#ah okay fine to catch my sweet 4 hours of sleep before i go get more work done 🥰

[quatari]

i think i might have caught a mania stage fixated on work. holy hell am i lucky. life is good. being mental is great. i am so productive im going to fucking idk. earn money I guess. and be my best self

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

scopaesthesia 👁️ chapter 6

chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 chapter 4 chapter 5

Warnings: nonconsensual sex, death, murder, violence, stalking, paranoia, blood, gore, bloodplay, knifeplay, suicidal thoughts.

This is dark!Bucky Barnes with dark!Steve Rogers as well and explicit. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: Your situation becomes even clearer

Note: I’ve been working my ass off but I managed to eke this out after sleeping off the pain.

I appreciate y’all reading and your reactions have been the highlight of writing!

Thank you. Love you guys!

As always, if you can, please leave some feedback, like and reblog <3

A tray of food sat untouched just inside the door. Its predecessor had been retracted with a sigh from the other side and replaced with a fresh meal. You had refused either, only drinking the water as you kept mostly to the bed.

When you moved, it reminded you of what Bucky had done to you. The tender cuts throbbed and you hissed through your teeth as you hugged your only pillow in an effort to get warm. You’d even torn the fitted sheet from the mattress and wrapped yourself in it.

You cleaned your cuts carefully every now and then and replaced the bandages. Mostly, you stared at the wall or that little lens above the door. He was watching you. Always. The thought made you shudder and kept you awake when your body tried to coax you to sleep. Those minutes that you did manage to rest were sparse and disjointed.

When at last the door did open again, you didn’t flinch. You stayed as you were, sat on the bed against the wall with the sheet draped over you. You kept your head down as the tray was carefully pushed by the door and lifted by your visitor. Footsteps neared you and he cleared his throat. You finally looked up, startled by Steve’s gentle blue eyes.

He held the tray in one arm and a quilt folded over the other.

“You should eat,” he placed the food before you. His eyes lingered on the bandages and he gave a sad smile. He turned and placed the blanket on the foot of bed. “If you do, I’ll take you for a shower.”

You scowled and crossed your arms over your knees. You looked away. You shook your head as tears picked at your eyes. You sniffed.

“Of course you’re in on it,” you croaked. “Of course… I’m so stupid.”

He exhaled and the mattress dipped as he sat. “Will you eat for me?”

“Don’t… don’t talk to me like that. We’re not friends.” You hissed as you kept your eyes averted. “We never were. I was just your victim. Your plaything. So,” you gritted your teeth. “What you do want from me, huh? Don’t worry, Bucky’s already softened me up for you.”

“Shhhh,” he reached over and touched your knee, his touch warm through the thin sheet. “I’m not a monster.”

“No, just the monster’s assistant.”

“I brought you a blanket and you have food. It’ll only get worse if you’re stubborn.” He warned.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” You snapped and finally looked at him again. “How can you-- Did you help kill those girls? You must’ve done something. Helped him set me up. Maybe it was you on the phone--”

“I did what Bucky needed me to do.” He said evenly. “You don’t understand, sweetie--”

“Don’t.” You bit out. “Don’t call me that.”

He pressed his lips together before he continued and his eyebrow twitched slightly. “Bucky’s sick and those girls are just another symptom. What was done to him, it changed him and I’ve watched him fight to control it and he only finds that control with you.”

“No, no, that’s bullshit.”

“If you’re so worried about those other girls, if you feel bad about them at all, you will help Bucky.”

“Help him?” You scoffed. “You’re both insane.”

“If you help him,” he carried on, “He won’t hurt anyone else.”

“Just me?”

“No, no, that’s not-- I didn’t know he was going to use knives.”

“It didn’t matter, did it? He still did it.”

Steve chewed his lip. You shoved his hand away from your leg and sidled away from him. He huffed and stood. He moved the tray across the bed. His hands went to his hips as he watched you.

“You can eat when you get back but you should shower.” He said. “Keep yourself clean, maybe get warmed up.”

You shrugged and rubbed your cheek. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Look, I’m trying to help you,” he neared and bent to catch your eye, “It will be good to stretch your legs.”

“Just leave me alone. Let me die down here. We both know that’s how this ends.” You snarled.

He twined his fingers together and cracked his knuckles. “I can and will make you but I didn’t come here to hurt you so I’ll give you one more chance.”

You blinked at him and tilted your head. His fingers bent slightly and you knew he meant it. Your thighs rubbed together and reminded you of your cuts. You couldn’t handle much more pain. You looked away and made your way off the bed, keeping the sheet around you snugly.

“Can I have some clothes, too?” You asked.

“I tried but… right now, that’s not going to happen.” He took your arm gently and led you to the door. Your legs were stiff and slow but he was patient as he opened the door. “But I’ll ask again, okay?”

You were silent as he took you into the hall. He turned you and guided you away from your cell.

“You know, a blanket and clothes… it doesn’t make you any better than him.” You said.

He stopped in front of a sliding metal door and hooked his fingers in the handle. He pulled it open, inside was a shower in the closet-like space and nothing else. Just a showerhead and cold tiles. A neat line of bottles sat atop a single shelf.

“But it might make me preferable to him,” he leaned in. “I can be a lot nicer.”

You searched his face and his eyes slipped to the top of the sheet. He reached over and tugged on a wrinkle of fabric.

“You’ll have to leave this with me. I’ll get you a towel.”

You shivered as he pulled harder and you let go of the sheet. You couldn’t look at him as you were left entirely naked. His fingers tickled your hips and he nudged you into the shower.

“Take your time,” he cooed. 

He pulled the door shut with an echoing clang. The latch twisted into place to secure the door and a little flicked on. You stared at the showerhead but could not figure how to turn it on. It suddenly shook and burst to life; you realised it was controlled from outside.

Steam rose around you and enveloped you in the tight space. Despite your circumstance, the water was soothing. You reached for the strawberry scented soap and scrubbed yourself, peeling away the bandages as they began to wilt. You felt as if you couldn’t get clean but you tried desperately.

You paused as you heard voices. You stepped closer to the door as they were muffled by the metal and the steady buzz of the shower.

“Come on, Buck. We had a deal. I didn’t do all this for nothing.” Steve said.

“She’s mine,” Bucky growled. “I told you.”

“You know I won’t be too rough. Not like you.” 

“Why? You didn’t even want to do this in the first place?”

There was a silence, then a soft chuckle. “She’s sweet and my cock’s been hurting for days.”

“She’s not some toy.”

“Isn’t she?”

There was a sigh and a tisk.

“Jesus Christ, Bucky. I helped you clean up all those messes and I get what? You haven’t even said thank you. Not once.”

Another silence as you held your breath. It disgusted you to think they were bartering over you like an object.

“No cutting.” Bucky said tersely.

“Not into that,” Steve retorted.

“And don’t even go near her ass.”

“Aww…” Steve bemoaned.

“No kissing on the lips. You get one hour.”

“Can I dress her up?” Steve asked, his voice laced with sinister glee.

“Fine, but take the clothes with you after.”

“See, Buck, isn’t that what friends do? Share?”

You shoved yourself away from the door. You were breathless and weak. This couldn’t be real. None of it. It was so fucked up. It had to be a nightmare.

The showerhead died and the lock clicked. The door opened suddenly and the steam cleared. Bucky unfolded a towel and held it out. You quivered but made yourself step out. He wrapped your wordlessly in the fluffy towel and looked to Steve.

“Take her back to her room then.” He said sternly.

You snarled as Steve neared and for a moment you were sandwiched between the two men. As you turned, you looked at Bucky in the face, a wrinkle set deep in his forehead as he watched you.

“You’re a fucking monster,” you spat, “I fucking hate you.”

His jaw ticked and his nostrils flared. He stared at you then slowly looked behind you at Steve and nodded.

“Two hours.” He smirked, “And don’t be afraid to leave some marks.”

Steve ushered you away from Bucky. You dragged your feet as you let him and he stopped you before the same door with the slot. He reached out and touched your bare shoulder.

“I’ll be back soon, sweetie,” he purred and you curled your lip, “Bucky said I can bring you some clothes.”

“Oh, I know exactly what Bucky said,” you huffed.

His brows shot up and he snickered. “Ah, well then, you’ll be ready when I return, won’t you?” He opened the door and held it open. “Don’t forget to eat. You’ll need your energy.”

You frowned as he waved you inside and you turned to watch him as you entered. He smirked and gave a wink before he closed the door. You trembled as the cold crept up your legs and rolled down your spine.

You looked up at the camera. You knew Bucky would watch. He had never stopped watching you.

👁️

The deep, unyielding pain in your stomach made you eat. It might have been dread more than hunger but your head wasn’t so hazy as before. You set aside the tray in the corner and hugged the damp towel around you. You weren’t eager for Steve’s return but you were waiting for him because you knew it was inevitable.

You sat on the edge of the bed and rocked. They couldn’t just leave you like this all the time. With nothing but time and white walls as you braced for their next appearance. You would go mad. You felt it already.

When the door jerked, you did too, but you didn’t look over as Steve entered. You could smell his cologne and the fruity scent of the soap lingering on your skin. He inhaled deeply as the door closed behind him and he walked decisively to the end of the bed. In the corner of your eye, you saw him set something there.

“You smell nice,” he said. “I brought you something to wear.”

“Okay,” you grumbled and didn’t move.

He stood in silence. Waiting. “Well…”

“I know why you’re here so what’s the point?” You hissed.

“Why I’m here is exactly the point. Get dressed, sweetie.”

“Stop calling me that!” You turned to face him. “Stop. Just do what you’re going to do and go.”

“Not until you get dressed,” he said in a low voice as he came closer and bent before you. He stared into your eyes and swallowed. “I don’t want this to be difficult and I know you don’t either but it really doesn’t matter to me either way.”

You squirmed and looked back at him. You clung to the towel with one hand and pushed yourself up with the other. He slowly backed away as you stood and you rounded the end of the bed. You scooped up the clothes and headed for the washroom. You could feel him smiling at you.

You closed the door and put the clothes on the tank of the toilet. You dropped the towel and lifted the first piece. A sheer white blouse with a round high counter. You eyed it and bent to sort through the fabric. Satin panties, matching bra, garter belt, stockings, heels… the blouse and the skirt had a vintage feel to them. The attire was straight out of the pin-up era.

You dressed reluctantly. The panties were too small and kept riding up, the bra was uncomfortable and the underwire painful. The blouse was easy enough to see through and the heels made you clumsy.

You took a breath before you reached for the door. You stepped through and kept your chin down. Steve gave a hum.

“You look lovely,” he purred.

You ignored him and folded your hands. You kept as far from him as you could in the small room.

“Well…” he began, “Come here. I want you to undress me.”

You gulped and edge around the bed to where he stood. You hesitated and he grabbed your chin. He forced your head up and smirked down at you.

“The longer you drag this out, the less restraint I’ll have.”

You said nothing and ran your fingers along the hem of his shirt. He leaned down and helped you lift it up his arms and over his head. His broad chest was bared and his muscled stomach flexed as he stood straight. He shifted and forced his shoes off with his toes. Your hands fell to his belt and he groaned. You paused before you fumbled with the buckle.

“I really wanted to fuck you in the kitchen but Bucky doesn’t trust you upstairs,” Steve ran his hands down your arms. “But if you’re good, I might be able to convince him.”

You were quiet. You couldn’t think of words. You could barely keep from collapsing entirely. As you unzipped Steve’s pants you thought of Bucky stripping at the end of the bed, of the way he admired his knives before he chose one, at your blood dripping down his chin. You yanked Steve’s jeans down and stepped back.

“You’re not done, sweetie.” He taunted.

“Why?” You rasped. “Why are you doing this? You’re supposed to be good. You’re a hero.”

“I earned this.” He grabbed your hands and placed them on the top of his briefs. “I’ve saved enough lives to claim one.”

You shook and grasped the elastic. You didn’t look as you pulled it away from his waist and angled it over his obvious bulge. You let them drop down to his feet and rescinded your hands with a whimper.

“I can’t--”

He kicked away his brief and peeled off his socks. He came closer and you retreated until your legs hit the bed.

“Shhh, let me lead you,” he touched your chin and leaned in. He stopped himself and took a deep breath. “God, look at you.”

He cupped your tits through the blouse and squeezed. “It used to be that men were expected to keep women. Pretty little housewives; obedient, docile.”

You grabbed his wrists and your lip quivered. “Steve, you don’t have too--”

“Do you know what husbands would do to rebellious wives?” He asked. “Do you?”

You shook your head and clung to him, afraid you would fall back onto the bed.

“Let me show you, sweetie,” he ran his hands down your sides, “I’ll show you how to be a good little wife.” His hands stretched over your hips, “Turn around.” He spun you, “Hands on the bed.”

You bent without thinking. Even after all that had happened, you were still terrified. What worse could he do to you then had already been done?

His hands went to your ass and he kneaded through the skirt. He rubbed along your thighs and pushed his crotch against you as he reached to the hem. He raised it as he rocked against you and slipped it over the curve of your ass. His fingers danced on the satin and tickled the top of your thighs.

He pressed his hand across your ass. “Every woman needs her lessons.”

He pulled his hand back and struck you. Hard. Your legs shook and the pain reverberated through your body. You let out a whimper and he did it again, the slap echoed off the walls. You dug your fingertips into the top of the mattress. A third time. Again, again, again. You lost count as fire singed your nerves.

He didn’t stop until your legs slid out from beneath you and you clung to the bed weakly. He tutted and lifted your hips back until you set your feet again. He gripped the top of the skirt and tore. The fabric fell away from your body and the blouse slackened around your middle.

He felt along the panties and rubbed between your legs. He prodded at your cunt through the satin and you felt the slickness spread along the inside. You were ashamed as he pulled the crotch aside and dragged his finger through your arousal.

“Women need discipline. They crave it.” He flicked your clit and you moaned. “See?”

“Please--”

“Please?” He mimicked. “What do you want? You want me inside you?”

You shook your head and tried to stand. He pulled his hand from your cunt and caught the back of your neck and forced you back down. He pushed you until you were on your stomach, your legs hanging over the side of the bed. He bent over you and his hot breath grazed your cheek.

“Turn over, sweetie,” he ordered, “I’ll show you how to serve a man.”

You quaked but couldn’t move. He turned you over roughly and you bounced on the bed. He climbed over you swiftly and held your head between his hands. He pinned down your shoulder with his legs, his knees above them, as his cock bobbed over your face. You writhed beneath him and he easily kept you in place.

He lifted your head as he angled his cock against your lips. You closed your mouth and he pushed harder.

“Be a good wife,” he grunted, “Come on, open up.”

You opened your mouth and he slid inside. You were dizzy and out of breath with his weight across your shoulders and chest. He dipped deeper and poked at your throat. He forced himself as far as he could you and you gagged as he leaned forward. He planted a hand on the mattress as he pulled his hips back and thrust. You choked again and he groaned.

“You can do it, sweetie,” he moved slowly, “Just like that.”

Your spit gathered along your lip as he fucked your face. You struggled to breath around him but your struggle only seemed to encourage him. He moved his pelvis fast and harder until the bed was bouncing violently beneath your bodies. 

You slapped at his legs as he ignored your gasps and gags. You kicked out, your feet sliding over the floor as you tried to wriggle free. He sank into you entirely and snarled. He took a breath as he held himself there.

“Should I come down your throat? Already?” He growled. “I could…”

You murmured around his cock and he chuckled. He pulled out slowly and pushed himself off of you. He bounced beside you as he hung his legs over the edge of the bed and winced. 

“Fuck, it hurts so bad.” He pet your thigh as he caught his breath. “I’ve been saving it for you.”

You took frantic breath and he pinched your leg. He stood and hummed. He turned and stroked himself as he faced you.

“Turn over again.” He bid.

Your heart pounded in your temples as you dizzily rolled over. You were too senseless to resist. If you did as he said, it might be over soon. He grabbed your hips and drew you onto your feet as he lifted your ass. You kept your hands on the bed as you struggled to keep yourself up.

He bent his knees as he poked around with his cock and dragged his tip along the satin. He hooked his finger in the fabric and pushed it aside as he pressed himself against your cunt. He impaled you a little at a time, pausing to bask in each inch until he filled you up completely.

His grip tightened on your hip and he began to move you against him. Your toes barely met the floor as he slid you up and down his length. Each time, his flesh clapped against your ass as the panties twisted painfully.

“Tell me you like my dick,” he snarled. You murmured and shook your head. “Tell me!” He barked.

“I-- I-- I like your dick.” You sputtered.

“Mmmhmm,” he rutted into you even harder. “Tell me you love me inside of you, sweetie.”

You whined as your thighs tingled and tensed in tortured pleasure. “I love… love you inside me.”

“That’s it, sweetheart,” he sped up again, slamming into your already raw ass. “Tell me you love me. You love me, don’t you?”

“Wha--”

“Say it.” He demanded.

“I l-love you,” you gasped as your eyes rolled back and the waves crested. “I love you.”

“Fuck, I can feel you cumming all over me,” he purred as wet noises filled the air. “Fuck, look at you, sweetie.”

You groaned as your arms bent beneath you and you leaned on your elbows as he lifted your ass even higher, his hands slipping to your thighs as he pushed your legs back against his.

“You like to make me happy, hmm? You like being my pretty little wife.” He hammered into you as his voice grew deep and fractured. “I’m gonna cum in you, sweetheart.”

“N-n-no,” your head rolled back and forth on the bed as you were helpless against him.

“You want me to make you a mommy?” He slithered. “You could grow big for daddy.”

He shoved you forward suddenly and fell atop you. He crushed you beneath him as he kept his hips moving and fucked you into the mattress. He slid his arm under your neck and squeezed. He jolted into you painfully as you spasmed once more in reviled delight.

“Here I go,” he uttered. “Daddy’s cumming.”

He grunted and your walls milked him as you felt his heat spill into you. You grabbed at his arm as your head began to throb and the cuts that lined your flesh burned. You felt everything, the pain, the pleasure, the despair, the fear, the hopelessness all at once. 

And when he stopped, all your strength was sapped from you. Still deep inside you, he dragged his arm from beneath you and held himself over you as he watched his cock slipped from your cunt. His cum spilled out and coated your folds and seeped into the panties. 

The mattress shifted and he grabbed the back of your blouse along the collar. “Take this off…” He tugged. “Then get in daddy’s lap.”

[xiaomoxu]

Lucien’s Rumors & Secrets – Season 2: 暗蚀 “Eclipse (Internal Erosion)”

⚠️ SPOILER ALERT!! ⚠️

Latest Rumors & Secrets from CN server which hasn’t been released in EN server. Contains detailed spoiler from the main story. It comes with Lucien’s Karma for Chapter 10-13 Season 2.

CHAPTER 1

Part.1

"Lucien, are you really anxious to go back?"

"Sorry, Professor Ren, I do have important matters in China."

"Then at least, let’s go for dinner after this.”

"I appreciate your kindness, but the time may be a little tight." Lucien smiled apologetically, "When you want to go back to China, let me do your favor. The research I mentioned earlier, I will start as soon as possible."

Part.2

Professor Ren watched him neatly put the things on the desk into the cardboard box, and sighed softly. From studying to becoming a member of this institute, Lucien is his most proud student. Both academic and work are hard to fault. He believed that Lucien could do well from scratch after returning to China, but...

"Well, I can't hold you back, but there is one more thing I must ask you."

Lucien stopped his hand movement, "You said."

Part.3

"We have known each other for several years, and I found that you are always alone no matter what. You are indeed much better than most people, but have you never thought about trying to let others into your world?"

"I understand that many things do depend on the strength of the team.”

Professor Ren shook his head, "I mean something outside of work, about yourself."

"Thank you for your concern, but for me, this is great now."

Part.4

After Lucien finished speaking, he continued to bow his head to pack his things. Professor Ren looked at him for a while and suddenly smiled.

"Forget it, I can't figure out what you young people are thinking, Lucien, in fact, everyone is a very good subject on their own, and you can study it if you have time.

Professor Ren smiled and patted Lucien on the shoulder, without saying more.

Part.5

The plane flew smoothly in the night sky, the lights in the cabin were turned off, and Lucien closed his book and closed his eyes to take a nap. In about ten minutes, light suddenly appeared in the pitch-black vision. Lucien fixed his eyes to distinguish it, and there seemed to be a field of flowers in front of him. The fine rain was lightly tapping the flowers. When he was about to turn around to take a look, a mass of warmth hit his back, and soon some kind of cool liquid was soaked his clothes. He turned his head and saw a girl burying her head on his back and whispering. The flower field behind her was stained with color because of her presence. The blue and purple hydrangea clusters trembling in the light rain, like a girl's intermittent breathing.

The plane bumped and awakened Lucien from his dream. He slowly opened his eyes, as if he could still smell the faint fragrance of flowers.

Part.6

It was the kind of lucid dream that he couldn't refuse. Even in light sleep, he would find a gap and get into his mind. He should have felt irritable, but the real color and temperature in the dream made him a little nostalgic.

Lucien subconsciously stroked his heart, waiting for his heartbeat to stabilize. It seems that there are some emotions that are rarely experienced. He wants to catch but can't catch it, so he can only try to figure it out a little bit patiently.

However, in a few hours, those familiar street scenes in the dream will appear in front of him.

He believes that he will find a way to solve the mystery here, or meet the girl in his dream who bring color.

CHAPTER 2

Part.1

The first independent research paper of the institute was successfully published. The researchers breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to celebrate. As the initiator of this research, Lucien naturally couldn't escape the celebration wine. On the way to the bar after work, the young researchers couldn't help whispering: Professor Lucien, who is always immersed in scientific research, has been to the bar, what is the amount of alcohol, and how will he deal with the girls who strike up?

Lucien followed the group of people and walked into the bar. The boss behind the bar saw him sharply, raised his hand to greet him, and then personally led everyone to a deck.

"Please sit down. It's quiet here. Professor Lucien specially asked me to reserve a place.

Part.2

Lucien motioned his colleagues to sit first. However, everyone hadn't recovered from the surprise, so he had to take a seat first and briefly explained.

"When I was not busy before, I would come to sit and chat with the guests here."

The boss handed over the wine list and followed Lucien's words smoothly.

"Who can you talk to Professor Lucien? I don't know how many people come to me every day to see him."

"The boss is joking, what really makes you linger is your special tone." Lucien handed the wine list to the colleagues around him. “Today, I invite everyone to drink whatever they want. "

Part.3

After a few glasses of wine, the researchers who usually don't drink much were a little drunk, Lucien also leaned on the back of the sofa, letting him relax for a while. In fact, he has no thoughts of celebration. This paper is just to make the research institute appear in a wider field of vision. It will be more convenient to be noticed by some necessary people in the future.

It was getting late, and Lucien found an excuse to leave temporarily and was going to settle the bill in advance. The boss was changing discs in the operating room, and the gentle jazz was flooding the bar. Lucien realized that the noise tonight had ended a little early.

Part.4

“It is raining heavily tonight, and it is estimated that not many people will come to play." The boss settled the bill quickly, and didn't forget to help Lucien get a discount. "A Foggy Day, Professor Lucien played this song when he first came here, did I remember correctly?"

Lucien smiled and nodded, and subconsciously looked at the glass window that was not far away. Late at night, the rain came quickly and violently. As long as someone opened the door, the wind that penetrated into the house would blow a string of aluminum film ornaments on the window up and down. The shattered reflections and the rain marks on the glass windows made the scene in the aftermath blurry.

The boss took out a paper towel for the guests to wipe off the rain, Lucien thought about it, and took one and folded it easily. An "experience" that had never been experienced before dragged his fingers, and soon folded out a paper crane.

Part.5

The boss caught a glimpse of what was in his hand and was about to say something, but he saw Lucien quickly take the paper crane apart again. On the recovered tissue, there was nothing but a few creases, but he stared at it for a long time.

"Professor Lucien?"

The boss's voice rang in his ears, Lucien finally recovered and withdrew his gaze.

"Sorry, I may have drunk a bit too much today."

Part.6

"Don't be greedy, you should rest early for scientific research."

Lucien nodded and thanked the boss, walked to the bathroom, and took a deep breath into the mirror. The moment he folded the paper crane, he suddenly thought that someone had left a wish related to him in it, and that was exactly what he wanted. He opened the paper crane and tried to capture the traces of this wish, but found nothing.

Some kind of hot and inexplicable pain wrapped his heartbeat. Is it drunk, or is it a lucid dream?

Part.7

At this moment, he really wanted to sleep, but it was not for rest, but for the dream to complete the broken picture. He had to admit that no matter how vigilant he was, he still couldn't ignore the existence in the dream. But chasing such a unknown thing is too risky, should I bet on it? The phone in his pocket vibrated suddenly, interrupting Lucien's thought. The girl's name appeared on the screen and congratulated him on his successful publication of the paper. He looked at the name and typed a few words almost without thinking. "where are you?"

Part.8

She responded quickly, saying that she was at home, and then asked him if he was okay. Lucien's fingers paused, and she quickly covered up her gaffe with other topics.

If there is any sign of reality in the nothingness in the dream, it is "color". He has only seen such a color in one person. Lucien put away the phone and made a decision quickly.

He wants to be closer to her, maybe it would be a good choice to be a neighbor.

CHAPTER 3

Part.1

On the second day, the atmosphere of the institute was a little bit wrong. Lucien greeted his colleagues as usual, but found that everyone's sights were a little dodge, only the intern Pete came over and asked him in a low voice

"Professor Lucien, do you have a headache?"

"It doesn't hurt, what's the matter?"

"That's good, we don't know how much you drink, and we are worried that we persuaded you to overdo it last night"

"No, I know my limit."

Part.2

He looked around the people in the office, probably because of a hangover, everyone seemed a little slouched. Lucien sighed lightly, turned and walked into the office.

Half an hour later, the researchers received Lucien's puffs. Professor Lucien ordered puffs, which sounded as weird as "Professor Lucien went to the bar". After looking at each other for a while, Pete was appointed by everyone again and sent Lucien's share into his office.

"Thank you."

Part.3

Lucien looked up from the information, took the paper bag that Pete handed him, and saw his hesitant expression.

"what's wrong?"

"Ah, nothing! It's just a bit of a surprise. For the first time I know you like sweets."

“At this time, energy needs to be replenished quickly to make follow-up and less mistakes on works." Lucien smiled faintly, took the pile of materials on hand and gave it to Pete after he finished eating, “copy it for me and send it to everyone."

Part.4

Pete hurriedly picked it up and was about to leave the office. Before closing the door, he glanced at Professor Lucien, who was full of energy behind his desk, and his admiration increased.

Lucien opened the paper bag only when Pete left.

The rich aroma burst into the nasal cavity instantly, making Lucien feel strange for a moment, but the choice just now did not make him feel unreasonable. It seems that this kind of sweets is also a "frequent customer" in this research institute.

Part.5

Lucien hesitated, took out the puff and tasted it, frowning slightly.

It's too sweet, not his favorite taste.

...But what kind of flavor does he like?

Obviously he doesn't eat sweets very much, but inexplicably preset the sweetness. Even when he sees tears, he also knows what kind of saltiness it is because he has felt it in the scenes that suddenly appeared.

Part.6

Lucien had long understood that they were not ordinary illusions, but he did not expect that he would even be influenced. He experienced many things he had never experienced before in these untouchable pictures, like a mirror image of a certain fact.

He suddenly realized that maybe he didn't have any favorite taste, but the tip of his tongue remembered the taste he tasted for the first time, which has since defined his cognition.

Once the taste is developed, it is difficult to change it.

CHAPTER 4

Part.1

Lucien stood under the lush camphor tree again.

This is the place he visits most often in his dreams. Perhaps it overlaps with the experience in reality. He once thought that the picture here would never change into a big snow, wheat field, camphor tree, and waiting alone under the tree little boy. But this time, the picture didn't unfold as he knew it: the white snow dissipated, revealing the golden wheat field, and under the camphor tree, besides myself when I was a child, there was also a little girl. She folded a colorful paper crane like a magic trick and gave it to him. He stretched out his hand to take it, and the colorful colors leaped in his pupils.

He heard the girl ask him in an expectant tone if he would come here to meet her tomorrow. It sounded like an appointment to ask a question, but he didn't hear his answer.

Part.2

The dream stopped abruptly, Lucien opened his eyes and moved his sore neck. The finger subconsciously stroked the inner pocket of the jacket, and the red peace knot was still placed there. He seems to have become accustomed to such subtle deviations, which has become a way for him to distinguish between dreams and dreams.

In the gloomy laboratory, the Dream Recorder was hibernating quietly, and Lucien's face was reflected on the darkened screen. This machine has been secretly tested for four years. No matter how fragmented the dreams recorded each time, Lucien will print out the records and keep them. Today these records have been very thick, but there are still no clues that can reveal the secrets of dreams.

Part.3

Lucien opened the piece of printing paper at random, which recorded a dream not long ago.

He remembered that in that dream he was sitting next to a hospital bed, holding one hand

Holding a girl’s hand, and holding a book in the other hand. The book reads "Dreaming and madness seem to have the same substance. Their mechanism is the same..."

Part.4

The emotion that always follows the girl in the dream is once again wrapped in the chest. It is a desire to understand, almost desperate, but there is often pity and contradiction. He can assume that these scenes are real, but he maintains constant doubts about such emotions.

No matter how difficult the predicament is, Lucien seldom feels fear. He doesn't understand what is worth standing still under that urgent will. Lucien sorted out his emotions and turned on the machine in front of him again.

In the face of a huge unknown, everyone has a moment of madness due to being overwhelmed, and perhaps his current state is also like this. But he did not deny these dreams, because they just proved that something irreversible had happened.

CHAPTER 5

Part.1

When Lucien handed the record to Hypnos, the latter's gaze stayed on him for a while.

"Ares...no, Professor Lucien. Your recent experiments seem to have become more frequent."

"I just want to improve efficiency."

"Do you really think these fragmented dreams are useful?"

" If you want to form a perfect picture, a piece of fragments can't be missing.." Lucien met his gaze. "At present, it seems that only I can help you spell out the perfect world you want.”

Part.2

Hypnos raised his mouth slightly, "Your style is still more like Ares."

"As long as the purpose can be achieved, identity does not matter." Lucien looked at the subway station not far away, and walked towards that side first. "I also look forward to your efficiency, Hypnos."

The empty subway moved slowly, carrying its first passenger to the spring that has yet to come.

Part.3

Lucien got out of the car and stepped into the familiar wheat field. There was a lonely figure under the lush camphor tree with a kite in his arms. Lucien looked at it for a while and walked over and sat beside the little boy. The little boy didn't seem surprised by his arrival, he didn't even turn his head. The two people sat side by side in silence for a long time, and the little boy finally spoke.

"Have you found the person in your dream?"

"Not sure yet."

"Can I see her again?"

“We will see it.”

Part.4

Confirming that the dream was stable enough, Lucien stood up with the trunk behind him, his vision suddenly lit up.

He raised his head and found that the snow in front of him was gone, leaving only an endless wheat field. Several kites were raised high, like carefree birds. This was not what he had seen in his dreams, so he stood there and didn't move.

The wind started, Lucien narrowed his eyes slightly, and suddenly felt his little finger hooked. He turned his head and saw a clear smiling face-- was his neighbor, "rival", the girl who always wanted to be vigilant in front of him and often did stupid things.

Part.5

She didn't seem to mind Lucien's dazed expression, she still looked at him with eyebrows and shook his fingers.

Is it her... Is it her? Is she making an appointment with him?

Lucien eagerly wanted to grab her hand, but before touching her, all the scenes in front of him suddenly disappeared.

The fragments of spring remained in his eyes, and were washed away by a blank white. The heavy snow still didn't stop.

Part.6

Lucien looked up at the luxuriant camphor tree on his side, feeling that it looked like a kind of solemn guardian. Before he found the key, he would never open the secret door to him easily. However, at this moment, he seems to see a certain corner of his heart that has been in the dust for a long time, so that the complex emotions born from dreams can be traced slightly.

He has always wanted to know where these pictures came from, how they are related to the deviation of the world, and who is the person in the unclear dream; and behind all these desires, it is hoped that these pictures exist for a long time.

Perhaps when he didn't realize it, there were already people visiting in his world. He will also want to place something on a certain person, such as an agreement that will not miss an appointment, or a watch over the sky.

Part.7

Lucien left the dream. When he opened his eyes on the subway, Hypnos was sitting not far away.

"How, is it the effect you want?"

"It's very stable, but there is still one area that needs adjustment." Lucien turned his head and looked at the train door. "In this dream, there is always a part that cannot be opened. I suspect that will be the key to the whole dream."

"I just restored this dream based on your records. If you can't open it yourself, I can't help it."

Part.8

"This is not my own dream. Someone will help me open it."

"What do you need me to do?"

Lucien pondered for a moment, raising his eyes to look at the person opposite.

"Create a condition where the door can be opened to welcome guests."

Hypnos raised the corners of his lips slightly, "It seems that Professor Lucien has already chosen someone in his heart."

Part.9

Lucien lowered his eyes, and some interesting memories flashed in his mind.

The shadow under the desk, ten boxes of "small syringes" that disappeared, and "Miracle Finder"

Whether intentionally or not, the girl had given him many excuses to approach her, and invited her to step into this illusory dream.

He is looking forward to what kind of new world she can open up.

---END---

I swear, every time I translate Lucien’s part, my heartache is getting worse. Please let him be happy for once!!  (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)

Notes: I’m not planning to take another R&S after this (*/ω＼) Hope you guys enjoy reading this translation. Let me know if there’s a mistake ^^ THANK YOU~

[boxofbadaddiction]

A Reason to Smile

Fred Weasley x Reader

This Story is inspired from a request of my Movie Lines Prompt List.

Prompts: 4, 10 & 16

"Let's put a smile on that face."/"Go ahead, make my day."/"Yippee ki yay, Motherfucker."

Warnings: Swearing. Umbridge.

Y/n woke up in a foul mood. With less than 3 hours sleep after having spent the whole night in detention with Umbridge and just can't seem to find a reason to smile. Even the thought of spending the day with her best friends, Fred and George, fills her with somewhat dread.

She doesn't want to see anyone. Do anything. Or go anywhere. Which is totally unideal for a Saturday. If things were to go her way she'd just roll over and stay in bed.

But she's starving so there's just no avoiding the inevitable.

Begrudgingly she pulls herself from her bedsheets and readies for breakfast.

As she arrives in the Great Hall she keeps her eyes trained to the floor, bee-lining for a place far enough away from the other students in her House to simply eat in peace before disappearing back to her dorm for the day.

But of course, with Fred and George as your best friends, how could she have possibly expected that to go to plan?

"Hey, y/n/n!" One of the Twins shout as they made their way over to her House table for breakfast. Their typical peppy demeanour mocked her, as it seemed impossible to draw herself from her current bad mood. Unable to even muster a fake, courteous smile for the sake of conversation.

"What happened to you last night?" spoke George as they sat either side of their dishevelled appearing friend. "Popped out to hand in some homework and we never saw you again. What'd you get lost?" He teased, nudging her shoulder in the process while his brother chuckled at the remark.

"I'm sorry I disappeared but please guys not today. I'm not in the mood."

"Woah, what's with the tone, love? And not in the mood? Please! You're always in the mood for us" Fred goaded pulling y/n into his side by her waist. A guesture which would usually have her leaning into his touch but not today.

She shook herself from his hold with a huff, leaning onto the table she propped her head up by the palm of her hand.

Neither Twin knew how to react, she'd never been so put off by them before. "Y/n...are you okay?" Fred asked sincerely. Both boys were eyeing her concernedly.

Y/n avoided eye contact, staring fixedly at her, now cold, bowl of porridge as she stabbed at it with her spoon. That's when Fred noticed it. The pink discolouration on the back of her hand. His heart dropped at the sight. She'd obviously been with Umbridge last night.

"Y/n-" his voice was firm as he spoke, drawing her and Georges attention immediately, his eyes flicked briefly to hers before focusing solely on the forming scar. "Your hand."

"It's nothing." Y/n straightened herself tucking her hand into her lap with a slight wince as the fabric of her clothes caught the still tender surface of her wound. Her other hand came to grip at its forearm to distract herself from the dull throbbing pain which now coursed through her hand.

"It's not nothing!" Fred snapped harshly, but as a whisper so not to draw too much unwanted attention.

George delicately reached across her lap lifting her injured hand into the light, his own eyes near shaking as they searched desperately between hers and his brothers expressions before inspecting the words she'd been forced to carve into her own flesh all night.

"I will obey the rules" he read the words aloud, the very phrase causing a sick bile to rise in each boys throat.

"I was busted on my way back. She told me I need to 'be more aware of the company I keep' less something like this happen again" y/n mumbled with distaste, her eyes locked determinedly onto the tables edge.

There was a moments silence between the three, all seemingly afraid to speak, before George stood abruptly, storming from the hall. An action which caused y/n to close her eyes tightly, drawing a sharp breath in, attempting to distract from the tightness that'd formed in her chest in knowing the effect her words had on the pair.

She never intended on telling them about the detention. They'd surely blame themselves for her being out past curfew as it was their idea to meet up in the first place. But it's not like she didn't understand the risk of what she was doing when she did it.

They knew those few words all too well. Umbridge had spoken them to her before, countless times by this point.

The first time, the Twins had been pestering y/n in the courtyard when she approached. They were lounged about one of the concrete benches under the courtyards largest tree. Freds head was in Y/ns lap, as she read, poking her cheek in an attempt to gain her full attention whilst George sat on her otherside, all his weight pressing against her as he sighed boredly.

Umbridge had deemed their behaviour 'not school appropriate' and 'not in compliance' with Educational Decree Number 31; as Boys and Girls are not permitted to be within 8 inches of each other.

The Brothers had laughed at her, a poorly timed 'you're kidding' thrown her way as Fred swung his legs off the bench now sitting upright. A few more cheekily placed comments landed the pair in detention for the night.

She highly disapproved of y/ns relationship with the Twins and had no issue voicing the fact and so before parting she'd issued that very same warning to y/n, stating matter-of-factly; "You should be more cautious of the company which you keep. Such a promising young witch, it'd be a shame to see your talents go to waste or future be tarnished for that matter by the carelessness of others whom are less gifted." She'd uttered the words with sharp glares thrown down her nose to the two Weasleys.

From that moment it'd become somewhat of a catch phrase for her everytime the threesome caught her attention.

Y/ns head dropped, mumbling a soft "I'm sorry, Fred."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, love." He rubbed small comforting circles on the lower of her back before pulling her waist as he had done so earlier. Inching closer so their legs were pushed flush together as he rest his chin atop her shoulder nestling into her neck. A touch which, this time, she did not shy away from - rather craning her head back to rest against his.

"I just don't think I'm someone you'll want to be around today." She admitted sadly, "I can't bring myself to enjoy anything."

"Well that just won't do" Fred pulled his head back to look into her eyes with a cheeky knowing expression. But even that wasn't enough to bring a rise to her saddened features. "Come on," he nudged her shoulder, "let's put a smile on that face." He spoke with a smirk.

"Reckon you can?"

"Of course!" Fred nodded with a tone of absolutely certainty.

"Well go ahead, make my day." Y/n challenged, which brought an excited smile to Freds face. He jumped from his place at the table holding an expectant hand out for her to take which she accepted a little hesitantly.

"Should we go find George? See if he's okay?"

"Nah, he'll be fine. Besides, this way I get you all to myself." Fred squeezed her hand a little tighter as he all but dragged his friend from the Hall.

A few hours had past and Fred were still relentlessly determined to make today one of the best days possible for y/n. Surprisingly he'd started off small with a just few well timed jokes and casual strolls around the Castle simply trying to keep her occupied on anything other than those toxic thoughts that kept her from enjoying the day.

As lunch approached he'd upped his game. Grabbing a few snacks from the kitchens and taking her down to her favourite place by the Lake where they spent the time talking together; sharing various stories while Fred told countless jokes to make her laugh and spoke of their newest inventions for the joke shop.

Y/n was sure she hadn't stopped smiling since the moment they'd left the Hall. Fred just had that effect on her but with every small guesture and tender smile thrown her way there was just no stopping the butterflies that erupt in her chest or the warmth that spread to her cheeks from his flirty comments and kind words.

By this point she'd nearly forgotten the whole reason he were so determined to make today so memorable.

But Georges absence and the light stinging in her hand was a nagging little reminder at the back of her mind which stopped her from falling wholly into the moment.

"Alright, Miss." Fred shot up from his place on the grass, dusting his hands on his jeans as he did so. "Onto grander things!" He held his hands out for her to take, pulling her giggling figure from the ground. "What could you possibly have planned now?" "Oh just a little mischief." He grinned as his tongue grazed his bottom lip before threading itself between his teeth, eyeing her closely. Y/ns eyes narrowed at his words untrusting of whatever plan his brain had suddenly cooked up. There were no time to question however as she were promptly being pulled to the Castle as the Sun fell below the horizon.

"You dragged me back to the Castle like a man possessed for dinner!?" Y/n questioned as they entered the Great Hall alongside countless of the other Hogwarts residents.

"Well yes and no. Yes; because you need to have a proper meal today aside from a couple sad mouthfuls of porridge and a dozen sweets. No; because for my next trick we will in fact be needing our beloved Georgie." "Do you think he's okay?" "One way to find out isn't there? OI! George!" Fred pushed through the dawdling individuals in the aisles between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, pulling y/n along behind him to where his Twin were currently seated for dinner.

"Hey Georgie" y/n began in a sad tone as she sat beside him. "Are you okay?" She stroked his arm reassuringly as she spoke. "Yeah I'm fine. Sorry I took off this morning I-" "ah-ah!" Fred piped from her otherside, "no morning talk. Look you're ruining all my good work!" He commented pointing to the concerned frown which were now upon y/ns features. "What?" "Dear Freddie here has been spending the day trying to get my mind off things." "Right right...Ginny mentioned something about Fred dragging you around the school all day." "Yes, and until now it'd been working so just...perk up. Which shouldn't be hard once I tell you my plan" Fred rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Plan?" "Know that thing we've been dying to try but haven't had the occasion?" he stated vaguely which had concern growing in the pit of y/ns stomach. Concern which only worsened as she watched how Georges features shifted swiftly from one of slight disinterest to immediate excitement. "Really? You wanna do that tonight?" His smile was wicked and a little frightening in y/ns opinion as he questioned his brother who merely hummed in response. "Reckon I can name a few select members of a certain 'club' who would make excellent guinea pigs." Continued George in a whisper over top of y/n "You've read my mind." Fred took a sip from a drink y/n had just poured, for herself mind you.

Y/ns focus was shifting worriedly between the two brothers who sat on her either side sharing an unspoken understanding.

"Stop doing that you're freaking me out!" She snapped which caused the boys to laugh, George mumbling a simple "You're in for a treat" as he turned his attention back to his dinner with a sly grin.

Y/n looked back to Fred hoping for some kind of hint or reassurance but he just smiled, wrapping his arm round her waist and pulling her into his side as he began to eat.

"You really think you're going to get away with this?" Y/ns voice rang throughout the empty corridor. "Only one way to find out" Fred wiggled his eyebrows at her.

The pair were currently hiding around the corner of the 7th floor main corridor. It were past curfew as the Twins plan fell into play.

"Explain to me again what exactly these things are?" Y/n asked as she fiddled with a small cylindrical canister. "Paint bombs." Fred answered excitedly. "Similar to Dungbombs just-" "with paint?" "Pretty much, yeah. You pull this little tab, then you have about 7 seconds before it goes off. This one in particular is my favourite so far." "And whys that?" "You'll see" Fred smiled brightly down at her before the sound of approaching footsteps put an end to their conversation.

George barrelled down the hallway, throwing himself into the pair very much out of breath but with a smile as wide as Fred's had been moments ago.

"All set?" "Yeah. They should be coming through any minute now." The three craned their necks around the walls edge, waiting for their unsuspecting victims. It didnt take long before the sound of several pairs of agitated feet came stomping through the corridor.

Filch followed by a handful of the Inquisitorial Squad were huddled together in shared annoyance by the antics of George which were leading them directly into their trap. Various curses and angry grumbles could only faintly be heard over the distance between them.

"Right" Fred whispered as the three ducked back behind the wall, he gave George and y/n a quick nod before tearing the small tab from it's place. "Yippe Ki Yay, Motherfucker." He spoke dramatically as he stepped out, throwing the Paint Bomb like a grenade towards the befuddled group of Slytherins and accompanying Caretaker.

Quickly shooting himself back behind the wall where all three waited with baited breaths and backs pressed flush to the cold stone wall.

"Not a day goes by that I don't regret showing you Die Hard." Y/n mumbled, a comment which brought a wide smile to Freds face as he looked down to her. A few more seconds past before a loud crack and angry shouts echoed through the Castle.

Y/n looked in amazement to see the Hall covered in multicoloured, sparkling, paint as well as orange and gold confetti. There was something beautiful about it she thought. All the vibrant pinks, blues and purples caught the eye like a giant canvas painting. Aside from the ugly squabbling creature, that had once been the Inquisitorial Squad, at the pieces centre of course.

She was in tears from laughing at the sight when Fred leant down to speak in her ear "whataya think?" "I think it's brilliant!" She smiled up at him, "that's the messiest one we've got." He nodded in the direction of the chaos currently unfolding before them.

The group were slipping over themselves and wiping hands down their faces in disgust over the thick liquid which coated them all, as well as the ceiling and walls.

"It was also the only one." George scowled though clearly very amused. "Worth it though wouldn't you say?" "Absolutely."

Freds eyes turned back to y/n, admiring her laughing figure beside him.

"We'll count that one a success heya, Freddie?" George nudged but his brothers trance was not so easily broken. "Definitely" he smiled not turning away from her.

"Shit!" Y/n exclaimed suddenly. "Yeah, I'd say it's time to go." George stated as he watched the very colourful and very angry group now charging after them.

George took off in a sprint but it weren't till y/n began running, taking a hold of Freds hand as she did so that he fully registered what was going on and started to run too.

Fred and Y/n had ended up in her common room after losing George. Luckily it were late enough that not many people were still hanging about so the two pretty much had the place to themselves. Spending a few more moments just being together and reliving the day by the fire, it weren't till the clock struck 12am that Fred admit he should be getting back to his dormitory. Not that he wanted to but y/n needed to sleep after her restless night prior, he hadn't meant to keep her up this late to begin with.

Pulling her from the couch he walked her to the bottom of her dorm rooms staircase where she stood a couple stairs from the bottom to match his height.

It'd slipped the pairs notice that they were still holding one anothers hand until their joined laughter faltered and the warmth in their palms caused realisation to strike. Fred dropped the hold clearing his throat as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Thank you for today, Freddie." Y/n smiled warmly. "Pretty memorable, aye? Told you I'd get you smiling." He rocked confidently on the balls of his feet. Y/n shook her head slightly as she absent-mindedly stroked his arm. "Don't know what I'd do without you." "Probably nag George" he joked.

"As much as I love Georgie, it wouldn't be the same" Freds eyes studied her face the whole time she spoke. He could feel his heart begin to race inside his chest. If only she knew how much he wished he could hear her say she loved him.

"Goodnight, Freddie" y/n placed a light kiss to his cheek, grip tightening ever-so-slightly on his bicep before turning slowly to leave.

His heart was thundering now. Breaths rapid as his body urges him to speak. To tell her everything.

How he's in love with her and he's sure she feels the same way.

How she's the first thing on his mind of a morning and the last thing at night. How his whole family has been pushing him to just pluck up the courage and ask her out already. How nothing makes him happier than seeing her smile. How he never wanted to go to the Ball as 'just friends'. How he smells her perfume in Amortentia. That the sight of her at breakfast this morning, so down and distraught, broke his heart. How for the last few hours it's taken near all his strength to stop himself kissing her with as much love and passion as he can to show her how much she means to him.

But how do you convey all that to someone who has been your best friend for the past 5 years? No clue. But he has to try and he knows he'll never get this kind of opportunity again.

"Y/n, wait-" he grabs her arm, taking a step towards her he pulls her into his chest. Before he can process it his hand is cupping her cheek and he's kissing her with such intensity y/n can feel the air leave her lungs as she melts into him. Her arms snaking over his body. A hand running itself along his shoulder, fingers entangling themselves in the locks of hair at the base of his neck, whilst the other wraps tightly around his torso.

When they finally break apart Fred's on cloud nine. Nothing had ever felt so good or so right. But at the same time, he's panicking. God, he hopes she truly does feel the same way and he didn't just completely misread everything about their relationship. Their foreheads are pressed together as y/ns lips form a wide smile.

"If you wanted to give me a reason to smile today...you could have just started with that."

[bnha-scenerios-imagines]

So, I was hoping you could do this scenario idea I had! It's where Iida's girlfriend always wants to do cute things together, like go out and watch the stars and cuddle in each other's rooms, but obviously he never agrees cause that's breaking the rules. So he slowly is forced to watch as he loses her to someone else do does want to do those things and break a few small rules for her. Preferably Bakugou, since their opposites. It's just an idea but I hope you like it! Thank you so much!

Iida + Bakugou

“Come on Iida Tenya! Please! There is supposed to be a meteor shower tonight can’t we watch it out on the roof?” You followed your boyfriend down the hallway, holding his arm as you tried to convince him to watch the beautiful shower that was due to happen, “it won’t be long! I can get us up on the roof no biggie and even get you to your room before anyone notices-“

“That is breaking a rule, (Name)! We can’t leave our rooms past curfew. That is an hour and a half after it.” His voice was filled with a tone that you knew you couldn’t fight. You always called it the No-Tone. There was no use fighting it.

“Okay..” you sighed, letting go of his arm to slow down, your eyes catching your pink haired friend. You darted down the hallway, linking arms with her as you whispered, “Do you want to see some Meteors?”

Her grin was all you needed to already know that at least someone was willing to join you on a fun night out. It wouldn’t be romantic but at least you wouldn’t be staring at the sky alone.

“I’ll invite the boys!”

“Perfect! The more the merrier!”

“where’s your boyfriend?” Bakugou asked, holding out a blanket Mina had brought with her to you. “Shouldn’t he be here?”

“He didn’t want to break curfew,” You responded, your smile twitched slightly, your eyes filling with some kind of sadness as you took the blanket from your grasp. “Thank you for coming though I know you tend to sleep early-“

“I used to watch meteor showers when I was a kid. I would have stayed up anyways. Besides,” he sat next to you, looking up just in time to watch one shoot across the black sky. “It’s better with those you’re close too,”

“So you like us?” Your smile grew, becoming more genuine as you looked up to watch about a dozen more shoot by. “You’re not so bad when you’re not yelling at Midoriya,”

His hand hit your shoulder playfully, not hard enough to hurt but not soft enough to show that he thought you were weak. A small smile growing on his lips when he heard you stifle a laugh, your head tilting down to look at him, still grinning.

The rest of the group joined you guys, Mina coming in to bump into your side as she gasped in awe at the lights above her.

—

“Girls and boys are not allowed in each other’s rooms unless there are more than four people (Name),” Iida said when you showed up at his door, holding a bag of food in your grip. You wanted to see if you could convince him to let you in but his eyes were already telling. Though this time he looked slightly apologetic so maybe- “We can work on homework the common room though!”

Your eyes lit up at that suggestion. You had barely seen each other all week. Even if he wouldn’t let you hang out alone in his room as long as you could spend a few hours with him!

“Sure-“

“We just have to finish in the next 15 minutes or so since that’s when curfew will be-“ he looked down at his watch, keeping in mind of time and when you both should be back. You two had 30 minutes.

“Ah.. don’t worry then.” You sighed sadly. As much as you wanted to spend time with him you know you’d just make it downstairs and then the two of you wouldn’t even get some alone time. You had looked into the common room and it had been filled with most of your friends.. you were better off just waiting until the weekend. “We don’t have much time. Let’s schedule for the weekend instead.”

“Okay, thank you for understanding,” he smiled, closing the door on you while you stepped back, signalling that you were just going to head back to your own dorm.

You shouldn’t be so upset, you thought to yourself. You rejected his offer. But.. you just wished he would let you hang out with him alone. In an intimate area. You didn’t have to kiss or anything you just wanted to hang out, cuddle or hold hands at least!

“Oi, what are you doing up here?” Bakugou asked, steeping into the elevator. He stood next to you, watching the elevators close as he waited for your response.

“I was just talking with Iida,” you spoke, your eyes meeting his briefly, forming a small smile before you looked back down at your feet.

“I’m surprised that rules-are-the-law kid let you in,”

Your bitter laugh told him otherwise.

“He didn’t.” You gripped the bag harder, your eyebrows furrowing in frustration.

“Then.. want to come to mine?” His voice was filled with confidence, looking at you with his hands shoved on his pockets.

Your head snapped upwards, looking at him as if he had said something absolutely crazy. He was slightly taken back by your response. Had the request really been so uncalled for.

“Yes. Actually, I’d really like that,” spending time with a friend right now was the perfect remedy for your less-than-kind-thoughts you’ve been having.

He pressed the button to the common floor again, watching the light turn off before pressing floor 4. His movements quick and he had to tell himself to calm down. His heart shouldn’t be beating this quickly. You had just accepted his invitation as a friend, nothing more.

“I hope you like Beef stew,” You said as you stepped out of the elevator, following him to his room. Your mood already feeling slightly better upon having someone to talk to.

“It better be fuckin’ spicy,” He commented, opening the door to his room and entering it. You followed close behind, taking a good look at his room as you shut the door behind you. Responding in a monotone voice,

“It has a little spice to it but Iida doesn’t care for it to be crazy spicy. So I made it sort of tame, honestly it was my first time cooking for him.. I had hoped to share it” your eyes continued to wonder around his room, taking in every piece of it. You had never been in it but it was very simple. Truthfully, you had almost expected it to have more of a Bakugou vibe to it. It was way more tame.

“Wait you made it?” He looked back at you, taking a seat on the floor. You joined him, slowly taking the large container out of the bag.

“Yeah! Here,” you handed him a bowl and chopsticks. Eagerly grabbing one for yourself as you carefully filled your bowl with the ingredients. “He says that store bought tastes like shit and he’d rather puke it up than have to swollow that stuff down,” you took a bite out of one of the pieces, humming happily upon feeling the heat of it. It wasn’t half bad! “My words not his,”

“I figured. I don’t think he even knows some swear words”

“There have been some close calls,” you said back, smiling when you saw his eyes widen. You could already feel your ego grow.

“This isn’t half bad. Not as spicy as I would have liked but.. not bad.”

“Well I do try,” you winked at him.

The rest of the night was spent with the two of you chatting. You didn’t think you could have had this much fun with bakugou. You had spoken with him a few times since the last time you all hung out and he seemed like a pretty funny person, his snarky comebacks were actually somewhat endearing.

It was exactly what you needed to get your thoughts back in order.

—

“Hey (Name),” Bakugou greeted as you stepped into the elevator. He had been hoping to meet up with you since the last week you had all hung out. Immediately though he could see your stiffened form. “You’re upset,” he stared boldly.

“Iida said he couldn’t have lunch with me since he had some student council business to take care of,” you let out a long sigh, “I get that he’s busy but this is the sixth time this week, not including the week before.”

“Momo has been sitting with the girls all week,” he stated, your head nodding sadly at hearing this.

“I know.. I just don’t understand..”

“So eat lunch with me,” his mind wandered to a nice place he could take you. He knew this ramen shop that was fairly cheap so he could pay for the two of you without you feeling too guilty, “I was going to go out so I wouldn’t have to deal with Mina yelling at me to make her lunch anyways.”

“Really! Where were you thinking?”

“There’s this ramen shop close to my-“

“Ramen! I’m in!” The elevator door opened and you stepped out, eager at the chance to finally get away from the school and do something fun, “I’ll meet you at the doors at 12 then!”

He didn’t think he could wait for the clock to turn to 12.

—

“Hey Iida!” You greeted happily, walking past him to Bakugou who sat not too far away from your boyfriend. Your hand was holding something in it as you held it up to Bakugou “check it out!”

“How the fuck did you manage to get it?” He asked, his eyes scanning the book in front of you. It was a book detailing All Might in all of his years, even secrets of his past.

“(Name).. what is that?” Iida questioned, stepping forward to see what you were showing Bakugou. The other male glaring up at him.

“Ah! Iida! It’s a book that’s all about All Might! It came out just the other day. Bakugou and I had been talking about wanted to read it!”

“Oh- I see.” His eyes trailed to look at Bakugous cold ones. Your voice rattling on about it while the two boys glared are each other.

Since when had you and Bakugou gotten so close?

“-and there’s a movie that they released with the book all about All Might! I bought a digital copy so we’re going to watch it! Right Bakugou?”

“Right.” He responded with a smirk, a hand reaching out to grab the book from your hands. “Thanks for letting me lend the book from you, I know how much you hate when people take your shit”

“It’s fine since it’s you,” your voice was sweet, smiling happily before turning to Iida “oh! Do you have more Student council things to do today? Or can we have lunch?”

“I’m sorry (Name)-“ he spoke with an apologetic voice “but-“

“Then eat lunch with me (Name). I made extra Tantanmen last night.”

“Tantanmen is spicy. (Name) doesn’t like spicy food-“

“Actually Bakugou got me really into it! I’m in. Save me a bowl of Tantanmen Bakugou!” With that the school bell rang and you all quickly went to your seats, a small smile on your face.

Why was Iida so frustrated with that?

—

He stretched his arms out, his back cracking as he did so. It was the first time he had gotten all of his work finished in a decent time. It wasn’t just homework but there were a few things he wanted to finish for himself before he wanted to call you up. He eyed the clock. If he called you now the two of you could hang out for an hour and a half before curfew.

He pressed on your icon, sending a message your way as he cleaned up his papers, putting his work in the rightful place. You were usually so quick to respond. He was surprised you hadn’t answered by the time his hand touched the papers.

You hadn’t seen the text until an hour later, hitting Bakugou in the shoulder as you answered Iida. You couldn’t lie to him and would rather get a lecture about leaving then about lying.

“Take a picture with me!” You threw your arm around his neck, taking a picture of the two of you before he could complain. You sent that to Iida explaining that you and Bakugou were out to do some shopping.

A second later you received a paragraph from him, laughing at how quick he sent it you just apologized and told him you’d leave soon even though you weren’t going too.

“Is that Iida?” Bakugou asked when you shoved the phone into your pocket. Moving to stand next to him while the two of you thumbed through different jackets.

“Yeah, he’s upset we snuck out,” you pulled out a black jacket, holding it up to him so you could see if it looked ok. “Maybe we should get you a red one? You could wear a black shirt underneath it so it’s kinda be like your hero costume... maybe add green gloves?”

“You’re thinking too much about the colour scheme, black is fine. It’ll be cold when we go hiking,” he unzipped the jacket in your hand, feeling the fabric on the inside. “This one is perfect. Now let’s find yours,” he moved to leave this section but your hand stopped him, still sifting through the jackets in front of you.

“Black would look good on you. You should chose black too,” he commented, his hand releasing your arm as he picked out a jacket that looked pretty much exactly like his. The black was slightly lighter and the sleeves had a hole where you could fit your thumbs.

“If we’re going to match let’s go back to where we were and get the exact same one. Usually Mens is cheaper anyways.” You picked out a copy of his jacket, slipping it onto your shoulders. Before turning to face him, “well?”

“Perfect,” he commented, his eyes looking you over as he nodded his head. “It’ll keep you warm,”

“Then this one!” You took it off of your shoulders, putting it back on the hanger. You held it, happy with your purchase. “We should start heading back-“

“If you’re worried about your boyfriend I’ll deal with his screaming,” he walked alongside you, tilting his head to the side as he spoke, “I don’t care. Besides, you still need boots,”

You grinned, bumping your shoulder into his. You couldn’t even feel your phone vibrate with a message from Iida.

—

“Where are you two headed?” Iida asked, he had just gotten back from his morning run when he saw you and Bakugou dressed up. He decided to ignore the fact that you were wearing the same jacket as him.

“Why do you wanna know-“

“Suki’s mom invited me to go hiking with them for the weekend!” You grinned happily, gripping your backpack tighter. “Don’t you remember?” You tilted your head, “I told you a few weeks ago? Back when we had lunch together,”

“Ah, yes no I remember,” he lied, “sorry I didn’t realize that it was this weekend. I hope you have fun,” he spoke quietly, turning to leave the two of you. When... when did you start calling Bakugou by his first time and when did you start getting so close with Bakugou’s family? You hadn’t even met his own.

Bakugou pressed his gloved hand to the small of your back, breaking you out of your trance. He hated just how quickly Iida seemed to bring out your mood. You were excited just one second ago to go on this trip with his family.. now you were saddened to see how little you were in Iida’s mind.

“Come on. My mom will be outside waiting for us. She’s been dying to see you again,” that seemed to perk you up, smiling up at him again.

“Really?”

“Yeah that bitch has been on my ass since you said yes to coming with us. She wants you to come over for dinner more often,”

You scoffed, hitting Bakugou with your elbow. You were so used to hearing Bakugou cuss his mom out but it always felt wrong everytime you heard him say it. You never corrected him though. You could see how he could think that, his mom was intense and crazy, just like him.

“Then let’s head out!”

—

You texted Iida, inviting him to watch a movie with you. You already expected him to say no so you didn’t bother to mention that you and Bakugou had intended to watch it together.

You had expressed interest in the horror movie once during a conversation with Bakugou. He was quick to rent it. He offered to watch it with you the next day the two of you had a night free so you could stay up late.

He didn’t think he had seen you so excited since the last time you two had hung out.

“If you get scared you can hang onto me,” you joked, leaning against the arm of the couch as he sat next to you, doing the same.

“As if,” he scoffed, pressing his foot against your leg, kicking it as he reached for the remote. “This isn’t even that scary.”

“Don’t say anything until you watch it! It’s actually pretty interesting! I think you’ll like it!” You slapped his ankle. Taking a sip of your soda you leaned back.

“Thank you,” you said when he pressed play, the pictures flashing on the screen in front of you.

“What?” He asked, confused about why you had just thanked him for kicking you but when he looked closely he could see your facial features soften.

“For watching this movie with me, thank you.” Your eyes darted to look at your phone, typing a quick reply before putting it back in your pocket. “He said no”

“Well I don’t think a law abiding student like him would be able to watch something like this anyways. His small fragil mind would explode at the even suggestion of a woman’s shoulder sliding out of a shirt, much less watching her have her head ripped off” he reached over, resting his arm around your shoulder, “so fuck him. Let’s just watch this movie.”

You smiled, nodding as you leaned your head back on his arm, reaching over to eat a handful of popcorn as the movie continued. Tonight would be fun. He’d make sure of it.

—

You knew this had to be done. The two of you had been growing apart. Anytime you tried to reach out he’d refuse to do anything. You knew he was busy. He had so much on his plate but, you two hadn’t spoken in a month. Any text from you was responded with silence or a short text back.

It was done between you two. You were too tired of having to constantly tell him that you wanted to spend time together, that you wanted to be a couple.

If he didn’t want to be then you wouldn’t make him.

“Iida.. I think we’re done.” You spoke quietly, looking at him in the eyes. You could feel his body stiffen, his eyes looking off to the side.

“(N-Name) i dont want to end us-“

“Iida. You’re too busy for me,” you sighed, raising a hand to rub your neck, trying to sooth the tension in it. “I don’t want to end on a bad note. So let’s just make this mutual, you’re too busy for a relationship so I won’t tie you down.”

What could he say? He knew you were right. You weren’t happy.. he had known that for a long time but he still didn’t want to let you go. But here you were.

“Okay,” he whispered back, holding a hand out for you to take, he wasn’t sure what else he was supposed to do in a situation like this. “Let’s stay friends then,”

“Yes,” you held his hand, shaking it as if it was a business transaction. You had to hold back a lump in your throat as you thought about the fact this was about as physical he had been. “I wish you well Iida,” you turned around, leaving his room.

Iida followed you, stepping out briefly to watch you leave. His own throat running dry when he sat Bakugou leaning against the elevator door so it wouldn’t close. His hands slipping out of his pockets as you sped up. Your arms wrapped around him, gripping his shirt. Bakugou looked up at him as he pulled you into the elevator, glaring at Iida as the doors shut on the two of you.

—

It hurt to see you grow so close to Bakugou, his heart falling everytime you called his name sweetly instead of his own, his hands raising to rub his eyes.

“Suki! Are you busy tonight?” Your voice crossed the classroom despite you tried to keep it quiet so you could speak with him only. Bakugou’s head looked up.

“I’ve got some homework to finish-“ He tilted his head back, his eyes glaring into Iida’s “as long as you’re not loud you can come work on it with me.”

He knew why he had done that. It was a jab at him for not meeting your needs. It was Bakugou’s way of showing off how much better he was for you. He was what you needed. What you deserved. He ducked his head, his eyes looking down at his homework as he heard your quiet voice once again.

“Thank you Katsuki, thank you.”

[darker-soft-starker]

Starker High School AU Pt. 6 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

---

tw: general howard stark warning

---

There is a buzzing by his ear.

At first, Tony doesn’t really notice it, waking up in short increments before being pulled back under. But he keeps waking, unsure what keeps tugging him out of his dreams, hand flapping around his face as he tries to stop the incessant ringing.

“Blergh,” he mumbles into his pillow.

Batting his hand around to quell the source of annoyance, he comes to grip his phone, squinting as it lights up inches away from his face and vibrates against his palm. For a second he thinks it’s his alarm, but then he remembers that he didn’t set one. It’s a succession of text notifications cascading down his screen that alerts him out of the slope of slumber with a start.

The only time his phone goes off like this is an emergency. The first thing he registers is that it’s only eight-minutes after seven. He blinks, sight clearing from the sleep wedged in his eye as he reads the flurry of still-incoming texts.

> so thanks for last night > yknow > for the ride > i mean > you know what i mean > anyway > so that folder i gave you had my BIO notes, not econ > im such a doofus > i need them back > don’t bother looking at them lol > can we meet up?

Tony groans, eyelids heavy as anvils. Jesus christ. He didn’t get home until four after dropping this guy off and he’s already up and bothering him? What gives?

Exhausted and annoyed, he tucks his phone under his pillow and sets it on do-not-disturb for extra measure. There ain’t no way he’s getting up at seven on a Saturday for fucking class notes. Prick.

In his opinion, he’s filled his quote of good deeds for the month and he doesn’t need to be up for another few hours. Whatever it is, he thinks, snuggling into his pillow, he’s sure it can wait.

---

The next time he wakes it’s just after nine. There’s a gap in his curtains allowing a sharp shard of sunlight into the room where it directly pierces into his eyelids. 

He groans tiredly into the drool patch on his pillow, willing sleep to come back to him, turning on his other side, gripping the edges of the quilt and tightening it around himself until he is firmly cocooned within it. It’s nice and warm, and sleep is such a rare commodity to him so it’s novel to bask in its dregs. But there isn’t any more sleep to come he’s quick to realize, giving up after a few minutes and blinking up at the ceiling. 

Nine is practically six. It’s criminal to be up this early.

There’s an unusual flurry of texts on his phone, some from Rhodey, but most of them are from Parker, an endless ladder of increasing franticness. 

Tony tosses his phone to the end of his bed carelessly. 

It’s been literally less than twelve hours since he’s had to deal with the shithead. Surely whatever was lodged up his ass couldn’t possibly be as important as Tony ignoring him. 

Swinging his legs off the bed, he stands and stretches his arms up high, fingers curling. The stretch feels good and he takes a quick sniff of his armpits to gauge if he can forego a shower for the third day in a row. 

The stench is wicked. It’s possible that he’s overdue.

He strips off as he heads towards the adjacent bathroom, naked and nursing a semi.

He can’t help but shudder as his back meets the cold tiles, the intuitive shower head following his body with a mechanical whir, miscalculating its aim and spraying him in the face.

Ah. That will need to be recalibrated, he notes. 

But, he can’t say he really minds, tolerating the spray, even as it hits his mouth like a fire hose. He ducks his head to wet his hair, reaching blindly for the touchpad to dial down the pressure. Once the water is to his liking he reaches down to take himself in hand, leisurely stroking himself.

It’s just a perfunctory part of his morning ritual; he doesn’t really have anyone in mind as he brings himself to full hardness, just the fleeting memory of lips around his cock, the next of a well rounded ass, not feeling particularly creative. 

Okay, so maybe he pictures some big, brown eyes and dark hair he can run his fingers through. And maybe he goes off like a rocket. That’s his business.

Anyway, once he’s out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist, he inspects his appearance in the mirror. The bruises on his face are still pretty gruesome, deep purple and beginning to yellow around the edges. The cut on his lip seems to be well and truly scabby.

Turning to the side, Tony takes observation of his overall torso region; his stomach is not as defined as he’d like it to be - probably due to his affinity for carbs and sweets, if he’s honest. Between a few fingers he can pinch the skin and pull it a little -- and look, he’s a bit soft around the middle, but he lifts, alright. Maybe he isn’t exactly steel cut like the dudebros on the football team who have made being ripped their life mission, but he has musculature under the adipose.

Is he a little self-conscious about it? Sure. Is he worried about it enough to give up garlic bread and cronuts? No. Especially when he spots a new chest hair nestled comfortably between his pecs.

Probably a bit too proud of himself because of a singular piece of hair, Tony gets dressed in a pair of jeans that have seen better days, speckled with singe marks and thinning at the knees and a singlet, slinging on his leather jacket for the finishing touch. 

He almost forgets the bot.

“Look at you,” he says, to the mangled mess of metal on his desk. Scooping the injured, beeping bot Tony stuffs it into his backpack. “Come here, darling. Shh, you’re okay.”

Peering both ways out of the hall to ensure the coast is clear, he quickly descends the stairs, shushing the bot the whole way.

On the ground floor, he pauses when he hears voices coming from his father’s office. It takes a second to recognise the voices, his father and Stane arguing over one another, loudly, then softly. He tries to listen in, catching somewhat audible hisses about the company finance officer.

Careful to avoid the floorboards that squeak he tiptoes to the kitchen to pocket a few muesli bars and a water bottle from the fridge. 

The voices get progressively louder as he sneaks to the front door, silently saluting their maid as he passes. She waves back at him, offering a sympathetic smile as he goes out the door. 

His heart pounds as he reaches his car, parked around the corner street. 

“Alright, baby,” he grins, revving the engine. “Let’s go.”

---

“The fuck?”

It’s hard to be sure, but perhaps Rhodey doesn’t expect Tony’s unannounced arrival at his front door. Not if the furious scowl and bunny slippers on his feet are anything to go by.

Nonetheless, he slips past the front door, welcoming himself into his friends home, despite the exasperated outcry of for fucks sake Tony, it’s Saturday and it’s not even noon, can’t you call ahead? 

No, he can’t call. Well, actually, he reconsiders, heading down the hall to the basement, his friends footsteps echoing behind him, he probably could, but it wouldn’t make anyone less mad at him, so what’s the point?

Besides, judging by the empty driveway and barren living room, Rhodey’s family is already out, he’s not sure what the issue is.

“The issue is I am tired, man,” his friend complains, following him down the stairs. “What are you doing here?”

“Me too, honeybear, freakin’ exhausted,” Tony mutters, skipping down the stairs. “Go back to bed. I’ll be out of your hair in a minute.”

“Oh sure, and let you solder your fingers together again. Nah. Not taking the fall for that.”

“I’m not going to solder my fingers together. I’m a pro.”

“Unless you need me to remind you of last summer,” Rhodey takes a seat at the workbench, “I suggest you shut up.”

“You’re rude, you know that?” Tony asks, retrieving the bot from his backpack and setting it upon the bench. “I’ll have you know that I’ve learned since then.”

“And yet you still refuse to wear gloves,” his friend sighs, settling heavily upon the adjacent chair. There’s a comfortable quiet between them while Tony works, carefully settling all the pieces onto the table, moving each with care.

It’s hard to miss the weight of observation on the back of his neck, but he lets his friend drink his fill before he’s ready to speak.

“You fuck up something?” He points to the bot.

Tony shakes his head, pressing the solder into the circuit board. “No. Well, yes. The coding is perfect, as usual, but this idiot isn’t any smarter than a Roomba. He’s meant to be smarter.”

“So?

“He is smarter. I dunno, sometimes he messes up,” Tony mumbles, reaching blindly for the bent-nose pliers before Rhodey places it in his hand. “He’s not bad, just dumb. It’s not his fault.”

“And again, what happened? Did you run him over?”

“No, the old man got sick of me playing with ‘toys’. Dumb-dumb here met the wall in a very dramatic fashion. It was an Oscar-worthy performance.”

There’s a sigh from behind him.

“Does that explain your face?”

Tony glances behind him and smirks. 

“You mean my dashing good looks?”

“Tony.”

“Honestly? I got into a fight with a feral racoon that ran off with some old lady’s purse. It nearly cost me an eye, but I saved the day. She called me a hero, gave me some stale crackers from her purse and then gave me her number.”

“Tony.”

“Fine. I was skateboarding. I was in the middle of executing a super complicated kickflip but lost control when an enlarged gutter rat scurried in front of me. I flew headfirst into the gravel. Very embarrassing. That work?”

“Tony.”

“Look, just leave it will ya? God, you’re like a nagging wife. Pick whichever story makes you feel all nice and fuzzy inside.”

Rhodey is suddenly before him, waving something in his face. “Your phone, jackass. Your better half is calling?”

Huh?

Tony blinks, gently setting down the pliers and the chip he’d removed, taking his phone. It vibrates, Your Better Half flashing across the screen. 

“Parker, ugh.” 

He really should have changed the contact name by now, he thinks, swiping to answer.

“Alcoholics Anonymous,” Tony answers by way of greeting. “How may I direct your call?”

“Ha ha, very funny, asshole. So you are awake. I’ve been trying to contact you all morning.”

“I know. I’m beginning to think you actually might have separation issues,” Tony says. “I just got rid of you like eight hours ago.”

“I’m calling about the folder. Didn’t you read my texts?“

“Oh, I read them,” Tony settles back on the stool and continues to work on the main circuit. “See, I was just ignoring you. Hoping you’d take the hint, but I forget subtlety is lost on you.”

“Look, I need my notes. Can we meet up?”

“Right, for Bio,” Tony rolls his eyes. “Can’t it wait until Monday?”

“No. I, uh -- I have a test first period. I need to study for it.”

“Uh-huh. Just remember, the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. You’ll be fine.”

“I take AP Bio, asswipe, I’m aware of that. Can I just get it back, please?”

“You take AP Bio? Was that an admin error or something?” he asks, holding the chip he’d retrieved earlier up to the light to inspect for any damage. 

It looks to be ok. The damage to the bot overall seems to be mostly cosmetic, couple of scratches, a few dents. Nothing that a few replacement panels wont fix. Whatever he hasn’t already got stored here Rhodey will surely have spare parts, it’ll be fine. God, what would he do if his friend didn’t lovingly tolerate Tony using his space for storage and barging in whenever he lucks. It’s lucky Rhode’s parents are so chill though, unlike his own. He may be a hot-head but he’s practically a saint compared to -

“ - hello? Are you still there? I can hear you breathing.”

Tony blinks. “Right. Your notes. Look, I’m kinda busy. I have a life outside of you and I don’t actually care about your academic integrity, so, you’re gonna have to wait.”

“For how long?”

“I’ll drop them off this evening, like six-ish. Hey, maybe we could do that interview with May if she’ll be around.”

“...I’m not sure that’s the best idea.”

“C’mon, I already told you I’m not actually hot for your aunt. I’ll be professional.”

Rhodey shoots him a bewildered look.

“That’s not what -- look, whatever. Just don’t be late okay. I have a life outside of you too.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that one before. I’ll try and not get in the way of your weekend plans of crying while you masturbate.”

“I literally hate you.”

“And yet you aren’t denying the crying. Anyway, I have to go now, try to clean yourself up before I get there. See you at six, bubby,” he hangs up, cracking his neck before refocusing on his mangled creation. “Now where were we?”

“What the fuck.”

Tony pauses, pliers in hand. There is a particular expression on Rhodey’s face erring on the side of confused and haunted. 

“What?”

“’Bubby’?”

“Don’t say it like that - it’s like an inside thing. Don’t repeat it to him, alright, he’ll get pissy. And then I’ll get pissy.”

“You know it’s just a project, right? You two aren’t actually married.”

“Thank god. Could you imagine being married to that guy?” Tony shudders. “Scary.”

“Two weeks ago you said he was the bane of your existence. Now you have ‘inside things’ with him? You saw him last night?”

He sighs, shoulders dropping. Yeah, he doesn’t really have a good explanation for any of that. 

The thing about himself, Tony’s found over time and trial, is that he really, really likes to press buttons. He likes to test variables, wants to see what would happen if he did something he wasn’t supposed to, and map out the world as it occurs in motion around him. Curiosity means he likes to test the parameters, to see what can yield, what will bite back.

More often than not that kind of impulsive brand of curiosity has gotten him in some sort of trouble. Turns out not everything and everyone appreciates being tested - and many things like to lash out when pressed.  

Parker, Tony has found, is somebody that doesn’t yield or bite. If Tony was a betting man he’d have placed his money on the boy being more of a yielding type - but what he does is he presses buttons just as much as Tony does, buttons he didn’t even know he had to be pressed. 

And that very much interests Tony.

He just doesn’t know what to do with that information, except to keep pressing.

“I’ll explain later,” Tony promises, mentally crossing his fingers. “In the meantime, can we forget about Parker and focus on my broken baby here?”

Rhodey relents, but Tony knows that look in his eye. He’ll be hearing about it later and at the most inconvenient time. And he’s gonna tell Pepper.

Wonderful.

He really should change Peter’s contact name in his phone.

---

By the time he leaves the Rhodes residence and heads to his next destination, his robot is in somewhat in working order again. It remains fairly immobile though, just until Tony can replace the damaged infrared and touch sensor. It clicks its metal claws sadly towards Tony in the passenger seat as he drives.

It’s a Roy Orbison kind of day, so the music is loud and the guitar is heavy as he makes the drive to Harlem.

And if Tony frees a hand to pat the bot on its’ metal head every so often, that’s his business.

When he reaches the other side of the city he parks in his usual space at a nearby lot and contemplates whether or not he should leave the malfunctioning bot in his car for the sake of being professional. It clicks at his jacket, weakly grasping the material as if on a plea - and damn, Tony knows the thing isn’t actually sentient but what kind of asshole would he be if he left it here for the day.

Heart squeezing with sympathy, Tony delicately places him in the backpack, leaving the zip partially open for ‘air’.

Next, snacks.

While he’s retrieving a pack (or two) of Reeses, he comes across Parker’s folder that he’d stashed there last night. Their conversation from earlier returns to the forefront of his mind.

Look, Parker might not be the knuckle-dragging, monosyllabic dumbass Tony initially suspected that he was, and yeah he was savvy as demonstrated during their trip to the rental market - and yeah, definitely smarter than his social circle would suggest, and is absolutely and a source of constant surprise to Tony - but is he AP Bio - or AP anything material? 

Time to find out.

The first thing that Tony notices is that the notes are definitely not for Bio. They’re for Econ, as initially prescribed. 

The second thing he notices, as he flicks through the papers, skimming over the complicated graphs and annotated research, is that what he’s reading is actually good. 

Well, I’ll be darned, Tony thinks, eyes getting progressively wider as he flicks through the pages. Not bad at all.

Makes him wonder why Parker thought he was missing his Bio notes though.

The answer to that becomes clear when a crumpled envelope falls out of the stack onto Tony’s lap. He picks it up, at first thinking it’s a part of the research, but pauses. It’s open and it’s addressed to May Parker.

“Um,” he says.

It’s from Queens Presbyterian Hospital, which should make him drop it as if it were burning. It doesn’t, though. Either it’s meant to be included in the folder, or it’s not and that’s why Parker has been acting like a crazy-ex all morning.

Hmm. Tony sits there, torn, debating whether or not to look into it, the overdue stamp standing out against the crisp paper like a warning sign. On one hand, he’s running kinda late and, y’know, privacy or whatever -- on the other, his fingers are already itching to know what’s in it.

Mind your own business, he can already hear Rhodey saying, mind your own business, Tony.

Curiosity and a distinct lack of a moral compass wins, as always. Just a quick peek, that should be okay, right? The envelope is already open anyway, so, it’s not like anyone will be able to tell.

God, this is none of my business, he tells himself, even as he’s retrieving the letter from within and starts reading it. 

Oh.

Tony quickly stashes the letter back into the envelope and back into the folder. Yep, definitely none of his business. 

Yeah, he really shouldn’t have done that. Big fucking yikes on his behalf. And yep, there’s the guilt -- or at least he thinks the stomach churning is guilt, it could be the stale muesli bar he ate on the way.

Nonetheless, it hangs over him like a dark cloud as he picks up his backpack and heads out to the garage across the road. What kind of asshole looks into someone’s mail because they can’t help themselves. This dick, that’s who.

Fixing a grin he doesn’t really feel, he heads to the back office. He knocks on the window, ducking his head into the open door.

“Yo,” he waves to the man sitting behind the desk. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Hey kid,” the man looks up, smiling before his face drops. “Tony, your face. What happened?”

“This? It’s nothing --”

“-- is that why you couldn’t come to work yesterday? Not that I mind,” the man stands up. “Are you okay? Was it --”

“-- Was it nothing to worry about? Absolutely,” Tony holds his hands up in surrender. “Just an unfortunate encounter with a wild, feral squirrel in Central Park. I tell you, they’re deceivingly cute, but they’re pests. Totally out of control.”

“Tony.”

“Jarvis,” he interrupts, gesturing to the cars in the garage behind him. “C’mon. Look, let’s get to work, okay? Save the violins for later.”

And by later he means never.

The man sighs, world-weary, looking at him like he knows exactly what he’s thinking. At first he’s certain his boss is going to push the issue, but it must be a day for dodging bullets because he relents.

“Alright, kid. I got a ninety-four Ford sedan back there with your name on it. Busted fan belt, overheated engine. Probably needs a new set of spark plugs while you’re at it.”

With a grateful nod, Tony heads back, locating the vehicle in question. It’s rusted to all hell and probably not worth the cost of repair, but he gets stuck into it anyway, keen for a distraction. He sets his bag and bot down near him while Jarvis blasts Alice Cooper’s Poison.

Tony might not have all the answers to life’s problems, but this is something he knows how to fix.

---

He probably distracts himself a little too well, because by the time he’s wrapped up with the Ford it’s already five-thirty and he’s a mess of engine oil and coolant.

It’s only when Jarvis squeezes his shoulder and points to the clock on the far wall does he realise that he’s lost his sense of time. How the fuck is he supposed to clean up and get all the way from Harlem to Queens at this time of night?

“Ah, crap,” Tony mutters, setting down his socket-wrench in his toolbox. “I’m late.”

“Late for what? You got a hot date or something?” Jarvis asks, stepping back to give him some room as he rushes to the staff bathroom. 

“What, no,” He calls back, running the faucet and pumping soap over his hands. “I gotta go see about a guy.” He struggles to hear his boss over the running water but he doesn’t have time to stop and figure it out. 

“From school?”

“Yes, and a prime pain in my ass,” Tony mutters, drying his hands on his jeans, walking back into the garage. “Anyway, see you Monday, chief?”

His boss nods, passing Tony his earnings for the week in cash. Tony should have known to dash and run because he starts hearing the proverbial violins when Jarvis clamps a hand on his shoulder, squeezing in a way that is more paternal than Tony is comfortable with. 

“You know you can call me, you have my number. You come up and see me and the missus whenever you want.”

Tony fake snores.

“Jarvis.”

“We have a spare room,” he insists, shrugging sheepishly and stepping back. “It’s yours at any time.”

“I see you enough, okay, don’t push it. I’ll see you Monday,” Tony draws him into a one-armed hug and claps him on the back. “Don’t you worry about me.” 

“Don’t make me worry.”

“No promises,” Tony salutes, slinging his backpack on shoulder and walking backwards out of the garage to the street. “Hug the missus for me.”

Jarvis salutes back. 

With that he sprints across the street when there’s a gap in traffic, bot snapping gently at his hair as he runs.

Sweaty and sore, he is full of energy, a sense of accomplishment coursing through his blood, like an afternoon of work can only provide. He should fire off a text, he thinks, as he starts the ignition and heads out onto the road, yeah. Let Parker know he will be late.

And he does genuinely mean to send a message at the next traffic stop, but then Queen starts playing on the radio and Tony isn’t a fool, okay, he turns that up loud.

Next traffic stop, he promises himself.

---

“I’m beginning to think you can’t read the time,” Parker opens the door with a scowl. “You said six.”

Wincing in the hallway, Tony looks at his phone. Six-fifty-nine. It’s not totally his fault, okay. There was a pile up along the way and traffic was a nightmare of  ridiculous proportions. He swears he’s gonna be the first person to invent a commercially viable flying car just for the sake of personally avoiding road congestion.

“Yeah, so. Here’s the thing: I had things to do, okay, priorities --”

“You and your priorities, I swear to god --”

“Here,” Tony cuts him off, passing him his folder, letter neatly inside where it isn’t going to obviously slip out. “Your folder, dumbass.”

Peter grips it, holding it to his chest as he stares at Tony for a moment, before passing it to the nearest flat surface, a weathered and small table that holds their keys.

“Okay, thanks,” Peter nods, smiling grimly, looking behind his shoulder. “Appreciate it. You can go now.”

“So where are the Econ notes,” Tony blurts, wincing as he plays dumb. “I mean, if you had something prepared.”

Peter blinks, surprised. “Oh, uh. Um, It can wait until Monday, can’t it?”

“The assignment is due Wednesday.”

“Right. Um, just give me a sec --”

“Is that Tony?”

May appears behind Peter, smiling brightly. Tony waves, rocking back on his feet. 

“Hey, Missus Parker.”

“Hey there, handsome,” she hip-checks her nephew, joining him in the doorway and glancing between the two. “You didn’t mention we were having company tonight, Pete.”

“He’s not handsome and he’s not staying --”

“-- I was just dropping something off,” he looks to Peter. “And excuse you, the lady has spoken and I have to agree. I am handsome. Some might even say that I’m debonair.”

“And some might say that you’re deplorable.”

“Hmm, I think you mean adorable.”

That prompts a smile out of Peter. He crosses his arms over his chest and tilts his chin up, all haughty.

“Tony Stark, you are many things, but adorable isn’t one of them.”

He leans in, pouting playfully. “Oh come on, Parker. I’m a little cute, aren’t I?”

“No.”

“Not even a little?”

“Uh, let me check,” Peter pauses before smiling sardonically. “Verdicts in - jury says you’re one-hundred-percent despicable. Sorry.”

"I’m sure I could sway the jury.”

“I think you mean you could pay the jury.”

Tony nods, pretending to be serious. “Well, yeah. You know, for consensus.”

Peter licks his lips, shifting closer.

“Consensus is important...”

“...Well, if you two are done,” May says after an extended period of silence, tying her hair back into a ponytail. “We were just about to head out to a Thai place around the corner. Tony, you should join us.”

“Oh, no, that’s okay. I should go --”

The rest of his words are cut off by a truly monstrous growl of his stomach. He winces, scrunching up his nose sheepishly. He probably should have eaten more than Reeses all afternoon.

“Well, I guess that settles that,” May says, stepping out of the doorway and beckoning Tony in. “Come in. Sorry about the mess.” 

It’s with Peter still staring at him that he reluctantly enters their apartment, brushing past the other boy. It looks the same as it did the other week, mostly tidy and smelling like incense. There’s a sizeable stack of unfolded laundry on the dining table, however, that wasn’t there before. 

Tony’s distracted by a pair of dancing-bulbasaur boxers sticking out of the pile when May leans in close to sniff at his hair. 

“You’ve got something in your hair, honey. Is that paint?”

He runs his fingers through his hair, palm coming back streaked with green. “Oh, uh, radiator fluid,” he explains, holding up his hand. 

“Can I ask what you did to your face?”

“I saved a homeless guy and his beef-sandwich from a pack of rabid, angry dogs. No need to call me a hero.”

May looks at him oddly. “Oh, well, if you say so. Go get yourself washed up and we can head out.”

The burn of Peter’s stare follows him all the way to their bathroom.

---

The meal is less awkward than Tony thought it would be.

Well, for him at least.

Over larb and khao pad they’d gotten through an informal interview with May about her experience as a caregiver with a single income. Not only was it informative for his own future financial independence, but she has been generous enough to speckle in colorful anecdotes of her nephew’s upbringing. Parker’s face has been getting progressively redder all night and it has nothing to do with the spice in his food.

Tony has enjoyed the evening thoroughly.

“ - and of course, we were lucky we hadn’t decided to go cheap on the health insurance. Especially when Pete here broke his wrist at gymnastics when he was eight.”

Tony barely holds back a snort. 

“You did gymnastics, Parker?”

Peter tips his head back to stare at the ceiling and sighs. The flush seems to be creeping down his neck too, Tony observes gleefully. He stuffs a large mouthful of rice in his mouth to mitigate the urge to tease. 

"Yes, he was very good, weren’t you, Pete? So talented, you should see his medals.”

“Stop, please.”

“C’mon, no need to be embarrassed, Pete, you were amazing,” she says. “You’re still a flexible little bug, aren’t you?”

Tony chokes on his rice.

Peter has his eyes squeezed shut and looks like he wants the earth to swallow him whole. 

“May, I’m literally begging you.”

“Uh,” he beats at his chest with his fist, swallowing roughly. “So how long did you do that for?”

“Until I was fourteen.”

“Why’d you quit?”

There’s a very deliberate, weighted pause. May and Peter share a look between them and Tony gets a deeply uncomfortable sense that he’s just stuck his foot in it. Retract, he thinks, already regretting opening his mouth.

“Well,” May clears her throat, her tone light. “After my husband, Pete’s uncle Ben died, we moved away and we had to make some... financial cuts at the time.”

The bite he’s just taken goes to ash in his mouth. God, he really is a big idiot isn’t he. He’d assumed that May never got married to the man in the photos or that they’d just divorced, he didn’t realise that he’d passed - and so recently, too. Welling up with shame, he can’t stop himself from glancing at Peter, who’s staring at the table, lips pursed.

“Oh,” he clears his throat. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to - I didn’t know. Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” May waves her hand dismissively, but her smile is strained. “Anyway, what about you, Tony? You’re severely asthmatic, right? That must have been hard, growing up if you wanted to play sports.”

Tony’s eyes widen.

“Yes, um, so hard. Luckily I’m not really an exercise-y kinda guy. I personally prefer to keep a heart rate below eighty beats per minute.”

“Did you have any hobbies growing up?”

“Yeah, driving my parents crazy,” Tony says, glad for the shift from the somber topic. “Escaping from nannies, seeing how quickly I could get them to quit.”

“You like tinkering,” Peter says quietly, looking up. “You mentioned, before. Cars and stuff.”

He shrugs, starting to feel as if he’s under the microscope, especially when Peter looks at him, eyes glittering with thinly-veiled interest. 

“I mean, I don’t know. I like - building stuff, I guess. Machines and robots, y’know, cars. It’s like, whatever.”

“You want to be the next Elon Musk or somethin’?” Peter asks, not unkindly, resting his chin on his hand.

“Nah, I wanna be the first Tony Stark,” he scratches his cheek, suddenly bashful. It’s an uncommon feeling for him. One hard to avoid, however, particularly when there is a boy who Tony doesn’t really hate who’s asking about his life like it might matter. 

He clears his throat. “Anyway, mostly it was just me cataloguing all the ways I could make the vein in my fathers’ head pop. I’m still working on that.”

May looks between them, smiling.

“Sounds like you were a handful.”

“Sure was.”

Still is, apparently, no matter how much he tries to stay out of the way.

The silence that follows is punctuated by the sounds of cutlery scraping across plates, of shrinking ice cubes rattling against glass. It feels pensive at the same time as it does thorny, like Tony opened the door to let someone in but accidentally let out a few ghouls.

And despite knowing he’d stepped on a landmine with the Parkers, he can’t help but wonder what other pieces of the puzzle he’s missing. Why Peter doesn’t live with his parents. Not that Tony is invested in him or anything.

He just doesn’t like mysteries, that’s all.

May excuses herself after to head to the bathroom not long after. It’s during that time that the waiter brings the check, which Tony takes immediately, slipping in some of the cash he’d gotten earlier, despite Peter’s protests. He was gonna do it anyway, even if he didn’t have the letter in the back of his mind.

“Stop paying for me,” Peter says after he passes the check-book back to the waiter. “Your family is rich, I get it. I’ve told you, I don’t need your charity.”

Tony shakes his head. It’s not worth mentioning that the only money he spends doesn’t come from his family.

“It’s not charity. Do you really think I’m that nice, eh? C’mon. Maybe I like lording it over you.”

“Well, at some point I’m going to pay you back.”

“And when that time comes I’m not going to accept your money.”

“You will,” Peter smiles wryly down at his plate. “I have my ways.”

“As do I, sweetums. Now, do me a favour: shut up and finish your larb.”

Peter does, but something about him shifts. It seems more quiet and contemplative, his eyes staying longer on Tony than they normally would. He wants to tell him to take a picture, but for once, Tony thinks it’s probably best if he keeps his mouth shut.

---

Back at the apartment, Peter goes to retrieve his ‘Econ notes’, taking the folder from the table and retreating to his bedroom. In the interim, May offers to let Tony stay over, inviting him for what he’s sure would be a rousing game of Mario Kart. 

He politely declines.

“You sure? Winner gets to choose a movie.”

“I should really get home,” he says. “Thanks though. And thanks for dinner.”

“No problem. Thank you for paying, you didn’t have to do that. Let me pay you back.”

“No need. Think of it as payment for your services and letting us pick your brain tonight.”

She reluctantly accepts with a lot less pride than what her nephew displayed and that makes Tony feel a little sick, because it’s evident that she’s a proud and stubborn woman by nature. Her acceptance, albeit laboured, speaks volumes as to the reasoning behind it.

What takes him by surprise is when she hugs him goodbye and kisses his cheek.

“You’re a good egg, Anthony. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

It’s probably the most maternal touch he’s had since, well. Probably since he last went to stay with Jarvis and his wife. Fidgeting in the hold, he’s not sure if he wants to squirm or to sink into it.

May leaves when Peter comes back in, a familiar stack of notes in his hands that he passes to Tony.

“You gonna kiss me goodbye, too?”

“What?” Peter blinks.

"Uh, never mind,” Tony waves the papers at him. “Thanks for this.”

Peter looks around to make sure they’re alone before leaning in rather promptly. 

“Wow, hold up on the proximity there,” Tony inches back, startled by their sudden closeness. “I was joking about the kiss --”

“You read the letter, didn’t you,” Peter whisper-hisses.

“What? Letter? What letter?” Tony says, voice strangled. “I don’t know of any letter.”

He gets a painful poke in his chest for his lies.

“Don’t play dumb. It wasn’t where I left it.”

“I’m not -- ow, quit poking me.”

“Then stop lying. You’re unbelievable -- don’t you know that opening someone else’s mail is a crime?”

Tony’s shoulders slump as he concedes.

“Look, it was an accident, it just slipped out. And also, it’s not technically a crime, if the envelope was already open.”

“Oh and the letter magically opened itself and forced you to read it.” 

“That could be argued.”

“Why couldn’t you mind your own business?“

Sick of being poked, he shoves the papers between his arm and his ribs to hold them and takes Peter’s fingers in his hands, squeezing the digits when they struggle to break free of his hold.

“I should have, I admit it - I didn’t think, okay, I’m sorry. Is she okay?”

Peter stops struggling, looking over his shoulder again.

“I don’t know,” he leans in again to whisper, “I only found it yesterday, I haven’t spoken to her yet. Look, I know you hate me, but can you please not tell anyone about this?”

“Why would I tell anyone?”

“I don’t know, because you’re the devil, and you get a kick out of seeing me suffer?”

“True, but I’m not going to tell anyone. Promise. That would make me look like an asshole and you like a martyr. Ergo, I shut my cake hole and continue looking better than you.”

“You’re a real prince charming,” the other boy huffs, but seems to take him at face value. “If I find out differently I’m going to come after you. You’re going to need dental work afterwards.”

Tony lets go of their joined hands, balling his fists and raising them to his face, mimicking what the other boy had done last night. 

“You wanna tousle, huh?”

He gets a light shove out the doorway for his attitude.

“Alright, smartass. Get the fuck outta here already.”

“Going, going. Goodnight, princess.”

He mock bows, peering up under his eyelashes, momentarily arrested as he watches Parker roll his eyes and bite his bottom lip in an attempt to smother a smile. 

His heart continues to beat a bit oddly all the way down to the car, where he sits in contemplative silence for a few moments until the sound of metal clicking shifts him out of his thoughts.

“Oh, hey you,” he coos, gently retrieving his bot from his bag and placing it in the passenger seat, instantly feeling bad. “I didn’t think I would take so long. I’m sorry.”

Placing a seatbelt over the bot and buckling him in, Tony begins to narrate his night to him as he pulls off the curb and begins driving.

“I guess that Parker isn’t so bad,” he tells the bot, who swivels its head in response to his voice. “I mean, he can’t dress for shit and has questionable tastes in friends - oh, and cannot hold his liquor - but I dunno, baby-bot. He’s okay. Don’t tell anyone I said that, though -- and oh my god, did I mention he did gymnastics, what a fucking dork...”

The thoughts churn and buoy him until he pulls up to his house nearly an hour later. From the driveway he can see his fathers office light still on.

The sight of it makes his stomach drop, all good cheer gone in an instant. 

“Damn,” Tony whispers to himself, tapping his knuckles against the steering wheel. This time of night on a Saturday can only mean one thing and he is really not in the mood to be in the crosshairs of whatever his father and Stane are up to.

But before he can work himself into a worry his phone vibrates in his pocket.

> hey, look, thanks for not being a total dick tonight about everything > and last night as well, I guess > yknow what i mean < ur welcome < by the way, i’m proud of you  > for what < not finishing off ur aunts beer tonight < takes strength < asking for help is the first step > omfg i take back what i said > ur the worst < and ur a pain in my ass > they have creams for that u know > anyway, g’nite, butthole > p.s. you’re still not adorable Tony smiles down at his phone. < goodnight bambi The bot clicks at him, breaking him out of his train of thought.

“Don’t look at me like that. Let’s go in, but you gotta keep quiet, okay.”

He manages to avoid detection and attention from anyone, despite accidentally stepping on a squeaky floorboard. Maybe it had something to do with the record player and raucous laughter coming from the office.

In any case, Tony’s just happy to make it back to his bedroom. There, he toes off his sneakers and starts getting ready for bed, stashing the leftover cash into a drawer.

It makes him think about Peter’s reluctance for Tony to pay for over the last couple of instances, and how freaking annoying that is. And rude. 

Honestly, the dude should count himself as one of the lucky guys - Tony is not that magnanimous. He doesn’t experience an impulsive, unthinking eagerness to provide for just anybody.

Oh.

Tony stills in the middle of his bedroom.

Oh no.

He knows what this is.

“This is bad.”

---

*

*

---

tagging: @bylerboyfriends @ravens-starker-stuff, @starker-rays, @ironspiderstarker, @muse-of-gods, @notfor-temporaryuse, @tabbycat1220, @sugarfreecult, @rebel13lion39, @plueschpop, @spideravocados, @jellybbunny,  @booktrashme, @elfkido, @mycatislickingmybedsheets, @queerghostboyo, @disneyprincessdominatrix, @cherrygoldlove @starkerflowers @starkeristheendgame @thewolffearsher @starkersugar , @starkerforlife6969, @css1992, @parkerrbitch, @fuckmemrstark, @blankblankityblank, @ilovemoreid, @blaquedecember, @killmylonelysoul, @notfor-temporaryuse, @arvaen

[kzuhadovey]

promises must be kept

character: timeskip!hinata x f!reader

type: fluff

warnings: -

song recommendations: mrs.magic - strawberry guy

remember to drink your water and eat your food, i love you!!

At the ripe age of 7 years old, you made a promise.

“At 25 years old, if we’re single, we get married.” “25? That’s a little early.” “That’s old enough. I’m sure that when we’re 25 we’ll look old so no one will like us.” “Okay then.” “Okay. It’s on, Y/N.” “You’re stuck with me for life, Shoyo.”

You smiled at yourself as you find the messily scribbled paper you found deep in your drawer. It was a scrawny drawing of you and Hinata, with the words, “Y/N and Shoyo gets married when we’re 25.” The memories rush back, like a wave of nostalgia, and you sigh. If only things were that easy. You and Shoyo have been friends since the literal day you’ve been born. You guys were a package deal- you have Y/N? You get Shoyo aswell. You both told each other everything, from your first kisses to your other friends’ secrets. You supported Shoyo through his volleyball career, and he supported you throughout yours. He was the best friend you could ask for.

Until that day, you moved to Paris. You’re a writer, and you’ve had over 5 million copies of your latest book, Over The Moon. It was a love story like you usually wrote. And even though your writing career was soaring, your own love life hasn’t been so good. Yes, you were an astonishing writer with beautiful facial features, but you’ve never found the right, exact guy. He was always too pushy, or too confident- it was never the right match for you. So ever since, your love life has been incognito. You’ve mostly focused on writing for now- your book was almost finished. You just needed an ending- which you couldn’t exactly grasp. The two main characters, Tracee and Elliot, were definitely in love, but you didn't really know what to do with them. Writer’s block, as it was called.

After around an hour of staring at the blank page on your laptop, you decide to take a walk outside. It was a very beautiful day- the streets were packed with tourists and small shops were blooming with food and objects. You stared at one of the shops- a sweet, enticing Lilly grasping your attention. “Might as well just buy it.” You thought to yourself as you approached the old lady selling them. “Salut! Combien coûtent ces lis?” You said, taking a bouquet in your hands, sniffing them. “Bonjour mon cher. L'un coûte 4 euros.” The lady said as she started packing one for you. “J'en prends deux, s'il vous plaît. Je vous remercie.“ You said as you paid the lady 8 euros.

”Uhm… Pouvez-vous- a-acheter tr-trois, right? trois fleurs, s'il vo- vous plaît?“ A man beside you said. You chuckle. He was obviously not from here- he had broken french. You squinted as you tried to make sense of his sentence. ”Quoi? Je ne comprends pas!“ The lady said as she rolled her eyes, passing you your flowers. You gulped- the man seemed nervous. His cheeks were red and he was looking down of… embarrassment, maybe? ”Il veut trois de ces fleurs.“ You say, pointing to a bouquet of pink-white orchids. He looks at you with wide eyes- why’d you even want to help him? ”Oh. Ces étrangers, ils parlent à peine français.“ The old lady rolled her eyes as she prepared the bouquet. ”C'est 11 euros pour un bouquet.“ The lady said as she shoved the flowers onto the man’s chest lightly. The man seemed to catch on with the numbers as he hurriedly took out his wallet, paying the lady. ”Passez une bonne journée, ma chère.“ You say as you walk away, sniffing your flowers.

“Mademoiselle! S'il vouz plait- wait.” The man said as he rushed in front of you. He had fiery orange hair, and he had tan-ish skin. “Merci. I- I just came here, yesterday.” He said, scratching his neck awkwardly. You would usually just laugh it off and say your welcome since it wasn’t your first shenanigans with tourists. But this man was special- you recognized him. With the way he spoke, and the way he combed through his hair-

“Hinata?”

His eyes glance over to yours as the gears spin in his brain. “Y-Y/N? Ah- I found you!” He shouts, surprised. Your heart is beating so fast- you could barely recognize him. He’s grown taller over the years- and his hair’s turned more orange. “Hinata… Hello.” You mutter out. Your head can’t process this- the last time you saw him- he was literally tiny. Bruises on his arms and a big, large smile on his face. “I missed you so much!” Hinata says as he jumps to wrap you in his embrace. He smelled like citrus- sour and sweet at the same time. You nuzzle your head in his neck- you finally found your best friend. “Shoyo.” You muttered, tears pricking your eyes. Your stomach’s whirling with nervousness and your brain’s spinning with excitement.

“So… you’re a writer now!” Hinata says as the waiter gives him his coffee. You were both sat in a cafe- you’ve decided to catch up with him. “I- I saw your book in Brazil last year. You’re so famous!” You chuckle-  Hinata looks hella excited. “It’s nothing, Hinata. You’re better than me- how are the others, by the way? I saw your game with the Schweden Adlers.” You cock your head to the side curiously. “Y-yes. I’m in a team with Bokuto and Atsumu now.” Hinata chuckles. He’s turned out from a scrawny middle school amateur to a literal professional player. “What are you doing in Paris?” You sip more of your hot chocolate. “I- I wanted to look for you. I heard you were in Paris.” His cheeks turn red- it was amusing, really. So, he came for you. WAIT- HE WAS LOOKING FOR YOU?? “Me? Why?” You widen your eyes in surprise. “Because- I wanted to see you! It’s the first break I’ve had in a heck long time- might aswell take a vacation too, right?” Hinata lets out a weak chuckle. “Woah- so it’s your first time here?” You ask excitedly. Hinata nods and you smile widely. “Yes!- Let’s go around- you have nothing to do, right?” You ask as you stand up. “W-well- yes- but I don’t want to- take your time up-,” Hinata says, chuckling. “No no no! It’s fine! I’m free today anyway.” You smile as you take him outside. “You’re my best friend, Shoyo. I will always make time for you.”

__________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

You both slump on your sofa tiredly. “I love Paris so much!” Hinata says, jumping up from the sofa. You chuckle- he was always a hyper boy. “The louvre, and then Notre Dame- It’s so pretty!” Hinata says as he sits back down, sighing heavily. You chuckle softly- he was like a very hyper puppy. You both have been exploring Paris all day, talking and taking pictures. You ended the day with dinner and now you were both slumped on your sofa. You yawn and stretch your arms- before laying your head in Hinata’s lap. He was soft and warm- his thighs were very much like pillows. Hinata tenses up- your head’s in his lap. “Do you have anywhere to sleep tonight?” You ask, staring at him. He tries to relax, leaning back more. “I actually- hoped you would help me find a hotel for me.” Hinata chuckles, scratching his neck. “You can sleep in my place. We’re friends, right?” You say as you yawn again. Hinata’s eyes light up and he smiles. “Thank you!” Hinata smiles and he looks around. You’ve got a pretty tiny apartment, with the view of a flower garden. It was already pretty quiet since it was late at night but you could still hear people talking far down the road. You notice Hinata staring at the balcony view and you chuckle. “It’s pretty, right?” You ask as you made your way towards the balcony.

A wave of fresh air hits your face as you step onto the balcony. The night air is peaceful and calm- just how you liked it. “Hey, I have a question, Y/N!” Hinata says as he takes off his jacket and joins you on the balcony. “Yeah?” You ask as you look at him. You take the time to observe him more- his cheeks are a warm tone of peach and freckles dotted his face. He’s tanner than when you last saw him- he’s also gotten buffer and taller. He looks really pretty under the moonlight. “Y/N? Hello?” Hinata snaps you out of your thoughts and you smile awkwardly. “Sorry- I spaced out.” You chuckle. “It’s- okay,” Hinata says, smiling. “I need to tell you something.”

You nod and eye him more- he’s redder now- he seems nervous. “Y/N. I like you.” He mutters under his breath, looking down. Your heart drops to your stomach and you gulp. Did you hear him right?- “W-what?” He shuts his eyes nervously. “Y/N! I like you a lot! Will you marry me?!” He shouts and the minute the words leave his mouth your eyes widen. Marry?! Your head is spinning with confusion and butterflies were swarming your stomach. Your eyes are looking around frantically in an attempt to see if this was a dream. “Y/N. Do- do you like me back?” Hinata squeaks out, snapping you out of your thoughts. You think again- well, kinda. You’ve always laughed more at his jokes than others, you were touchy with him, and well- he was your first kiss. “Hinata…” You manage to mutter out and fear strikes in Shoyo’s eyes.

“Yes, I like you.” You reply slowly.

Shit shit shit- what was he gonna say- “Thank you for telling me. Don’t lie though- I really like you- and I don’t want to get my heartbroken, o-okay?” Hinata mutters out, scratching his neck. You smile a little, looking at the floor. Hinata takes a deep breath before kneeling down on one knee. “Now… will you… marry me? Please?” Your heart stops- what the hell was he doing? “We made- a pact- right? You’d marry me when you’re 25 and still- single.” Hinata mutters out and you finally remember the letter you found earlier. Wasn’t that a joke? “Will you marry me… please?” Hinata takes your hands in his and kisses them- making you blush.

Your head was very busy. Thoughts were running around and your heart was beating really fast. You didn’t know what to say- you wanted to say yes but it was so sudden, but then again you didn’t want to reject him- he just said he didn’t want to get his heart broken. “…Yes. I’ll marry you, I guess.” You say, chuckling. Hinata looks up at you- his eyes are bright and happy. “OH MY GOD- Y/N I LOVE YOU!” Hinata shouts as he takes you in his arms, wrapping you in a large hug. Your bones feel crushed- he definitely turned stronger. You giggle a little bit, nuzzling your head in his neck. “I love you so much! Y/N’s gonna be my wife!” Hinata says as he shouts across the balcony. “I’M GETTING MARRIED GUYS!!!”

__________________ ׂׂૢ་༘࿐

You huff in annoyance before dialing your now husband. “Yes, my wifey?” Hinata says, answering the phone. You chuckle at that silly nickname- he’s been using it ever since you two got married. “Can you pick Emmy up from daycare? They’re closing up early and I have to go to a book signing.” You say as you walk to your car. Ever since you moved to Japan with Hinata, life’s been great. Your newest book has been pretty successful, and you have a daughter with Hinata! “Ah, alright. I’ll pick her up in a sec- practice is almost done.” Hinata says. You can hear Bokuto in the background- he’s screaming and throwing balls around. “HEY SHOYO IS THAT YOUR WIFE?!” Atsumu shouts and you chuckle. “Sorry, wifey- I have to go or else Atsumu will attack you-” Hinata says as he makes a kissing noise. “I love you, bye!” The phone hangs up and you chuckle. This marriage has been a little tough since you both married early- but it’s been alright. Promises had to be kept, after all.

[milknette]

chapter 06 - anime

水鏡照らす光跳ねて、 今が特別に感じた。

tumblr month: @adrinetteapril​​

links: ao3 | ff.net chapter: previous | next

ADRIEN makes it his mission to introduce Marinette to all the wonders of the human world.

He invites her out to try human activities, goes with her to try different human meals, encourages her to listen and watch various human media:

His most recent point-of-concern— anime.

“I just think it’s an absolute crime that you’ve never seen the in wonder and beauty that is Japanese anemonetion,” Adrien explains, putting on a dramatic face.

“... Japanese what?”

“Animation,” he amends, then noticing her judging expression, continues. “Look, I’m running out of puns! We’re hanging out way too much— I can’t catch up.”

Marinette finds herself laughing. “I mean, we could hang out less if you wanted to.”

“No!” He argues; says it a bit too loudly, really, as she evidently looks taken aback by his reaction. “I mean,” he coughs. “I just found someone to watch anime with me. You’re not getting off the hook that easily.”

(Adrien looks proud of himself. “Cool, I haven’t used that one yet!”)

She rolls her eyes, then stretches back upon the bed. Adrien casually sits on the chair, propping his head back upon the back rest. “So, what human torture show are you putting me through this time?”

“You say that like you didn’t cry over Moana.”

“If you did not cry while watching Moana finally accept herself and proclaim her love for both the sea and her people then I do not trust you—.”

He laughs, then nods in understanding. “It is a pretty good Disney movie,” Adrien points out. “A lot better than the earlier films.

“You mean, unlike the Little Mermaid?” Marinette responds dryly, visibly cringing in distaste. “The only thing that film got right about us mermaids was that we really don’t like mingling with humans. Ariel would be a one-in-a-million. And insane, probably.”

“So you’re Ariel, then?” She pointedly glares at him at even the mere suggestion of it, and he raises his arms in fake surrender. “I meant your interest in the human world! You are with us now, after all. And I like to think that you enjoy my company.”

“Eh,” Marinette only says offhandedly, lips tilting up the slightest bit at his unimpressed expression. “But I sure wouldn’t be the type to sell my soul to a— well, they don’t even exist, evil sea witch, just to flirt with someone. Especially one that’s human.”

“Yeah, you don’t need to do something as dramatic as sell your soul to get a human to fall in love with you,” Adrien says easily.

And what exactly does he mean by that?

“I— uh,” she flounders, takes a deep breath in, then shakes her head. “Anyway! What are we watching?”

(Yes, a smooth change of topic.)

“I figured that we could watch one of my personal favorites.” He grabs the remote and presses play on the stream— a pun that goes over his head and not hers, which makes Marinette truly wonder if she is spending too much time with him; if she’s already thinking of puns without even thinking about it.

Instead, the mermaid nods absentmindedly and decides to try and sit through the first episode— at the very least, to have him leave her alone. (Though the real reason may be that she just wants to spend time with him; though she’d never admit it.)

In any case, the decision doesn’t matter: because they end up binge-watching the entire series.

And Marinette cannot stop crying as the final scene cuts into view.

Adrien had somehow made his way to the bed halfway through watching, as she leans against his arm while staring helplessly at the screen.

“That’s it? It’s over?!”

He smiles in slight amusement, then nods. “Come on, it’s a sweet ending. And it ties up everything nicely.”

“No, it was perfect but I— I’m just,” she trips over her words, evidently conflicted and frustrated over the finale. “It’s done, right? There aren’t anymore new episodes or anything?”

“Nope,” he replies easily. “That’s all of it, since you inseasted on watching everything this morning.”

“What do you mean ‘this morning’, it’s only like 8PM—,” she pauses as he shows her his phone screen, the time 3:47 PM displayed front-and-center. “It’s almost 4AM?!”

She pauses, looking outside to see the moon slowly fading from view. “No but I— last time I checked it was— how did that happen?”

He’s full-on laughing now, and grins. “Power of anime; it gets you hooked, so you won’t be able to sleep until you finish all the episodes. Then you basically black out and only realize how many hours have passed when it’s already over.”

“You’ve introduced me to a cursed medium,” Marinette only mutters, running an exhausted hand down her face. “I’m supposed to be studying today.”

“Come on,” he says back, tilting her head in his direction. “I’ll help you out. This is for Mme. Mendeleiev’s class, right?”

At that point, she belatedly notices their altogether compromising position: lying together on her bed, his arm guarding her neck, and their faces only a few inches apart (she can see the green in his eyes: notice how they perfectly capture the shade of nature on land— beautiful), and almost falls over as she takes a quick step back.

The fact that she had been in such close proximity with a human, for an unknowable amount of time, makes her panic. The fact that it’s Adrien effectively makes her panic even more— though of a notably more intense variety and degree.

(She refuses to expound on the feeling.)

“Yeah!” Marinette finally manages to splutter out, before getting herself off the bed as quickly as possible and making her way to her backpack. She pats it awkwardly. “Have a lot of research to do if I want to ace that test.”

Adrien only stares at her for a moment, smiles, and she feels her mermaid-heart threaten to burst out of its chest. She doesn’t know how to explain the feeling, but Marinette finds herself thrown into overdrive when they’re together; unable to even conduct the most basic functions when he gets too close.

It’s absolutely inconvenient and irritating.

But she finds that it strangely feels good as well.

“You’re going to study now?” Adrien only asks, once again waving his phone in her direction. “It’s 4:00 AM, you can study later,” he says. “You just watched almost twelve hours of anime in the span of a day— that’s too much screen time for your brain.”

“But I’m not tired!” Marinette tries to argue, which would’ve held more basis if she hadn’t evidently swallowed down a yawn that tried to escape her throat. “As her TA, you can’t have Mme. Mendeleiev’s worst student failing her test, right?”

Adrien sighs, standing up and walking over to her. Once again, he’s at an extremely close distance, and Marinette’s almost confident that he can hear her not-heart beating.

He looks at her, and they hold eye contact. “I may be her TA, but I’m your friend first. So go and rest, Marinette. I’ll help you as soon as you wake up.”

“Fine,” she says resignedly, before walking over the bed. “What about you?”

“Well, I was just planning to hop over with you on your bed and—,” noticing the panicked expression on her face, Adrien laughs. “Kidding. Nino lives nearby, so I’ll probably crash at his to make it easier on both of us when I come back.”

“You don’t have to come back, you know,” Marinette responds, suddenly feeling the slightest bit guilty about keeping him in the area. “I mean it— I can do it myself.”

“But it’d be easier if we did it together, ” Adrien only points out. “Besides, you’d be getting help from her star student. I don't think that's something you can pass up on.”

“Ah right, the star who caused an accident to some poor faculty member for leaving water trails all over the outside of her classroom.”

He grins. “I seem to recall that being someone else’s fault,” Adrien hums back. “I was just trying to help out a friend.”

“Oh, so we’re friends now?”

“I’d be open to taking it to the next level,” He responds just as easily, echoing Alya’s statement from weeks ago.

The weight of her words don’t even dawn on her after a minute— with the panic consequently weighing in.

“Anyway,” Adrien continues, “I’ll be going ahead, so you have no excuse but to rest.” He slings his backpack over his shoulder, then nods to her lightly. Sea you later, Marinette.”

“You’ve used that already you know that right?”

“I think it’s a classeac,” he says easily, then opens the door. “I’ll come back in a few hours, okay?”

“... okay.”

He smiles, one last time, before the door effectively shuts, and she’s left to her own devices.

Marinette calmly walks over to her bed, then flips over to lie down on it.

She remembers basically cuddling with him over these sheets.

And then she screams into a pillow.

[lucas-koh]

Stitches - Bryce Lahela x MC V

Parts 1-4 are linked in my bio.

Doesn’t exactly follow canon, but elements of canon. FWB.

Song: Sudden Desire - Hayley Williams

Rating: M; implied sex, sexual language, swearing, mentions of medical procedures

Word Count: 3305

Taglist: @lahellacute @lahamseiroshoe @anotherbeingsworld @fuseboxmusebox @choicesficwriterscreations @bubblelaureno @bratzlahela

Chapter Five: The Tale and The Missed Moment

Bryce and Suki’s Fuck Buddy Agreement:

1. No work-place hookups.

2. No staying the night.

3. Always use the signal. 👃

4. No drunk texting a sober person.

5. No visible marks.

6. Proof of sexual health.

7. Keep it casual.

—-

Santa Fe: this is Suki hello

Santa Fe: i’ve sent the list

Scalpel Jockey: 👃

Santa Fe: that’s it, 👃

Scalpel Jockey: 👄

Scalpel Jockey: shit I meant 👃

Scalpel Jockey: big thumbs oops!

Seen on 15th October

—-

The following weeks felt like months. Work was long, it was stressful, and it was exhausting. Sometimes all Suki wanted to do was curl up into a ball in bed and sleep for as long as possible, letting the stress of working long hours in hospital compress out of her. Sometimes, she wanted to bundle up on the sofa and watch movies with her roommates. But sometimes, Suki wanted to release her tension in other ways. Ways that involved Bryce Lahela.

They left before the morning, were careful with their grip and kisses so as to not leave any marks, and they kept work at work. The arrangement was working out perfectly, and the rules proved successful as well.

So, on paper, everything was going fine.

And everything was still fine when Halloween rolled around and the roommates planned a relaxed evening at Donahue’s followed by horror movies. They didn’t really get a chance to dress up due to work schedules and a lack of time, but they were dressed up in spirit.

They arrived early and snagged a booth: Jackie and Suki squeezing in on one side and Sienna and Aurora on the other. Elijah wheeled his chair under the head of the table. They chatted for a bit before Sienna jumped up to order a round.

A few beers and shots (courtesy of Jackie) later, the group were having some in depth conversations, making jokes, and generally enjoying each others company.

There was a rowdy, annoying group of surgical interns stood nearby the entrance. No sign of Bryce there, however. Suki was somewhat disappointed, it was an amusing thought to her to see Bryce out the open again since they’d made their rules. She’d been to his a couple of times since then, but they hadn’t seen each other all that much really. Those times had been quick and at the end of long work days too, so Suki was looking forward to being able to draw things out a bit more at some point soon. She’d been quite obviously avoiding hookups at her house if it could be helped, because there were too many risk factors.

Plus, with him being a surgeon his hours were completely different to Suki’s, and actually stealing moments could prove tricky. She might’ve been one of the best medical interns, but word at Edenbrook was that Bryce was excelling over all the surgical interns, actually being able to watch a few surgeries, too.

That being said, she was glad he wasn’t there. She was able to enjoy a lovely evening with her roommates without thinking about only her carnal desires.

But as though the world was sending her a sign, the bell over the door rang to indicate someone entering. Bryce entered by himself, walking straight past the rowdy group of surgical interns and heading right for the roommates. He was wearing a plain black tee and distressed blue jeans, a very different look to his green scrubs.

What was he doing here, if not to see the surgical interns? Had he come to drink… alone? Or had one of the roommates told him they’d be there? They had invited him to the housewarming party, after all.

Then again, if it wasn’t for that party, they never would have come to their little agreement.

There was a knowing smirk on his face as he got closer to the group.

Suki felt her stomach contract a little; they hadn’t really interacted that much as a group since the two had devised their little plan. She wasn’t going to let anything slip, but she couldn’t promise she wouldn’t be maybe a little awkward. Just a tad.

“Hey man! Come join us,” Elijah invited. Bryce grinned and squeezed in beside Suki on the bench.

She cleared her throat uncomfortably, not looking Bryce in the eye as she gave a greeting nod. His leg pressed against hers where they sat, and he was now so close that Suki could smell his cologne. Of course, nowadays, she only smelt that when they were having sex, so the smell brought her head right back to all those moments.

“Don’t you have friends over there?” Suki asked, motioning her head to where the group of surgical interns were congregated. They were now laughing obnoxiously about something.

An odd expression flashed over his face suddenly but was quickly warped into a smirk. “Well I’d rather spend time with you lovely nose wipers.”

“Oi!” Protested Jackie.

“Welcome! Enjoy our Halloween celebrations. They’re pretty lowkey this year, I wish we could all dress up and go to a party or something but, work calls,” Sienna rushed, smiling at Bryce opposite her.

Now that he was closer, and his hands lay casually on the table in front of him, Suki could see a few silver rings assorted over his long fingers. Interesting. She had an impulse to reach out and brush her fingers over them, or to have them dig into her own fingers, her body. And from that moment, she was screwed for the rest of the night. Serves you right for being so goddamn thirsty.

A few hours later, more drinks down and the thoughts having continued through her head, Suki nudged Bryce gently with her shoulder. They’d all been talking as a group for the night, so they hadn’t spoken one-on-one at all yet. He looked over at her, his face pretty close due to them sitting in such proximity. She brushed her nose with her middle finger - she could pass it off as a simple scratch. Bryce smirked. His eyes flicked subtlety down to Suki’s lips, and he chuckled under his breath, moving a thumb over his bottom lip and hanging his head when he looked away from her.

Just as he was about to slide off the bench and make up an excuse to leave, Sienna shouted:

“Guys! According to google maps there’s a walking ghost tour nearby. We should go!”

“I’m kinda spent-“ Bryce began.

“No! No way you’re bailing on this, Lahela. You’re one of us ‘nose wipers’ now. We bought you drinks!” Sienna cut him off, her sweet features contorting into mock anger.

He blew air from his cheeks, but he didn’t seem annoyed. “Is everyone going?”

“I… guess?” Added Suki.

“I’m… not sure,” hesitated Elijah.

“They’re not scary, Elijah. It’s just a load of paranormal bullshit,” Jackie said.

After a bit of coaxing and a couple more shots, the group headed out of Donahue’s. They walked down a few roads before they found a man in a long leather coat holding a lantern. Sienna bounded up to him and handed him some money, the others pointing out they’d pay her back later. He introduced himself as Henry and noted that they’d wait for some more people.

Bryce and Suki kept glancing at each-other, knowing their previous plans were probably not likely to happen. Nonetheless, Sienna’s excitement was rubbing off on everyone, and even Elijah seemed into the idea. Jackie and Aurora were discussing whether or not they believed in ghosts.

Soon enough, a large group had formed around Henry, and he went into an animated sing-songy tale about the ghost history around that area of Boston.

“And in this very alley…” Henry said dramatically a little later, “is where the ghost resides. AH!” Henry let out a loud shout, causing Suki to jump back into Aurora.

“You okay?” Aurora laughed. Suki nodded with a flustered chuckle, then Henry continued leading them down the road.

Well, that wasn’t at all embarrassing.

“Awwww, don’t tell me you’re scared, Santa Fe?” Bryce sidled up beside her.

“Of course I’m not scared!” She protested, “it’s easy to be shocked by a jump scare,” she turned her face ever so slightly, obstructing the tell-tale look on her face from Bryce’s gaze.

Henry was a fantastic story teller, emphasising the right parts and using his face and body to convey the different emotions; the group found themselves being swept up in the story. Or, facts, if one believed in the supernatural. Things were calming down a little in terms of the group being freaked out, and every now and again Bryce would lean over to Suki and whisper some kind of commentary about Henry’s story. She could just tell he was the type to talk through movies. But she didn’t mind, and actually found it quite amusing.

Then, just seconds later, a young group of guys were walking past and noticed the ghost tour, and simultaneously jumped and shouted at the touring group. It was a poor attempt to scare them. At this, however, Bryce himself yelped loudly and backed into Suki. She caught him, even though he was heavy.

“Awww, don’t tell me you’re scared, Scalpel Jockey? And of teenagers?” Suki mocked in an echo of his words before, holding the backs of his biceps in support. He had no jacket on, so his arms were chilly and she could feel the faint goosebumps on his skin. She found herself hoping her grip might warm him up a little. She was a doctor, after all. After a few seconds Suki let go of Bryce and the two scrambled a little to catch up with the group.

“How was I supposed to know they were just kids?!”

Suki threw her head back with a cackle as the image of Bryce cowering away from a group of teenage boys replayed in her mind. She raised an eyebrow at him, pulling her lips into her mouth.

“I wasn’t scared, obviously. No ones scared of teenagers. Well, maybe those people Gerard Way was talking about,” he laughed, his cocky demeanour flooding back into his words and face.

“And old people. Actually – lots of people find teenagers scary.”

“Well, not me.”

“Wouldn’t have pegged you as an MCR kid, though.”

“Only on the down-low,” he gave her a wink, “I was far too cool for that at school.”

“Right,” she scoffed, “Just too cool. Cool enough that you basically shat yourself at a random guy fucking with us.”

“You jumped a minute ago!”

“Yeah, along with half the tour group.”

He harrumphed. She shoved him playfully with her shoulder, partly as part of the conversation, but partly to put a little distance between them. There was still some alcohol lurking in her system and she just wanted to pull him into the alley from before, but, she couldn’t. He didn’t come closer again after the nudge.

“Shhh!” Chastised Jackie from in front of them, who was utterly engaged in Henry’s commentary. Bryce and Suki exchanged a look and tried to keep their laughter as quiet as possible.

—-

Later on, the group were walking up toward their apartment, discussing the night’s events. Everyone had a great time, even if it might not have been the Halloween they were all used to. They walked in a staggered lump, moving fluidly between each-other. Their voices carried down the empty Boston residential blocks, yellowed streetlights illuminating their smiling faces, setting the mood for the comedown of the night perfectly.

“…The Shining, duh. And we can’t forget The Conjuring, or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. These are classics, Aurora,” Elijah babbled along to the group.

“I vote Halloweentown,” piped up Sienna. Aurora laughed and dug her keys out of her pocket.

“Bryce, you coming in for movies?” Asked Elijah.

“Ah,” he looked over at Suki very briefly, “best not. It might be Halloween but I don’t function well on no sleep. Plus, I’ve intruded for long enough.”

Suki knew that if Bryce stayed there was every chance he’d be ending the night in her bedroom, and she’d been avoiding that since the Aurora situation.

“Killjoy,” chuckled Jackie, giving him a friendly smack on the back before entering the apartment building.

“See you next time!” Sienna pulled Bryce in for a hug, her tiny frame dwarfed by his six odd feet and broad stature. Elijah and Aurora chimed in with their farewells.

“Well… goodnight then,” nodded Suki. She didn’t go in for any kind of farewell, it wasn’t really their style. Particularly not in the company of others.

“Yeah. See you around.”

There was a moment where they kind of stared at each-other that felt like it went on for hours, but in reality was brief.

And with that, Bryce walked off down the road. There was an odd pang in Suki’s chest at the missed opportunity as she watched his figure get smaller and smaller. She’d been waiting since she’d given him the signal at Donahue’s for a chance to sneak off, trying not to look at him too much during the ghost tour or walk too close to him. There was just something ridiculously engaging about paying too much attention to Bryce Lahela that made her lose all her other thoughts. Even if she didn’t really want him to come in given everyone else, there was a sort of disappointment that he hadn’t seemed to want to come in. He’d only given her the briefest look and there was no signal, no attempt to continue the night. But it obviously just wasn’t in the cards for her to get laid that night.

That being said, Suki had enjoyed herself way more than she’d anticipated: the tour itself was entertaining, and of course spending time with her friends. And… Bryce wasn’t all that bad. Maybe sex wasn’t all he was good for. But either way, she couldn’t let herself get too tangled up in the other aspects of his personality, it would get messy.

“Come on then,” Sienna ushered the rest of them inside.

—-

“Hey,” Bryce’s voice rose up from behind where Suki sat eating a sandwich in the cafeteria. She turned to face him, bread stuffed in her mouth, and followed him with her eyes as he took the seat opposite her.

“Hmi,” she tried to say through her mouthful.

He barked out a laugh and pulled a shiny red apple from his pocket, flipping it round in his hands.

“When you’ve finished your mouthful,” he wiggled his eyebrows, “you free tonight?”

“Yeah, why?”

He gave her a disbelieving smirk. “You know why.” He took a casual bite from the apple, the crisp crunch ringing in her ears over the ruckus of the cafeteria.

She laughed, realising. “Sorry, still in Doctor mode. You could’ve texted, you know.”

“Eh, you were here, I needed a seat to eat my apple in. So?”

“Yeah, I’m free. I’ll drop by after my shift.”

“Cool.” He took another crunch from his apple and stood from the table, gave Suki a nod, and then swaggered off out of the cafeteria without a look back.

“See ya,” she muttered to herself.

Didn’t he just say he wanted to sit down and eat his apple?

—-

Suki exhaled breathlessly as Bryce rolled away from her body. They were both left in a sheen of sweat and exhausted. After a couple of moments for the duo to catch their breath, Bryce turned to face his body to her, propping his head up on his hand.

“So, not to be a bed brag or anything but… you just had sex with the guy who’s assisting on Dr Tanaka’s next surgery.”

Suki let out a breathy chuckle.

“You are a brag.” Then she turned so that she faced him from the other pillow, also propping up her head on her hand, “Well done, though.” Her voice went softer, and her face took on a disarming sincerity.

Bryce was taken aback by her genuine praise, but he couldn’t let her know that.

“Thanks,” he said, eyebrows furrowed with humour, “I’m actually really excited.”

“What’s the surgery?”

“Only an appendectomy.”

“Only?”

He laughed, sinking his head back down onto the pillow. His hands cradled under his head.

“Yeah, it’s not particularly advanced. Still, gonna be fun.”

They were talking as though they were friends, which wasn’t really a label Suki had felt appropriate to ascribe to their relationship.

“When is it?” Suki, stop asking him questions! Then again, at this point it would be awkward if she just up and left.

“Next week. Pencil it in your calendar because you are going to have the best sex of your life that night.”

Suki let out a cackle. “Is there anything you don’t think you’re amazing at?”

Again, Bryce propped himself back up so that he was facing Suki. There seemed to be a restlessness to all this changing of positions.

“I’m not lying though, am I?” As he said this his voice was low and sultry, deep mahogany eyes watching her from under his lashes. Those were sticking together slightly from the sweat, Suki was close enough to notice. He brought one of his hands down under the covers and rested it on Suki’s hip.

“If you’re trying to get me to boost your ego - It won’t work.”

He smirked, knowing that the answer he’d been looking for was hidden in those words. And she did agree. He was amazing in bed.

Bryce drew barely-there circles on Suki’s hip, before pulling it towards him. Then he leaned his face right in, so that it was inches from hers.

“I don’t need you to say it because I can see it in your eyes,” and yes, he was looking straight into her eyes. But she felt sort of drunkenly infatuated with it, her desire growing by the second. “and feel it on your skin.” His grip on her hip tightened, the sweat condensing between their skin-on-skin contact. Now they were close enough that they could do it all over again if they wanted to.

Bryce trailed his finger up from Suki’s hip slowly, tickling her skin and giving her goosebumps, over the dip of her waist, the rise of her ribcage; all the way up to her neck. He splayed his hand out flat over the front of her neck, and tightened his grip. Just enough that she could feel it. Face still inches from her, he said:

“I just have an effect on people.”

And then in one swift movement, and a melodious laugh, Bryce pulled his hand and his body from hers, falling once again on his back at the pillow beside Suki’s.

Fucking hell. Talk about flustered! Suki tried to pretend she was unaffected, also flopping back onto her pillow. He did have an effect on people and he knew full well by now that Suki, despite her best efforts to conceal the fact, was not someone who handled being flustered well. And let’s be honest, she wouldn’t keep sleeping with the guy if it wasn’t something she was enjoying.

Despite that, though, there she was, lying in Bryce’s bed post-lay and completely naked, and not worrying about it. Not in the way she’d worried their first morning, shuffling to cover herself with her bedsheets. She supposed by now he knew her body inside and out, and that emotional intimacy she’d been scared of had warped into a purely carnal intimacy. Plus, the fact that she hadn’t just woken up next to him, slightly hungover, probably helped.

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that,” she practically choked out, as though his hand was still splayed over her neck.

He could tell he’d affected her, and that classic smirk spread wider over his face as he stared at his bedroom ceiling.

[pinejayy]

The Forbidden Boyfriend ( Dr. Robotnik x Reader)

Part 1

Prompt: You are the little sister of Tom Wachowski, Y/N Wachowski, just 5 years younger than him. You had everything you could ask for, great friends, a great home, a wonderful job and a great realtionship between your bother. You also had a forbidden boyfriend and he was Ivo Robotnik. No one knows about you two and you tend to keep it like that. (This is an au where Robotnik doesn't get sent to that mushroom planet.)

Part 1 ( current one ) - part 2 

Word count: +3.1k

Warnings: Some mature stuff nothing to bad tho. Few cuss words. ( Rating PG-13 )

It was a lovely day at Green Hills, you were enjoying your day. Even though you were at work which you loved. What were you? Well you were a reporter for the local newspaper. Yeah you weren't writing articles for The New York Times but it's something you loved. You loved the stories you wrote, the latest thing you wrote was a battle between Robotnik or how the whole town calls him "Eggman" vs Sonic. It was one of your best pieces and you were definitely proud of it. But every job had their ups and downs. Like one of the downside was the amount of hours you had to work and all the rude comments you got from people. But that didn't bother you.

As you were about to clock out early since you were going to go home and get dinner ready for you and your boyfriend. As you gather your stuff, you clocked out with a smile. And when you did you got a text message, checking it out you smiled instantly. It was a text message from your boyfriend, Ivo. As you can see both of you have been seeing each other for a few months, he was really a great guy and he wasn't that guy everyone talked about or said. He was actually a guy with a big heart well mostly just for you. But no one not even your big bother Tom knows about your relationship with Robotnik. And you plan on keeping it that way. He was like the Forbidden Boyfriend.

"Hello sweetheart I hope you're having a beautiful day, like yourself. Are we still on for dinner at your place~."

You smiled as you read the text message, blushing. You immediately started to type back.

"Hello my handsome devil, and of course we are still having dinner tonight at my place." You re replied back.

"Okay sweetheart, see you at your place at 8pm. I love you."

"I love you too, see you in a few!"

And with that you started heading to your car and excited for tonight.

 ♡  ♡  ♡

As you got home, you made sure the house was clean. That the bedroom was clean and your bed was fixed. As you got done with your cleaning you went to go get dinner ready, looking at your watch it was 4:30pm. Just enough time to make dinner and get yourself ready. As you were just going make alfredo chicken since that was Robotnik's favorite. You began getting the food ready.

After an hour or so you finally got dinner ready, you also managed to make brownies. You looked at your watch seeing the time it was already 7 in the afternoon. You just needed to hop on the shower and get dressed.

Ah Robotnik was at his lab working on a plan to catch that hedgehog. As he was working he checked the time and it was almost time for dinner at your place. The Doctor smiled, he didn't know how he got you to be his, he felt like the luckiest man alive and especially with you being related to that Tom guy. He didn't how someone so sweet and innocent end up dating someone so rotten and rude like him. But as he gathered his stuff he walked out of his lab, saying his good-bye to Agent Stone and he headed to his car. And drove off to your place.

You quickly got ready, you made sure you heated up the food again so it's nice and hot once your boyfriend comes around. You were so excited for tonight actually, you two haven't seen each other in two weeks and just wanted to spend time together. Once you were done with your shower, you did a simple makeup and put on a nice black dress. As you were applying lip gloss you heard the door bell ring. You quickly made your way to the door, opening the door and there stood your handsome boyfriend. He was wearing his usual black clothing, which you found extremely attractive on him. You moved to the side so he could walk inside and when he was inside you closed the door and just wrapped your arms around his neck and bringing him close and crashing your lips against his.

He instantly wrapped his arms around your waist and kissed back, quickly he deepen the kiss. He just held you close against his body.

You soon pulled away for air. "God I've missed you so much sweetheart. I've just been so busy with work and all." You whisper.

He just pressed his forehead against yours. "I've missed you too." He whispered in your ear. "And that's okay my beauty." He looked down at you and smiled, he began removing his coat and gloves off setting them on the sofa.

You blush and began to pull him towards the kitchen. "You may take a seat sir. As I serve us Dinner."

He gave you a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting down. As you grabbed two plates, you began to serve for both of you and when you did you just placed the plate of food on the table. Robotnik just smiled at you, you lean in and gave him a small kiss on the lips.

As you guys ate in a comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company. You guys did make small take during your meal. Once you guys were done, you just smiled at him. Grabbing both the plates.

"I also have dessert!" You said with a cheerful voice as you took the plates to the sink and just putting them in there.

Robotnik couldn't help but smirk to himself and he stood up. He followed you to the kitchen. As you were about to grab the brownies but he stood behind you wrapping his arms around you and just started giving you soft kisses on your neck and your earlobe. "Dessert sounds good right now."

As you just stood there, you were about to say something but you just bit your bottom lip, giggling softly since his mustache always tickled against your skin. Turning around to face him. You kissed him and he immediately kissed back. Picking you up from your butt and he placed you on the edge of the kitchen countertop. You just wrapped your legs around his waist bringing him closer against your body.

As he deepen the kiss, he began licking your bottom lip asking for permission. Which you gladly gave permission. Both of your tongues wrestling each other. His hands roaming around your back and bottom. You moaned against his mouth with your eyes shut closed, both of you pulled away from that heated kiss, both panting for air.

He began placing small kisses on your neck. "So sweetheart how's work?" He asked. Still placing small kisses against your neck.

You titled your head to the side, giving him more room. "Mmhm it's great.. just stressful that's all."

He pulled away, looking at you. "Then come live with me sweetheart. I will take care of you and give you everything you could want. I want to spoil and love you."

"You know I would feel bad Ivo." You said. Okay let's be real here, Robotnik is rich and he could be your sugar daddy. But you would just feel terrible if he just gave you everything.

"Don't feel bad sweetheart, I want to take good care of you. Like the queen you are." He said, going back to placing small kisses on your neck. And all of the sudden he picked you up and started walking to the bedroom. You wrapped your legs around his waist.

Once you got to the bedroom, he kicked the door opened and closed it with foot. He walked towards the bed and placed you gently on it. As he did so he was on top of you, his hands all over . He was sucking the skin of your neck, probably trying to make a mark on you making you shiver and moan softly.

"I-Ivo please...I need you." You moaned out.

He smirked, usually he would tease you but he missed you so much and didn't want to waste any time by being a tease. He kissed you, and soon after clothes were on the floor and your back on the mattress and one thing lead to an other~

 ♡  ♡  ♡

As morning rolled around, you laid your head on Robotnik's chest as you both slept. It was a nice peaceful moment until your phone started to ring.

You woke up, groaning in the process. You sit up trying to be quite as possible since your boyfriend was still asleep next to you. You grab your phone from the night stand next to you and answer. Seeing the caller ID and it was your brother Tom.

"Hey Tom" You said, as you answered the phone. Yawning a bit.

"Good morning sis! I was wondering if wanted to come over for lunch today? Sonic has been wanting to see you." He said.

You smiled to yourself, looking at Robotnik seeing him sleep was the cutest. "Uh Yeah sure! It sounds like fun!"

"Sounds great! You don't mind me putting you in speaker, Sonic wants to speak to you." Tom said, throughout the phone. When you said it was fine, you herad Sonic's voice through your phone.

"HEY Y/N!! I SAW THE PAPER YOU WROTE ABOUT ME AND THAT EGGHEAD!" He said loudly.

Oh god why did he have to be so loud this early. But you chuckled. "Oh you did? What did you think about it?"

"Awesome! You made me sound so cool! And you made Eggman sound lame!"

That made you chuckle even more, you rolled your eyes. "Well I'm glad you liked it Sonic."

"Look Y/N we have to get going! We will see you in a few hours." Tom said. You were about to say your goodbyes and hang up.

But that's when you felt the bed shift, you boyfriend was waking up. "Mm Good Morn-"

You quickly clapped your hand over his mouth. Robotnik just looked at you, he raised an eyebrow at you.

"Is someone there with you?" Tom said, sounding concerned.

You laughed nervously "What no! That was just the tv! Look I have to get going see you later." You say. Not letting him answer you, you hanged up on him. Setting your phone down, and look at Robotnik and move your hand away from his mouth.

"Well Good Morning to you too." He said.

"Sorry about that honey. My brother was on the phone." You said, laying back down with. He just placed one hand on your waist and his other hand was playing with your hair. "He wanted to see if I could come over for lunch."

You just traced a finger over his chest. "Hm that's right, we can't let your brother know that his sister is fucking the enemy." He chuckled, joking around.

Your your head shot up, punching his chest playfully. "Don't say it like that!" You giggle.

He rolled his eyes. "It's true though."

You just gave him a look, but giggle. Leaning in you gave him a kiss. He kissed back and pulled away. "I had a great time last night." You said, as you were about to go in for an other kiss you heard a car pull into your driveway. Oh great what now?! You groan getting up, pecking out of the window and saw Tom's car pull in. Why was he here! He did live a few minutes away from you of course he's here.

You started to freak out. "Fuck, My brother is here!" You said. Quickly changing into something. Making sure you covered your neck with a sweater you didn't want your brother seeing the marks your boyfriend left on you.

Robotnik's head shoot up from the bed. "What? Why is that bastard here!?"

"I don't know! Just stay here okay." You said walking out of the bedroom and made your way to the front door and open it. Putting a smile on you began walking outside. You saw both Tom and Sonic stand outside they seemed to be focusing on the car that was Robotnik's... fuck "Hey Tom what are you doing here? I thought we were having lunch at your place in a few hours?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Tom said, walking into your house. You followed him inside but Sonic didn't come in he was too busy observing the car. He's seen this somewhere before, it just looked so familiar. But he couldn't put his finger on it.

As he then ran inside of the house. He stood by Tom. You just stood by the couch you noticed that Robotnik's coat and gloves were there from last night. "Yeah I'm fine, like I said it was the tv. No one is here."

Tom just let out a sigh of relief he believed you, rubbing the temples of his head sometimes he could just get so over protective over you. And when he was distracted you quickly shoved the coat and gloves behind a couch cushion. Hiding them.

Sonic just narrowed his eyes on you, he knew you were hiding something. He did see the coat it was a black one, it looked very similar to Robotink's. Sonic just narrowed his eyes at you. Were you and Robotnik working together?

"So who's car is that?" Your bother asked you.

"Oh that! I rented it! It's nice huh?" You lied. "But I need to get ready for later on."

"Oh okay, I guess I was over reacting. Come on Sonic. See you for lunch then ." Tom said, and started to walk out. But Sonic just stood there looking at you before turning away soon after. You just closed the door. Letting out a sigh of relief.

Robotnik walked out of the bedroom and to the living room. "Hm I should probably leave before your brother and that bloody hedgehog come around again."

You just nodded, pulling out his coat and gloves from the couch cushion. "Sorry about that. Just didn't want my brother seeing this."

He smiled, grabbing them and putting them on. "That's perfectly fine. But I must get going, I will call you later okay." He said leaning in to give you a kiss.

You nodded kissing him softly. "See you later, I love you."

"I love you too sweetheart."

And with that he left. Now you just had to get ready for later on.

♡  ♡  ♡

The afternoon rolled around and you were at your Brothers house. Maddie couldn't be there since she was at work so it was just you, Tom and Sonic. You and Tom starterd to catch up on each other, talking about work and what not. But Sonic just was looking at you. You didn't know why he was so quiet, the little guy was usually so talkative.

"I'm going to go to the restroom I will be back shortly." Tom said, leaving you and Sonic alone.

"What's wrong little guy, why are you so quite?" You asked him.

"Robotnik..you have something to do with him and I know it..." He said, giving you the stink eye.

"What no? Me? Come on he's the bad guy! Why would I be with him you're my friend Sonic."

Sonic just crossed his arms, but soften up when you said friend but didn't say anything else. But he still was suspicious about you. Soon after Tom came back.

"Ah look at the time! I really must get going, I have a other report to write!" You said. Getting your bag saying your goodbyes to both of them. You quickly made your way to the car, getting in and driving over to Robotnik's lab.

You were driving fast, not caring if an officer stooped you. As you pulled up to his lab you quickly made your way inside. "IVO! Where are you! We need to talk now! It's important!"

Robotnik appeared out of no where rather quite quickly thinking something is wrong. "What's the matter sweetheart?" He said hugging you. He began to get worried thinking something bad happened.

You hugged him back tearing up slightly. "That hedgehog... he's onto us!" You didn't want to lose Robotnik, you didn't want him out of your life.

Robotnik growled softly, that stupid hedgehog is going to ruin everything. He thought of something and then smirked to himself, he even began to chuckle. You look at him with a confused face.

"Don't worry honey. I have an idea to keep him off our backs." He said with a smirk, and he wiped your tears off. Oh he has something oh right.

♡  ♡  ♡

"Sonic you've been going at this all morning. My sister has nothing to do with that wackjob. Why are you all the sudden bringing this up." Tom said, as Sonic was telling him that you and Robotnik were working together.

"I'm telling you! His coat was in her house! And that car was his I'm telling you!" He said, throwing his hands in the air.

"Sonic just because she has some black rental car and a black coat doesn't mean she's working with him. Come on little guy she's your friend."

Maybe Tom was right, Sonic just nodded. "Okay okay maybe you're right." The Hedgehog did want to believe Tom but his guy feeling was telling him something else. But you wouldn't work for Robotnik right?

"Could you please just drop that subject and just take the trash out Sonic?" Tom asked him, Sonic quickly nodded grabbing the bag and when he opened the door a Drone came flying in. It was one of Eggman drones.

Sonic quickly got in front of Tom ready to fight it at any given moment. But as the drone just stayed there doing nothing. Making both Sonic and Tom confused. Until it spoke up.

"Well hello there Mr. Wachowski. I have something that means so much to you and the Hedgehog." Robotnik spoke through the drone.

"Oh god, please Tom help me this wackjob has me somewhere I don't know." You cried out. "Please help me.." You began to sob.

Both Sonic and Tom gasped when they heard your voice.

"Shut up stupid girl..." He hissed. "But, such a pretty little sister you have. I might keep her to myself and even experiment on her real good." He said laughing.

Tom was scared for you but made a face when he said that. That sick bastard, he better not lay a finger on you but why did Robotnik have you! In the other hand Sonic felt horrible for assuming that you were with Robotnik or were working with him. He clenched his fist, angry. He smashed the drone without thinking.

Sonic was going to save you and make Robotnik pay.

Would you guys like a part two? :)

[strawberrysoup]

Inconsiderate

Thank you so much for the request @ozarkthedog​ I really hope you like it! I’ll revisit your other req soon for sure

Relationship: Steve Rogers x Reader

Prompts: #12 “We could... take a nap together” & #34 “Will you carry me to bed?” 

It had been so fucking convenient at first. You both lived and worked at the Avengers Compound, your schedule was consistent but flexible which worked nicely with his more sporadic and unyielding one. He was too wrapped up in his own head to accidentally catch any feelings and you had zero intentions of starting anything with someone like him.

Captain America was one of those always in the spotlight kinda guys, famous and intriguing and historically significant. The idea of being seen as Steve Rogers’ Girlfriend was petrifying in at least 5 different ways (+2 damage on specific calendar days: The 4th of July and Valentine’s Day). That wasn’t to say he wasn’t a great guy, because he absolutely was. He was a dream come true in multiple ways.

That was actually the problem, in fact. That Steve Rogers was a great fuckin’ guy. He was kind and thoughtful and sincere, all wrapped up in a beautiful angsty package. He didn’t just remember you offhandedly mentioning how much you enjoyed detailed coloring books and purchase you a couple, he hand drew a 40 page coloring book for you. When you complained the headset you wore at work made your ears hurt, he didn’t just buy you a new pair but he asked Tony Stark to make you better ones.

He also clammed up at the barest hint of emotion, acting like you had shocked him with a damn cattle prod the one time you’d said ‘I really like you Steve’. You hadn’t even meant it like that and he’d started twitching. You weren’t sure if it was a commitment phobia or what but it made fucking him 3 times a week a breeze (3 times a week might’ve been a lowball estimation but you told yourself he was out of town so often it averaged out the weeks where you couldn’t keep your hands off of each other).

Or, it was a breeze anyway. Until he continued to be so fucking perfect. It was inconsiderate of him, honestly, to remember your little brother’s birthday and also your practically excessive coffee order. He should’ve tried being more of a douche bag and then maybe you wouldn’t have started to maybe fall in love with him.

It was his fault, if you really thought about it. He didn’t have to be so kind and gentle and then turn around and plow you through a mattress with a hand around your throat. He really didn’t.

Settling on it being All His Damn Fault made avoiding him easier, for a couple of days at least. But your ire faded while his concerned and sad text messages kept coming and you quickly realized you needed to come up with both a lie regarding why you’d ghosted him and also get a fucking grip on yourself before you saw him again. Because you would of course, still be seeing him. You cursed your apparent penchant for self-destruction.

You worked through the whole day skillfully avoiding him, dodging and weaving almost like a real agent in your efforts to put off confronting him for just one more day. You’d text him in the evening when you got off and face him tomorrow, when you’d had enough time to thoroughly panic and then calm back down.

By the time you clocked off you were very ready to go home and vomit from anxiety before texting him. The door knob to your apartment turned when the built in handprint scanner cleared your identity and you burst in, slamming it shut behind you and dropping your purse in your haste to dash to the bathroom. It was a relief that your hair was already pulled back, you didn’t have the energy to wash your hair tonight.

It took a few minutes for you to realize you weren’t alone, that someone’s hand was on your back. When you built up the courage to look to the side, Steve was sitting there with that concerned puppy expression on his face.

“Is this why you haven’t been answering my texts?” His voice was a low rumble, fingers digging gently into the muscles of your back, “how long have you been sick? I was waiting for you to get home, didn’t expect you to run right past me.”

“I’m fine, sorry.” Embarrassment had settled over your skin like oil, slick and cold and heavy.

“Come on doll, up you go,” his hands came up under your arms and lifted you until you got your feet under you.

“Sorry Steve, I probably won’t be any fun tonight,” you told yourself that omitting the truth of why you’d been avoiding him wasn’t terribly important; he really didn’t need to know.

But you winced slightly and reached up to brush some of the tears off your face, what a thing to say. You hadn’t even looked in the mirror but you knew you looked like a whole ass disaster and it was so humiliating to look like that in front of Steve. He was constantly beautiful, fuck, he was probably pretty even when he was spewing chunks. It would be so much easier to get him to leave than try to explain all the details of why fucking you tonight would be an overall unenjoyable situation.

Plus, Steve rarely stuck around if it was just the two of you for an extended period of time that wasn’t going to result in sex. You couldn’t say for certain, but you were pretty sure he was afraid it might indicate some sort of intimacy. Despite the fact that you fucked, often, he did his best to keep you at a distance (not that it worked, you still fell in love with him—his fault, he should’ve done a better job).

“Oh, I—” He cut himself off, making sure you were carefully leaning against the bathroom counter before withdrawing a step, “well, I actually came over to check on you. I thought maybe I’d done something wrong, I wanted to apologize.”

He better stop being so goddamn concerned and sweet. You bit into your bottom lip maybe slightly harder than was a good idea, trying to reign your brain in from the errant thoughts that swam into your mind at his words. He was so fucking thoughtful, it was like he was trying to get you to suck his dick.

“No, Steve, you didn’t do anything wrong,” you shook your head and sighed, reaching for your toothbrush, “I’m the one who’s sorry, I’ve been ignoring everyone, not just you. I can definitely shoot you a text in a day or two, I’d hate to get you sick.”

An extra couple of days to avoid him sounded like just the trick to eradicate some pesky feelings.

“Well, I know…” Steve rubbed the back of his neck, “I know that usually you’d go to Sharon’s if you were sick, is everything okay?”

Ah yes, you could practically see him vibrating with discomfort as he broached something personal and intimate. It was par the course really and emphasized how important it would be to not fall in love with the emotionally stunted superhero you were fucking.

“Yeah, I just don’t want her to get sick either. It’s been… particularly uncomfortable,” that was actually true, you’d been very uncomfortable for the last few days.

“I don’t get sick you know,” his eyes met yours for just half a second before he looked away, “I could… I could stay with you, so you’re not alone. That’s why you go stay with Sharon usually, right?”

It was, yeah. Being alone while you were ill made you absolutely miserable and you’d cry the entire time, but Steve knowing that was so embarrassing. He wasn’t supposed to know that, which meant Sharon had been opening her big mouth recently. There was no telling the amount of confidential information had been breached at this point and you needed Steve out of your apartment, quickly, so you could phone the blonde and threaten to properly thrash her.

“I know you’re probably really tired, I won’t keep you up or anything,” you couldn’t for the life of you figure out why he was pressing further into not Strictly Booty Call Only territory, “We could… take a nap together? I’ll wake up in an hour or two to check on you, I could call some food up?”

You were quiet long enough to make him sweat, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. In a less serious predicament you might wonder if he’d been body snatched or hypnotized, but Steve was staring you down intently, fully cognizant of the fact he’d just asked to sleep in the same bed as you and have dinner with you later.

“That… sounds nice,” your chest tightened, an emotional war raging in your brain as your stupid crush on him tried to overcome your carefully crafted nonchalant mask, “I… um, I’ll just brush my teeth.”

“Yeah, I’ll be right back, okay?” He took a few steps back, glancing towards the door.

“Uh, yeah, sure thing.” Considering that you and Steve had gotten reasonably comfortable around each other, it was potentially the most uncomfortable conversation you’d had since you initially discussed a no strings attached fucking situation.

He skirted out of the bathroom and you turned your attention to brushing your teeth and washing your face, wincing slightly at the realization that he’d be seeing you for the first time without make up. You looked just a little pathetic when he came back barefoot (of course he’d had to remove his shoes next to the front door before going into your bedroom, it was just so goddamn endearing and polite), patting your face dry and frowning into the mirror.

“Don’t look so sad, you’ll feel better soon,” his conclusion was evidently that you were saddened to tears by your illness—which, depending on the bullshit Sharon had spewed, could potentially be backed up by evidence, “what can I do?”

You made your eyes big, looking up at him through your lashes to play it up, “will you carry me to bed?”

“Sure doll,” he swept you up in his arms with so much ease you could’ve swooned—you were allowed to take advantage of this situation, but only for a little while, you reasoned.

It couldn’t hurt too much to let him take care of you, right? It’s not like you could accidentally fall in love with him more.

[alias-b]

sins of my youth. 004

Billy Hargrove x OC! Evie Fenny~ Also posted to my AO3

Summary: It was common knowledge that Billy Hargrove hated Hawkins. Hated Cherry Lane. Even loathed the strange girl next door. Evie Fenny wasn’t too fond of the chaotic Cali transfer either. An awful high school tradition sparks a chain of events that changes everything, ultimately bringing two frayed souls together.

A/N: Hello all! Pushing out a baby chapter early so I can focus on my other fic! Thank you so much for the support on this fic. Billy goes to dinner and Tries It. That's the chapter. :D  Tag list open!!!

Chapter 4: No Day But Today

   “Claudia, do you have the keys?” Mona crossed the salon floor.

   “I do, we’re fine here, go on. Dusty is spending the night at the Wheeler’s place. Having some castle and dragons party.” She'd gushed.

   “Feel free to close up early if we’re dead the last hour. Thanks, sugar.” Mona patted her back as she followed Evie out the door.

   “Can I drive?”

   “I was hoping you’d ask.” Mona smiled.

   Evie was saving for a car. And college. And her future. 

   And it was a lot.

   Truthfully, she didn’t care for school. It was in the way. Wished her lyrics could carry her straight to the red carpet before all those flashing paparazzi.

   Wanting to unwind, Evie hid in her room when she got home. Shut the curtains and prodded at herself before the vanity. Sorted dangly earrings in a mesh metal display. Huffing to lean over when Bourbon swept into her legs. His little body shivered and she plucked him up.

   “Okay, BB, you’re my best guy. You can’t let me down.” She scratched under his chin, gave him a little boop on the nose. “You take one look at that walking Def Leppard poster and you hiss and run. Got it?”

   A purr.

   “Good boy. You’re my only hope here. We can’t lose. Not to Billy Hargrove.” Arms let him down. She'd feel this sentiment often about Billy. A sigh. Evie applied a fresh lip color and paused. “Ugh.” She pushed up and didn’t change. Did her school work to get it out of the way and wandered out, turning the TV on to some game show. The savory smell of dinner wafted. “Need help here, Mom?” One tug and the ceiling fan spun, cycling cooler air.

   “No, I have it. You can set the table for me.” Mona drained some noodles.

   “Got it.” Plates and cutlery clicked around. Evie slid everything into place, perked up when the doorbell rang. Mona turned and smiled as her daughter adjusted fabric and fixed curls into place all the way to the door.

   Evie half expected Billy to not even show. But, there he was. Sly smile and all. Billow of date night cologne. A vision in moonlight.

   “Hey.” Evie said slowly. The surprise evident.

   “Hey." He mirrored it.

   "You're here." An exhale out. He blinked, found himself again.

   "I was gonna steal flowers from the old lady’s garden across the way, but there’s a huge opossum in her trash guarding it.” He tilted his head, earring catching the porch light and she cracked a grin.

   "Big Ben? Yeah, he's the neighborhood menace. Chief Hopper's nemesis because they get so many calls about it. You'd be a hero if you took him on." Evie persuaded lighter. His face fell.

   "I'm not trying to die in Hawkins, Indiana. That thing was bigger than anyone on our football team."

   “Color me impressed. King Billy didn’t want to do battle for the first time?” She actually teased him. Her nose crinkled when she smiled. Cute. “Shock and awe.”

   Billy felt this tug pulse up his ribcage. Pulled a genuine chuckle from his lips. He had to look away to give it. Glowy in starlight.

   “Sometimes I surprise people. I know my weight class and the pests here look like they were grown and mutated in some lab.” He shrugged into the door frame with one fist lifted, clicking his lighter shut. Hooded eyes all over. Evie went still as he leaned forward to her face with his tone lowering. “Am I allowed inside? Pretty please?”

   “With cherries on top?" Bright, wet lips parted. His lashes fluttered, a baritone sinking. Bringing her with him.

   "With anything your heart desires on top." Smooth.

   "Huh. I guess. For now.” Evie stepped out of the way. “We go to school with plenty of those lab grown pests by the way.”

   “No kidding.” Billy shrugged his jacket off and she awkwardly reached to take it. Hung it up behind her.

   Evie turned to see him staring again and swallowed a hard lump down. Thought maybe he saw all the begonias blooming behind her eyes and up her throat.

   “Billy.” Mona came out of the kitchen, arms out. “So glad you’re here.”

   “You saved me from a sad date with a TV dinner.” Billy winked, charming Ms. Fenny to bits. She giggled and shook her hair out.

   “Dinner’s got about ten minutes. Why don’t you show him around, baby?” Mona hurried back off, leaving them alone again.

   “Tour? Great idea." He peered behind Evie. A mission at hand. "Where’s the cat?”

   “Hiding from you, clearly.” Evie beamed, gesturing. “Welcome to the living room. Mom's showroom is a better word.”

   “Your mom like tchotchkes or what?” He came to the full mantle. Scanning.

   “How’d you guess?” Evie reluctantly trailed to his side.

   It was strange to let this boy wander around and see little bits of her life. Guess things about her as he went along, trailing deft fingers about the fireplace. She wondered what was blooming within the pit of his stomach, if anything.

   Mona Fenny's house overwhelmed.

   Photographs, plants, and crafts. Little porcelain figurines. Too many handmade candles. Crochet projects. A full dollhouse on a table in the corner.

   “My grandma passed a lot of craft skills down. She owned this amazingly strange trinket and voodoo shop in New Orleans that my aunts run now after Nana died."

   "Your mom didn't stay for a piece of that?" Billy let his eyes trail over every little thing.

   "Ah, I don't know. She was the baby and married pretty young. Seemed like she wanted something new," Evie peered behind her and whispered. "Never really got along with Nana like her older sisters did."

   Billy hummed a little. Decided not to pry with Mona in the next room. Evie brought him to the corner and flicked a lamp on.

   "Mom’s dollhouse is her pride and joy. Lights up and everything.”

   “Tell me why your mother has a framed photograph of Dolly Parton next to a picture of you two on the fireplace. And the same photo shrunk down in the dollhouse?”

   “Science may tell us the truth one day when the world is ready. And I fear for that day.” She replied in all seriousness and Billy snorted. Laughing.

   A truly enchanting sound Evie decided she liked.

   “And I have to say,” he plucked a photo off a bookshelf with a broad grin, “this one is my favorite.”

   One of Evie on Halloween. Had to be about six. Dressed in the campiest pink daisy costume with a huge toothy smile.

   “Gah,” she cringed and swiped it from his hand, “this house is a museum of embarrassment.”

   “You’re into the museum shit, guess this is like our first-” Billy stopped himself from producing the damning word when Evie turned. Blushing. Oof. He scratched the back of his neck. “So, uh, you got a bedroom in here or do you sleep in the dollhouse?”

   “You won’t find the cat that easily.” She caught him peering around again and led him past the kitchen. “C’mon, not much to the rest of the house. Garage. Spare room.” That used to be her dad’s office space. “Mom’s room. Attic up there and on this end. My cat's room that he lets me stay in too.”

   The door was open so Billy prodded it to peek inside. Evie exhaled and flicked the light on.

   It didn’t feel like a teenage girl’s bedroom. Not covered in decorations and pictures like the rest of the house. No posters cut from magazines covered in pink lipstick kisses.

   A vanity full of disorganized makeup. Desk. Overfilled bookcase of novels and tapes. Crafts and trinkets she collected in labeled tin boxes. Dresser covered in jewelry. Music player. Bed. Closet. Couple of pictures taped by the vanity and headboard. Mostly Evie and Heather laughing and bright. Her beloved acoustic guitar propped in the corner. 

   It felt like it was decorated by one trying to take up as little space as possible. Everything was compacted. Billy eyed the wall by her bed. Realized most of the papers were notes with random lyrics and words patched together.

   “Yeah, I tend to jot every little thought down even when I’m half asleep and hope it makes a song eventually.” She peered aside. It felt too intimate, letting Billy shift about the space.

   "Hey, everybody has a method." Two fingers traced over a note taped up to straighten it. She caught the ring gleaming on his middle finger. “My-”

   “Ah, don’t read them aloud, I may combust.” 

   “Oh?” Billy slunk toward her, licked his lips. A hungry way about it. Mouth watering fangs full of sweet venom. Wonder how they'd feel sinking into her throat. “Because I make you nervous, Angel?”

   “No, it’s just...just…weird.” Evie pressed up into her desk. Billy closed the distance. Got within inches of her. “It’s weird.”

   Repetition didn’t ease the sear of those ocean eyes drowning her too sweetly. She felt her chest fill and flutter all the way down. Flowers unfurled to be plucked and caressed. Billy pushed into the space until she was seated there on the desk. Scrambling further. Unable to climb the wall.

   “You do seem nervous though, Evie.” His tone hushed. Fingers brushed her thighs and palms came to rest there. The bunched fabric of her dress barely separating them. She inhaled his cologne. Smelled peppermint from his breath. Chest heaving.

   Billy knew this wasn’t part of the quest. If that’s what this was, maybe that was a nicer way to put it. Maybe rationalizing it a thousand times would help him get some sleep at night. Just show her a good night, cash in, and go home.

   It still sounded shitty. Wasn't doing Evie any favors. This girl painted too many iridescent colors. They could bleed and Billy wouldn't step away if it pooled too close.

   He liked to watch the blush spread across her freckled cheeks. Rose petals falling into a cool pond. Liked the way her nose scrunched when she smiled and when she was cross with him. 

   Billy didn't want her because she was a conquest. A challenge. Sure, she challenged him, that was part of it. And she also made him smile like he was looking at the rocking ocean waves again. Sand and wind kissing his warm skin. There was a mystery in those molten eyes he wanted to taste for himself. Maybe it was possible to just enjoy a person without strings.

   To let colors bleed and swirl. To just watch it happen without fear or judgement. To not step away from it either. Just sink right in and create those echoing ripples.

   It was too sweet and peculiar, how soft Evangeline Fenny was against the hard edges of his steel frame. So sharp, it warded everyone off.

   But, not Evie, she fit perfectly against him. Fire with fire. It gave them so much in this world that had forgotten them both. Freckles to count. Eyelashes to wish upon. Flesh curves and razor angles to explore.

   Hell, he even enjoyed how shaken she got as he neared and how still she went when his fingers trailed up her legs. 

   Evie watched his muscled chest rise, the saint pendant caught the light. Looked up at his eyes and then his mouth because it couldn’t be helped. Billy Hargrove filled Evie's space and lungs with sugary smoke. He was too many colors in one soul. So, he pushed further because those painted lips were big and full and right fucking there.

   One curious taste, that couldn't hurt.

   Brought his hand up toward her chin and leaned forth when…

   “Dinner!” 

   Evie practically shoved Billy back. Scrambled up so the desk gave a rut. Bright red as he stumbled.

   “Sorry.” She shuddered, passing him. Smelling of amber perfume. “Coming, mom.” Billy stared at the back of her hair. Blinked a couple times to pull himself together. To rationalize some.

   Curiosity. A deadly thing and so sweet too.

   It felt like he was dreaming and woke up sitting at the dinner table. Evie clicked a Coke in front of him, flashed a knowing expression that made him smirk before she sat down.

   “Now, I left a bowl in the kitchen to cool. We always bring extra to Miss Abigail, she’s three doors down.” Mona was setting plates about.

   “It looks amazing, Ms. Fenny.” Billy even shifted a dish to help make room for another.

   “Please, Billy, just Mona. Ms. Fenny was my mother and she was a harder woman.” She set a glass of water down and smoothed her dress out, sitting. Billy went for his fork and his hand was snatched. Evie shot him a look as Mona reached out. “I always say grace. Don’t feel pressured to join, sweetheart.” 

   Billy peered at Evie’s warm hand in his and accepted her mother’s. Bowed his head a little so Mona could say her prayer. 

   “Bless us, oh Lord. For this and all we are about to receive, make us truly grateful. And thank you for bringing Billy to our humble table, may he truly feel welcomed in our home. Please guide and protect him. Through Christ, we pray. Amen.”

   “Amen.” Evie offered softer. Lips lifting when Billy peered at their hands again leaving each other. Clearly not expecting such words from a neighbor.

   “You’ll forgive me, Billy, some people say they leave their hearts open. I just let mine fill the room.” Mona settled a napkin in her lap. “May I ask, if your family is religious at all?”

   “Dad’s Lutheran.” Which meant Susan was by default now whatever she believed before. “We don’t go to church or anything.”

   As if Neil Hargrove could drag his son under a steeple without one of them spontaneously combusting.

   “Well, that’s perfectly fine.” Mona cut each of her meatballs into smaller pieces which Evie mirrored. “Evie doesn’t attend with me when I go. Although, the choir sure misses her voice.”

   “Mom...” A teenage whine, near silent as she prodded at noodles.

   “She get all the solos?” Billy encouraged the pink spreading Evie’s cheeks.

   “Oh, every single one. She’s even been asked to come sing the national anthem at minor league baseball games.” Mona prattled and Evie’s head fell back.

   “Mom!” Another drawn out groan. Evie sunk down lower.

   “Oh, Evangeline, let your mother brag about you.” Mona ignored her.

   "Yeah, Evangeline." He chimed in, earning a harder glare.

   “Now, Billy, you’ve been in Hawkins just over two months?” Mona continued. Blue eyes lifted from the plate before he gave a nod. “How are you liking it? I’m sure it’s such a huge change from California. You must miss the beach.”

   “Getting used to the cold.” Billy speared a meatball and didn’t sound convincing.

   “I’ll bet you’ve never seen snow before, your poor sinuses aren’t going to know what to do. Anyone in your family takes ill, just give us a ring.” Such a mom. “It took me a few years to get used to the cold here too. We moved when Evie was just a baby straight up from N’aw Lins.” 

   Billy bit his tongue.

   “What type of music do you write?” Billy asked and there was a beat when Evie realized he was looking at her. Addressing her pointedly. Maybe to make conversation and suck up to her talkative mother. Evie’s back grew taut, lips opening.

   “Evie’s gonna be a folk singer.” Mona had cut in. “Voice of an angel, she’ll make it big. She’s been in competitions, just one look from any talent scout and she’s sold.” Evie sank down again to go back to her food. Billy watched her roll a meatball around her plate like it was the most interesting thing in the room. 

   Mona Fenny struck Billy as a woman who always meant well. Frilly like a lace doily. So well, she steamrolled over you because she knew best. Evie barely got two syllables out before her mother was flicking her hair and boasting. A doll that constantly had the string in its voice box yanked.

   Billy learned a great deal about her.

   That Mona had been arrested twice in her life for marching and protesting. Civil and women’s rights. She joked that she hadn't been arrested for gay rights yet, but looked forward to the inevitable. She was a pageant queen too. Stopped when she found out she was pregnant and couldn’t compete after that. No bitterness there of course. She had a daughter to mold and complete the legacy now.

   Mona insisted on taking the plates away. Grabbing her own, Billy’s, and a side dish. 

   Evie was still rolling that meatball around until Billy plucked up a fork, stabbed it, and swallowed in one bite. She perked with flushed cheeks. Glared again.

   Billy wanted attention.

   “Your mom is friendly.” Statement of the fucking millennium.

   “Just wait til she busts out her old pageant scrapbooks. You'll never see home again.” Evie quickly flashed a smile and picked up her own plate to follow her mother off. Billy stood too, peered around. That cat had to be close. “Give it up.” Arms crossed when she leaned into the doorway working a melting ice cube around her mouth. Swallowed it whole instead of crunching. Water ran in the kitchen behind her.

   “We agreed on an hour of television.” Billy matched her stance, saw her hip cock.

   “Half hour.”

   “Hour.” Billy went in to sit on the couch like he owned it. Legs spread. “Come on in, the water’s fine, Evangeline.” Evie plucked up the remote, sat as far away from him as she could. Turned the TV on to something campy just to make him suffer.

   “Fucking Love Boat. Really? Susan watches this crap.”

   “You said the full hour.” Evie flashed a smug grin. “I think The Golden Girls is on too.”

   “Love Boat is fine.” Billy lifted his hand. Swiped the remote from her to set it on the other side of him. They both sunk in there. Eyes on the screen. Mona left them alone to bring the plate to their neighbor, stayed for conversation.

   Billy fidgeted. Stretching to scoot closer so he could nudge his knee into Evie's. Her face remained at total peace. She pushed back at his leg which drew slow smiles upon them both.

   “What kind of music do you really like, or does your mother always do all the talking?”

   “Doesn’t matter.” Evie felt him peer back over and held herself. A beat.

   “Yeah, your dreams. They don't matter." Came sarcasm. "A girl who wants her name in lights. Don't spend too much time feeling for the switch in darkness, Angel."

   "Why do you want to know?"

   "Just asking. You really want to sit in silence to this cheesefest? Young actresses paired with old ass grandpas playing love sick.” Billy put his arm up over the couch. Missed Evie twitch. Got his hand smacked for tugging her curl like a giddy little boy. 

   “I don’t know,” Evie faced him with a shrug, “somewhere in the rock and pop area. Maybe with a touch of soul. Not the hair metal I’m sure you’re into."

   How beautiful she looked when she hoped.

   "And my name in lights won't ever be enough, I need people to chant it too.”

   Lips curled at Evie.

   “Better than folk music.” Billy decided. Pride welled because she smiled too. Genuinely. Evie fiddled with her necklace. Delicate little music note caught the technicolor glow. Brown eyes turned to see him, she tried to bite the smile down. Failed.

   “So, what’s the deal with this party thing? A dance?”

   “One of many in the city. Bunch of high schools will probably run drunk through the streets with everyone else. No one will get carded because no one cares on New Years. Dancing and whatever. Watch the ball drop, it’s just the feral thing to do that night.”

   “And you could score with any girl, but you’re asking me. It won’t be like a date or anything.” Evie dropped the charm in her fingers to see Billy’s eyes linger.

   “You mentioned that. I know how to get out and have a good time without fucking. I have all sorts of tricks.” He noted the word didn’t make her wince. “Not looking to break your seal.”

   “You’re gross.” Again, no argument on the details of it.

   “You’re too tightly wound.” He paused, whispering. “Maybe not, but you hide it.”

   "Nothing to hide, I'm an open book."

   "A never ending record," Billy pushed into her so their legs pressed flush, "not nervous around me though."

   "Nope." Her lips popped, fingers curling into the hem of her dress when his arm snaked behind the couch. "Not nervous."

   "Not running either." That realization seemed to hit them both.

   "Why would I? I can handle you just fine." She hissed at that because it came out sexual. Billy licked his lips and snickered, shifting to face her head on.

   "Oh, I like the sound of that." He'd murmured, inches from her face. Evie found herself wondering how he managed to weasel his way in this close. Wondered why she was drinking him back in. "Picture this. You and this perfume enjoying a couple free drinks and some fireworks in the city. No strings attached. Not a date. Just those exploding lights and that chilly wind cooling your cheeks down, because you'll be blushing and you won't know it."

   "Uh huh. I guess I can see it." Evie sized him up and crossed her legs to lean back into him. "You and the roar of a Camaro commanding the city to its knees. Glam and hairspray working their magic."

   "I love an audience, Angel." Billy shook his head and froze because her palm came to his knee. Bold move. "But, I don't mind the front seat to see you blush too."

   "What about you?" She whispered with a hum. "What makes King Billy blush? Does all the noise you like to make hide it?" A spark flitted up her eyes. Made his chest heave. "Is that your secret?"

   "Come to the party, I'll tell you all my secrets." Fingers grazed up her arm when soft digits gave a rhythmic tap against his thigh. Billy went for it. "Do this dance with me."

   "You don't play as hard to get as you let on."

   "Not when I want something bad. Better to just play harder." Lips parted to hit that word. Her brows lifted at such an admittance. "You're sizzling up a fuse, aren't you, Evie?" She shook her head with a lazy smile. Eyes finding his again after. Near sultry.

   "You have to light a fuse first, Billy, for it to sizzle." Her hand crept along denim. Felt him go rigid and part his thighs just a little bit wider before she sat back. "And the fire's out anyway. I'll make good on the deal. If you win."

   "I hope you have a dress picked." Billy scoffed, breathless and still intent on her while she looked ahead at the screen.

   “Time is ticking. As if you taking me out will do me any good." Evie rolled her eyes and reclined back into his side. Quite comfortably like she wasn't thinking about it. "Give me cool points so Tommy and Carol leave me alone.”

   “They’re assholes to everyone. It’s not you.” Billy replied dismissively. Curled his finger into her locks behind the sofa.

   “You don’t notice who they target because you’re too busy chasing skirts and fighting others yourself. Also haven't seen the writing about me on the bathroom walls. School hierarchy rules. Open those pretty ocean eyes and see the world for what it is. You're untouched because of your front. Everyone wants to be Billy Hargrove or screw him.”

   Evie looked at him there, blinking.

   "What side of the line are you on?" He bit his lip. "I can guess."

   She plucked his hand from her shoulder and placed it back into his lap. Patted it for good measure.

   “So, you really think my eyes are pretty?” Billy laughed when a square pillow nailed him in the face. "You said it before too! When we were drunk and you still think it now that we're sober. Telling."

   Tension shattered. Evie glittered right back at him, teeth flashing. Still chuckling, he tilted his head back to create the magical sound. Quieted.

   “Fine. I’ll pay attention if it helps you sleep at night.”

   Evie blew air out her lips, let a curl fly up and bounce down. They watched the screen again. Shared a space. Maybe it shouldn't have felt so intimate. 

   “Episode’s almost over. Thanks for playing.” She about sang. Triumphant.

   “I guess you have me, Fenny.” Billy pushed up. “Mind if I take a leak?” He was already pacing off so she said nothing.

   Just watched couples go hand in hand into the sunset.

   There was a flush, the sink running, and then Billy’s huge smile crept back down the hallway. The boy was gone all of three minutes.

   Bourbon in his arms. Purring. Perfectly happy. Evie’s jaw dropped open.

   “Guess who crawled out of the shower to eyeball my junk? Not that I blame him.” Billy quipped, scratching the cat’s chin. Bourbon rubbed back into the touch. Rasped his scratchy meow for more.

   “Traitor...” Evie muttered, coming to her feet. “Damn it.”

   “Oh, yeah. You’re mine now, Evie. Seven o’clock. Wear something short if you like.” Billy’s lips were pressed up. Such an ass.

   "I call foul." Her finger lifted.

   "And I'll be calling on you. New Years Eve. Just an annoying dance. It'll be fun and free." His chin gestured at her. "Just say yes, Evie. Get out of this small town and see some lights for once. You want your name in them so bad, you gotta look at the damn things first. No day but today. Right?"

   "Right," a lengthy sigh, "but, the fire's still out. Bourbon, why? First, mom and now you. He's just hypnotizing you both.” Evie took the cat from Billy, watched his face scrunch.

   “Your cat is really named Bourbon?” He said flatter.

   “I found him when we visited family in New Orleans. Bourbon street.” She let the feline nuzzle into her chest.

   “God, Angel, I hope your lyrics are more creative than that.” Billy lightened, chest shaking as he peered away shaking his pretty head. “Well?”

   She pouted and if that cat wasn't between them, Billy didn't know what he would have done. Another time or place. Another pretty dress. Another shared beat of bleeding together.

   That itched him the rest of the night.

   “I’ll go. Seven. I’ll dress nice. It’s not a date, so don’t try anything and get me home in one piece. I reserve the right to leave you if you act like too much of an ass.” Evie grumbled some about it, defeated.

   But, she wondered about the lights and what it might be like to share them. Suppressed all urges that longed to hope.

   “That much I can do, I might even keep my ass in check. Don’t flake, we have a deal. I’ll be your Mr. Darcy or whatever.” Billy made for the door, plucking up his jacket as she opened it.

   “That’s an impossible standard, but keep dreaming.” Evie sighed out. Watched him turn to beam. Offered a pet to Bourbon. “Least you got his name right.”

   “Quick learner, I get points. New Years Eve. Don’t make me chase you, Evie, because I will.” Billy stepped off the porch lighting a cigarette, idly waved behind him.

   Game. Set. Match.

   “I’m not gonna be nice about it.” She called.

   “So, you’ll be your normal, cheery self with me. Great. Won't ask for anything else, we have a good thing going.” He turned to wink, curling a final smile. Evie stilled, petting her cat before sighing into the cold air. “See you then, Fenny.”

   “Whatever you say, Hargrove.” She shut the door as he climbed his own porch. Looked at her cat.

   “You did this to us, I hope you’re proud.” 

   Bourbon blinked. Another rumbling purr in response.

** ** **

   “The world...” Evie plucked an idle cord. Sang soft to not disturb her mother down the hallway sleeping. Nestled into the wall on her bed next to the window. “May think I’m foolish. They can’t see you like I can...”

   Darkness shrouded save for a small set of twinkling lights around her bed frame. Eyes kept averting to the clock.

   “Oh, but anyone...who...” 

   Another pause to see the clock. Eyes flickered out along the street marked with lamps. Cracking her window to see out. Nothing. Evie settled. Changed the tune to something original and plucked another heart string.

   “Those ocean eyes… Drowning me out. What I wouldn't give to...” Her palm caught the vibrating cord to snuff the sound. A groan as she set the guitar aside. “Shit.”

   That was not happening.  

   A car went down the street at the exact moment the clock struck eleven. Evie grabbed her coat and locked her bedroom door. Checked her hair and makeup before hitching one leg over the window. Felt the naughty thrill pulse into her heart as she snuck out.

   Billy peered to see beyond his own window near the foot of his bed. Unseen in the pitch black space. Thought about catching her. It was always a Saturday night. Evie Fenny crept out like clockwork. Wearing something nice under a jacket she held close. Sometimes with the guitar on her back. Lips painted red. Went down the street and returned as the sun rose. He’d observed it often. Sometimes it happened on school nights. Two to three times a week. Never asked because it didn’t seem important enough before. But, now…

   Billy knew a teen girl didn’t paint her lips red at eleven o’clock on a Saturday for just anyone.

   Evie hurried down the street toward the woods at the end. Got into a shiny car. Disappeared until sunrise.

~~~~~

Chat with me about Evie & Billy and the impending Skirt Safari Dance! Thanks!

TAGGED:@80sbxtch​ @nottherightseason​ @orxhidshavana​   @alagalaska​ @alongcamedolly​

[etherealwaifgoddess]

Run To You, Chpt.4

Summary: Bucky mends things with Steve and together they move forward to the next step in the relationship. Master list is HERE :)

Content Warnings: Some lovely smut towards the end of the chapter

Word Count: 5.3k

Author’s Note: Hello lovelies! I originally had this broken out into two smaller chapters but then I decided the hell with it and am giving you one giant monster of a chapter instead. So please enjoy this 5.3k word beast which contains lots of sweet fluff and some steamy smut towards the end. XOXO - Ash

Chapter Four

The communication black out lasts three days. It’s the longest they’ve gone without talking or texting since they met over a month ago. Bucky is surlier than usual and eventually Natasha calls him out on it. He wants to pick a fight with her when she does but he’s running late for his shift and he has to hurry out the door, settling for just flipping her off as he leaves. Natasha, however, is undeterred and proceeds to text him, letting him know exactly what she thinks of the situation. 

It’s a slow night in the ER and Bucky can’t stand the down time. All he can think about is the fight with Steve. Well, not even a fight really. Steve pissed him off and he did what he does best: he ran. The more Bucky thinks about it, the more he feels like an ass. He knows how socially awkward Steve is, how he’s not always sure of societal norms. It’s not all that surprising that Steve would make a faux paux, but Bucky’s reaction to it wasn’t okay. The longer he dwells on it the more he realizes how very not okay it was. 

Bucky is forced to take his mid-shift break when Darcy comes on rotation, the tiny woman physically shoving him towards the break room and telling him to catch a nap if he can. She’s been a good friend since he started there three years ago, and she knows how much the overnight shift wears on him. Bucky stares at his phone, wondering if a text would wake Steve. He hopes not, it’s just past two in the morning and no one deserves to be woken up by an apology text at that hour. Bucky types, and retypes, and retypes again, the best apology he can muster. After staring at his phone for another five minutes, willing the message to send itself, he deletes it, settling for a simple: I’m sorry for what happened. Can we talk when you have time?

Sighing in relief that the dreaded text is sent, Bucky lays back on one of the break room cots and starts scrolling through his Instagram feed. He barely gets through Clint’s latest story when his phone rings, Steve’s goofy contact photo lighting up the screen. Shocked, Bucky flails and drops the phone, the damned device sliding under the cot where Bucky has to crawl down to get it, frantically trying to answer the call in time. “Hello!” he shouts breathlessly as he swipes to accept the call. 

“Bucky?” Steve asks, confused and concerned by Bucky’s breathless tone.

“Sorry, dropped my phone. I’m here.” 

“Oh, is it okay? I’ve broken four iPhones dropping them. I’m pretty sure Tony is ready to kill me, but they’re just so fragile.” 

Bucky smirks, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice. “It’s fine, thanks. How on earth did you manage to destroy an iPhone just by dropping it though? They’re fragile but my buddy Clint drops his daily and it’s fine.” 

Steve chuckles, a self depreciating rumble, “Well, when you drop them while exiting a Quinjet in mid air they don’t typically make it to the ground in one piece. And one time it was off a building but really, that time it just slipped right out of my hand. Even super soldier reflexes couldn’t catch it.” 

The laugh Bucky was suppressing bursts free. “Oh god, no wonder Stark wants to kill you.” 

There’s a beat of silence after Bucky’s laughter dies down. It’s heavy, the reason for the call hanging in the air. “It’s real good to hear your voice.” Steve admits quietly. 

Bucky’s heart clenches, “Yeah, it’s good to hear yours too. I didn’t mean to bolt like that. I’m sorry I didn’t give us a chance to talk it out.” 

“You weren’t wrong. I don’t know her, and it was thoughtless of me to trivialize your problems by trying to solve them for you.” 

“You were just being a good person. I get why you wanted to help. In the moment though, I felt like you thought I couldn’t take care of my own kid. And I’m sorry, but that’s probably always going to be a sore point for me. I fight like hell everyday to give that little girl a better life than I had and I’m damned proud of that. But… I still shouldn’t have run out on you like that.” 

“Buck… I… I would never think for a minute that you can’t take care of her. She’s so lucky she has you raising her, you’re an amazing parent. I’m sorry if I made you feel otherwise.” 

Bucky sniffed roughly, ignoring the burning of unshed tears, “Thanks, Steve. It means a lot. And I promise the next time we disagree with something, I won’t go running off without us talking things through. I really like you, Steve. I want to give us a real chance.” 

“I really like you too, a lot. Can I see you later this week? Maybe we can have a do over at the cafe and you can actually eat your chocolate chip pancakes this time. They were really good, you missed out.” 

“Yeah, we can do that. I was really looking forward to… wait, what? Did you eat my pancakes?” 

“Um, well, I took them home thinking I’d be able to give them to you later. But then you didn’t reach out and I didn’t want them going to waste. I’m sorry?” 

“Nah, it’s good someone ate them. I really was looking forward to them, though. I have off all day tomorrow for Becca’s appointment if you’re free. And you know who else really likes chocolate chip pancakes?” He waits a beat for Steve to guess but the other man is silent on the other end of the line, “Becca.” 

Steve is quite another moment before finally responding. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m rushing you. If you’re not ready for me to meet her, that’s okay. I’ll wait as long as it takes until you’re comfortable.” 

“We’re not rushing, it’s time. Tomorrow will be good because if she does get glasses, which is likely, we’ll be able to celebrate with dinner out for her. Honestly, she’s going to take one look at those giant pancakes and you will be an afterthought. She loves my friends who help watch her but I’ve never introduced her to a boyfriend before so I’m not sure how she’ll take that. Hopefully this will make it a good experience for her.” 

“Ah yes, bribing small children with baked goods and sugar. I’m all in favor of that.” 

Bucky chuckles, “Whatever works. So, we’ll see you tomorrow? Maybe around five thirty?” 

“Yeah, I can do that. I’ll see you two then.” 

“See you then.” Bucky disconnects the call, a wide smile plastered on his face. He really likes Steve and feels like this relationship could be different from his past ones. 

Bucky’s good mood is noticeable and gets him teased by both Darcy and Carol at work, followed by Clint when he arrives home later that morning. He can’t be bothered by their affectionate jabs though, he knows he has it bad. He hasn’t mentioned to his friends who Steve is, as in Captain America, only saying he’s a cute guy he met in the bodega near his house. Only Natasha knows the whole truth but she eats secrets like M&Ms so he has no fears of her saying anything to anyone. 

xxXxx

Becca is surprisingly cooperative getting ready for preschool, even after Bucky reminds her she has a doctor’s appointment afterwards. She’s so used to seeing her various doctors that it doesn’t even phase her outside the concern if this new doctor will have a good prize box like her breathing specialist does or if they’ll just have stickers like her normal pediatrician. Bucky reminds her that not all doctors have prize boxes and she should be nice to them no matter what. Becca nods but tells him that he should really ask these sort of questions when he calls for an appointment. It’s through ironclad self control that he manages not to laugh until she’s through the doors of Applegate Academy. His little girl is a spitfire and he loves it. 

Bucky manages to snag a few hours of sleep while Becca’s at school. He can’t wait for Monday when he’s off again and can sleep for a full night like a normal person. Cat naps on his breaks at the ER and a few hours here and there at home never seem to be enough when his rotation schedule has too many days in a row. Bucky dresses quickly, not wanting to show up in his sweats despite knowing the cafe is definitely a casual meet up. He’s still unsure how Becca is going to handle meeting Steve. Sometimes she’s all bravado and personality, others she tucks herself behind Bucky’s legs to shy away. There’s never a rhyme or reason to it and the pediatrician said it’s normal preschooler behavior. Bucky can only hope it goes well for all of them. He has enough to worry about with the eye doctor’s appointment. 

Becca decides she loves her optometrist the second she sits down in the exam chair. Dr. Gibbons is a soft spoken older man with greying hair and a deeply lined face. He makes Becca giggle throughout the appointment with his antics which keep the visit stress free for the little girl. After running through a series of tests he confirms what the school suspected, Becca does need glasses. The doctor explains that Becca’s prescription is only a -1.75 so it’s not surprising she hadn’t shown more noticeable symptoms. Bucky fights back the tears that prickle along the corners of his eyes at the news; relief washing over him that this wasn’t something he’d blatantly missed. 

Shopping for glasses is a bit of a challenge considering Becca thinks she’s a princess and Bucky’s wallet begs to differ. He lucks out that they have a sale going and he steers Becca to the shelf of glasses that he can get for a reasonable price. She does finally pick a pair from the sale shelf that she says make her look like a librarian, which is her current career aspiration since she met the school librarian a month ago. Bucky chuckles and assures her she looks very nice. The doctor offers to have them ready to pick up in an hour which leaves them with enough time to walk down the block to the community park they passed on their way. Becca throws herself around the jungle gym like a wild animal and it makes Bucky thankful he spent the extra money on a protection plan on her new glasses. She’s an active little girl and he’d rather pay a extra few dollars now than buy a whole new pair of glasses when something happens. 

The glasses come out perfect and barely need adjusting to fit Becca’s face. The tortoise shell frames stand out against her pale face making her grey-blue eyes even more pronounced. Bucky is full of emotion watching her tilt her head from side to side examining how she looks until finally announcing they’re marvelous and taking off to see how far away she can see now. Bucky hands over his debit card, cringing at the total but thankful he had enough to cover them without completely wiping out his savings. Becca is oblivious to his stress, thankfully, and spends the whole walk to the cafe pointing out things she can see now like little symbols on store signs and smaller items on display in store windows. It’s like the whole world has opened up for her and Bucky couldn’t be happier for his little girl. The awning of the cafe comes into view and Bucky braces himself for the impending meeting. The first half of their day went well, now he just has to hope the second part does too. 

xxXxx

Becca shrieks when she sees the tiny honey bees on the sign of the cafe. Her love affair with bugs of all sorts has her grilling the waitress about bees while they’re led to a table. The poor waitress at least knows enough about bees to keep the conversation going, although the cafe itself is more wildflower themed than bee themed. The tiny honey bees on the sign were more of an afterthought than the main artwork. Becca is still on her bee tangent when Steve walks in, looking around and spotting them easily. 

“Becs,” Bucky gets her attention, “Remember that I said we’re meeting my friend Steve here too? And that you have to be on your very best behavior?”

Becca nods, “I know. I’ll be good. And then I’ll get pancakes as big as my head.” 

“You got it. Steve is here and he’s coming over so remember your manners please.” Bucky waves Steve over, the blonde was actually waiting for Bucky to give him permission before approaching. It’s sweet and considerate and makes Bucky think he was right in entrusting Steve to meet his little girl. 

Becca hops up as Steve approaches and stands ramrod straight, her little hand extended towards him. “Hello.” she says in her most polite tone, “I’m Rebecca Grace Barnes, but you can call me Becca.” 

Steve looks like he would melt into a puddle on the floor if he physically could. Instead, he crouches down to her level and shakes her hand gently. “Nice to meet you, Becca. I’m Steven Grant Rogers, but you can call me Steve.” 

Becca giggles, “That’s silly. You have Captain America’s name.” 

“Oh god.” Bucky mutters under his breath while Steve blushes brightly. 

Steve pulls his SHIELD ID card out of his wallet and flashes it to Becca. Her eyes widen and Steve presses a finger to his lips making a shhh sound.  

Becca spins around to Bucky glaring, “Why didn’t you bring Captain America home before?!” she demands. “He’s way cooler than Chrissy’s stupid uncle who was on TV.” 

“Rebecca Grace!” Bucky hisses. “This is my friend, not someone for you to brag to your classmates about.” 

Becca cringes, she hates being scolded. “Sorry Bucky. Sorry Steve.” she pouts, reclaiming her seat. 

“It’s okay,” Steve assures her as he takes his seat across the table from her. “I know you were just excited.” he turns to look at Bucky, drinking in the sight of him after the long days of radio silence. “It’s good to see you.” Steve reaches out across the table for Bucky’s hand and the brunette extends his to meet Steve halfway. 

“You too. I missed you.” Bucky tells him, giving Steve’s hand a squeeze. The moment is soft and full of unspoken words, words unsuitable for the tiny ears that aren’t missing a beat. 

Becca watches them with narrowed eyes. “Is Steve a friend you kiss?” she asks, breaking their tender moment.

Steve blushes again, hard, and Bucky can’t help but grin. Steve is painfully adorable when he blushes. “Yeah, Becs. Steve is my boyfriend.” 

“Tommy’s mom has a boyfriend. Tommy says he takes him to Coney Island and lets him have funnel cake for dinner. Can we go to Coney Island?” 

Steve helplessly looks to Bucky who just nods subtly. “Sure, Becca. We can do that sometime.” Steve assures her once Bucky has made his assent clear. “I like spending time with your brother and I’d like to spend time with you too, if that’s okay.” 

“I guess that’s okay.” 

Bucky shoots Steve a thumbs up and tries not to laugh. “Why don’t you pick out your dinner, Becs? It’s your celebration dinner, you can have whatever you want.” 

“What are we celebrating?” Steve asks, wanting to give Becca a chance to tell him even though he already knows.

“My glasses!” she announces excitedly. “They’re new. Do you like them?”

“They’re very nice.” 

Becca launches into her spiel on how she wants to be a librarian and the librarian at her school has glasses like these and so does the librarian at the public library so now she looks like them and she can be a librarian when she grows up. Steve nods and smiles at the appropriate times, completely enamored by her. Becca’s expressions are identical to Bucky’s, the Barnes family genes running strong between the pair of siblings. She’s lively despite her small size and Steve finds himself thinking back to when he was just a feisty little thing himself. 

When the waitress comes back around, Becca orders chocolate chip pancakes and hot cocoa. Bucky and Steve follow suit ordering breakfast for dinner; Bucky looking forward to finally getting to enjoy his own order of chocolate chip pancakes. Becca attacks her food the second it’s in front of her, letting Steve and Bucky chat while she eats. They catch up with how Steve’s been doing since his last mission and how much Bucky’s looking forward to a day off and going back on daytime rotations soon. Steve is surprised by how easily the meal goes with Becca. She’s such a sweetheart and he worries he’ll be wrapped around her little finger in no time at all. 

The validity of concern comes to fruition as soon as they leave the cafe. Steve gives Bucky a chaste kiss, promising to text him later when Becca tugs on the hem of his shirt. She’s tired, leaning heavily on Bucky’s leg and waiting for Steve to stoop down to her level. 

“What’s up, Becca?” Steve asks once he’s down face to face with her.

“Can you tuck me in tonight? I bet you have better bedtime stories than Bucky.” 

Bucky tries to look offended but fails, barely suppressing a laugh while he shrugs at Steve.

“If you’re sure.” Steve says carefully. “But I’m probably just as boring as your brother.” 

“Nah, you’re super cool. Please come home and tuck me in?” 

“Okay, lead the way.” 

Becca takes Steve’s hand but is dragging behind him after a few blocks. “Steeeve.” she whines, “Carry me?” 

Steve doesn’t even hesitate, he just scoops the little girl up in his arms and pops her on top of his shoulders. 

“It’s so tall up here.” she mumbles, leaning her head on the top of his like it’s a pillow.

Bucky gives Steve an apologetic look but Steve just smiles. He really doesn’t mind in the least. Steve always wanted kids but never expected it to be in the cards for him. He was so sickly growing up he felt that he couldn’t in good conscious pass along his genes and risk a child having all the health issues he did. And that was even if he found a woman who would have had his 90 pound asthmatic self for a husband. Steve had always known he was bisexual and had leaned towards a preference for men, but that would have posed a whole other set of issues for him back in the 1940s and would have ruled out any possible chance of children for sure. Now though, he’s able to openly date a wonderful man who just happens to come with a kid in tow. It’s everything he’s ever dared to hope for and Steve tries to slow his racing thoughts to no avail. He hopes and wishes and prays that the rush of affection he feels for this man lasts and grows. Steve has never felt so in sync with someone before and it’s hard to slow down his emotions because of it. 

Becca is practically asleep when they get back to their apartment. Bucky’s been keeping an eye on her as the moments between her blinks slow, until her eyes stay closed and she’s draped over Steve’s head and shoulders like an obnoxious hat. “She’s almost out.” Bucky whispers to Steve as they climb the stairs to his apartment.

“Do you think she’ll still want a story?” Steve asks quietly. He’s been trying to remember stories his ma told him along the way. He knows bits and pieces of a few and hopes she isn’t going to be too picky. 

“Depends. If she wakes up a bit when you put her down, you’re not getting away without a story. If the eyes stay mostly closed, you can escape with just a hug.”

“You have it down to a science.” Steve jokes.

“It happens.” Bucky shrugs. The truth is, Becca is a pretty easy to read kid. She’s expressive and open which makes anticipating her needs extremely easy. Bucky had gotten so lucky with Becca; she had been an easy baby, a happy toddler, and was now an easy going preschooler. Natasha likes to tease that she’s lulling him into complacency and the real struggle will hit during her teenage years, but Bucky has a feeling she’s just a genuinely good kid. Admittedly though, he’s probably a little biased.

“It’s not much, but it’s ours.” Bucky tells Steve as they enter their tiny apartment. He leads Steve down to Becca’s room so he can pull her off the blonde's shoulders and lay her down in her bed. 

Becca stirs and blinks blearily, not fully waking up. “Steve?” she mumbled.

“Yep, I’m here.” Steve pulls up her lady bug print sheets, making sure she’s well tucked in. “You sleep tight, okay?” 

Becca mumbles something unintelligible and then flings her arms out for a hug. Steve leans in and carefully returns her embrace. 

“Night Steve. Night Bucky. Love you.” she says with a yawn before sprawling out to get comfortable. 

The men quietly exit Becca’s room, Bucky closing the door behind them so they can head down the hall to the living room. 

“Thanks for doing that.” Bucky says once they’re standing by the sofa. “She seems to really like you.” 

“The feeling’s mutual.” Steve admits. “She’s a great kid, Bucky.” 

“Yeah, she is. So, do you have to hurry off or would you like to stay for a bit?” 

Steve doesn’t even have to consider it. “I’ll stay.”

Bucky chuckles at Steve’s eager reply. “Come on, let’s settle in and we can watch something on Netflix.” 

Steve joins Bucky on the threadbare sofa, careful to set his weight down gently since he’s a bit larger of a man than the sofa was designed for. Bucky slumps in like he’s done a million times before, letting Steve adjust to dictate how close he wants to be. Much to his surprise and delight, Steve scoots over almost instantly to wrap an arm around Bucky’s shoulders. “This okay?” he checks in as he moves. Bucky nods and the smile on Steve’s face could light up the sun. 

They watch an old episode of Parks and Recreation, Steve recognizing the show in Bucky’s Netflix queue. He’d watched a few episodes and found he really liked it but hadn’t gotten past the third season yet. Steve doesn’t get much downtime to sit around watching TV and he cherishes the time with Bucky to just relax and bask in the affectionate warmth of each other’s company. 

“This is nice.” Steve says with a yawn as the second episode comes to an end. 

As if on cue, Bucky’s yawn echos Steve’s as he nods. “It is.” he agrees, sliding himself up a little so he’s hovering closer to Steve’s face. “It really is.”

Steve takes the hint and meets Bucky half way for a lingering, unhurried, kiss. One kiss leads to two, leads to three, and then they’re making out with Bucky practically lying on top of Steve on the small sofa. It’s less than comfortable but Steve is too wrapped up in having Bucky on top of him to mind. His mind swims, overwhelmed and unable to focus on anything other than Bucky, Bucky, Bucky. There’s a pressing hardness against Steve’s thigh and he groans when he takes notice. It feels fast but they’ve been talking for months and he hasn’t felt this close to anyone since before the ice. He slides his thigh back and forth, giving Bucky just the slightest friction until the brunette is shuddering and gasping his name. 

“Steve, wait.” Bucky rasps, pushing lightly on the other man’s shoulders. 

“You okay?” Steve checks in.

“Yeah, yeah. Just… Becca’s right down the hall.” 

Steve blushes brightly, “Sorry, I didn’t even think.” 

“It’s okay, you’re not used to having a kid around.” 

“I can go, just gimme a minute.” he laughs lightly looking down at the bulge in his slacks. “Last thing I need is someone snapping a pic of Captain America walking around with a boner.” 

Bucky barks out a laugh, “Wow, yeah. That would be bad. You don’t have to go though, I have my very own room down the hall with a door that locks. As long as you can keep quiet, we’ll be just fine.” 

“I think that can be arranged.”

Bucky grins, taking Steve’s hand in his and leading him down the hall to his bedroom. It’s nothing fancy, just a bed and dresser with a small window and closet. The navy blue bedspread has white constellations on it and Steve smiles at this new tidbit of insight into Bucky’s life. Bucky takes a moment to lock the door before pushing Steve gently back towards the bed until the back of his knees are colliding with the edge and he’s forced to sit down. It’s subtle, the way Bucky is herding Steve right where he wants him. Bucky brackets Steve’s knees with his own, forcing Steve to scoot back a little to give him space. Leaning down, Bucky captures Steve’s lips and picks up right where they left off on the sofa. 

Steve hasn’t felt small since before the serum, but this, being surrounded by Bucky under his loving touches and kisses, Steve is transported back to his pre-war self. His whole being is consumed by Bucky and he loves the overwhelmingness of it. Little gasps slip from his lips when Bucky trails kisses and little nips down the column of his throat, he can barely keep up with the sensations. Before he knows what’s happening, Steve realizes Bucky is kneeling between his legs, looking up at him in silent request. Steve nods and Bucky gets to work divesting Steve of his pants and underwear. 

Bucky groans slightly at the sight of Steve’s cock bobbing proudly upwards towards his navel. He’s long and deliciously thick, and while Bucky’s no size queen, he’s fully appreciating what Steve’s got going on. He gives Steve’s shaft a few tentative strokes, making Steve cant his head back and squeeze his eyes tightly shut. Rubbing away a bead of pre come at the tip with his thumb, Bucky lowers his head and swallows Steve down with ease. It’s been a while, a very long while, but deep throating was a skill Bucky mastered long ago. He’s always loved giving head, the intimacy of the act and the trust it requires on both parts. There’s something impossibly erotic about bringing his partner to the peaks of pleasure that can only be reached  by just the right suction and swirling of his tongue.

Steve thinks he’s died and gone to heaven as Bucky starts sucking him off in earnest. He’s had blow jobs before, hurried, rushed things back in the 30s and 40s done in secret with the fear of being discovered, and a few since waking up from the ice that were more relaxed and quite nice, but nothing could have prepared him for Bucky’s mouth. It’s like white hot electricity is flowing through his veins and he’s trembling uncontrollably as the energy coils low and tight in his belly. He can’t stop himself as he stammers, “Buck… Buck wait… I can’t…. I’m gonna…” 

It’s all the warning Bucky gets before Steve is spilling down his throat and he’s swallowing quickly trying not to lose a single drop. Steve is still shaking, the muscles in his ridiculously toned stomach dancing from the tremors. Bucky leans back on his heels, unable to hide his smirk even as he wipes the saliva from his puffy lips. 

“That was…” Steve attempts but ends up just flailing a hand in place of words. His higher brain functioning isn’t back online yet. 

Bucky bites his lip to suppress his grin, he’s pleased with himself damnit. It’s not every day he gets to reduce a national icon to a stammering mess. 

“God, Bucky.” Steve huffs, “Seriously. Fucking hell. Get up here.” Steve pulls at Bucky’s shoulders until the brunette is straddling his thighs again and Steve can start tugging at the button on Bucky’s jeans. 

Bucky lets Steve tug his jeans and boxer briefs down around his thighs, too impatient to completely take them off. “Jesus, Bucky.” Steve murmurs, still undone and reeling from what was easily the best orgasm he’s had in this century. He thankfully has the sense to spit in his palm before wrapping it around Bucky’s throbbing cock. Watching Steve come had Bucky right on a razor edge of pleasure himself and he knows he isn’t going to last much longer than Steve did. There will be time later for going slower, drawing it out, he assures himself. Right now the heated frenzy is exactly what they both need. Steve is absorbed watching the head of Bucky’s cock appear and disappear in his grasp, barely recognizing how very close Bucky already is. He twists his wrist slightly on the upward stroke, making Bucky gasp little choked off moans against his chest where the brunette has slumped forward, practically boneless. Steve grips him a little tighter, reveling in the pulsing of Bucky’s hot, fat cock in his hand and the noise it causes. He might not be as long as Steve, but his girth has Steve squirming thinking of how it would feel inside him. Despite what Tony thinks, Steve is no blushing virgin. He knows exactly what he likes in bed and his mind supplies all sorts of wonderful fantasies of Bucky giving it to him until he barely remember his own name. 

Steve is startled from his pornographic imagination when Bucky goes rigid against him, jets of come splashing all the way up his stomach to his chest. He lets up his grip and works Bucky gently through the last of his orgasm. Steve wipes his hand on Bucky’s jeans so he can wrap his arms around Bucky, letting him stay nestled against Steve’s broad chest while he comes down from his own high. 

“Why did we wait so long to do that?” Bucky asks a few minutes later, breaking the gentle silence. 

Steve chuckles, “Beats me. Don’t know how I’m gonna keep my hands off of you now though.” 

“Hmm. Guess we’ll just have to control ourselves somehow. Or maybe we can get a babysitter sometime and really make a night of it.” 

“Yes, please, yes. Becca is great but god I want you in my bed for a whole night.” 

“I’ll talk to Nat, we’ll figure something out.” Bucky offers, heart pounding at the idea. 

Steve stifles a yawn, the late hour catching up with him. “I should head off.” he admits unhappily. 

“Let’s get you cleaned off first.” Bucky pulls his jeans and boxer briefs off, wiping Steve down where sticky come is cooling on his golden skin. Tossing them into the laundry basket, Bucky grabs a pair of soft pajama bottoms so he can walk Steve to the door. 

Steve is reluctant to leave and they swap sweet, sleepy, kisses in the doorway until finally he finds the resolve to pull back and wish Bucky sweet dreams. Bucky watches as Steve heads off, wondering how he got so lucky when all he did was mouth off in a bodega after a bad day. Whatever it was, he decides he’s not going to question it. It’s nice to have something actually go right in his life for once.

[nickysurfer28]

Summary: Desire and temptation take over like never before. Is it too much to handle, or not enough?

Warning ⚠️: 18+ adults only

Word count: over 1k

Characters: Dr.Nicky Ransom (female reader,you,etc.)x Chris Evans,Denise Ames (Cousin), Tim ( Denise boyfriend), clones, evil twin look-a-like (aka Adrian pretending to be Chris)

Chapter 11:

*dream sequence *

You look between Chris and his copy.

“This is...weird. I know this is a dream, but Whoa.” Nicky answered in shock.

They both chuckle.

“I can make more, Nicky.” Chris answered.

“You...you can?” Nicky answered startled.

“I can.” Chris answered.

He draws nearer to you,placing a soft,promising kiss on your lips. His clone comes up behind you and plants a soft kiss on the back of your neck.

“H-how many can you make?” Nicky answered blushing.

“To start, how about this.” Chris answered.

Three more mirror images of Chris appear. Their taut muscles gleam in the low light,and 10 brilliant blue eyes fall on you.

“What do you say,Nicky? We can date on you. Treat you like the princess you are.” Chris answered. “What do you want?”

“I could go for a cup of tea.” Nicky answered.

Quickly, you’re settled in at a round table with Chris and all his clones in a lovely bedroom. A tea kettle is being passed around. Cucumber sandwiches rest on fine,china plates.

“This is delicious. What’s in the tea?” Nicky answered.

“It’s a mix of cloves and honey.” Chris answered.

“It’s wonderful.” Nicky answered.

“Pass the sugar,please?”Clone 1 answered.

“Of course,Chris .” Clone 2 answered.

“Thank you, Chris.” Clone 1 answered.

“Does anyone else ever get a horrible itch after shaving their face?” Clone 3 answered.

“That means you’re cutting it too close to the grain. Ease up, Chris.” Clone 4 answered chuckling.

The six of you chatter amiably until all the tea has been consumed.

*end of dream sequence *

When you wake up, you feel yourself blushing bright red.

“Well, that was the wildest dream yet...”

Saturday evening finds you buzzing with excitement as you prepare for your date.

“Is it silly to be this stoked about a double date? No. So what if Denise and Tim will be there, too? It’s still a date. It’s normal to be excited.”

Nicky rifles through her closet.

“Hmm. What should I wear for a museum date?”

Nicky smooth’s the dress over her hips and admires herself in the mirror.

“Pretty damn stylish if I say so myself.”

Nicky gives herself one last appraising look and heads out the door.

You arrive at the museum just as the sun sets to find Denise and Tim waiting outside.

“Ooh, look at you, sexy mama!” Denise answered. “Chris won’t know what hit him!”

“Oh, stop...”Nicky answered blushing.

“Haha!” Tim answered laughing.

Tim’s arm rests loosely around Denise’s waist, and you smile.

“Never in a million years did I expect to se Denise this happy with a normal guy. There’s no way Tim would never... break into a Arby’s drive-through. I get Steve was hungry, but it was 11AM. I still don’t understand why he couldn’t just use the front door.”

Your musings are cut short by Chris’s arrival. He greets you with a warm hug, that makes your heart flutter.

“You look beautiful, Nicky.” Chris answered.

“So do you.” Nicky answered. “I mean, thank you.”

“All right, come on! We only have three hours before the museum closes!” Denise answered with excitement.

“Denise....that sounds like plenty of time.” Nicky answered.

“For lesser souls, maybe!” Denise answered.

“Okay, okay!” Nicky answered smiling.

Denise grabs Tim’s hand, practically skipping as she drags him toward the entrance.

“I hope everyone’s excited for art lectures! I have some very serious thoughts about Millais’s brushwork!” Denise yelled from the distance.

Nicky grins at Tim.

“Are you excited for art lectures?” Nicky answered.

“Of course! A teacher should always be eager to learn!” Time answered.

Beside you, Chris chuckles. He moves closer to your side, his hand brushing deliberately against yours.

“He wants to hold my hand.”

You turn your palm out, smiling encouragingly at Chris as he entwines his fingers with yours.

“You are entirely too cute sometimes.” Nicky answered.

“Part of my overall charm, I hope.” Chris answered.

“Very much so.” Nicky answered.

You walk hand in hand through the gallery as Denise waxes poetic about composition, lighting, and negative space.

“She could put the museum tour guides out of a job!”

Gradually you split off into pairs, you and Chris continuing on as Tim listens raptly to Denise’s highlights on Thomas Lawrence. You set a leisurely pace, commenting now and then on pieces or details that stand out to you before slipping g back into comfortable silence.

“This is nice.”

You smile down at your joined hands. As if noticing your gaze, chis raises your hand to his lips, grinning when you blush.

“Yeah. He’s way too cute.”

A certain painting catches your eye, stopping you in your tracks.

“The Nightmare “ by Fuseli.”

The painting is one you’ve seen before, and it sends a prickle of unease down your spine.

“The Nightmare “ again?”

“Why is “The Nightmare” here? Isn’t it in your house?” Nicky answered with shock.

“Ah, well. The one hanging in my home is of course a print. This appears to be the original.” Chris answered.

You shudder.

“Is everything all right?” Chris answered with concern.

“No. It’s just this painting. It’s...unsettling.” Nicky answered. “It’s so uncomfortable to look at. Fuseli clearly had a deep understanding of dreams and the unconscious mind.”

“All great artist do, I think.” Chris answered.

“Hmmm. You may be right.” Nicky answered.

“What are you guys looking at?” Denise answered. “Oh , “The Nightmare.” Yeah,this one always gives me the creeps. I wonder what inspired Fuseli to paint it?”.

You shrug.

“In the old days, people thought dreams were the result of supernatural forces.” Nicky answered. “Now we know they’re just what your brain does while you’re sleeping.”

“Which is comforting and way less exciting at the same time!” Denise answered.

Denise, Tim, and Chris begin to move on, but your eyes are drawn once again, to “The Nightmare.” The fine hair on your arms stands on ends.

“Nicky? Is everything all right?” Chris answered with concern.

You swallow hard.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m just...A little spooked.” Nicky answered. “I guess “The Nightmare “ kind of got to me.”

“Do you think some fresh air might help?” Chris answered.

You nod, following him out onto the veranda.

The two of you sit down on a marble bench overlooking the ornamental gardens. You breathe in the crisp November air.

“It’s starting to feel like fall.” Nicky answered.

You shiver on cue.

“Okay, that one was because I was cold!” Nicky answered.

“That’s easily remedied.” Chris answered.

He holds out his arm to you.

“Chris is so precious...and I am so freaking cold!”

You slide under Chris’s arm, and he wraps you up in his warmth.

“Much better.” Nicky answered.

He kisses the top of your head.

“I’m really happy to be here tonight. With you.” Nicky answered.

“Me too.” Chris answered.

You gasp.

“I almost forgot! Look what I found in my storage room the other day!” Nicky squealed.

You pull out a photograph.

“This is my sister,Clare.” Nicky answered. “Wasn’t she...beautiful. She had the most soulful eyes.”

But Chris doesn’t speak. His eyes widen, and he pales.

“Chris? Are you okay?” Nicky answered with concern.

“Ah- yes. Yes, just... taken off- guard.” Chris answered. “Your sister strongly resembles a...very old friend.”

His tone tells you all you need to know about that friends fate.

“I’m sorry, Chris.” Nicky answered sadly.

He shakes his head.

“Don’t apologize. I’m the one who made the situation awkward.” Chris answered.

He gives your hand a gentle squeeze.

“Clare was lovely. And I’m honored that you shared this with me.” Chris answered.

He kisses your cheek just as Denise and Time bounding over.

“Emergency change of plans!” Denise yells. “The new molecular gastronomy place down the street is holding a soft opening tonight, and my friend can totally get us in!”

“Let’s go eat some food that doesn’t even look like food anymore!” Tim answered smiling.

“That sounds...cool,but, I’m not quite in the mood for it tonight. You guys go ahead, though.” Nicky answered.

“You’re sure?” Tim answered.

“Positive. You two have fun.” Nicky answered.

They bid you goodnight and scamper off, talking excitedly about foam. You smile at Chris.

“Well, what now? Should we...go back to my place?” Nicky answered. “Netflix and takeout sounds pretty great right about now.”

“I...need to get going,actually.” Chris answered. “I’m sorry to cut the evening short, but I have some work to attend to.”

“Oh. Okay.” Nicky answered sadly.

“Raincheck, thought?” Chris answered.

“Sure.” Nicky answered.

Chris rises from the bench, leaving you colder in his absence. You stand up after him.

“Nicky.” Chris answered.

“Yes?” Nicky answered.

He leans down, moving as if to kiss you. You stare at his lips.

“He’s going to kiss me.”

You take Chris in your arms, kissing him back softly.

“I had a good time tonight , Chris.” Nicky answered.

“So did I.” Chris answered.

He hugs you tightly, seemingly reluctant to let you go.

“I don’t want I let him go, either.”

You kiss him again, more deeply this time, earning a low moan that makes heat pool between your legs. You’re both breathing heavily when you finally part. You reach for him once more, but he steps away.

“Tempting as you are, Nicky, I really do have work to do.” Chris answered.

The saucy grin doesn’t quite reach his eyes, though.

“Well. Goodnight, then.” Nicky answered.

“Goodnight, Nicky. Sweet dreams.” Chris answered.

After spending the rest of the night in a sexually frustrates funk,however, you suspect your dreams will be far from sweet.

“I’m really not looking forward to whatever my brain comes up with tonight.”

“The Nightmare “ creeps into your mind again, and you shudder.

“Ugh. Here’s hoping I don’t dream at all.”

*dream sequence *

But dream you do.

You dream of Chris who treats you cruelly, his touch brushing your skin, his kisses leaving your lips bitten and bloody.

“Chris...you’re hurting me!” Nicky yelled.

“Am I?” Chris answered.

He laughs coldly, pinning you against his chest.

“But this is what you want, isn’t it?” Chris answered. “You’re just as weak as Clare was.”

You struggle, but he holds you fast.

“She was never meant to live in this world. You’ve tired to survive by denying what you are.” Chris answered.” How is that working out for you, Nicky? Always running away?”

With one last burst of energy you break free and escape into the darkness, his mocking laughter echoing after you.

“I need to get out of here! There! Maybe that’s a way out...”

You follow the light...into a place you,know all too well.

The creature crouches over the young woman, poised for the kill.

“I need to save her! “

You try to move, to fling yourself at him. But no matter how hard you struggle, your feet are rooted to the spot.

“No! Not this again!” Nicky yelled.

The creature lifts it misshapen head, staring directly into your eyes. It’s bares it teeth at you in a ghostly smile.

“Yes...” the creature answered.

It dissolves into the vampire from your nightmare, hovering above Clare’s bloodless corpse as it beckons you near.

“Yes, Nicky. Come closer.” The creature answered.

And though every instinct tells you to run, your feet begin moving toward him.

“That’s it. You are curious, aren’t you? Come, then. Look upon my face at last.” The creature answered.

He removes his cloak with a flourish...and your heart drops into your stomach.

“No....”Nicky yelled.

“Yes. You know now, don’t you? But then, perhaps you e always known.”Chris answered.

You shake your head furiously back away.

“No. I don’t believe it.” Nicky answered in shock.

“Oh, but you do believe it, Nicky. It makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?” Chris answered.

“No. Chris.... this isn’t you, I know it!” Nicky answered.”I’m just having a nightmare! You- the real you-you’d never hurt me. Chris is a good man!”

He throws his head back and laughs.

“You are a loyal little creature, aren’t you?” Chris answered. “Pity the one of your affection is so woefully undeserving.”

“No. No, this isn’t real.” Nicky answered. “It’s just a bad dream...”

“Ah, but it isn’t! “ Chris answered. “Search your feelings, Nicky. You know what I am. What I really am.”

You shake your head again, but something about his words rings true.

“Chris... recognized Clare...”

Horror chills you to the core, and Chris laughs. He closes the distance stern you. Before you can blink.

“Yes, you,know!” Chris answered with a devilishly smile. “ you,know I’m not human, and still you want me. How very deviant of you.”

He lifts a hand toward you.

“Fuck that! I’m going to... slap his hand away.”

You smack his hand sharply. He takes a step back, staring at his hand as though he’s never seen it before.

“You’re...fighting me?” Chris answered startled.”Here?”

A lascivious grin stretches over his features.

“Oh, you are an interesting creature, Nicky.” Chris answered. “But how much strength do you have left, I wonder?”

You’re in no mood to find out.

You turn your heel, sprinting into the blackness.

“You can’t run forever, Nicky!” Chris yelled.

*end of dream sequence *

You wake in a cold sweat, your heart pounding.

“It was a dream. It was just a dream.” Nicky answered.

The image of Clare’s lifeless body swims in front of your eyes.

“No wonder my brain shut me off my lucid dreams when she died. It must have been protecting itself. I need to clear my head.”

You sit up, selecting one of Clare’s old sketchbooks from the bedside table to distract yourself. But the sketchbook is Clare’s last before her death, and the images grow progressively darker and more twisted as you turn the pages.

“This.. isn’t working as well as I’d hoped. Imagine living with all of this emotional turmoil inside you. Poor Clare...”

You turn to the final sketch, and your blood runs cold. Staring up at you is a photorealistic portrait of a familiar face.

“Oh no...this is.. this is a drawing of Chris.”

Tags: @denisemarieangelina @joannaliceevans-fanficblog @star-spangled-beard-burn @daliaevans @waywardodysseys @pine-fresh-kirk @shellbilee @shreyaaaaaaaaaaaa @chris-butt @worksby-d @patzammit @et-lesailes @what-is-your-plan-today @whiskey-cokenfanfic @wintrcaptn @captainevans @captainchrisstan @captainchrisfics @captaincrazyexlover @amazonx @nbarnes @americasass91 @thatgirly81 @thatsxamericasxass @comebackandhauntme21 @twittytelly @kelbabyblue @kellyn1604 @bellaireland1981 @brilliantkey @kailyndavillier @katiew1973 @imanuglywombat @sweater-daddiesdumbdork @thinkxlovexloud @lovinevans @luvinchris @jtargaryen18 @ohmy-captain @nomadevans82 @littlefiercequeen @southerngracela @optimistic-dinosaur-nacho @oddsnendsfanfics @branflakes82 @trishevans @stephanysgzz @jms358 @mizcaptainphoenix

[tinyboxxtink]

"Clueless" *Part 3*

Okay so my dog ended up being totally fine, and luckily I had most of this written beforehand. <3

PS- REALLY shouldn't have watched the actual movie while writing this...lulz. Count how many actual lines from the movie you catch.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

Tag List:

@lolliepopsicle

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@wanniiieeee

@milkshqke

@gibbs274

@aprildecker-blog

@objection-argumentative

@word-scribbless

@stars-in-the-skies-world

-----

He drove back up the Beach House, but you and Ariel had abandoned it for a loft in the city, no forwarding address. He asked himself why he was putting so much effort just to get back in contact with you. He couldn’t explain it, it was like something against logic.

He dialed Ariel’s number.

IGNORE.

Redial.

IGNORE.

Text: “Answer your phone!!!”

Redial.

“What do you want?”

“I want to talk to Y/N,”

“Well she doesn't want to talk to you,”

“What did you tell her, Ariel?”

“The truth,”

“I don’t...I can’t even begin to imagine what that means in your language,”

“Oh whatever Raf, what does it matter what I told her? She’s MY friend, not yours!”

“You don’t OWN her Ariel,”

“Don’t I?” She smirked. “I feed her, I clothe her, I give her a roof to sleep under. I even gave her a cute necklace with her name on it, like a collar,” she smirked.

"You're evil," he sneered.

“I’m a saint,” She scoffed. “Do you know where that girl would be without me? Do you know the years it would take in a therapist's office to heal the emotional trauma I so selflessly saved her from? Her life will be enriched and better because of me, how many girls can say that about you?"

“Oh right, like helping her hasn’t served you any purpose?”

“What purpose could it possibly have?”

“Please, if I ever saw you do anything less than 90% selfish I’d die of shock,”

“Oh that would be reason enough for me,”

“Look, I get it. You've never had a mother so you're treating her like your personal Barbie doll,"

“And what, you wanna be her Prince Ken? Or, lawyer Ken,”

“She’s NOT a Barbie doll!”

“You’re right, she’s not. So I’m not going to let you play with her emotions,”

“What does that even mean? For fuck’s sake Ariel, I just want to be her mentor,”

“Really?” Rafael could hear her rolling her eyes through the phone. “You’re trying THIS hard to mentor some girl you met less than 24 hours ago? REALLY,” She chuckled.

“I may not be ‘Harvard’ smart BRO, but I’m not stupid. I know when a guy has let’s say, less than moral intentions with a girl,”

“It’s not like that,” He growled. “She’s a sweet girl, Ariel. And I’m not going to let you try and change her into your clone,”

“Wha--my clone? Please, Raf she could NEVER reach my level. Believe me, I’ve tried for four years. She’s a good sidekick,”

“This isn’t over,”

“Isn’t it? You have ZERO idea where we are,”

“Please, there’s maybe 5 places in Manhattan you’ll go, and they’re all on the Upper East Side. It’s not hard,”

“Well then, I guess we’ll see who’s better at hide and seek!”

CLICK.

------

Ariel rolled her eyes with a smile just as you walked in the living room.

“Who was that?” You asked, toweling your hair from the shower you had just exited.

“Mom,” She rolled her eyes. “She wanted to make sure we weren’t tearing this place up,”

“Oh?” You asked, suddenly hopeful. “Was she going to ask Rafael to check?”

“What? NO,” Ariel shut down that thought quickly. “I assured her she didn’t need to send that dog over here to sniff around you anymore,”

“Ariel,” You rolled your eyes with a sigh. “I’m a big girl,”

“I know sweetie,” She walked over and scrunched your face. “Such a big girl,”

“Whatever,” You rolled your eyes again walking back to the bedroom.

“Hey…” Ariel grabbed the TV remote. “Do you wanna watch Clueless?”

“What? ….Why?”

“I don’t know, you mentioned it yesterday and now I can’t stop thinking about a young Paul Rudd,”

“....Who looks exactly like present Paul Rudd,” You laughed.

“I know right? I want the magic face cream he must use,” She giggled as you both sat down on the couch to watch the movie.

----

“See, Cher isn’t a bad person, right? She saved Tai,” Ariel gestured to the TV.

“Am I Tai in this situation?” You eyed her.

“Well, yeah,” She shrugged. “Duh,”

“I’ll take it, I love Brittany Murphy,” You shrugged.

“RIP,” Ariel made a sign of the cross with a kiss looking up to heaven. “We should pour one out for her,”

“On your mom’s thousand dollar rug?”

“Okay, so maybe just pour one for us,”

Her phone vibrated wildly; it vibrated so hard it fell off the coffee table onto the floor. You picked it up to put it back, but you happened to glance at the screen.

BHOLE BARBA: You can’t keep her from me forever, Ariel

Wha….keep who from him? You? Did...was he...did Ariel….?

“Alright, who’s ready for mimosas?!” Ariel said in a singsongy voice as she returned with two flutes of champagne.

“What is this?” You held the phone up to her. She read it, her eyes grew wide.

“I...He’s talking about the Adele CD I borrowed from him forever ago, he’s weirdly possessive about ‘her’,”

“Ariel,” You interrupted her with a stern face.

“What?” She played dumb.

“...How could you do this to me?” You asked with a hurt expression.

“Do what?” She rolled her eyes with a laugh. “Protect you from my loser ex brother?”

“You--! Oh my god,” You couldn’t believe it. Your own best friend was trying to mess with your happiness?

“Oh come on Y/N, it’s not that big of a--” She rolled her eyes with a laugh, pissing you off even more.

“It IS a big deal!” Tears stung your eyes, you hated that you started crying when you got angry. How pathetic was that?

“Why? You can’t possibly be in love with him or something,” She scoffed.

“NO! Of course not,” You crossed your arms. “But he could help me with school, with my career! Don’t you want me to get a good job, eventually move out of here?”

“Maybe I don’t!” She yelled suddenly.

“...What?” You asked in disbelief.

“Look, Y/N,” She sighed. “I...you...we both know under normal circumstances, we would never be friends,”

“...I mean, I guess…” You shrugged.

“Oh come on,” She gave you a look. “You’d have to explain every sentence you spoke to me,” She had crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Oh come on Ariel,” You sighed and sat next to her. “You’re NOT stupid,”

“I’m stupider than you!” She cried.

“...More stupid,” You corrected her.

“See?” She sniffled.

“Okay, but-- still,” You took her hand. "You're my best friend. Do you think that if I don't have to live with you anymore, I won't be your friend?"

"Maybe…" She looked at the floor.

"Ariel!" You cried. "Really? Come on,"

"You come on!" She was actually getting upset now. "Look, Y/N. I don't have...friends,"

"What?" You snorted. "You have the biggest social circle I know!"

"Yeah but--" she tried to find the right words. "They're not like….friends, friends ya know? They're more like…. followers, or leeches, of--"

"Sycophants," you chuckled. She did surround herself with as many people who would tell her she was amazing as possible.

"I don't know what that means but probably, yes," She nodded. “You’re the only one who I can actually talk to, you’re like my little sister,”

“....Right, so…? You think I’ll just give all that up if I move out? If I don’t need you financially anymore?”

“Maybe…” She mumbled. “But ALSO, if that stupid asshole gets into your head about me!”

“Oh God…” You put a hand over your head. “Ariel,” You took both of her hands and looked at her very seriously.

“You are my absolute best friend in this entire world, no…’boy’ could change that! I’ve known you so long, I know you completely. Nothing he could tell me would make me turn on you, I swear it,”

“Really?” She raised an eyebrow at you.

“Really! You held a hand up like an oath. “AND, even if-- WHEN, I get financially stable and can live on my own two feet, I will ALWAYS be your friend,” You used the oath hand and placed it in hers again. “I swear it,”

“....Okay, but absolutely ZERO sleepovers here,”

“Oh, my god, ARIEL,” You gasped. “I JUST want to talk to him about law stuff!”

“Yeah, that’s what he said too,” She rolled her eyes, not believing either of you.

“He did?” You felt your face fall.

“Ah HA! See? Disappointment!”

“Shut up,” You hit her. “I don’t care, we should just be professional anyway,”

“Uh huh,” She nodded sarcastically.

“Are you going to give me his number or not?” You gave her a look.

“No,”

“ARIEL,” You crossed your arms.

“No, then you’re going to immediately call him and give him ALL the power,” She wagged a finger at you. “I’m going to give him YOUR number, and if he calls you, he calls you,”

“Ariel…” You gave her another look.

“What? You don’t believe me?” She feigned offense.

“I really don’t,” You shook your head.

“Alright FINE,” She pulled out her phone and opened her texts with Rafael, typed in your number and hit SEND.

“Happy?” She showed you her phone.

“....Maybe,” You hid the giddiness that was building in your stomach.

Almost IMMEDIATELY after sending the text, your phone lit up wildly.

“Good god I’m gonna get out of here before the nerdy phone sex starts,” She ran out of the room with her mimosa in tow.

“Shut up!” You hissed, mentally preparing yourself for this phone call. The phone call you’d been waiting for for days, even when you thought he was a “player”. You took a deep breath and hit ANSWER:

“Hello?”

“Y/N?”

“Yeah who’s this?” You asked coyly.

“It’s...Rafael, Barba…”

“I’m sorry, who?” You teased.

“Ariel’s….brother?” He skipped the asterisk that went along with “Brother”.

“Ohhhh right right right,” You nodded, keeping him nervous. “Yeah, Ariel told me all about you,”

“I knew it,” He growled thinking about Ariel and her lies. “Whatever she said, she’s lying,”

“Oh so you don’t want to be my mentor?”

“Wha--?” He was shocked. Did Ariel actually change her mind? Or dare he think...a change of heart?

“Yes! I mean, I do! I absolutely do!” He may have said that a little too overzealous, so he dialed it back. “I mean, if I have some time I’d be up for it, if that’s okay with you,”

“I might, maybe…” You were twirling your hair in your fingers. “When do you think you might have time?”

“Well you know I was thinking--” He started, but there was a knock at the door.

“Oh sorry, one second,” You got up and walked over to the door and swung it open to reveal Rafael standing there, right in front of you. He was dressed in a black suit with a pink tie. As amazing as he looked in street clothes, you thought you might mount him right there in that suit.

“I have some time right now,” He smiled, acting as if he was still on the phone. You couldn’t help yourself, you leapt into his arms and kissed him, HARD.

-------

“Hello? Y/N?”

You snapped back to reality, Rafael was talking to you on the phone.

“Oh! Um, Yeah, sorry what?”

“I said I have some time right now, if you wanna meet for coffee or something,” He half laughed, still enchanted by your awkwardness.

“Yes! Sure! I...let me just get dressed, just text me the address, I’ll meet you in a few,” You were so glad he couldn’t see how beet red you were from that little fantasy you had just been in.

“Sounds good,” You could hear him smile; even through the phone it made you weak in the knees.

You hung up and ran to Ariel’s room, hoping she’d help you get dressed.

What could you wear to impress him?

[ahtohallan-calling]

chapter 13 of it’s always ourselves we find is here!

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12

[kristanna / m / modern au / coworkers & enemies to lovers ;) ]

“Kristoff.”

No reply.

“Kris.”

This time, a grunt of acknowledgement.

“Kris, honey…”

She’d had a feeling that would work. He shifted against her, nuzzling his nose against the top of her head. “What?”

“You gotta let me go.”

His arms only tightened around her waist. “Why?”

“Because I have to get up and shower.”

A heavy sigh escaped him; he pressed a soft, stubbly kiss to her temple and lifted his arm from where it had been draped over her. “Have fun,” he mumbled, turning over and burying his face in the pillow.

Fighting the urge to giggle, Anna tiptoed into the bathroom, not wanting him to miss out on any precious minutes of sleep he could get after he’d been up so late the night before. It was strange, she reflected, as she stepped into the shower, how one conversation had suddenly made so much of the last fourteen months make sense; why he always said no to going to any sort of after-work cocktail hour, even on his own birthday, and why he had been the only person not to sign up for the white elephant gift exchange-- and more than that, why he was so quiet, so reluctant to open up at all.

Except with me , she thought, a shiver rolling down her spine that had nothing to do with the pounding water; even before this week, she’d been the only one he talked to, and even if it was usually just bickering, that was a hell of a lot more than anyone else in the office got. And sometimes they had talked about real things; he knew about her parents and the car crash, and he knew about how much she’d worried over her cat when she’d first adopted him, and he’d listened and offered comfort, gruff though it was, every time she’d thought she’d finally fucked up enough to get fired.

And the M&Ms-- god, it was the most romantic thing that had ever happened to her, by far. How many packets had she gotten over the last year and a bit? And she’d shared them with him every time, and he’d never even let on that he’d liked her enough to do such a thing, let alone that he’d actually done it.

By the time she was done in the shower, she was itching to wrap her arms around him and kiss him as thoroughly as she could. She yanked on her underwear and dress as quickly as possible and, without even bothering to finish towel drying her hair, burst back into the main part of the room, only to come face to face with Kristoff sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing only his sweatpants and stretching his bare arms skyward. Her pace only stuttered for a moment at the sight, and then she was on him, laughing and climbing onto his lap as he let out a surprised cry and fell back against the bed.

“Good morning,” she said in between pressing sloppy kisses all over his face, still creased slightly from the pillowcase.

“You, too,” he said breathlessly, trying and failing to catch her lips with his own. “What’s this for?”

He set his hands on her waist, and the feel of his broad fingers pressing against her was finally enough to give her pause, long enough that he finally managed to lean up and steal a kiss. “Just because,” she said with a grin.

“Because what?” he teased, his eyes sparkling.

“Because I have a crush on you.”

That earned her another kiss, but one that came to an untimely end when he instinctively reached to slide a hand into her hair, and they both were reminded that it was still sopping wet. “Sorry,” Anna giggled, giving him one more peck on the cheek as he wrinkled his nose and shook his hand exaggeratedly. “Let me go take care of that.”

She blow-dried her hair quickly in the bathroom and swiped on a minimal layer of makeup before returning. She spared only a glance at her lipstick before smirking and setting it back down; she’d just wait and put that on after breakfast.

Kristoff was standing now, just shrugging into a gray and white striped button down. “Let me help,” Anna said as she crossed over to him.

“Believe it or not, I can dress myself,” he said drily, but when she took hold of his collar and tugged him down to kiss his cheek, a dazed smile appeared on his face.

“Think you’re ready for today?” Anna asked as she began working her way down the line of buttons, her hands lingering for a moment when they brushed against his broad chest.

“Not at all.”

“Why not?” He shrugged, and she playfully swatted at him. “Hold still!”

“Sorry. Just-- you know. Me. Talking. Other people. Bad combination.”

She had just reached the tail of his shirt; she paused for a moment before choosing the boldest of the options laid before her and unzipping his pants to tuck it in. A huff of surprise escaped him, but he made no move to stop her.

“Well,” she said, feeling her cheeks warm as she fastened his pants back and kept her eyes trained on his chest, making a show of brushing away invisible flaws, “I’m other people, and I like talking to you just fine, so see? Nothing to worry about.”

He caught her chin with a finger and tilted her face upwards until he could meet her gaze. Though his forehead was furrowed, his eyes were soft when he said, “It’s different when it’s you. You know that.”

“Hurry up and kiss me again so we can put our shoes on,” she breathed.

He didn’t, instead shifting his hand to press against her cheek, letting his thumb slide slowly back and forth over her freckled cheekbone. “You’re bossy as hell, you know that?”

“And you’re a tease,” she said, pouting, and he laughed before conceding to her wishes.

“It’ll be okay, Kris,” she murmured between soft, languid kisses. “Like I said last night, I’m gonna make sure this is the best presentation ever. You just stand there and look pretty.”

“I feel like I should be offended by that.”

“Fine. Stand there and say the stuff we practiced yesterday with Harry and look all ruggedly handsome.”

“ Ruggedly handsome ?”

She nipped playfully at his bottom lip. “Here I am, trying to be sweet to you for once, and you’re--”

He cut her off with another kiss, and this time when they pulled away, they were both too breathless for words.

---

The reassurances Anna had whispered to him that morning worked pretty well until the room started filling up enough that people were standing along the walls. Kristoff turned then to face her as she set up her laptop on the podium. “Anna,” he said as quietly as possible, “this is a fuckton of people.”

“Mhm. This is the only bit with mandatory attendance for everyone,” she said, not looking up from the screen.

“ Shit .”

“It’ll be fine, Kris. You did this yesterday for Harry, remember? And his opinion is the only one that really matters.”

“But if I fuck this up, then someone’ll tell him, and--”

She glanced up at him, her eyes soft. “You won’t fuck up. It’ll be fine, really. What was it that made yesterday so much easier? Can’t you just try that again?”

“Um,” he stammered, his face reddening. “Not exactly.”

“Why not?”

“It-- ah-- it was better yesterday because-- because it was just a video call. So I could...you know.”

“No, I don’t know. That’s why I asked.”

He sighed and went to run a hand through his hair before remembering how long they’d spent that morning on slicking it back. “It helped that I could...touch you. Just if I needed to steady myself and stuff, but today everyone will see.”

“Kristoff Bjorgman, you are the absolute sweetest man alive, you know that?” Anna said, and by the look in her eyes he knew she was wishing they could touch each other now, too.

“Yeah, well, don’t go around telling everybody. I’ve worked too hard on building my reputation around here.”

“Reputation as what? A grumpy bastard? Letting people know you have a softer side might have some benefits, you know,” she pointed out.

“I think those benefits are invalidated if I fuck up so bad today I get fired and never see them again,” he replied as the man introducing them tapped on the microphone.

In response, she darted a hand out and brushed her fingers over his where they rested against the podium, out of view of the crowd. “I’ve got you, Kris,” she promised. “I won’t let you down.”

And damn, if that didn’t make him feel a hell of a lot better.

He turned around to face the audience, not even trying to mimic Anna’s showstopper of a smile as she accepted the microphone and introduced their presentation to the crowd. Within moments, she had them eating out of the palm of her hand, laughing at her warm-up jokes about all the buzzwords the company had been introducing at the conference and hanging on to her every word even when she got into the statistics. She did such a good job that even when Kristoff stumbled over his explanation of how the new networking systems he’d put in place over the last year they still paid attention; he even saw Greg, sitting in the back row, raise his digital camera to take a picture of the screen-- flash on, of course.

And then, before he knew it, Anna was asking if there were any questions, and she answered most of them and gave him the rest, and then she was thanking the crowd and he was giving a terse nod and people were actually fucking clapping as if this was something they hadn’t been forced to sit through.

“Holy shit,” he whispered, and beside him, Anna stifled a laugh.

She gave him a quick wink. “Told you.”

---

quick note: i miscounted earlier in this fic and wrote that this was a 5 night thing, it is not it's 4 nights and so the coming night is the last and they come home tomorrow

also, two more chapters to go after this and we're done :)