, everyone," Remus says as they head for the next door, "alright, let's do this."

Janus finds himself agreeing entirely with Roman's noise of disgust when he sees the scout for the first time, tentacles and all. Remus shepherds them around the very edge of the room, out of the way of most of the tentacles, until they're almost as the next door. Which, of course, is when the thing decides to turn and move straight for them.

"Can it see us?"

"No," Remus mutters, "only the light like the others."

"Can we kill it?"

"Not while its tentacles are out. Hey, what are you—"

Janus's heart leaps to his throat as Roman moves straight for it. "Roman!"

"I got this," Roman mutters, before he swings the hammer just as the scout starts to—

His eyes widen when the scout falls over, dead, and the complex is silent.

"Well," Remus says faintly, getting up as Roman scans the rest of the room, "you and I are going to have a lot of fun in some of the later levels."

"There are more levels?"

Janus can feel Remus grin as he claps Roman on the shoulder. "Oh, squirt, you ain't seen nothing yet."

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[emotionalcadaver]

Bedside Manner

Fandom: The Dark Knight Trilogy

Pairing: Jonathan Crane x OC

Summary: He really does worry about her too much.

Series: Part 3 of The Shadow Game  

Word Count: 3,276

Notes: This is so goddamn fluffy and soft you guys I don’t even know what to say. Takes place after Jonathan and Vanessa have started working at Arkham. For those curious, the exact procedure Vanessa gets in this is a bilateral salpingectomy, which is a removal of the fallopian tubes, often as a method of permanent birth control. I am not a doctor, so apologies for any medical inaccuracies. Warnings for mention of surgery, tokophobia, nausea (but no actual vomiting), and pain.   

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Jonathan kept an arm firmly around her as they walked up to their apartment building, being mindful of the small incisions in her stomach. Punching the button for the elevator, he rested a hand to her forehead, brows creased with worry.

“Relax, ‘m not gonna fall,” she mumbled, even as she leaned against him gratefully, still a little drowsy and wobbly on her feet from the anesthesia. He didn’t say a word, just pursed his lips and tightened his grip on her, ushering her into the elevator and pushing the number for their floor.

“Are you still dizzy?” he asked as they made their way down the hallway, pulling his keys from his pocket and unlocking the apartment door.

“A little,” she admitted. “Mostly just feel loopy, though.”

“Mm,” he locked the multiple locks on the door once they were inside and herded her towards the couch in the living room, helping her to settle against the cushions, reclining the seat for her and tucking a pillow under her head, grabbing the soft orange blanket folded over the back of the couch to wrap around her. “Are you hungry? Want me to get you something?”

“Not right now,” she yawned. 

“Tea?”

She wasn’t really that thirsty either, but he seemed to need something to do, else he would begin fussing.

“Sure.”

Cuddling the worn blanket closer to her, she watched with quiet fondness as he rushed away into the kitchen, fumbling with the kettle. He really did worry about her too much.

The surgery really wasn’t that big of a deal; and it had been something that she’d wanted to have done for years. To rid herself of the increasing anxiety that came with being riddled with diagnosable tokophobia.

Good-bye, fallopian tubes. You will not be missed.

It had been a thorough pain in the ass convincing someone to actually give her the procedure, but her calculated and carefully curated friendship–okay, friendship was a rather generous term, more like friendly acquaintance–with one of the surgeons who she’d gone to college with had helped her jump the line.

She really was dead lucky. Most people had to wait until they were at least thirty for the doctors to agree to jettison their tubes. Having Jonathan stand sternly in the darkest corner of the room with his most serious face during her consultations had probably helped.       

“Still feeling okay?” he asked, setting a mug of steaming tea carefully onto a coaster on the table next to her.

“Mhm. A little pain in my shoulders, but not too bad.”

“I could go get you a heating pad or something–” he made a move to head towards the hallway where the linen closet was, but she grabbed at the sleeve of his shirt before he could get too far away.

“What I want is to just lay here and nap and watch terrible sitcoms. I’m fine, okay? Don’t fuss. I know that you have work to do. If I need you, I’ll holler,” the office door was quite literally right there. She probably wouldn’t even need to actually yell for him to hear her. But still, Jonathan frowned, eyes looking her up and down. Vanessa sighed good naturedly. “Or, you could go get your work and come sit here next to me. If  that would make you feel better.”

He stroked the back of his hand along her cheek. “Okay.”

She waited until he got settled beside her, case notes on his lap and pen in hand, before she pressed the play button on the remote, snuggling down into the couch.

She was asleep before even thirty minutes had passed.

She woke up still on the couch. The television was on but outside it was dark. Her blanket was tucked up to her chin, and she was warm.

“Jonathan?” her eyesight was blurry, mind still half asleep. Curled up beside her, he stirred, immediately bending over her.

“You okay? Are you in pain?”

“No, ‘m okay,” she yawned. “A little hungry.”

“I’ll heat something up for you. What do you want?”

“We still have some of that chicken parm soup left?”

“I think so. You want that?”

“Yeah.”

He departed only briefly to get them both some soup, the microwave beeping and whirring as it worked. The soup steamed from the bowls, generous pieces of chicken and pasta floating in the watery red liquid.

“After you’ve eaten you can take your pain meds.”

“Okay,” she hadn’t even realized how ravenous she was until she scooped up the first mouthful, not even caring when she slightly burned her tongue. Her finished bowl was deposited onto the worn coffee table, swallowing her horse pills with a large gulp of water before curling back up onto the couch. Jonathan stretched out beside her.

“Do you want to go to bed?”

“Yeah,” she lifted a hand to cover a yawn, squeaking when in one fluid motion she was off of the couch and cradled securely in his arms, being carried bridal style towards the bedroom. “I can walk!” she laughed, arms looping around his neck.

He settled her down very, very carefully onto the bed, rummaging around, dresser drawers squeaking as he gathered up both of their sets of pajamas. She changed sluggishly, realizing with every required movement just how exhausted and weak she felt. But that was normal; they had told her before the surgery that the first three or so days would be the hardest. Still, the feeling of being so physically vulnerable made her more nervous than she’d care to admit, suddenly incredibly grateful that Jonathan had taken the next several days off of work to take care of her.

“If you’re not tired, or need to get more work done that’s okay…” she mumbled as she got herself situated on the pillows. Jonathan’s eyes narrowed stubbornly, climbing into his spot beside her, long limbs folding gracefully into the bed.

“I’m not going anywhere,”  he tucked a lock of long black hair behind her ear.

“If you’re sure…” the words were spoken even as she inched closer to him, humming as his arm wrapped around her, being careful not to put any pressure on her incisions. 

“Mhm,” he hummed in affirmation.

“Okay, then.”

“Nessa?”

She whined, head between her knees, legs curled towards her chest. The tile of the bathroom where she was sitting beside the toilet was cold. Jonathan took another cautious step into the little room, kneeling down beside her and gingerly touching her knee. She felt bad for not waking him. It had probably scared him a little; to have woken up without her beside him.

“Nauseous?”

She just nodded, taking a deep breath, as if that would somehow help settle her stomach. “Haven’t actually been sick, though.”

Shifting so that he was sitting beside her, he rubbed her back. “Do you want me to call the doctor?”

“No. It’s not that bad,” squirming a bit, she groaned. “Shoulders hurt more this morning too.”

“I’m sorry.”

She just shrugged. These were all normal side effects, nothing to be too concerned about yet. But they still sucked.

Stretching his head around to check the time on the clock hanging from the wall, Jonathan huffed. “You can’t take your pain meds without eating something.”

She groaned softly at the suggestion of food, stomach writhing. Jonathan increased the circles he was rubbing into her back.

“Once you’re outside of the twenty-four hour window, the nausea should get better. Think you could handle some crackers?”

“I can try.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back,” he kissed her on the top of the head, disappearing in the kitchen and returning with a sleeve of saltines. Suppressing a gag, she took one from him, nibbling on it tentatively. He pressed his warm side up against hers, watching carefully as she slowly ate one cracker after another. The food seemed to actually help, the nausea abating, if only slightly.

They waited until they were confident that she wasn’t going to throw the crackers back up before she took her painkillers.

“Let’s go back to bed. It won’t be good for your pain to sit on the hard floor like this.”

“I might puke on you,” she warned, even as she let him pull her slowly to her feet and guide her back to the bedroom.

“That’s okay.”

She still insisted that he put a trash can next to her side of the bed. Just in case. It took her a long time to fall back to sleep, the nausea and persistent pain in her shoulders from the gas keeping her up. But Jonathan stayed up with her, rubbing her shoulders and kissing her temple until she finally dozed off.

When she woke up, she took one look at Jonathan, who was sitting up in bed beside her, one arm still around her while the other balanced a book in front of him, and promptly burst into tears.

“Vanessa?” the second he heard her sniffling the book was slammed shut and deposited on the bedside table, hand reaching for her as he tried to discern what was wrong. “Are you in pain?”

She just shook her head furiously, burying her head in her hands. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I just–” she sniffled. “You’re always so nice to me!” she wailed finally, flinging her arms around his neck and burying her head in his chest. She felt Jonathan stiffen, probably in very much a ‘oh shit, she’s crying what do I do’ type of way, before hesitantly raising his arms to rub her back.

“Okay, um. That’s–uh…it’s no problem?” he stuttered, patting her head awkwardly. Pressing her forehead into his chest, she sniffled, once, taking in a deep, shaking breath–owwww, it hurt to do that–before pulling back enough that she could wipe at her eyes with the back of her hand. As quick as the sudden bout of emotion had come it seemed to be gone.

“Sorry. I don’t–I don’t know where that came from.”

“It’s okay,” his hand was still resting warmly on her back. “Sure you’re alright?”

“Mhm,” blinking, she looked around the room in a daze. “Not nauseous anymore either.”

“That’s good.”

“Well,” she sighed–again, ow–and ran a hand through her hair. “That was weird.”

“Probably just post-op blues.”

“Probably.”

“How’s the pain?”

“More than yesterday, but not that bad.”

“Tomorrow it will likely be the worst.”

“Mm,” she laid her head on his chest. “More fun to look forward to. What were you reading?”

He lifted the book so that she could see the cover.

“Oooo. Nice.”

“Want me to read it to you?” he asked, opening it back up to his bookmark, adjusting his glasses on his nose.

“Actually, yeah.”   

 Cheek warm thanks to being pillowed against his chest, she let the sound of his voice settle her, working like a balm over her aching bones. 

Just as Jonathan had predicted, she woke up on the third day in agony.

“Jonathan,” she barely managed to get his name out, nearly doubling over. He was still asleep beside her. Whimpering, she pawed at his chest desperately. “Jonathan.”

He woke up fast, asleep one moment and all but shooting up, eyes open wide, in the next.

“What is it?” he bent over her, hands cupping her face.

“Hurts,” was all she managed to get out. He was up and out of bed in a second, rushing to the kitchen and returning with another sleeve of crackers, the bottle of painkillers, and a glass of water.

“Here,” he gave her the crackers first, shaking a pill out into his palm as she shoved a few in her mouth. While she swallowed it down he checked her incisions under her loose pajama shirt, then climbed back in beside her. “It’s okay,” he soothed, gathering her up into his chest, letting her cling to him as they both waited for the pain to subside. “It’s okay.”

But she could hear his heart hammering fast as a hummingbird’s wings in his chest, and she couldn’t help but wonder which of them in that moment was more scared.

She managed to sleep through most of the third day, and woke up on the fourth feeling much better. And while Jonathan still insisted on doing most things for her–cooking food, fetching water, and god forbid he catch her trying to lift something even moderately heavy–she felt far more capable than she had the previous few days. The pain in her belly and shoulders was manageable, and even the feelings of exhaustion and weakness were starting to abate. A good thing, too, since once the weekend was over he would have to go back to work. She still had another week off to recover, but she would have to fend for herself while he was away during the day.

That shouldn’t be a problem, so long as she continued to improve. 

He was going to drive her insane.

Okay, more insane than she already was.

Because despite her consistent improvements each day that passed from the surgery, Jonathan wouldn’t let her do anything. No matter how much she insisted that she felt fine, he insisted on remaining close to her, checking her vitals regularly and fussing over every little thing.

“What are you doing up?”

Oh, come on.

“I was just getting a glass of water–”

“You’re supposed to be resting,” he swooped over, plucking the empty glass from her hands.

“I don’t think that walking the three steps from the living room to the kitchen is gonna cause me to keel over, babe.”

He pointed to the couch sternly. “Go lay back down.”

“Okay, okay, geez,” she shuffled back to the couch, plopping down and pouting. “Dr. Crane is mean.”

“He wouldn’t need to be if Dr. Sullivan wasn’t known for overexerting herself.”

“Oh my god, that was one time–”

“You tried to go to the kickboxing gym one day after you were diagnosed with a concussion.”

Huffing dramatically, she pulled her blanket back up to her chin. “Your bedside manner needs work.”

“My bedside manner is excellent.” 

“Jonathan, we did our residencies together. I’ve seen you interact with difficult patients.”

He came over to the couch with her water. “Name one time that I was unreasonable when working with patients.”

“You prescribed high dosage sedatives for a woman because she kept flirting with you!”

“Nes, that was you.”

She blinked. “Oh, was it? Damn.”

He chuckled and kissed her forehead.

“Okay, but I know it was you who gave one of the patients a hallucinogen because he sneezed on you.”

Jonathan shrugged. “I was just teaching him basic manners. You cover your nose when you sneeze, everyone knows that.”

Vanessa snorted out a giggle, reaching back to cup his face and kiss him chastely on the lips. When they parted, she huffed, blowing a raspberry. He raised a questioning eyebrow. “I’m bored.”

“You have your book.”

“I finished it already,” she grumbled, glancing at the well loved copy of ‘Salem’s Lot on the coffee table. “I miss work.”

“You remember what the surgeon said…”

“Yeah, I know. I know,” she slumped back onto the couch, looking around her at the pile of finished books, her sketchbook open to a half finished, detailed still life drawing of a pumpkin, and the dozens of tiny little paper origami cranes, boats, and flowers scattered around her. Jonathan slipped carefully into the spot beside her on the couch, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. She snuggled into his side, pouting.

“Maybe…when I go back to the asylum, I can bring you some of your case notes to work on,” he suggested. Vanessa tilted her head up to look at him.

“Really?”

He shrugged. “Sure.”

Stretching up, she pecked his cheek. “Thank you.”

He looked down, blushing and stuttering. It was cute how even after how long they’d been together, he still got so flustered sometimes when she showered him with her affection.  

The discomfort was mostly minimal now. She didn’t need the painkillers prescribed by the doctor anymore, ibuprofen more than sufficient in treating her pain. Assuming that everything remained fine, she would probably be able to return to work the next week.

Jonathan had gone back to work two days ago, confident enough that she could fend for herself for the hours he was gone without dying. Though he’d still been all nervous and jittery about leaving her alone the first day. Truth be told, she’d missed him when he was gone, insistent fussing and all.

He’d brought her some of her case notes to work on, finally providing a bit of relief from the boredom of being bound to the couch all hours of the day.

She had her legs curled up underneath her, pen twirling absentmindedly in her hand as she looked over the papers spread out in front of her. At the sound of keys sliding into the door her head perked up, lips tugging upwards as Jonathan pushed his way into the apartment, clicking the locks into place behind him and dropping his briefcase down by the door before coming over to the couch to kiss her.

“Hi.”

“Hey. Is it raining outside?” she asked, taking note of the slight dampness coating his hair.

“Only a little,” he lifted the bag he had dangling from one hand. “I brought food.”

Stacking her notes into a neat pile, she tossed them onto the coffee table. “I love you.”

Jonathan chuckled, placing another kiss to her cheek and leaving the food with her to be unwrapped as he shucked off his suit jacket, tossing it over the back of a chair, loosening his tie and tossing that away as well, rolling up his shirt sleeves to his elbows. Vanessa bit her lip, silently lamenting that she was banned from any funny business for at least another week or so. 

As soon as he was on the couch, she handed him his food, settling her own container from the bag in her lap and scooting closer to him, cozying up to his side.

“I missed you,” her lips pressed insistently to his cheek, where a dimple sometimes appeared when he smiled. Jonathan shot her a look that she could only describe as soft, leaning into her touch.

“I missed you too,” his hand stroked over her thigh. “How are you feeling?”

“Good. Still a little tired, I guess.”

“Hm,” he hummed, reclining back against the couch, pulling her with him until she was nestled close to his side.

“How was work?” she asked around a mouthful of her pasta, twisting another helping carefully around her fork.

“Alright. A few people asked about you. Johnson had another episode and almost swallowed his own tongue. They’re keeping him in the infirmary for a while.”

“Oh, well. At least he didn’t die, the paperwork would have been a nightmare.”

His snicker sounded low and deep in his chest, hand stroking through the long, loose locks of her hair. They switched on the TV, eating in comfortable silence as they listened to the gentle hum of the voices from the speakers. Containers of food discarded, she ended up with her arms wrapped around his ribs, her head pillowed on his chest as they just lounged, eyelids growing heavy.

“Jonathan?” she poked him suddenly in the shoulder, rousing him from the slight doze he had slipped into.

“What?”

Tracing nonsense patterns into his chest, she shrugged. “Thank you for taking such good care of me.”

His thumb stroked along her jaw, tilting her head upwards so that he could peck her on the lips. 

“Always.”

Thank you for reading! Please consider leaving a comment, reblog, or like. I always appreciate feedback and love getting the opportunity to interact with you and hear your thoughts!

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Series: Part 3 of The Shadow Game  

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[penflicks]

Saul attacked by a student please

Saul blamed himself, he should have remembered the state of his body and the muscle loss he'd suffered. But instead he'd taken the opening in Kat's defence made a snatch for the hilt only for her to retain her grip on it. Her defence was back up in an instant, he was still too close, and got the flat of the blade to his forehead. He stumbled, lost his footing from a leg wound that had healed wrong in prison and that he was still learning to counter balance, and slammed into her kick from a space making manoeuvre. He was supposed to have side stepped that and let her regain her grip on her sword, was his distant thought as the all too familiar sensation of a breaking rib went through him. He slumped to the ground and curled in instinctively, protectively, desperate to keep the guards from doing further, more permanent damage. He had to survive. He had to get back to Sky. He has to apologise for everything.

"Mr Silva! Me Silva! Saul! I'm so sorry. Will you let me check you for concussion? Professor Leroy is going to kill me for this." Kat was talking more but Saul found it hard to focus, two realities were shifting and moving in front of his eyes until the flash back passed and he was back in the present.

"No. No. I'm fine. You did well today. Consider yourself dismissed," Saul managed to get out. He crawled his way to his feet, everything hurting, his ribs a sharp and jarring pain in his chest. Yet one he had grown used to having to move through in prison. If he hadn't stood up in time he was inviting a second round. That was how they'd damaged his leg.

"I need to get you to Terra, please. Lean on me, I'll get you to the greenhouse." Kat tried to loop his arm over her shoulders but he wriggled free and stumbled away.

"I'm fine. Bruised pride, that's all. Just let me walk it off." And he did just that, started walking towards the school and didn't look back.

The walk felt unbearably long; all distance was infinite when sporting injury and he had to remind himself that as long as he kept walking he'd get back to his rooms. He had a first aid kit there. He'd manage. He could tend his injuries, try to heal up and lick his wounds until morning.

Before prison he'd have been straight off to the greenhouse to be checked out and mended under Harvey's caring but exasperated hands as he fixed whatever scrape Saul had got into this time. But prison had taught him some lessons he wouldn't forget. Hide your injuries, hide your weaknesses, and most of all hide your tears.

He made it to his rooms, fumbled with the door until it opened and slumped inside. He had at least had the foresight to leave the first aid kit near the door and so curled up on the floor alone, with the door safely shut, he bandaged himself up.

The flashback was still so fresh in his mind that as he worked great sobs tore through his chest, aggravating his broken rib until he was biting backing screams of fresh pain. This was the price of surviving, he reminded himself and kept on attempting to fix himself up.

+

Saul barely heard them approaching until they'd thrown open the door to his rooms to reveal themselves to be Kat, Terra and Andreas.

"Told you this is where he'd be." Andreas stepped into the room and ignored the half used roll of bandages Saul threw at him.

"Why didn't you stay put or let Kat bring you to the greenhouse?" Terra asked as she pulled out her medical bag and got to work fixing up what he'd been making a hash of.

"'m fine," Saul glared at them, only it came out as a grimace and all he wanted to do was curl up small until the pain stopped.

"What painkillers have you had?" Terra asked gently.

Saul stayed quiet rather than admit he'd forgotten that pain relief was an option.

"Kat, you're dismissed. We've got this." Andreas scooped Saul up and set him on the bed. He waited just long enough for her to go and close the door after, before he set to stripping Saul of his clothes and what bandages he'd managed to put on.

"Stop. Please," Saul begged with no hope he would be listened to. If he was being stripped then that could only mean another round of being hosed on the face and body with that awful high powered jet that always left him feeling battered and bruised.

"Mr Silva, it's ok, it's Terra. We're going to look after you ok? That means we need to see the full extent of the damage." Her voice pulled him back to the present and only then did it register that Andreas's hands were being so tender as they worked.

Once Saul was undressed, Andreas wrapped a blanket around him for warmth and modesty and together he and Terra went slowly only every part of Saul's body cataloguing injuries and checking the correct movement. The final tally was worse than Saul has realised. He was grateful when they gave him painkillers and sleep medication and Andreas tucked him into bed.

"I'll come check on you in the morning, Mr Silva," Terra promised quietly.

Saul gave her a subdued nod and waited for them both to leave. Andreas pulled up a chair and stretched out his long legs, clearly he wasn't intending to go anywhere. Terra packed up her medical bag and left them alone.

"You're an idiot," Andreas said gently and then waited for a moment. Once he no longer heard Terra's footsteps he got out of his chair and climbed into bed beside Saul. "But you're safe now, and I'm keeping you off everything but observation and corrections at training until this is all healed." Andreas kissed Saul's hair.

"You're the boss apparently," Saul tried for a snarl but it just same out sleepy.

"I am, and as headmaster that means I need to keep the rest of my staff in good shape. Get some sleep, Saul, I'll keep watch if you need me to." Andreas tucked the covers up under Saul's chin.

Saul wanted to say so many things but sleep was already gaining on him and instead he closed his eyes and gave in.

[orquidaeas]

—  lily and ksana’s room, 10th of may 2044, with lilith russo.  @lilsrusso​

this is a hurt he cannot fix. for once, gilbert’s words of love pale in comparison to the situation, and no medic or good soldier or any other skill can smooth it over. all he can do, and all he has been doing ever since that night, is repeat words of care incessantly, and contain his anger better than ever. he holds her firmly, afraid her bones would crumble into piles should he let go even a bit. her hair is smoothed over again and again, strands put into place and then back out. lily has seen injustice, they all have, but he half-hopes and half-fears this one might have been a breaking point. "when they murdered my mom and dad, i had this need to move past it." he spells it out right, murder. ray was murdered. the one small mercy he refuses to give her is that: to in any way soften the crime that has happened. "i suppose i tried blaming them. they should have been more careful. they shouldn't have been smuggling or they should have followed the rules and they'd be fine." he speaks in a low volume, as if the walls can seep his treason through, let it continue staining the walls like a leak, until the drips reach alexei’s quarters. "you can't do that. i'm not letting you waste years on that." he sees ray, with a bullet wound on his face, and the old man’s face melds with that of his father. santiago orquídeas too had bullets on his head, but it was not alexei who put them there. for once, he hopes to handle grief well, at least well enough to guide hers. lily’s pain is visible like a festering wound, and while he can't take it away, he can protect her from his own downfalls. gilbert wants to rage, cry, commit stupid crimes that would lead to his permanent grave, but for once, a higher responsibility calls for him. ray’s grandchildren’s crying voices fill his head up, as do lily’s tears "he did nothing wrong. and there's nothing, i mean, nothing we could have done to change this. not then." in the future, perhaps. god, gilbert, do you want to get her killed?

 gilbert holds her tighter, rocking gently like one comforts a child. lily is no child but right now she is his. "he was a good man. and he lived a long and full life, pequeñita." his words copy those who practiced love better than him, the parents he’s observed and held in his heart. he imagines it all in the role of thiago, or santiago, or nik, fumbling and faking his way through a task that was vaguely handed partially to him by accident, and that he feels wholly unequipped to handle. perhaps he’s been acting it out for so long now that it is no longer a play, and he doesn’t need to copy others for his words are his own, but the line is blurred beyond measure. “this will be punished.” a promise he has no right to make, but he does regardless. they do have a tendency to start oaths they have no way to complete - a flaw passed down. “it will.” 

[actaeoncross]

NaNoWriMo - Day One

I feel okay with where I stopped. I will skip around in writing parts of this, not just straight through, but I'm not sure how I want to finish the introduction for two of the main cast. So, if I post more it'll be jumbled.

“Ollie.”

“Yeah?” she reflexively answered, green eyes glued to the computer screen. The young adult desperately typed to finish her paper. Ollie should have started it weeks ago when the report was first assigned. But who cares about school at the start of a semester? Olivia Scott couldn’t say she did. 

The paper had been a convenient excuse to avoid unwanted dates. A persistent young frat boy introduced to her by a friend at one of the campus’s numerous welcome-back parties had ghosted her every step the past few weeks. He had even offered to help her research and write the report as a way to spend time together. Ollie needed to find a polite yet firm way of brushing him off permanently. Nate seemed sweet, but Ollie had no interest in a relationship. A huff of frustrated air tried to move the brown hair hanging in her eyes. Ollie’s eyes met her roommate’s as she sat back to check the time. 

“I did it again, huh?” Ollie sheepishly grinned at Analyn’s quirked eyebrow. 

“Really, it’s my fault. I don’t know why I bother speaking to you when your attention is obviously elsewhere,” the girl sniffed, throwing long curls over her shoulder. The maintenance alone on Lyn’s perfectly dyed silver tresses was probably more than the meager amount Ollie’s part-time job paid. 

“Please, forgive this lowly servant. You have my full attention now, Your Lordship,” Ollie replied with a mischievous smile. 

“The girls want to host a Halloween party. It has to be better than the other sororities, and I may have mentioned your name.” 

“Lyn!”

“Please, please! Just help us design it; you don’t have to come! You love this time of year and know more than anyone about spooky shit,” Lyn frantically pleaded as Ollie shoved her laptop into her bag. “I’ll help get Nate’s attention elsewhere for you!” 

“You’re already supposed to be doing that. The whole thing was a favor to you,” Ollie sighed, shoving her feet into worn sneakers. 

“Ugh, I know. I don’t want to see Tim again, at least not until I have someone better to rub in his face. ”  

“Just promise to think about it!” Lyn's voice called out before the door swung shut behind Ollie. 

She was usually the type of person to arrive at least fifteen minutes early. Olivia had halted this practice after Nathaniel had his class in the same building. Ollie found herself trudging through small talk with him if she came early. The building’s closeness to her dorm reduced her chances of being late. The biggest risk was crossing the road. Olivia glanced both ways more from habit than anything else before crossing. What college student didn’t want free tuition for a motor accident? 

Her pace slowed as she hitched her bag higher on her shoulder. She walked faster than intended, Olivia realized as she caught sight of the smokers lingering around the doors for one last smoke before class. They weren’t supposed to smoke on campus except in designated areas, but the new rule was only partially enforced. Campus police prioritized the higher traffic areas during the bustle of the day over the night classes. Her nose wrinkled in disgust at the smell as she approached. 

“Olivia, hey! What’s up? Do you have plans after class?” Nathaniel asked, fumbling to snuff his cigarette.

“Analyn wants me to look over some Halloween plans with her.” 

“Oh. Well, maybe next time,” the shaggy-haired brunette’s enthusiasm swept from him.

“Maybe we can meet up for lunch tomorrow. My classes finish at eleven.” 

“Great! Yeah, let’s do that!” His immediate flip in mood reminded her of an eager puppy given a treat for performing a trick. Olivia mentally kicked herself. He was someone she could see herself being friends with. Ollie hoped she could gently explain she wasn’t looking for a relationship, but she would love a study buddy. “Have you heard about the new challenge?”

“What challenge?” 

“Descensus Rex, yeah. It seems like a waste of time, just another spooky game that happens to be popular online. But I guess people like it because it promises a wish to be granted if completed.”

“A wish?” Olivia couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she followed him inside. 

“If you follow the rules and offer a sacrifice, you’re supposed to get something you want. I haven’t seen or heard anything about anyone getting results, though.”

“Probably because it’s fake like every other supernatural game.” 

“Probably,” he conceded with a shrug and grin. “For what it’s worth, I think it’s cool you don’t follow every little trend.” 

Olivia offered a grin of her own in return. She quickly agreed to meet with Nate to discuss lunch plans during their break before hustling upstairs to her class. Ollie caught a snippet of a raised voice accusing someone of stealing his girlfriend. She froze at the door. Shota, the quiet exchange student, vigorously shook his head and argued with some frat boys. The stocky jock swung, hitting the slight Shota solidly in the jaw. She was halfway across the room when a flash of silver brought her up short. Shota firmly held a knife and mumbled under his breath. Olivia frowned, leaning slightly forward, trying to hear what he manically repeated. She thought it sounded like the name of the internet game Nate mentioned.

“Are we supposed to be scared?” one of the guys scoffed. 

The knife rose and plunged three times, sending her stumbling back in shock. Rather than attacking his tormentors, Shota was driving the blade into the flesh of his stomach. The knife fell, clattering to the floor, forgotten. Olivia and the class watched in horror as a long, jointed leg thrust from a cut in his bleeding abdomen. In quick succession, seven more slipped from the weeping torn flesh to join the first. The legs rhythmically twitched, pushing its body from Shota until they clattered into desks as they found purchase on the carpeted floor. The spider raised itself upward until its back brushed the ceiling. Shota’s arms and legs dangled limply from where his stomach fused with the monster’s. Dark eyes that still contained a flicker of life briefly met her own as the grotesque spider moved.

Olivia was jolted into action as another person attempting to flee crashed into her. Her senses returned in a rush. Screams filled the air, and desks scraped from pathways. The monster’s eight legs were a rapid blur, impaling any movement within their range. The classmate on her hurriedly shoved themself upright, with Olivia scrambling to stand as well. She should be running, but she was terrified to turn her back to the hellish creature. Olivia only managed a few shaky steps before one of the legs collided with her, knocking her aside like a ragdoll. She caught herself on a desk. Her body flattened against the smooth laminated grain of the flimsy school desk. 

The spunky blonde who sat next to her in class and offered gum in exchange for notes gurgled feet from the door. Olivia choked back a sob as the girl’s body collapsed, unmoving to the ground as the leg withdrew from her center. The spider legs settled around her, occupying Olivia’s field of vision. Rivulets of red coursed down the legs, leaving pools of blood where they stopped. Olivia was aware of a dangling arm brushing against her back as the monster’s body lowered. A commotion near the door drew her attention. Nathaniel stood in the doorway with others crowding into him from behind, trying to see into the classroom. 

He scrambled into action, crawling desperately to push back through the crowd for an exit. Olivia slipped down to huddle under the desk as the monster focused on him and its other new victims. She bit into her lip, tasting iron as she choked back screams of her own. Her hands covered her ears, trying to block the squelching sounds of its rampage. It quickly became apparent the spider could not fit through the door. The abomination turned, scuttling through the room to search for an exit. This was how she would die, Olivia numbly realized. She should at least struggle to live. Olivia flicked her eyes towards the door to weigh her chances and had to bite back a scream.

[barnesafterglow]

it's new, it's you

summary: when the father of your favorite student asks you on a date, there's no way you can say no

pairing: dilf!steve x teacher!reader

word count: 2.2k

warnings: explicit language, steve is a Stud, mild sexual content (reader wants to bang him, but don't we all), mention of hospital/er visit, size difference (steve is 6'5, reader is vaguely smaller), hmm i think that's it

a/n: hey besties i literally started this like a few hours ago and i debated whether to continue or to leave it open for a part 2 so... guess which one i did ;) thank you @treat-people-w-kisses and @fandoms-writings for giving me the validation i crave. i hope you all enjoy this bc i am a sucker for dilf!steve xoxo

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join series taglist!

“Sarah! Get back here!” You heard the voice just before you felt the weight of a six year old latch onto your legs.

In a practiced move, you reached down and forced her to release you by hefting her onto your hip, smiling brightly when she smacked a kiss onto your cheek.

“What are you doing, sweet girl? Where’s your - oh.” Steve Rogers walked through your door and your brain turned off. You had heard the whispers from other teachers about how hot he was - your best friend Natasha calling him a certified dilf - but you had yet to meet him. Until now. And the rumors did not do him justice.

Standing at probably 6’5, ripped to hell, and with a beard and hair to die for, it was a wonder you didn’t get on your knees for him right there.

You were holding his daughter. That’s why.

The thought was a jump start to your brain, as you gently set her back on her feet and extended a hand to him.

“Hi, Mr. Rogers, I was wondering where her company was,” you said, patting Sarah affectionately on the head. She beamed up at you, showcasing her missing tooth, and you were once again lost in the ray of sunshine that was your favorite student.

“Please, call me Steve,” you felt your body heat up at his words, and dropped your head before he could notice. “Sorry about Sarah, she was very excited to see you.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all. Don’t tell anyone this but,” you dropped your voice to a stage whisper, “she’s my favorite.”

She let out a squeal and wrapped her arms around your legs yet again. It didn’t slip your notice that Steve seemed just as mesmerized by your interaction with his daughter as you had been just by seeing him. You had a feeling the blush coursing through you was a permanent fixture for the night.

“Well, I should let you all go enjoy the rest of the holiday fair.” You crouched down to Sarah’s level to give her a hug. “I heard Santa’s down in the cafeteria, you don’t want to miss him.”

She yelled in delight before giving you one last squeeze and sprinting out of the room. You expected Steve to immediately follow her, but he lingered in your doorway as he watched her with another teacher down the hall.

“She talks about you all the time, ya know. Says you’re her best friend. I’ve never heard her talk about anyone else like that.” He looked in your direction now, as you fumbled with the hem of your sweater to avoid his eyes. “I think you’ve made quite an impression.” You were too nervous to hear the unspoken on both of us in his words. When you managed to look up again, he was only a couple steps from you. “I hope I’ll be seeing you more often.”

He made his way back towards the door, throwing one last glance your way and his own cheeks were dusted pink from your stunned expression. That didn’t stop him from winking at you as he slipped into the throng of parents milling throughout the halls.

You took several steps back until your thighs hit the edge of your desk, where you sank down and had to catch your breath.

This man was going to be the death of you.

--

True to his word, Steve made a habit of coming to see you, at least once a week. It started off as him popping his head in to say goodbye when he would pick Sarah up, then turned into a lovely game of him trying to guess your coffee order and bring it to you. This happened because he caught you half asleep trying to grade a stack of tests one afternoon. The next day Sarah came in with a large coffee - courtesy of her daddy she said. He showed up himself that afternoon with another, this time with something more than just cream and sugar, and so his attempts began.

You didn’t tell him that he got it right with that first cup, it was just too much fun to see his face every time you took a sip, and give him absolutely no indication. Plus, you got to try all kinds of new things.

It was about a month later, the last day of school before winter break, that he finally worked up the courage to ask you out.

He was running late from work, so you and Sarah were the only people left in your classroom when he arrived. You had a Christmas movie playing, and were dancing around the room together to the holiday songs. He leaned against the doorway and simply watched until Sarah noticed him standing there. She wiggled free from your arms and launched herself into his, and he caught her with an endearing delight.

As she packed her things up, he came to stand by your desk, and you could feel the flirtation mixed in with his nervous energy.

“I’m dropping Sarah off at her mom’s after this and I was wondering if - uh - if you wanted to get dinner with me?” Your head snapped in his direction, a bit shocked that he wanted to actually take you out, and he immediately was a stuttering mess, trying to backpedal and save face. “You don’t have to, obviously, fuck, sorry, shit, well -”

“Steve,” you cut him off, not wanting to torture him anymore, “I would love to get dinner with you. Maybe you could just come over and we can order takeout. I’m a little too exhausted to be out in the public anymore today.”

His face flushed crimson, still in shock as you took his phone from him, putting in your contact information and sending yourself a text.

You were handing it back to him when Sarah tugged on his sleeve, signalling she was ready to go. He shyly waved as he picked her up and made his way out of your classroom.

To say you were stunned with yourself would be an understatement. You had never flirted with a parent before, let alone gone out on a date with one, and you weren’t the type of girl to make the first move anyways. Especially with how flirty he had been with you. But he was obviously nervous and it made you want to throw your arms around him right then and there.

So now you had a date. With your student’s dad. Quite possibly the most attractive man you had ever laid eyes on.

Shit.

--

It was about an hour later that your doorbell rang, you quickly put the broom away in the closet before making your way towards the front door. You smoothed down your sweatshirt, all of a sudden nervous that you were underdress, even though this was far from a formal date.

You opened the door to find Steve with the most adorable smile on his face, and a bouquet of flowers in his hand. The arrangement was beautiful and nearly made you tear up, so you quickly took it from his hands and made your way to the kitchen to get your emotions in check. When you returned, he was standing in the middle of the living room with his hands shoved in his pockets.

He turned when you entered the room, a smile taking over his face as he spotted you.

“So, what’s on the agenda for tonight, Miss Y/L/N?” His smile widened as you scoffed, rolling your eyes at the name.

“Please, do not call me that. I’m out of teacher mode for the next three weeks, thank you very much.” He raised his hands in defense at your pointed look, then followed you into the kitchen where you were pulling a thick stack of takeout menus and laying them out before him with a flourish. “Now, pick your poison, Stevie, there are plenty of options.”

He ended up choosing a pizza place just a couple blocks away, and you put on a movie while you waited for it to get there. Though you started out on opposite ends of the couch, both unsure of the etiquette for a date like this, the space diminished as you continued talking, and the movie became background noise.

You ended up facing him on the couch, one leg tucked under you, while you talked animatedly with your hands. You didn’t realize just how close you had gotten until one gesture nearly hit him in the face. He grabbed your hand midair, just in time, and brought it down to rest in his lap. Your eyes followed it down, then back up to his face that was just inches from your own. Your breath caught in your throat, as his own gently breezed over you. His eyes flitted down to your lips, then back up. He was about to close the distance when the doorbell rang, and you practically jumped back 10 feet before you scrambled for the door.

When you came back carrying two boxes, he had settled back to his end of the couch, as if nothing had ever happened.

The two of you ate in silence, not awkward, but there was something unspoken in the air. It wasn’t until the boxes were empty and the credits were rolling that he spoke again.

“Hey,” you were a bit shocked by his sudden words after such a long stretch of silence, and he placed a hand over yours, again. “I’m a little rusty in the dating game, but I like you a lot.”

With every ounce of courage in your body, you pressed your forehead against his. “I really like you, too, Steve.” Then you closed the distance between you, lips meeting his, like a million fireworks exploding.

There were no interruptions this time, just you and Steve and all the time in the world. And it seemed that thought registered with him as he took a hold of your hips and moved you to sit in his lap.

The two of you could have been there for minutes or hours, you were totally lost in each other, and it wasn’t until Steve’s phone rang for the third time that you finally pulled away.

“You should answer that,” you whispered against his lips before climbing off of him and taking the empty pizza boxes to the kitchen to give him some privacy. When you returned, he had his jacket on, and a look of guilt across his face.

“I’m so sorry, Sharon just called, Sarah had an allergic reaction and they’re at the ER.” It was incredibly endearing, the fact that he was so worried about you even when he was also worried about his daughter. You placed a soft kiss to his lips and gently shoved him towards the door.

“It’s okay, you have nothing to apologize for. Just let me know that she’s okay, yeah?” He nodded frantically, kissing you once more before he practically sprinted to his car. You watched as he pulled down the street, waving at you one last time before disappearing around the corner.

You were settled in bed a couple hours later, reading a book to unwind, when you got a FaceTime call from Steve. Adjusting your glasses on your face, you answered to see him and Sarah settled into a hospital bed, her seemingly fine as she waved brightly at you through the screen.

“I’m sorry if we woke you up, I told Sarah I needed to text you and she insisted on showing you herself that she was alive and well.” You threw your head back laughing when you heard her little voice shout I lived!

“Well I’m so glad to hear that, Sarah. I don’t know what I would do without my best friend.” She yelled in joy, obviously ecstatic that you called her your best friend, then proceeded to tell you in great detail everything that had occurred that night.

“And yeah, the doctor said I’m allergic to the shells of fish now.”

“Shellfish, Sarah. The doctor said you’re allergic to shellfish.” She waved him off, obviously not concerned with the correction, and was about to continue when a yawn took over her.

Steve finally took the phone from her hand, saying “it’s time for bed now, sugar” before she settled down, her head snuggled tightly to his chest. Your heart melted at the sight, and you almost missed what he was saying to you.

“I’m still sorry about tonight. I’d like to take you out again, maybe to go see the lights. Next week, though, after you’ve recovered enough to return to the land of the living.” The smile that split across your face was almost painful. You scoffed, though you appreciate his understanding of your need to stay away from as many people as possible for a bit, and told him you would love to. He adorably blew a kiss to the camera before hanging up, and you held your phone to your chest long after the call had ended.

You fell asleep that night dreaming about the next time you would get to see him, get to feel those hands on you, get to hold his face in your hands.

You had it bad.

taglist *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

@carrotfantasimp @asgardwinter @cutelittletwistedhorror @winth0rsoldier @subwaysurf45 @awaywithtime @miyadarling @dihra-vesa @peachyprism @marvelatthetwilight @mrsbarnesx @evanpetersisreallyhot  @intrepidacious @ambrosiase @riverevelations @nexusnyx @buckydaddy @babycap @aquariusbarnes @gray-reads @starbuckie @lovinggbarnes @igotnoname4thisblog @signofthebarnes @cupidsbarnes @sweetdreamsbuck @beefybuckrrito @the-iceni-bitch @shawnie--jo @spidderboy @treat-people-w-kisses

[hotwings0203]

Idk what this is but the thought of you being scared of Bakugos quirk is so hot to me

Tw:noncon, predatory behavior

“I swear he’s getting to be more and more like a villain every time I see him,” you giggle with Mina as you two walk out of the class. Bakugo had yet again exploded at one of your shared teachers for correcting him in his pronunciation of a word, and as usual it was quite a scene to behold. Chairs were almost thrown, his friends had to hold him back from leaping up while others egged him on, itching for amusement in their mind-numbingly dull class.

“Maybe Shigaraki was right,” your pink-haired friend snorts and you both collapse in wheezes, clawing and slapping at each other’s shoulders as the ludicrous image of Shigaraki being unable to reign in Bakugo comes to mind.

“Hey ladies, what’re you two laughing about?” A lilting and charming voice comes right at your ear, and you turn to see Denki, Kirishima and…Bakugo walking next to you.

Just because of his proximity and how you were literally just talking about him two seconds ago, you jump away from Bakugo’s glowering face and not so subtly hide behind Mina in a half playful jest.

“Huh? Whatcha ya jumpin’ around for?” Kirishima laughs and you exchange an embarrassed look with Mina.

“Oh nothing, we were just talking about how Bakugo’s quirk is totally villainous. We’re lucky he’s on our side,” Mina singsongs, but you slap her arm in alarm.

And well placed alarm at that, because Bakugo’s scowl deepens as he turns his head to you in a death-glare. You swallow hard seeing his expression and try to nervously laugh.

“But, uh, we were just joking. Right Mina?” You give her a pointed look and she deflects it happily.

“Nope! At least you weren’t, you’re half scared to death of him, isn’t that right Y/N?”

Denki interrupts before you can sputter in horror.

“Honestly, who isn’t scared of this dude?” He claps the other blond on his back and yelps when Bakugo’s hands start curling with smoke.

“Watch it dumbass.” He cranes his head to meet your eyes, but when he finds that you’re still avoiding eye contact with him he starts moving around his friends to better talk to you.

“My quirk isn’t that scary you idiot. It’s not like I care enough about any of you to blow you up-“

But with the smoke still curling form his hands and with the permanently intimidating scowl on his face reading closer and close to your, you can’t help but squeal and scrabble around him to sink your nails into Kirishima’s shoulders for protection.

“Okay, I get it! You don’t have to come any closer, I can see fine from here.” Your voice comes out too high and strained to be deemed as joking, but nonetheless everyone laughs at your dramatic show.

Everyone but Katsuki. Because he can see you’re actually scared, he’s seen it a hundred times on civilians who try to pretend they’re fine but still have that panicked glint in their eye.

“Jesus Y/N, with a reaction like that maybe he really is a villain. Bakubro, want us to send you back to Shigaraki’s place? Maybe you should reconsider his offer.”

And finally at Denki’s quip everyone including you this time laughs again in playful agreement, but yet again Bakugo’s blood starts simmering further.

Why the fuck were you being so obnoxious? He didn’t do anything to you before, right? So why the hell were you embarrassing him in front of all his friends and making him out to be this bloodthirsty monster?

Well, whatever. If a monster is what you want, then a monster is what you’ll get.

And so he waits for you after school, trailing behind you a couple hundred feet yet still keeping you in sight. He curses when you giggle with your friends, no doubt in his mind that you’re still throwing dirt on his name and he swears under his breath when you talk to Deku and his dweeb friends.

Of course when you hang around ditzy dorks like Deku he’s gonna look like a psycho in comparison.

But at one point you’re by the vending machine alone in a deserted hallway, fumbling with your coins and trying to quickly get a soda before your friends up ahead leave.

Too bad for you, because when he’s done with you they’ll never want to be seen with you again for their own safety.

You’re shoving money in the slot when he silently walks up a couple feet behind you.

“No friends around to gossip about me?”

You shriek and jump a good foot in the air at the sudden voice behind you. Clutching your heaving chest, you whirl around to see who it is.

Your blood runs cold. It’s Katsuki Bakugo, the absolute last person you want to be alone with in a deserted hallway.

Your feet move a step back.

Wrong move.

His nostrils flare and his eyes widen at your insulting retreat. You know he doesn’t take kindly to it, but with an expression like that how could you not?

“Uh, w-what do you mean?” You chuckle nervously.

He doesn’t laugh. In fact, he does something worse.

He matches your steps and moves forward a little bit.

At this you fully take a stride backwards and clash with the vending machine behind you.

He keeps advancing, slowly getting closer and checking you out, his head tilted as his eyes roam up and down your vulnerable body.

“Don’t move back. Why the fuck did you move away from me? That’s rude, we were just having a normal conversation.”

You surprise yourself by sounding level-headed in retaliation. “‘Kinda hard not to be a little uncomfortable when your conversation sounds so accusing.”

He lunges forward and you actually scream this time, throwing your hands up above your head in instinct to protect yourself from his proximity.

Bakugo doesn’t touch you but you can still feel his breath puffing on your head, can still feel the heat from his hands on either side of your body.

“You got a smart mouth don’t you? Is that why you embarrassed me earlier in front of everyone?”

“Embarrassed you-?” You squeak but immediately cut off when he thrusts his face right in front of yours, a manic look on his face as all his facial features stretch into a irate leer.

“I guess we’ll have to fix that tongue of yours. Put it to better use than to talk shit about me, right?”

Vermilion irises move from your face down your body, lingering on your chest and at the apex in between your legs.

Bile rises to your throat as he licks his lips and lets his lips ghost over yours, oh so close yet not touching.

And in the second before he descends, you shove him off with nothing but pure adrenaline feeling your fear and race past him, blindly running down the halls as fast as you can.

Surprisingly, you don’t hear anyone behind you. That doesn’t mean you don’t stop running though.

The real reason you don’t hear anyone behind you is because Katsuki Bakugo has an eerie smile on his face at your bolt. He languidly stretches his arms above his head and relishes in the popping of his joints, and in succession the popping of sparks in his hand. He kicks one leg out, then the other just to ensure you get a fair head start.

You’ve just made this so much more interesting.

He sets off at a light jog, and even in his carefree pace his strides are enough to eventually catch up with you, instinct like an animal’s guiding him through the winding halls and ending up catching a glimpse of your feet as you turn into another lane.

You’re panting, sweat pouring down your eyes as panic makes it hard to breathe or think rationally. The adrenaline that was pushing you is now dying down but at the worst time.

You take a quick glance back and your rapidly beating heart falters as you see him with a grin on his face as he practically jogs leisurely behind you. You’ve seen this same face on him when he’s in the battlefield, blasting through enemy hearts and blowing up heads as if they were fireworks.

He’s bloodthirsty. He wants you.

“Running away again? That’s not very heroic of you babe,” he calls out, and it’s terrifyingly infuriating how he’s not out of breath.

“Leave me the fuck alone,” you half scream and sob, trying to run faster but failing miserably.

You see a bathroom sign out of the corner of your eye and frantically stumble towards it.

Katsuki knows you know he’s even you take a turn and he laughs to himself at how boringly easy this is.

Maybe he was scary.

He shakes it off and continues his hunt after you, coming forth until he faces the bathroom door in which you were cowering behind.

There’s a small window, and no other door. Just a couple of stalls, a terrified girl, and a psycho with the taste of revenge practically palpable on his lustful tongue.

He knock with faux politeness. “You wanna come out and do this the easy way or you want me to barge in and take you myself?”

You sob and wheeze in response, desperately pushing against the flimsy door in a pathetic attempt to keep him out. Bakugo merely crosses his arms and leans against the door, staring intently at it with a smile still on his face.

Judging by the weight pushing more at the bottom of the door, he can tell you’re probably sitting down in an effort to catch your breath.

You both know he can come in at any time he so well pleases, but he decides he’ll play by your rules for a bit longer, indulge you a little before your inevitable downfall.

He hums loudly and slides down to join your parallel position on the floor.

“I’m tryina be nice here, y’know. You acted so scared of me when I never even bothered you before. Aren’t I being nice right now by letting you choose for yourself?”

He sounds so conversational, as if he were talking to one of his buddies. You stay silent but your silence speaks volumes.

It serves as nothing but a means to piss him off further.

The two of you sit in silence for seemingly hours, even though it’s only around 20 minutes. Every second you feel like he’s going to break down the door any second and blast your face off, but miraculously he doesn’t.

You don’t know what you’d rather prefer: for him to prolong your strained agony by letting you be so close yet so far from him, or to end your suffering and get it done with.

But you needn’t sit in silence stewing in your own fear any further, for at the exact moment you begin to doze off with the dying of the light the weight on the other side of the door lifts and you startle awake at the scuffling on the other side.

You blink a couple of times and blanch when you see through the window the purple light indicating that you really have been here longer than you thought.

Bakugo cracks his knuckles and rolls his head, popping a few more kinks in his neck before breathing out and bracing for impact.

“Ready or not little bitch, here I come.”

“Bakugo, wait-!”

But your plea doesn’t last for more than two words. The door bangs open with such a sound that you actually think he’s blasted it straight off his hinges. You gasp and shield yourself, jumping backwards and covering your face.

“‘Thought I made it clear by now that you can’t run. So why’d you try to leave? Huh? Think you’re smarter than me? You think you’re stronger than me?”

He’s stalking forward again, and you’re left tripping back over your feet and whimpering at his salacious intent as he backs you up and corners you into a stall.

He already knows the answers to his rhetorical questions but he wants to hear you say it. He wants to hear that scornful conviction in your voice about how big and bad he was that you used earlier.

With you tripping backwards into the cramped stall, his approach quickens in hunger at feeling you, feeling the fear radiating off your body.

Bakugo presses up against you against the wall and takes up the space around you, invading your personal bubble. He’s everywhere, growling in your ear, hands gripping your waist so tight you’re sure bruises sprout from his touch, his erect penis grinding on the inside of your thigh.

Your trepidation and terror rises to an insurmountable height as he smothers you.

When he suddenly grips your chin and forces your head to face him you gasp. His touch is even more callous than you thought.

“You lookin’ here bitch? Good.”

His palm is raised towards you and before you can even widen your eyes in realization his appendage starts sparking madly. You shriek and try to throw him loose as little bits of embers fly out and made your face, his voice rough as always yet dangerously low and soft.

“S’not so scary after all is it? You’re reacting better to it than I thought.” Bakugo Blanca you mocks your writhing figure as you desperately try to evade the mini explosions.

“Okay, I get it, please stop I don’t like it!” You shrilly cry out but his hand moves from your jaw down to your neck, and squeezes the last remnants of opposition out of you.

“Yeah? Good, I’m glad you get it. But honestly, I don’t care if you don’t like it.

Because I like it. I fucking love this quirk, ‘specially when you cower so prettily under it like you did earlier.”

You choke and try to scrabble at his hands but it’s like a butterfly’s touch to him, barely producing any fruition.

“I kept wondering to myself: why do I care if she’s scared of it? And then I realized,” he leans in and lets his lips brush over your ear, lets his hand lessen ever so slightly so that your main focus is his words.

“You just looked good enough to eat when you know you’re beneath me. When you know how dangerous I am.”

He pulls back and assesses the look on your face. “Makes you look good enough to eat.”

And without further ado he lowers his hand and starts rubbing his alit palm on your clothed pussy, his erection getting harder as your screams wilt into whines.

Your legs flail uselessly as he burns a hole through your pants and his fingers hook aside the band of your panties.

Bakugo thrusts his hips forwards and grinds his straining cock on your moist lips, taking in your blubbers and teary eyes.

You can’t even speak, you can only cry out like a child as he thrusts harder and harder, so hard that your back hits the wall painful and the stall walls rattle behind you.

“You-pant-fucking scared-pant-now slut?” He rasps, his head bobbing on rhythm with yours as he practically lifts you off your toes to match his pace.

Your clit is caught between the fabric and rolled cruelly pleasurable as his tip leaks precum, staining your own panties in the process.

With your attention rapt on his now-uncovered dick sliding in and out of your folds, he takes this opportunity to take his other hand off your neck and blast the wall next to your face.

The second you open your mouth in shock as bits of tile rain down on your face he slams his steaming palm over your lips, burning the soft flesh as you weep openly.

He sets off two more near your sides and another above your head, his own face aligned right in front of yours so you can see the mean smile on his face all the while he sets your heart racing at an alarming speed.

When the smoke clears and you can start feeling glass and tile imprint on your once-smooth face, he positions his dick up so that it prods at your hole and yanks your hair back.

His eyes practically glow with the mini fires preserved in the walls with his blasts, the impact of the air rushing around him makes his hair even spikier, his body is taunt and even more imposing than before.

His teeth gleam with the orange and red light next to you. His chest doesn’t heave, because he’s at ease with your terror.

“You think you know fear?”

With one swift movement he shoves up into you, but this time he doesn’t cover your mouth.

“You haven’t met me truly yet.”

[redrobin-detective]

love language

“Ben,” the voice said softly, “wake up.” It was familiar in a way Ben couldn’t put his finger on. 

“No, mom,” Ben groaned, “five more minutes.”

“Not Mother,” the voice said with an amused huff. “Been longer than five minutes, worried now,” it continued on awkwardly. Ben frowned, confused by the situation. He opened his eyes and sat up to assess what was going on. At least that was what he tried to do.

“Woah,” he gasped as he found he couldn’t move much at all. He didn’t really have sensation or form, there was nothing around him to see and no eyes he could use to see anything with. Ben felt like his brain was spread thin, like cream cheese on a bagel, making every thought feel strange and disconnected. “Where am I?”

“Safe,” the voice soothed and Ben couldn’t help but believe. “Always safe with me. We’re away from attack now, recover here for Grandpa Max or Cousin Gwen to find us.”

“Us?” Ben fumbled as he added up the words in his head. “Wait, you’re the Omnitrix, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” the voice - which now that he was listening Ben recognized as his own just a slightly different pitch and intonation - said happily. “And you are Master, Ben Tennyson.” 

“So wait, am I inside the watch?” Ben asked. That would explain his lack of a body, his whole brain was just floating around inside the alien device. It was weird and a bit scary, no wonder Ghostfreak didn’t like it. “Are you in my body?”

“Sorry,” the Omnitrix said almost apologetically, “was necessary. You were unconscious, your life threatened. Had to access your nervous system to get you to safety. Switch back now?”

“No wait, not yet, I wanna talk some more,” Ben pleaded. “Could you always do this? I feel Azmuth would have shadowbanned me ages ago if he knew he could.”

“This was an emergency, we will always do what is necessary to save the Master’s life.” the Omnitrix responded, it’s words coming more naturally now that it was getting used to it. Ben could practically feel the device flicking through his knowledge language and vocabulary to better communicate. It should feel invasive and yet somehow wasn’t. “And Creator does not get an opinion on the Master.”

“Harsh,” Ben responded back, “what do you got against Azmuth? He did make you, helps fix you when I mess up even though he doesn’t have to.”

“Creator tried to separate us,” the Omnitrix bit back harshly. “He lied to Master, drugged you and attempted to remove me from your person. It did not ask either of us, simply decided a child could not handle the responsibility.”

“Woah,” Ben had gone to Galvan Prime many times, fallen asleep quite often. How many times had Azmuth tried to take the device from him?

“Only once,” the Omnitrix chimed in as if reading his thoughts which, oh, it probably was. Weird. “We shocked him to unconsciousness, to prevent him from trying again. We will not be separated.” 

“Protective, aren’t you?” Ben chuckled awkwardly. It was one thing to know Azmuth wanted to remove the watch, it was another to realize the watch wouldn’t let that happen.

“You are the Master,” it said fondly, “We love you, more than anything in the omniverse. We would watch it all burn if it meant keeping you safe.”

“What?” Ben asked flustered. His parents said they loved him constantly, same with Grandpa and Gwen. But this felt different. “Why? Like seriously, why me? I’m 16 years old and I’m just as much a mess as I was at 10.”

“We...” it paused as if thinking. There was a vague feeling of moving and Ben wondered what the watch was doing in his body. “We can’t explain, Master was just right.” 

“Many wanted to claim us,” the Omnitrix continued. “For many Earth years, we were pulled across the universe, searching for the perfect host. Creator grew tired of the debates, the lies, the deaths that followed and eventually abandoned us. It told us to choose wisely who could use our power. Kings and warriors and scientists demanded it and still we did not relent. None were worthy until you.”

“Seriously?” Ben questioned, “I was like a C student with unmanaged ADHD and about 4 complexes stuffed in a trench coat. Plus we met on accident, Xylene was trying to send you to Grandpa.”

“We like Grandpa Max,” the watch hummed, “but he is too much of solider. Sometimes he even forgets your his family. When the pod opened and we scanned you, we only found your curiosity and wonder. You were the first being to look upon us without ulterior motives. It was, nice.”

“I get that,” Ben mumbled to himself, more than used to everyone in his life expecting something or other from him. 

“We, too, were curious about you. Creator did not add human DNA in our storage. He only cared for relevant species at the time, Earth and it’s people were as alien to us as we were to you.”

“Is that why you latched on?” Ben asked again. 

“Partially, we knew were under attack and needed some manner of escape. It wasn’t going to be forever but we found we liked you; your bravery, your creativity, your love... it inspired us. You went from Host to Master and we bonded more permanently.”

“Huh,” Ben said thoughtfully. “I never really realized you were alive, that you chose me.” He chuckled sadly, “I turned out to be kind of a disappointment, huh?” 

“No,” the watch responded forcefully, enough to startle Ben out of his dark thoughts. “We love you, all of you. All your successes and failures, flaws and strengths, we love them all. We are one in the same, bonded in entirety. We will spend the rest of your days together and when your natural death comes, we will die too. There will be no Master after Ben.”

“So even when I’m just messing around...” Ben asked, changing topics from that heavy comment.

“You taught us how to play and we learned,” The Omnitrix teased. “You ask for Humongosaur too much though, we can have our own fun.”

“Oh so you’re the reason I always get the wrong alien,” Ben laughed. “You’re gonna get me killed one day!”

“Never,” the Omnitrix said warmly but with a steely protectiveness in there. “We will always protect you.”

“Hmm, I guess so,” Ben hummed. “What’s going out in the real world?”

“The battle is over as far as we can see. No sign of Cousin Gwen, Friend Kevin or Partner Rook. Grandpa Max was still in the satellite orbiting the planet last we heard. Do you wish to return now that the danger has passed?”

“Nah, not yet,” Ben sighed, enjoying a few minutes without someone needing him. “I know my body is in safe hands. Tell me more about some of the bozos who tried to wear you.”

“Aurius the Magnificent was one of the more annoying,” the Omnitrix said in the tone Ben used when he was feeling petty. “Just put me on and demanded that I chose him. He did it in front of his whole court and was so frustrated when I would not attach. His concubines laughed at him.”

“Oh man, how embarrassing,” Ben cackled. He let go of his worries, of his responsibilities, of everything and just basked in the familiar tones and the omnipresent love around him. 

[waitimcomingtoo]

Red

Pairing: Arvin Russel x Reader

Warnings: fighting, swearing, southern dialect (not really a warning lol)

Masterlist

“Hey Arvin.” Leonora smiled as she climbed into her brothers car. “Sorry it took so long. I got my dress caught on a locker.”

“I don’t mind waiting, long as those hillbilly boys ain’t bothering you.” Arvin stated in his low southern drawl.

“They left me alone today thanks to Y/n.” Leonora sighed in content as she situated her bible on her lap.

“Y/n?” Arvin furrowed his eyebrows. “Who’s that?”

As if on cue, you opened the back door of Arvin’s car and got into the backseat.

“Hi.” You waved at the two of them with a cheerful smile. “Sorry I’m late.”

Arvin looked at you in the rear view mirror and cleared his throat, nervously taking off his baseball cap and smoothing his hair down before looking away. You had your hair in banana curls that came to your shoulders, the front pinned back to give a better view of your face. Your cherry red lips matched your skirt, which was a nice contrast to your bright white blouse. Arvin was taken aback by the girl in his backseat, feeling like you were much too pretty to be in his beat up old car. For the first time in his life, he cared about his appearance, fumbling nervously with the brim of his hat.

“There she is.” Leonora looked back at you. “This is my friend Y/n. She’s gonna come with me to visit momma today.”

“Nice to meet you. Awful nice of you to drive us. I don’t know anybody with a car.” You spoke with excitement, as if being in Arvin’s old car was a fancy excursion. He held eye contact with you in the mirror, nodded at you to acknowledge your greeting.

“Nice to meet you too. Name’s Arvin.” He tilted his hat to you. “You have somebody buried up there too?”

“Kinda. My dog is buried under the big oak tree in the back.” You explained. “It’s her birthday today.”

“We’re gonna say a prayer for Bessie and momma. We won’t be too long.” Leonora told him as he started the car.

“Bessie?” He wondered, looking to her for answers. The name ignited nostalgia in him for a song he had never told anyone about.

“That was my dogs name.” You said, a light flush appearing on his cheeks as you spoke directly to him.

“Nice name.” He commented, thinking of his dog Jack. “What breed?”

“Jack russel.” You answered, as if you read him mind.

“She likes Russel’s.” Leonora commented, causing you to jokingly slap her on the shoulder. Arvin’s jaw tightened as he looked at you in the mirror again, curious to know what his sister meant by that.

“Shut up. Least I’m not crushing on a preacher.” You playfully teased her.

“Just teasing.” She laughed as you pulled up to the church. “You can park here, Arvin. We don’t mind the walk.”

“Thanks for driving us, Arvin.” You smiled brightly at him. He finally turned to look at you, face softening when his eyes met yours.

“No trouble missus.” He nodded curtly at you, fighting the urge to break his permanent frown with a smile.

“See you later.” You waved goodbye to him as you left the car, linking your arm through Lenora’s once you were out. Despite your back being to him, he waved back, blowing out a nervous breath as he watched you leave. He wasn’t one to have his head turned by pretty girls, his grandmother worried if he even cared for girls at all, but something about you left a pink tint in his cheeks. He looked at his backseat where you had been, smiling a little at the thought of you. The smell of you flowery perfume lingered in his car, replacing his usual smell of cigarette smoke. It was a nice and welcomed change, one he wouldn’t mind getting used to.

Before long, Arvin heard a knock on his window. He looked up and saw you holding your book bag over your head with an apologetic look of your face. He quickly rolled the window down, blinking a few times in surprise.

“Hi. Leonora wudden done yet and it’s starting to rain. You mind if I wait in here?” You asked like it was a tall order, but he was more than happy to fulfill it. He hadn’t even realized it had begun to drizzle, too wrapped up in that thought of you to notice his surroundings.

“Go ‘head.” He nodded as he unlocked the door. “You don’t have to sit in the back if you don’t want . Front is just fine.”

“Thank you.” You smiled at him as you sat in the passenger seat, shaking the raindrops out of your hair once inside. You tossed your bag over the seat and let it sit in the back before rubbing your arms from the chill of the rain. Arvin wordlessly took of his jacket and laid it over your shoulders when he saw the goosebumps on your arms. You smiled gratefully at him and held the jacket tighter around you, taking in the smell of it.

“Thank you. Rain came out of nowhere.” You laughed breathlessly as you looked at him. Too shy to speak, he gave you a nod in response and looked out the window.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” You asked suddenly, making him look at you again. You had a coy smile on your face, a smile he was growing awfully fond of.

“Don’t got much to say.” He shrugged, just happy you were taking an interest in him.

“Shame.” You chuckled shyly as you looked down at your red fingernails. “I would’ve liked to hear whatever you had to say.”

Arvin’s jaw dropped a little at your statement, immediately coughing to cover up his shocked expression. It was the first time he had ever been flirted with and it showed. He rubbed his hand on his shirt to smooth it as he shook his head, unsuccessful in hiding how flustered you made him.

“You mind if I smoke in here?” He changed the subject before he could embarrass himself further.

“Go ahead. I like the smell.” You shrugged as he pulled out his lighter.

“You do?” He looked at you curiously with his cigarette between his teeth. Most people he knew hated the smell, but you were continuously proving you weren’t like most people he knew.

“Yeah.” You nodded. “Reminds me of my daddy.”

“Me too.” He chuckled softly, finding himself on common ground with you once again. “You smoke?”

He held out his box to you to offer you a cigarette, making you bite your lip as you contemplated it.

“I never tried it before.” You spoke shyly, as if it was something to be embarrassed about.

“Here. I’ll give you a light.” Arvin smirked as he took a cigarette out of the box. You opened your mouth and held eye contact with you as he placed it between your lips, red lipstick staining the base. He lit his own cigarette before leaning forward and lighting yours with his own.

“It’s gonna burn at first, you might start coughing.” He warned you as you took a short puff.

“Whew.” You took it out of your mouth and coughed. “That’s something different.”

“You don’t have to finish it if you don’t like it.” He assured you as he took a long drag of his.

“Never said I didn’t like it.” You winked at him before taking another drag. Arvin looked away as he smiled, rubbing his tired eyes with his free hand.

“My grandmomma hates it when I smoke in here.” He began to open up to you. “Said it makes the seats smell like a factory.”

“Then I won’t tell her.” You drawled. “Secrets safe with me.”

Arvin found the confidence to move his arm to rest on the back of seat, almost close enough to be around you. You took the hint and scooted closer to him, excitement evident in your eyes. He smirked a little before he took his cigarette out of his mouth and blew the smoke in your face. You leaned into his cloud of smoke, holding his gaze as you inhaled. He leaned forward as well, planning to meet you in the middle until you heard the backdoor open.

“Hey guys.” Leonora bumbled as he got in the backseat. “Rain came out of nowhere, didn’t it?”

You and Arvin shared a disappointed look before your turned in your seat to look at Leonora.

“Hi, hun.” You greeted her kindly. “You all set?”

“Yeah. Thanks for coming with me.” She put her hand on your arm and squeezed it in appreciation.

“Anytime.” You told her, sneaking a glance at Arvin as he put his key in the ignition.

He kept quiet on the ride to your house after asking for your address, so you busted yourself by keeping light conversation with Leonora. You didn’t live too far from the church and found yourself in your drive way sooner than you’d like. You unbuckled your seat belt and collected your books, looking at Arvin wistfully before getting out.

“Thank you for driving me home, Arvin.” You thanked him. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“A lady should never walk alone. Specially not in the rain.” He nodded curtly. “Here, I’ll walk you to the door.”

“Are you sure it’s no trouble?” You gazed at him innocently through your lashes. You wanted him to walk you to the door, you just didn’t want him to know that.

“No trouble at all, doll.” He assured you as he got out. You said goodbye to Leonora before Arvin opened your door and helped you out.

“If your grandmomma don’t like the smell, maybe we could smoke outside sometime.” You suggested as you took slow steps to your front door, coming up with any way you could think of to see him again.

“I got the feeling you didn’t like it all the much.” He chuckled as he fidgeted with his cap.

“I could learn to.” You said, almost sadly as you looked at him. You stopped once you got to your front door, silently sliding his jacket off your shoulders and giving it back to him.

“How about we do something else? Something you like to do.” He suggested as he accepted the jacket. Your lips curved into a smile when he showed the same interest in you as you had in him.

“I’m pretty boring, Arvin.” You shrugged shyly as you dug your toe in the dirt. “Alls I do is go to church and do schoolwork.”

“You ain’t bored me yet.” He smirked as he shoved his hands in his pockets. You bit your tongue between your teeth and giggled, timidly tucking your hair behind your ear.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Arvin.” You held your hand out to him for him to shake. He took your hand and kissed your knuckles, never breaking eye contact.

“See you. You have a nice night now.”

You watched him the whole way back to his car, pressing a cold hand to your burning cheek to calm yourself down. Only once he and Leonora had pulled away did you go inside, leaning your back against the door and sighing once you did.

“How come I never seen you with her before?” Arvin asked his sister as he drove towards their house. He knew his sister didn’t have many friends, of any for the matter. And he definitely would’ve remembered seeing you before, considering the way you were stuck in his brain like an old song.

“We just met today. Chuck Greenwood was picking on me this morning but she stopped him. She told me she saw me at the graveyard every day and asked if she could tag alone to see her dog. She’s nice, isn’t she? My first friend.” Leonora smiled proudly as she brushed off her bible, never being one for making friends.

“She’s alright.” Arvin played down his feelings towards you. “How’d she stop Greenwood?”

“She asked him to take her to the drive in. I never seen a boy look so red.” Leonora bounced in excitement. “He forgot all about me and started following her around all day. Shame though, I heard him telling people he had his way with her behind the school busses.”

“That true?” Arvin clenched his jaw, feeling white hot jealousy corse through his veins.

“Course not. Shes not like that.” Leonora said, giving Arvin some peace of mind.

“Good.” He grumbled, turning the corner as his car rattled.

“She’s so pretty.” Leonora gushed. “She told me she could do my makeup for church this Sunday if I like. You think I should?”

“I don’t know. What does the Bible say about lipstick?” Arvin cracked one of his rare jokes.

“Nothing.” Leonora rolled her eyes. “She looks so pretty with it though. Reminds me of momma.”

“She did look pretty.” Arvin mumbled. “Nice color on her.”

“You like her, don’t you?” Leonora’s jaw dropped as her brother showed an emotion other than anger for the first time.

“You mind your own business now. Was just being nice.” Arvin stated as he looked at her in the mirror.

“You ain’t nice to nobody.” Leonora scoffed. “You like her.”

“Shut up.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t tell her nothing.” Leonora smiled in satisfaction.

“You better not. Now hush up before I make you walk home.” Arvin warned.

“Just saying.” Leonora added slyly. “I think she likes you too.”

Arvin looked at her in his mirror to see if she was serious, and she was. He grunted and adjusted his cap, hoping his sister wouldn’t see the smile on his face.

~

“Can you pass me the sugar?” You asked Leonora in her kitchen the following day.

“Here you go.” She handed you the bag. “Thank you for helping me and grandmomma. I don’t know what she was thinking trying to make all this food on her own.”

“I’m happy to help.” You shrugged as you measured the sugar in a cup. “I love cooking. Makes the whole house smell good.”

“Well I appreciate it anyhow.” Leonora smiled at you as she poked your side.

“Something smells good.” Arvin announced as he entered the kitchen, stopping in his tracks when he saw you. “Hi, Y/n.”

“Hi Arvin. We’re making a pie for tonight. You wanna help us?” You turned to face him while resting the bowl of ingredients on your hip. You had an apron loosely tied around your waist and a streak of flour going across one cheek, looking as beautiful as ever.

“Not much of a baker.” He shrugged with a soft smile. “‘Less you like eggshells in your crust.”

“Could you set the table, then? 5 places, Y/n is staying.” Leonora asked him over his shoulder, missing the hopeful look on his face when she mentioned you staying.

“Hope you don’t mind.” You smiled apologetically at him while stirring the bowl with a large wooden spoon.

“Don’t mind at all.” He nodded, moving towards you to get the plates out of the cupboard behind you. “Pardon me.”

“Sorry bout that.” You stepped out of his way, shoulders brushing as you moved.

“No apology needed.” He shook his head as he collected the plates. “See you at dinner.”

You waved to him with your free hand as he left the kitchen and headed towards the table.

“He likes you, you know.” Leonora instigated once her brother was out of earshot.

“Don’t be silly. That boy dudden like anything in this town.” You chuckled, flustered at her implication. “We’re all just something for him to scowl at.”

“He does too.” She insisted. “I seen the honey glow on his cheeks when I mention your name. He thinks you’re pretty.”

“He said that?” You gasped, making Leonora laugh in delight.

“Uh huh.” She poked your side again. “Told me himself on the car ride home. You should’ve seen him, all red and blushin’. I bet he’ll put his plate next to you tonight.”

“If he does, I don’t want you making eyes at me all night.” You teased as you playfully bumped her out of your way with your hip.

“I won’t.” She said innocently as she picked up the basket of bread. “I’ll gonna bring this to the table. Maybe I’ll see your boyfriend while I’m there.”

You hit her on the butt with a dish towel for her comment, her laugh echoing through the house as she went to the table. You began to hum the tune of the Little Bessie song you knew from childhood as you poured the pie filling into the crust.

“My momma used to sing that song.” Arvin’s voice came from behind you, making you jump a little. “It was one of the last things I ever heard from her.”

He joined you at the counter and gave you a half smile, wordlessly holding the pie tin steady as you poured.

“I was awful sorry to hear about what happened to your family. Leonora told me, hope that’s all right.” You spoke softly as you looked at him with sympathetic eyes.

“S’all right.” He shrugged, signaling that he didn’t want to get into it. “She’s told me a thing or two bout you as well.”

“Like what?” You wondered as you took out the uncooked strips of pie crust.

“Like you telling Chuck Greenwood you’d let him take you to the drive in.” Arvin stated, a mixture of disappointment and anger hardening the boyish features of his face.

“She told you that?” You asked in disbelief as you laid the strips in a delicate pattern.

“Yes ma’am. She also told me he started a rumor that the two of you meet up behind the school busses everyday, doing God knows what, after school. That true?” He asked roughly. Leonora has already told him it was false, but he needed to hear it from you.

“No.” You laughed like it was absurd, popping the bubble of jealously that had formed in Arvin’s stomach since he first heard it. “He can say what he wants. Everyone knows he’s full of it.“

“Well if that’s how you feel, why are you going on a date with him?” Arvin gripped the counter and hunched over as he stared at you. You cracked a smile, seeing what Leonora meant by all the times she called him overprotective.

“Oh, Arvin.” You giggled, finishing the pie crust. “I’m not going.”

“But you said yes.” He stood you straight, his face twisted in confusion.

“I know. I said yes so when I don’t show up, it’ll hurt him like he hurt Leonora. Maybe then he’ll realize it’s not nice to mess with people.” You explained as you put the pie in the oven. Arvin was taken aback by your reasoning, standing there dumbstruck as you set a timer. He always thought it was his job and his job only to protect his sister, only to find out there was somebody else looking out for her too. The boundaries of his protection ended where the schoolyard started, and that had always been something that troubled him. Now that he knew he could count on you to keep an eye on her, he felt a weight taken off his shoulders.

“You let that candy ass talk about you like that to protect my sister?” He asked lowly as he took a step towards you. He brought his calloused thumb to your cheek and and wiped the flour from your face. Your breath hitched in your throat as you gazed into his dark and tired eyes.

“She’s my friend.” You stammered. “She’d do it for me.”

Arvin’s lips tweaked into a smile, approving of your answer. He dragged his thumb down your face, pulling your bottom lip down for a moment before it bounced back.

“If that Chuck Greenwood bothers you again, you tell me. All right, doll?” He murmured.

“Why? What are you gonna do about it?” You tilted your head and gave him a sultry smile.

“Kill him.” Arvin said simply, making your heart stop.

“I’m only kidding.” He followed up. “I’ll just set him straight, is all.”

“Thank you.” You said under your breath, too starstruck to speak at full volume.

“Speak up now, darling. Don’t mumble.” He commanded you. You cleared your throat and stood up straighter, hoping that would give the facade of confidence.

“I said thank you.” You repeated.

“No need to thank me. Any friend of my sisters is a friend of mine.” He tipped his hat to you and backed away, grabbing a dish towel to clean his hands.

“So you and I are friends now?” You asked, disappointment making a home in his heart now that he wasn’t in your personal space.

“Don’t have too many of em.” He shrugged. “One more cant hurt.”

He went to leave the kitchen so you quickly untied your apron and followed him.

“Since I’m not going to the drive in, I have nothing to do Friday night.” You began, sighing ostentatiously.

“Oh, yeah?” He smirked at you, taking the hint.

“Yeah.” You continued your charade of looking forlorn. “Leonora has bible study so I’ll be all alone.”

Arvin stopped in the hallway, taking your arm gently between his hand and turning to towards him.

“I could take you somewhere, if you’d like.” He offered as if he had just thought of it, but it had been weighing on his mind since your first encounter.

“I would like that very much.” You nodded, biting back a smile.

“Is it all right if I sit next to you tonight? Uncle Earskell chews pretty loud, it grosses me out.” He chuckled shyly as he scuffed his shoes on the floor.

“Sure.” You giggled, secretly thrilled that Leonora had been right. “I promise I don’t chew that loud.”

Arvin looked up and smiled softly at you, shrugging a little as he scratched his nose.

“I don’t supposed I’d mind all that much if you did.” He said quietly and you understood what he was implying.

“Speak up now, darling.” You repeated his own words. “Don’t mumble.”

Finally, you got a toothy smile out of the stolid boy. He grinned from ear to ear at you rendition of what he said before, feeling oddly proud that it had resonated with you. Before he could act on his feelings, Leonora appeared in the hallway.

“There you two are.” She sighed. “Pie is just about done. Y’all ready to eat?”

You and Arvin nodded repeatedly, both hoping she hadn’t seen anything before she interrupted it. You followed her to the dinning table, blushing when you felt Arvin’s hand on your back to guide you.

~

Friday night, right on time, Arvin pulled up to your house. He didn’t strike you as the kind to be punctual, in fact, he normally wasn’t. He just knew his reputation proceeded him and he didn’t want you thinking he didn’t care. He did care, very much in fact. He cared so much that when he saw you coming out of your house in high waisted shorts and a strapless top, he forgot how to breathe. You had a bandana tying your hair up, red like the color of your lipstick. To Arvin, you looked like a dream come true.

“Hello miss.” He greeted you as you climbed in his front seat. “Where to?”

“Anywhere you wanna take me.” You beamed as you buckled your seatbelt. He grinned wickedly as he started the car, feeling the wind whip through his hair as he pulled off.

He made small talk with you as he drove to a nearby lake, telling you about his new job laying down tar. Though you didn’t care much about the particular subject, you hung on to every word. You got the impression that he had a lot to say at all times, he just didn’t think anybody cared to listen. It wasn’t long before you pulled up to a still body of water, parking right before the shore.

“I like coming up here when the weathers nice.” Arvin told you as he kept his eyes straight ahead. “It’s quiet.”

“People who look for quiet places usually have pretty loud thoughts. What are you thinking bout?” You asked as you turned your body to face him and leaned your head on your hands. Arvin chuckled and fidgeted with his cap, looking anywhere but you.

“Only thing I’m thinking bout right now are those little shorts of yours.” He answered honestly, making you flush.

“You like em?” You smiled as you smoothed your hand over your shorts. “My momma made em. She works at the fabric shop in town.”

“She did a good job.” He finally looked at you. “Look real good on you.”

“What about you? Do you ever wear anything but white shirts and beat up old baseball caps?” You teased as you shook the brim of his cap.

“No ma’am.” He pursed his lips to fight off a smile. “Can’t say I do.”

“Good. Cause I ain’t seen anybody rock a jean jacket as good as you.” You told him. “Looks real good on you too.”

“Why, thank you.” He nodded his head before looking out his window so you wouldn’t see him turning red.

“You blushing?” You laughed, cupping his chin in your hands and making him look at you.

“I blush when pretty girls say I look good.” He defended himself as he playfully shooed your hands away.

“So Leonora was right.” You bit your tongue in amusement.

“About?”

“She said you thought I was pretty.” You sighed dramatically as you checked out your manicure. “Didn’t believe it until now.”

Arvin reached forward and took your chin between his rough fingers, holding it in place so he could get a long look at you. You sucked in a sharp breath as you held his gaze, entirely under his spell now.

“Now how could someone as beautiful as you not believe it?” He drawled, eyes darting between your eyes and your lips.

“I guess I don’t hear it all that much.” You whispered, not wanting to disrupt the moment.

“Let me ask you something, doll.” He began. “Anybody ever kissed you before?”

“No.” You shook your head as much as you could with his hand still attached.

He half smirked. “You ever want somebody to?”

“Not until now.” You breathed.

“Me too.” He gulped before leaning in the rest of the way. His hand was sprawled over your cheek, big enough to cover the entire side of your face as he kissed you hungrily. You accidentally knocked his hat off as you grabbed his face, trying to get as close to him as possible. He laughed as it tumbled onto the seat before reconnecting his lips to yours. He pulled you into his lap and pulled the banana out of your hair, immediately tangling his hands in your messy curls. He brought the banana around your neck and used it to pull you closer to him, if that was possible. You gripped the seat behind him, leaving crescent moon marks where your nails dug into the leather. He pulled away only to catch his breath, leaning his head back in bliss as he panted heavily.

“You gon’ be the death of me, darling.” He groaned as he blew out a breath towards the roof of his car. You took his face between his hands and tilted it down so he was looking at you, brushing your thumbs along his ever bruised cheekbones.

“Well then I hope you rest in peace.” You smirked before kissing him again.

~

The memory of your night in Arvin’s left a lingering grin on your face all weekend, still present on Monday during school. You walked with Leonora to her brothers car once the school day had ended, barely able to hear her over your loud thoughts of Arvin.

“Shoot.” You stopped in your tracks on the way out the school doors. “Forgot my math book.”

“You want me to wait?” Leonora asked kindly.

“No, it’s fine.” You waved your hand in dismissal. “I’ll be quick.”

“Alright then. See you in the car.” She waved goodbye, despite knowing she’ll be seeing you again in a few minutes. You waved back before heading to your locker and collecting your book. Since you were closer to the back of the school, you went out the back doors to walk around. Your heartbeat quickened as you clutched your books to your chest, knowing you’d be seeing Arvin in just a few moments. Your state of bliss was interrupted by someone putting their hand over your mouth from behind and yanking you backwards. All your books fell to the ground as you were harshly pushed up against the brick wall of the school building. Your attempt to scream was muffled by someone’s hand over your mouth, so you just shut your eyes in fear.

“There you are, you little whore. You missed our date on Friday.” Chuck Greenwood said through gritted teeth as he pinned you against the wall. Your eyes flew opened upon identifying your attacker and you impulsively bit down on his hand. He yelped in pain and let go of you, shaking his hand out to relieve the sting.

“Ow! You bitch.” He barked and shoved you again.

“Get off of me.” You shoved him back. “I’m no whore. I just didn’t want to slum it with a no good hilly billy like you. I had better things to do.”

This really set Chuck off as he grabbed your face and held you against the wall, restricted your breathing with his grip.

“Oh yeah? Like what? Know you wasn’t working. I drove by all the most popular street corners but I didn’t see you.” He growled as he got in your face. “Now I’m gonna get what I wanted, and you’re gonna keep quiet.”

His hands moved to your waist and you gasped in fear.

“I wouldn’t if I were you.” You blurted to distract him. “And for your information, I was out with an actual gentlemen.”

“Who?” He took the bait and tilted his head.

“If you’d like to meet him, he’s right behind you.” You smiled a little, gasping for air when he let go of your face.

“What?” As soon as Chuck turned around, his face connected with Arvin’s fist. You couldn’t help but cover your mouth and laugh at the fact he practically walked into the punch, knowing that had to hurt ten times as bad. Chuck hadn’t yet recovered from the first punch when Arvin swung again, knocking him in the nose this time. Chuck covered his bleeding nose with his hand and looked up in time to be kicked in the stomach by Arvin. He fell to the ground and Arvin knelt down beside him, gripping his face the way he had just been gripping yours to make him look at him.

“You think picking on girls is fun? Huh?” Arvin yelled when Chuck didn’t answer the first question. “You think making em fear you makes you less pathetic?”

“Get off of me.” Chuck cried as he tried to roll away. “You’re crazy.”

Arvin grabbed him by the shirt with both fists, lifting him a little off the ground.

“You listen to me.” He growled. “You’re gonna find everyone you told about you and Y/n and tell em you were lying. Tell em you made it up and you’re sorry. You hear me?”

“Yes.” Chuck whimpered. Arvin pulled him up by his shirt and pushed him forward, towards you.

“Now get your ass up and apologize.” Arvin demanded as Chuck stumbled towards you.

“What? I didn’t even get to do anything.” Chuck turned around to complain to Arvin. Arvin raised his eyebrows in amusement before grabbing Chuck by the back of his neck and getting in his face.

“I said apologize.” He bellowed. “You apologize for spreading lies about her, being aggressive with her, calling her a whore, and you damn best apologize for that comment right there. If you know what’s good for you, you won’t make me wait.”

He lifted Chucks head up and forced him to look at you, tightened his grip when he hesitated.

“Ow.” He whined and looked at you. “I’m sorry.”

“For?” Arvin yelled in his ear.

“I’m sorry for calling you a whore.” Chuck apologized.

“And?” Arvin continued.

“And for telling people we did stuff behind the school busses.” Chuck added, flinching ad Arvin leaned in again.

“What else?” He snarled right in his ear.

“And for grabbing you. Honest to God, I’m sorry.” He cried loudly. “I did it. Let me go.”

Arvin let go of his neck and aggressively turned him around to face him as he gripped his shoulders.

“If I ever see you around my sister or my girl again, I’ll kill you. You hear me?” Arvin shouted as he pointed a finger in Chucks face.

“Yes sir. I mean, yes.” Chuck stammered, eyes full of fear.

“Now get out of here.” Arvin shoved him and Chuck went running. Arvin watched him go, not satisfied until he was out of sight. His breathing returned to normal as a sudden flush came over his face, realizing he just lost his temper in front of you. He looked at you timidly, worried you’d be scared by what you had seen. To Arvin’s surprise, you had a dopey smile on your face as you approached him.

“Your girl, huh?” You giggled as you took his hand in yours, examining it for serious injuries. The handkerchief in your pocket made itself useful as you used it to clean his wounds.

“Sorry you had to see that.” He spoke softly as he searched your face for signs of regret. “He won’t be messing with you no more.”

“Don’t be sorry. Nobody ever got their knuckles bloody for me before.” You brought his hand to your lips, kissing his red knuckles as you looked in his eyes.

“I’ll get em as bloody as I have to to keep you safe.” He promised. “You’re my girl now. Nothings gonna hurt you again.”

“I like it when you call me your girl.” You smiled as you slowly intertwined your hands with his, careful of his cuts.

“Well good.” Arvin put his hand on the back of your head and pulled it towards him, giving you a kiss on the forehead. “Cause I like saying it.”

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[vendettaparker]

What a Dumbass [P.P]

Summary: Peter’s mistake leads to you being injured. 

Pairing: Peter Parker x Avenger!Reader

Word Count: 2.1K

Warnings: Swearing, like a substantial amount, suggestive content kinda, gun shot wound, and flustered!Peter 

a/n: I really liked writing this. I couldn’t stop laughing at some of the dialogue. and the mistake peter made to cause the whole set-up of the story is so funny to me. like i can legit see him making this mistake. also, i’m gonna make a permanent tag list, so please send me an ask or message me if you want to be on it! <3

        ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

     Peter Benjamin Parker is a fucking dumbass. All the time mostly. Most of the time his dumbassery leads to a lot of annoyed avengers, a lot of clean up, and a lot of spilled secrets. Hence why like three people who definitely shouldn’t know he is Spider-man do. But every once in while his idiocy can lead to an unexpected happily ever after, at least until he fucks something up again. 

     This particular fuck up has yet to be determined as a happy accident or your new 13th reason. It all started when that spider bitch decided it’d be a good idea to watch some explicit content on his laptop. Now, this wasn’t particularly an unknown activity for him to partake in, since we all know about his little impromptu purchase in Germany, but unbeknownst to this dork, his aunt was in the next room over working on a tear in his suit. And to make matters worse, he accidentally just so happened to purchase a subscription using said aunt’s credit card that was pre-setup in his laptop. 

     Now May is a very understanding woman. Very sex-positive, very loving, and inclusive; the whole shebang really. So when she happened to catch this idiot doing what he most certainly shouldn’t have been doing, she wasn’t mad, just thoroughly disturbed. Then she got the notification about the purchase. That was a bit more taboo in her eyes. So Peter was grounded from patrolling for a week and his laptop privileges were revoked for two weeks. That was fucking merciful compared to what this whole fuck up put you through. 

     At the school that following Monday, Peter spent the whole first, second, fourth, and lunch period trying to convince you to take over patrol for a week. Sure, you could definitely handle it, not to pat yourself on the back or anything, but you were significantly stronger than Peter, so it shouldn’t have been that big of a deal. But you just really didn’t want to. Peter had his ‘Peter Tingle’ to help him find danger, while you’d actually have to look. It just seemed harder for you to do than it would be for him. 

     “Why are you even grounded?” You sighed after Peter's 3rd time bringing up the possibility of you patrolling for him at lunch. 

     “He got caught watching and buying p—” Ned started laughing.

     “Ned! Shut up!” Peter yelled, slapping his hand over his friend's mouth. 

     “How has your identity not been leaked yet, Jesus Christ.” You mumbled, giggling. You flipped through your chemistry textbook, writing notes to prepare for Friday’s quiz. 

     “Yeah, and how come you didn’t know May was home?” Ned pushed Peter’s hand away. “Where was your ‘Peter Tingle’ then?” 

     “She’s not a threat, dude. But shit, I really wish my tingle detected her.” Peter groaned, a deep blush covering his features. “Please (Y/N). I really, really don’t wanna leave Queens without any protection for a week. I’ll try to convince May to let me go out on the weekend, so really it’s only five days.” 

     “I guess I could help you out, but you owe me. I should really spend this time studying for my chemistry test. Iron bitch is gonna have my head on a spike if I fail another chem test.” You said, highlighting more notes. 

     “Okay! Delmar’s for a week, anytime, anywhere.” Peter said putting his hand out for you to shake. 

     “Make it a month, I know my worth.” 

     Peter hesitated, but eventually gave in, “Fine, but you better do a good job.” 

        ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

     So now you were stuck patrolling from 8:30 to 11:00 every night. It wasn't bad per se, and nothing too eventful happened. You stopped a small convenience store robbery, gave a few kids some tips at the skatepark, ran some errands for an old lady, and saved a cat from a tree. Thursday night was the real kicker though. Your night had barely started and you accidentally got in the middle of a drug deal between some smaller mob and a real messed-up junkie. This should’ve been an easy takedown, only six people in total that needed to be taken out, but like was mentioned before, you don’t have Peter’s goddamn, stupid fucking tingle. So after taking all six of the perps out you started to walk away after alerting the police. Unfortunately, one of those assclowns had come to, and grabbed the gun a few feet away from him and shot it towards you. The bullet went through your thigh and out the other side. Screaming in shock and pain, you used your own throwing knives and knocked the gun out of the mobster’s hand, then you proceeded to knock him out again with a few good punches to his noggin, maybe a few more, just for good measure. But this wound would need to be cleaned and stitched up. And if you went back to the Tower, Steve and Tony would give you an earful about “watching your surroundings” and “being more careful”. So in a moment of pure adrenaline and desperation, you texted Peter. 

You: are you home

Spider-Dork: Yeah, why?

You: i’ll be there in 5 

Spider-Dork: What? Why? Is everything ok?

Spider-Dork: Hello??? (Y/N)????

(Y/N) declined (3) calls 

Spider-Dork: Answer my calls idiot. 

     Peter’s texting and constant calling was cut short from a crash in his room. 

     “(Y/N)? Is that you?” Peter called from the couch in the living room. 

     “Yeah, can I borrow a t-shirt?” You called, fumbling around accidentally knocking over another lamp. “Oops, sorry!”

     “Uh, yeah sure. In the closet!” Peter called back pausing his show, prepared to make his way over to you. 

     “And some sweats?” You called back, blood dripping all over Peter’s hardwood floor. 

     Peter got up to make his way to his room. “Yeah, second drawer on the left side.” He said as he made his way to his bedroom. Knowing you were in there, most likely changing, he knocked. “You decent?” 

     “Nope, not really. I need a pair of your boxers too, though.” You called through the door, now seeing that the blood splattered on your underwear as well. “Also, bring the first aid kit when you come in.” 

     ‘What? Why?” Peter said in a more stressed tone, pushing his way into the room, completely ignoring the fact that you were very much not decent. “Holy shit.” He said seeing you out of your suit, in your bra and underwear, blood dripping down your right leg, pooling onto the floor. Your hand, red and bloody, pressed onto what he only assumed was the wound and blood seeping through your fingers. 

     “Bring a mop too.” 

     Peter ran out of the room to grab the first aid kit, plus some extra bandages and a cleaning solution. When he came back in he found you in the same state, standing in the middle of the room, eyebrows furrowed in pain, clutching your right thigh. 

     “What the hell happened?” He gasped, motioning for you to sit on his bed. You hesitated, not wanting to mess up his sheets. He seemed to notice your thought process quickly adding, “I have to wash my sheets anyway.” 

     “Gross.” You mumbled, scrunching up your face in disgust and finally settling down on his bed. 

     “Move your hand and tell me what happened,” Peter said kneeling on the floor next to the bed, positioned right at your hips. You removed your hand, bloody instantly seeping onto the bed. Peter winced looking at the hole in your leg, quickly grabbing the peroxide and dumping heaps of it onto your leg, much to your distaste. 

     “I got shot.” You stated as he cleaned the blood around the hole with alcohol pads.

     “Well, no shit. I mean by who and how?” 

     “Mobster. Sneaky bitch got me while I was walking away.” You winced as Peter inspected the wound further. 

     “I need to stitch this up. Did it go all the way through?” He said lifting your leg to look underneath for an exit wound. 

     “Yeah.” Peter found the exit wound and held your leg up with one hand, pouring peroxide on the back of your thigh with the other. 

     “You have to be more careful, (Y/N)! This looks really nasty.” Peter scolded, setting your leg back down and prepping the needle and sutures. “What if this was in your chest? Or—or if you didn’t get here in time? You could’ve bled out!” 

     “Well sorry that I don’t have your stupid tingle to help me out when I’m being fucking shot at!” You yelped, gripping the bedsheets. 

     “You don’t need spidey sense, you need fucking common sense,” Peter mumbled, stitching his first suture.

     “What the fuck did you just say?” You looked at him incredulously. 

     “I— uh, nothing.” Peter huffed, focusing back on stitching you up.

     “This is your all your fault, to begin with!” You accused, shifting uncomfortably, due to the needle constantly being stuck into your leg. “You’re the one that begged me to go on patrol for you! You’re the dumb bitch that got caught watc—” 

     “Ok! Shut up! For God’s sake, you’re never gonna let me live that down.” Peter groaned, finishing up the last stitch. “Flip over.” He commanded, pushing at the side of your waist to help with the movement. 

     “Well, it was fucking dumb. Don’t you check to make sure nobody’s home? God, we all know you’re a vocal bitch too.” You said, fully situated on your stomach. 

     “What the fuck is that suppose to mean!?” He gasped, prepping another needle. 

     “You’re a sensitive boy.” You shrugged, wincing when Peter started his next stitch. 

     “I-I am not sensitive! I’m emotionally and physically staunch!” He defended, going in for another stitch. 

     You just raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Sure, whatever you say, babe.” You winked at him, blowing an exaggerated kiss. 

     “You're a jerk,” Peter mumbled, finishing up his stitching job. “A jerk with a fucked up leg.” 

     You hummed, quite amused. Peter got up and started to collect his medical supplies. He shuffled out of the room to put everything away. When he returned you were trying to get up and walk, wincing at every slight movement. 

     “Here, let me just—” Peter lifted you up, bridal style. A small yelp coming from you when a sharp pain shot through your leg. “Sorry.”

     “It’s fine. Can you help me get dressed?” You said as he walked you over to his desk and set you down in his desk chair. 

     “Sure.” Peter blushed, painfully aware of your lack of clothes. He picked out some clothes from his closet and drawers. He helped you into them, wallowing in the uncomfortable silence, taking in each whimper and wince from you whenever he brushed against your thigh. 

     “Fuck, I’m so sorry.” He sighed after you were all dressed. “This is my fault.” 

     You looked at his distraught face, feeling bad for initially blaming him for the events of tonight. “No, Pete. It’s fine. I should’ve made sure all of the guys were knocked out.” You put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

     “No, I should’ve been more careful when I was watching that stuff. I have my spidey sense, I would’ve been able to avoid getting shot. It’s not your fault that you didn’t get bit by a radioactive spider.”

     “Pete, really, I’ll be better by next week anyway. It’s fine.” 

     Peter shook his head, sighing. “I just feel so bad, I shouldn’t have forced patrolling on you.” You hugged him and rubbed his back soothingly. “It’s my fault you got hurt.” 

     “Peter stop. It’s just an unfortunate accident.” You mumbled, hugging him closer. “It could’ve happened to anyone.”

     “But it didn’t happen to just anyone (Y/N), it happened to you. And I caused it. I-I don't know what I’d do if something ever happened to you. What if it was worse?”

     You sighed, pulling away from Peter and cupping his face, seeing the regret and shame pooling in his eyes. Without much thought, you pulled him closer, slowly connecting your lips in a sweet kiss. Truly getting lost in the feeling of his lips against yours, the feeling of perfection. 

     Peter’s eyes widened in shock for a moment, before he was kissing you back, reveling in the feeling he’s been dreaming about for months. You finally pulled away to catch your breath. Peter flushed at your actions, unable to stop the wide smile crossing his features. 

     “Sorry,” You mumbled sheepishly, “just needed to shut you up for a second.”

     “Maybe I should talk more, just to see what happens,” Peter smirked, pulling you in for another shorter, but just as sweet, kiss. 

     You hummed against his lips. “I really like you. Even when you're a dumbass.” You sighed against his lips.

     “The feeling is mutual.” 

     “Rude. I’m not a dumbass.” You gasped in faux offense. 

     “You’re the one with a bullet wound.” he deadpanned 

     “You’re the one who got caught watchin—”

     “(Y/N)!”