#accidental or not before they were ready alright. plus I got this scenario in my head and couldn't get it back out so

[sadserotonin]

[  INCOHERENT  ]: for whichever of the dummies you’d prefer

[  INCOHERENT  ]: while sick/feverish/intoxicated/otherwise incoherent, the sender tells the receiver that they love them.

Waiting for the best doctors in the country to be flown in specially to aid him should not have been such a grueling experience, but for Connor, it was hard to focus on much more than the bullet holes that had been ripped into him earlier that day. He hadn’t missed a beat between retaliating to the attack and settling himself somewhere safe to self-treat despite the tremble in his hand and the sweat sheening his forehead. There was something almost nostalgic about fashioning a tourniquet to save Edgar yet again, just in a different sense this time. But it was worth it now just as it had been then, and Connor made as much known.

Or at least he tried to. Further than spilling out in his native tongue, Connor’s words were fragmented at best, crammed between pained groans and involuntary chills. He wasn’t a man who easily reached for comfort but gripping Edgar’s hand seemed to ground his feverish skin from its boiling point, and he drank in the precious seconds he was spared to simply breathe. Losing the train of thought he was on a moment earlier, Connor found a moment of focus in the hazel of Edgar’s eyes to ask in English, “You’re okay, my love?” 

Whether he licked his lips from the unfamiliarity of the endearment or the faint metallic taste on them was unknown to even him. And though he waited for an answer to his misplaced worry, whatever Edgar provided was fleeting in the haze of his mind anyway. 

Connor knew very well that he was supposed to stay awake in these situations, but every last bit of strength left in him was busy relentlessly pressing his fingers against Edgar’s. He was tired. “Min kärlek…” he mumbled, belatedly realizing that he couldn’t expect Edgar to have actually retained any snippets of Swedish he’d playfully imparted in their sweeter, more relaxed moments between the sheets. “Min kärlek.”

His blink this time lingered longer than the last. As the darkness behind his lids beckoned quietly, he wondered, had he prefaced his question as well as he meant to? Had he reminded Edgar that he wasn’t to blame in any of this, reminded him why the outcome of Connor’s sacrifices were so important? Had he explained why he acted as he did with the right combination of syllables? The real important ones, those three foolish words that he’d never spoken to another soul before?

Connor would have to ask Edgar himself when he awoke. And he would wake, for leaving the man at his side alone was simply not an option. For now though, he would rest.  

[thewritetofreespeech]

Can you do a scenario Obey Me were MC has a accidental nip slip that she doesnt notice, but the brothers do.

For the sake of an even playing field, all 7 boys will be reacting to the same scenario: coming to wake MC up in the morning for school only for their titty to be half out.

Lucifer

His knock was polite, but stern. Three short raps, followed by a long pause, before he let himself in. “[Y/N], I have to insist you get up now. You will be late for classes.”

You groan and cruel further into yourself under the covers. Trying to hold on to your sleep, but it was already slipping away through your fingers. With a huff you uncoil yourself and come out from under the covers. “Alright. I’m up.” You announce. Awake but still dreamy eyed as you rubbed the sleep from them.

When your eyes refocus, you see Lucifer staring at you. His face it’s normal placid expression, but definitely staring. “What’s wrong?” You ask. Was your hair some sort of crazy way?

The demon smirked and walked over to you. You blush as he came close to your bed and bent over, rebuttoning your pajama top that had come open in the middle of the night and left your left side exposed. How embarrassing?!

“Perhaps I should come wake you up more often.” He said with a sultry smirk. “Or at least not on a day when you have school. Now, I must insist you get ready. Our model exchange student can’t be late for their day.” He gave you a peck on the cheek and saw his way out. You have to wonder if he was really going to ‘wake you up’ on Saturday…..

Mammon

The loud sound of your door being flung open startled you from your sleep, and practically out of bed. “Hey, hey, hey! Time to get up sleepy head!”

“Mammon!” You growl from under the covers. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“I came to wake you up. Lucifer told me to make sure you’re ready for school. Even Belphie beat you downstairs. Come on. Chop chop!”

You groan and fling your covers off. Sitting up to scratch your head. Hopefully your day was more peaceful after this.

“[Y-Y-Y/N]! What the hell?!” You look over at the demon who had gone from horribly confident to horribly red & stammering in a matter of moments. “Do you always sleep like that?!”

You look down, trying to see what the big deal was, and realizing your chest was exposed. “N-No! It just came off in my sleep! Who are you to judge anyway?! You sleep naked!”

“Yeah! But not with anyone around!”

“You’re not supposed to be around!” You pick up a pillow and toss it at him, which he easily dodged, before shouting, “get out!” The demon did as he was told and scampered off, like a rabbit with his tail on fire.

He avoided you for the rest of the day. Making eye contact but fervently darting his gaze away. Mammon finally came up to you after dinner to apologize, and promised that if he had to wake you up again, he would knock first.

Levi

You were dreaming about pancakes when there was a knock at your door. Quiet, at first. Almost like someone’s knuckles barely touched the door. Then they knocked again, seeming to realize that the first few knocks were no good, knocking with confidence.

“[Y/N]-chan? Are you awake?” You open your eyes from your blanket nest to see Levi poking his head in. “It’s time for school.”

“Oh…yeah…” You yawn after that. Cutting off whatever else you were going to say after that. You shouldn’t have let Levi talk you into watching an anime marathon with him. You’d only gone to sleep a few hours ago. “What time is it?”

The demon looked down at his watch while you got out of bed, and when he looked up his face was completely red.

“[Y-Y-Y/N]! Y-Your….! Ah! I’m so sorry!!”

You blink in a start as Levi slammed the door as he ran away. You wonder what happened, but then catch sight of yourself in the mirror. Your top half exposed. You blush yourself at realizing why he had taken off, but get over the mortification quickly as you had to get ready for school.

Poor Levi couldn’t come near you for several days after that without turning beet red or becoming a stammering idiot. You have to assure him several times that it was really ok, and that your honor was intact, but he promised never to come get your up for school ever again.

Satan

There was a sharp rap at your door that awoke you from your slumber.

“[Y/N], are you awake?”

“Satan?” You question. Hearing his voice from the other side of the door. What was he doing here so early?

Seeming to sense your question, the fourth eldest brother replied in kind. “Lucifer sent me to get you. He was concerned you would be late for school since you weren’t down at breakfast yet. May I come in?”

You chuckle lightly at his polite request and tell him he could come in. Your arms stretching over your head as the door opened and the blonde walked in. “Ah good. You are awake. I was concerned that…uh….um….”

You blink curiously as Satan seemed to lose his train of thought. Unusual for him, as he was typically such a word smith, so you had to ask. “Satan? Is something wrong?”

“I ah…ahem!” The demon cleared his throat. Covering his face with his hand, hiding his blush, as he looked away. “I uh…apologize. I should have given you more time to get ready before I let myself in. Or at least properly dressed.”

Your brow furrowed and you look down to see your pajama top open and blush. Quickly closing it with an apology. “I’m so sorry!”

“It’s...quite alright. I’ll uh…ahem…leave you to get ready now that I know your awake. I’ll see you at school.”

The demon, who normally walked with such purpose and confidence, seemed to stumble in his walk out of your room. Seeming to want to stay, but fighting the urge and forcing himself to leave. Apparently after he had left, he’d gotten into a fight with Mammon and threw him into a wall. You suppose that energy had to go somewhere.

Asmo

A light, delicate rapping on your door woke you up from your peaceful dream about cupcakes and French lattes. The sound was whimsical. Almost like a bird. After that, the smell of roses filled the room as the door opened and the Avatar of Lust appeared.

“Gooood morning darling~!” Asmodeus cheered as he let himself in. Practically gliding across the room and perching himself on the edge of your bed. “Wake up sleeping beauty! Classes will be starting soon, and we don’t want to be late. You need to get up, so you can get ready and look your best.”

You groan softly, but come out from under the covers as requested. He was right. It was time to get ready.

“Aaahh~! [Y/N]! You naughty thing. Tempting me this early in the morning.” You blink the last big of sleep from your gaze, and look down to see where his was trained. You yip as you realize he was staring at your exposed breast, and smacked his hand away when it inched closer.

“Asmodeus!”

The androgenous demon giggled at your scolding, but pulled his hand away in surrender. “Sorry, sorry. I was only kidding.” You have to wonder if he was only ‘kidding’ now that he got rejected. “Let’s just keep this our little secret, ok? I don’t want my brothers getting super jealous about seeing our beautiful [Y/N] in their morning glory. They’ll be banging down the door every morning to get a peek.” Asmo then winked, leaning in to steal a quick peck on your cheek, before he jumped up. “I’ll be waiting for you downstairs~! Unless you need help getting ready. I have too good hands and a lot of enthusiasm for a chore like that.”

The demon giggled brightly all the way out of the room as your tossed pillows at him like rose petals to show him the door.

Beel

The knock on your door was loud, though you could tell not intentionally. It was more a factor of the large fist knocking on it, rather than the force, of the largest of the seven brothers coming to wake you.

“[Y/N]?” You heard Beel’s voice from under your blanket nest. Smiling soft at the gentle way he’d come to wake you up. He must have a lot of experience with Belphie. “Lucifer asked me to come get you up for school. I brought you some breakfast. I didn’t want you to miss out.” You hear what you assume is a tray being sat on your desk. “Some of it didn’t make it all the way here, but most of it did! I tried to keep your favorites safe for you. Mammon wanted the last Hellfire sausage, but I got it for you.”

Your soft smile increased as you pictured the bright, sun like smile on the gentle giants face. Proud of himself for getting it and keeping himself from eating it for you. “Thanks Beel,” you tell him. Coming out from under your covers to see that smiling face in person.

You see it for a moment before his face feel. His eyes averting away from you, and his cheeks turning around as red as his carrot top. “Uh..[Y/N]…your top is kind of falling off.”

You look down and gasp, quickly covering ourself up. “I’m sorry!!”

“That’s ok.” Beel said with a soft laugh. “It happens. Plus, you’ve seen me with my shirt off all the time. It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s not exactly the same….” You mutter quietly into your blanket.

Beel just laughed jovially again, and came over to pat your head. “Come on. Your breakfast is getting cold. I’ll leave so you can eat and get ready. Do you want me to walk you to first period when you’re done?” You nodded into your blankets this time. “Ok! I’ll meet you in the lobby when you’re done.”

With another big smile, your big guy left. Letting you change and enjoy your breakfast, with Hellfire sausage.

Belphie

“Oy…[Y/N]….wake up….”

“Mhmp….Belphie?” Your eyes crack open as he gently shook you. When had he come into your room? You hadn’t heard him knock, or even the door open. Had he just let himself in? “What are you doing here?”

“Stupid Lucifer told me to come get you up for school.” He told you. “I don’t know why. I’m not good at waking people up. I’m barely awake myself.” His statement was punctuated with a long yawn.

You sleepily chuckle and sit up. “Well, you are up. So you’re doing better than me.”

His droopy eyes were looking at you, or perhaps more specifically in your direction. He seemed to be looking at something totally other than your face, and you were about to ask him what when he said, “your boob is sticking out.” Pointing for affect.

You look down to where he was pointing and squeal. Closing your pajama top tight with both hands. “Belphegor! Don’t stare!”

“Why not? It’s nothing haven’t seen before. Remember when your top came off at the beach last summer?”

“That is not something I want to remember right now! And it is not the same! Get out!”

The Sloth demon picked at his ear in annoyance of your yelling, but gave a soft ‘yeah, yeah’ as he saw himself out. Mission accomplished.

He doesn’t seem to understand why you were annoyed with him for the rest of the day, but still made an effort to apologize after a while so you would talk to him again. Only he was allowed to do the silent treatment.

[favoniuscodex]

AXIAAAA. I HAVE RETURNED WITH MY COMPLETE FIC!

“Oh, they’re so graceful when fighting, you’ve got to see them in action.”

Childe/Tartaglia x GN!Reader

Word Count: 1799, excluding the bonus mini scenario (I really over did it this time..)

Warnings: Childe’s identity/spoilers once again- and, reader uses a polearm, wounds,

‘ ’ = thinking

“ ” = talking

(Y/V) = Your Vision

(Y/V/C) = Your Vision Color

(E/C) = Eye Color

Start!

(Y/N)- they come from Fontaine, someone who wields a (Y/V) vision. Bu~t, they don’t really focus on the outside world, like most people do. They don’t know about the fatui, the famous traveler, no! None of that. And here (Y/N) is, on their way to Liyue. By foot. They bring up their map and check where they are, and not very surprising, they are pretty close to Liyue Harbor. The only roadblock there is, though, is the fact that they’re in Lisha, and Lisha can be pretty darn dangerous.

‘It’s pretty peaceful here,’ they thought. ‘I don’t think much will happen though..’ Easily unclipping the (Y/V/C) pendant from their hair, (Y/N) sighs. ‘What did I do to get such gift? I don’t spend time worshipping the archons, nor do I know much about them.’ In the background, (Y/N) can faintly hear multiple activated ruin guards, a ruin hunter, + a ruin grader, and practically just war. And when they turned to see what was happening, there stood the infamous No.11 of the fatui harbingers, fighting them all at once. But hey, they don’t know what the fatui or who the main members of the fatui are. ‘Might as well help though- Some people told me that I’m quite skilled in combat.’

Materializing their polearm, (Y/N) sprints towards the scene. Childe, on the other hand, did not notice the (Y/V) user and the killing machine that somehow snuck up behind him without being noticed. (Y/N) swiftly weaves their way through the ruins, climbs onto the top of a column near the fight, and jumps onto the machine, striking the eye of the ruin guard. And now the harbinger notices, taking his eyes off of the other ruin guard. “Careful!” Quickly pulling their polearm out of the eye, (Y/N) hauls it at his previous target, paralyzing it. “Do not take your eyes off of your opponent! Any of them! You must know where they all are.” They jump down to retrieve the spear, taking a good look at the unknown man in the process. Half lidded eyes, looking like he was going to faint any moment.. A few scratches here and there, and one deep cut right below his collarbone. ‘What are you even doing here?? It’s dangerous, like hello??????’

(Y/N) sighs and quickly wipes out the remaining machines using their elemental burst. Making their way over to the hydro user, they shake his shoulders quite harshly… “Hey, hey! Stay with me, don’t close those eyes!” In response, he chuckles and falls limp into their arms, but reassure them with a small smile with fully opened eyes. “Good, thank you.. I’ll try my best to keep you conscious, alright?” (Y/N), surprisingly strong enough to carry this man bridal style, actually does so and sets him down against a ruin wall. As most people know, Childe is not very obedient. But when he’s in a pinch, the harbinger would probably choose the smart way and not make the situation worse.

(Y/N) examines the wounds a bit more, removing his grey jacket to get a closer look. “You’ve got a lot of battle scars.. Try not to be so reckless, okay?” Sighing, they continue. “The cut on your chest- it’s going to need stitches.” Shuffle shuffle. “You’re lucky I’ve got some topical anesthetic cream to numb the pain.” (Y/N) takes out a cloth and presses it to the cut, stopping the bleeding. “If you have questions, please do ask away. I’ll know that you’re conscious that way.” They finish preventing the wound from bleeding more and take out a bottle of clean water, applying it to a different soft cloth. “U-Uh..,” (Y/N)’s head slightly snaps up at the voice. “How do you know these things? You don’t seem to be the adventurous type,” the male said. Gently cleaning the wound with the wet cloth, they reply, “Many come to where I live, usually seeking help. This help, it’s mostly in the form of dealing with a wound.” Childe nods in reply, and immediately winces when (Y/N) presses the cloth a bit too hard on the cut. “Sorry,” they mumble.

Once finished with the cleaning and disinfecting step that was full of whimpers and sorry’s, (Y/N) takes out the numbing cream and spreads it around the wound. “Ask me some more questions, while we wait for the cream to take effect.”

“Well, I was wondering- what are you doing here?”

“On my way to Liyue Harber.”

“Ahh. I see.” (Y/N) easily slips the string into the needle. “Where do you come from?”

“Fontaine.” Childe hums in response. Then it hit him- Why are you helping him? Why would someone help a fatui?

“Why are you helping me?”

“Huh?? What do you mean? I couldn’t really let you die there, right..? Besides, you didn’t notice the ruin guard behind you. If I hadn’t come you would’ve already become dead meat.”

“N-No, I mean, I’m part of the fatui! And the fatui are ‘bad’, you could say..”

“But you don’t seem bad. Now tell me- do you feel anything around the cut?”

“Nope,” he says, popping the “p”. He couldn’t help but continue to wonder why.

“Alright. I’m going to start stitching now,” they mumble. “Hm.. How about you tell me about this.. Fatui.”

“Oh! Sure!” Childe begins to babble about the organization while (Y/N) focuses on quickly finishing the stitching. When they finish, (Y/N) decides that it’s finally okay to introduce themself. “I’m.. I’m (Y/N)! Oh I’m done with the stitching by the way.” They look around their bag to find some bandages, and sure enough, there’s a load. The (Y/V) user puts a finger to their lips and stares at the wound, thinking of a way to dress it. Childe, on the other hand, is lost in their (E/C) orbs. They were pretty, what could he say? Snapping out of his trance, he quickly replies with, “Ah, yeah! I’m Childe, or if you want there’s also Tartaglia, and Ajax.” Nodding, (Y/N) signals for Childe to move off of the wall, which he does, and then wraps the bandaging around his body.

“That should do,” they said, standing up and holding out a hand. “Come on, I’ll head to Liyue with you. Wait, that’s where you’re headed, right?”

“Yeah.” Childe takes the hand and stands up, brushing the dust off. “Do you have anything I can wear in the meantime? Jacket’s all.. Bloody. And kind of messed up-” (Y/N) giggles and takes an oversized coat out of their bag.

“Here you go! This should do. You can keep it, I don’t need it anyways.” He gladly accepts the coat and slips it on, relishing the coziness it brought.

“So, lets go?”

They arrive at Liyue around noon. “Thank you- perhaps we can meet up again sometime soon? I’ve got harbinger duties to do..,” Childe mumbles.

“Yep! That’s fine,” they reply, cheery. “Do take it easy though. Your wound isn’t even halfway done recovering.” The ginger nods and walks off, waving a hand. (Y/N) waves back, thinking what to do. ‘I should probably find a place to stay.. Hm.’

A week later…

“E-Excuse me!” (Y/N) grabbs the ginger’s hand. “Hi..?” Childe turns around to be met with the same (E/C)s from the other day.

“Oh! It’s you!” He smiles brightly, ruffing their hair. “How about we get to know each other? Liuli Pavilion! My treat.”

“Okay! Sounds good,” they reply, taking his hand in theirs. “Lead the way, Riptide.” Childe and (Y/N) both freeze. Had they just called him.. “Riptide?” He glances at (Y/N) who has confusion and embarrassment written all over their face.

“e-EHHHHHHH YOU HEARD NOTHINGG! NOTHING I SAY,” they quickly said.

“‘Nothing’, huh?”

“N- agHHHH FINE. Your eyes, they remind me of a riptide along with your whole look in general..,” (Y/N) mumbles, face turning redder every second. Childe finds this amusing- a skilled fighter who is completely falling apart due to an accidental nickname.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind, actually. It does sort of suit me, after all..,” he replies, quietly saying the last part. He immediately drags (Y/N) to Liuli, words seemingly to be caught in his throat.

“So correct me if I’m wrong- The fatui is an organization created by the goddess of cryo herself, the Tsaritsa. And apparently this group is.. Bad?” Childe simply laughs in response.

“You could say that.”

“Really now.”

“Mhm.”

“But- But you don’t seem like a bad person! Even if you’re a harbinger..,” (Y/N) sighs, staring into Childe’s ocean eyes(aHDHNSRDGHJM HIS EYES ARE SO PRETTY but zhongli’s eyes still remain in first place). “Alright, now onto you. You are the 11th harbinger of the fatui, said to thrive for battle. Your fatui code name is ‘Tartaglia’ and your real name is.. ‘Ajax.’”

“Correct! Wonderful wonderful..”

“And you use a bow, plus your water blades. You have two visions, but one is a delusion. One vision is hydro, and the other is electro.”

“Correct, once again! Now eat up before your qingce stir fry gets cold,” he interrupts. ‘They seem to be quite the special one.. Pretty cute too-’ Childe shakes his head, ridding of the thought. He watches (Y/N) dig into their order, more thoughts invading his mind. This time, he didn’t care- It was rare that Childe would be easily in love with someone just after a week, but (Y/N) here is a special case.

Two or three weeks later, the ginger had decided- even if it was way too early, he was sure that (Y/N) reciprocated his feelings. Bravely yet nervously striding up to their door, Childe knocks once. Twice. And 10 more times. What a great start, mister. He fumbles with the bouquet behind his back at the sight of you, nearly dropping it. “H-Hey! I hope you’re ready for what’s to come today~”

“Eh? Is today a special occasion-? Let me get dressed then-”

“Nono! What you’re wearing is perfectly fine! Now,-” Childe hands them the bouquet. “-may I take this lovely and incredibly skilled fighter on a date?” (Y/N), taken aback by his words, immediately punches him in the stomach by instinct. They didn’t really do well when it came to confessions, since most people were strangers. Quickly apologizing, they place a quick kiss on his cheek and boop his nose. “Got your answer yet?” They said, giggling. Oh how the tables have turned.. Now Childe is the one taken aback, scrambling to find the right words. Who knew that one who hails from Fontaine could fluster a one from Snezhnaya? A harbinger of all people too.

Let your imagination run wild from here! Where did Childe take you? What happened during your date? How did it turn out in the end?

Bonus(aka the title’s mini scenario): “Zhongli! Zhongli!” Childe rushed towards the funeral director, with a proud face on. “You’ve got to see (Y/N)! Oh, they’re so graceful when fighting, you’ve got to see them in action.”

“Really now?” Zhongli replied, unamused.

“Truly! C’mon, c’mon!” The ginger pushes the ombre to a waypoint, taking them to where his significant other trained.

-windwheel aster anon

CUTE but uhgfkxjgkjDJKJKSDK bestie this is so long how did u fit this all into a single ask,,, did tumblr up the character limit,

[hanibalistic]

#796986 | HWANG HYUNJIN.

genre | fluff, high school au, crush au

word count | 1824

warning | none

note | thank you for requesting, i hope you like this!

request | @childofthecycle​

having a crush on someone is about a lot of things.

it is about awkwardly pacing around the classroom for over five minutes, just walking and talking to your friends, pretending that you have a lot of things to tend to when you are just hoping he would finally look up from his desk and see you walking around the space.

it is about the whispered rumors spreading through a class, talking about who is in love with who and who brushed hands with who. and whenever his name is mentioned with yours, you would deny, deny, deny, all the while wondering if he turned to take a look at you.

it is about the faint heat at the tip of your ears whenever you feel him next to you during assembly line up, your eyes desperately trying to take a closer look of his gorgeous yet not being brave enough to turn your head in case he would notice you.

having a crush is about hoping, it is about looking, and is about public secrecy. the thrill in almost being exposed but always making sure your feelings stay behind a pair of sealed lips, and the endearment of yearning to be looked at, while immediately turning away when his eyes are on you because you could not bear to be seen by him either.

"[name]... what the hell are you doing?"

jisung could tell by the way you ignored his question and simply moved your head over to peek at the basketball court outside the cafeteria.

there was only ever one reason why you would awkwardly hide behind a brick wall in the middle of the school ground, and there was only ever one reason why you would be interested in an unofficial, lunch-time basketball game.

it was all because of hwang hyunjin.

"you're gushing. stop it, stop gushing at the wall," he said as he stepped up to stand next to you, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

the way he pulled a face when he watched hyunjin dunk a basketball was not lost on him. even after so long, he was still not fond of the divine-looking, soft-spoken, almost-six-feet boy. and, to be frank, jisung wasn't sure if he ever will be, considering the countless trouble he has indirectly brought to his table.

listening to you talk on and on about hyunjin was one thing. jisung found hilarity in teasing you of your crush on the perfect student in your grade, especially when you would always start to ramble out incoherent words trying to save yourself from expressing too much of your embarrassingly romantic daydreams.

but oh lord, when you start going out of your way for him was when he couldn't help but think your feelings were starting to get a little ridiculous.

a prime example he would hold a silent grudge against hyunjin forever was when you twisted your ankle trying to impress him during the soccer unit in p.e class.

all hyunjin saw was you crying! there was noting impressive about that!

(yet, when he asked you if you were okay the morning came back in a cast, you were so giddy you almost forgot your feet were injured.)

"lunch is almost ending, we should go back to class," jisung said after he took his eyes off hyunjin and turned to you instead.

your eyes were fixated on hyunjin. even though the boy was moving about in the court, running and jumping and pushing and smiling, your eyes could always find where he has gone to. it was like your got lenses that specifically filter out and blur out anything that simply isn't hwang hyunjin. and you drowned yourself in your small, safe world where your love for him could expand as much as you want every time you watch him.

the smile lingering on your face, the kind of smile jisung knew no amount of jokes could bring out of you, was what made him keep his mouth shut whenever he felt like complaining about your crush on hyunjin.

you were so happy liking him, you always have been. he was in no position to defeat your spirit, and he in no way would make fun of your feelings for another.

plus, he wanted you to be happy. if talking about your crush on hyunjin would provide that, he would let you do it.

"alright, suit yourself," he muttered to himself after a scoff. "i'm leaving first, then. don't come whining at me later."

you did not hear a lick of what he said. your mind went hazy the second you saw hyunjin turn his head and looked at you, a smile still present on his face that would send you the delusion that he was smiling at you. fingers clutching the edge of the wall, you sucked in a loud squeal and immediately turned around to press your back against the wall, hiding.

you couldn't even find the time to wonder why jisung was no longer by your side. you were too occupied in the knowledge that you have been seen. not just by anyone but by hyunjin, by your crush, by him.

it was a short glance; you made it a short glance by shielding yourself too quickly, but it was enough to get your heart racing.

because when you are fond of someone, even the smallest detail was orchestrated by impenetrable fate. even the tiniest thing means something, be it just an accidental smile or a coincidentally shared glance. those little things become your midnight dreams and the pinnacle of your fictional scenarios.

they mean something. hyunjin means something, as well as your affection for him.

taking a deep breath to calm yourself, you shoved down the shy smile and slowly turned your body so you could peek out again and see if hyunjin was still looking.

it was likely wishful thinking, but you wanted to hope for it nonetheless, as the kind of thrill you get in crossing your fingers and hoping, and then the unique embracing of disappointment when it lets you down, was a bittersweet feeling you thought deserved to be felt. it was, graciously, addicting, with the way you gamble each time wondering if your prayers would be heard.

you were met with a face instead when you turned around. or, more specifically, hyunjin's face. it was a sweaty face, but somehow you still wanted to exert your affection for him through the less-than-elegant love language of biting. maybe just the tip of his nose, or the bottom of his lips, or even his arm.

hyunjin watched with surprised eyes when you stumbled back with a yell. he took a hesitant step forward, his hand ready to fly out and support your fall, but you regained your balance and steadied yourself only two feet more away from him. shrinking back into his bubble, he watched you with intrigue as you began fumbling with your words.

"i–um, i was just watching you play–i wasn't specifically watching just you, though! i was looking at the whole team and your friends–actually, yeah! i was just watching you all play because i had time on my hands, haha, because it's lunch, you know? it's lunch–"

hyunjin held up his hands gently, wanting to get you to calm down in the middle of your stuttering speech trying to explain why you two met eyes in the first place. your voice slowly trailed to a stop when you saw that he was laughing—cute, tiny laughs that meant no harm; it was more as if he found your bubble-soda eyes adorable as they gleamed with each word you spoke.

"can i say something...?" he asked after you stopped talking, and he waited until you give him a grim nod before he continued, "i didn't mean to scare you, i'm sorry. i thought it would be funny if you turn and i'm already here."

you furrowed your brows at him. "why would that be funny?"

he scratched his cheek faintly, uncertain. he knew he would catch you off guard, and he had wanted to see how you would react to being so close to him because he has caught you, on multiple occasions, staring at him and looking away when he saw. it was all for good fun, he didn't know he would freak you out this much, and neither did he think it would be funny.

"i have a bad sense of humor," he explained. "i'm sorry i freaked you out."

you huffed out a string of air, your neck heating up as the conversation went on. you should be panicking more, you thought, because you have never had a casual conversation with him before. but his kind demeanor made it so easy to feel calm around him despite your likeness toward him.

"it's fine, i probably freaked you out even more by peeking at your play anyway," you shivered, "that was creepy, wasn't it?"

hyunjin smiled, a dimple showing. he shook his head, wiping his forehead with the towel around his neck. "no, i think it's kind of cute, actually," he admitted, "frustrating, though."

"oh... sorry–"

"i would have liked it better if you were sitting on the bench instead of hiding yourself," he said. "hell, i probably would have done better too, who knows?"

your creamy eyes popped, and it blossomed all over him. he was looking for that—that sudden burst of joy in your eyes. he has only seen it a few times before, you were always turning away from him that he couldn't properly look at you.

it was like you wouldn't even give him the time and chance to come to his senses that he does think you are adorable, and he should probably talk to you before the year ends with you two being strangers.

how unfortunate that would be; another pure crush slain by the separation of the year-end graduation. thank god hyunjin came to his senses.

"i... i can sit by the bench tomorrow if you want," you suggested carefully, not daring enough to look at him.

he pursed his lips into a teasing smile, wanting to lean down so he could catch your lowered eyes, but he decided against it just to make you less anxious around him.

"thank you, [name]. that would be great,"

his name rolled off your tongue so smoothly, it was as if he has said it millions of times before. and maybe his heart has called your name when you were unaware, maybe his eyes have thought of your name countless times before he finally had it in himself to talk to you.

you breathed out a sigh. what a relieving feeling, like all the hardships have melted away.

this was what having a crush feels like. it is like having softness bleed into the rough patch of high school life, and you were glad hyunjin was the reason behind it.

[lesbianlotties]

Comfort Food - Dani/Grace - Terminator: Dark Fate

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Terminator (Movies) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Grace Harper/Dani Ramos Characters: Dani Ramos, Grace Harper, Sarah Connor, Carl (Terminator) Additional Tags: Not Canon Compliant, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Post-Canon, Missing Scene, McDonald's, Fast Food, Comfort Food, Fluff, basically grace survives and they stop by mcdonalds after they escape Words: 2870

The Rev-9 is destroyed. The four of them are barely alive after the fight. The first thing they need is to find a safe place to go.

That's when they step into McDonald's.

Sarah didn’t have time to say it, and she couldn’t exactly remember where she heard it first, but there was something oddly comforting about McDonald’s. That’s not to say she loved the place. A most likely despicable company, sure. But it was just so goddamned… big. It was available in most of the globe, and in every stupid country Sarah found herself in she could turn a corner and there it was, like a fucking mirage. The ridiculous “M”, the lights, the colors, the food, and the bathroom too. They were all mostly the same everywhere. The most childish spot for feeling like stepping into a sort of time loop. Somehow the most appropriate place to stop by after destroying the Rev-9.

The four of them were in various degrees of falling apart, some of them quite literally. “Wait here,” Sarah instructed Carl, not any more gently even after everything. He diligently hung back at the door, missing arm and all, while the three women entered the fast-food restaurant. “You two, sit,” Sarah pointed at one of the tables and confidently walked to the register. Dani and Grace hesitated at the door, but eventually gave in and followed the instructions.

Their little group probably looked beyond suspicious and out of place. They walked a long way until they found this place, and they were still covered in blood, dirt, and ashes. At least Dani’s long hair was the only thing still dripping water. Surprisingly, the employees of McDonald’s barely bat an eyelash at the new clients. It fascinated and worried Grace to think they weren’t the strangest thing these people had seen walk into the establishment in the middle of the night. Thankfully, there weren’t any other patrons.

“Are you alright?” Dani asked, as soon as the two were comfortably seated in one of the booths.

“Hm. Yeah, I think so,” Grace mumbled. She lowered her head, realizing Dani had noticed the way she had ungracefully fallen onto her seat, wincing and bleeding. “What about you?”

“Well, I’m alive.”

Dani’s answer came in a whisper. Her voice was trembling just slightly. This still wasn’t the time and place to think about the events that lead her here. However, this place, the bright lights above her, the clean floors, the smell of food, it was enough of a taste at normalcy to make her feel like she could take a break, like chaos was solved and she had made it out alive, for now. Which was enough, surprisingly. The best part? Seeing the moment that the words she just spoke fully registered in Grace’s mind as well. 

Dani had survived. The Rev-9 didn’t make it through the second explosion they had pushed it into. It was definitely gone. More and possibly worse problems could be waiting for them. But, for now, all that mattered was this, Dani’s little smile from the other side of the table. Dani was alive and Grace had completed her mission, “You know,” Grace started to speak, “I didn’t think…”

“Dig in,” Sarah interrupted them, dropping two trays of food on the table and sitting down beside Dani.

The following seconds were a quick flash of very different approaches to their meals from the three women. Sarah didn’t waste a second to get started on her burger. They needed food to stay alive, they had a chance to eat a warm meal, no time to waste. Dani, on the other hand, took a deep breath then turned her head away from the food. How could they eat after everything that just happened? Her stomach churned just thinking of all the violence she’d had to stomach since the previous days. Then there was Grace. For a second, she frowned at the food. Offended about the interruption, about the way it seemed to upset Dani, and… and then there was the smell of the fries. She took a handful of them, slowly chewed them, and then there was no turning back. She got started on her meal as if her life- as if Dani’s life depended on her eating that burger.

“Let’s get to the point,” Sarah announced after a few bites and a long sip of her drink. “Grace. The terminator was a hundred percent dead, correct?” Her question was met with silence and thumbs up, considering the augment soldier was halfway done with her burger. “And you? Will you live?” She ignored the look Dani her sent her way. Sarah was used to being blunt in worse scenarios, she wasn’t about to change things now. If anything, change within her was barely noticeable. But there was just something uncharacteristically earnest in her tone as she made her question. She cared about the answer, more than she was ready to admit.

They had to wait until Grace was done chewing, but finally, she got her appetite to slow down for a moment enough to give an answer. “There was a lot of damage,” she said, quickly scanning through the systems in her body, a series of unsatisfactory percentages showing up in her vision, but nothing too alarming. “Nothing I can’t fix,” Grace stated with finally, diving right back into her food. This would hold her up for a short while, but she would need to raid a pharmacy soon.

“Good,” Sarah nodded. After a few more moments of eating in silence, she turned toward Dani. “What about you? How, uh, how’re you holding up?”

Dani, almost without noticing, had started to slowly go through her set of fries. Eating them slowly, enjoying the warmth and the distraction. However, instead of answering, she ended up blurting out the first thing on her mind. “How are you so calm right now?”

“It isn’t my first rodeo. Hell, it isn’t even the second time I go through this shit,” Sarah replied, finishing her meal. “No time to dwell on it. We have to move to safety. Plus, we got that monster as a bodyguard waiting outside.” She nodded her head to the window, where they could glance at Carl, calmly waiting outside for them. Dani almost made a comment about Sarah forgetting her promise to destroy him if they managed to survive, but she decided against it. “I’m going to the bathroom,” Sarah continued, “you two finish up, get cleaned up. I’ll get us a phone and a vehicle. Then we need a pharmacy and a safe house. Don’t take too long.”

A moment later, she was done. Up and moving again. Dani was thinking about how much she would have to learn from Sarah, how much she would like to learn from her. Grace was thinking… “Dani,” she whispered, “Do you think I could get another one of these?”

“You can have mine,” Dani chuckled. She pushed the burger toward Grace. After taking notice of Grace’s frown and already knowing that was a sign for an upcoming speech about her protection and importance, she added, “Please, Grace. I can’t stomach it right now.”

Grace was reassured by the fact that Dani at least was steadily eating her fries. Encouraged by her deep hunger, she accepted the burger. “Thank you,” she smiled. After taking the first bite she made a sound of appreciation. If her attention wasn’t all taken by Dani and her meal, she would have attempted to think about how profundly human she felt. It was a comfort to eat this incredibly ordinary food and pretend everything was perfectly normal about her, her life, and the world around her.

“What were you going to say,” Dani asked her without preamble, “before the food arrived?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Grace shook her head softly.

It wasn’t convincing in the slightest. Even less so to Dani, whose stubbornness could easily match Sarah’s and Grace’s. But then again, there was something mesmerizing, comforting, but also so simple and easy about watching Grace have the time of her life eating ridiculous McDonald’s food. It rendered Dani speechless. It got her thinking a little. About the way Grace had gone through so many years without these simple pleasures. About the way Grace’s body worked differently, but the bigger part of her was always so endearingly human. About Grace in general, fascinating even under the worst conditions. Done with what little food she could tolerate and soothed by the space and the company around her, Dani allowed herself to close her eyes for just one moment…

“Dani… Dani?”

Grace’s voice eased her out of that unlikely sleep she had fallen into. The soldier sounded concerned enough to still sound like Grace. But it was undeniable the hint of amusement and fondness in her tone. Was she used to waking up her Commander from accidental naps like that? Was that a spark of jealousy that Dani was feeling for her own self of the future?

“Sorry,” she attempted an awkward laugh. “Let’s stop by the bathroom. We don’t want Sarah causing a scene because we’re taking too long.”

“Take your time,” Grace said. Her words were soft, her frown was unforgiving. The fondness between her and Sarah was reciprocated, but still complicated. Grace wouldn’t hesitate to stand her ground against anyone that tried to disturb Dani’s brief moments of peace.

The bathroom was another unlikely little piece of heaven. It was clean, empty, functional, quiet. Most importantly, it looked like Sarah had acquired a first aid kit from the employees and left it behind for the two of them. What followed was a slow and steady process of dealing with the most pressing issues both of them had. First, a visit to the toilet, sure. Then, washing faces, hands, and arms. Grace wet her hair, and was almost completely unaware of Dani's appreciative stares at the whole process. They didn’t have a lot to work with, and there were a lot of bandages and healing in their near future. But, at the very least, they had a small bottle of alcohol, and they did what they could with it.

Cut clean and bodies slightly refreshed, Dani had time to openly stare at Grace. “You’re incredible,” she sighed. She hadn’t meant to just blurt it out, but at the same time she couldn’t figure out a reason not to. Grace turned to look at her with genuine wonder in her eyes. “It already looks better,” Dani added, pointing at the wound on Grace’s neck. Back at the dam, it had looked beyond deadly. It would have been, to anyone who wasn’t an augmented soldier, apparently. Now the wound appeared to be closed, at least. Though there was still a long road of healing ahead.

“See? I still got it,” Grace replied. Technically, the smile she wore at that moment was small. But it was so… new, to Dani, that she found it to be the brightest most beautiful thing in the world. For a moment she felt like the luckiest person on Earth knowing that now she would have time to really get to know Grace, her sense of humor, her personality beyond being a soldier, all of her. She didn’t even have time to think about all the upcoming smiles from Grace that would soon come to lovingly blind her. For an instant, Dani opened her mouth to reply, but then she closed it and turned away to stare at the mirror again. “What?” Grace gently prompted her.

Dani took a deep breath, and started washing her hands again, quite unnecessarily too, but it was better than staring at the other woman as she said, “It’s just that… not running for our lives? Looks good on you.”

Grace stayed silent. She took her time processing the information. The look on her face was complicated. A small arch in her eyebrows showed she was at least a little impressed by the compliment. Then there was that absolutely gorgeous pair of expressive blue eyes. They were delighted, caught off guard, for sure, and very appreciative for Dani’s matching ease, the first time she saw her relaxed and awake since they met. But there was an unmistakable hint of grief, nostalgia for something impossible to recover, even if what was in front of her was just as good.

Dani took the opportunity to ask something that she hasn’t been able to shake off her mind. “What were you going to say,” she slowly asked Grace a second time, “before the food arrived?”

The expression on Grace’s face instantly dimmed, but she didn’t look too bothered about it either. “I just didn’t think I would survive this far,” she gave a small shrug, “that’s all.”

That’s all, she said. As if that wasn’t a pretty significant thing, Dani thought. “I can’t imagine,” Dani frowned and spoke in whispers, while Grace tilted her head and listened intently. “I can’t imagine… ever, you know, being the person that gives the order to send you, Grace, in a suicide mission.”

“It’s not like that,” Grace shook her head softly. She was leaning against the sink, staring at Dani with all the devotion she couldn’t seem to shake off her eyes whenever they locked eyes. “I volunteered,” Grace said, “I, you and I, we both knew I’d be the best one to protect you.”

“Why is that?” Dani asked, considerably more breathless than she meant to. Then she took a hesitant step forward, and nearly started shaking when Grace mimicked her move.

“Can’t you tell?”

In the back of her mind, Dani was thinking about how she could probably spend the rest of her life analyzing that question, and the way Grace said those three words. She was genuinely asking, she was hopeful, she was afraid, she was sad, she was… She was placing a hand on Dani’s cheek. Grace was cradling Dani’s jaw with a delicacy and gentleness that most likely shouldn’t be possible in a soldier like her, wounded, traumatized, transformed, and scarred. But Dani felt like the two of them were standing on top of a cloud, leaning forward, looking up into crystal clear blue eyes…

“A car is here,” Grace announced, sharply turning her head to the right and schooling her expression back into deadly professionalism.

“Righ,” Dani exhaled a heavy sigh, took an extra moment to recover herself, and added, “Let’s go.” Then, without allowing herself to think too hard about it, grabbed Grace’s hand and led her outside. She didn’t look back to see Grace’s reaction to her taking the lead like that, but she could have made a pretty good guess.

Outside McDonald’s, they met Carl. The retired Terminator looked at them with his familiar but stoic stare and said, “I hope your meals were satisfactory.”

“Yeah,” Dani nodded, “Thanks.”

“Is that safe?” Grace asked, nodding toward the car parking a few feet away from them.

“Stay put,” Sarah ordered as an answer.

Carl couldn’t help but take a couple of steps forward, to be closer to the stranger, to protect Sarah if necessary and possibly even against her will.

Hearing Sarah’s curt response, mutual fondness or not, Grace nearly groaned out loud in annoyance. She did tighten her hold on Dani’s hand. Which brought to Dani’s attention the fact that their fingers were still comfortably interlocked and how natural it felt to just continue to hold on.

“Hey, Grace,” she said softly, tugging a little on the hand she was holding.

With her attention back on Dani, Grace instantly relaxed. Irritation vanished from her face, and the pressure of her hand loosened a little too. “Yes?” she asked. Looking at her with that same exact spark of adoration from before. 

“Can I kiss you now?”

First, Grace just smiled at her. It was an honest grin. She genuinely looked elated. Not at all like she had expected this outcome based on experiences from a future that hadn’t happened. She looked overjoyed and relieved as if she was experiencing the completion of a dream she’d had her entire life. 

“Of course,” Grace replied, in the middle of taking a deep breath and exhaling a soft sigh.

Grace stepped closer, Dani placed a hand on the back of her neck, they met in the middle. At first, it felt like a spark, an explosion of all the action, the adrenaline, the terror, and the thrills they had experienced during nearly every second since they met. Then, the feeling melted into a slow and steady flame, it was comfort, relief, triumph, safety. It was an action of complete love, and hope, and the promise of a future together.

A moment of such levels of perfection, of course, could only be interrupted by the loud and tremendously inopportune sound of a car horn.

“Let’s go, lovebirds!” Sarah yelled from the window of the driver’s seat. She sounded like her usual self, even if she couldn’t hold back her smirk.

“Please,” Carl added, “excuse her for the interruption. Would you like to have an additional moment of privacy?”

“No, Carl, uh, thanks,” Dani replied, a giggle stuck in her throat. “We’re, um, we’re good. Yeah. Let’s… let’s go.” She could hardly keep her composure, not with Grace standing behind her, arm wrapped around her middle and holding her close, her lips smiling and pressing a kiss on the top of her head.

[drabbles-mc]

A Lifetime Of Me

Obispo “Bishop” Losa x Reader

Warnings: none! We love fluff!

Word Count: 2.1k

A/N: A proposal request for el Presidente by @masterlistforimagines​! I love writing fluff and turning Bish into a sap, so I hope you enjoy! 🥰💍

You and Bishop had known each other for what felt like your entire lives. You met when you were teenagers when you had been on the brink of getting into a fight with some guy who wouldn’t leave you alone. You had been toe-to-toe with him, pushing him down on the sidewalk. There hadn’t been any fear or hesitation in your voice or movements, but Bishop still stopped what he was doing to make sure you were safe. After the man had left, he walked over to make sure that you were alright. You were still so rattled and angry that you blew him off, not wanting to deal with some other guy now that you had gotten rid of the first one. But, if anyone asked Bishop, that was the exact moment that he started falling in love with you—right as you left him in the dust and stormed off.

He was persistent enough to get your attention, but not enough to be creepy, which was a very fine line to walk. You let him in, and for years he was your best friend. You knew everything there was to know about him, and he knew everything about you as well. The older you both got, the more involved he got with the club, it actually made him keep you closer. You kept him grounded.

There wasn’t a specific moment where he asked you to be his girlfriend—it all just sort of fell into place. No one inside or outside of the club could pretend to be surprised when you started showing up together everywhere, Bishop’s arm draped protectively around your shoulder to keep you close.

You had moved into Bishop’s house with him three years ago, and all you could think was why hadn’t you done it sooner. You instantly felt right at home, and he made sure that you never would feel uncomfortable or out of place. The second you brought in your first moving box, it wasn’t his anymore, it belonged to the both of you.

You were lying on the opposite end of the couch form him, your legs entwined in the middle. Your eyes were fixed on the movie that you were watching but you could feel him looking at you. The past few weeks you had caught him looking at you differently. It wasn’t bad, but you could sense that something had changed. He had had a lot going on with the club so you figured that maybe his mind was just somewhere else.

“Obispo? You okay?” you smiled at him.

He nodded, placing his hand on your leg with a smile, “I’m good.”

You let that be the end of the conversation. But you did maneuver yourself to the other end of the couch so you were curled up against him. You felt him sigh contentedly underneath you. He wrapped his arm around your waist as he placed a kiss on top of your head. For the remainder of the film, he couldn’t take his eyes off of you. Every time you glanced up at him, he would simply smile at you and press a kiss to your forehead.

What you didn’t know, was that for the last two weeks, a ring had been burning a hole in Bishop’s pocket. He didn’t have a solid plan to propose to you just yet. He figured that when the time was right, he would know. He had no doubts about you saying yes—the two of you had spoken often about creating a life together. But still, he wanted the moment to be just right.

There had been one close call of you stumbling upon it. Everyone was at the clubhouse, a typical Friday night party. You were situated on his lap on the couch while he was talking with the guys. You went to reach into the pocket of his kutte to grab the pack of cigarettes he usually kept there when he swatted your hand away. He was never like that and it caught you off-guard.

“What? I just wanted a smoke.” confusion was all over your face.

He cleared his throat, feeling bad at his overreaction but he couldn’t tell you why, “Sorry, Amor,” he reached into his other pocket and pulled out the pack of cigarettes, giving you one and lighting it for you.

The incident had since faded from your memory but not from his. He made the calculated decision to be much better at hiding the ring when he was keeping it on him. He knew that he had no intention of proposing to you in front of the club, or any people for that matter. But he couldn’t leave it at home when he wasn’t there in case you stumbled upon it accidentally. Every scenario ever was running through his mind all the time.

You unknowingly snapped him back to the present when you gently nudged him to get his attention. He looked down at you with a smile, “Hmm?”

“You have an early morning tomorrow?” you asked.

He shook his head, “No, I’m all yours tonight and tomorrow, Querida. Why? What’s on your mind?”

“Wanna go for a ride?” you smiled. He’d seemed so inside his head lately, you figured a nice night-ride would be a good way to help him clear his head. Plus, it had been a while since the two of you went for a ride just because.

“Now?” he chuckled, sitting upright, “I’d love to. It’s been too long, huh?”

You nodded, excitedly getting up off the couch, “I’m gonna go grab a sweatshirt and my boots. Be right back,” you kissed him softly on the lips before taking off to the other end of the house.

He chuckled to himself as he watched you run off as excited as the first time he had ever offered to bring you for a ride. All these years later and the excitement still hadn’t worn off for you. It hadn’t for him, either. He still loved the feeling of your arms wrapped tight around him, the way the heat from you would warm up his entire back even through his kutte and shirt.

He grabbed his kutte and draped it over his shoulders, patting the pocket to reassure himself that the ring was still inside. He sighed with relief when he felt that it was. He pulled his boots on and patiently waited for you by the door. You came out, smiling and giddy as ever. He didn’t even bother asking if you were ready because he already knew the answer.

“Where to?” he asked as both of you clipped on your helmets.

“Somewhere with no people and lots of stars,” you smiled at him before tucking a couple beers into the bag on the side of his bike.

He chuckled and nodded, knowing a few places the two of you could disappear to for a couple hours to get away from it all. You climbed up onto his bike with ease and wrapped your arms around his waist, pulling yourself as close to him as you possibly could. You took a deep breath, reveling in the comfort of it all as he started up his bike and pulled out of the driveway.

The two of you took the long way out of town, loving to see all the minimal lights of the shops and bars as you went through town. You were cozied up against Bishop thinking that you could spend the whole night like that.

Eventually you rolled to a stop, way out away from town and all of the people in it. Bishop got off the bike and helped you to do the same. You grabbed the beers as Bishop rolled out the blanket for the two of you to lay on. He was sitting upright and he situated his legs so that you could sit between them, your back pressed against his chest. You rested your head back, the leather of his kutte feeling cold at first.

He rested one hand on your thigh, “This was a good idea.”

You gazed up at him, “Yea?”

He nodded before taking a sip of his beer, “We needed this, didn’t we?”

You nodded but didn’t say anything else as you took a sip of your beer and returned your attention to the sky above you. You loved the comfortable silence that you and Bishop learned to share over the years. He had never been much of a chatterbox, and being with him had taught you that you didn’t always have to be speaking to let someone know what you’re feeling. You learned to communicate in the quiet moments with him.

He ran his fingers through your hair, staring at you as you stared up at the sky. He remembered the first few times the two of you took a ride out to stargaze. He hadn’t expected you to know so much about stars and constellations. He listened intently as you pointed things out, loving to hear you talk about things you were passionate about.

You brought him back to the present moment, “You know, if you look closely,” you pointed off into the distance, “You can see Venus tonight.”

“Yea?” he smiled as he looked up at the sky.

“Mmhm,” you continued to point, “You see that one that looks brighter than the rest?” you looked up and when he nodded you continued, “It’s not a star or a satellite—that’s Venus! Beautiful, right?”

“Not as beautiful as you,” he kissed your temple.

The two of you fell back into silence. You finished your beer and set the bottle to the side, resting peacefully against him. You felt him shift slightly beneath you. You glanced up and saw him trying his hardest to reach into his kutte without disturbing you. You shifted to the side a little to make it easier for him to reach whatever it was that he was grabbing for.

He wrapped his arms around your waist and rested his chin on top of your head. You melted into him, loving when he held you like that. You reached up and traced your fingers down the side of his face, feeling him leaning slightly into your touch.

“Y/N?”

“Mhm?” you looked up at him.

“Can I talk to you about something?”

You tried to move so you could sit across from him facing him, but he wrapped his arms tighter around you to keep you in place. “Of course,” he hadn’t seemed angry lately, but you knew that he seemed different. Hopefully you would find out why.

“I’ve been thinking for a while,” he placed one hand over yours, “about us.”

“Whatcha been thinking?” your nerves were starting to eat away at you, but you were trying to keep it light.

“That I love you so much, that you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, that you’ve made my life so much better from the day that you walked into it,” there were tears starting to gather at the corners of his eyes, as he turned one of your hands over so your palm was facing up, “And that I would love, more than anything in the world, to make you my wife,” he pressed the ring gently into the palm of your hand.

You glanced down into your hand, and tears immediately began trickling down your cheeks. You closed your hand around the ring and turned, tackling Bishop to the ground in a hug and covering his entire face with kisses. You finally pulled away, looking him in the eyes, “Nothing would make me happier.”

Bishop laid there, looking up at you as you thumbed the tears off of his cheeks. He took your hand in his, uncurling your fingers so that he could slide the ring on. It fit perfectly and both of you were looking at your hand thinking about the life that was ahead of you. You couldn’t help the fact that happy tears were still spilling down your face. Bishop smiled as he continued to wipe them away.

“I love you so much, Obispo,” you chuckled, looking at him, “We’re really doing this, huh?”

He smiled and nodded, pulling you down into a kiss, “We really are.”

“How long have you been planning this?” your eyes strayed back to the ring on your finger.

“Not long,” he was beaming, “Only since I asked you if you were alright and you told me to fuck off because the last thing you needed was more men in your life.”

You laughed, your cheeks turning dark as you shook your head at the memory. “That really sealed the deal for you, didn’t it?”

He chuckled, kissing your knuckles, “What can I say? I like a woman who isn’t afraid to put me in my place.”

“Yea, well,” you laughed, “You’ve got a whole lifetime of that ahead of you, Obispo.”

He smiled, “Can’t wait.”

[gaymershigh]

Bruh. When I finished writing, I accidentally pressed draft and when I posted the work, the other half of the post disappeared + the tags. I even lost the ask too! This is my first scenario request and tumblr really ruining my vibe! I.. Whatever man, guess I have to restart everything. 😊🔫

Requested by an annonie

Triggers: None

Jade and Floyd's boyfriend who wants to surprise hug them

It's almost the end of the day and you still haven't seen your boyfriend at all. Sure, he already texted you telling that he had some business to do but that doesn't stop you from missing his presence. His calm demeanor always gives you shivers that is filled with fear mixed with excitement, how those long and slender arms wrap your figure, how he tells you how he appreciates you being his wonderful boyfriend. Ahh, you really do missed him. You wish you can just fling yourself the second you see that handsome beast.

“Dude! Snap out of it, Dingus!” Ace smacked the back of your head, making you flinch. “Geez (Y/N), we've been screaming your name and you didn't hear anything? The Hell's up with you anyway? You're creeping me out.” Ace added worryingly. You've been standing in front of your locker like a cursed mannequin and creeping out every unfortunate soul that had to pass by.

“A-ah.. Sorry about that. It's just that it's been almost a day and I still haven't seen him at all.” You scratched the back of your neck as you use your other free hand to close your locker. “Him?- oh, do you mean Jade?” Deuce asked which you nodded.

Ace just got cringe shockwave from that. He's cool with you dating that guy it's just the fact that you're being lovey-dovey grinds his gears. Well, at least your relationship is promising. “Ok dude whatever but can you at least send Grim back home? I don't think he would like to see you morons make out.” The ginger added.

“Speaking of Grim, he's been awfully quiet.” Jack said, making all of you know exactly what's going on. The four of you grunted in unison. Of course that furballs gone, he always disappear when he gets the chance. Everyone agreed to split up to find that bastard of a raccoon.

As you walked along the corridors, thoughts of Jade popped up again and you felt like daydreaming again. You wished he could appear out of nowhere and love the crap out of you. He said that he's finished with his shady business but where is he then. You're praying that he's not already at Mostro Lounge and getting ready.

Thank the Lords that they heard and answered your prayers positively. There he was, the man of sunshine, your lover, your boyfriend strolling down the halls, alone and just s few meters apart too, he doesn't notice your presence you think. That's where you get the idea to surprise him.

“SUPRISE!” You tackled and wrapped your arms around his torso tightly, the feeling of your bodys being close is so soothing. Jade looked at you with a slightly shocked expression which turned into the soft smile you always loved. “Ah, my darling. It seems you are eager. Is it perhaps that you missed me?” Jade returned the hug as he placed a soft kiss on your forehead.

“Of course I do! Don't ask questions you already know the answer to.” You chuckled as you lovingly gazed at him. You are so happy that you forgot about your current main objective. Oh well, just hope the others find Grim for you.

Actually, he already knew that you are behind but sometimes it's nice to go along for a while.

You were supposed to meet up with Floyd but your friends just had to ruin it with they're general shenanigans of causing trouble. Not only is it difficult to solve it, you had to listen to the headmaster's speech about how valuable the thing you broke is and how you shouldn't do this and that. Basically, almost facing expulsion, again.

“See you tomorrow, (Y/N)!” Deuce yelled. “See ya~” Ace added as Jack just waved before the three of them left to their respective dormitories. “C'mon (Y/N), lets go home! I feel so hungry.” Grim whined as you can hear the usual monstrous growl from his stomach. “Ah about that, I'm gonna go back here. I'll send you back, ok? Just don't set the house on fire.” You mentioned as you both are on the way to the Ramshackle dorm. “I know! I'm not dumb!” The raccoon roared back. You're surprised he didn't even asked you why you're going back.

You went back to the campus as soon you were done sending Grim back home and giving him a few tuna cans so he wouldn't moan about how you don't care about his hunger since you have heard enough from the headmaster.

No matter how tired you are, you will never betray your words when the subject is about Floyd. You love him to bits and when he called you saying that he's finished with his business work, he also sounded a tiny bit exhausted. With all the shady businesses plus Mostro Lounge, he definitely deserves some praises and love from you.

The thing is, Floyd doesn't tell you exactly where you're supposed to be hanging out so right now you looked like a lost fawn in the middle of the forest. Mostro Lounge will open up in a few hours and you want to spend all the limited time with him and not miss every single bit. You could ask people where he is but the thing is, there's nobody here to begin with so, no avail.

Luckily, the gods didn't want you to look like a moron walking around the campus. Floyd is there, walking pass by the halls while whistling. You suddenly got a great idea, why not give him a little surprise? You thought yo yourself as you already sneaked into the closest room nearby which is coincidentally your classroom.

You hid under the auditorium desks and luck was in your side as Floyd enter the same room your currently in. He stand around a spot that's very easy for you to access through. Ah, isn't this just perfect!

Without warning, you lunged at his back, causing him to gasp. “Ahh! Angelfish!” he giggled as he hugged you very tightly. Thank god he's in a good mood if you can't tell. He ruffled your hair excitedly. “You're late! You better apologize or make up something! Or I'll squeeze you~” He cooed at you lovingly. You sweated at that statement, you can't tell if he's serious or not.

“Alright, alright! If we do something fun, will you forgive me then?” Your offering seemed to work as he smile grew wider. “Oh? Something fun? Of course, angelfish~” he chuckled before softly kissing your lips.

I'm really making Jade's s/o sounding like a Pomefiore student here lol~

-𝕸𝖎𝖗𝖎

[malewifegradyruewen]

An Untitled Original Work, Part 8

y'all are either gonna love me or hate me-

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Gina was pissed, to say the least. Stupid, oblivious Leo, and stupid, oblivious her. What a pair.

Leo had always been oblivious, so she really couldn’t blame him, but it was her own mistakes that really set her off. Sure, they were her mistakes, but that didn’t make them sting less.

Put it out of your mind. That’s over now, and now we can… try again.

After they’d left, she and Sammie had decided that they should go to Gina’s, just to hang out. The only reason Gina had agreed was because she knew her dad had taken her youngest siblings to their grandma’s, and the oldest two of her younger siblings wouldn’t bother her. They might have even gone over to a friend’s house, leaving the Weathers residence vacant.

“So, what did you think? Salt & Pepper, it was good, right?” she asked, hoping to break the tension that had formed.

“Yeah, it was pretty good! Leo was right, the mocha was pretty good.”

She knew Sammie didn’t mean any harm, but hearing Leo’s name brought a bitter taste to Gina’s mouth. She did her best to swallow it before asking, “Have you ever dyed your hair?”

So she was taking the easy way out of discussing what had happened at the café. There was nothing wrong with that, especially because Gina wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, but they didn’t need to talk about it. Right now, she needed a distraction, something guaranteed.

“Uh, no, I haven’t,” Sammie admitted. “I never had the chance, I guess.”

“How would you feel about maybe, I dunno, doing that at my house?” Gina asked. “I’ve got a couple colours. I accidentally bought some for light hair, too, so that’s been sitting in my closet for a while now.”

Sammie hesitated. Gina could tell she wanted to, but still. It wasn’t something most people did on the fly. Changing your colour was one thing, but doing it for the first time was usually a bigger decision.

“You don’t have to,” Gina added. “Or we can do just like, a little bit. Streaks or ends or-” She gasped. “Under layer would look so good!”

With that, Sammie seemed won over. “Why not? What colours do you have?”

“For light hair, I think pink and blue. And then I have some that’s for darker hair, purple and green and red. And brown. I dunno. Probably pink or blue for you.”

“Pink, for sure.”

“Good, because we’re here,” Gina said as they pulled into her driveway. She quickly parked outside and hopped out of the car. “Do you want a soda or something? We’ve got some in the garage.”

She led Sammie into the garage and to an old, white fridge. Sammie pulled it open and Gina grabbed a Sprite. “Go on, you can take something.”

Sammie grabbed a Sprite of her own before closing the fridge. Gina then pulled open the door to the back hall, a tiny doorway that led into the kitchen. “Shoes on or off?” Sammie asked.

“Either one,” Gina said. “I keep mine in my room.” She then bolted upstairs. “My room’s up here.”

As Gina walked down the narrow hallway, she suddenly felt very… inadequate. Everything seemed too small, too dirty, too embarrassing. It never felt like this when Mally or Andre were over, because they’d been coming over since they were little. But somehow, Sammie seeing it for the first time as a high schooler, the most judgemental group of people on the planet, terrified Gina. What if this was it? Maybe Sammie would stop hanging out with her. Plus, there was the added terror of having your crush see your bedroom. That usually didn’t happen so early, did it?

Gina ran out of time to go over worst-case scenarios as she opened her bedroom door. Luckily, she’d cleaned up a bit before going to pick Sammie up, so it wasn’t too bad. Her bed was made, there were no dirty underwear on the floor, and the dresser was organised.

“Aww, your room is so cute!” Sammie said as Gina stepped out of the way to let her in. “The nail polish is so fun!” She pointed to the row that Gina had lined up in colour order. There were only maybe a dozen bottles, but they took up a decent amount of room on her dresser.

“Thanks,” Gina said as she internally sighed a sigh of relief. “Maybe we can paint our nails later, if we have time.”

“That would be fun,” Sammie agreed.

Gina could tell that there was something Sammie wasn’t saying, but she decided not to push. “Okay, here’s the hair dye,” she said as she opened her closet and grabbed a small plastic basket off the floor. “Here’s the pink.”

She tossed the box to Sammie, who caught it with ease. “Should we do this in the bathroom, and do you have some old towels?”

“Yeah, they’re right here.” She reached into her closet again and grabbed two stained towels. “I know they look gross but they’re clean, I promise. I just washed them.”

“That’s okay,” Sammie said as she took one of the towels from Gina. “Here, you put the basket away. Where’s your bathroom?”

“Right next door, first door on the right,” Gina said, sliding the basket back and closing her small closet. She followed Sammie into the bathroom.

“Okay, what’s first?” asked Sammie as she opened the box.

“You should wash your hair. I can do that in the sink, and then I have some clips in the sink so we only dye the bottom layer.”

“Alright, I’m doing this!” Sammie said as she placed one of the towels around her neck like a cape.

“We’re doing this! Here, I’m gonna go grab a chair so you can sit by the sink,” Gina said. She ran back downstairs to the garage, grabbed an old folding chair, and brought it back up. When she got back to the bathroom, she found that Sammie had found a handful of hair clips in a drawer and had pulled the gloves out of the box.

“Here.” She set the chair down facing the wall. “Sit.”

Sammie sat as Gina grabbed her shampoo and conditioner from the shower. She put them on the counter next to the sink and turned the water on. “Sit back so your hair’s actually in the sink.”

Gina could see Sammie hesitate. “Hey, it’s not too late to chicken out. I still haven’t been able to do Mally’s. You’re fine if you don’t wanna do it.”

“No, I wanna,” Sammie said. “I’m just nervous.”

“Don’t be! This stuff is only semi-permanent anyways, so it won’t last for more than six weeks, if you wash it the same amount as usual.”

Gina could see Sammie take a deep breath before sitting back. “Let’s go!”

She placed Sammie’s hair in the sink and started washing it. “So, how do you like it here?”

“I like it. It’s different from where I lived before, but I like the people here. I think I found a good group, y’know?”

“Yeah, I get that,” Gina said as she started adding shampoo. “Good crew. I’ve known Mally and Andre since elementary school. I think we’re all pretty likeable.”

“Yeah, and the other people in my classes are nice, too,” Sammie said. “Not that I’d hang out with most of them, but they’re nice.”

“Mhm,” Gina said absentmindedly as she rinsed the shampoo and started combing conditioner through Sammie’s hair.

“I can’t wait to just get to know more people, you know? Like I’ve been talking with some of my other classmates and I forgot how fun it is to talk to different people and get their perspectives on things.”

“Yeah,” Gina agreed. “Sit up, your hair is clean. I gotta dry it a bit.”

Sammie leaned forward in the chair as Gina pulled the towel that was sitting on her shoulders up to rub her hair dry. “I’m overall liking it here. I was nervous, but everyone has been really nice and no one’s really bullied me or anything.”

“Yeah, most of the people at our school are nice. It’s actually not too bad. I’ve heard South is way more toxic than our school.” Gina grabbed the clips and then pulled a comb out of one of the drawers. “Hold these,” she said, handing the clips to Sammie. She then ran the comb around Sammie’s head, grabbing the top section with one hand and a clip with the other. “Turn around, does that look good?”

“Yeah, that’s not too much,” Sammie said as she looked in the mirror.

“Okay, I’m gonna straighten out the part there then. Uh, you can continue what you were saying,” Gina said as Sammie turned back to face the wall.

“It’s just a decent environment, better than my old school. Even the worst people here are generally better than at my old school.”

“Yeah,” Gina said. “Okay, hair dye next. You ready?”

“Do it.”

“Okay,” Gina said as she slid on the gloves and opened the package of dye. She mixed it up and started scooping small handfuls onto Sammie’s hair. “Yeah, I’d say the worst person at our school is probably Logan, and she’s pretty bad, so the people at your school must have been terrible.”

“She’s not that bad,” Sammie said. “She’s in my English, and she seems pretty nice.”

“Trust me, she’s not.” Gina combed her fingers through Sammie’s hair. “She’s rude and a bully.”

“Huh, I haven’t seen that,” Sammie admitted. “She seems pretty… normal, I guess.”

“Don’t hang out with her, trust me. Mally and Andre can vouch for me. Just don’t.”

“Okay, I guess I can do that.”

They sat in silence, Gina combing her fingers through Sammie’s hair to make sure it was fully covered. “Your hair looks good, now we wait,” she said, pulling the gloves off and throwing them in the garbage next to the toilet. “Uh, do you wanna do nails while we wait?”

“Sure,” Sammie said. “I can do yours, if you go grab colours.”

Gina nodded before heading back to her room. That was… strange, right? How Sammie had talked about Logan? What was up with the two of them, anyways? Gina wasn’t sure, but hopefully it was just a misunderstanding on Sammie’s part. Logan was bad news, and the two of them hanging out was worse news.

She grabbed a couple colours; sparkly black and her favourite purple. She brought them back to the bathroom and sat down on the floor in front of Sammie. She’d been doing something on her phone while Gina was in her room, and Gina sat for a moment before she put her phone away. “Sorry, I had to respond to a couple messages.”

“That’s okay. Here, here’s my colours.” She put one hand up and Sammie opened the bottle of purple. She started applying the colour with an ease Gina had never been able to master.

“We should listen to music,” Gina said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket with her free hand. She opened her Spotify and scrolled through her playlists until she found one that wouldn’t totally embarrass her.

“Oh, this is a bop,” she said as the first song came on.

“Oh, yeah!” Sammie said, grinning. She started singing along. “You would not believe your eyes…”

Gina joined in. “If ten million fireflies…”

“Lit up the world as I fell asleep,” they sang in unison. They sang the whole song, relishing each other’s company. By the time the song was over, the first coat on Gina’s nails was finished, and Sammie was on the second coat.

“That was good,” Sammie said, almost breathless.

“Yeah,” Gina laughed. “Ooh, this next one is good. I’ve been cheated by you since I don’t know when…”

“So I made up my mind, it must come to an end,” Sammie joined in. She finished the final coat of polish on Gina’s nails before the song ended.

“Alright, your nails are done, just let them dry and we can rinse my hair.”

“The bottom drawer on your left, there’s a hair dryer. We can dry my nails faster,” Gina said. She paused the music as Sammie plugged it in. She put her hands out in front of her as Sammie turned it on and aimed it at Gina’s nails.

They sat in relative silence, the only noise being the hair dryer. Not quite silence, but one sound enveloping the small room. After about five minutes, Sammie turned it off and said, “Try that.”

Gina tentatively touched her pinky nail. “Dry,” she said, standing up. “Now for your hair.”

She turned the sink back on as Sammie leaned back once more. Gina combed her fingers through Sammie’s hair, turning the water in the sink bright pink. After a few minutes of rinsing, she said, “I think you’re good. Let’s blow it dry.”

Sammie handed her the dryer from where it had been sitting in her lap. Gina switched it on and started blow drying her friend’s hair. She pulled the clip out and ran her fingers through until she determined it was dry. Gina turned off the hair dryer and unplugged it. “Ready for the final reveal?”

Sammie nodded with a nervous smile. She stood up and turned around. “Oh my gosh I love it!” she cried. “It’s so beautiful! Thank you!”

Gina smiled. “It turned out nicely,” she said. “Not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous too.”

“You were?” Sammie asked. “You did it so well! I can’t stop looking at it!”

“Ah, it was nothing. But my nails! You made it look so easy! I always get it all over my fingers and then have to wipe it off.”

“I did my nails a lot in middle school.”

“Makes sense.” They stood in awkward silence for a moment before Gina added, “We should clean this up, and it’s getting late. I can drive you home.”

“Yeah, you’re right. A ride would be great.” Sammie grabbed the towel and the chair and asked, “Where do these go?”

“Uh, the towel can go on the hook behind the door there,” Gina pointed. “And the chair goes in the garage. Do you mind taking it down there while I finish cleaning up the garbage?”

Sammie nodded and took the chair downstairs. Gina grabbed the rest of the garbage, threw it away, and brought the nail polish and the rest of the hair dye back to her room. She set them on her dresser and ran downstairs.

“C’mon, let’s go,” she said to Sammie as she entered the garage. She hopped in the driver’s seat as Sammie climbed in next to her.

“This was fun,” Sammie said Gina started backing out.

“Yeah, it was.” Gina realised this was the perfect time to admit something that had been pulling at her stomach all week. “Uh, Sammie, uh, I dunno how to say this. It’s only been, what, a week since you came, but I really-” She stopped herself and swallowed.

“I like you.”

The words hung there, suspended between them for what felt like an eternity. Gina couldn’t take her eyes off the road, wouldn't let herself. She was scared, but she couldn't take the words back.

Sammie gulped loudly enough for Gina to hear before saying, “I think I might like you.”

They didn’t live far apart, and that short ride had already brought them into Sammie’s driveway. Gina parked and neither girl said anything. She turned to face Sammie and saw Sammie staring at her.

Gina could see Sammie unbuckle her seatbelt, but nothing could have prepared her for Sammie to lean over and kiss her. It was so sudden, she hadn’t even registered what was happening until it was over. Sammie had opened the door and was climbing out of the car.

“Bye!” she called as she slammed the door shut and ran into the house, and just like that, she was gone.

Gina sat there, absolutely shocked. Of all the things she had expected to happen that day, that was not one of them. But Sammie had disappeared inside. There was nothing for Gina to do except drive home and hold the secret tight. That experience, that moment, was going to stay in this car, and Gina couldn't do anything about it, so she didn’t try to fight it. Instead, she drove home and tried not to think about it. After all, what else could she do?

[amberwild420]

one step back, two steps forward (pt. 5)

masterlist

outed identity

The next day wasn’t any better than the other days. Kaylan walked through the hallways to the locker room. The irregular arrival time for school is the habit she picked up in the long run.

 Considering there would be no schedule to follow for planned accidents. But the best thing that comes with the habit is to accidentally eavesdropping people’s conversation.

(a/n: most people may not know that following a proper schedule can lead to many planned accidents that include framing someone up, kidnapping or stealing. and yes I’m speaking from experience. )

Like today.

 She was just getting her necessary things in the locker (despite having no security on it. But Kaylan put her customize lock that included special mechanism before it could open or the imposter will have a face full of flour. and that is one scary face).

 …….telling you she is dangerous.

 Raising an eyebrow, Kaylan quietly listen to what was being said. She had a vague idea but she still needed to confirm it.

 Oh like chat isn’t dangerous. With the power he has he can turn me into dust.

 Well she carry a knife!

 Apparently Adrien and Marinette were talking about her. But she doesn’t remember Adrien anywhere around her when she threatened certain people.

 Oh………………………

    Oh!

   OH!

She clasped a hand over her mouth when the realization hit her like ton of bricks.

 *******************************************************************************************

Marinette had a good start. It has been too long that she had taken down an akuma faster despite it being a strong one. If it wasn’t for Kaylan and her abilities plus her plans, she would have been a goner.

 Today she had a good night sleep and was up before her alarm. Even Tikki could feel the energy of her chosen.

  You are definitely looking good after a good night sleep, Marinette.

I didn’t know I needed that until I got it. Can’t say I regret sleeping early for once. Look Tikki! Guess we’ll be early to school once.

  What are you waiting for then, bug? Let’s go.

  With the encouragement, Marinette started getting ready. She got her bag, macron box for Kaylan (which was overdue anyway) and left for school. She hummed a tune of Jagged’s new album.

 She was having a good start of the day.

But that came to a screeching halt when she saw Adrien next to her locker.

 Why? Why, god, why?! Where had she gone wrong?!

 You see, from the day Adrien asked her to take the high road and preferred Lila’s feelings over her, her crush on him started dying. The day when she told her parents what he was telling her and how her left her alone to fend for herself after promising to have her back, she realized how obsessive she was and how toxic it was turning. So she took a step back and realized how much free time she had when she was not obsessing over Adrien.

The final nail in the coffin was right before when Kaylan came, he kept his disappointed gaze on her when she tried to defend herself after a huge accusation. It was lucky that Kaylan called out to the lies and can trash talk unlike her that she felt better.

 And here it was today, he was right in front of her locker apparently waiting for her. Steeling her nerves, she step forward catching his eye.

  Adrien.

 Marinette! Can we talk?

 Make it quick Adrien! I don’t have much time. I need to see Kaylan.

Well this is about Kaylan.

 Adrien if you are going to say how Kaylan should stay quiet and let Lila do whatever she want, let me tell you I do not control Kaylan. She has her own mind and she can think it. Unlike those people, Kaylan actually have my back and she actually gives me enough time to explain myself.

 Marinette that’s not what I was going to tell you.

 Raising an eyebrow, Marinette gave him a look that says ‘oh really’. But he ignored it. Like someone she knew.  (an: who do you think?)

  Look I think you should stay away from Kaylan, she isn’t what you think she is.

Oh! Then do tell who she is?

 Adrien opened his mouth but close it quickly. He was rather dumbfounded at her lack of panic. Normally Marinette would panic at such a news but now…….

  Marinette she is dangerous. She …….. I saw her threatening chat noir. Like really threaten him with a knife……

  so she threatened you? I’m rather glad she did, it was due any time now by ladybug and it would be revoking the miraculous you’re wearing.

Adrien you’re exaggerating. How is it possible that a civilian can threaten a miraculous hero?

Marinette….you-you don’t understand, she actually threaten him and even threw a knife at him. Don’t you understand I don’t want you to get hurt?

 You’re kidding right. If you didn’t wanted me to get hurt you would have had my back in all this….. Whatever is going on?

  Mari…….but Lila will get……

  Get what huh? Akumatized?! She will get akumatized if I tried to out her but what about me?! What will happen to me? Won’t I get akumatized because my friends are hurting me over some lies she is telling to my class!

You won’t get akumatized. You are our everyday ladybug. And beside her lies are not hurting anyone.

  THEY ARE HURTING ME!

  That’s not what we’re supposed to talk about. We are talking about Kaylan. I keep telling you she is dangerous.

  Oh! And like chat isn’t dangerous. With the power he has he can turn me to dust.

Well she carries a knife!

  Marinette sighed. Her mood was worsening with every minute. Even Tikki couldn’t keep her calm. Well how could she when she herself was seething with rage.

  How dare this incompetent cat to hurt her chosen again and again. In and out of the mask and asking her to let everyone walkover her. Unforgiveable!

You’re awfully protective of chat noir. Are you sure what he did was the right thing or did you just saw me threatening him and assumed the worst in me?

  Like some kind of a knight in a shining armor, Kaylan stepped forward and stood next to Marinette facing Adrien. While she was next to Marinette she made sure that the sweet girl next to her was slightly hidden behind her. Her awfully prominent presence was enough to keep the attention on herself. Adrien scoffed at the new girl.

 Don’t you know it is rude to eavesdropping on people when they are having a private conversation?

 And seems like you don’t know that badmouthing someone behind their back is also considered quite rude.

………….

  Oh my! No comeback! I thought we were pointing out all the rude things one has done to other.

  You stay away from Marinette. She doesn’t need you!

   Kaylan smirked viciously. Her eyes gleamed in amusement. This kid was daring to threaten her.

Oh! Like she would need you. You spineless coward.

  *smack*

 Marinette gasped when Kaylan grabbed Adrien’s fist. She knew that Adrien was passive but his aggressive behavior was rather shocking. It wasn’t like him anymore.

 This aggressive behavior, the forcing and putting the blame on her. This was going nowhere. Rather than just being a burden he was also hurting civilians. She need to get the cat miraculous back.

 And fast.

Her thoughts were spiraling with every possible scenario and worst outcome that she didn’t even notice when the conversation ended and when Kaylan pulled her away.

*******************************************************************************************

Kaylan caught the fist that model threw at her without even flinching. Though he looked skinny but he definitely had enhanced strength. That was definitely the result of the magic he used. But compared to her who is training endlessly both physically and magically, he was nothing.

  Easy now kitty……

  Her voice whispered. Her gleaming eyes looked like they cut through him. His breath was caught in his throat. He looked at the girl with wide eyes. She looked so serious right now. He step back and nearly fell on the floor but he scrambled and ran off.

Kaylan sighed and turned to Marinette. Her wide eyes and trembling figure was enough to let her know that she was going in shock. Hurriedly she pulled her to the girl’s bathroom before pulling her in hug and whispering how she was alright and she was there for her and encouraging her to not give up and rocking her back and forth.

 Her efforts worked. She sighed tiredly and melted in the hug. The door opened and in came the blonde.

 Chloe?

 Instead of saying anything she just gave a water bottle to the pair and left. Kaylan smiled and made sure they were ready to face the class.

Marinette was tired already. And class hasn’t even started. It seems like that all the luck is being sucked from her outside her mask.

 Well it could be true considering every akuma battle had been longer and brutal than the last. Defeating doctor plague was her luck and encountering Kaylan who helped her get out of tight situation was double luck but Kaylan actually possessing magic of her own and planning was definitely triple luck.

 She melted in the hug. Whatever chat or Adrien say about her. She is nice. Her hugs are also nice.

 Her thoughts scattered when she saw the figure that came through the door. The signature yellow jacket was something that she can never forget.

Chloe?

 Without saying anything, she just handed the water bottle and left.

 It’s almost time for the class. Freshen up so we can go.

 Some things will remain mysterious.

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@aesthticnpoetic

@emmarosemary11

@marichat-forever-legend

@northernbluetongue

@nyx-in-line

@adalouise1987

@desygner

[huilian]

with her sweetened breath

AO3 Characters: Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain, Damian Wayne

Summary: With the threat of an airborne drug, the Batfamily has to fight against the clock to contain it.Or, I found a plot hole in a previous fic and decided to write 5k of words to remedy that, but instead created much, much more plot holes.

A/N: In Flameo, Batman! I wrote about how Oracle can only narrow possible locations to 5, which means that the kidnappers are actually good, but then I didn't deliver on the fight scene. So I decided to write this, and ends up with 5k of the batfam actually being detectives. This is written almost in a S.W.A.T. like style, because my dad is obsessed with that show and so I watch it too.title from Hozier, Angel of Small Death and the Codein Scene. I thought it's fitting, since this fic is about drugs. (This is Chapter 1, btw.)

“Hey, Red, is it important? I’m kind of in the middle of a stakeout.” As he says that, Dick sees movement from inside the house. He really cannot keep talking to Tim, not if he wants to get as much information from this stakeout as possible. But Tim rarely calls in the middle of patrol, so Dick is assuming that this is important.

“Oh. Not really. I just want to give you a heads-up about B’s kidnapping a few weeks ago. Turns out there’s more to it than just the kidnapping.”

Dick curses under his breath. He knows that that rescue attempt was too easy for an organization that managed to fool Oracle. “Okay. Do you need me there? I can wrap this up in a few minutes if you need me.”

“Nah, I think between Hood, BB, Batgirl, me, Robin, and Batman, we pretty much got it covered. Just keeping you in the loop.” 

“Alright, Red.” If Tim says they can handle it, then they can handle it.  Besides, Dick has his own cases to work through. “Thanks for the info. Call if you need help?”

“You’re welcome, N. And sure, I’ll call if we need help.” 

“Nightwing! Get your ass here now!” 

“Hood? Is something wrong?” It’s been a few days after Tim calls about Bruce’s kidnapping, but since there were no other calls about that, Dick assumes that they are handling it.

“Oracle’ll brief you on the way, she’s currently tied up in something else. Just get your ass here now,” Jason practically shouts to the comm. 

“Is this about the kidnapping case?” Dick asks, just to be sure. 

“Just get your ass here, Dickwing! We need you here yesterday!”

“Shit, is it that serious?” Dick grabs the keys to his bike from the table. It’s lucky that he’s staying in today, working on connecting leads to the murder case on Young Street. If he’s out on patrol, it would take much longer to get to the bike.

“Oracle’ll give you the full briefing in a couple minutes. I’m also currently in the middle of something…” 

Two explosions, one after the other, come in from Jason’s end. It was loud enough to be heard over the comms.  

“Hood, are those gunshots?”

“Like I said, I’m currently in the middle of something. Just go to Gotham, we’ll meet you at the Cave.”

“Be careful, Hood.” 

“Yeah, yeah, see you there, ‘Wing.” 

“Yeah.” Tim shrugs. “Their original plan was to distract us, GCPD, and basically the entire city with Bruce Wayne’s kidnapping. We found broadcasting equipment in the warehouse B was held in. But we rescued B fast enough that they couldn’t really use his kidnapping as a distraction, so now they have to find a new distraction.”

“And their new distraction is to blow up the bridge? Haven’t we been through this before?” Dick remembers another case that he works with Tim that involves blowing up the bridge. He is not looking forward to repeating that. 

Tim grimaces. “You have to admit, blowing up the bridge is a pretty big distraction.” 

It is a big distraction. Not that Dick is going to admit that now. “How do we know this again? And how did we miss that they are part of a larger group?” Dick turns to Babs, who hasn’t stopped typing into the Batcomputer since he got here. 

“Since I am very rarely wrong, I found it suspicious that I found five hits to the possible location of B’s kidnapping, considering how easy you took them out.” That was Dick’s thought too, but he didn’t actually stick around long enough in Gotham after they ‘rescued’ Bruce that he got to say that to anyone. He could blame his abundance of cases in Blud, but he really should have said something. Thank god Babs also finds that odd. “I sent Steph to investigate the four ‘not-it’ warehouses. She found traces of this drug there. It’s a more potent version of fentanyl, almost up there with carfentanil. It has a similar composition to the bloodwork from an OD case a few months ago.”

“We thought it was just a guy experimenting with fentanyl and accidentally OD-ed himself, so we didn’t dig too much into it then,” Tim explains. 

“I’m guessing that is not the case here.”

“No.” Tim sighs. “That guy was actually part of the group that kidnapped Bruce. He either stole some for himself and misjudged the dosage, or he was the guinea pig for this drug. We have no time to investigate his death now, not with this new drug threatening to spill on the streets tonight.”

“Tonight? What are they planning?” Dick came to Gotham prepared for any situation, so this information that he is going to have to act sooner rather than later comes as a confirmation rather than information, really. He’s been preparing himself for it as soon as Jason called him. But still, it would have been nice to have been called for something that’s not as immediate as tonight once in a while. 

“They’re going to release this drug to the air. They have an airbender, which makes it so much easier for them,” Babs says. Airbender plus airborne drugs equals very bad news, especially with drugs as potent as carfentanil. It can cause hundreds of OD cases throughout the entire city. Is Gotham not already crazy enough for these people? “We think that they want to get the entire city hooked on this drug, then sell it to them at a very high price.” 

“Damn. Tonight, you say? Is there why it’s only the three of us here?” 

“Yeah. B’s with Cass and Damian coordinating with the GCPD on containment and evacuation.” Tim points to three dots, designated Batman, Robin, and Black Bat, on the GCPD building up on the map. 

“Smart. Cass and Damian may be the only ones capable of containing this kind of scenario.” 

“Steph and Jason are out on the docks, trying to scare some of the goons to giving up their boss’ location.” Tim points to another two dots. These two are actually moving pretty fast. Dick assumes that the two of them are chasing some goons. 

“Wait,” Dick frowns, “we still don’t know their location?” That can’t be good. 

“We figured out the locations of some of the caches they put to be released to the air, but we can’t guarantee that that’s all of them. And, considering the sizes of the warehouses that were used to store the drugs and the caches we’ve found, there’s still a significant amount of drugs missing. Those must be with the boss,” Babs says. 

“Which is why I’m here with Babs, trying to track them down. Also, it seemed that this drug is flammable, so I thought it’s prudent to stay out of the field.” 

Tim actually has remarkably good control over his fire and he can fight just fine without his bending, all of them could, but Dick currently does not have time to debate that. He files it in his mental note for a later date. “Okay, what do you need me to do?” 

Babs and Tim look at each other. “A third pair of eyes won’t hurt,” Tim says.

“Don’t you think it’s better for him to be out on the streets? Hood and Batgirl haven't checked in yet, they might be in trouble.” 

Right as Babs finished that sentence, the Cave’s speaker turns on. “Hood to the Cave, Hood to the Cave.” 

“Speak of the devil,” Babs says. 

 Dick presses the mike button on the cave, then says, “Come in, Hood.” 

“Oh, good, you’re here, ‘Wing. O, Red, we got several locations, but they’re all contradicting each other. I don’t know how useful this is going to be.” 

“Any additional data is going to be useful, Hood. Where is it?” Babs opens a new window on the Batcomputer, ready to type in and analyze everything Jason is going to say.  

“One said that he’s on Crime Alley, 31st Street. Another one said he’s camping near Arkham, just a few blocks from it. One said he’s on the grounds of Gotham U.” 

“Fuck him very much for that, by the way. Who tries to release drugs on university grounds? Haven’t college students suffered enough?” 

“Focus, Batgirl.” 

“Right. Some of them said he’s on Robinsville, but some also said he’s on the Bowery, King’s Street. For all it’s worth, all of them seemed very sure about their answers, and they’re all also confused about why their fellow henchmen are giving out different answers.” 

“How sure are they?” Tim asks. 

“Sure enough that the firebenders are willing to get iced,” Jason says grimly.

“Damn.” 

“Yep.”

“How come this guy is in five places at once?” Babs frowns at the screen. “Maybe these are just decoys?” 

“No, I don’t think so, Babs. For a firebender to be willing to get iced, they must be super sure of themselves. Even I don’t want to get iced.” Tim shivers. Dick knows for a fact that Steph has once iced Tim, so Tim is speaking from memory at that one. Dick has been iced before too, but the experience is totally different for a firebender, what with their source of power being the fire inside and all. “Oh, that reminds me. Hood, please tell me you didn’t actually ice them.” 

“Nah, Replacement.” Tim sighs in relief. “Blondie here did.” 

“What!” Tim exclaims. 

“Shut up, Hood! I can and will ice you too!” 

“Try it, Blondie. I’m a waterbender too, remember?” 

“Children, focus,” Babs says. “Let’s assume that this guy is in five places at once. How is he doing that? Meta powers? Spirit world connection? If he has a spirit world connection this case might just turn out to be worse than it already is.” 

“Wait,” Dick says, tracing the five places Babs has highlighted on the map. “What if he’s not in five places at once?”

“Are we not acting on the assumption that the henchmen are giving accurate information?” Babs looks at him. 

“It can be accurate without him being in five places at once, Babs. What if he’s just moving between these places so fast that when they check in to see where he is, they all get different answers?” 

“Huh. That is certainly more plausible. But the speed in which he must have moved suggests that…” 

“He’s an airbender. Only airbenders can move that fast. It tracks, though. We already know they have an airbender to release the drug. That airbender is just the boss.”

“If he’s the airbender, he can make sure that he inhaled none of the drugs himself. Oh!” Babs claps her hands. “That’s genius, Former Boy Wonder!” 

“Hey, I’m a former boy wonder too!” Jason cries out. 

“Same here!”

“I literally had the longest run as Robin, after N here,” Tim adds.  

Babs sighs. “You guys really are children, aren’t you? Someone not me please tell Batman about this. I’m going to run an analysis on airbenders outside the League who’s in Gotham right now. There shouldn’t be too many of them.” 

“Speaking of the League,” Dick turns to Tim, “are we sure it’s not them?” 

“I don’t think so, ‘Wing. This is not their MO.” 

“Yeah. Besides, neither Talia nor Ra’s have any interest in these kinds of drugs. I don’t think it’s them.” 

If both Tim and Jason, their current resident expert on the League, say that it’s not the League, then Dick is inclined to believe them. They have spent a considerable amount of time with the League to not pick up on their tendencies. “Okay. Let’s rule out the League for now. Any hits yet, Babs?”

“No. There are still quite a few airbenders around, even discounting the League, you know?” 

Dick nods. Even though most of the airbenders are present in the League, there are still several groups outside of the League who have their own airbenders. Not to mention the occasional airbenders who’re not affiliated with any of the groups but still managed to master their craft. 

Then, the Cave is bathed in red light, with alarms sounding from all the speakers in the Cave. 

Dick curses. “What’s that, Red?” 

“It’s Bruce’s alarm. Whoever he is, he’s making his move now.” 

“Alright, Hood, Batgirl, head over to B’s location now. I’m also moving out right now. Red, you coming?” 

“No, I’ll look into containment options other than airbending from here. I’m not risking a city wide fire.” 

Dick nods. He really needs to have that conversation with Tim about why he doesn’t want to go out to the field today, but that unfortunately has to wait. “Oracle, keep us posted. B’s in GCPD headquarters, yes?” 

“That’s what his last location is. His tracker is down.” 

“What about Robin’s? Or Black Bat’s?” Dick asks. 

“They’re still at GCPD.” 

“Okay. I’m heading to GCPD now. Hood, Batgirl?” 

“Already on our way, ‘Wing!” Steph says. 

“Good.” Dick mounts his bike and zooms out of the Cave door that either Tim or Babs must have opened for him. He tries to hail Bruce on the way to GCPD. “Nightwing to Batman, Nightwing to Batman, come in.” 

Silence. 

Dick tries again. “Nightwing to Batman, Nightwing to Batman, come in!” 

The same as before, silence. The fact that both Batman’s tracker and his comm are down is very concerning, especially at nights like this, when Bruce knows he has to communicate with the entire family. 

“Shit. Oracle, Batman’s not answering. When did his tracker go down?” 

“His tracker went down right before he pinged the Cave,” Babs says. “Try hailing Robin. I’ll hail Black Bat. Maybe they know where Batman went.” 

“‘Kay, O. Nightwing to Robin, Nightwing to Robin.” 

Static. At least it’s not silence, which meant that Robin still has his comms, he just can’t reach it to answer. That’s marginally better. Still not reassuring, though. 

“Oracle, I’m getting static from Robin’s com.” 

“I’m getting the same thing from Black Bat’s com. Maybe they are in the middle of containing the drugs? That would make them unable to answer the coms.” 

Dick wills his bike to go even faster, even as he’s already riding at breakneck speed. “Maybe, O. Let’s hope it’s not something worse.”

[allhailkingrooker51]

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

A little backstory about this fic - Rooker was in a Budweiser commercial way back in 1984.  You can watch it here.  Rookerstash (who unfortunately isn’t on Tumblr anymore) suggested amongst the Rooker Hookers that we needed a smutty scenario about the “Cute Beer Can Hat Guy” (as we affectionately called him)...here’s what I came up with.  

And once again thank you to @merlesgirl47 , @celticheart72 and Rookerstash for reading this and giving me the courage to post it.  

Warnings - NSFW, Smut

It was a picture-perfect day in Chi-town – the sun hanging high in the clear blue sky, a balmy temperature of 72 degrees, a pleasant whisper of a breeze on the air.  It was a beautiful day for baseball.  Or at least it would have been if the blind date your bestie had set you up with had actually shown.  Your friend had been nagging you for weeks to let her set you up with her new co-worker.   “He’s sooooo sweet,” she said.  “He’s suuuuch a nice guy.  He’s perfect for you!”  You finally agreed, a little out of curiosity to meet this so-called wonderful guy and a little to finally get her to shut up.

After waiting for him outside the left field gate of Wrigley Field well into the 1st inning, you soon got the hint.  

Well, this is just great, you thought.  You know what?  I give up. You had made up your mind.  There weren't any “nice” guys left in the world.  

You thought about heading home and drowning away yet another misfortune in your unlucky love life with a pint of ice cream and a good book.  But you had already bought a ticket to the game.  It had been ages since you had been to a Cubs game.  Plus, it was too pretty of a day to spend moping about inside your cramped apartment.  So, you picked your chin up and waltzed into that stadium head held high.  You weren’t going to let that guy ruin your day.

You found your seat on the third base side and sat content for a while, enjoying all the sights and sounds that come with a ball game.  Around the top of the 3rd inning, you were dying of thirst.  You got up and went off in search of a concession stand for an ice-cold soda.  

You pushed your way through the mob of fans and got in line at the first concession stand you came to.  The line must have been 30 people deep, all crammed together like sardines in a can.  Finally, after waiting for what felt like a month of Sundays you made it to the front of the line and ordered your soda.  As you walked away, someone in quite a hurry bumped into you, spilling beer all over your arm and shirt.

A little peeved, you were just about to give that someone a stern talking to about watching where they were going.  However, that all vanished when you looked up and were met with the most gorgeous set of blue eyes you had ever seen, albeit hidden under the bill of a silly novelty baseball cap with a beer can squashed onto the top.

The eyes belonged to a man around 30 years old you figured, holding a hot dog and a half-filled cup of beer, the other half now soaking into your shirt.  He was a little taller than you, a handsome face with a square jaw and chiseled cheekbones, and brown curly hair hidden under that hat.  He wore a patterned, green short sleeved button up shirt, the first few buttons undone giving a peek of his nicely toned chest, and his khaki shorts hugged him in all the right places.

Your heart literally skipped a beat, something that had never happened before when it came to men.  It was instant chemistry, and from the way he was looking at you, you could tell he felt it, too.

He snapped out of it and immediately began apologizing profusely.  

“I'm soooo sorry,” he exclaimed.   You quickly took notice that his voice was sexy, too.  

He moved his beer to his other hand, trying to juggle both the cup and his hot dog at once, and grabbed for a wad of napkins he had stuck in his back pocket.  He handed them to you still apologizing.

“It’s ok.  Don’t worry about it,” you assured him.  “It's partly my fault, anyway.  I should have been paying more attention.”  You took the napkins and wiped your arm dry and then started to dab at the wet spot on your shirt.  

“I just..just didn’t want to miss any of the game.  I guess I wasn’t watchin' where I was going.  I really am sorry.  Let me make it up to you.  Um...”  He looked around frantically trying to figure out what on earth he could do to make this better.  He pointed to a little vendor cart selling Cubs t-shirts.  “I know, let me buy you a new shirt!  So you can get out of that wet one.”  

“No, it’s fine, I promise.  It really is ok.”  

“C’mon, there’s gotta be something I can do.” he pleaded.

You had never seen a man as beautiful as the one who currently stood before you.  And the fact that he wore that dorky hat made him even more attractive.  Something deep inside told you this was fate.  Out of all the people in the stadium, he was the one that ran into you.  Surely, it wasn’t just a coincidence.  

You scanned your eyes across his hands – no wedding ring.  But, surely a guy like him was taken.  You were about to find out at least.  You had an idea how he could repay you, but it would muster all the courage you had.  

“What about you letting me watch the rest of the game with you?” you asked timidly, praying he wasn’t at the game with his girlfriend.  You were never this forward, but you didn’t want to lose him just yet.

He obviously never expected that answer and fumbled over his words.  “Um, y-yeah..I..uh..yeah..absolutely, c’mon.  It's just me and my buddy, and you’re more than welcome to join us.”  The look of shock on his face faded into a crooked grin as he turned to lead the way.  Your heart melted a little more.

You followed him through the crowd, not minding when you got a little separated on the way.  It allowed quite the view of his cute butt in those tight shorts.

When you got to his seat, he introduced his friend who also happened to be a co-worker.  

“This is Frank.  Frank, this is..um..sorry, I didn’t get your name.”  

You introduced yourself to Frank just as your new love interest sat down, quickly drawing your eyes back to him.  The way his shorts scooted up his thighs a little when he sat down, the fabric tightening over his crotch revealing a nice bulge, you couldn’t turn away.  It was suddenly really hot in Wrigley Field.

You made small talk at first, both of you a little nervous but becoming more comfortable as time went by.  Soon, you lost all concentration on the game, focusing your full attention on the blue-eyed, curly-haired dream that had accidentally stumbled into your life.  

You learned his name was Allen.  He was a city bus driver by day, and by night, an up-and-coming actor, the hot new item on the Chicago theater scene.  He had been a Cubs fan since moving to Chicago as a teenager, and he made sure to catch at least one game a week during the season, usually with Frank.

Over the next couple of hours, you got to know one another as much as two people could in that brief span of time, and before long, you both seemed like old friends.  And Allen actually listened to you when you spoke and was genuinely interested in what you had to say, something that until now the previous men in your life never did.  

When Allen talked, you couldn’t take your eyes off of him.  You were discovering he was just as beautiful on the inside as out. He was respectful and polite, the perfect mix of sweet and a little shy, humble, charming and funny.  And that laugh of his?  You hoped you never had to go another day without hearing it.  

There was no denying you were falling for him.

Now, there was also no denying the sexual tension between the two of you.  Since the moment you first laid eyes on him, you had been trying to brush aside the ever-growing feeling of wanting to know what he looked like under his clothes, to sleep with this man you had just met and barely knew.  That feeling was getting harder and harder to ignore.

At some point during the conversation, Allen's bare leg accidentally brushed against yours.  You swore you felt a spark, an electric surge tingling through your body from where your skin had touched.  He looked down mid-sentence, losing his train of thought for a second, before turning to you and smiling.  He felt it, too.

By the 7th inning stretch, the stands began to empty as spectators slowly started trickling out of the stadium.  The Cubs were down by 12 runs, and it wasn’t looking good for a late-in-the-game rally.  

Frank slapped Allen on the shoulder and stood up to leave.

“Alright, Al, I’m headin’ out.  Game’s a bust, and I got an early route in the morning.”  Frank extended his hand towards you.  “It was really nice meeting you.  And, hey, don’t let this clown give ya’ too much trouble, hm?”  

You smiled and shook Frank’s hand.   “Don’t worry, I won’t.”  You looked at Allen and swore you saw a little redness appear on his cheeks.  

Thankfully, Allen didn’t give any impression that he was ready to leave.  You certainly weren’t.

More and more people left, but, unfortunately not the group of drunk bozos in the seats in front of you.  At first, it had been fairly easy to ignore them.  But they had been getting gradually louder and more obnoxious with every beer they downed – throwing Crackerjacks, cursing, heckling the visiting team's left fielder. They were a real bunch of charmers.

At the bottom of the 8th, the Cubs third baseman was up to bat.  He swung on the first pitch, and a loud crack echoed across the field, the unmistakable sound of the ball coming in contact with the sweet spot of the barrel.  You knew that ball was going over the fence somewhere.  It was a futile effort, the visiting team having scored three more runs in the top half, but it was a homer nonetheless. And you saw the ball heading straight for your section.

The ball was moving like steel to a magnet straight for you.  You and Allen stood up in anticipation, Allen's baseball glove at the ready.  You put your old softball skills to work and reached up, the ball landing flawlessly right into your hands.

It was just your luck that the three drunk bozos had also jumped up to try to snag the ball.  The guy directly in front of you snatched the ball from your hands as soon as you caught it.  His pals hooted and hollered, congratulating him, clapping him on the back like he was the one that had made the catch.

Allen immediately saw red.  “Hey, man! That’s hers!”  

The drunk guy turned around and glared at Allen.  “Yeah?  Whatchu gonna do aboudit?” he slurred.  “How's about you and your ‘lil bitch just sit the fuck down ‘fore I make ya'.”  He pushed Allen hard in the chest, nearly knocking him backward against the seats.  

Allen’s Irish blood boiled over.  The tendons in his neck tightened and he gritted his teeth.  If this fucker wanted a fight, Allen was happy to oblige.  He drew back his fist, seconds away from clocking the drunk bastard across the face when you grabbed his arm.  You shook your head no.  “It’s not worth it.  C’mon.”  You took his hand and started to lead him away, the trio of drunk guys still hurling insults at your backs.

Allen protested,  “But..but..that ball’s yours!  You caught it fair and square.  And I’m not gonna let that little shit talk about you that way.”  He was pissed no doubt.  But you had plans to take his mind off being angry.  All of your feelings that had been building for Allen the last couple of hours were already at a peak and this incident just sent them exploding over the edge.  The way he had just stood up for you, outnumbered and risking getting his ass kicked for a woman he had just met, it was making your panties wet just thinking about it.  You wanted him, needed him right then.

You led him out of the stands desperately trying to find the nearest restroom or unlocked utility closet, anywhere that would give the two of you some sort of privacy.

The first available option was a men's bathroom.  You barged through the door, Allen in tow.  Luckily, attendance had dropped a great deal in the ballpark so the bathroom wasn’t crowded.  There was one man, however, washing his hands at the sink.  You gave him a glare and he hurried to dry his hands and swiftly shuffled out the door.

Your heart was pounding.  You don’t do this.  This isn’t you at all.  But ecstasy had officially taken over.  There was just something about Allen that you couldn’t wait another second to feel his lips on your skin, his hands on your body, caressing places on you begging to be touched.  

You yanked him into a stall and slammed the door, locking it behind you.  Allen’s mouth hung open.  He couldn’t believe this was happening, but from the hardening bulge in his shorts, you could tell he was game.

“Are we really doing this?” he rasped.  You pulled off your shirt and draped it over the stall wall.  Allen’s eyes grew large.  “I’ll take that as a yes,” he gulped.

“That was so fucking hot what you just did.”  You grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him to you, kissing him hard on the mouth and nearly knocking off his stupid beer can hat.  

Allen tangled his fingers in your hair, moaning against your kiss as you palmed his bulge and rubbed him over the fabric of his shorts.  You quickly broke away from his lips to unbutton his shirt, pushing it back over his broad shoulders.  He shuddered as you traced your fingers across his chest down to the lean muscles of his belly.  You kept going, undoing the button and zipper of his shorts and tugging them down, his dick springing forward, already dripping from the tip.  

He was just as beautiful underneath his clothes.

Everything was happening in a heated frenzy.  As much as you wanted this to last, to take your time exploring every inch of Allen’s body, time was of the essence.  It was only a matter of time before someone walked in on your little rendezvous.  

Allen helped you shimmy out of your shorts along with the lacy red panties you had worn, now soaked with your arousal.  He cursed under his breath and pushed his knee between your thighs, using his leg to sweep yours apart.  He reached his hand down to your apex, circling your clit with his thumb before gliding one, then two fingers inside the silken curls of your core.  You purred beneath his touch, grinding yourself against his expert fingers.  

“Allen, I want you so fucking bad,” you begged.

He pulled his hand away and grabbed beneath your thighs with both arms, lifting you up and pressing you against the stall door.  You wrapped your legs around him as he pushed inside, molding your body with his.

Allen grunted and buried his face against your neck, sucking and biting on the sensitive skin there as he began to thrust, slow at first but then quickening as he found his rhythm.  You tried to be quiet, but you couldn’t hold back the sounds of pleasure as he plunged his hips into you over and over again, withdrawing and sliding home faster and harder each time.  It wouldn’t take long for either one of you to get to the grand slam.  

Suddenly, you heard the unmistakable sound of door hinges creaking as someone entered the restroom whistling the melody to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game".  The tune came to an abrupt end when the man undoubtedly saw a pair of legs with shorts around the ankles and various sex noises coming from the stall.  Once again the door hinges squeaked, this time giving away the man's hasty retreat.

Allen looked at you and you both burst into laughter.  It was now no secret what was happening in the men’s bathroom by Section 502.

Despite the interruption, neither one of you dared to end things early, and you soon felt the tension down below pooling in your lower belly.  You cried out and threw your head back against the door, digging your nails in Allen’s shoulders as the long, slow ride of your climax coursed through your body, your inner walls tightening and fluttering around Allen’s dick.

Seconds after, you could feel Allen throbbing inside you.  “Fuck, I'm gonna come,” he whispered against your ear.

He pulled out and set you down, your legs trembling and nearly giving out beneath you.  You circled your fingers around his dick, jerking it in your hand.  Allen gripped the top of the stall door, breathing heavy.  He closed his eyes and with a moan from deep in his chest, he reached his own peak, marking you across your stomach with warm strands of cum.

Barely giving either of you a moment to recover, Allen kissed you, a slow, passionate kiss that nearly made your knees buckle again.  He helped you clean up and handed you your clothes.  You glanced at Allen as you redressed.  He had a devilish grin on his face as he pulled his shorts up and buttoned them.  “Hey, uh, the Cubbies are playing again tomorrow.  Early afternoon game.  Can we maybe do this again?”

His cheeks blushed immediately, realizing how bad that might have sounded.  He started talking 90 to nothing trying to recover.  “I-I mean not this exactly…I mean don’t get me wrong, this was amazing…but I just want you know I’m not usually this kind of guy, but I'm not gonna lie, the way you caught that ball earlier kinda turned me on, and you’re just so beautiful and all, and I like you a lot…like a lot..like I’m fallin' for you more and more every second and I'd really like to keep getting to know ya'…I-I mean if it's ok with you, of course… fuck, I can’t think straight around you…y-you know what?  I'm just gonna stop talking now.”  He let out a much-needed deep breath.

You giggled and put your index finger to his lips.  He was cute when he was angry but even more so when he was flustered.

“Yes, Allen, I'll watch the game with you tomorrow.”

He chewed on his bottom lip, smiling.  “Yeah?”

“Yeah.  Now let’s get outta here before we’re banned for public indecency.”  

*******************************************************

On the way out of the stadium, you passed by the gift shop.

Allen stopped and grabbed your arm, halting you in place.  “Hey, wait for me just a sec.  I'll be right back.” He disappeared inside.

A few minutes later he came out of the store obviously holding something behind his back.  He bit back a smile and handed you what he had been hiding – a souvenir baseball with the Cubs logo on it.

“I mean it's not a home run ball, but…,” his voice shied away.

Now you were blushing.  “Thank you, Allen.”  You gave him a peck on the cheek, holding the baseball up to your heart.  This one meant way more than that stupid home run ball ever would.    

Allen walked you all the way to your car, making sure you got there safely.  

He opened the driver's side door for you, propping his arms atop the door frame.  “So, I'll still see ya' tomorrow?  I promise I won’t spill my beer on ya' this time.”  He paused.  “Well, honestly, I can't really promise that.  I can be kind of clumsy sometimes.”  

He smiled that lopsided grin again.  Man, he was making it so easy to fall harder for him.  

Taking his face in your palm, you gently kissed him.  “Meet me at the third base gate at noon.”

You got in the car and drove away leaving Allen stunned in the parking lot.  

You left Wrigley Field having officially changed your mind.

There was at least one nice guy left in the world and turns out, it was a beautiful day for baseball.

[officaljnes]

Opposites (Androssi Zahard x Yeon Yiwha) (A Tower of God fanfic)

The more time Yiwha had spent with Androssi, the more she realized that Androssi was a whole lot different than what she initially perceived.

At first, Yiwha admitted what everyone else already knew. Androssi Zahard was an attractive woman. Before she became branded as a traitor, she was given tv interviews, admittance to high class restaurants. She even had experience of being a guest commentator on one of those e-sports championships. How Androssi even know the technical jargon speaks to her dedication as a princess.

But what Yiwha came to be attracted to Androssi was the frame around theme being opposites. Opposites in where they come from. Yiwha came from the Yeon family and was a talented Hwayeomsa user. However, she has difficulty in controlling her power to the fullest.

Androssi’s power was different. She didn’t need a fancy shinsu technique to be powerful. She just need to be that talented at using shinsu, and that’s how she got further then her competition.

These thoughts caress Yiwha’s mind, making her uneasy while focusing in a hallway, as she tries to get her nerves together to ask Androssi out on a date, but she usually cowers out due to two or three justified reasons.

First of all, Androssi is a Zahard princess, they’re not allowed to fall in love, so even if Yiwha managed to somehow get into a relationship with Androssi, they’ll have to hide their romantic entanglement from the public eye for the rest of their lives.

The second reason was that Androssi might not be attracted to girls at all. Yiwha doesn’t want to assume, but from all the spare time she had dedicated to spying on Androssi, she could remember it was Baam that was the only person who ever caught Androssi’s eye.

Third reason why was that even if Androssi wasn’t a Zahard princess and would give girls a chance, she clearly has high expectations for herself. Going by that logic, it’s clear she wouldn’t go out with someone who’s vastly weaker then her.

As these excuses were going full circle in Yiwha’s mind, Androssi happened to be noticing Yiwha in her perplexed state, and so stood next to her.

“Hey!” Androssi shook Yiwha’s shoulder to get her attention.

“What…” Yiwha was dazed, but her eyes widen at seeing Androssi so close to her, and had an inwardly shudder that Androssi touched her shoulder. The view of Androssi was more intense on a closer look. Her eyes was the significant things Yiwha was drawn to looking at.

Yiwha’s sight expanded to Androssi’s frowning face followed by her two fingers clicking together.

“Gosh!” Would you pay attention when I’m talking to you!” Androssi said, placing her hand on her hip to emphasize her frustration.

Yiwha winced but maintained her composure. “Sorry, I kinda got a lot on my mind. Was there something you need?” Yiwha asked, making sure to quickly brush her hair down to make it presentable.

Androssi relaxed her posture to a neutral position with a slight smirk. “It’s nothing important, I was just wondering why you were looking so distressed?” Androssi asked. Yiwha sighed. How could she get so distracted thinking about Androssi when she was right in front of her.

Yiwha whipped her head left and right to look for a convenient excuse out of this situation before she risks embarrassing herself in front of her crush. Before Androssi could ask her question again, Yiwha found what she was looking forward. A clock on the wall that displayed the time.

5:00PM

The hour when the person in charge of cooking would be preparing the food. Perfect! “Oh Androssi, I would love to stick around and chat, but I gotta go help out whoever’s cooking tonight’s dinner” Yiwha ran off, forgetting that she’s making herself more suspicious to Androssi who arched her eyebrows together in confusion.

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

Yiwha enter the kitchen and closed the door behind her, huffing after having to exert a burst of energy. She turned her head, wary of the person’s who cooking dinner, but lucky for her it was Hwa Ryun who was fixing together ingredients.

Hwa Ryun glanced subtly to see who had caused the noise, but seeming it was only Yiwha, she continued cooking as if Yiwha wasn’t there in the first place.

Grateful that Hwa Ryun didn’t make a big deal about it, Yiwha tied back her hair into a ponytail and took out an apron to wear. Although Hwa Ryun is more then half way done with the meal, Yiwha could use the distraction from getting clouded with thoughts about Androssi again.

“So, how’s the meal coming along” Yiwha asked, getting into position to respond to whatever Hwa Ryun needs. Yiwha doesn’t have the best cooking skill, but under strict guidance, she had slowly gotten better to the point she can help out someone who’s already better at cooking.

As though Hwa Ryun hadn’t heard what Yiwha said, she kept cooking the meal and finished any minor adjustments. She put the finished the finished meal into the oven and sat on the kitchen counter, taking her mittens off along the way.

“You seem troubled” Yiwha could feel Hwa Ryun’s one eye peering into her soul, and she flushed, revealing right away Hwa Ryun’s suspicions were true. She only need to take one look at her, and it’s like you can’t hide something from her.

Yiwha blushed. There’s no point hiding anyway. “Well, how should I put it....” Yiwha fumbled her fingers together to realigned herself. It’s not like she’s confessing to Androssi. It’s Hwa Ryun, the person who probably had kept a lot of dangerous secrets herself. “I-I have a crush on A-Androssi, and I can’t seem to rack up the nerve to tell her how I feel!” Yiwha took in a deep breath and released it. She did it. She actually declared her feelings for Androssi. Although her cheeks were flaring red now, like a piece of metal that was taken out from a furnace, and her hands felt sticky from all the sweat, it was a huge accomplishment for Yiwha to tell somebody else what she felt on the inside.

“Congratulations. I wasn’t expecting someone like you to fall for her, but it’s not for me to judge where people choose to walk on their paths” Hwa Ryun said, playing with one of the loose curls on her fringe.

“I wouldn’t say I chose to have feelings for Androssi” Yiwha gained her composure once more and sighed. “It’s sort of like a slow gradual build.” Yiwha said, leaning back against the kitchen counter as she closed her eyes. “I first noticed her courage and independence and wanted to be like her. But as soon as I got to a permanent position to be in her presence more, it’s like I notice more things about her.” Yiwha rambled, feeling the shudders come over her, but they were the good kind of shudders.

Images of Androssi flooded Yiwha, some were in the best light, remembering the first time they met as well as getting to see first hand of Androssi being the personal contribution to completing more then several floor tests. But as well, Yiwha saw her worse moments, like her meltdown after seeing Baam leave to rejoin FUG. It took the combined force of Khun and Wangnan, plus Hwa Ryun on the third day, to break Androssi out of her shell and back on her feet.

Despite that, seeing Androssi back on her feet, brought to light as to how the best and worst traits of her personality bought together visualized an image of Androssi gleefully smiling, a smile so beautiful, Yiwha would gladly burn the entire tower to ashes if it means preventing the forces of Zahard and maybe fate itself from wrecking that smile.

Yiwha opened her eyes to find Hwa Ryun leaping off the counter, and did a simple nod to Yiwha. “Then you know what path you must take. Oh, it would be convenient if you confessed your feelings before dinner is served. That way you don’t have to use any money for your first date.” Hwa Ryun said, then she checked the oven timer to check when the food is about done.

Yiwha blushed at the scenario, but steeled herself for a possible rejection. “Alright, I better go then. Thanks anyway, Hwa Ryun. I’m really glad you chose to stay with us” Yiwha said as she did a simple bow.

Hwa Ryun waved her off. “My god doesn’t need me anymore. My path now is to prepare the remainder of his friends so that they can be at his side for the king’s day of reckoning.”

Yiwha nodded in return, knowing the stakes involved. She bowed once more and left the kitchen, ready to either be happy for the rest of her life or be disappointed by the outcome.

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

Yiwha stepped out of the kitchen and walked back to where she ran away from Androssi. She wasn’t there unfortunately. She thought about what likely place Androssi would be in, since it’s close to dinner, Androssi must’ve gone to have a light nap to recharge.

Yiwha walked to Androssi’s bedroom and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal Androssi on the other side, rubbing her slightly tired eyes and stifling a yawn, she said “Is it dinner already?”

The butterflies were swirling around in Yiwha’s stomach, seeing the Androssi she admire not putting up a front like before was refreshing. It might even be a positive sign.

“Actually, I wanted to explain myself earlier. Do you mind if I step in, I wanted what I say to be more private” Yiwha said. It probably wasn’t the best move to ask Androssi of something before the confession, but she didn’t want anyone to accidentally overhear.

“Right…” The tired look in Androssi’s eyes went away, and became focused. She stepped back, letting Yiwha walked in. The bedroom looked simple as a bedroom would look. The more floors the team moves up, the more restrictive they’ll have to be with accommodations. Before long, they’ll have to live in the wilderness as they climb up the last 30 floors or so.

“Ahem!” Yiwha cleared her throat. She braced herself and willed herself to not run away like last time. “So, Androssi, I admire you, I feel empowered being beside your side, and it’s good that you are here with us?” Yiwha clumsy said, trying to reach to the thesis of what she’s about to say.

“Ok” Androssi raised an eyebrow, unsure of what to say.

“Recently, I felt something special. At first I thought it’s the same admiration other people had felt for you, strangers and dear friends alike.” Yiwha could feel the same sweat building up. She took a brief breath to regroup and continue. “But it’s something deeper. It’s how despite you being so strong, there’s a deeper side to you. The emotional side I would say…. And I would like to see it, and be close to you.” Yiwha said, coming close to what she wanted to say.

A mixture of emotions popped up on Androssi’s face, but before she could settle on one defining emotion, Yiwha went in for the killing blow. “Androssi, I love you and want to be your girlfriend!” Yiwha said, smiling with relief that she could finally confess her feelings to the person she loves.

Androssi’s mouth was agape for a few seconds then fully closed. It took for a few seconds for Androssi to fully comprehend what Yiwha just said. “I see. I had no idea, it’s kind of an honor. So this is what it’s like to receive a confession in person” Androssi chuckled, her cheeks turned a slight pink.

Yiwha was flushed by the sight of Androssi, but wanted to be absolutely certain whether her’s feelings were accepted or rejected. Androssi caught Yiwha’s expression and decides to explain herself.

“Romance wasn’t a strong trait of mine. Yes, I had a crush on Baam, but it was borderline obsessive and I didn’t have anyone bold enough to tell me that wasn’t the most appropriate behavior to engage in” Androssi said, rolling her eyes at having to admit to her past faults.

“I don’t regret my past feelings, I just didn’t act the way I could’ve. If I had been more assertive, then Baam would completely forget that bitch and be with me.” Androssi laughed again. “But anyway, that’s in the past now. To be honest, I am a bit of a selfish bitch myself, so how come of all the people who’s still climbs the tower, it has to be me. I get that I’m the most attractive, but surely you're not the type of girl who falls for people with a pretty face” Androssi winked, having fun with herself.

Yiwha smiled, clearly this is why she loved her. “I could come up with a million reasons, but honestly, the way you just acted is the most clear example I can point to. Sure, there are people like Baam I could had been interested in, but you just happen to be in the right place right time for me. So, whatever comes our way in the future, I want to be with you when that happens.” Yiwha said, again bracing herself.

Androssi licked her lips as she opened her mouths to show her fangs. “Heh… I didn’t know you could be so tempting. But I see how it is.” Androssi walked forward to capture Yiwha’s palms with her hands and bring it to Androssi’s chest level. “I honestly don’t have the same intense feelings as you do, but I’m willing to give you a trial and see what’ll come out of it.” Androssi said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Uh… Uh…” Yiwha was caught between hugging Androssi for relief, or crying because she achieved a scenario she thought would be impossible.

“Wow, seems like cat���s got your tongue. But don’t worry, I’m sure whatever date you have in mind, I promise to not have too much high expectations.” Androssi smiled, this time was an earnest smile. She reached forward and met Yiwha on the lips, signalling the start of something special that could only spiral from the reaction between two opposites.

[anxiousprincedad]

Move-in Day (pt 2)- Detached

Second part of my Home series, also found on Ao3 here. College Roommate Au, LAMP/CALM, slowburn, etc etc. I just liked the idea so much I wanted to write a bunch of one-shots and stuff for it, just a ton of scenarios, so here’s their first meeting (from Logan’s POV)

pt 1: (x)

Logan wasn’t usually one for mistakes. Especially when it came to his education. The one time he did, he ended up being put on a whole separate campus than the one he was meant to go. It wasn’t the biggest deal, but it was still a slight nuisance of having to take the bus every morning to get to his classes.

“Logan, are you alright?”

Logan blinked out of his reverie, tearing his gaze out of the window to look at his mother, who was looking back at him.

“Yes,” he adjusted his glasses, clearing his throat. “I was just thinking about what I would unpack first.”

That was the end of the conversation. She turned back to driving and Logan turned back to watching the buildings pass. The dorm he’d ended up in was across the city from the main campus, and this campus was hardly an actual campus. There were a few buildings around the small town designated for the university, entered only through an issued keycard, but they were nearly indistinguishable from the restaurants and shops around them. Everything was old brick and stone, buildings that had been standing there for many, many years. Logan hadn’t gotten around to researching about them, having focused on the main campus.

As he watched people walk around town, college students mixing with joggers and families, he supposed it was cozy and charming in its own way. He saw the sign on one of the buildings, “Columbus State University Student Housing”. He waited to feel some sort of excitement as the car parked in front of his new dorm. He didn’t feel much of anything.

They checked in and he got his keycard, room key, and a T-shirt that he would never wear. He and his mother began carrying boxes up to the third floor, finding Logan’s room. 328. They’d put signs on the door with all of their names in some sort of Disney themed design that matched the paper cutouts of characters all along the wall. It was the arts campus, after all. Seemed like he’d been put in with three other boys named Virgil, Roman, and Patton.

He unlocked the front door to find an empty apartment. Unsurprising, as they were some of the first to arrive at the check-in downstairs. A few more trips later, and all of his boxes were in the living room.

“Alright, well I’m going to head home now. Should get back around four. Have fun, Logan, try to make friends and make good grades. I’ll call you later,” his mother said after the last box was set down.

Logan simply nodded at her, only glancing back once the front door shut. He wondered if he should feel bad about not even giving her a proper goodbye. It didn’t last long as he got to work, trying to get ahead of unpacking before anyone got there.

Busying himself with moving his personal belongings into his bedroom, he almost didn’t hear the door open slowly. He paused, looking up at the new arrival. It was a tall, skinny boy with purple bangs, dark eyeshadow, and a hand stitched patched jacket. Logan noticed all he had was a bookbag and a duffel bag as the boy closed the door behind him. Logan stood up straight, outstretching his hand to him.

“Hello, I assume that you are one of my new roommates?” he questioned.

Virgil shook it awkwardly. “Uh, yeah, I guess. I’m Virgil.”

Logan was a little surprised by the literary name, but perhaps his parents were simply fans of the arts. Either way, Logan decided not to comment on it.

“Logan, nice to meet you.”

Unsure of what else to say, he turned back to his boxes and began moving one into his room, while Virgil went into the other room. After a few moments, he could hear Virgil moving furniture around, but he decided to ignore it while he set a couple of small cacti on the windowsill. He was admiring the way the sunlight shone on them when he heard the door open behind him.

A small, young-looking boy came in, cheering excitedly before spotting Logan and running over.

Logan, on instinct, held out his hand for the boy to shake. The boy took his hand and shook it with a lot of… vigor, startling Logan a little.

“Hi, I’m Patton, you must be my new roommate! Can I take this room?” he said in a rush, pointing to the room Logan had been moving into.

“Uh, I’m Logan, and I suppose, it’s just me in there curren-”

“Yay!” Patton leaped up, bouncing out the door only to come back in holding a box and being followed by two women, who were also carrying boxes.

Logan went to the kitchen, where he started putting away dishes. Patton came back out to the living room after dropping the box in his room, spotting Virgil.

Virgil looked like he was about to duck back into his room, but Patton caught him before he could.

“Hi, I’m Patton!”

“Virgil,” Virgil said simply, looking sheepish.

Patton’s face split into a grin, “Ooo, that’s a cool name!”

“It’s like the guide in Dante’s Inferno,” Logan added, surprising himself. He hadn’t meant to join the conversation. He cleared his throat. “It’s a good read.”

Virgil smirked at him, leaning against the doorframe. “Yeah, never heard that one before. English sucked ass those couple of weeks, the teacher kept trying to make me read it aloud since I shared the name.”

Logan flushed a little at Virgil’s expression, a little unsure why he was feeling… almost tingly all of a sudden. Before he could think about it too much, one of the women with Patton came out of their room and asked Patton a question, while Logan adjusted his glasses and took a deep breath while no one was paying attention to him.

Patton answered whatever she had asked before turning back to Virgil. “I hope we become the best of friends!”

Virgil blinked in surprise as Patton bounced away, looking at Logan with a confused look. Logan shrugged at him, raising his brows at him.

“Let’s just hope that our last member isn’t so… ecstatic,” Logan mumbled, half to himself.

Logan finished putting away the dishes and shut the cabinet, breaking down the box and setting it beside the trash bin before going to his room. Patton looked up from where he was putting a few plushies on the bookshelf. Patton grinned at him, and Logan gave him a small, awkward smile in return, with a short nod. He began putting his books away.

A couple minutes later, the door opened again with a boy singing loudly, and Logan looked up as Patton jumped up and bounced to the door to meet him. He heard him introduce himself as Roman Prince. He listened in for another moment before returning to flipping through “And One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest”. He didn’t really see the need to join the conversation, although that wasn’t a new feeling. He was used to being alone.

Waking up at 7 am was a nice change from his usual 5 am wake-up. As he was tying his usual blue tie, Patton sat up sleepily.

“Good morning!” he said cheerily before yawning and stretching.

“Good morning,” Logan responded absentmindedly as he straightened his tie and adjusted his glasses in the mirror Patton had hung on the door.

Patton got up and followed him out to the kitchen, his hoodie too big and falling over his hands. Logan wasn’t sure if Patton was wearing shorts underneath, but thought it would be rude to stare or to ask. So he simply opened the door and started to leave.

“Where are you going?” Patton asked, sounding almost disappointed.

“Oh, uh, I was simply going down to the mart downstairs to get breakfast,” Logan said, looking back at Patton’s pout.

“But I was gonna make breakfast for everyone to celebrate our first day together,” Patton said sadly.

Logan pointed out the obvious flaw in that plan, “We only have three leftover slices of pizza from last night in here.”

“Oh…” Patton pursed his lips as he looked around as if suddenly food would jump out at him. Then he lit up, “Then we can go down to the mart together and get ingredients!”

Logan nodded, “That sounds adequate.”

Patton cheered, albeit quietly as to not wake the other room. He went towards the door, and Logan stopped him.

“Patton, you can’t possibly be planning to go outside wearing just a hoodie…” he berated.

“I have shorts on under it,” Patton said, pulling the hoodie up to his stomach to demonstrate.

Logan flushed, quickly looking away before he could get more than a glimpse of Patton’s short shorts and bare stomach.

“Still, you must get properly dressed if we are to go out in public,” Logan said in exasperation.

Patton huffed dramatically, but went back to their shared room to change. Logan, giving him his privacy, took a seat by the bar counter and looked at his email. A couple of welcome messages from the school to his university email, and a newsletter from an astronomy website he follows. He looked through it to see what constellations and planets could be expected in the night sky in the coming week.

“Ready!” Patton said cheerily, a little loud before he covered his own mouth while looking at the other bedroom.

Upon being sure he hadn’t accidentally woken the other two, he looked back at Logan expectantly. Logan stood and put his phone in his pocket, following Patton out the door. He locked it behind him as Patton waited, bouncing on his feet.

They took the stairs, and Patton bounded down them, jumping down the last three steps at every turn of them.

“You are going to hurt yourself doing that,” Logan pointed out as Patton landed with a loud thud on his feet.

“No I won’t, I always do that!” Patton giggled back, looking up at him as he waited for Logan to reach the bottom.

Going out the front door of the lobby, they went inside the little store next door. It was just like any gas station mart, only without the gas or the probably inedible hot food. Plus, it was catered more to college students, Logan noted as he realized that this shelf had ramen noodles, notebooks, and condoms all in the same place. He quickly turned his gaze to Patton, who had run to the next aisle and was holding up a box of pancake mix and a bottle of syrup triumphantly.

“We’re gonna make pancakes for breakfast!” he said determinedly as Logan walked to him.

‘Well, he’s just adorable,’ Logan thought as Patton skipped across the store to the fridges to get milk, eggs, and butter.

Patton came back, shoving everything into Logan’s arms. Logan was startled, nearly dropping the milk jug as Patton went over to the boxes of cereal with a huge grin. He grabbed Frosted Flakes and Lucky Charms, much to Logan’s displeasure.

“Patton, those can hardly be counted as a healthy breakfast,” he scolded.

Patton shrugged, “But they are tasty!”

Logan rolled his eyes, but it was Patton’s own choice, so he didn’t stop him from taking them up to the tired looking girl working the register.

“I think that should be enough for now, and we can go to the grocery store later to stock up everything else when Roman and Virgil wake up,” Patton said happily.

He paid and they decided to take the elevator up to their floor. Logan had never really been good at conversation, so he was a little glad that Patton was distracting himself by humming a song. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Patton was wearing something under his shirt, like a plain white tank top, but with a different fabric than Logan had ever seen on one. It looked somewhat like Spandex, and Logan couldn’t help but wonder why Patton was wearing it. The elevator stopped before he could think to ask it aloud, however, and they went back to their dorm.

As Patton began getting the ingredients out, Logan put the cereal boxes in the pantry. They looked very desolate amongst the rest of the empty shelves. He shut the door and turned back to Patton, who was getting a couple of pans from the lower cabinets as quietly as he could. Logan stood there, unsure of what he should do. He supposed that Patton expected him to help, and it would potentially be rude to not help. Patton looked up and seemed to sense his uncertainty.

“Can you get a mixing bowl down? You put them on the top shelf, so you’ll be able to reach them better,” Patton asked as he grabbed the pancake mix and began reading the instructions.

Logan nodded in affirmation as he opened the cabinet and reached up to get said mixing bowl, grabbing the largest and putting the other two smaller ones back on the shelf. As he closed the cabinet and set the bowl on the counter, Patton handed him the open bag of batter mix.

“Two cups of that will make 14 pancakes, but we’ll double it, and we might have some left over.” Patton said happily. “Depends on how hungry everyone is, I guess.”

Logan stared at the bag for a moment, unsure of what to do.

“So add four cups to the bowl?” he asked.

“Yup! Then four eggs and two cups of milk, and then you’ll whisk it until it turns into batter!” Patton affirmed as he found the right measuring cup and the rainbow colored whisk he’d brought.

Logan set about measuring everything out as he was told, and Patton showed him how to crack an egg after he messed up and got eggshells in the mix. After getting said eggshells out, of course.

“Don’t want crunchy pancakes, silly! Well, actually, I guess you could if you were making a special recipe with like… bacon. Or Pop Rocks. Ooh, that would be fun!” Patton said as he cleanly cracked the third egg in.

Logan was too focused on Patton’s technique to respond with anything more than a strange look at that.

Patton started heating up the pan with butter as Logan whisked, and Patton cheered him on, reminding him to make sure to get the bottom. Logan couldn’t help but smile at the other boy, who met it with an even bigger grin. Something felt a little funny in Logan’s stomach, he dismissed it quickly as he went back to whisking.

Once Patton had approved the consistency of the mixture, he took the bowl from Logan, setting it beside the stove. He quickly swiped his finger along the side to taste the batter, his face lighting up.

“You shouldn’t do that, you could get sick from the raw eggs,” Logan said.

Patton waved it off, “I always taste the batter! It’s yummy and you gotta know how you did.” He shot a quick smile at Logan before ladling a portion of the batter into the heated pan.

Out of a job, Logan stood against the counter and observed. He realized his heart was beating faster than normal as he watched Patton sway to a nonexistent song. He looked away for a moment, trying to steady himself. He wasn’t used to this… elation. Most of his joy came from reading a good book, not this kind of… almost domestic event with a near stranger. It was so different. And it was only the first day; then what would the rest of the semester be like?

His mind beginning to race, Logan looked around the room for something to talk about. Finding nothing of interest, his eyes fell back onto Patton, and the fabric hidden beneath his shirt. Curiosity got the best of him.

“What’s that you’re wearing under your shirt?”

Patton nearly jumped, although Logan was unsure why; he hadn’t spoken loudly enough to startle him, surely.

“Oh, uh, well…”

Logan stood up straighter as Patton began to fumble with the pan, looking nervous.

“It’s a… binder,” Patton said, looking at Logan, seemingly to gauge a reaction.

Logan, however, was just confused.

“Like… a school binder? I don’t understand,” Logan said, furrowing his brows.

“Oh…” Patton looked back at the pan, flipping it over before he spoke again. “Well, do you know what transgender means?”

Logan thought for a moment. “Well, “trans” comes from Latin, meaning “across, over, or beyond”, and gender is obviously the sex of a person, so I would assume it means something like… Across gender? Possibly?”

Patton let out a snort, “Well, I guess. Transgender means that someone identifies as a gender that they weren’t born as.”

Logan pondered this for a moment before nodding in understanding.

“I’m transgender… I’m AFAB, or Assigned Female at Birth. But I realized that I was a boy in high school, and started transitioning. The binder is to give me a flat chest so that I pass in public,” Patton explained, not looking at Logan until the very end, to see what his reaction was.

Logan found that this only raised more questions for him, but he didn’t want to accidentally offend Patton.

“I suppose that might explain why you look so young…” Logan said, immediately hoping that that wasn’t hurtful.

Patton smiled sheepishly, “Yeah, I’ve always been shorter than most people, and I haven’t been able to go on T yet.”

“T?” Logan asked.

“Testosterone. You can get it from a doctor, but I still haven’t been approved for it yet. Hopefully soon though, then my voice will drop and I’ll look more like any other guy.” Patton said, his voice filled with hope and longing.

Logan was unsure of what to say. They fell into a silence, and Logan could still tell that Patton was nervous.

“So… What classes are you taking this semester?”

Patton seemed relieved at the topic change, and happily went into detail about his schedule and his excitement to start learning. Logan listened with earnest, going into his own schedule as Patton kept the pancake stack rising.

By noon, the other two had woken up and they’d eaten their pancakes at the little coffee table in the living room. Patton had suggested they all go shopping, and Roman offered to drive them to Target. Virgil decided he had nothing better to do, and Logan decided he would stay behind. The morning had already worn him out, he wasn’t sure if he could handle another trip with the rest of them at that point.

So while they all took off, Logan went back into his room, sitting at his desk and opening his laptop. Going to Google, he started his search for “transgender”, finding dozens of news articles on the first page. None of them looked good, however, and he skipped over them. Scrolling down, he found some articles about reference guides and explanations of the terms used, so he opened those in new tabs and began to read.

Somewhere between articles, he wondered why he was so determined to learn this. Was it simply not to offend? Was it because it was simply a new term he’d never encountered before? Or was it because he wanted to understand Patton better?

He shook the thought off. It was simply an interesting topic to educate himself about, a new fact about the world he had been ignorant of. Nothing more.

Nothing more.

[ladycadencetalle]

@honorablescythecurie this is 2755 words long

as usual please don't rb or say anything until it's posted on main-

Gina was pissed, to say the least. Stupid, oblivious Leo, and stupid, oblivious her. What a pair.

Leo had always been oblivious, so she really couldn’t blame him, but it was her mistakes that really set her off. Sure, they were her mistakes, but that didn’t make them sting less.

Put it out of your mind. That’s over now, and now we can… try again.

After they’d left, she and Sammie had decided that they should go to Gina’s, just to hang out. The only reason Gina had agreed was because she knew her dad had taken her youngest siblings to their grandma’s, and the oldest two of her younger siblings wouldn’t bother her. They might have even gone over to a friend’s house, leaving the Weathers residence vacant.

“So, what did you think? Salt & Pepper, it was good, right?” she asked, hoping to break the tension that had formed.

“Yeah, it was pretty good! Leo was right, the mocha was pretty good.”

She knew Sammie didn’t mean any harm, but hearing Leo’s name brought a bitter taste to Gina’s mouth. She did her best to swallow it before asking, “Have you ever dyed your hair?”

So she was taking the easy way out of discussing what had happened at the café. There was nothing wrong with that, especially because Gina wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, but they didn’t need to talk about it. Right now, she needed a distraction, something guaranteed.

“Uh, no, I haven’t,” Sammie admitted. “I never had the chance, I guess.”

“How would you feel about maybe, I dunno, doing that at my house?” Gina asked. “I’ve got a couple colours. I accidentally bought some for light hair, too, so that’s been sitting in my closet for a while now.”

Sammie hesitated. Gina could tell she wanted to, but still. It wasn’t something most people did on the fly. Changing your colour was one thing, but doing it for the first time was usually a bigger decision.

“You don’t have to,” Gina added. “Or we can do just like, a little bit. Streaks or ends or-” She gasped. “Under layer would look so good!”

With that, Sammie seemed won over. “Why not? What colours do you have?”

“For light hair, I think pink and blue. And then I have some that’s for darker hair, purple and green and red. And brown. I dunno. Probably pink or blue for you.”

“Pink, for sure.”

“Good, because we’re here,” Gina said as they pulled into her driveway. She quickly parked outside and hopped out of the car. “Do you want a soda or something? We’ve got some in the garage.”

She led Sammie into the garage and to an old, white fridge. Sammie pulled it open and Gina grabbed a Sprite. “Go on, you can take something.”

Sammie grabbed a Sprite of her own before closing the fridge. Gina then pulled open the door to the back hall, a tiny doorway that led into the kitchen. “Shoes on or off?” Sammie asked.

“Either one,” Gina said. “I keep mine in my room.” She then bolted upstairs. “My room’s up here.”

As Gina walked down the narrow hallway, she suddenly felt very… inadequate. Everything seemed too small, too dirty, too embarrassing. It never felt like this when Mally or Andre were over, because they’d been coming over since they were little. But somehow, Sammie seeing it for the first time as a high schooler, the most judgemental group of people on the planet, terrified Gina. What if this was it? Maybe Sammie would stop hanging out with her. Plus, there was the added terror of having your crush see your bedroom. That usually didn’t happen so early, did it?

Gina ran out of time to go over worst-case scenarios as she opened her bedroom door. Luckily, she’d cleaned up a bit before going to pick Sammie up, so it wasn’t too bad. Her bed was made, there were no dirty underwear on the floor, and the dresser was organised.

“Aww, your room is so cute!” Sammie said as Gina stepped out of the way to let her in. “The nail polish is so fun!” She pointed to the row that Gina had lined up in colour order. There were only maybe a dozen bottles, but they took up a decent amount of room on her dresser.

“Thanks,” Gina said as she internally sighed a sigh of relief. “Maybe we can paint our nails later, if we have time.”

“That would be fun,” Sammie agreed.

Gina could tell that there was something Sammie wasn’t saying, but she decided not to push. “Okay, here’s the hair dye,” she said as she opened her closet and grabbed a small plastic basket off the floor. “Here’s the pink.”

She tossed the box to Sammie, who caught it with ease. “Should we do this in the bathroom, and do you have some old towels?”

“Yeah, they’re right here.” She reached into her closet again and grabbed two stained towels. “I know they look gross but they’re clean, I promise. I just washed them.”

“That’s okay,” Sammie said as she took one of the towels from Gina. “Here, you put the basket away. Where’s your bathroom?”

“Right next door, first door on the right,” Gina said, sliding the basket back and closing her small closet. She followed Sammie into the bathroom.

“Okay, what’s first?” asked Sammie as she opened the box.

“You should wash your hair. I can do that in the sink, and then I have some clips in the sink so we only dye the bottom layer.”

“Alright, I’m doing this!” Sammie said as she placed one of the towels around her neck like a cape.

“We’re doing this! Here, I’m gonna go grab a chair so you can sit by the sink,” Gina said. She ran back downstairs to the garage, grabbed an old folding chair, and brought it back up. When she got back to the bathroom, she found that Sammie had found a handful of hair clips in a drawer and had pulled the gloves out of the box.

“Here.” She set the chair down facing the wall. “Sit.”

Sammie sat as Gina grabbed her shampoo and conditioner from the shower. She put them on the counter next to the sink and turned the water on. “Sit back so your hair’s actually in the sink.”

Gina could see Sammie hesitate. “Hey, it’s not too late to chicken out. I still haven’t been able to do Mally’s. You’re fine if you don’t wanna do it.”

“No, I wanna,” Sammie said. “I’m just nervous.”

“Don’t be! This stuff is only semi-permanent anyways, so it won’t last for more than six weeks, if you wash it the same amount as usual.”

Gina could see Sammie take a deep breath before sitting back. “Let’s go!”

She placed Sammie’s hair in the sink and started washing it. “So, how do you like it here?”

“I like it. It’s different from where I lived before, but I like the people here. I think I found a good group, y’know?”

“Yeah, I get that,” Gina said as she started adding shampoo. “Good crew. I’ve known Mally and Andre since elementary school. I think we’re all pretty likeable.”

“Yeah, and the other people in my classes are nice, too,” Sammie said. “Not that I’d hang out with most of them, but they’re nice.”

“Mhm,” Gina said absentmindedly as she rinsed the shampoo and started combing conditioner through Sammie’s hair.

“I can’t wait to just get to know more people, you know? Like I’ve been talking with some of my other classmates and I forgot how fun it is to talk to different people and get their perspectives on things.”

“Yeah,” Gina agreed. “Sit up, your hair is clean. I gotta dry it a bit.”

Sammie leaned forward in the chair as Gina pulled the towel that was sitting on her shoulders up to rub her hair dry. “I’m overall liking it here. I was nervous, but everyone has been really nice and no one’s really bullied me or anything.”

“Yeah, most of the people at our school are nice. It’s actually not too bad. I’ve heard South is way more toxic than our school.” Gina grabbed the clips and then pulled a comb out of one of the drawers. “Hold these,” she said, handing the clips to Sammie. She then ran the comb around Sammie’s head, grabbing the top section with one hand and a clip with the other. “Turn around, does that look good?”

“Yeah, that’s not too much,” Sammie said as she looked in the mirror.

“Okay, I’m gonna straighten out the part there then. Uh, you can continue what you were saying,” Gina said as Sammie turned back to face the wall.

“It’s just a decent environment, better than my old school. Even the worst people here are generally better than at my old school.”

“Yeah,” Gina said. “Okay, hair dye next. You ready?”

“Do it.”

“Okay,” Gina said as she slid on the gloves and opened the package of dye. She mixed it up and started scooping small handfuls onto Sammie’s hair. “Yeah, I’d say the worst person at our school is probably Logan, and she’s pretty bad, so the people at your school must have been terrible.”

“She’s not that bad,” Sammie said. “She’s in my English, and she seems pretty nice.”

“Trust me, she’s not.” Gina combed her fingers through Sammie’s hair. “She’s rude and a bully.”

“Huh, I haven’t seen that,” Sammie admitted. “She seems pretty… normal, I guess.”

“Don’t hang out with her, trust me. Mally and Andre can vouch for me. Just don’t.”

“Okay, I guess I can do that.”

They sat in silence, Gina combing her fingers through Sammie’s hair to make sure it was fully covered. “Your hair looks good, now we wait,” she said, pulling the gloves off and throwing them in the garbage next to the toilet. “Uh, do you wanna do nails while we wait?”

“Sure,” Sammie said. “I can do yours, if you go grab colours.”

Gina nodded before heading back to her room. That was… strange, right? How Sammie had talked about Logan? What was up with the two of them, anyways? Gina wasn’t sure, but hopefully it was just a misunderstanding on Sammie’s part. Logan was bad news, and the two of them hanging out was worse news.

She grabbed a couple colours; sparkly black and her favourite purple. She brought them back to the bathroom and sat down on the floor in front of Sammie. She’d been doing something on her phone while Gina was in her room, and Gina sat for a moment before she put her phone away. “Sorry, I had to respond to a couple messages.”

“That’s okay. Here, here’s my colours.” She put one hand up and Sammie opened the bottle of purple. She started applying the colour with an ease Gina had never been able to master.

“Here, we can listen to music,” Gina said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket with her free hand. She opened her Spotify and scrolled through her playlists until she found one that wouldn’t totally embarrass her.

“Oh, this is a bop,” she said as the first song came on.

“Oh, yeah!” Sammie said, grinning. She started singing along. “You would not believe your eyes…”

Gina joined in. “If ten million fireflies…”

“Lit up the world as I fell asleep,” they sang in unison. They sang the whole song, relishing each other’s company. By the time the song was over, the first coat on Gina’s nails was finished, and Sammie was on the second coat.

“That was good,” Sammie said, almost breathless.

“Yeah,” Gina laughed. “Ooh, this next one is good. I’ve been cheated by you since I don’t know when…”

“So I made up my mind, it must come to an end,” Sammie joined in. She finished the final coat of polish on Gina’s nails before the song ended.

“Alright, your nails are done, just let them dry and we can rinse my hair.”

“The bottom drawer on your left, there’s a hair dryer. We can dry my nails faster,” Gina said. She paused the music as Sammie plugged it in. She put her hands out in front of her as Sammie turned it on and aimed it at Gina’s nails.

They sat in relative silence, the only noise being the hair dryer. Not quite silence, but one sound enveloping the small room. After about five minutes, Sammie turned it off and said, “Try that.”

Gina tentatively touched her pinky nail. “Dry,” she said, standing up. “Now for your hair.”

She turned the sink back on as Sammie leaned back once more. Gina combed her fingers through Sammie’s hair, turning the water in the sink bright pink. After a few minutes of rinsing, she said, “I think you’re good. Let’s blow it dry.”

Sammie handed her the dryer from where it had been sitting in her lap. Gina switched it on and started blow drying her friend’s hair. She pulled the clip out and ran her fingers through until she determined it was dry. Gina turned off the hair dryer and unplugged it. “Ready for the final reveal?”

Sammie nodded with a nervous smile. She stood up and turned around. “Oh my gosh I love it!” she cried. “It’s so beautiful! Thank you!”

Gina smiled. “It turned out nicely,” she said. “Not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous too.”

“You were?” Sammie asked. “You did it so well! I can’t stop looking at it!”

“Ah, it was nothing. But my nails! You made it look so easy! I always get it all over my fingers and then have to wipe it off.”

“I did my nails a lot in middle school.”

“Makes sense.” They stood in awkward silence for a moment before Gina added, “We should clean this up, and it’s getting late. I can drive you home.”

“Yeah, you’re right. A ride would be great.” Sammie grabbed the towel and the chair and asked, “Where do these go?”

“Uh, the towel can go on the hook behind the door there,” Gina pointed. “And the chair goes in the garage. Do you mind taking it down there while I finish cleaning up the garbage?”

Sammie nodded and took the chair downstairs. Gina grabbed the rest of the garbage, threw it away, and brought the nail polish and the rest of the hair dye back to her room. She set them on her dresser and ran downstairs.

“C’mon, let’s go,” she said to Sammie as she entered the garage. She hopped in the driver’s seat as Sammie climbed in next to her.

“This was fun,” Sammie said Gina started backing out.

“Yeah, it was.” Gina realised this was the perfect time to admit something that had been pulling at her stomach all week. “Uh, Sammie, uh, I dunno how to say this. It’s only been, what, a week since you came, but I really-” She stopped herself and swallowed.

“I like you.”

The words hung there, suspended between them for what felt like an eternity. Gina couldn’t take her eyes off the road, wouldn't let herself. She was scared, but she couldn't take the words back.

Sammie gulped loudly enough for Gina to hear before saying, “I think I might like you.”

They didn’t live far apart, and that short ride had already brought them into Sammie’s driveway. Gina parked and neither girl said anything. She turned to face Sammie and saw Sammie staring at her.

Gina could see Sammie unbuckle her seatbelt, but nothing could have prepared her for Sammie to lean over and kiss her. It was so sudden, she hadn’t even registered what was happening until it was over. Sammie had opened the door and was climbing out of the car.

“Bye!” she called as she slammed the door shut and ran into the house, and just like that, she was gone.

Gina sat there, absolutely shocked. Of all the things she had expected to happen that day, that was not one of them. But Ssmmie had disappeared inside. There was nothing for Gina to do except drive home and hold the secret tight. That experience, that moment, was going to stay in this car, and Gina couldn't do anything about it, so she didn’t try to fight it. Instead, she drove home and tried not to think about it. After all, what else could she do?

[fox-household]

Act 2: Teaching An Old Lizard, Chapter 1

Alright here we go, can’t really think of much to say here. I’ll add links later when I have time. Hope you enjoy it, thankfully things are finally lifting off I suppose. You all have a good one.

FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT

Alphys awoke feeling cold, a small shiver going up her body, before she groaned as she realised the doona had fallen off her bed, leaving the monster exposed to the elements of her room. ‘’Oh, a-again?’’ She then dragged it up off the floor and wrapped herself in it so only her head was sticking out, feeling the warmth surround her. The scientist let out a calm smile, feeling grateful that it was a smooth sleep once more, and now with the warmth her mind was starting to work properly again. Today was still the weekend, so no work, nothing to do at all, perhaps going to basement lab and messing around would take her mind off things. She sighed, ‘’Th-this is g-gonna be me for a w-while’’ The voice gave a sigh of slight annoyance, ‘’Hey Alph, I think you’re forgetting something’’. She made a small expression of confusion before, as if on cue, she heard a clattering in the kitchen a few rooms down. ‘’Wh-what? B-…. Oh hehehe r-right…A-Asgore’s here.’’ Alphys couldn’t help but feel a little shame as suddenly all her memories came back from the previous day, things had been the same around here for so long she hadn’t really realised that someone was actually living with her now, perhaps it hadn’t truly sunk in yet. ‘’How about we go make sure our new guest is alive and not being killed or something.’’ A small nervous laugh came out of her, hoping that the joke was just that, as she left the comfy confines of her doona and got dressed into her usual clothes, and then left her room to check on the situation.

Asgore jumped back as he accidentally dropped the frying pan, making a loud clattering sound, now wearing a worried look. ‘’Oh goodness, please don’t tell me I broke something on my first day’’. While wincing the kid picked up the pan and examined where it landed, only finding a single scratch mark. He let out his worry with a sigh of relief as he put it away, having already washed it down after its use. The goat started whistling a cheery tune as he picked up two plates on the bench, with crispy bacon and a single piece of deep brown toast resting on each plate. He was in the process of taking it to the table when he heard some small footsteps approaching the room, and he turned wearing a smile with a slight nervous undertone, ‘’Oh Alphys, uh good morning, hope I didn’t wake you, nothing was broken I promise’’. The awakened monster shook her head with a tired smile, ‘’I-it wasn’t y-you I p-promise, did y-you sleep well? D-don’t worry I’ll m-make sure y---.. What?!’’ Asgore looked real confused until he followed her gaze to the food he was holding, and that was when he understood her now guilt driven panicked look. ‘’O-oh no, I sh-should’ve got up s-sooner, y-you’re the guest, I s-should be the one c-cooking for you. I’m s-sorry…’’ Asgore went ahead and put the meals on the table nearby and shook his head with a chuckle. ‘’It’s fine, don’t worry about it, just trying to make sure I’m worth having around.’’ Alph sighed, ‘’I-I doubt y-you wouldn’t b-be worth h-having you a-around, b-but can m-maybe I can handle th-the rest of the m-meals of th-the day? Just to w-welcome you…. if that’s ok o-of course.’’ Asgore nodded, ‘’Alright that sounds like a good deal, come sit, don’t want to wait for everything to get cold’’. Asgore sat down and took a bite from the toast and bacon, watching his housemate sit down opposite timidly, taking a bite herself. ‘’So you got any plans for the day, something to occupy you.’’ Alphys shook her head, ‘’N-nothing I really n-need to do today’’. The goat child nodded with a smile, seeming to think for a bit, ‘’Alright, how about we get started on fixing up something? Got to be productive right?’’, She was holding her toast and bacon with two hands and just nibbling on it slowly, her eyes turned attentive and she gave a small nod, which gave the determined boy a wider grin. ‘’Alright, I have something in mind, I believe we should start with the most important part of the house’’. Alphys gulped and looked a little worried, ‘’Th-that sounds a-all good, b-but which p-part of the house is th-that?’’ Asgore’s face absolutely lit up as he giggled, ‘’Don’t worry, you’ll see, I’m going to get stuff ready, you just finish your breakfast’’. With no hesitation he jumped out of his chair and sprinted towards the backyard door, ‘’W-wait Asgore, wh-what about y-your break-…’’, but it was already to late and the kid was gone, leaving her with two plates of breakfast. She sighed, he really was an excitable boy, and now she supposed she was going to have to match his energy somehow. ‘’A-at least he’s l-letting me d-do th-the dishes I-I suppose’’, she said as she quickly finished her breakfast. The lizard took both the plates, and put them next to the sink, and washed her own dish under the sink with soap. Alphys was to nervous to wash Asgore’s quite yet, not knowing whether he planned to come back to it or not, she realised that working out the Prince’s schedule was another thing she was going to have to integrate into her head. ‘’Time to see in what way he can break the monotony, partly wish it wasn’t straight up chores’’. She laughed faintly at the voice, ‘’Y-you know a l-little bit o-of normalcy isn’t a b-bad thing r-right? M-maybe we should try t-to be a little m-more normal, do some…I dunno…n-normal s-stuff’’. A sigh was heard, ‘’Yes, because after all that shit we’ve gone through, you think we can just live a normal life? We should be out there, causing trouble around town, maybe doing some not so ethical experiments, maybe at least going out for drinks, having fun. Oh, and not to mention it’s not exactly normal to adopt an orphan kid on your lonesome, who was already adopted by someone else.’’. Alphys shook her head, a slight tinge of defensiveness in her voice, ‘’H-he isn’t j-just an orphan, he’s a f-friend, p-plus he h-has p-plenty of p-people to c-call family, n-not like he’s f-from an o-orphanage’’. ‘’Yeah, but we’re not that to him.’’ B-but we’re f-friends, and w-we trust e-each other, he’s b-been through that s-stuff to, m-maybe w-we can work together t-to have a n-normal life?’’. Alphys could almost hear the mental rolling of the eyes the voice would be doing if it could roll eyes, ‘’Whatever Al, that’s ridiculous, it’s gonna end up being even worse with you both. Not like you can even picture him normally, you’re telling me you don’t often remember the Prince Asgore that ripped up enemies as he went toe to toe with beasts. You’e telling me you can get the image out of your head of Prince Asgore, covered in flesh, gore and blood, wounds running all over him, and him not even being phased by it all by the end of it.’’ That description brought those flashbacks into her head for the first time in a while, Asgore in that warehouse…everyone in that damn warehouse even. ‘’………We can t-try o-ok? G-got to have a l-little f-faith w-we can w-work this.’’ ‘’Do you ever wonder if he sees the you from back then, the coward who didn’t even try to help, the one who didn’t even try to protect everyone, the hindrance, the one who wasted everyone’s time and energy to be protected instead, when you had the power to protect others and you did Nothing.’’ Alphys seemed to almost freeze, she could feel her body shaking slightly, more of a shiver if anything. The scars where bullet wounds once pierced were tingling and her face was guilt ridden as she remembered the pain and death of that night. ‘’Th-th-that’s e-enough….’’ ‘’Awww, you can never handle that truth can you?’’. I s-said that’s enough……..please’’. The voice quieted down finally, and she moved off to her room swiftly and closed the door behind her, taking a few minutes to regain her composure before meeting Asgore once more, he couldn’t see her like this, not now.

Alphys opened the front door of the house, looking out at the front yard where she saw Asgore, wearing a sun hat that she couldn’t be sure where it came from. By the smiling kid sitting on the porch were a couple of pairs of garden gloves, a couple of small trowels, a rake and a big watering can. ‘’S-so what exactly i-is meant to be th-the m-most important part to f-fix?’’, obviously eyeing the tools rather suspiciously. Asgore gave an enthusiastic grin, ‘’Well we got to work on your garden obviously, fix up this dead land.’’ Alphys raised an eyebrow slightly, ‘’Ummmm a-are you s-sure the g-garden is the m-most important th-thing? C-can’t say I uh see its r-relevance.’’ Asgore proceeded to give a disapproving shake of the head with a sigh as if she had said something incredibly silly, and he was going to have to be the teacher in this scenario, ‘’Nope! It is by far the most important, a healthy environment leads people to have happy mental state and a happy life in general. Plus, the first thing people see is your garden which should be colourful and pretty, because it is proven to make people feel warm and welcome into your home.’’ The lizard monster smiled as she could feel herself taking in some of the confidence coming from the other, ‘’O-oh s-so you’ve done research on th-this stuff, th-that’s good to know’’. But that confidence took a small dip when the child gave a nervous smile, ‘’Uh well, yeah we can go with that I suppose….’’, Asgore then noticed the yellow monsters’ hit in confidence and he gave a defensive look as he put his hands on his hips, ‘’Hey, I don’t question you about your fancy robots and things, so don’t doubt me on this. Just trust me, what I’m saying is the truth’’. The goat let out a huff, though his tone made it obvious he wasn’t angry or anything, just ever so slightly serious. Alphys’ smile returned with kind touch to it, ‘’O-o-of c-course, ummm…..s-show me wh-what to do your h-highness’’, there was a burst of enthusiasm from that last bit, which was evidence enough for Asgore that she was all good to go with his plan. With a chuckle the grinning goat went on, ‘’Alright my Royal Scientist, today you’ll be studying the greatest of all the subjects, the grand science of Botany.’’ He chucked her a pair of gloves and picked up the large watering can and beckoned her to follow, which Alphys did as she put on the rough gloves. The pair went around to the side of the house where lay in a line, a large amount of small shrub like plants, ‘’Alright, I’m going to be watering the flowers near the front since they seem to require a bit more of an experienced touch than what we got here. Al see these plants? You’re going to water them with this watering can, there’s a tap out the back you can use to fill it up, can I trust you with this?’’ Alphys nodded as she took the watering can, ‘’Y-yeah, I c-can do this surely, c-can’t be to d-difficult right?’’ While it was phrased like a rhetorical question, Asgore could sense it was an actual question, ‘’You’ll be fine, it would be pretty hard to stuff up, I believe in you’’, he gave a reassuring smile, ‘’Well see you soon, expecting to come back to a seasoned gardener. Alphys gave a nervous smile, ‘’Th-thanks, I’ll d-do my best.’’ With those final words, Asgore went off to do his duty for the front garden.

The kid ran out of the front door with a full cup of water, starting to look a little puffed out. There had been only one watering can, but since flowers didn’t take as much water to satisfy and he was more experienced, he figured running between the house and back was easy enough to use cups of water as a container, he didn’t expect it to be so tiring. But finally reaching the area with the flowers, he lowered himself down to eye level of the top of it, and slowly poured down about half of the cup, obviously being a careful as can be to make sure it all went down perfectly. Finally, being done with that, he took a deep breath and he decided to sit down and take a breather, just watching the sky for a little bit, the blue canvas with bits of white dotting it, it made the kid feel quite relaxed. In turn it allowed his mind to wander back to memories of a calm happy time, whenever he felt this peaceful he imagined being home, not the house he just came from but the place he once called home, the one they all did. The memories of a bunch of them pranking Gaster with a whoopee cushion or moving his stuff around to mess with him, wrestling with Undyne, cracking jokes with Sans, failing to understand Alphys’ scientific theories no matter how much he tried, playing small games with Papyrus and helping him up to reach the cookie jar which left Gaster perplexed on his method, there was memories of hanging out with Tori out in the woods, talking about god knows what, but no matter what it was it put a smile on his face. There was one final series of memories, the one he reminisced about the most, so much so he had a photograph of one of the times it happened. Asgore closed his eyes and remembered the warmth of the campfire in the middle, everyone smiling, everyone happy without a worry in the world. Tori was sitting next to him on the log, watching him cook marshmallows for the two of them, she always seemed so at peace sitting there. Undyne and Alphys were another log on a different side, Undyne was standing up, with a dramatic grin as she was telling the legendary tales of grand heroes, usually with big swords, who against all odds defeat evil, saving whatever kingdom or world they were apart of, we all never really could tell whether they were tales from here or from the anime Alphys had showed her. Alphys was just sitting their as nervous as ever but still smiling, and listening to it all, she didn’t always contribute much verbally, but at least she was happy hanging out with them all. The third and final log had the skeleton brothers, Papyrus was listening to Undyne’s stories, he always looked so bedazzled by them, so inspired, he really did look up to Undyne’s fighting spirit and he swore he was just going to be as strong as her and everyone in the stories, he was going to make sure everyone was happy. Sans had his usual lazy grin, laying down on the log, sometimes falling asleep which was swiftly interrupted by a scolding by Paps. Although he seemed to be resting he was always listening and taking everything, at least enough to get a pun or two in to the stories or conversations. Most of the time it was just them, but then there were times when Gaster would get enough time off to be there with them, at least for the end. Amusingly he would question the stories Undyne told, his scientific curiosity getting the better of him as he asked how certain things like the magic or tech was possible, how perhaps a certain character knew about this fact and such things like that, which Undyne never knew how to answer. This left Alphys, if she was feeling brave enough, to give some sort of in universe explanation at a fast pace that was hard to follow without the small fan being able to breath while talking, usually that satiated Gaster enough for things to continue. The excitement didn’t last forever, towards the end, when all the energy had been used up and even the moon was starting it’s decent from the centre, people became sleepy and tired. Paps, the little ball of energy that he is, finally conked himself out, either he was sleeping on Gaster’s lap, who would be forced to remain silent and not move, or next to Sans who for some reason by that point was usually sitting up and watching the fire. Undyne and Alphys generally looked sleepy, Alphys didn’t change much, just sitting up, enjoying her time with everyone and hanging out, while Undyne would be either lying down or just staring off into the distance. Tori and himself were always still sitting up, he remembered being able to feel Tori’s weight as she leaned on him, resting with a smile as always, leaving him to sit up and watch the slowly dimming fire. At this point everyone was at peace and silently, only the noises of wildlife and wind could be heard, and if they were lucky, they could see all the stars and moons in the sky, looking down on them all the care free kids that rest below.

Asgore finally snapped out of his thoughts, suddenly realising what he’d been doing, reminding himself that those were the memories of a time that could never return. ‘’Ok brighten up Asgore, we been doing good work, lets just see what else……Wait a second.’’ His expression turned to one of confusion as he realised that Alphys hadn’t gone to see him yet, she had more plants to worry about, but she had a watering can, surely, she should be done by now? But yet, there was no anxious lizard in front of him. Asgore headed towards the side of the house, where he saw Alphys watering plants, or it would be much more appropriate to say, flooding the plants. The goat had a look of distress as he quickly ran up to her and took the watering can, feeling his shoes getting soaked from the large amount of water that was failing to soak into the dirt. ‘’Wh-what a-are you doing?’’ Asgore looked a little panicked as he spoke, ‘’Y-you’re drowning them, how much water have you been using? How much?!’’ Alphys started to look incredibly concerned,  ‘’I-I didn’t know th-that was p-possible, th-thought m-more was always better…..’’, Asgore eyes widened in shock, ‘’…..I w-wasn’t s-sure how much was n-needed sooo I-I thought m-maybe that…..o-one full t-tank per plant w-was a s-safe b-bet.’’ The goat couldn’t believe his ears at all, what she said was just insane, that tank could carry probably a few litres, how could she not know this? ‘’You really haven’t had to look after plants before have you?’’ ‘’Ummm I d-did once and s-similar a-amounts worked l-last time, I th-thought this w-would be the seem same.’’ ‘’Geez, that plant must’ve had been quite determined to live through that, but no, that’s going way overboard, you might’ve killed them all’’. Alphys seemed to hesitate slightly and Asgore groaned and brought a hand to his face, ‘’I-it’s fine, I’m teaching you, that’s what this is about.’’ ‘’D-do you want me t-to m-maybe dig s-some of th-that dirt out? Perhaps th-that’ll d-do something?’’ ‘’No Al, it’ll be fine, we’ll have to wait this out to see what happens, it’s…..not your fault, we’ll take a break alright? Do something else for now, I’m gonna rake the lawn to remove the dead grass.’’ Alphys looked really guilty and sighed, ‘’I’ll g-go get some f-food, I’m so s-sorry, I’ll m-make it up to you.’’ Asgore smiled faintly and shook his head, ‘’No need to apologise, it’s an honest mistake, we’ll figure it out, just maybe go get something to eat, you look a little stressed.’’ Alphys nodded and started walking off, ‘’Anything i-in particular y-you would l-like?’’ Asgore shook his head with a smile, finally returning to a normal one before turning to the mess in front of him, giving a slight chuckle, ‘‘Heh, what am I going to do about now? Going to be harder than I thought.’’

[bubblegum-switch]

Kitziwch – Human Things

Anonymous asked: i've got a request! I honestly just want something with lance getting reCt tbh, so uh. They're in the castle and so, allura and coran are like "lmao whats ticklign" and they want someone to demonstrate it, so they chose keith and lance to do it, first lance is all like scared n, stuff but then keef breaks the awkwardness and just pouncess on lance and coran is there just taking notes with allura And when they're done pidge says something like lmao good blackmail material and they're both SHOOK

Ask and you shall receive, friend :) I hope I did it justice

Title: Kitziwch – Human Things (b/c I can’t title for shit)

Word count: app. 3.6k (Side note: holy shit that’s longer than I anticipated)

Rating: it gets a b i t suggestive at one point but nothing more than like PG-13

Time: Before the end of season 2 I guess maybe, Shiro doesn’t have his Bayard so…

Characters: The main 7 (Keith, Hunk, Lance, Pidge, Shiro, Allura, Coran)

Pairing: pre-Klance

Genre: so fluffy it gave me cavities

Themes: Ticklish!Lance, Pining!Keith, ticklish!Keith, brief ticklish!Shiro to kick off the plot, this scenario is such an oldie but a goodie and I feel honored to write it, f u c k I’m so weak for Lance getting reKt you have no idea, I don’t know what “““correct form””” is but I needed a good opportunity so I could be very wrong but fuck that I don’t really care, it takes like over 1k words to get to the meat of the story I’m so sorry but I needed enough exposition for this prompt, I love using personal experience for help with writing haha…, am I minorly projecting my synesthesia onto fictional characters now is that what is happening, I’m writing this whole thing while over-tired over the course of several late-nights at like 11pm-4am and I think it shows, Ernest Hemingway Mr. Write-Drunk-Edit-Sober would be proud but then again what is editing, my tired ass decided to just fuckin give Lance a special kind of love for it which is why it gets suggestive *winks with both eyes*, fuck I need sleep, I did a surprising amount of research for the title, don’t ask me why Keith is so skilled he just is, Lance is literally a ball of ticklishness help him it’s adorable, I had so many options for endings  I hope I did this one right, there will likely be a part 2 b/c of another prompt I got that this can lead into so…

A/N: Ok so “Kitziwch” [kind of pronounced kitzee-ucx I think] is a word I created to be the Altean word for “tickle” out of the German word “kitzeln” and the Welsh word “Ticiwch” because of reasons you’ll find out at the end of this

---

At the training deck, Allura was trying to get a better feel for each of the paladin’s combat strengths and weaknesses. She was going to have each one go up and complete a relay of sorts – which was made of an opaque maze (unlike the electrified invisible one), fighting several types of drone-bots, and testing the accuracy of their Bayard. Coran was watching as well, taking notes on each round.

Pidge was up first, and she made it through the maze quickly, but lost time at the flying drones and accuracy due to the short range of her Bayard.

Then it was Lance’s turn. He didn’t get through the maze as fast as Pidge, but more than made up for it with accuracy.

Hunk was about in the middle so far for the maze time-wise, but was able to quickly obliterate the drones. However, his Bayard was not as precise as Pidge’s or Lance’s due to its comparably wide damage-field.

Keith practically danced through the maze, even though he got hung up a few times. He slashed through the drones and had a near-perfect score on accuracy.

Shiro was last to go, and after getting through the maze and the drones he was getting ready for testing the accuracy of his arm.

“Hold it!” Allura rushed to him. “I can’t ignore you Earthlings’ improper form any longer. I have held my tongue but I’ve had enough.”

“Aw, why didn’t you tell us? I would’ve fixed it,” Lance said from the sidelines.

Allura smiled apologetically. “You were all on a roll. I didn’t want to interrupt you, but I just can’t let this finish uncorrected.”

Shiro relaxed his stance. “Sure, Princess how do I stand?”

“Alright Shiro, hold your back in a straight line – don’t hunch over,” she said casually, circling him as he followed her directions. “Hm, good. Now, keep some bounce in your knees – you look too stiff, and if you can’t move freely you can’t evade.”

“Okay,” he replied, trying his best to follow suit. “Am I doing it right?”

She paused behind him. “Here, let me help you angle yourself a bit better.”

She reached forward and put her hands on his sides to adjust him. He jumped a little, but Allura credited it as surprise and shrugged it off. She tilted him to the left a little bit to balance himself, pressing her fingers into his ribs accidentally, and he involuntarily snorted out a surprised laugh.

This time, she quickly retracted her hands. “Everything alright, Shiro? Are you hurt?”

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly and smiled at her. “I’m fine, don’t worry, it didn’t hurt.”

She looked at him quizzically and tilted her head. “Then why did you make that noise? That was a laugh, right?”

“I guess I’m a little ticklish, that’s all,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “That shouldn’t get in your way again, I just didn’t expect it… Allura?”

She looked like she was deep in thought, trying to remember something that was forgotten a while ago. She looked to Coran, who looked back at her, just as confused. “Do you know what he’s talking about, Coran?”

“No, I’ve never heard of that before either. I don’t know what he means.” He turned to the other four paladins. “Can any of you translate? Altean often overlaps with your language, but there’s no word for that.”

“I can try to explain,” Pidge volunteered. “Basically, someone is ticklish, you can tickle someone, and that someone gets tickled. Linguistics aside,” she adjusted her glasses, “basically it’s when someone is touched in a way that makes them laugh. Some people like being tickled, some people hate it, and there are people that are more ticklish than others.” Pidge smirked, “for example, I’m not that ticklish. Shiro, on the other hand… well you’ve seen that he is.”

“Thank you, Pidge,” Allura said, still confused. “I think that helped, but I still don’t really understand it. How can touching someone make them laugh? And can everyone do this?”

“I agree, I’m still confused as well,” Coran piped up. “Can we have a demonstration? I think that might clear it up.”

“Oh yes, I think that would be great, Coran!” Allura agreed. “But how do we get someone to demonstrate it?”

“Well, if you want two people to show you what it is, I recommend some people who you want to see laughing, or to get revenge on. Tickling can be a great form of revenge, sometimes. It can also be a good bonding experience.”

“Alright, Pidge, then I think it should be…” she thought for a moment.

Lance’s eyes were wide, and he was trying to act like he wasn’t affected by this when every iteration of the word made him want to crawl out of his skin. He noticed Keith hiding his face behind his hair a little more than normal. Hunk, however, was completely fine through the whole conversation so far – not even blushing (like Shiro was, oh boy his face was pink).

“Lance and Keith.”

“What?” Lance shrieked, and then cringed at how terrified he sounded. Keith turned his head away so no one could see the grin that was beginning to invade his face, as well as the blush that sat upon his skin.

“Well, I think you two have some differences you need to work out, and Pidge said that tickling can be used as a bonding experience. Plus, Keith never laughs, and maybe I’m considering this revenge for you constantly flirting with me, Lance,” she said brightly, laughing at the end and showing she wasn’t actually upset.

“Yes, I think they would make a good match-up for this ‘tickling’ thing,” Coran agreed. “I can take notes on this to better understand it.”

Allura walked over to where the red and blue paladins were inching away towards the door. “Come on you two,” she chirped, grabbing their wrists and pulling them into the center of the room. She stood them face to face – or as good as she could get them since neither one would meet the other’s eyes – and she retreated back to where she previously stood next to Coran. “Alright… now start… tickling each other?” She glanced at Pidge to see if she had used the word correctly, and was given a thumbs-up in return. She smiled satisfactorily, and waited.

Lance shifted uncomfortably where he stood. Neither paladin moved or looked at the others.

“Why aren’t they doing anything, Number Five?” Coran whispered to Pidge, pen poised above his notepad.

“They must be shy about this, but don’t worry. Maybe they need incentive to get started.” She smirked, before shouting “if neither one of you starts tickling then someone else will tickle both of you!”

She grinned broader when she saw their faces turn redder and Lance nearly squeaked at the threat as Keith huffed through his nose.

Allura whispered to Pidge that she had an idea. “Keith, Lance was complaining about your mullet again yesterday!” she yelled to them in a sing-song.

Keith’s eyes snapped to Lance’s in an instant, biting back a grin. Thank you, Allura, for giving me an opening. “Again with the mullet?” He started inching towards the blue paladin. “When are you gonna let it go?”

Lance began protesting as he inched backwards, hands raised in defense. “No no no she’s lying Keith, I didn’t insult your mullet yesterday… to her anyway!”

“Oh, so you did?” he cracked his knuckles, and Lance squeaked.

“W-well,” Lance’s voice was unnaturally high. He gulped and steeled himself, stopping in place. “It is pretty terrible…”

That was the final straw. Keith yelled “enough with my hair!” and pounced onto Lance, knocking him to the ground.

Keith lay on top of Lance for a moment, blinking down at him and realizing Lance could’ve gotten hurt from that.

“Did that hurt you?” he asked quietly.

Lance fought back a smile, “no.”

Keith’s face finally split into that large grin – one of the first Lance had ever seen on him. “Good, because then this definitely won’t.”

The blue paladin’s eyes grew wide and his face grew pinker as Keith’s words fell from his lips. He didn’t have time to dwell on it much, however, as soon all thoughts were abandoned as he felt hands on his hips and two thumbs brushing over the skin. His breath hitched in his throat as he bit his lip and began to smile.

The pressure from the two digits increased, and he began squirming and laughing in little breathy huffs. “K-Keith come hahahon buhuddy…”

“So you remember me being your ‘buddy’ but not our bonding moment?” he teased, changing to squeezing Lance’s hips causing sharp, shrill laughs and him to buck up and down.

Lance felt what seemed like electricity shoot through his body, and his mind went blank. “NOHOHO KEIHEEHEETH,” he pleaded through laughter.

“If you say so, I’ll stop with your hips…” the red paladin near-growled (which made the boy underneath him blush even harder), and, in keeping with his word, shot his hands to Lance’s stomach. In desperation as his laughter reached a fever pitch, he reached to grab Keith’s hands. Keith was having none of it, grabbed them, and pinned them above his head. Keith held them with just one of his own hands, putting enough weight on them both to not hurt them but keep them in place. He tsked down at Lance before returning one hand to his stomach and scrabbling his fingers wildly, causing the blue paladin to dissolve into hysterics.

Lance couldn’t even protest anymore, for a few reasons (one of which he’d explain to Keith later, much to both of their delights), but mostly because he couldn’t physically form words with Keith’s hands there. However, it became even worse(?) for Lance when the red paladin decided to take it up a notch and stick his hand underneath his shirt to tickle Lance’s bare skin.

Lance’s vision erupted into brightness as his laughter turned silent from the fast, firm fingers digging gently into his stomach.

Keith’s face dusted pinker as he marveled at how soft Lance’s skin was, before realizing that Lance probably needed more air than he was currently getting. He let him laugh silently for a few more moments before letting up.

Lance panted, catching his breath and smiling largely. His relief was short-lived, however, as Keith’s hand crawled up his side, on top of his shirt once again. Lance was back to squirming as he felt his fingers walk slowly up his waist, and ribs, and then finding their target in his left underarm. Lance shrieked as Keith’s fingers danced in the hollow, and skated around the edge.

“KEIHIHTH COHOHOME OHOHON YOU’RE MEHEHEAN”

The red paladin laughed. “You think that’s mean, I’ll show you mean.” Keith let go of Lance’s hands, which instantly shot to grab him again. Keith stopped tickling for a moment to take one wrist in each hand. He maneuvered them under Lance’s back so his own weight was holding them down, allowing Keith to use both hands. He pressed his knees on either side of the blue paladin to keep him in place, and sat on his hips. Keith reached behind him and squeezed Lance’s knees, extracting deep belly laughter and causing his legs to flail around to their maximum allowance.

Keith inched his hands up to Lance’s thighs, and alternated randomly between squeezing and fully tickling and lightly tracing them. Lance dissolved into uncontrollable giggles at the latter two techniques, and let out yelps interspersed with short, barking laughs when he dug his fingers in. The layer of denim was no match for Keith’s teasing touches.

Keith’s fingers drifted from the top of Lance’s thighs to his inner thighs, but due to the quick change in his laughter Keith moved back to save him any embarrassment. Well, any more embarrassment. Keith didn’t fail to notice the… *ahem* lengthening of the individual laughs and how they seemed to become more throaty and less… less like laughs and more like something that under other circumstances he would be thrilled to hear.

Lance didn’t notice.

Keith hoped none of the others did, and he filed it away in his mind for later. He figured it was probably best to move his hands somewhere else.

He brought his hands to Lance’s sides, spidering from his waist to the middle of his ribs as best he could. Lance’s belly laughter returned, but he wouldn’t look at Keith – he kept turning his face away to try to hide – which the red paladin thought was adorable.

“MEHEHEAN”

Keith laughed along with him. “Alright, I think I can live with that,” he smiled down at him. He wanted to kiss Lance’s blushing cheeks, and he almost did before remembering the other 5 in the room.

He felt Lance’s ribs under his fingertips, and he dug into them a little more, making sure to press in-between the bones. He used both hands to play Lance like a twin piano with keys to the left and right. The blue paladin’s laughter became shrill at his upper ribs, and Keith was a little resentful that he couldn’t really get at Lance’s underarms while he was in this position.

Although, there was a place Keith wanted to try. He moved his hands slowly to Lance’s neck, dragging his fingertips gently the whole way. He began wiggling his digits against the soft skin there, causing Lance to scrunch up and start giggling. He tickled the right side of his neck, and watched Lance try to trap his hand between his head and shoulder. He tickled the left, and Lance did the same. When he tickled both sides of his neck, however, Lance tried to pull his head into his body like a turtle and wrenched his eyes shut.

Keith laughed again. He didn’t think Lance would’ve been able to be taken down by a few light touches on his neck (or his thighs, but that was another matter).

He didn’t want to keep at his neck too long, since that was a dangerous place to linger for a few reasons, but he didn’t want to be done quite yet. He decided to give his neck a break, and figured that it was a gamble for the next spot. Either it wouldn’t be ticklish and he’d have to move fast, or Lance would be even more adorable just by default.

Keith brought his hands to Lance’s ears and lightly brushed his fingers on their undersides on the thin skin and around the outside ridge of each one.

He played his cards right.

Lance’s giggles became effervescent as he scrunched up his face and turned his head from side to side as Keith’s heart melted.

“Nope, you can’t escape it now,” Keith teased quietly.

“Kehehehihith cohohome ohohohon…” Lance whined, but not for him to stop. He just… he couldn’t handle being teased.

Keith stayed tickling his ears for a few moments, before deciding that there wasn’t enough of a canvas to work with. He withdrew his hands, trying to figure out where to strike next. Hm.

“Do you think he’s done?” Keith heard Coran whisper to Hunk.

“He shouldn’t be, he’s forgetting a couple key spots,” he said back.

Keith grinned. Right. He slid off of Lance, who didn’t move right away.

All he did was ask, “are you done?” But not even in a tone conveying annoyance, just simply a question posed as if asking the time.

“Not yet, turn over,” Keith told him, and Lance froze, blush returning to his face.

“Come on, Lance!” Hunk encouraged.

“Yeah, it’s for science!” Pidge supported.

“And inter-cultural studies!” Allura chimed in.

“I’m writing as fast as I can!” Coran yelled in a hurry, apparently marking down everything that occurred.

“Come on, Lance, do it!” even Shiro was getting in on it.

Keith smiled down at him. “Come on, either you turn over or I go back to your stomach…” he raised a claw-shaped hand over him.

Lance groaned and flipped himself over, but Keith caught the smile on his face too. Lance was even biting his lip to keep from grinning more.

Keith sat on Lance’s thighs, facing his feet. He grabbed one of Lance’s legs and pulled his foot back towards him, eventually grabbing onto his left ankle. He pulled off Lance’s sneaker, and held it tighter before descending five wiggling fingers onto his upturned sole.

Lance erupted into laughter the instant Keith made contact.

“AHAHAHA KEHEHEHIHIHITH WHAHAHA—COHOHOME OHOHON”

The red paladin shook his head, chuckling and smiling fondly. He spidered his fingers along Lance’s arch, sliding farther down his legs so he could put more weight on Lance’s calves so he wouldn’t need to hold onto his ankle.

Lance felt fingers dancing as close to the base of his toes as they could get with how tightly they were curled. He shrieked with laughter as he tried to kick his foot out of Keith’s grasp, but it was held tight.

Keith smiled, and laid his leg over Lance’s spare one, holding it down with his weight. He leaned forward, and with the hand that was tickling his foot Keith pulled his toes back and held it in place. He was practically sitting on the back of his knees as he took his now free hand and tickled his stretched-out sole.

Lance continued his high-pitched laughter as he began clawing at the cool tile of the floor. Keith scratched along his cotton-covered arches, and Lance went limp with loud giggles bubbling out of his mouth as if he was a popped bottle of champagne.

Keith could’ve tickled him there forever, if only just to hear him laugh like that until the end of time.

He moved his nimble fingers to his heels and brushed around the edge, and Lance’s laughter became fuller again as he shot up, propped up on his elbows, eyes wrenched shut and face flushed.

Keith snickered at the instant reaction, and he was amazed that Lance hadn’t even said the word “stop” at any point. Keith knew that they were about equal in strength, but Lance never made a move to push him off…

Keith’s thoughts were interrupted as he felt clumsy fingers at his sides. He fought back his own laughter as Lance tried to retaliate. He had managed to bring himself up far enough so he could reach Keith, but he could barely do so.

However, it was enough for Keith’s incredibly sensitive sides. He started losing focus from the light touches, and as he arched his back and removed his hands from Lance’s feet, beginning to laugh himself, the tables were turned. Lance was able to roll out from under him and tackled him, situating himself on top this time.

“Write that down, write that down!” Allura was lightly smacking Coran’s arm out of excitement.

“Is that legal?” Coran asked Pidge and Hunk.

Pidge smiled, “all is fair in love and tickling.”

Coran nodded seriously, and continued jotting it down in his notepad.

Lance smirked down at Keith, who was sprawled out on his back with Lance pinning down his legs with his own. He was panting heavily and his face was deeply colored red, but his eyes were bright and happy.

“You know…” the blue paladin began quietly, and Keith had the impression that the words were not meant for the others to hear. “I could get my revenge right here, right now.”

Keith would’ve been worried, if not for the fact that everything other than Lance’s voice was conveying pure joy.

“Or… we could run back to my room and I could tell you things that would probably be good for both of us.”

Keith nodded quickly. “Yes. Let’s go do that.”

The two jumped up and began running out of the room before they heard—

“Think that’s good blackmail Shiro?”

Lance and Keith froze, and looked back at Pidge with wide eyes.

“I wonder what I can use this for…” she pondered aloud with mock-innocence.

“You were recording that?” both paladins asked simultaneously in embarrassment.

She smirked. “Remember that the next time I ask for the cookie jar,” she laughed. “Because who knows… it might just get broadcast to an entire planet, then they’ll know that the great Blue Paladin of Voltron is incredibly ticklish.”

Lance began walking towards her. “You wouldn’t…”

“Oh, I think we both know I would, and that I’ve had enough of your discrimination against people under 66 inches tall,” she teased in a sing-song voice.

Lance cracked his knuckles, walking closer to her, who didn’t back down. “Keith? Wanna help me here?”

Keith grinned evilly, “it would be my pleasure.”

“Oh my gosh!” Allura cried out, smiling largely and stopping the two in their tracks. “I just remembered something, Coran!”

Her advisor looked at her as well. “Kitziwch, right?”

“Yes!” she smiled, and the paladins could see right through her act. “We do have a word in Altean for that, it’s ‘Kitziwch’.”

Lance and Keith blinked at each other.

“You know, Keith, I think she knew all along. I think she tricked us into this!” The blue paladin said with mock-surprise.

Keith fake-gasped in return. “I think you’re right! But what do we do about Pidge and her blackmail, and Allura?”

“I do not know, there’s only two of us…”

“But there’s also two of them…”

“Fair point, buddy, so what ever shall we do?”

Keith grinned. “I think we have one clear option.”

“Shall we attack to defend our honor?” Lance readied his stance.

Keith followed suit, “absolutely.”