#also if you actually look closely at my art… their marks & pants match each other’s eyes….

[rendevok]

Inspired by these pants

[clanoffetts]

Tales From Bespin, vol. I: The First Time

Lando Calrissian x fem!Reader

summary: the first in a collection of stories about Reader and Lando’s adventures in sex in Cloud City, starting with their first time together.

warnings/tags: 18+; not proof-read lol; piv; unprotected sex; tooth rotting sweet sex; lando is a fuckboy but, like, a nice one; puthy eating bc Lando is a man of taste; porn with like some plot but it’s, like, stupid plot. no seriously i don’t really remember much of the plot

word count: 3.5k

“Do your rooms still suit you?” Lando asks as you eat breakfast together. He’s asked this every morning since you arrived a week ago. In that week, you’d learned that Cloud City was gorgeous in the morning and that Lando Calrissian was very concerned with your happiness. You were glad, of course, as you’d come to Bespin on his request, the both of you hoping that something more would develop.

You nod. “Of course,” you say. “I feel like a princess.”

“Good,” he chuckles. “It’s what you deserve.” Something had begun to develop, you ate meals together, walked the city together, watched holos together. But at the end of the evening, you’d leave his rooms, and you’d assumed you were replaced with someone who would, frankly, fuck him. You knew Lando was a bit of a playboy, talk of Cloud City orgies was common legend amongst teenagers in the Outer Rim, and you usually didn’t go for playboys. But he was charming. Yeah, all playboys are, they have to be, but Lando was different. You could tell he was sincere. 

So, when his two week stay on Naboo was coming to a close, he’d invited you to Cloud City to live with him, and that you could continue your clothing designer dreams on Bespin with high fashion.

“They love your dresses,” Lando says, taking a drink of some kind of juice. 

You smile. They didn’t have much high fashion on Bespin, most of the population weren’t concerned with expensive clothes and the rest were rich with nothing to buy. “I’m glad. Thank you for helping me sell them, helping me build my reputation.”

“I told you that you need to stop thanking me, beautiful,” he says, voice smooth as always. “A new episode of that holoseries we binged comes out tonight.”

“Yeah I saw,” you say. “We’re watching it together, right?”

He smiles as he cuts up some of the meat on his plate. “Always, sweetheart.”

-

Lando had a busy day. Usually, you’d walk the halls, Lando telling you stories of the art on the walls and how they came to be in his possession or attend a water opera, but today there was none of that. So you sat in your rooms, a little cozier now than when you arrived. You’d decorated the walls with tapestries and art, adding some color to the tradition Bespin sleek white walls. Your furniture was all white and so were the blankets and pillows. You’d have to sew and embroider some new ones at some point, the plainness of it all was boring. Especially to someone from Naboo, where everything was vibrant and richly embroidered. 

You lay on your bed, staring up at the blank white ceiling, thinking about Lando. There were many women about the place, scantily clad Twi’leks, humans, and Togrutas, and you knew why they were here. You didn’t feel jealous, per se, because you knew your thing with Lando, whatever it was, was not an exclusive relationship. But you did feel a bit surprised that he’d invite you here on the hope of something more, and continue with his habits. 

Did you actually know Lando was sleeping with these women? Well, no, but one could safely assume, right? Especially if you weren’t putting out like women were expected to, though Lando never gave any indication that he was upset by the lack of sex. Maybe you were upset with the lack of sex, pent up and yearning for this man since he arrived on Naboo a month ago. Maybe you were going to change that.

-

“Ready, sweetheart?” Lando says, sitting down on one of the lush couches of the front room of his chambers. The furniture in here had dark wood from Kashyyk, a gift from one of Lando’s Wookie friends, he’d said. There were pillows in styles from all over the galaxy. The room was eclectically Lando: rich in more than one sense. 

He’d brought snacks with him, sitting them down on the coffee table in front of the couch. “Born ready,” you tell him. Under your clothes were the sexiest things you owned. Maybe it was a bit sad that the sexiest thing you owned was just a matching black bra and panties, but you didn’t really have a need for lingerie. Matching was the best you could do. 

The holodrama premier episode is one and a half hours, and over that course of time you’d eaten more types of candy than you can count, and inched closer to Lando until you were almost on top of him. He had an arm around you, your head resting on his chest. When the commercials for new bacta patches or some kind of Imperial propaganda interrupted the show, you’d tilt your head up to look at him, he’d tilt his down, and you’d kiss. Each kiss tasting a little different than the one before as fruity candies passed between both of your lips. 

“You like the blue ones,” you say as you break the kiss before the commercials are over. 

“And why do you say that?”

“Your lips have tasted like the blue ones more than any other,” you say, your tone very matter-of-fact. 

He chuckles. “Very astute observation, sweetheart. Though I can’t say I was too focused on your taste,” he says. “I paid more attention to the feel.”

You sit up a little more now, pressing your lips to his again, not giving a damn that the show was back on. 

“Very eager, sweetheart,” Lando murmurs, his lips traveling from your lips, down your jaw, to your neck. 

“I could say the same,” you whisper as he presses kisses to your neck, trying to find your sweet spot. This has been a long time coming. You feel his soft hair against you, lost in the feel and the scent that when his lips finally find that spot that makes you gasp, it catches you off guard. 

Lando notices, and says, “Can I mark you up, beautiful?”

“Please,” you’re breathless, at his politeness, at his pet name, at everything he is. 

He sucks a mark onto your skin, teeth coming after to give light bites to the forming bruise. “So polite,” he says. “I like manners.” You giggle a little, but are quickly cut off by his lips back on yours. Lando kisses sweetly, just how you expected him to. He’s not rough, he’s not hard, but he’s soft and sweet and passionate. That man oozes passion, especially right now. 

Your body is hyper aware of everything, his mustache brushing against your upper lip, the feel of the cape lined in shimmersilk brushing your arms as his arms wrap around you. You moaned into his mouth, and you felt him smile into the kiss. Lando was always a smug motherfucker. 

He pulls away from the kiss, hands wandering to the straps of the loose sundress you wore. “Can I?” You nod, and he pulls the straps down, freeing your breasts. “So gorgeous, sweetheart.” His head lowers onto your nipple, gently sucking and swirling, taking note of everything that made you writhe. His hand cups the other breast, kneading gently, thumb occasionally swiping over your nipple. Everything was so slow, he was such a tease, and it was obvious that Lando Calrissian knew what he was doing.

“We’ve never done this before,” he says, pulling off of your breast. “Do you want this?”

“Can I ask you something first?” He nods. You’re nervous, but you ask, “I know this might not be the right time to ask, but have you been sleeping with other people while I’m here?” You cursed yourself as soon as you said it. You weren’t his girlfriend, you had no right to know this, and yet you needed to know. To know that he was in this, for real.

“No, darling,” he says. “I’m pursuing something serious, if that’s what you want.”

Your body relaxed, and you’re positive that Lando could tell. “Yeah, yeah I do want that,” you say. “Now fuck me, please.”

“So very polite,” he comments, bringing his mouth to your other nipple. This time there’s a little teeth, but he’s still painstakingly slow. “You want to go to the bed?”

You nod, and he’s already up, taking your hand in his and leading you further into his rooms. You notice the bulge straining against his expertly tailored pants, and he notices you staring. “Manners starting to slip, sweetheart? It’s not polite to stare.”

You shake your head, face beginning to heat up as it dons on you that not only are you staring at his bulge, you’re also walking around with your tits out. “Don’t get shy, now, sweetheart,” he commands with a gentle tone as he leads you to the bed. 

The bed is massive, with large fluffy pillows and nice fuzzy blankets strewn over it. “Maker, Lando, this is huge.”

“The size of this bed is where the Bespin orgy stories come from, my dear,” he winks. “Though this isn’t where they happen.” He drops your hand so you can hoist yourself up onto the large bed, and he follows suit, though he’s a lot more graceful. 

“Now,” he says, gently pushing you to recline against the pillows. “Where were we?” He lays down next to you, attaching his mouth to the side of your breast, sucking harshly. Another bruise would form there, and your core ached at the thought of getting to admire them the next morning in the ‘fresher mirror. 

Your whimpers seem to echo in the big room, and Lando loves it. “Let me hear you,” he murmurs against your stomach before sucking another bruise. “Love to hear you.”

And, boy, do you let him hear it. So used to muffling your own noises in places with thin walls, it was a strange freedom to be as loud as you want. “Can I take this off, sweetheart?”

His hands are balled up on the dress. “Fuck, yes, please,” you tell him, eager for him to get closer to your cunt, to give you the direct stimulation he’s made you crave. He pulls the dress down your body and off your legs, tossing it to the other side of the bed. He unclasps the cape and removes his shirt, tossing them as well. And, kriff, he’s gorgeous. He’s toned, but not overly muscular in the way you find scary. His skin looks smooth, though covered in hair, and you reach a hand out to drag across his stomach. 

You expect him to ask to take your panties off next, but he doesn’t. “I bet your pussy is pretty, sweetheart. Everything about you is pretty,” he says, one hand cupping your cunt, the warmth burning through the thin fabric, and the other stilling your hand on his abdomen. All you can do is whine a little, the light pressure on your pussy making you ache even more. 

Lando leans down to kiss you, pressing his blue-flavored candy lips against yours and returning your hand to the mattress. When he pulls away, he lowers himself down between your legs, eye-level with your cunt. “Open these up more,” he coos, pushing your legs open and up towards your chest. 

He places a hot, open-mouthed kiss to your clothed cunt, giving a deep chuckle when you gasp. “She’s already swollen, sweetheart,” he says. “I’ve not even done much. Just sucked your tits.”

“Yeah, but you did that for, like, ever,” you breath out, and he laughs. 

“I like to tease my girl,” he says before bringing his lips down over the fabric again. But you can’t focus completely on that right now, not when your mind is repeating his voice calling you his girl. But eventually you snap out of it when his mouth is replaced with his fingers, running over the fabric of your panties, there’s enough friction to tease you but not enough to truly please you.

“I think it’s time I see this pussy,” he says, placing some kisses on your thighs. “Don’t you think so, sweetheart?”

You whine out a yes, and he makes quick work of removing your underwear. The cool air of the room hits your slick as Lando returns your legs to their open position. “Just like I thought- gorgeous pussy” he says, using a finger to collect your arousal, bringing it to his mouth and closing his eyes as he cleans his finger. “Taste better than the blue candy, sweetheart. I think I need another taste, don’t you?”

You nod, and before you can even utter a ‘please’, his mouth is on you. “Stars, Lando,” you whimper as he sucks on your clit. His tongue is swirling around in patterns that made your whole body shiver, his hands are on your tits and stomach, groping at any soft flesh he could grasp. Everytime you whine out a word, he hums around your clit, sending a wave of vibration straight to your core. 

“And to think I’ve traveled to a hundred confectionery shops when the sweetest candy in the galaxy is right here,” he says, pulling your lips further apart so he could admire his candy. With a growl, he dives back in, this time at your hole, letting his nose take care of your clit for now. His tongue pushes inside you with force, Lando eagerly lapping up your juices, your moans escaping in unison with his. 

When he decides his nose occasionally bumping your clit isn’t enough and replaces it with his fingers, rubbing small circles, you feel the wave of your orgasm start to roll in. “Gonna come, Lando, fuck-”

He hums, low and gravely against your cunt, and it pushes you over the edge. You’re loud, moaning and writhing under him, but his mouth stays attached to your slit with determination, following your hips wherever they go. Lando does this until your body stops shivering and you’re left with labored breathing on the bed in a mess of pillows. 

“Stars, Lando, you’re good at that,” you giggle as he climbs up your body to press a kiss to your forehead, nose, lips. You taste yourself on him, not something you’d describe as the best candy in the galaxy, but you could see where he was coming from. 

“Glad you liked it, sweetheart,” he replies. “I’m a people pleaser at heart.” Your hands wander down to the buckle of his belt, trying to undo it but the clasp is foreign and your mind is cloudy. Lando sits back on his haunches between your legs, undoing the clasp and freeing his cock from his pants. Lando Calrissian didn’t wear underwear, apparently. “Is this what you wanted, beautiful?” 

You nod frantically, the voice in the back of your head telling you you looked pathetically horny, but you couldn’t care. “Please, Lando,” you whine. “Want you inside me.”

“Stars, sweetheart, I’ve wanted this since back on Naboo,” he says, shedding his pants and adding them to the stack of clothes accumulating on the side of the bed. 

“Been so enamored by you for so long,” he sighs, lining his cock up with your entrance. “Ready?”

“Yes,” you beg, “Please.”

“There’s my girl, with her manners,” he groans as he pushes his cock inside you, ever so slowly. “Gotta savor your pussy, sweetheart. Been wanting it for so long.”

You moan as he bottoms out, “Wait, my implant expired, I’m sor-” 

He cuts you off, “I have one. Don’t you worry, sweetheart.” His voice is strained with pleasure as he drags his cock in and out of your aching core, you swear you can feel each vein against your walls. 

“Fuck, Lando, please,” you whine, wishing he’d give you a little more, even if it was just enough to come. 

He gives you that smug smile, “Please what?”

“Faster, Lando,” you whimper, bringing your legs around his waist in an effort to push him into you quicker.

He tuts. “Where’s your manners, sweet thing?”

“Please,” you beg. “Please, please, please.”

He kisses your nose. “Since you’re so polite, I think I might just have to oblige.” And he does. His hips don’t snap hard against you like the other guys you’d fucked, though they hadn’t been very good, maybe that was why. He wasn’t so hard like the holoporn videos or the stories you’d read on the ‘Net. But it’s so good. 

“How do you feel, sweetheart?” His voice is breathy now, though still deep. 

“Full,” you whine, and his fingers come to your clit, causing you to gasp and clench around him. “And stretched.”

His lips are painted with that smug smile again, “Just like you want, sweetheart. Just like you deserve.”

His voice deep in your ear, his cock deep in your cunt, and his fingers moving with grace across your clit just about send you to the edge again. “I think I’m gonna come Lando,” you moan, “Fuck I want to come, please!”

“Come, then, sweetheart,” He grunts. “I’ll always give you anything you want.” That was it, the final straw, and your body began to shiver and shake. Your arms clasped around him and your legs pushing him deep inside you, you come with such force that you can hardly make any noise. Your mouth is open, your eyes are wide, but there’s no sounds, just complete and utter bliss. “I’ll always give you what you want,” he pants again as you come down from your high, still relishing in his cock fucking you open.

“Then give me your cum,” you demand. 

There’s a twinkle in his eye now, “Your wish is my command,” he says. His thrusts are a little quicker now, though more shallow and sloppy, and you continue to moan his name and clench your walls around him until he’s grunting in your ear that, “I’m going to fill you up, sweetheart, just like you asked.” 

And he comes, also with force, losing control of his thrusts and your heels dig into his ass, holding him inside you as he paints your walls white. “Fuck, just what I wanted, Lando,” you coo, running a hand over his back as he lay on top of you trying to collect himself. “Treat me so well, like a princess.”

He gently pulls out, both of you wincing, and he rolls onto your side. You shift to face him, trying not to move too much so you don’t spill cum over what you assume are expensive blankets and bedding. 

“Spread your legs a little, sweetheart,” he says softly. You do as you're told, and he slips a finger between your legs, just outside your slit where he collects your mixed cum. He licks some, though not all, off his finger and hums. “Second sweetest candy in the galaxy. You want a taste?”

You nod, sticking your tongue out with an eagerness that should’ve been embarrassing. He holds his finger out and you lick it clean. “I think that’s the sweetest,” you say, savoring the strange yet satisfying taste. “But to each their own I guess.”

-

“Did you enjoy that?” Lando has you lying against his chest, now clad in one of his silk sleep shirts and he wears the matching pants. He’d cleaned you up nicely, brought some sweet Alderaanian toniray- a rare commodity these days- for you to sip on. 

You nod. “It was amazing. I’ve never come twice with someone before.”

He looks almost offended at your statement, “You’ve only been with guys that make you come once?”

“Sometimes not even once,” you admit. “That’s not normal?”

He shakes his head. “Kriff, no, sweetheart, you’re supposed to come. And the bare minimum is once in my book. In fact, I regret only making you come twice tonight. Got too caught up in my own pleasure.”

“Well, you’re supposed to feel good, too,” you point out. 

He nods. “Yes, but I should also make you feel good. I get off on making you feel good.” He’s shaking his head again. “Only come once,” he mutters. “Atrocious, dear, absolutely atrocious.”

You let out a sleepy giggle, drawing patterns with your nail on his chest. “Well you can make up for all those missed orgasms another time,” you say, finishing with a yawn. “You’ve worn me out, Calrissian.”

“As you should be, sweetheart,” he says. “Get some rest, yeah?”

You nod against his chest, the quiet darkness of the room and the beat of his heart already lulling you to sleep.

-

tagging those who showed some interest (i promise boba threesome is coming in the next few days, i’ve already written over half of it lol)! @delusionsxfgrandeur @fuckyeahbeskar @sleepwithacommunist @tibbietibbs @hansonveggieclub

[theaviskullguy]

Ink and Petals

@dapple-dualies-propaganda here's the au

Tattoo artist! Rider x Florist! Goggles

hope you enjoy!

---------

When was it not busy at Squid ink?

It was one of the top Tattoo Parlors in Inkopolis. and it was also on a pretty busy street. So, it got a lot of customers. Also the fact that one of the artists was a famous turfer.

Rider hadn't formerly retired, but he had eased out of playing Turf Wars. He had found other interests outside of the sport: Theater, art, reviewing old movies online... He still did Turf from time to time, albeit the adult league. He was too old for the more popular teen division.

So, he found a job as a tattoo artist. And he rather loved it. Not only did most of his friends consult him for tattoo advice (from where the best places are to good designs), but he also knew some gossip. One of his regulars had beef with her neighbor because he has a pet raccoon who keeps stealing her trash and Rider could NOT wait to hear more about this story.

Another thing was, well, Rider had seen some shit. From people covered head to toe in tats, to people eagerly wanting their first tattoo, even to shyer folk who wanted one to defy controlling parents or to mark something important.

None of that prepared Rider for the news he got when tattooing one of the customers. More specifically, Gloves.

You see, Gloves had been coming in for the past few days. They had wanted a pretty complicated butterfly tat, so for the last 3 days Rider has been exchanging stories with the resident enby about... pretty much anything.

This is how this exchange happened;

"So you remember Goggles, right?" Gloves asked.

Rider rolled his eyes. "What, you think I'd forget the guy who kept pulling down my pants?"

"Oh ha ha. Anyways, apparently he works at that flower shop now."

"...He what?"

"You heard me!" They said. "I went there yesterday to get something for a project and there was Goggles! He misses you, 'ya know!"

Rider was just. quiet. He hadn't talked to his crush in a while, contact dwindled when Rider stopped doing Turf as much. Never once did he think Goggles would miss him, but that was probably the self hatred talking.

"...I'll think about it." Was all Rider said.

The conversation continued like nothing happen; Gloves saying multiple cursed things and Rider sharing interesting stories he heard on his job. Time flew by and soon, the tattoo was done; a butterfly with the bi colors on one wing and the nb colors on the other. Rider was quite proud of it, and Gloves seemed to like it. They waved, and left the store, humming to themselves.

Rider looked at the clock. His shift ended in just a few minutes. He knew he had no other appointments that day, so he took to watching old recorded matches in his phone.

Those were over a decade ago. Yet he still remembered everything. His favorite part was still learning he won a match by such a small margin. It was just... amazing.

He sighed. Rider missed those battles. But he has to say, he missed his crush a bit more.

He clocked out, saying goodbye to the other employee-Cherry (business relationships were easy to maintain when your coworkers were your siblings), and headed towards the flower shop for more reasons than one.

Army had a performance the next day. And yeah, Rider knew it was romantic, but platonically giving your best friend flowers was always nice. Plus, he wanted an excuse to see Goggles again.

He looked into the shop-the blue inkling was nowhere to be seen, but then again neither was the front desk. So, Rider shrugged and stepped in.

The floral scent was strong, but not overwhelming. Plenty of blossoms lined the stands, along with tags of what the flowers were and what they meant.

Rider looked around, trying to remember which flowers Army liked again, when he heard a familiar, youthful voice.

"Hi! Need any help?"

The inkling turned around. Goggles had definitely changed since Rider last saw him; his tentacles were longer and in an actual bun, for once. His blue eyes still had that clarity, and he still had that goofy smile. Though he didn't seem to recognize Rider.

"Uhh... I'll be fine. I'm just trying to remember what flower my friend likes the most." He said, hoping his accent didn't give him away; there weren't many in Inkopolis with an Australian accent.

But, Goggles didn't seem to notice or care. "Oh, okay!"

Rider internally breathed a sigh of relief. That would have been awkward if Goggles recognized him.

He looked around the shop, before spotting a bouquet of lilies. He knew Army liked lilies. If they weren't his favorite flower, it'd be close enough.

Rider took a few of the bigger ones, and a few white roses for variety, and took them to the counter.

Goggles smiled. "This a special occasion?"

"Not exactly. Just, my friend's doing a performance for a musical and I wanted to get him something for it." Rider explained.

"What musical?" Gogs asked, arranging the flowers with a sheer, white ribbon tying them together.

"Hadestown. He got Eurydice."

"Oh! I went to go see it last night! Army's amazing at that role. He's your friend, right?"

Rider internally panicked, but calmed down after remembering he wasn't Army's only friend. "Yeah. We've been friends for a while now."

"Well, tell him I said hi!" He handed the bouquet to Rider. "On me, alright? It's for a friend anyways!"

Rider nodded. "Thanks, mate."

"You're welcome!"

------

A few weeks went by. Rider occasionally stopped at the flower shop and got flowers for...well, no real reason. He'd use them to add color to his house, or give them to friends. He just wanted an excuse to see Goggles.

He'd talked to the blue inkling a bit more, too. He'd gotten into the business since, well, he really liked flowers, and he wanted a job where he could just...relax! He still did Turf, of course, but the Adult league was more serious than the teen one, and he just wanted to have fun instead of be expected to take a game seriously.

He still didn't recognize Rider. The yellow-green inkling was a bit hurt by this, to be honest.

Though, it was a bit startling when Goggles actually walked into Rider's work. And Rider was assigned to give Goggles his first tattoo: A blue jay on his shoulder, taking off from a branch.

This time, it was Goggles' turn to ask questions as Rider worked.

"Sooo.... you've been coming into my shop for a while and I still don't know your name!" The blue inkling stated. "I mean, you can probably recognize me though!"

Rider shrugged. "Well, who can forget Goggles of the Idiot Blue team?"

Goggles giggled. "You do know me! I still don't know you!!"

"...I can assure you, we've met before that day I got Army flowers." Rider said.

"Ooh! Can I try and guess who you are?"

"Ehh, why not."

"Okay! Umm..." Goggles thought for a moment. "Clams facemask?"

Rider shook his head. "Nope."

"Inkfall?"

"Wrong."

"Eging Jr?"

"Not even close there."

"Stealth Goggles?"

"Getting closer, I'll give you that."

"....Rider?" Goggles asked.

Rider chuckled. "Took you long enough, idiot."

Goggles smiled wide. "I finally found you! Hi Riri!"

"Hey, Gogs. It's been a while."

"Yeah! I'm a bit surprised I didn't recognize you, since we were pretty close!" Goggles stated.

Rider shrugged. "Well, I'm not the most memorable person anyways."

"Riderrrrr don't say that!" Goggles said. "You're still really popular!"

"To some people, maybe. Not everyone."

There was a tense silence, other than the hum of the tattoo needle as it made the drawing.

"....So." Goggles started again. "How's life?"

"It's...well, better than it was." Rider said. "Got my own place, for one. Though it gets a bit lonely.. You?"

"I'm still living in an apartment. I really want a roommate!" Goggles proclaimed. "Maybe we could move in together?"

"..I'll think about it, Gogs. Though it might be fun being your roommate."

"Really? Thanks Rider!" Goggled smiled.

The conversation grew more casual. Rider enjoyed it; turns out Goggles had his fair share of gossip. It was kinda cool.

And as the next few days passed, Rider looked forward to each of those sessions. His crush seemed to go from "this person would be fun to date i think" to "hOLY MOTHER OF THE GODS IM IN L O V E", and it didn't help that during those meetings, Goggles had to be shirtless.

The days turned into weeks and months. Goggles moved in with Rider, and the two became incredibly close friends.

And, it came to a head near valentines day. Goggles' shop was very busy, as expected. Luckily, Squid Ink wasn't as much.

So, on his day off, just before Valentines, Rider headed to the flower shop and got a bouquet of roses. Cliché to confess on Valentines day, Rider knew, but he's a pining gay cut him some slack.

And Rider came home right as Goggles was leaving for his shift. So, that left Rider with a good 3 hours to practice his confession.

"Alright, Rider. This has to be CASUAL. 'Hey, I've liked you for over a decade but just now had the confidence to confess!' No, too creepy sounding. 'Yo, Gogs. I really like you and maybe we could go out to dinner sometimes?' ...Too casual."

....Yeah, this went on for a while.

Rider groaned, collapsing his his bed. "I wish feelings were fucking easier...I should just call Army."

So, he grabbed his phone and selected the contact, Veronica Sawyer Kinnie

"C'mon, Army... pick up."

And not one ring later, "Rider, what is it?"

"...I need romantic help. Please." Rider asked.

"Look, just because I'm married to Aloha, doesn't mean I know how I ended up here."

"Yeah, I kinda know that." He stated. "Still. I really need some help."

Army sighed. "Who is it? It's totally that one person with the raccoon story-"

"Actually, no. It's, um.... It's Goggles."

The octoling on the other end of the line could be heard sighing. "Still a morosexual I see."

"OI! You're the one who married a fuckin himbo!"

".....Touché. Still, there's a difference."

Rider huffed. "Just... give me some advice. I wanna confess to him tomorrow but I've got no idea how. I'm giving him roses, but like, there's gotta be something more I could do, y'know?"

"Have you tried asking Prince?" Army suggested. "He is the one with the obsession with rom coms and romance novels."

"This is his exam period, Army. I'm not about to potentially interrupt a cram session by asking for romantic advice!"

"Fair enough. I'd say...well, just rip off the band aid. Like... 'Hey, Goggles, I really like you and was wondering if you'd like to be my boyfriend.'"

"...Thanks, Arm. I'll, uh, give it a try."

-------

Rider couldn't sleep that well. Mainly out of anticipation.

He was gonna confess to his crush of...over a decade, at least. He didn't fuckin know what was gonna happen!

Like, would Goggles reciprocate? Would he hate Rider after it? WHAT THE FUCK WOULD HAPPEN-

He sighed. He needed to get his mind off this shit.

Rider looked over to his bedside clock: 5AM. 5 hours before his shift. 5 hours to get his shit together and plan for confessing to the world's cutest but also dumbest man later that night.

C'mon, Rider. Think. Army said to rip it off like a band aid, but Goggles might find that a little sudden and out of the blue. He could write a letter and leave it for Goggles when he went to his shift (The flower shop was closed on Valentines day). That would be a safe option.

Rider sat up, and got out a piece of paper and pencil, writing a note.

"Hey, Goggles.

There's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while. I really, really like you. As in, a crush.

I totally get it if you don't like me back, or think I'm weird, but hey, I was wondering if you'd wanna go out to dinner or something. Probably not tonight cause of Valentine's day but maybe tomorrow night or something.

-Rider"

Quickly, he folded it and wrote Goggles' name, putting a little heart sticker on it. It was corny, but hey, Rider had to use up those stickers somehow.

Rider attached it to the roses, and kept it on his desk.

And so, the morning went as normal. He had breakfast, got out of his pjs, put his hair up... the usual.

But as Rider left to go to work, he left the note and rose on the table, and left the house quickly.

During the day, he nearly forgotten all about it; He caught up with the gossip-Apparently the neighbor with the raccoon and the regular were now dating. So that was a nice little end to the story.

Squid Ink wasn't AS busy-probably because it was Valentines day, people were spending it with their lovers, not getting inked up (unless they made the appointment when single)

And it was near the end of Rider's shift when he heard his name mentioned. Probably someone making an appointment before he heard the familiar voice of Goggles going "Okay!!"

The blue inkling walked over to his station. "Hi Ridey!!"

"...Hey, Gogs. Getting another tat?" Rider asked, trying to keep his cool.

Goggles nodded. "Yeah!!!"

"A'ight anything specific in mind or-"

"Can I get just a simple quote one?"

Rider nodded. "Where do you want it?"

Goggles pulled down the collar of his shirt slightly. "Right here, please!"

"Okay. Just try to keep holding that down so I don't mess up.

-----

And so, tattoo conversations ensued.

The quote Goggles had wanted was a simple Pride one, that said "love is love". It was discreet, but a bit of it could be seen poking out if Goggles ever wore a v-neck.

"So, any plans for tonight?" Rider asked, trying to keep things subtle. Maybe Goggles hadn't read the note yet.

The blue inkling nodded. "Kinda! I had mental plans buuuuut nothing serious."

Rider raised an eyebrow. "Who with?"

"..I m-mean, I still have to ask him.." Goggles' face turned a shade of blue, and he averted his gaze.

"....Can I guess who he is?"

"If ya can!"

He smiled. "Does his name have an R in it?" Rider had a guess it was himself, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

Goggles nodded. "Yeah!"

"Got an accent?"

"Yep!!"

"Is he doing your tattoo?"

"....y-yeah?" Goggles sheepishly smiled. "I'm n-not that discreet, am I?"

Rider chuckled, but on the inside he was screeching. "Honestly? I had no clue myself."

"Really? I've been dropping the most obvious hints!"

"...Like what?" Rider asked, now a bit curious.

"Welllll I've been picking movies you like during movie night, I've made sure to get your drink on coffee runs, Oh! And I offered to cook dinner that one time!" Goggles stated.

"...Damn. I'm just oblivious then." The former dynamo user laughed, before turning off the needle. "There. It's all done." Rider held up a mirror for the blue boy.

Goggles' face lit up. "Whoa! It looks amazing!!! Thanks Riri!"

Rider smiled. "You're welcome. Now, uh, ...did you read my note?"

"..Y-yeah, I did. And, um...I like you too Rider!!" The blue man pressed a small, quick kiss to Rider's cheek.

Rider blushed. "S-so, you'll let me t-take you out?"

Goggles nodded. "Yeah!!!"

"I...thanks, Gogs."

"You're welcome Riri!!!"

----------

aAAAAA RUSHED END

but like. hope yall enjoy!

[sekceesimps]

A Rose Made of Chains Ch 2

a/n holy crap! thank you guys so much for all the nice comments and positive feedback about this story. This is the best Christmas gift ever. Hope you enjoy! Chapter 3 out tomorrow (Tuesday) night. 

Sincerely, Coffee

teaser.     Ch 1    Ch 3

teaser for part 2,    Ch 4,     Ch 5

Kurapika (aged up) x reader x Chrollo

warnings: This chapter does get very violent and angsty. If physical branding and torture triggers, you please don’t read  

Don’t scream. Don’t scream. You silently chanted to yourself after waking up from a horrible nightmare. For once you wake up before your torturer has a chance to dump water on you. There were no windows or other sorts of indication about the time. You analyzed your surroundings. For whatever reason, you felt motivated to fight this time. Your “room”, if it could even be called that, was made up of a small charred blanket on the ground to act as a bed, a rickety looking bucket, and a sturdy chair being held up by thick gray shackles. Just looking at the iron chair sent shivers up your spine, it was where most of the torturing had been taking place after all. You had tried using your nen ability when you had first gotten here, but it had proved futile, as it seemed that there was something that forced zetsu upon you. It wasn’t like your nen could do anything  to escape to begin with. You had no issue with being a manipulator. You were an incredibly talented and special user according to Kurapika himself. Your nen ability was being able to manipulate and influence the movement of light. It made you incredible with stealth and diversions to help your friends, but terrible at actually being able to fight back. Your ability was too weak combatively, it was kind of why you were even here in the first place. Mumbling, you continue looking for a way out as your mind goes back to the day you were taken. 

»»————-　　————-«« 

That day had started so beautifully. You had woken up to sweet humming from Kurapika as he lazily flipped through the pages of a book. After passing out on the ground next to his hotel bed the night before, he had graciously pulled you up next to him. His long arms hold you close to his warm body, making your face flush, an action only reserved for lovers, but he did so nonetheless with you. 

“Good morning, Y/N'' he greeted and put his book down. You’ll never forget the joyful glint in his eye, one that was becoming less and less common to see, as his face nuzzled into your neck. It was times like this when you wished that you could just tell him that you were his soulmate. Unfortunately, you couldn’t do that to him now. He was busy planning on what to do with the spiders. You had helped him with this plan, but he often made it clear that he didn’t want your mind to be burdened with the violence of his future actions. “Can you go to the store? We don’t have much food left and I’m tired of eating junk with Gon.” he mumbled against your neck. 

“5 more minutes,” you whined and cuddled closer against him. His warmth was intoxicating and the heavy smell of lemongrass that came off of him made you want to stay next to him forever. You don’t want this moment to end. You never get to see Kurapika smile and you’ve never seen him so vulnerable as he is in the mornings. You’d never admit it out loud, but you love to fall asleep on the ground next to his bed, knowing full well that he’s much too polite to leave you down there alone. 

“Get up, lazy” he answered and untangled his arms from your body. You know the two of you aren’t dating, but it sure did feel like it on mornings like this. “I can’t come with you today  because Leorio wants me to help him with something. Make sure to get breadsticks! Oh, and don’t forget to get something sweet for Killua” he snaps you out of your thoughts.  

“Alright alright. I’ve got it, do you need anything else,” you remarked as you dragged yourself out of the comfort of his bed. It creaked softly at the shift in weight. He shook his head and wished you goodbye. 

You never made it to the store that morning. After you had left the hideout, you stupidly decided that you wanted to take the scenic route to get groceries. Unfortunately, the scenic route at 8 in the morning is also a dangerous one. With no one out on the streets yet, safety in numbers dwindles down to ominous empty and open areas. Soft footsteps and the feeling of eyes burning into your back were felt as you made your way quickly through a quiet alleyway. You had thought nothing of the dangerous feeling until you were shoved onto the ground. You were a hunter, a natural born fighter too. However, you weren’t wise enough to anticipate an attack and bring a real weapon. It honestly didn’t come as much of a surprise when you had been quickly overtaken by three shadowy figures. You were quick to spring to the defense and had managed to give up a small fight until the tallest figure muffled your screams with a large cloth. Being pinned to the ground and knocked out was not what you had expected on your peaceful trip to the store. I’ve got this, you thought to yourself as your vision blurred and you slipped into the black abyss. 

»»————-　　————-«« 

Finally! You shriek in your head. You had found a small curved nail in the corner surrounded by dust. If you could just use it to break the padlock on the door you’d be out of your dingy room. Your inner clock was warning you that it was almost time for the water wakeup. An even better but more risky idea suddenly popped into your head. It’s going to be risky you think, but I’ll have to fight my way out of here if I have any chance of leaving. You clutch the nail in your sweaty hands and lay back down on your “bed”. The door handle lowers slowly, slowly. Creak, the hinges squeak, you close your eyes, pretending to be asleep. Footsteps come closer. You jolt up before the man can react. Surprise and luck on your side. With one sharp movement you stab the nail into the short man’s upper thigh and run as fast you can. You would have made it out too if a new woman hadn’t grabbed your collar and knocked you to the ground.

“Feitan, did you let this little mouse out? She looks a little lost.” you looked up at her serious face. Her lovely pink hair smoothed up into a ponytail. With wide and begging eyes you  pleading with her silently to let you go. She looked past you and glanced at your torturer instead, who was grumbling on the ground with his bleeding leg.                                

“I’ve got it from here.” he replied as he got up. “Time for something new anyways. The little mouse isn’t screaming as much as she used to.” he made his way over to you and grabbed the collar of your shirt roughly from her. You make yourself as limp as possible, trying to stall your impending doom. He was a small man, so it surprised you by how much strength he had as he dragged you back into your room and secured the heavy ropes onto your arms, securing you back  into your chair. 

This time he pulled a dark brown belt  and fastened it around your head and stuffed it into your mouth. You let out a muffled yelp in protest to this intrusion. This man had done so many unspeakable things to you. You had been burned heavily, close to drowned, had fingernails ripped out, but each time you had prided yourself on staying as strong as you had. You were unbearably tired of fighting. It had been so long since you saw the sun. You would give anything to have rays of light touch your skin again. 

“I have to admire your strength. Many don’t last as long as you have. Will you join the phantom troupe? Will you join us?” your torturer asked curiously. You shake your head in a vehement no. “That’s a shame. I hope the boss doesn’t mind that I do this.” he replies nonchalantly as he takes out his many knives. This time though he has something different. This time, he has an iron. 

You barely flinch at this point when he begins expertly cutting up your skin. There was a certain art that was in the way he opened up your delicate flesh and created such pain and terrible marks. For what seemed like hours he did this, ripping apart barely healed wounds, creating new ones, all the while he smiled and kept asking those four annoying words. You briefly considered entertaining him and saying yes. No! You refuse to do that. 

He removes the belt that acted as a makeshift gag, asking those four words again, “Will you join us”. You boldly spit your blood onto his face and smile wickedly. This seems to egg him on as he takes a lighter and begins warming up the iron. You hadn’t seen it before. It was beautifully shaped and at the very end you saw what looked like a… no. It couldn’t be. The more you looked at it, the more your stomach hurt and rage began building in your chest. At the end of the iron was an expertly crafted 12 legged spider. You hadn’t realized it but the rage had turned your eyes into the most passionate crimson. A shade that you refused to show anyone who wasn’t trusted. Your torturer smiles, “The boss always liked those eyes”,  as he quickly shoves the leg of your pants up to leave your thigh bare and open. The iron was sure to be hot now. The reality of the situation was setting in as the man tugged your gag off and said happily, “be as loud as you want”, before he shoved the iron onto the area beneath your soulmark. Pure pain, white hot pain blinded you. Your only form of agency now in this hell was to be quiet. You knew that sleep was taking you again as your vision darkened and your head nodded off as you passed out. 

»»————-　　————-«« 

Panicked breaths tore through the silent room. Your ragged gasps for air breaking the peace of the pitch dark stillness. As your eyes slowly adjust you try to calm yourself, you focus on your soulmark and the level-headed blonde that has the matching one. It started to feel like reassurance but now it’s become a mark of pain and conflict. 

“How are you feeling?” a calming baritone voice spoke through the darkness. As he steps forward you take in his menacing appearance. He was tall and had the funniest looking coat you’d ever seen. It was fur and looked expensive. His whole appearance and tone just screamed wealth and power. He was a man who was clearly sure of himself. He’d come to visit your torture sessions several times before already. Each time he would stand close to the shadows, just out of sight, but still close enough for you to catch a glimpse of his outline. He never said anything, choosing to watch you instead. His smoky gray eyes are always on you and drinking in your appearance. 

“I’d feel better if you just let me leave” you whimper softly. The ropes that a spider had secured on you when you had gotten here were digging roughly into your skin. You felt like your aura was constrained and it was hard to breathe. 

“You know I can’t do that darling,” he all but purred, the pet name setting your face on fire with blush. “all you have to do is say yes.” he continued, coming closer and closer to your face. You do your best to move away from him. “Perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is Chrollo Lucilfer. It truly is a shame that we had to meet like this.” he had his finger raised now and languidly stroked the less bloody side of your cheek. 

You whimper softly at his movement. His intense ashen eyes felt like they were piercing your soul. “All you have to do is say yes and all of the pain can go away,” he grinned down sweetly at your pitifully shaking form. 

Your tangible fear seemed to edge him on as he got closer and closer to the side of your face. “I don’t want to,” you stated in a last attempt of defiance. 

His warm breath was fanning across your bloodied cheek. “Oh, but you will.” He remarked casually before leaning down further to your flushed body. 

His lips were soft and they had meshed well against your own dry ones. This was the first sign of  comfort you had been given in your time here. You refused to kiss back at first, but he was right, you would give in. As he politely nipped your lip, asking for permission to take it further, you couldn’t help but take it as a sign. A sign to cling onto any warmth you could get. You had no idea if you would see this man named Chrollo again. A part of you screamed that you were betraying your soulmate, but the hungrier and more desperate part of you cried to let him comfort you. 

You pulled your head back. “I’m sorry. I don’t know anything about you.” you mumbled and bit your lip. Missing the warmth that the raven looking man had provided you with. 

He smiled sadly and sighed, “That is unfortunate. I’ll be back tomorrow and the day after that. We have some time to get to know each other before you join me.” He backed away from you and let a hand linger in your H/C hair. Pressing his lips lightly against your hand, he let you go and left the room. The heavy door slammed shut and the lights flickered off as he left. 

Wind, you thought to yourself. He smelled like the fresh and intense wind that came after a hurricane. He tasted like a small dash of sugar and fresh fruits mixed in the best tarts. You determined that you liked these new feelings. They weren’t foreign but they were still unfamiliar to you. You want to experience more, but that would hurt your soulmate wouldn’t it? You yearn for him with all your soul, but your body can’t help yet yearn for the raven haired man who offers you protection. The ghost of comforting warmth lingers on your lips as you start to feel uncertain about your future here in the spider’s den. 

a/n hope you enjoyed the tieback to the teaser and first appearance of Chrollo. The reader and Chrollo are going to have a very complex and intricate relationship that will be explained much more later. Next chapter will be in Kurapika’s POV and will be the last chapter until we hit another milestone. thanks everyone! 

Also very sorry about the formatting. I don’t understand spacing at all, I hope it doesn’t bother anyone too much. 

askbox is open if you want to talk or leave requests. 

[boiolay]

Paper Scribbles | Mark Lee

summary: the one mail that made him wish he did things differently | childhood bestfriends!au + idol!Mark

genre: fluff; angst 

warnings: swearing 

word count: 6K

"Mark! You've got mail." 

It was already past midnight when they arrived at the dorm. After working the whole day on the choreography for the comeback, the only thing the boys wanted was to go to bed and sleep for as long as they could. Mark especially. He had been drained out of energy for being involved in so many activities, differents unities, choreographies, composing… He felt like his days had less hours than his members’ so everything else than work, at that moment could wait. 

"Just leave it over the table. I'll take a look tomorrow." He mumbled rubbing his eyes as walked to his bedroom.

"I think you should take a look. It's from Canada." 

He stopped as soon as he heard his home country. It wasn't unusual for him to receive mail from his parents, but they would always tell him they were sending something. He frowned trying to remember if his mother had said something and was almost sure she didn't, but he still turned around walking back to Taeyong letting his curiosity take over him.

"Thanks, hyung." 

"Don't take too long, Markie." 

Mark nodded taking the brown envelope from his hands before the older walked away. Plopping down on the couch, he twirled it around searching for the sender's address. He didn't have a clue where that was, it was definitely from Canada, but the place written on the paper didn't ring any bells from who it could be. 

Until he found your name. 

He widened his eyes and held his breath as he read the name printed on the paper a few more times checking if he wasn't just imagining. It had been years since he last heard of you. And seeing your name written by a handwriting that wasn't his was making his heart do things that he didn’t know it could do again. 

During all those years he hasn't heard of you. But you were in every little thing that surrounded him. You were on his reflection in the mirror every time he saw the little scar under his chin from when the two of you were trying to learn how to skate. You were in the black socks that he wore because you always told him the white ones were lame. You were in the stars in the sky that you used to stare as you laid on the grass from his backyard on a weekday when you were supposed to be studying. And especially, you were in the lyrics of every song he wrote. 

Seeing it, he couldn't help but let his mind wonder back to the days when you were his partner in crime. When everyone in the neighborhood knew that when one of you were seen alone you were planning something. When his parents knew that if he wasn't on his bedroom at a friday night, he would be at yours. When he thought you were gonna be forever. 

It was probably a summer morning when you met. It has been so long that neither of you remembered, and it didn't actually matter. The two of you only knew that you meet in a playground, you weren't even three yet, Mark was feeling too shy to join the other kids on the sand box, so you walked up to him and offered your favorite cookie, asking him to be your friend. Your mother once told him you wouldn't share it with anyone but him. Well, he took a bite from it and threw it on the floor. It made you cry, but as soon as he saw tears rolling down your cheeks, he felt bad and hugged you. That was when your friendship started, and little did you know that you would never leave each other's side. At least until you were fifteen. 

You were together in every memory he had from his childhood. When you started preschool, your teachers instantly fell in love with the two of you. On your first day, you came hand in hand. He had a red cap that was almost big enough to cover his eyes and you had your pigtails bouncing as you made your way to the class. You had the biggest grins on your lips, you were the only kids in the whole class that didn’t throw a tantrum to leave their parents, after all, you had each other. There was no way your teachers wouldn't fall in love at the sight of you comforting the other children. They only found out that the duo meant trouble when, a week later, in art class, you would replace your canvas with each other's faces. At the time that idea of having pink all over your face sounded just right. It would match your dress! 

Another episode that warned what was yet to come was when you were caught trying to sneak your pet rabbit into the school trip. Mark helped you to put it on his bag so you could bring it to meet it's cousins at the zoo. Your plan failed when Mark opened his backpack to put his lunch on it on your way to the school and the rabbit jumped out. Your moms had to hold back their laughters as they tried to scold both of you. 

You wouldn’t stay away from each other even when you were grounded. Whenever your parents tried to punish you for misbehavior or something, you always found a way to be with each other. Once he was grounded because he was caught eating candy in the middle of the night, and that made his parents not let him leave the house in the following day. In the next morning, they woke up to Mark laying on his belly on the entrance hall happily kicking his legs with the door wide open. As his dad walked further to investigate what was going on, he saw you on the porch in the same position as the two of you drew and talked. Mr. Lee just shook his head grinning before inviting you to breakfast. Mark didn't disobey his parents, after all he didn't leave his house.

Mark was really found of all those memories, even though some were told by his parents and others he remembered vaguely, he treasured every moment he had with you.  As he grew up, his memories became gradually more defined so as he could remember the details of them, they also became more meaningful to him.

He was able to remember, for example, you giving him a bouquet of red flowers and wearing a dress of the same colour the night he played the flute on his band for the first time, he had felt so happy to have you clapping excitedly at his performance. Or even when you spent the whole night helping him finish his biology project that was due the next morning even though you had an english test the same day. Of course he didn’t know that, otherwise he would have never asked for your help, but when a friend in common told him that, he remembered feeling guilty and selfish. So he bought your favorite ice cream with his lunch money and stood in front of your class waiting for you to leave, ready to comfort and apologize to you. For his surprise, you came out smiling. 

“Didn’t you fail?” You laughed throwing your head back before reaching to take the cup out of his hands and linking your arm with his. 

“You think too low of me, Mark Lee.” He sighed relieved smiling while you made your way back home chatting. Little did he know that you, in fact, failed, but seeing him waiting for you made it feel like nothing. 

One memory that repeated itself every year, but became more clear in his mind as he grew up was when the two of you would run between the sprinklers of your front yard in the summer, laughing and purposely getting wet to cope with the hot weather. These were his favorite memories. It was something that first happened when the two of you were still little and your parents were too distracted with the barbecue party to notice you sneaking out. When they did, you were in the middle of the lawn giggling and running away from the water jets with your chubby feet. Mark recaled the same scene a few years later, the two of you just a little older with the same happy smiles on your lips. This time, you were being chased by your siblings and were big enough to know how to use a water gun. The last time it happened, always brought a grin to Mark’s lips, all the details were clear as day. 

He ran after you with the smile he always had whenever you were around, you also ran, but away from him. You screamed for him to leave you alone, but the laugher that would come out of your mouth every time he came close to catch you told him you didn't actually mean any of that. 

“I’m serious, Mark! I don’t want to get wetter than I am!” You shouted at him as you faced each other from opposite sides of the sprinkles, you laughed at him resting your hands on your knees. You two were panting from all the running, but you couldn’t be happier. 

“Too bad you will, loser.” He smirked at you and jumped through the jets to get to you. A surprised yelp left your lips, but you reached to take the hose that was just behind you and splashed it on his face. He coughed surprised when the water hit his eyes and you turned it off as soon as you heard him, your eyes widened and your mouth agape as you watched him recover from your sudden attack. As Mark rubbed his eyes, you walked closer to him trying to hold back your laughter with the hose still in hands. You touched his back that was turned to you and caressed it softly talking with the sweetest voice, knowing he couldn’t get mad to you when you did that. 

“Oi, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to-” At that moment, he turned around and jumped on top of you making you fall on the ground. You wiggled under him to try to pull him away, but he held your wrist pinning you down so you couldn’t move. He smirked taking the hose from you and splashing all over you, finally getting his revenge. 

“You son of a bitch!” “Yah! Don’t curse my mother!” 

He laughed as stared at you pouting with your red cheeks and your hair all wet spread on the grass. He couldn’t think of a moment when you looked more beautiful. 

“I’m sorry. I forgot it’s not your mother’s fault you are an idiot.” You flashed him a teasing grin that in just a few seconds turned into a genuine smile. You stared at his sparkling eyes and soft smile that always made your heart skip a beat. His hair was all messy and wet and you couldn’t help, but run your fingers through his strands. He closed his eyes enjoying your sweet touch leaning his head closer to you. 

“Yeah, but you still love this idiot.” He whispered and when opened his eyes to stare back at you lovingly, you grinned leaning up to rub your lips against his and whispered before kissing him slowly and tenderly.

“Well, you are not wrong.”

Besides the good memories you shared, you have always been there for each other, in the good and bad moments. Like when he broke his arm and you did all his homework for three weeks, or when your grandmother passed away and he was there to wipe all your tears. But like in every friendship, you did have a lot of fights, mostly petty ones.

Once you tried to cut your own fringe and ended with just a tuft of hair on the top of your forehead, when he saw it he laughed so hard he felt on the floor out of breath. You gave him the cold shoulder for the next two days. That was until, after your soccer practice, you forgot you were supposed to be mad at him and stormed into his bedroom with your cap still on talking happily about the goals you’ve made. He looked at you puzzled as you laid beside him on the bed, you frowned at his confused face, but soon remembered you were not talking to him. And when you were about to stand up to leave, you saw him smirk and point his chin to your head. 

“Nice cap.” You punched him on the arm, but couldn’t hold back a smile. 

“Shut up.”

Another one was when you gave him spoilers of the new Spider-Man movie. He knew it wasn’t your intention, but he so wanted to see for himself that when you told him about the ending scene he ignored you for a whole day. He only accepted your apologies when you said you would go see the movie with him and would pay for the popcorn. In a minute it was all forgotten.

You were fourteen when you confessed. Neither of you knew when the romantic feelings towards the other appeared. They were just there, hidden, until it bloomed like a flower in the spring, always ready to pop up just waiting for the right moment. It didn’t surprised him tho. It had always been you, just the two of you. Maybe it sprang up was when you held him a little tighter than the other times when he came home from a trip with his family. 

It had been over a month since he had gone to the middle of nowhere, you didn’t talk during that time because he had no access to internet. Of course he missed you, you were everyday with him, how wouldn’t he? What he didn’t expected was that when you came running to him, just a few minutes after they parked the car in the garage, his heart would go on loops. He saw you coming his way with the brightest smile on your lips, your yellow flowered summer dress floating around you and your hair fluttering, for some reason he froze on his spot as watched you come. 

Has she always been that beautiful? 

He only came back to his senses when your body hit on his almost knocking him down on the ground. He automatically wrapped his arms around you and held you tightly against him not wanting to let you go and hoping you wouldn’t hear the drums inside his chest. When you pulled away, too soon, he stared at you with shining big eyes and you smiled shyly under his gaze. 

“Hi.” 

“Hi.”

“You grew taller.” It was only then that he noticed he had to look down to talk to you now. He just nodded, lost of words, as you kept looking at the changes on the other. You stayed like that, secretly admiring each other’s features until his brother cleared his throat beside you.

“Are the lovebirds gonna help or we’ll have to wait until the wedding?” He was used to people teasing you like that, but you would always shrug it off or roll your eyes. However, this time it felt different. He saw you blush and mumble saying that you would help his mother before walking inside the house, he felt his ears burn and widened his eyes at his brother making the older laugh. 

Or maybe it was when he said 'i love you' after you gave him a bowl full of watermelon on one of your movie nights. You would always tell each other that, but that time it had a different meaning. It didn't held the same teasing tone as before. He had said it with so much tenderness and had the softest look on his eyes. It was such a usual moment, the two of you just chilling in the living room, you wearing his hoodie even being summer. You have said it was a bit chilly outside, but later he would find out that you liked to be surrounded by his scent. 

It just felt right to say at that moment. And he did it.

You just smiled extending him the bowl, ready to say it back like everytime you did something to him. But when you looked down at him he saw you freeze for a moment as you stared deeply in each other’s eyes. The same words you would always tell the other felt completely different now. And you could tell which that meaning was by his eyes that shined and overflowed with affection, admiration and love. When you smiled shyly with your cheeks tinted bright red and sat beside him, closer than you would before, he knew you were alright. 

"I love you too, Mark."

And it was just like that. You confessed to each other in the most intimate, yet innocent way it could have happened. And you knew. There was no need for other words. You reached over to lay your hand between the two of you and he gently placed his own on top of yours with a smile on his lips and his heart beating wild. He looked at you with the corner of his eyes and saw the most beautiful smile on your face as he laced your fingers together.

Not long after that you shared your first kiss. You guys were too shy and flushed to do it before, but just like the rest of your relationship, it just happened. 

He was walking you home after your first official date, or, after going for some ice cream. It was like before, but now he could hold your hand whenever he felt like. When you got to your front door, he reluctantly let go of your hand and pressed his lips together standing in front of you. He shifted his weight from one side to the other and saw you playing with your feet as looked everywhere but him. You both felt what was about to happen. Mark was nervous and he knew you also were, after all, neither of you had any experience in anything that was happening.

He cleared his throat softly and wiggled his body back and forth moving his gaze to you. 

“So… I’ll come tomorrow. And we can go to the pool or try that muffin recipe you found…?” “Cool. That’s cool for me.” 

“Cool.” When you raised your head to look at him, he chuckled softly noticing you had a little bit of ice cream on your chin. How cliché, he thought. 

“You complain that I’m a messy eater, but look at you.” With a warm smile, he stepped forward and held your jaw with one hand while the other gently rubbed the stain out of your skin. Your faces were closer than they have ever been. Mark saw the blush on your cheeks, but didn’t say anything as he felt the blood flood his. He stared at your wide shining eyes and you both couldn’t held back a smile. All the anxiousness from before completely dissipating as you drowned on each other’s eyes, he suddenly felt at peace. Feeling your breath against his skin, he closed his eyes. The only thing he remembered after that was his lips on yours.

It was... weird, but good weird. It was wet, there was too much tongue, teeth meeting more than it should. It wasn't his fault, neither yours, that’s just how everyone’s first kisses are. But yours felt just right. The way he held you tightly, like he was holding the world on his hands. The way he caressed your face tenderly. The way you held his hair, gently pulling him closer to you. The way you smiled against each other’s lips and giggled. The way your heartbeats synchronized into one. 

After you pulled away, eyes still closed, you just stood there with your arms around each other and beaming smiles on your faces. When Mark opened his eyes, he met yours, you have never seen his eyes shining so bright like that. You exchanged your goodbyes and he hugged you one last time pressing a sweet kiss on your forehead before crossing the street.  He was on cloud nine and so were you. 

Nobody was surprised when they found out you were dating. In fact, almost everyone you knew seemed to have made a bet on when the two of you would get together. Mark realized that when saw his brother giving yours twenty dollars, he had bet that Mark would only grow some balls to ask you out after you started dating someone else and your brother had bet that he would be your first kiss. Said and done. 

Your parents were thrilled when you told the. Although all of them knew you were eventually end up dating, your father was hoping it would take a little more time, but that didn't stop him from inviting Mark over just to ‘hang out’ as he used to say, even when you were busy. He told Mark that he felt like his second son and couldn't’ have wished for someone else to be with his little girl. He really enjoyed spending time with your father too, he felt like he belonged to the family even more. The only one that wasn't very keen of the two of them together was you, he would always laugh when you argued with your dad saying that Mark was your boyfriend, not his. 

Besides that, our relationship was much like any other. You had dates everyday, they wouldn’t always be going to amusement parks or to the cinema, most of them were the two of you sitting down while Mark played his guitar, or doing your homework in silence enjoying each other’s presence. The time you would spend just the two of you immersed in your own world was his favorite type of date.

One that he treasured was when the two of you had just finished your exams in school, he knew how stressed you were so he decided that you had to chill out a bit. He took two of the biggest blankets he could find and as much pillows as he could carry and ran across the street with his hands full. Since he basically lived in your house he didn't bother ringing the bell, he walked to your backyard and settled the things down on the grass and sent you a text that said “ i’m by the pool. bring doritos.” 

He watched as the lights of your bedroom were turned off and smiled to himself as he laid down on top of the pillows. When you came to meet him, you had a side smile on your lips and were already in your pajamas. 

“What is this?” He grinned brightly and reached for your hand, that you gladly held, pulling you down to lay beside him.

“This is me making you stop overthinking your grades.” You rolled your eyes playfully, but followed his lead and snuggled him under the blanket. 

You talked for hours. About the most silly things, your deepest desires and fears, you were each other’s safe place. At one point of the night, he was talking about whatever while staring at the stars, but you had found a much more interesting sight. You were on your side facing Mark and had your head rested on your hand, you couldn't help a smile as you stared at his profile. You couldn’t tell, but Mark saw your eyes roam every feature of his face, his almost defined apple cheeks, his pink pretty lips, his little nose… 

“Are you even listening to me?” He giggled when turned to face you and meet your mesmerized eyes. You shook your head lightly before smirking softly.

“I was not. It’s not my fault you distract me.” He laughed throwing his head back and clapping his hands as he felt a little blush creeping on his cheeks, but he moved to lay on his side to face you. You reached a hand and touch his face caressing every part you had been staring, rubbing his cheek, bopping his nose, what made he giggle more, contouring his lips with your thumb, but when you locked eyes he heard a sight leave your lips.

"I love your eyes, you know..." You blurted out. "I mean, I love all of you, but your eyes... They have a special place in my heart." You chuckled and stopped your hand on his apple cheek caressing it gently. He grinned widely and reached to hold your hand intertwining your fingers. 

"Is that so? Why?" 

"They sparkle. I feel like i can see your soul looking at them. They shine. Just like your soul, Mark. And you have such a beautiful one, baby.”

Those words stuck to him until now and whenever someone complimented his eyes he thought of you.

One thing he was grateful for was how much support you gave him. You were always there for him, supporting him no matter what, hyping him when he was feeling down and doing your best to make him happy. It was even you who he told first about the SM audition that was going to happen. You quickly ran to his house to make sure he had typed his informations correctly in the enrollment paper. He was still uncertain if he should try, he was very insecure of his abilities and just the thought of leaving for the other side of the world made his heart ache, but he just let you think that his hesitations were because of his insecurities. 

“Mark! You are amazing. I've already told you this a thousand times! There's nothing to worry about. You are so talented... They are gonna love you. And if they don’t, first their loss. Second, this is just a try out, it’s just the beginning, love. Your life won’t end because you failed one audition. Okay? Have some faith in yourself!” 

You skipped school to go with him to the audition. His brother offered to drive Mark so you could join since his parents would have asked if yours had allowed you to come, the answer would have been  no. During the whole ride to the city center, Mark had his legs shaking frenectly. You tried to sooth him by holding his hand and caressing the back of it, but he was too nervous, not even your touches could make him calm down. 

Once his brother parked the car he felt his heart stop. Mark was so tense that he didn't remember much of what happened after that. He knew his brother had talked the whole time you were waiting, making jokes to try to make him laugh and you hadn’t let go of his hand even for one second. He was glad you were there to reassure him even if it was just by squeezing his hand. 

At some point he was told by the staff that he had to go alone from there. He sighed deeply and nodded at his brother and you, if he wasn't so terrified the would have laughed, it looked like you were the one auditioning. You let go of his hand and offered him a smile, he turned around to walk inside, but after a few steps he felt your hand on his arm, meeting your gently eyes when he turned back. 

“Hey. Before you get in. I just want to say how proud I am of you. I can't put in words how amazing and talented you are. Just trust in yourself, Mark. You are gonna shine more than the brightest star in the sky. And i'll always stand by your side no matter what happens.” You winked and gave him your brightest smile. “Now go get them.” 

That was all what he needed to regain his confidence. 

The results came a week later. 

When he told you the news you screamed and laughed like never before, hugging him so tight that he had to ask you to loose it a bit. You had told him how happy and proud you were of him and gave him a little lecture about how he should trust himself more, but soon was kissing all over his face again. Before you left to go home, he thought he had seen a different shade on your eyes, but he shrugged it off at that time.

The time he had to say his goodbyes and pack was way too short. He tried to stay as much as he could with you, but he had a ton of things to do before leaving to Korea it made hard for you to have some time alone. He was feeling bad because he felt like he wasn’t giving the attention you deserved, but you reasured him that it was alright, that you understood why that was happening and that you would be with him even if he just had two minutes to talk to you.

On the day before he would go to Korea he took to spend it only with you, he took you to a walk on the park, bought you your favorite ice cream, took you to the little playground where you met and didn't let go of your hand. It didn't even feel like he was leaving, he was so happy to be able to make you laugh and look at your bright eyes that he forgot why he was doing that. 

He only remembered it later that day when he heard you on the sleepover you were having at his house. Neither of you were supposed to sleep, so you could spend more time together, but he closed his eyes and felt asleep. He woke up a few minutes later when heard the bathroom door close followed by your quiet sobbs. He realized how difficult it was for you to let him go. He knew you were happy for him, but he could understand what you were going through. Having your best friend in life that it’s also your boyfriend to move to the other side of the world while you had no choice, but sit back and watch, it breaks anyone's heart. He didn't think he could be so selfless if he was in your shoes. All the times when he thought about becoming an artist he saw you by his side,  but he realized that you always somehow knew that wouldn't be possible, that you couldn’t be part of that. Even so, you were there supporting him, wanting him to pursue his dreams, to be happy, even if that meant that you would have to let him go. 

Just by hearing your shaky breath he could tell you were trying to control your emotions, but every time you would inspire, a loud sobb would come out from your chest. It was too painful hearing you break like that. He barged in the bathroom what made you quickly try to put a smile on your face and hide your sadness, but failed. He just pulled you into his chest and buried his face on your neck letting his own tears flow down his cheeks while you resumed crying, this time on his arms. Once you were calmer, he brought you to the couch where you hugged each other for the whole night while he caressed your hair and whispered on your ear sweet nothings and promises that he didn’t know he could keep. 

You didn't come to the airport with him in the next day. You had told him that you prefered to say your goodbye on your street when you could pretend he was just going on a trip. He had laughed, but felt his heart ache. When the time came, you tried not to look at him, he knew you didn't want him to see you cry again, he knew you wanted to be strong for him, but he held your face to make you stare at him, he wanted to look into your eyes since he didn't know the next time he would be able to do it.

You didn't need to say a lot of words to make him understand everything you wanted to tell. He pulled you to a last tight hug staying like that for a few minutes. Eventually, he had to pull away since his parents were telling him they should go. He held your face between his hands, eyes roaming around your features like he was trying to engrave the sight of you on his brain.He let go of you with a nod once he felt tears start to rush to his eyes. As he was about to enter the car, you held his hand catching his attention. You walked to be in front of him and leaned up to press your lips gently against him. 

“I’m really proud of you. And I love you.” 

And then he left to Korea to chase his dreams, leaving the love of his life behind.

All those memories, those intense moments brought a sad smile to his lips and made tears well up on his eyes. He sighed deeply rubbing his hands on his face and trying to put himself back together after those old feelings that had come intensely over him all at once. Even after so long you had the same effect on Mark as before. 

Yes, of course he dated after you. He fucked around, he was at his peak of popularity, there were girls falling on his feet, he tried to forget you, he tried to find someone with whom he could share his life. But none of them felt right the way you did. He couldn't help comparing them to you and none of them came even close to be as special as you were. Even if his head wanted to let go of you, his heart wouldn't . He couldn't love them the way he loved you. The way he loves you.

Mark stared at the brown envelope on his hands and twirled it one last time before opening with trembling hands. Inside there was another envelope, but this time it was a pretty white paper sealed with a golden wax. He turned around to look at the back and he read his own name written in your elegant handwriting, just like in the notes you would leave around his bedroom or on his notebooks. He smiled fondly and ran his finger over his name feeling warmth spread on his chest. Soon, after letting his thoughts run to you again, he left out a shaking breath before finally breaking the seal and pulling another paper from inside, his heart beating wildly on his chest. 

As soon as his eyes met the first words he froze. His heart sank. Feeling a bitter taste on his mouth he read the golden letters over and over, but couldn't believe. Or didn't want to. He only realized he was crying when some words on the bottom of the paper were becoming blurry. He dropped the papers on his lap and rubbed his eyes trying to get rid of the excess of tears on his eyes. His mind was blank. How could that have happened? How he could have let that happen?

He the papers once again, but this time he noticed something that he didn't have before. 

At the back of the paper, on the top corner written on a red pen that didn’t match the golden letters printed on the paper there was a inscription scrambled on your handwriting. He couldn't help sobbing when he finished reading. It said: 

“My love, i confess, i’m getting married, but the love of my life was and it’s always gonna be you. Yours, ___ .” 

author’s note: so....??? i loved writting this so much, but i cried so hard at the end. I would really really really love to read what you guys thought of it. And if you came until here, thank you so much!!! <3 

[home-is-where-beels-tiddies-are]

i lost the post i had that gave all of caragan’s info, so i’ll just post it again here. first pic is caragan after they die, because only obey me could drive me to design a character post-death 

i did design the sigils myself. then i added the sin marks from the cards, put that little pact symbol on it, and i took the original symbols from the actual demons and simplified/altered them. because i didn’t think it was a good idea to use the actual symbols. don’t wanna manifest something ya know lmao 

very long info dump under the cut. (info dump is copied from the post i lost) and yeah, caragan is a generic super powerful protagonist. so prepare for cheese 

likes: drawing, reading, gaming, and staying at home. they are drawn to dark things; horror, dark colours, literally most things dark.

home/family: they live alone, but near their parents, and they visit almost daily. they have a cat and three snakes (while caragan is away, the fur and scale babies are taken care of, don’t worry) 

age: 27 yrs old, born Jan 7th 

gender: nonbinary, they/them 

height: 4′10 / 147 cm

occupation: part time job, they also make bits and bobs to sell; art, crochet, etc. they went back to college too (and how they signed up for a certain exchange program; in my headcanon, they signed up for it and expected something mundane) then, after their first visit to the devildom, they start learning about the peace that diavolo proposed in their own time, and volunteer for the human organizations involved 

the design after they die: neither angel or demon, appearance shows physical attributes of both. (i also have a lot of post-death info, but… this is already so much, so i will leave it out) the ref i made is below: (worth noting that before their “fall,” using the term very, very loosely, everything on them that is red was white)

appearence: 

they wear all black with small, brightly coloured accessories 

brightly coloured accessories are normally bracelets, scarves, or pins. socks are also always nauseatingly bright 

casual outside attire: black hoodie, black t shirts, black ripped jeans, and converse 

casual around the house attire: grey sweatpants, obnoxious socks, a tank top, and sometimes a sweater or jacket they’ve stolen from the brothers 

formal attire: usually a suit, but asmo can convince them to wear a dress by finding amazing ones and wearing a dress too 

school uniform: jacket sleeves rolled up, or while in classrooms, off completely. no tie, ever. dress pants, wears black flats instead of dress shoes. during their first year, they kept their hair in a ponytail in class 

always wearing their favourite necklace 

first year piercings:

left ear - bar piercing in top, three normal piercings on bottom

right ear - three normal piercings on bottom 

second visit piercings:

left ear - same

right ear - three normal piercings on bottom, and two new normal piercings on top 

they wear binders to their classes and almost always when they go out for less active shenanigans 

rarely wears a binder in the house of lamentation; the first thing they take off when they get home 

hair is greying on both sides of their head, also some greys on top

always, always has dark circles and bags under their eyes 

brothers + romance: they are absolutely smitten with all of them, and they are very blunt and obvious about it. their favourite, though, is beel. this is kept as plainly obvious as their feelings for the others. since they love all of the brothers, they don’t hide their attraction to anyone. for the most part, it works out. 

pact mark locations:  (see first ref pic) 

lucifer - throat 

mammon - upper back 

leviathan - lower back 

satan - left inner thigh 

asmo - right inner thigh 

beel - right inner wrist 

belphie - left inner wrist 

overall, they’re very shy and awkward, and they like to joke around to cover it up. generally quiet, even around those they’re comfortable with. (they don’t talk a lot unless they’re having a ‘moment’ - a day where they’re hyperactive) they have crippling anxiety and depression, but the medication they take eases it. gets irritable around loud noises/people. they make an attempt in having a decent sleep schedule, but most nights they’re awake for hours longer than they intend to be. sleep schedule is more erratic when in the devildom. (probably belphie’s fault.) 

everything below is uh… like, how they act/react to the other characters.  

lucifer:  they mirror what lucifer offers them; if he’s being soft, they will be soft in turn. if he is upset with them, they will apologize and attempt to do better, and they expect the same if the roles are reversed. stuff like that. they don’t openly flirt with lucifer the same way they do some others, instead they focus on gentle interactions. they kept close to lucifer when they first arrived in the devildom (when mammon ditched them) because they deemed him more trustworthy than anyone else. 

mammon:  when with mammon, every filter caragan has is demolished instantly. given mammon never tried to kill or charm them, they grew to respect him very quickly. they also don’t treat mammon like an idiot; they’ve dealt with that themselves enough. yes, they tell him off for doing things that will very clearly come back to bite him in the ass, but they never target his intelligence because they know he’s smarter than he lets on. they openly flirt with mammon because they like to make him blush. they both get into trouble often, but they have each others’ backs throughout. 

leviathan:  they don’t spend as much time with leviathan, but they do enjoy his company. they usually lock away their info dumping and interests, but not with leviathan. he gets to gush about the things he loves, and they match his energy. he tries to offer the same courtesy. they also like to flirt with leviathan to make him blush, but they don’t do it as heavily or as often because his rejections/self deprecating comments make them feel bad. they are also thankful that they can talk to him about their anxiety and he understands it. they rarely call him “levi.” 

satan:  they also don’t spend as much time with satan, but less so than leviathan. they can’t help but feel stupid when they’re with him, so they don’t socialize with him often. buuut any time he offers to socialize, they don’t turn him down. in fact, caragan gets excited. he’s also where they turn to when they’re struggling with their studies or curious about something demon related. they do attempt to joke around and flirt with him, but it’s like a game of chicken, and caragan always ducks out. fairly quickly, too. 

asmodeus:  caragan adores asmo, but they can’t really place why. they also consider him as much a work of art as he does himself. they are very soft with asmo and they rarely flirt with him in a conventional way. even though they reject most sexual advances, they are as handsy as asmo is. asmo is their official cuddle buddy and they love to shower him in gentle affection. if asmo is in sight, they can often be caught staring. at first, they’re very embarrassed by this, and the brothers poke fun. eventually, though, they’re utterly shameless and just widen their smile if asmo catches them. 

beelzebub:  they love beel more than life itself, and that is absolutely not an exaggeration. at first, they were very avoidant and anxious when it came to beel, but when they started to hang out with him, they found him very easy to be around. the attraction started then, but then became way too strong when beel went into full demon mode over his custard. (mood) they started following him around everywhere. they continued that trend well into the year and the following visit. they’re very affectionate and clingy, sitting his lap and hugging him constantly. they carry around as many snacks as their pockets can hold for beel and beel only. 

belphegor:  they knew from the start that belphie was lying to them in the attic and probably meant them harm, but they never held it against him. they never really held their death against him either. they’re quiet around belphie for the most part, even when they started to like him. they often nap with him (against their better judgement) too. the two of them talk a lot about their ideal “me and you and beel” future. more than is healthy. their conversations outside of that are often filled with snark and a weird tension that caragan doesn’t understand. it usually melts away after a cuddle and a nap, though. 

diavolo:  they instantly liked diavolo. they’re very cautious and anxious around him, but they try to be warm in their interactions with him. they do call him “lord diavolo,” and treat him with due respect. he usually throws them for a loop with most things he does, but they try to keep up and be understanding. they have a strong need to get closer to him, for reasons that they don’t understand or even try to understand. they don’t do much about it either. his demon form causes them to become flustered. very flustered. the not-oblivious brothers tease them for it. they have such a huge crush on him. 

barbatos:  they don’t interact with him that much, or try to interact with him outside of things that are necessary. they have nothing against him, they just don’t feel the need to. they’re very polite to him, as polite as they are to diavolo. while they’re curious about him, they don’t go out of their way to interact with him. there’s really not much there besides mild curiosity. 

solomon:  they think he gives off a copious amount of mischievous vibes and it puts them off. at first. they are kind and polite towards him, and they would consider him a friend. the friendship is essentially that “we have no friends in this class so we will become friends to fill the void. but only in this class. we will never speak to each other outside of this place.” it’s not nearly as specific, but that’s the flavour of friendship they have in the beginning. eventually, he grows on caragan and they end up looking forward to seeing him. they just find him very fun. 

simeon:  they think simeon is beautiful and has been caught staring almost as much as when they stare at asmo. with simeon though, they will never be shameless about their staring. they continue to be embarrassed about it forever. forever. they’re polite and kind to simeon, but they feel he keeps himself closed off from them. during their second visit to the devildom, with the play and all, they become a little scared of simeon. it doesn’t change the way they interact with him, but it does put them off for a bit. and after some overthinking, they end up being more drawn to him. 

luke:  they were very anxious around luke, at first. they don’t like kids, and generally become twice as awkward around them. eventually, they found him adorable. when they speak to him, they will focus on child logic, but they do speak to him the way they would speak to anyone. never patronising. happily helps him with studies if they can, gives him affirmation and reassurances whenever needed, and is protective. they have even been known to stand up to lesser demons when they target luke. (when simeon isn’t around; it’s rare) even though caragan is scared shitless the whole time, they try anyway. seeing as they’re only 4′10, they never make short jokes or anything of the like. when the brothers make short jokes, they shoot disapproving looks and will express disappointment if it drags on too long. 

the end of their life time:  they go on to live for a while, dedicating themselves entirely to diavolo on the human side of things, even becoming a public speaker for it. sharing their experiences n all that. which is something they’d never do for anything else. 

at a certain point though, about 50 yrs old or so, they do stop visiting the demon brothers because they’re getting old. they die shortly after in an accident. brothers don’t find out because caragan was already avoiding them. (though, there is general unease because of the bonds they have with caragan. they know something’s very, very wrong but not what. they fear the worst, and they’re right to.) 

but for all the things they did for “the cause,” they were to be judged in the celestial realm. (and… i see it as… in a horrible, horrible way, the big guy upstairs knew everything that would happen with lilith, and deemed her and her brothers an acceptable loss in exchange for peace. it was all orchestrated. i also think that diavolo knew the plan, for the most part. he has his own reasons for wanting the peace, but he does know what the plan was.) 

but they’re escorted to The Big Guy by simeon and luke (a cute reunion with hugs) and he straight up asks caragan what they want. like they can stay here, go to the devildom, or remain in the human realm. 

in any case, they’ll be given all the attributes needed to thrive in all three realms, but only if they continue in their trying to maintain peace. obviously, caragan is all for continuing. and of course, they choose to make their home with the brothers. god’s all like, “you will retain your angelic status, but you do have to fall to achieve the status of demon. are you sure?” they have to have demon attributes to ensure survival and comfort living among demons, so that’s why. 

and caragan straight up says, without missing a beat, “even heaven is hell without them.” everybody knows who they’re talking about. simeon is torn between “that’s so rude” and “that’s so sweet” and luke is horrified. god just laughs. 

they all talk a bit longer so caragan knows exactly what they’re getting into. they will have a lot of power as both angel and demon, but they have to keep their humanity in exchange for that power. which means, inevitably, their long life will become a curse. no human is built to live for a millennia, so it’ll take a toll on their mind and at the end of it all, they won’t be themselves anymore. 

caragan basically says, “yah, worth it. lezgo.” god hands them paperwork, some explaining what caragan is and why, as well as a peace treaty thing to give to diavolo when they get home. i was thinking it’d be something cheesy like “the treaty of the last fallen angel.” no more fallen angels after caragan, they fell so no one else has to again. idk, symbolism or something. but even the future angel/demon hybrids won’t have to fall. 

cue caragan yeeting themselves from the celestial realm. 

diavolo knows caragan’s about to fall (barbatos n all that) and gathers the brothers to the place it’ll be. caragan is just a ball of blue flames, then a crater, the brothers are baffled. 

falling hurts a shit ton (even without losing wings and all that), so caragan ends up crying, but they cry blood. (for angel reasons. i dunno why i think angels cry blood.) which drips from their face and onto the white fabric of the thing they’re wearing, and then everything white fades into a red, even the white of their eyes. (i want to try very roughly animating that one day.) 

then there’s another heart warming reunion, but also with a shit ton of heart break because not only did caragan die, they also just fell. the brothers are angy.

before the brothers can get all “let’s fight god,” caragan hands diavolo the paperwork, all of which he reads out loud for the brothers. 

uh. roll credits. 

just tidbits:

caragan is an angel of perseverance and a demon of despair. 

they have six wings and six eyes on each wing. 

their halo was a tangible ring of golden light, but when they fell, it became horns. but like… still in a ring shape. still a halo. just different. 

they are barefoot in their angel/demon form because they have talons and also just… hate shoes. 

when all the white turned red, all the gold turned silver. 

they look as they did during their second visit to the devildom when they enter their “afterlife.”  

their human form is also just… them. hoodie, ripped jeans, everything, they’re just themselves. 

[uwuwriting]

My OCs

Okay okay so these are my OCs, I’m sorry if their names aren’t really Japanese I googled most of their names back when I started creating them. I hope you enjoy them and well let's get started. I didn’t include Sky aka Shirakumos daughter even though technically she is one of my OCs, I felt that since I have introduced her in my fics *by name* I’ll leave her a rather blank slate for yall *I can describe her as well if yall want that though*. Hope you like them and yes some of the quirks were inspired by Avatar. Love ya💖💖💖

Kenushima Akane

 Akane is in her mid 20s, her birthday is on 30th of December making her a Capricorn and is part of our favorite villain group, the LoV. She was the eldest child of two pro heroes who married because it would satisfy the media and boost their careers. She had two younger siblings, the twins Annya and Arakan. She is around 5’7 (170cm) with fairly long auburn hair which are always braided so they don’t get in her way, amber eyes and a burn mark on her right shoulder from a small scuffle with our favorite fire user. Her hair and eyes become a dark red when she uses her quirk making her even more menacing. She wears a black mask over her eyes, keeping that way her identity a secret and a rather tight uniform consisting of black leather overall-shorts matched with a black-red plaid shirt and thigh highs with black military boots. Her weapon of choice is anything you can swing. Her quirk is a powerful blood bending type which she inherited from her mothers’ side. She can control the blood in someones’ system to the point of a heart attack or a stroke. Once the blood is out of the persons’ system she can still wield it, sharpening it into a blade like shape and cut through both flesh and bone, the new blood adding to the power of her makeshift blade. Her limits begin when she gets a nose bleed followed by either her eyes or ears starting to bleed as well; the final stage is giving herself a heart attack but she has never reached that point thankfully. It’s a self-destructive quirk since she pushes her body’s boundaries everytime she activates it, making her vulnerable to diseases after a particularly hard fight. She is a master of many forms of martial arts, kicking anyone's ass without even having to use her quirk.  Her family is wreck *lmao*. Since her parents married out of convenience the kids were results of moments of weakness between the two adults. Her household wasn’t very affectionate, partnered with her fathers’ constant absence and negligence and her mothers overly obsessive quirk demands, her relationships soon turned abusive. Excessive training and brutal punishments were her mothers’ tactics to ensure a picture perfect quirk state which she could boast about in the media. Her father was a decent figure during the sparse moments when he was actually in the house. He treated his kids with some trace of humanity and not like objects but he too didn’t really care. Everything went downhill when rumours of affairs surfaced and her mother lost her senses, killing their father on the kitchen floor before getting to the children. Akane tried to protect her siblings but was easily tossed aside by her mother and she doesn’t remember what actually happened that night. The only thing she knows for sure is that she was now an orphan and one sibling short, losing both her home and her brother that night. She didn’t stay in foster care for long since she dipped, joining a group of castaways called the Deck. Due to her quirk she was named the Queen of Hearts and became one of the most feared and powerful villains in Japan. Soon she joined the LoV after Shiggy approached her, officially meeting Dabi *who is her s/o btw lol*. She’s still close with her little sister Annya and owns a bookstore so she won’t have to steal. She has morals *shocker*, killing only those who have comitted crimes varying from abuse to murder or fraud. She is against useless killing and would prefer to clear the streets from scum rather than litter it with herself. She’s kinda like an anti-hero. She joined the LoV so she could have easier access to the insights of the hero industry and slowly help take out those hero frauds. She likes cooking Mexican food, her favorite animal is the fox and she is deathly afraid of spiders to the point she once burned her table using a lighter and hairspray because she had seen a spider on it. All in all she is a lovely person *I think*.

Kenushima Annya

Annya is 15 and part of class 1-A, her birthday is on the 3rd of January *like me heh* making her a Capricorn. She is the youngest of a twin set and has an older sister, while her parents were pros. She is around 5’7 (170cm) with shoulder length dark brown hair, amber eyes and faint lightning like scars scaling down both of her arms. Dark lavender streaks appear in her hair when she over uses her quirk and her scars shine the same color many times pulsating along with the surges of her blasts. Her uniform consists of a tight black crop top with azure and magenta details alongside black pants, black boots which are specially designed to give her extreme jumping power helping her also levitate for a short period so she can unleash her attacks and lastly gloves that cover almost all of her scars *also black with the same patterns as the top*. Has basic combat skills but she mostly prefers to rely on her quirk. Speaking of her quirk, she has a combo of a water and a lightning quirk making her able to easily electrocute others without short circuiting like Kami. She can control any form of water, making her easily overpowered in seaside missions but she can also control any liquid which has some water in it. However she cannot create water from thin air, like Shoto can make ice, and she can’t freeze it. Much like her sister she uses water mostly as a whip or a blade. Lightning is used mainly as one of her ultimate moves since she doesn’t have full control over it and it tends to hurt her scars when she does use it. She can let the purple strings of light course through her and hit her target with incredible force making her excellent for range attacks. Just like her sister she reaches her limits when her nose starts to bleed and she can pass out from dehydration  due to her quirk using up some of the water inside of her body with each attack. Now for her family life. She was a late bloomer and that was unacceptable according to her mother. She didn’t showcase signs of having a quirk until the age of 9 when her mother attacked her and her siblings. In a fit of rage and despair her mother tried killing her for ruining the familys’ image with her quirklessness. Her twin brother tried to save her from her mother *just like Akane did* only to be tossed aside as well, hitting the back of his head on a nearby table. Seeing both of her siblings on the ground *and almost being choked to death by her abuser* Annya activated her quirk, losing complete control over her powers resulting in her scars and the death of her mother. Arakan was pronounced dead on arrival leaving the two girls the only surviving members of the Kenushima family. After Akane’s disappearance, Annya was moved from home to home for about a year before being adopted by a couple and living as much of a normal life as she could. Her mental health isn’t the best as one can imagine, suffering from PTSD from the incident and having self hating tendencies. Becoming a hero is her way of proving to herself that she’s not a monster and that she can indeed help others. In class 1-A she tends to hang out with the Dekusquad and two other girls who I’ll introduce down the line. Her hero name is Electra and her s/o is Shoto *lol siblings are dating siblings tf*. She likes Autumn and Winter, loves going ice skating, has many plants in her room and loves watching horror movies with her friends.

Aizawa Kaiya

Kaiya is 15 and part of class 1-A despite her father being the homeroom teacher. Her birthday is on the 19th of June making her a Gemini. She sports the legendary jet black hair, her hair is also pretty long so she always has to braid it or put it up in a ponytail and she has egirl bangs *I don’t know how else to describe them*. Her eyes are a striking azure and she has dyed the tips of her hair the same color. Ya girl is shorter than the Kenushimas, barely reaching 5’2 (160cm). Her hero costume consists of black cargo pants with multiple pockets, a black turtleneck and chest straps(?) around her waist and collarbone finishing the look with black military boots. Sometimes she might wear a gas mask which helps her control her breathing.  Now for her quirk. It’s some type of psychic power, she can hear people’s thoughts making it easy for her to know what they are about to do, giving her the upper hand almost every time, but she can aslo channel her own and others thoughts and make dark shards out of them. These shards can be thrown with amazing speed or create a protective wall in front and above her. Her quirk ,though drains her very easily, making it hard to breath and walk in a straight line. She gets light headed while the voices inside her head get overly loud. Through practice she can push her boundaries and use more of her quirks’ power. Lastly in order for her to hear your thoughts she needs to see you. Once she sees you for even a quarter of a second, she can see into your head even long after you have left her line of sight. Her family life is very calm compared to the Kenushimas. She is the daughter of Aizawa’s sister who vanished when Kaiya was five. Having no one else to care for her since her real father wasn’t in the picture, Aizawa took his niece in and raised her as his own. She was too little to remember her mother and for years she believed that Shouta was her actual dad but Dadzawa did tell her the truth. Nothing really changed, she still calls him dad and they have a lovely father-daughter relationship. She loves Eri and loves being her older sister, playing with her, doing her hair and taking her to the dorms to meet her friends. She has a pet cat named Majesty who she uses to bribe Aizawa to buy snacks. She likes rainy days, beating Shinsou’s ass during training, being pinned by Shinsou while training, Halloween, cats and fluffy blankets. She is friends with mostly Annya, Shinsou and Sky but she doesn’t mind hanging out with the Deku or the Baku squads. Her hero name is Calypso. Her s/o is Shinsou much to Aizawa’s dismay. He is salty because this happened right under his nose, Dadzawa was too busy looking out for the 1-A boys that he completely ignored his trainee pinning his daughter down during training *he is really glad that she likes Shinsou bc he knows that he is a good kid*.

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[crystalgirl259]

Wolves Of Secrets Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Lone Wolf

Dark was the night as the full moon shined over the great city of Ninjago. The cold, misty wind whistled through the city as the citizens went about their own business, either going home to be with their families for the rest of the evening or to their evening jobs. The city of Ninjago was built on the sunny side of a gentle mountain and was truly a beautiful place. Its grace was only matched by the backdrop of lush, green forests which have helped shape the ancient city to what it was today.

The city had a very clear Japan, Tokyo feeling too it.

The city's skyline was growing with stylish skyscrapers and they each represented the many different aspects of the sizeable city. Businesses were booming in Ninjago and it had attracted a lot of attention. A few new cultures had left their mark not just on education, but also upon the city's identity. What historically was a city of predictability has grown into a new culture of variety and it's this that united the nearly 6 million people to this day.

It's this multicultural identity that had truly left its mark.

Hundreds of gastropubs, bakeries, and clubs offer a plethora of culinary choices. Those who felt hungry for something else could enjoy art galleries, musical activities, photography, or one of the many other recreational activities. Just outside the main city area, right on the edge of the dark forest, stood a large, lone house. In this house was a very special family. From the outside, this house looked cosy. It had been built many, many years ago with white bricks and had spruce wooden decorations.

Small, half-rounded windows added to the overall style of the house and had been added to the house in a fairly asymmetrical pattern.

The house was equipped with a large kitchen, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms. It also had a large living room, four bedrooms, a roomy dining room, a garage, and a large basement. The roof was high and slanted to one side and was covered with black ceramic tiles with a small chimney. Many smaller windows let in plenty of light to the rooms below the roof. The house itself was surrounded by quite a modest garden, with mostly grass, a few colourful flower patches, and a small shed at the other end of the garden.

Inside the house, a young teenage boy sat on the couch, eating popcorn and watching a movie.

This was Lloyd Garmadon. He had long, blonde tousled hair, and brown arched eyebrows with bright emerald green eyes that many people would state could sometimes glow in the dark. He wore a dark green jacket with a white t-shirt and black pants and black and dark green sneakers. As the clock was about to strike midnight, Lloyd was about to turn the boring movie off when suddenly with was a rustling sound outside. Fearing the worst, he quickly switched off the TV, grabbed his coat, and ran outside.

As soon as he stepped out into the cold night, however, instead of the rustling he had heard mere seconds before, all he could hear was an owl hooting nearby and the wind howling through the trees.

He was about to go back inside when all of a sudden he heard a loud crash from the other side of the house. He quickly ran towards the sound and was shocked by what he saw. He saw a full-grown, grey timber wolf sniffing around some turned over trash cans, snacking at the rancid chicken meat. He looked to the steel doors to the basement and was horrified to see another wolf attempting to jump out. As soon as the grey wolf sensed him, it slowing turned around to face the teen with a low growl, baring its sharp teeth.

Lloyd, however, was completely unfazed by this and he simply stood up straight.

"Get back inside!" He roared, startling the wolf for a second before it crouched down and started snarling louder. Instead of running away, however, Lloyd simply lowered onto his knees and bared his blunt teeth at the wolf. His emerald green eyes suddenly turned to a stunning gold that shined in the dark. The teen and the wolf snarled at each other as Lloyd slowly crawled forward, making the wolf back up. The grey wolf suddenly yelped as it fell back into the dark cellar.

Lloyd's eyes returned to their normal color as he stood up and looked into the dark pit.

Suddenly one of the wolves jumped up and bit into his thick coat's sleeve, ripping it off as the wolf fell back down. Not missing a beat, Lloyd quickly closed and locked the cellar doors, looking at the full moon as the wolves muffled howls sounding into the night...

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

The next morning, as the rain came pouring down, Lloyd quickly got dressed and ran down to the cellar. He loudly slid the iron door open and stepped inside where he saw his mother Misako and his uncle Wu slowly getting to their feet as the finished getting dressed. His mother had ash grey hair braid into a ponytail with a snowy white streak and pale green eyes. She wore a pale khaki utility jacket with dark brown pants and a short, dark green scarf.

Wu was an elderly man with a long white beard.

He was wearing white robes and a conical straw hat. They both yawned and stretched as Lloyd glared daggers at them.

"I think that chicken was off." Misako gagged as she clutched her stomach.

"I can't believe you two." Lloyd glared Breaking out and raiding the bins."

"Oh, Lloyd!" She cried as she rushed forward and examined his arm. "I am so sorry! I didn't break the skin, did I?! Does it need stitches?!" She panicked, but he pulled his arm away from him.

"You always say how I have to stay hidden from humans and never give in to our wolves." He growled as they walked back upstairs to the kitchen. "Yet the moment you get a chance, you're out of the cellar and away!"

"You don't understand how powerful the pull of the full moon is," Wu explained. "When you're old enough to take wolf form-"

"I won't be a hypocrite, who says stay hidden and then breaks out at the first whiff of food!" He replied and turned to his mother with a slightly disgusted look. "And that chicken..."

"Actually, your mother's not the only one who's been eating things she shouldn't, is she?" Wu frowned as he opened the trash can to reveal the leftover popcorn.

"Yes, and you were still dressed when you came outside, young man." Smiled Misako when her son froze. "Didn't we agree in bed at 10 on school nights?"

"I'm going to miss the bus." He quickly said and ran for the front door. When he made to grab his coat, however, he let out a long sighed when he saw the missing sleeve...

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

Lloyd blushed furiously as he kept his eyes on the school floor as the other students stared and laughed at his soaked clothes. He let out a small growl as he shivered; his mother owed him a new coat.

"Hey, Lloyd!" A voice called out and he looked up to see his friends Zane Jullien, Jay Walker, Kai Smith, Nya Smith, and Cole Brookstone stood by their lockers, waiting for him.

Jay reddish-brown curly hair with brown eyebrows and light freckles with dark blue eyes. He wore a blue jacket with a white stripe over a white t-shirt and blue pants with an orange wooly scarf.

Zane had platinum blonde, almost white, hair that stood up straight in something like a crew cut and bright icy blue eyes. He wore white pants and shoes with a long-sleeved, cyan blue shirt under a navy blue knitted vest.

Kai had tall, thick spiky brown hair, shaped like fire and bright amber eyes that shined like burning embers. He had a focused expression on his face, with a scar visible on his right eyebrow and bandage above his left. He wore a red half-zipped-up jacket over a white shirt with some kind of Japanese symbol on the back of the jacket and brown pants.

Nya was Kai's younger sister who had long black hair kept in a ponytail, pale pink lipstick, small dimples on her cheeks with dark brown eyes, and she had a beauty mark on her right cheek. She was wearing a leather jacket over a white shirt with blue stripes and dark blue torn jeans.

Cole had a very muscular body, being the strongest kid in the whole school, with long, shaggy black hair and bushy eyebrows with very dark green eyes that reminded Lloyd of cold emerald stones. He wore a black leather jacket and pants with a dark brown tank top and black heavy-duty boots.

Lloyd smiled as he walked over to them. They were the only people who could possibly understand the struggles he faced every day as a teenage werewolf; because so were they. Well... sort of anyway. Only he and Nya had yet to transform on a full moon, but they knew it could happen any month now and they were both nervous and excited.

"What happened to you?" Jay asked when they saw he was dripping water into the hallways.

"My coat got eaten by werewolves." He deadpanned.

"Don't you start too." Kai groaned.

"We've already had this from... Oh, Pixel!" Nya suddenly smiled as the said girl walked over to them. Pixel had pale, almost white, skin with wide lips and bright green eyes. Her hair was styled like Nya's and was a very light platinum blonde. She had a purple dress with red details and an opening in her left arm that showed a part of her chest, and red heels. Lloyd simply smiled and rolled his eyes. Pixel Borg was the only one in their friend group that wasn't a werewolf.

She was a very good friend to them, mostly to Zane, since childhood and it hurt them they couldn't share their secret with her.

"Did you hear last night in the forest?" She asked with a big smile on her face, but they all shrugged. "Howling." She replied and they froze as she pulled out her cell phone. "Here, look what I found on Carper's Lane this morning." She explained as she showed them a picture of a paw print in the mud. "I'm going to compare it to paw-print photos of different dogs."

"What, every type of dog?" Cole scoffed.

"This is proof." She insisted. "Proof that there's something weird over there in the forest."

"Pix, if your father found out that you snuck off into the forest in the middle of the night again he wouldn't be too pleased," Zane warned.

"If I can prove there is some kind of undiscovered creature in the forest then that alone would guarantee my scholarship into Horizon Academy."

"You know your father could pull some strings and get you in there no problem." Jay pointed out.

"I know, but I want to earn my spot and my father understands and respects that." She explained.

"Hey, Pixel!" One of the cheerleaders, Maggie, suddenly called out. "I saw something weird in the forest, you!"

"Haven't you got hair-curlers to play with or something?" Nya snapped before she and her friends quickly walked away.

"I really need to start my research, I'll catch up with you all later." Pixel smiled before she made a beeline for the library; as soon as she was out of sight, Nya suddenly grabbed the boys and shoved them into a nearby janitor's closet.

"Alright, who was it?" She glared.

"Wasn't me!" Jay exclaimed fearfully and the rest quickly denied it as well. Lloyd eyed each of them carefully. It could only have been Cole, Kai, or Zane; they were the only ones who spent the full moon on Zane's father's property deep in the forest. Since she couldn't transform yet Nya stayed in their apartment in the city and Jay spent it on her parents' junkyard on the other side of the city. The only problem was that Dr. Jullien's home was far from where Pixel said she found the paw prints.

He also knew the guys wouldn't go near the city, full moon or not.

"Maybe it wasn't one of us," Lloyd suggested. "My mom managed to get out the cellar last night and when I got them back in they started howling, and that paw print could have come from a normal dog."

"I suppose." She sighed when the bell suddenly rang; the group sighed as they made their way to their first classes. Lloyd quickly ran to his locker to get some of his textbooks when he suddenly caught the scent of something odd. It was a new scent, meaning whoever it belonged to was here very recently. He was about to follow the scent when he walked right into one of his teachers, Miss Koko. She had bright orange hair with amber eyes.

She wore orange lipstick and a pale brown suit.

"Lloyd, what are you doing? It's time for class." She ordered and Lloyd quickly scurried to his first class, making a mental note to investigate the scent later...

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

As soon as Lloyd ran into the classroom he immediately took his seat next to Jay. This was one of the few classes he and all his friends had together. As soon as he took his seat a teacher he hadn't seen before walked in with a big smile on his face.

She had greying brown hair tied in a bun and a dark blue dress.

"Welcome aboard students! My name is Ms. Laudita and I'm your new Social Studies teacher," She smiled as a student stepped into the room. "Everyone! This is Morro Ren, he's new here so I hope you'll all make sure he feels welcome." She explained and Lloyd was suddenly hit with the same smell from before. He looked up and saw the new kid eyeing them all cautiously. Lloyd quickly looked to the others and saw they had realized the same thing as him.

Morro Ren possessed long jet black hair with a dark green streak dyed in it and dark brown eyes.

He was wearing a pale green shirt with torn brown pants and black boots. As he moved to take a seat at the back of the class, he and Lloyd glared each other down without a word. The class continued as normal until the bell rang and Morro all but ran out, Lloyd and the others following close behind. As soon as Morro stepped into an empty stairwell Kai and Cole blocked his path.

"What are you doing here?" Nya growled.

"What?" The new kid asked, confusion clear on his face. "I'm looking for-

"No, here! On our territory!" Jay exclaimed.

"Do you not know the rules?" Zane asked.

"You can't stay here." Kai huffed.

"If my mom and uncle get a sniff of you-"

"I don't even know you!" Morro snapped as he took deep breaths.

"Exactly!" Lloyd exclaimed in frustration.

"I don't care whose territory this is; I'm not sticking around anyway, and why would I in this dump?" He sarcastically asked. "No smelly brats tell me whether to stay or go." He stated before shoving passed Kai and Cole and running down the stairs...

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

Later that day everyone was sat at their usual table in the cafeteria, enjoying their lunches. When Pixel and Dareth had joined them, Zane had explained what had happened with Morro when Pixel asked why they were all in a sour mood; leaving out some key details of course.

"We're not smelly!" Cole hissed angrily as he devoured a large slice of cake.

"Well, except for Jay." Kai shrugged absently, getting a hurt cry from the said boy and a kick from Nya.

"You did kind of start it." Pointed out Pixel.

"No, we didn't." Nya defended.

"Someone must know something about him or his family." Suggested Zane. "Seen moving vans, something." He added as a member of Kai's soccer team, Chad, walked over to their table.

"Hey, Kai, are you going to ask the new kid to try out?" He asked though it sounded more like an order.

"I don't think he's the right sort for the team." He replied, keeping his eyes on his food.

"Fine, I'll ask." Chad huffed and walked over to Morro's empty table.

"Wait." Cole gasped but it was too late.

"Relax guys, he won't bite." Pixel frowned at their behavior and the group shared nervous looks. They turned back to Chad and Morro when the new kid suddenly got up and right into a startled Chad's face.

"I don't like soccer and I don't want to hang around with you and your weirdo friend! You got that?!" He roared, sending a pointed look at Kai and everyone sat at the table.

"Obviously, they don't teach manners where he's from." Nya glared as Chad speed walked over to them on shaking legs.

"Next time, you need to approach the weird kid." He hissed to Kai as the cheerleaders suddenly pushed passed them and over to Morro's table, completely looking over the way he had just spoken to Chad. Before the new kid could escape, a blonde cheerleader named Harumi Jade took a seat next to him and practically curled around his arm, much to his disgust. Harumi had long white hair with long bangs fashioned in a bun with chopsticks.

She wore a green jacket with matching pants, a white shirt with red lotus flowers, and full lips painted red.

"Hey cutie, since you've only just got here the principle thought it would be a good idea for someone to show you around, and we know everything about this school; all the best clubs and people to hang out with." She explained as she flashed him a big smile.

"Those weird kids, who're they?" He asked as he pointed over to Lloyd's table, where they were still watching him.

"Oh, that's just Lloyd Garmaddon, Pixel Borg, Zane Jullien, Jay Walker, Kai Smith, Nya Smith, and Cole Brookstone." One of the cheerleaders happily said, only to cower away at Harumi's glare.

"Their families have lived here for centuries." She quickly dismissed. "Never leave the area, don't like strangers or questions."

"They're all cuckoo!" Another cheerleader added.

"What are we talking about them for? Let's talk about you." Harumi smiled as she leaned closer, only to gasp when Morro suddenly stood up, grabbed his bag, and stormed off, leaving a furious Harumi and a dumbfounded Lloyd behind...

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

After an awkward lunch, with Harumi and Chad and their groups giving them the stink eye, Lloyd and the others finally had had enough and went to their lockers to get their stuff for their next class.

"Are you guys joining us on Miss Jinro's forest stakeout?" Zane asked hopefully.

"It's open to anyone but is part of the ninth grade syllabus so all freshmen have to go," Pixel added with a smile. The others just rolled their eyes and chuckled, only to stop when Cole suddenly froze right in front of them. They looked over the taller teen's shoulder and were irritated to see Morro looking through his own locker from something.

That wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't for the fact that his locker was right next to theirs.

Before they could do anything, however, Chad and his gang pushed them and 'accidentally' knocked into Morro, causing him to drop his bag and pieces of vegetables to come flying out. To say he was still sore about what Morro did in the cafeteria was an understatement.

"I thought I smelled something funny," Chad smirked as his gang laughed. "Is that your snack, freak?"

"Piss off," Morro growled. Unfortunately, this only made Chad angrier as he marched over to the new kid and violently shoved him into the lockers.

"Got a problem?!" He challenged, failing to see the veins on Morro's hands darkening as he bared his teeth. Before anyone could even blink, Morro suddenly jumped up, almost as high as the lockers, and pounced on the bully, sending them both to the ground. Feeling their stomachs dropping, Lloyd and his friends didn't miss a beat as they ran to stop the fight before any serious damage was done.

Kai and Cole managed to rip a snarling Morro off Chad while Pixel and Jay checked on the jock to make sure he was uninjured.

Quickly, Nya and Lloyd pushed the new kid into an empty art classroom just as Miss. Koko burst through the crowd of onlookers.

"What on Earth is going on here?" She glared as Zane, Cole, and Kai leaned against the door to the classroom, and Jay and Pixel helped Chad to his feet. Meanwhile, in the classroom, Nya and Lloyd mirrored their friends leaning against the door as Morro curled up on the ground, gasping for breath.

"What are you doing?" He cried out between breaths. "Get out!"

"Just breathe." Lloyd tried to reassure but Morro started growling as he backed further away.

"You have to get out!" He screamed as the veins in his face and neck started turning dark and his brown eyes turning a stunning yellow. Realizing it was too late now, Morro slowly looked up at them with a defeated look in his eyes. "I'm so sorry." He whimpered before he erupted into growls. Nya and Lloyd could only watch as his body shrunk and rearranged itself.

His clothes fell off his body as his skin was replaced with thick dark brown fur.

His face stretched out into a muzzle as his blunt human teeth sharpened. Once it was over, Morro slowly stood back up, but instead of a human, a full-grown timber wolf looked back at them. He snarled at the two teenagers before he suddenly started running around the room and on the tables, knocking several art supplies onto the floor.

"Morro!" Nya shouted and the wolf jumped down and snarled at them again.

Slowly, both teens knelt down to the floor with their heads down; when they did raise their heads they revealed their own bright yellow eyes, causing the wolf to freeze. He stared at them for a few moments before relaxing and lying down on the floor. Unfortunately, things weren't going so well outside the classroom for the others.

"He's crazy!" Chad cried as he finished telling his side of the story to Koko.

"You started it!" Pixel exclaimed.

"And where is Morro?" She asked but everyone just shrugged and looked around, still leaning against the door. "I'll catch up with him later; you two, follow me." She sighed as she led Pixel, Chad, and his group away. The friends waited until the crowd of students finally disappeared before they quickly ran into the classroom; only to find a human Morro putting his shirt on as Nya and Lloyd picked up all the items he had knocked over.

"I knew there was something about you guys." Morro smiled like a child on Christmas Day. "It's true, isn't it? You're all like me!"

"We're not like you!" Cole quickly said, a look of rage on his face, causing Morro's smile to drop.

"Yeah, we don't show off and pick fights and invades other packs' territory." Kai hissed.

"You're a danger to us all and the sooner you leave, the better," Nya added when all of a sudden the door to the classroom opened and one of the teachers walked in, only to freeze when he saw the state of the classroom.

"What happened here?" The teacher asked in shock. Morro simply huffed in annoyance as he pushed passed the stunned teacher and stormed down the hall and out of sight. They just let him go. Lloyd wanted to chase after him but he knew the others were right; Morro didn't belong here...

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

After school, the gang went to their favorite hangout, the Yin & Yang Bistro, to gather their thoughts. They would have gone to Wu's tea shop, Steep Wisdom, but they didn't want Lloyd's uncle to listen in on their conversation. Alas, instead of a quiet place for them to discuss what they had witnessed as they had hoped, the gang had to watch as Miss Jinro's forest stakeout class met at the cafe to prepare.

"Apologies, students." She sighed as the class started to get impatient. "We're waiting for the last few stragglers to show and then we go."

"Ya've got five more minutes unless yer buying somethin'" The cafe owner, Mr. Burke, grumbled from the counter.

"I still think we should tell someone, you know," Jay whispered.

"Yeah, let's tell Mom and Uncle Wu that a strange werewolf just showed up at our school and trashed a classroom after trying to attack a student." Lloyd laughed bitterly.

"To be fair who hasn't wanted to kick Chad's ass." Kai snicked, only to yelp when his sister kicked him under the table.

"This isn't a joke Kai." She hissed as Pixel and Zane walked over to them.

"Are you coming to the forest walk too?" Zane kindly asked.

"Pass," Cole said as the rest scrambled for excuses. Just when they thought their day couldn't get any worse, however, Harumi and her army of cheerleaders suddenly walked in and scanned the room.

"Hey, Burke, has Morro been here?" She asked sweetly.

"Who?"

"He's this tall and dreamy and he beat the crap out of Chad."

"Ah, the Dobsons' new foster kid." Burke laughed and the gang paled.

"M-Morro's in foster care?" Zane asked.

"Yeah, must have been a bad boy ta get moved all tha way up here for a fresh start."

"He's an orphan?" Cole gasped as a look of shame on his face, hard with the others.

"Most foster children have parents somewhere." Pixel stated. "He was probably moved up by Social Services so he to get away from them." She added and Lloyd's stomach dropped in horror. Morro was probably all alone in the world, stuck in a strange place, with no-one to turn to; trying to make it in the world all alone and he and when he does meet another one of his own kind they reject him. Before anyone could say another word, Lloyd, Cole, Jay, and Kai ran out of the bistro, leaving everyone in a stunned and confused silence...

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

The four teenage boys spent the better part of half an hour tracking the new kid all over the entire city until they followed his scent to the forest at the edge of the city. The giant forest was tremendous, gloomy, and lush. Its canopy was ruled by willow, oak, walnut, and cottonwood, who let through enough dancing beams of sunshine for a hodgepodge of sprouts to rule the insect riddled soils below. Many people were too scared to enter.

Only nature lovers, hikers, and the occasional dog walker ever went in the forest.

Coiling branches clung to many a tree, and a potpourri of flowers, which desperately tried to avoid the shadows, spruced up the otherwise homogeneous scenery. A mixture of beastly sounds, most belonged to foraging animals, added life to the forest, and were out of sync with the sound of the wind blowing gently through the forest. Many normal humans had gotten lost in the dense green world, but Lloyd and the others knew this place like the back of their hands.

They decided to split up, hoping to cover more ground.

Jay and Lloyd went to search closer to the road while Cole and Kai went deeper into the forest. As they walked along the empty road, Lloyd suddenly grabbed his friend's arm and pointed further up the road where they saw Morro Ren walking along the edge of the road, his head down. They knew must have smelled or heard them, so he was simply ignoring them.

"Morro!" Lloyd shouted as they ran to catch up to him.

"Don't worry, I'm out of here." He growled, still looking at his feet as he picked up the pace.

"Please don't! We're sorry, don't go, we can help you." Jay pleaded.

"Help?" He scoffed. "I've had help; counseling and other stupid shit."

"You need to learn to control your wolf self before someone gets hurt... probably you," Lloyd explained, only for them both to jump when Morro suddenly turned around and glared daggers at them

"You're just like the rest of them!" He snarled.

"We know about the Dobsons," Jay replied in a trembling voice. "We know you're alone."

"So?"

"We're like you, you saw that." Lloyd tried to reassure, only for the new kid to shove them away.

"You might like me, you think the same as them!" He snapped. "You're just trying to make me better; but, you know what? What I am, what I turn into, that is way better!" He roared with a big grin on his face. "It's better than anything I've ever known and I'm not letting anyone take that away from me!"

"We're not gonna let you do this," Lloyd warned.

"Go ahead, stop me!" He jeered with a cruel laugh. "Use your wolfy powers and see how long it takes for someone to find out what you are; because no one at school knows your little secret, do they?" He asked and they looked away, their thoughts drifting to Pixel for a brief second. "I thought not; I've got nothing to lose here, unlike you." He smirked before taking off into the forest at full speed.

"Hey!" Jay cried as they chased after him.

"Stop!" Lloyd called as he disappeared into the trees. If they hadn't been werewolves Lloyd and Jay might have lost him, if not for their incredible sense of smell, or Morro's cheap cologne. They quickly tracked him down and before the smug kid could even blink he was tackled by them both. They all cried out and grunted as they rolled down the hill and crashed into the dirt trail. After they managed to untangle themselves, Lloyd was shocked to see Pixel and Zane standing in the middle of the trail with Miss Jinro's forest stakeout class.

Seconds later Kai and Cole came running over the hill and into the awkward tension.

"Sorry, we're late, everyone." Kai weakly chuckled. "Seen any squirrels yet?"

"No, you lot have scared off every animal for miles." Miss Jinro glared before turning to the group of students. "I'm sorry, everyone, we'll have to come back another day." She sighed as they walked away, leaving the gang, Pixel, and Morro alone. As soon as the teacher and class were gone, Pixel glared and advanced towards the group of boys.

"Well done, guys! This was something important to me and Zane." She snapped.

"There's something important we have to do." Cole tried to explain.

"Like what?"

"Morro is more important than any club." Lloyd glared. "The thing is... Morro and I... are related?" He quickly lied, shocking everyone. "Distant cousins; he's the black sheep of the family, and I didn't want him here, so I treated him badly, which is why he lashed out and trashed the classroom."

"We don't have to be best friends, but Morro's here now," Zane added.

"OK." Jay smiled.

"Sure." Pixel sighed.

"Welcome to Ninjago." Cole smiled as he gave the new kid a firm handshake.

"You really don't like soccer?" Kai suddenly asked. Everyone stared at him for a few seconds before they all burst out laughing, Morro included...

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

Later that evening, as the sun was starting to set, casting it's beautiful orange and shadows among the forest, instead of going home with Zane and Pixel, Lloyd and the others stayed in the forest to have a talk with Morro. There were things they needed to sort out.

"So... where you from?" Kai asked.

"My parents used to live in Stiix; they... they died when I was two," Morro mumbled, his eyes fixed at the rustling branches of the trees.

"And nobody knows what you are?" Cole asked in shock and awe when he shook his head.

"So, what did you do for the full moon last night?" Jay asked.

"I couldn't stay in my bedroom, could I?" He scoffed. "I climbed out of my window and made for the forests."

"So it was your paw-print that Pixel found!" Lloyd gasped; none of them would have been nieve enough walk so close to the city in wolf form.

"Was it your first full moon change?" Asked Cole sympathetically, knowing how scared he was for his first full moon transformation.

"Second." He replied. "The first got me kicked out of my last foster home."

"What happened?" Jay asked.

"Don't know." He shrugged. "I went to bed and woke up in a ditch naked; turns out I trashed my bedroom, so they kicked me out." He mumbled before clearing his throat and straightening up. "Anyway, what about you? I mean, full moons must be epic out here."

"Yeah, they're pretty cool." Cole shrugged.

"Well, I and Nya haven't started transforming yet." Lloyd sighed.

"So, I know more about this stuff than you do?" He laughed.

"Yeah, you're the expert." Kai laughed. "That's why you lost it with Chad in front of half the school."

"I didn't know that could happen." Morro glared. "I only thought werewolves went hairy at the full moon."

"We feel the urge to change when we feel threatened or angry too," Jay explained. "Learn to control it, and you can transform whenever you want."

"How do you know all this stuff?"

"Our parents tell us." Kai shrugged and Morro's eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"You have parents like us?" He cried.

"Well, sort of." Lloyd winced and turned the others, who all gave their nods of approval. "I live with my Mom and uncle who are like us, Kai lives his sister and his parents are werewolves too but they're usually out of town on business, Cole lives with his dad but Lou's human, Zane lives with his dad who's one of us and Jay lives with his parents, but they're both humans."

"I'm adopted but they know what I am and they don't care." Jay quickly added when he saw Morro's confused look.

"We were all born this way, you're normal." Lloyd smiled. "Everything you thought made you a freak: sight, hearing, speed, sense of smell, they're all completely normal for a werewolf; if you stay you'd have a pack, at last, people to teach you."

"So, say I did stick around, only for a bit, no promises." He quickly said when he saw the hopeful looks on their faces. "No rules, no lectures, you can keep your group hugs and your big, furry family, I'll do things my way."

"A lone wolf, huh?" Kai smirked. "I think you and I are gonna get on great."

"Next time you lose control over your wolf self, what happens then?" Cole asked.

"Well, that'll be an interesting day, won't it?" Morro smirked as he got up and walked away. Lloyd and the others shared a nervous look, worrying about what the new day would bring...

[soranihimawari]

Call Me Kat

I already written several one shots for different characters from Haikyu!!, so I thought of throwing my hat into the ring of the Nekoma team. I am not sure if I want this to end in fluff crush confession or a one night encounter that turns into something a bit more serious. This might also be a three parter, so please bear with me as I write this.

Tag list: @vbcshenaningansnwritings​ @kaidasen​ 

Length: 3.8k

“But why do I have to stay with grandpa over the week?” I asked. Honestly, I didn’t understand why I was thrown into helping my grandfather watch over his volleyball team training camp. It was the second day of summer vacation and although I had an agenda of doing nothing but completing my resume for a new cat cafe close to the Nekoma campus, my parents thought it would be best to surprise trip to keep my grandfather (and the other managers/team sponsors) company. 

“I’m not even part of the girls volleball club,” I whined, but when my mother had put her foot down, I had to yield. I raised my arms up in the air and conceeded. 

“You ought to go, besides,” my fathrer said when he took a sip of his afternoon tea. “You know how to play well enough that I’m sure Nekomata-san would appreaciate your contribution.” I let out a puff of hot air and nodded.

“Alright. I’ll go, but only because I do like keeping gramps from drinking too much,” I chuckled while my mother rolled her eyes in amusement. 

“Reason why you’re also going there. Not to babysit the man, but to help him if he drinks too much with the others. You do know how good of a drinker he can be,” my mother winked at me when she sat down with another cup of tea for myself.

Thus, this was how my week had begun. I had packed my overnight dufflebag with all the feminine essentials I (or the other girl managers) needed along with three work out gym clothes as well as my overnight pajamas. On the day that I had left, I donned ruby sneakers, work out (yoga) pants in black, and a loose fitting navy shirt. It wasn’t going to be extremely hot today, but I thought leaving in the morning after a few calisthetic stretches would suffice. Tokyo had many cafes I could theoretically purchase coffee from, so I was set to jet.

I grabbed my sunscreen and my phone accessories on the kitchen counter before pressing kiss to my parents’ cheeks. I slid my apartment keys in my pocket; I began to jog toward campus in time to see that most of the other schools had arrived. Luckily I noticed the lady managers standing to the side before they were eaten alive by another one of our volleyball club member’s words of praise:

“Oh my god. Karasuno has two female managers?! They have a pretty one AND a cute one!”

I noticed Yaku run up to scold him while apologizing to the vice captain of the Karasuno team. I couldn’t help but laugh as I snuck behind the scenes to enter the gym where my grandfather asked me to help set up. Fortunately, I did hear Yaku’s apology when I stepped quietly out of ear shot.

“Oy~!” Yaku called out to his teammate, “I’m really sorry about him. Hiya Suga-san.”

I made my entrance toward the gym where our volleyball coaches for Nekoma were standing. My grandfather supervised the practice matches going on between Fukurodani and Ubugawa. Loud yells were heard when each team scored. Pretty soon, the match would be at set point. Both of the managers from Fukurodani noticed me and raised an eyebrow at each other, but not before they had to use where I stood as a point of reference for their ace.

I placed my bag down next to him before greeting him with a hug.

“Heya gramps,” I said with a small smile. “Hi sensei.” I bowed slightly in his partner’s direction.

“Shamu-neko,” the old man said with a huge grin spread across his face. “I take it you are spending time with me because your mother asked you to?” I hummed in compliance. Being gifted such a nickname because of my affection toward calico cats as child led me to identify with them since I was born with heterochroma (me left eye was hazel green while the other burned a light ice blue). It was a double recessive gene in my father’s side along with the inherited cat pupils. No wonder gramps called me that since I was seven, I thought.

“Okaasan worries too much about you. Enough to send your granddaughter to make sure you don’t overdo it during this training camp,” I reminded him with my arms folded across my chest. “If you’ll excuse me, I am going to put away my things.” Both Nekomata and his second bowed to me as I scurried off to the ladies’ dorm. 

As I opened the door to the room, I bumped into the other team managers from earlier. The one with the dark hair and glasses gave off an aura of quiet steadfastness while her blonde counterpart was going through the anxieties of being a new manager for Karasuno. Those crows are no longer flightless, I mused.

“Is this where we’ll be sharing a room, right?” I asked to make my presense known. At the sound of my firm, respectful tone, the blonde first year nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Oh, my gods!” she yelled. “You scared me.”

“I didn’t mean to,” I replied raising my arms up after I dropped my bag near the closest wall. “I’m--”

“A relative of Nekomata,” her co-manager said with an encouraging nod. “Kitty, isn’t it?”

“Kat, actually. I see you’re from Karasuno,” I said extending my hand for a formal greeting. “Kiyoko, correct?”

“Mmhm,” she said and we shook hands. “This is Hitoka-chan.” I waved when the first year when her name was given to me.

“Pleasure to meet you both. I believe it might be best for you two to head to the gyms already. I’m sure the boys from both of our teams are expecting  you to watch their preliminary games.”

We exchanged good byes and split off into different gyms when we reached the ground floor. I was lucky to find one of the gyms, gym 3 empty, but the nets needed to be raised. I asked for the keys from my grandfather after I had set up the additional nets. With the sweat I had glistening on my brow, I heard all smart talk cease to exist when a volleyball was about to whir by my head. Instead of hearing my gasp of fear, I instinctively blocked the ball with a set bump. I dropped the keys in the split second I had returned the serve, but I shook it off. My grandfather just scratched his cheek playfully as the other teams stopped their matches. 

“Lev! What did we tell you about watching where aiming that serve of yours!” Kenma was slow to anger, but everyone could tell he was reaching his limit. The ball had flown a few meters into the air before gravity slamnmed it down. Kenma, as well as the captain, Kuroo, took a breather to walk towards me. 

“Are you ok?” Kuroo asked. He wore an annoyed expression on his face as well, but I know those amber eyes of his were more trained the red marks on my forearms than anything else. Those marks usually go away, however, I took into account how Kenma eyed the impression of stripes from the ball. A few more minutes passed as each of the matches went back underway.

“It’s alright, really,” I said aloud. I picked up the keys with my left hand, “No harm done, Kenma.”  He nodded before Kuroo pulled him by his collar to return to their own game. My grandfather clasped his hands together when I waved from the arch way. 

“Damn it, that really did hurt,” I muttered when I walked back into gym 3. After retrieving a volleyball basket, I placed the keys against one of the sides of the walls of the gym. I walked back where the volleballs were placed and picked one up. I had given it several bounces before taking my place behind the boundary serving line. With one deep breath I had taken, I decided I should practice a few serves. I took a few steps back and threw the ball in the air with my right hand and with a thunderous crack of my left, I hit the ball with enough force for a theoretical service ace. When I landed back on my feet, I noticed one of the team co-coaches hanging out by the doorway. I had continued to practice several more serves before my breathing became labored. I heard an acknowledging clearing, “Ahem,” stem from the entrance way. 

“You play just as well as the old man,” he said, a different sense of pride was strewn in his voice. His ivory and black attire was recognizable: Coach Takeyuki. I bowed toward him as a short greeting. “Why you never went to pursue the sport is beyond me.”

“Thanks, but volleyball isn’t really for me. Dance and the performative arts has my soul, haha. Also, it has been a long time since I sat in on one of grandpa’s volleyball training camps, Takeyuki-sensei,” I mused. I picked up the ball to return it to the bag I had taken it from. “I’m headed back to the main gym. I finished setting these up for the boys. Care to escort me back sir?”

***

That night, at dinner, I was surrounded by a literal ray of sunshine, a tall silver haired cat, Yaku, Kuroo, and Kenma. I had begun eating without them since I was snacking throughout the day (one bowl of spicy stir fry with chicken, then later in the afternoon, I went with the other secondary managers to find ice cream tubs for us girls, which was a fun excursion). The chatter at the dining hall was quite boisterous, each team sharing funny stories about the today’s games. Apparently, Karasuno’s freak quick attack was the main subject at many tables, however, talent and sense is what makes for good rallies. It was something I heard my grandfather mention when I was younger. Although, I have seen quicks much like that before, I don’t think the speed at which the players used were impossible to the trained eye. As I lifted my cup of tea to take a sip, I noticed the smile of the tangerine haired energetic boy when he looked at me.

“Woah, your eyes are so cool,” the bright orange haired middle blocker said. He was scarfing down onigiri like there wasn’t enough rice in the world to contain his hunger. 

“Thanks, I get that a lot,” I say with a smile. I placed my cup back on the table to  raise a spoon to my lips to sip on the miso soup I helped the girls make in the kitchen hours earlier. (Cooking was a skill I learned, but also being enrolled in dance classes throughout my formative years caused me to create an atheletes diet. Besides, my grandfather and I would play a set of two on two up until this past school year. His focus was on training his clowder of cats into the best teams Nekoma has had in recent years).

“I’m really sorry about hitting you with my serve,” this tall cat was named Lev, if memory serves me correct. He seemed a bit out of it after he almost hit my head. Impulsive and brash, but he does show promise in terms of room for growth.

“You’re fine, Lev. You just need to polish up a little bit. Watch your aim too. I noticed you were a bit out of it when I came back with Fukurodani’s coach. Besides,” I placed my spoon down on my tray and gripped his shoulder. “I was able to return it and still cook dinner, I’m not as weak as you think.”

I kept drinking my soup before moving on to my rice. “Yaku and Kenma would not have to scold you if you did watch your aim though.” Lev’s bright eyes glazed over in embarrassment, yet he nodded making a promise to watch where his serves were going to land.

“If you want help with your serves, meet me in gym 3 at nine tomorrow,” I offered. I picked up my tuna stuffed onigiri and began to munch on it. I glanced at my grandfather who was seated a few tables ahead of us. I guess he must of heard Lev’s, “Really! Wow! Thanks!” walking toward us.

“Shamu-neko~” the famly patriarch called to me. At the sound of my nickname, the boys chuckled. They didn’t know, or rather, as a third year, no one really knew my family ties to the Nekoma coach (with the exception of Takeyuki and now the other coaches). I noticed his rose colored cheeks, the signs that someone had slipped the old man alcohol. He mentioned he would be drinking with them later on the phone last night, so I wasn’t too surprised.

“Call me Kat, grandpa,” I said with a huff of hot air when I took a bite of my hamburger steak. I closed my eyes and meditated on my chewing before I felt Nekomata patting my shoulder. Kuroo’s eyes went wide with either glee or fear, Kenma sort of chortled. Lev and Yaku sat staring at their food while Hinata (whose name I found out during a brief side conversation he had with Kenma) had his eyes dart back and forth between Nekomata and myself. Upon our mutual smiles after reminding each other not to stay up too late, everyone finally saw the resemblance. 

“You’re going to train Lev I hear,” the old man hiccoughed. “I’m proud of you grandchild.”

“You ought to go to bed, old man,” I mused with a smile, patting his arm. “After all, your first year almost decked me in the head with that serve of his. Oi! Takeda-sensei! Can you escort him to bed please?”

Upon hearing my strict, but pleading tone, the co-coach of Karasuno came stumbling toward my grandfather and bowed in apology. Before they left, my grandfather and I exchanged a few inside jokes which caused us to laugh a little bit. I guess my smile and wave caught the Nekoma captain who was seated with us. 

“Same smile,” Kuroo said nonchalantly. His tone was barely above a whisper, but I heard him. I glanced back up at him with a more toothy grin. I saw a small hint of color rush toward his cheeks before I began piling their empty plates on my tray.

“You guys go on ahead, I’ll clear the table,” I instructed. I noticed the underclassmen were being called by other members of their teams to head toward their shared dorm rooms. This left Kuroo and myself behind. Usually, he was very loud, sometimes obnoxiously intelligent, but he did mean well. I mean we might have had a few classes in junior high together (which might explain why he didn’t remember my last name), yet this was the first time we really saw each other outside of classes. A few minutes of clanking dishes being piled into a stack on three trays were the only noise between us as well as the sounds of our work out attire swishing against the table.

“You received that serve well,” he complimented. The raven haired cat captain stood up before mentioning, “It’s been a long time since year three in junior high, Kat-chan.” I nodded.

“Three years in Nekoma and you still haven’t apologized for almost breaking my nose with that serve of yours, Tetsuro,” I teased. The story goes a  new member of the volleyball team was practicing his serves during lunch, the ball was hit in such a way it landed on my face: hard on the nose. I was sent home after the bleeding ceased. I think it was then I decided to not pursue the same sport that encaptured my grandfather’s attention. I have Kuroo to thank for that. Damn him and his first year naivete. He did mature into a popular tom-cat though. I never really hung out with him except for training camps like this in our first year. I suppose being around him equated to me being almost injured, so I chose to avoid him every chance I got on school grounds.

“We were first years! How was I supposed to know you were the relative of Nekomata? He doesn’t say much about his family,” he explained. "Mentions his granddaughter at every game when he points out where you were sitting. But that’s it!”

I laughed a little at his defense.

“Relax, I was giving you a hard time over nothing.” I stood up to walk toward the now empty kitchen; Kuroo followed behind me with the dishes on one of the trays. I turned on the sink, grabbed the soap bottle, and squeezed a generous amount on a sponge. “Grandpa doesn’t like to talk about family much since he views all of you as his grandsons or pupils.” I shrugged it off. “After all, I have had my whole life with him, of course I wouldn’t mind if I shared him with the team. He’s a good man and a great coach.”

“Is that so? Honestly, I thought he would at least view me as a candidate to date his hot granddaughter,” Kuroo’s sarcastically sincere voice struck a chord with me. I was elbow deep in suds when I let go of a tray back into the still water.

“E-excuse me?” I asked. I was perplexd. My eyes widened in shock since honestly, I thought we’d never cross paths enough to really establish any sort of romantic ties. At least that was what I thought. Kuroo leaned against the side of the sink that had the drying racks on them. 

“You’ve come to all our games for the past three years,” he began to make his case. “You cheered for us up until our last game. Then, apparently, you come here at the request of your mom to make sure coach doesn’t overdo it.” He folded his arms across his chest. Oh, so he knew I was here thanks to sensei probably telling him, I thought. I shook my head to brush my long bangs out of my face (my long navy dyed hair was still tied in a ponytail from earlier).

“Kuroo, I came to those games to cheer for my grandfather first, his team second. He hasn’t retired coaching because this sport, volleyball, is his life. Also, how did you know I went to every game since we started high school?” He leaned in toward me as I went back to scrubbing the tray I had dropped. I was trying to focus on the task at hand, but his looming presence closing the distance between our faces caused me to feel a bit nervous. Kuroo had this blush drawing across his cheeks due to his bashful nature.

“I saw you in the stands, Kat,” he answered. “I waved to you and you always waved back with this enormous grin on your face.” His breath was warm against my cooling cheeks. Oh crap. Am I blushing as hard as he was? I thought. I swallowed thickly.

“Unbelievable,” I muttered. I rolled my eyes when I let out a sigh. I think since the day the volleyball collided in my face, I had grown a soft spot for Kuroo. Glancing upward at him made me come to terms with the bitterness I had toward this confession.

“I waved toward you for literal y e a r s; Kuroo, maybe seeing me cheer the loudest for you would have made my feelings known. Yet, you dated like three girls in second year. Watching you with them was weird, but I think it was because I wasn’t sure if I liked who you were becoming. And you know, after I spent time with you guys at end of season parties, maybe lent you my English textbook twice this last month, now you decide to tell me you want to date me? D-don’t say things you don’t mean. It’s not nice.” 

Kuroo took a step back and handed me the last bit of the glassware I had to do. He shrugged placing a hand inside his club member jacket. He pursed his lips and let out a low whistle. Kuroo glanced between the tile in the kitchen floor and me.

“I’m sorry if this came really late, but I was talking to Kenma about how kind you are yesterday (for the fifth time this week) and my best friend had to tell me that I liked you because I couldn’t shut up about how you make an entrance every time you walked into the hallway and the sun danced around you right before you dashed around a corner to avoid me. You’re nice to me and tell me these stories about when you were young and how you seldom had friends on the playgrounds too. You’re sweet to Lev because you know Yaku and Kenma would get angry at him for things like today. Bonus fact is you’ve been friends with Bokuto since elementary school! You know your limits and you have a hard time with chem, but you always call me for help when you know I have a day off...”

I dried my hands before I tucked my bangs behind my ear. I bit my bottom lip out of habit, one I was trying to break, but I didn’t. I scoffed at him in my own amusement.

“You also pretended to be with me a few times I was being catcalled on the walk home from several away games,” I mentioned, closing my eyes for a moment. I felt Kuroo reach out to me and pulled me into a side hug. I covered my smile as I reminisced the last time some other captain tried to gain my affection, but when he didn’t get the hint, Kuroo showed up and immediately called me, “babe,” and the guy ran off.

“I did, huh? Thought I’d forget, did you?”

“Mmmhm, but no I was hoping you didn’t, hah.” My eyes fluttered open and stared at the ground. He placed his head on my shoulder much like my first calico cat did when she wanted affection. He and I stood there in comfortable silence for about five minutes. 

“Five out of ten,” my tone was warm with a concealed giggle. 

“Huh?” Kuroo inquired for more elaboration. 

“I’m giving you a five out of ten for that confession of yours, Kuroo Tetsuro.” I folded my arms across my chest.

He glanced up at me in wide-eyed glee. “No way, Neko-san. That was like a seven tops!” He straightened his posture chewing the inside of his cheek in annoyance. I poked his unchewed cheek laughing.

“I’ll reconsider your rating for your confession on one condition,” my amusement took over my tone. He quirked his eyebrow at me. Curious this one, my thoughts said to me. 

“Sneak out with me tomorrow morning before I train with Lev for a sweets run?” I said in a hushed tone. You could of told me the world stopped spinning because instead of a proper answer, I felt Kuroo’s hands lift my cheeks up to face him before he began pressing his lips to each side of my face with a shit-eating grin. 

“You don’t got to tell me twice, love.” He kissed my forehead with a smile forming upon his lips.

“Call me Kat for now, let’s survive this first adventure tomorrow, then ask me out on a proper date,” I said taking a hold of one of his hands. We turned off the lights in the kitchen before walking hand in hand down the hallway to our respectful dorms. “C’mon captain. We got an early start tomorrow.”

[chxnyeol]

Champion (Chapter 1)

Pairing: Reader x Johnny

Setting: University / Boxer!Johnny AU

Summary: You’re assigned to write an article for your University’s paper- that’s all. You were only meant to get close enough to him to get the information you needed, write the column, and be done. However, things begin to change as you get to know him, and you uncover more about his life than, maybe, you were meant to. What’s going to be your next move?

Word Count: 2.5k

A/N: First chapter is a little long and slow and I’m sorry! Gotta set the stage a little before we get to the good stuffs. I hope you like it, anyway! <3

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“Stop!”

Fast footfalls sounded on the pavement as you ran forward, one arm raised high in the air and waving frantically. As the taxi screeched to a halt, you let out a sigh of relief and quickly ran to the back door, swinging it open and sliding inside. “Thank you so much, I’m going to be la-”

“Where to?” the driver’s tone was dismissive, uninterested in whatever it was that made you flag him down so pitifully he felt bad enough for you to interrupt his lunch break while he cruised. He lowered his rearview mirror just slightly so you could catch his glare, and you frowned a bit, wondering if you were willing to give him your money, if he were going to be this way.

You glared back at him, crossing your arms but deciding that your friends would kill you if you were late again, so you opted to swallow your pride. “The university. The west half.” Matching his clipped tone, you sunk low into the back seat and buckled yourself in, sulkily looking out of the window, before turning your attention to your bag and pulling your camera out of it.

You were on your way to a meeting with your friends and, as usual, you were running late. As you turned on your camera, you looked up at the roof of the taxi for a moment and sighed. You were a communications major- though you considered yourself more focused on journalism, really- and you were part of your university’s newspaper team. The pay was crap, but it looked good on a resume, so you dedicated more of your free time than you needed to. Every week, all of you would gather for a meeting and discuss what deadlines were due and which stories needed to be covered, divvying up the responsibilities by drawing straws. You thought it was archaic and irritating, as you often got stuck with the stories you knew wouldn’t showcase your talent; but, Kun, the founder and head editor, had insisted that it was not only fair, but would also help everyone sharpen their skills in their weakest subjects. No one else complained, and your vying for a better system had gone dismissed.

So, now you sat in the back of the taxi, clicking through the pictures that you had taken of a sorority’s mixer two days before- your assigned cover story for the week. “Sororities: Sisterhood and Ties,” you scoffed, bottom lip pulled in a pout as you cycled through obnoxiously smiling faces, wearing the same colors and holding red solo cups that they’d insisted you wrote in as “mocktails”, though anyone would know that wasn’t true. It wasn’t even that you had a thing against them, really, they just weren’t your scene- but, they were a heavy part of your university’s social life, impossible to avoid, and you’d needed to add a story to them sometime, you guessed. Anything was better than the sports report.

You had finished choosing the best shots as the taxi rumbled to a stop, and you reached over the shoulder of the driver quickly to pay him, and then mad dash it out of the car and towards the Arts building. You knew you had about a five minute window, any later and you’d get a Kun-lecture, and you just weren’t here for it. Your footsteps echoed down the empty hallway as you thundered down, wondering who thought it was a great idea to put the meeting room in the farthest room from the entrance, and as you turned the last hallway and saw the doors come into view, you slowed down to a trot. Each window you passed by, you used the reflection to try and fix yourself while you tried to catch your breath, adjusting your messy bun, pulling your old t-shirt up from where it hung on your shoulder, brushing the cat fur from your faded and ripped jeans. You were panting heavily by the time you reached the door, reminded of how out of shape you were and how you really should work out but how the idea of that sounded worse than death.

You paused for a moment to take a deep breath in and then shoved the door open, flinging your arms up in a grand gesture, attempting to use humor to make up for your tardiness. “I’m here, and I’m sorry for being late!”

“Again.” Kun raised an eyebrow at you as you entered, giving you a scalding up-and-down look before looking down at his wrist. “We’ve waited ten minutes, Y/N, and I know I’ve said it before, bu-”

You held up a finger to your lips, shushing him while the others in the room snickered, “Then you don’t have to say it again, Mom. I already said I’m sorry.”

Kun’s ears turned red and he frowned at you, to which you returned a sheepish grin, and he turned away from you with a huff. “Alright, guys. Let’s start.”

You took your seat at the round table at your usual spot, sandwiched between Taeil, who offered you a pat on the back, and Doyoung, who mumbled something about you being a princess and turned his back to you some, irritated at having to be left waiting, again. The rest of the club ambled over and moved to sit down as well, and you scanned over each of the familiar faces for the umpteenth time, feeling a sense of comfort wash over you. Though a ragtag group, over the years since Kun formed the paper, you had all grown close- and larger, with the addition of new members each year.

Kun had started it his first year of undergrad, and he was in his first year of his post-grad now. Doyoung, Taeil, and Zara had joined the year after and were on the verge of graduating. There were you, Ten, Minji, and Hendery, and then after that Mark, Jeno, Xiaojun, and finally Jisung. Overall, you all got along- except for Doyoung, who was comfortable pretending to hate you all though was always there for advise if needed- and, even if you thought the assignment process was dumb and were upset if you got stuck with the dumbest articles, you looked forward to joining them all each week. And, some of you hung out outside of the club, too. Every now and again you’d all gather at a coffee shop or a park to meet beyond your scheduled time at the school, and you found yourself spending a lot of time with Taeil, Minji, and Ten. With this new year, you found yourself spending a lot of time with the newer additions- they were funny, and like the younger brothers you never had.. or wanted, but here you were.

You, Kun, Doyoung, Xiaojun, and Jisung were the only ones who spent all of your time dedicated to the paper. Doyoung was self-appointed second-in-command and treasurer, and Jisung had taken on the task of being head photographer- and you, well, you just had no life other than school and your actual job. The others had other responsibilities in the school- Taeil and Hendery were also involved with theatre, Minji part of the science-something-or-others, Zara changing her major and focuses every other day, and Mark and Jeno had recently joined a fraternity. Either way, when you were in this room, all of you were attentive and dedicated to your work- even if it wasn’t that serious, and even if you were always late.

As your eyes jumped from each face to the other, you realized that there were a few new people in the room, of whom you’re sure you’d seen before but couldn’t name. All males, all wearing the same jackets, adorned with red, black, and gold and an emblem on the sleeves. You frowned just slightly, the comfort and familiarity of your space broken upon the intrusion of strangers and, as Kun noticed your look, he cleared his throat.

“We have some new people sitting in with us,” he began, gesturing for the three new guys to pull up chairs beside him, “Mark and Jeno have brought some guys from their frat in, to talk with us about doing an article.” He cast a glance in your direction. “They heard that Y/N was writing about- uh, which sorority was it?”

“Zeta Eta Rho.” You and one of the strangers hummed in unison, his voice deep and level while yours came out with a flourish of exasperation, coupled with an eye roll. One of the new guys raised an eyebrow.

“--Right. They’re hoping we’d be interested in doing two articles for them, to bring awareness to their Fraternity for recruitment and also to—what was your name again?”

The tallest of the trio smiled a bit and you wrinkled your nose. “For a reporter, you sure do have short memory,” he teased, raising a hand to give a little friendly wave to the rest of the group. Only Mark and Jeno waved back. “Johnny. My family runs the gym on the outside of campus, and we offer a lot of different classes.”

Silence. Everyone just stared at him, meeting him without response. One of the guys sitting next to him shifted uncomfortably, but Johnny only offered up a lazy grin to everyone in turn, as if unbothered. Jisung sneezed.

“.. Well, guys? Doesn’t that sound like something interesting to do?” Kun attempted weakly, suddenly tapping his hands against the table in an off-rhythm. Silence again.

You and Minji exchanged a glance, from where she sat on the other side of the table, and the look read that both of you would rather be doing anything else. Though it seemed harsh, you had gotten stuck with the boring subjects the past month, and you wanted to write about the recent surge of protests on campus, or the sudden break-ins at the freshman girl dorms; not another party-group article or coverage of a local mom-and-pop.

“The gym is pretty neat,” Mark chimed in, trying to help Kun. “Johnny’s going to be giving me and Jeno classes soon.” Silence again. Kun shifted and cleared his throat, trying to combat down an embarrassed smile and failing.

As Kun and, as you learned in that moment, Taeyong began to speak together, the rest of your group began to break up and speak quietly amongst themselves. Mark and Jeno went to the strange trio to speak with them and you watched and observed them for a moment. Taeyong’s red hair matched the colors of his jacket and he had an air about him- confident, stern-, that didn’t quiet touch his eyes, which looked at Kun with a familiar warmth. You decided that they must be classmates, if not friends. The one beside him, who’s name you had yet to learn, was shorter than the other two and seemed younger- probably closer to Mark and Jeno’s age. He had a playful demeanor about him that only blossomed as Mark and Jeno approached, and he leaned back to smack both of them in the arm comfortably, asking them their plans for later and if they’d meet him at the house before going to the arcade. And, Johnny. As your gaze settled on him you realized he was watching you, too- or, it seemed that way, before his gaze flicked onward to Taeil beside you. You realized he was sizing you all up, observing all of you like you were him, and you felt a little indignance spark in you, and then die down. You wouldn’t quite like a room full of people that didn’t seem too thrilled about writing about your family’s business, either. Johnny seemed like a mix of the two boys with him in personality- friendly enough, with eyes full of amusement even though nothing funny had happened, and confident. His dark hair fell messily over his forehead and he reached up to swipe at it, running his hands through it, and his gaze circled back around to you. You finally looked away.

Suddenly, you felt a light pressure at your shoulder, and you heard Taeil’s voice near your ear. “Handsome, aren’t they?” he chuckled, a teasing lit to his voice. “Maybe I should join their frat, too. Drink whatever it is they’re drinking.” You only scoffed in response, sure that if they were anything like the sorority you’d covered it was a lot of vodka, and began busying yourself with pulling your camera out of your bag once more.

As you got ready to show the shots to Taeil, and tell him just why fraternity and sorority life definitely wasn’t in any of your immediate friend group’s interest, Kun cleared his throat again and clapped his hands together, gathering the attention and calming the quell of rising voices are normal conversation began to flood the room. “Alright, guys. Time to draw.” He paused, then explained to the visitors, “We don’t let people pick and choose which articles they write, so we can be fair and-“

“Push the boundaries of our writing,” you, Doyoung, and Jisung all sang in chorus with him, though Doyoung’s voice was low, a whisper of a mock.

“- Exactly. And that way everything gets covered and no one fights about it.” He turned to cast a glance at Doyoung, specifically, though the other boy ignored him, pretending to be busy inspecting his nails. “We’ll be splitting their articles up into two parts- one specific for the coverage of the fraternity, and one for the gym.” Everyone stared, deadpan, again, while Kun lifted up a paper to read off the rest of his list. “And, of course, there will be the coverage of the protests, the recent break-in’s of the freshmen dorms, the anonymous tip we got about the Humanities Dean’s usage of Tinder to meet students, and our regular general news, weather, and media coverage, including the upcoming sports events. Due to the nature of the first three, we’ll split it into partner work, so you can cover more ground in the week. Objections?”

You played with your hands on the table, hoping that you would get the juicier stories. Jeno and Mark could work on the fraternity and gym articles- they had just gotten admitted and they knew Johnny, so it’d make more sense! But you knew better than to argue it, knew that it would fall on deaf ears for Kun, who just wanted to be “fair”. He reached into his backpack and dug around before pulling out a silver tin, where he kept the lot to draw from. It was often called “drawing straws”, but really they were wooden sticks with colored tips, hidden at the bottom of the tin. Kun preassigned colors to articles beforehand, ensuring that everything was as fair as possible.

Informing you of which color equated to each article, you wrung your hands together, sending up a small wish to the journal Gods above that you’d get pink, for the protests. Pink, pink, pink, please.. “And, Y/N, since you were late again, you can pull last this time.” Kun settled his gaze on you and set his mouth in a tight line, letting you know there was no room for protest as you began to do just that. You closed your mouth and sunk low in your chair, pouting for the second time today.

The tin circled around the table and the newcomers watched curiously, the younger one leaning over to whisper to Taeyong from time-to-time. Your heart broke as you saw Taeil and Minji get the two sticks marked with pink, not even bothering to see what else everyone got since your shot at the article you wanted was squashed. Maybe you could convince one of them to trade with you, if you begged enough…

Finally, the tin clattered to a stop in front of you, and you started forlornly at the last stick in it, reaching forward to snatch it out and hold it up to Kun, so he could write down your assignment. You eyed the color and your pout deepened, though Kun offered you an encouraging smile and giving you a cheesy thumbs up.

“And, Y/N will be covering the gym.”

[fume-knight-of-shovelry]

Gency Week 2018, Day 3: Mistletoe

With art to come from the talented @northwindart!

Overwatch, as an organization, did not exactly hold a unified "winter holiday festival”. Not only was the organization made up of a diverse group of people from a wide variety of regions and religions, some of whom did not celebrate December holidays (or, in the case of the residents of the Southern Hemisphere, didn’t even have winter in December), but the widespread structure didn’t make a single gala or party feasible. Add in the around-the-clock nature of most of the organization’s work, and all the ingredients were in place for a half-assed “holiday celebration” where a variety of icons, from Christmas trees to menorahs to Kwanzaa Kinaras and Shinto Kadomatsu decorated the hallways, front doors, walls, floors and ceilings in Overwatch bases around the world.

Genji Shimada, in particular, did not care for these added distractions. He still practiced the Shinto New Year traditions, but as an acting member of Blackwatch he didn’t have the time or reputation to spend on elaborate celebrations. His black-and-red circuitry and exposed chest gave off an aura of brutality that he was happy to exploit to be left alone in his search for solitude and places to focus his rage and frustration. By fermenting these powerful, violent impulses inside himself, he was able to intensify his energy whenever he was next needed in combat. It didn’t make him the best person to be around, but he didn’t care.

Only a few people had been able to get him to relax a bit around them. His fellow Blackwatch agents, for one, especially McCree. Tracer, on occasion, especially when they were finished sparring. He respected Captain Ana Amari, thanks to her maternal concern for her subordinates matching the severity she drilled them with. Winston, thanks to his to-the-point speaking pattern that minimized wasted time. And the medic, Angela Ziegler, also known as “Mercy”. She had been instrumental in saving his life, but that was long ago and no longer informed any part of their dynamic. Outside of that she had treated Genji with patience, respect, and empathy. He did not open up fully to any of them, but he was definitely able to loosen up around some of his fellows.

Which is why he was caught so off-guard when he stumbled into Angela standing stock-still in a doorway in the organization’s Swiss headquarters. Genji was leaving the training ground after slicing up a training dummy on McCree and Ana’s recommendation, and had been looking absentmindedly at the walls when he’d walked into the combat medic. Frowning, he looked up at her, opening his mouth to ask her what was wrong, when he followed her gaze upwards.

Ah. That explained it. Some prankster had set up mistletoe above the doorway leading from the training room: a childish custom whereby any two people who stood underneath it had to kiss. And seeing as he had been the only person in the room for the last hour and that this hallway led nowhere else, and it hadn’t been there when he’d entered...someone was trying to prank him. And Angela as well.

 Well, he wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. Genji would have shoved his way past the person blocking the doorway if it hadn’t been Angela. He was wrathful and capable of great violence, but he wasn’t going to take that out on her. “Ziegler. I understand that this is awkward, but perhaps we can just ignore this and move on with our lives? I’m willing to pretend that this did not happen if you are.”

Angela was horrified. The last thing she remembered was Lena asking her to meet her in the training room to “take a look at a funky lil’ thing the accel’rator does when I use it a buncha times”. She should have been suspicious that Lena was asking for her help rather than Winston’s, but when she went to Winston, he’d given her the a-OK to talk to Lena. When she’d found the mistletoe, she’d planned on turning around and walking away, but then she’d heard someone approaching and waited to see who it was. The fact that Genji was the one who had rounded the corner froze her feet to the ground, but she didn’t know why. She could only stare up at the offending plant in shock until Genji spoke to her.

 The medic averted her eyes. What could be the harm? It was a little bit of fun, after all, to play along with the holiday customs.

 “...Ziegler? Are you well?”

 Without thinking, she grabbed Genji by the shoulders and mashed her face into his faceplate. Her lips met the cold metal covering his face, but she swore she could hear his lips pressing against the metal separating them. Genji’s eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t push her away, even as his breathing got heavier beneath his mask and he found himself returning her kiss as best he could against the barrier between them. Mercy’s eyes closed as she deepened the pseudo-kiss, her fingers running over his biceps, on his pectorals, along the back of his neck as he found himself holding her by the small of her back. What was going on?

A hissing sound interrupted them and he realized, with some embarrassment, that he was venting heat, his body reaching a critical temperature as his face grew hot: pore-like openings in his right shoulder unlocked and let loose a blast of cool steam. The sound was enough to break them out of the reverie, and they both pulled away from each other simultaneously. Mercy’s face was beet-red and she was breathing heavily, and he knew he was in the same situation.

 Mercy’s head felt hot and she was slightly dizzy with the surge of emotion that had gone over her. “I...am not sure where that came from.”

 “Nor do I.” Angela decided not to point out that Genji now had a bright red lipstick mark where his mouth was beneath his faceplate. “That was…”

 “Sorry, Genji, I…” He raised a hand.

“That was nice, Ziegler. I…” Genji trailed off, and the two of them stood in an awkward silence, faces hot, cheeks red, chests heaving as they regained their senses. Genji tried not to notice how Angela’s rising and falling chest made her breasts sway slightly, cooped up as they were beneath her tight combat suit.

 “...”

 “...”

 “...I’ll see you around, Genji?”

 “...Yes.” Genji replied, still dumbfounded, as Angela paused for a moment before turning around and walking away. He waited until she’d turned the corner before he started after her. Why did he only now just notice how widely her hips swayed when she walked, how much her pants hugged her thighs, how tightly the back of her suit clung to the outline of her rear?

He needed a break. And a shower. And perhaps some time alone with the memories of what he’d just seen and experienced, and then another shower after that.

Angela, meanwhile, was trying hard not to hop-skip like a schoolgirl down the hallways of her employer’s organization. She had to be professional. But that had been some of the most fun she’d had in a long time. She needed a bath. And a bit of time to think about how Genji’s muscles felt underneath her fingers. And then another bath.

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

As the video feed showed Genji and Angela taking different exits from the hallway leading from the training room, chuckles rang out from the observers.

 “Well, I’ll be. That went better than expected. And I know what that awkward lil’ gait means for Genji: last time I saw ‘im move like that, he’d been reminiscing ‘bout the time he got the Prime Minister of Japan’s daughter in bed with him…’longside Miss Korea an’ the heiress to some South African renewable energy megacorp.” McCree nodded sagely, as if this wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. “Tracer, I believe ye owe me. Pay up.”

 Tracer pouted, but forked over a stack of bills to the American gunslinger. “S’not fair, y’know. I said they’d snog, for sure, just not that they’d get handsy. No gropin’, even!” The winnowy, flighty operative crossed her arms and frowned.

 “Ahaha! S’yer loss, Tracer. My boy’s got it. Speakin’ o which...hold up.” McCree flipped through the paper, then glared at Tracer. “This’s worthless British pounds! What’re ye doin’, givin’ me currency that’s not worth th’ paper it’s printed on?” Tracer stuck her tongue out at McCree, then laughed again.

 “Sorry, McCree! S’not my fault we’re in Switzerland. Next time yer in the UK, I’m sure you’ll have a doozy of a time…’less you wanna exchange it for francs here for seventy percent of the value, of course!”

 “Cut the chatter, you two.” Captain Amari spoke sharply, wagging a finger at McCree and Tracer, but couldn’t disguise the glee in her voice or the twitch of her tattooed eye that gave away her mirth. “We all did great. Winston, good job on the camera placement. Tracer, well done setting up the mistletoe. McCree, fine work convincing him to work out. I think we’ve given the lovebirds plenty to think about. Maybe keep the cameras off them next time they’re alone together, hm?”

 “Actually, captain, I’m fairly certain that it’ll be quite a bit longer before…” Winston cut himself off when Ana glared at him, nervously drumming his toes on the floor of his Swiss laboratory. “Uh, nevermind. I’m glad that this turned out well, and my camera caught it all. Should we delete the footage?”

 Ana tapped her chin, then shook her head. “No, keep it. Not for nefarious purposes, mind you. But it’ll be fun one day, I’m sure. I can imagine Genji and Angela as an adorable and very saucy couple. Those two need to unwind with each other.”

 McCree’s eyes danced between Winston and Tracer, and he mouthed the words Grandma really wants grandkids, huh? Tracer guffawed, then covered her mouth, while Winston just looked confused.

 “Nothing so crass, Jesse.” He gulped and scooted away from Captain Amari, who winked in his direction.

 “Well, if’n that’s all, I’ll be headin’ to the mess. I’m thinkin’ Genji will want some time alone.”

 “Not without me, cowboy! Race ya to dinner!”

 Tracer gave McCree a whole minute’s head start before leaving herself, but Ana and Winston knew it wouldn’t matter. She’d be there in a few seconds.

 “So...matchmaking success?” Winston eyed the camera feed, considering when he next might be able to discreetly remove the bug he’d planted in the hallway.

 Ana patted Winston on the shoulder and nodded, replaying in her head the passionate kiss that Genji and Angela had shared. “Matchmaking success.”

[hellagaymccree]

Movie Date

When this fan art came across my dash again I remembered how much I love it and suddenly wanted some fluff with pinning dorks. or I tried

[more fics by me] [consider supporting me through ko-fi]

McCree can’t seem to stop the rhythm his feet got tapping on the floor. It’s been twenty minutes like this. Twenty minutes waiting with sweaty palms and remote in hand since Rainer, the last agent in the rec room left with a knowing grin of what’s about to happen in here. If she came back—or Kimura, or Shannon, or Phelps, or any of the others that knew—they would probably laugh or feel sorry for him. But McCree wouldn’t blame them; he was a fool to think Gabriel could get away from his busy schedule to watch some old movies with him.

Gabriel knows how Jesse feels about him, it was thrown on the table in the ruins of Illios when the targets were closing in on both of them and Jesse thought there was no better moment than the present to spill his feelings for his commander. Just as he faces Gabriel, shoots an upcoming enemy and opens his mouth to say what his heart wants to confess, Reyes also makes a confession of his own. The feelings were mutual, and McCree never felt more alive than in that moment. After that, he was the devil with a revolver, taking souls and shooting for his life. He wasn’t gonna die knowing Gabe felt the same. He was gonna live and take it somewhere.

That was a week ago. They tiptoed around each other for seven days, not knowing how to address each other, and Jesse’s urge to kiss Gabriel grew too much to bare being near him without being able to. Finally, McCree blurted out the question when they bumped into a hallway: “would you like to see a movie with me?” Neither felt like actually going out, besides they wanted to be able to talk as much as they wanted and get to know the little details left unrevealed from one another—if there are any. Both have grown too close over the years and practically know each other’s life story.

Once Jesse told his group of closest friends in Blackwatch—most of them who like to stay until late in the rec room—they promised to be out of sight by nine. Jesse sprayed some cologne, washed his teeth, put on a nicer shirt than the standard Blackwatch black one and fixed his hair to look less of a mess. It was just both of them hanging out, like they’ve done before. He knew he would get the hang of it once they started talking, if Gabriel ever came.

The movie menu loops on the TV for the hundredth time as McCree sighs and decides to stand up and turns it off. Then he hears heavy, but quick footsteps and his heart skips a beat. He turns and sees Gabriel appearing and clearing his throat when he notices Jesse was already watching.

“I’m sorry,” Reyes says and slips his hands in the pocket of his pants, “Work swallowed me after the hostage situation went south in Tokyo.”

“Ah,” Jesse nods and understands. They had that mission yesterday where they had to rescue some hostages, but once they got them out, they discovered one had a bomb with him and time was almost up. Sadly the guy didn’t make it, he sacrificed himself when he realized they had to time to take it off him and get it far away from everyone as possible. He piloted one of the Blackwatch shuttles into the air and blew up with it. That’s something McCree knew Gabriel would have to deal with. “No problem, I was just thinkin’ about grabbing a snack. Want anythin’?”

Gabriel looks at Jesse like he’s thinking about something else. It’s a way that makes Jesse’s stomach feel the good kind of weird, cheeks flush and look away. “Popcorn?”

“Same idea,” McCree tips his hat as a ‘farewell’, “I’ll be right back, try not to miss me.”

Gabriel huffs and McCree bumps his arm with Gabriel. Jesse’s heart almost runs out of his chest when Gabriel’s pinky reaches out for his, as if he doesn’t want him to go. He thinks about asking Gabriel to join him, but he’s already sitting down on the couch.

McCree returns with two beers and a big bowl of popcorn. Gabriel is still there, laid back on the couch, legs spread and relaxed as an arm extends over the backrest even when McCree sits by his side. He places the bowl between his legs and hands Gabriel his beer before the movie starts.

----

McCree wakes up groggy; his tired eyelids and body beg him to drift back into unconsciousness. The movie has ended when he looks at the TV, the menu back on loop. And then his eyes widen when he feels a warm breath brushing his neck, and the heat of another body spreading from his left side. The weight of it trapping Jesse in place. He’s laid on the couch, and Gabriel’s on his side, tucked between Jesse’s body and the back of the sofa. His nose and mouth are pressed to the cowboy’s neck as he breathes softly. The commander’s soundly asleep, eyes actually fully closed instead of twitching and his body fidgeting like Jesse has seen him during missions. McCree moves his left arm lightly and realizes it fell asleep under Gabriel’s body as his hand lays on the commander’s hip. They must’ve been like this for a while. He pins his fingers to Reyes’ waist, his pinky finding soft, warm skin in the gap between the shirt and pants. McCree could melt easily in the moment. His heart flutters like a hummingbird’s wings and he’s sure Gabriel could feel Jesse’s pulse beating rapidly against his lips if he wakes up.

McCree doesn’t want him to though. He feels at peace even if a storm rattles his insides and his bones burn with a fever. He wants to sing out of joy even if he knows his voice will quiver. He wants so badly to look down and kiss those parted, plum lips that have haunted him for years, but he doesn’t want to ruin the moment.

Gabriel nuzzles Jesse’s jaw with his nose as he hums and whispers, “Jesse.”

Shit, I’m fucked, Jesse thinks as his face darkens and he grabs on to his hat as if he’s about to drop from a rollercoaster. His stomach flips and butterflies tickle his lungs. He’s suffocating underwater and soaring through high skies at the same time.

He thinks of every unwanted touch that happened in Deadlock, that old skin is burning away with every breath Gabriel takes and Jesse’s being reborn. All those names he was called are nothing compared to Gabriel’s teasing answers (conejito, mi cielo, cariño, dulcito, angelito) when Jesse calls him pet names. He sees his past lovers now like bread crumbs of personalities and things he didn’t want in a partner until he ended up with the perfect match: Gabriel. He’s the only body he wants pressed against his own. The only lips to call his name and kiss away the tears that slip out once in a while. The only gaze he wants when Jesse is at his most vulnerable times.

His feelings for Gabriel are big; chaotic and beautiful at the same time. He’s a madman when he’s near Gabriel, but also the best agent he can be. Reyes taught him many things, and Jesse likes to think he also helped Gabriel discover aspects of life he didn’t know before.

Gabriel gets closer, as if his body wants to dissolve into Jesse. He can feel Reyes’ heart picking up a faster pace against his body. He can feel it alive under Gabriel’s thick, scarred skin and muscles. He wants to trace it over his chest, mark it forever with ink or love bites; make it his own.

“You smell good,” Gabriel mumbles as his nose rubs against Jesse’s neck.

Jesse chuckles nervously as he notices Gabriel’s eyelids fluttering open, “Wanted to look n’smell nice for ya.”

Gabriel hums in appreciation before he lifts his head and Jesse does the same. “I’m sorry I,” he pauses to bite his bottom lip, “ruined our date.”

“Oh,” Jesse can’t help saying. He hadn’t used this word for this knowing how busy Gabriel his lately and how that could’ve changed things between them. If he called it a date, he feared it would make talking to Gabriel hard, which it has never been the case. “If ya call this ruining it, I wanna see what you call a successful date.” If lying on the couch, snuggling close to each other with Gabriel’s breath down his neck is a bad date, then he wouldn’t mind having more of these again. “It’s ok, sugar.” Before he can stop himself, he moves his pinky over Gabriel’s skin and feels the commander’s body going lax beside him as he sighs and smiles.

Gabriel’s gaze lowers to Jesse’s lips and the cowboy does the same as he bites his own bottom lip, tempting the commander to follow on whatever he’s thinking of. Gabriel’s mouth parts to take a deep breath before he makes the leap and kisses Jesse, who’s ready for him and answers in a blink. It’s like a dream, maybe better. Jesse has dreamt a million ways he would kiss Gabriel. There’s the dramatic ways like in the battle field, with bullets flying around them, or both arguing and there’s fire in their eyes as Jesse pulls Gabriel for a searing kiss. The sad ways, one of them bleeding to death in the other’s arm or before parting for separate missions that will take them an ocean across for weeks. The casual ways of catching him off guard around base or before leaving Reyes’ office. He once thought of doing it under the pouring rain in London, with the cold water running down between their lips as their savor them of each other.

Yet, all those perfect and spontaneous moments feel weak to this one. It’s simple, not even planned, but it’s a dream come true. Now Jesse could kiss him when they say goodbye, or when he leaves Gabriel’s office. The next time they’re under the rain and thunder drums in the sky. When a battle is too intense to leave it for later or under a mistletoe over the holidays.

When they pull away, Gabriel’s eyes are still closed and Jesse takes his lips in to lock the taste with him. He wants to savor it along with the memory, hide it away where nothing can corrupt it. This is the kind of first date Jesse missed out on and didn’t know he wanted until now. He wants to go to a movie theater next, just to miss half of the movie as they make-out in the dark. He needs to take this man to a nice restaurant, and a walk on the park as they eat ice cream. He wants to give him flowers, chocolates and everything Gabriel desires. He wants to offer him the world and get nothing in return except Gabriel’s heart. By how close and fast he feels it beating against his, he believes he might already have it, as Gabriel has Jesse’s.

[wetsockonyourfoot]

Starboy Lance

Aghhhhh my head’s in so many different places rn, just take this! :S

You know that feeling when you're only really kinda good at one thing, and pretty mediocre or bad at everything else? That feeling of knowing there are others with multitude of talents, and skills, yet you were given the short end of the stick and barely given a talent at all? That's the feeling Keith had felt every day of his life. Back at his old middle school he just passed his classes really. Never an over achiever. Never an underachiever. He was never insanely popular, never apart of the nerdy kids, jocks, drama, art, music, or geek clubs. He was sorta... just... there. And that's how it seemed to be in high school too, he just floated along till his senior year. Keith remembers his senior year almost perfectly. Why? Because of one person. Lance. Lance was an incoming junior when Keith was beginning his senior year, though he shared the same classes as Lance. Beautiful, smart, and wonderful Lance who always found the perfect pastel outfit to wear each day of one week, before he completely switched and was wearing goth black the next week. That was Lance's talent, to be so perfectly absorbed in his own style, his own personal club that no one could seem to follow or get into. Keith fell in love the moment he laid his eyes on Lance, and then he fell out of love immediately when Lance opened his mouth to speak. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but Lance's opening line of, "Dude I thought Mullet's were stuck in the 80s" was not exactly a charmer. Keith of course rolled his eyes and started to rethink the tan skinned beauty he now had a crush on, but Lance luckily saved the conversation. "Sorry, that was rude. And I can't exactly be one to talk now can I?" Lance asked gesturing towards his outfit of choice. Keith remembered it well. The first day of classes and Lance was simultaneously breaking every school dress code at once, well for girls anyway. Boys didn't have any dress codes except to wear pants essentially. Lance however was clad in probably the most pastel goth outfit Keith had ever seen. Purple galaxy tights with bright pink converse, a pair of blue shorts over his tights, and a yellow shirt with a classic little green alien plastered on the front that read 'Aliens?'. Bronze skin practically glowed in the sun as he adjusted the various clips and earrings in his ears, along with the bracelets and rings on his arms. It was a completely feminine look, yet here was a slightly lanky boy pulling it off perfectly. Keith thought that surely someone would harass him for wearing such an outfit, yet he knew that as long as Lance hung out with him, no one would dare to touch him. Keith Kogane didn't have many talents, he was an average student really. But god damn, he could punch, and he was know for it. Back during his freshmen year of high school, Keith had some rough encounters with the baseball jocks after they kicked out Takashi Shirogane from their team. Shiro, as Keith called him, was Keith's current boyfriend. Three year's his senior, he was a well rounded and absolutely perfect human being. Shiro however was involved in an accident when he was in 10th grade that cost him his arm, and he had been facing hardship against the baseball team every sense. He was allowed to play his 11th year with his new arm, but couldn't find the courage to actually get back onto the field. So his final year they officially kicked Shiro off the team, and Keith got a little more than pissed. It ended up with Keith getting two weeks suspension, and the head of the baseball team getting reconstructive surgery. Needless to say, no one picked fights with Keith. Lance hung around for a while longer, talking about how he just moved to the town with his mother after a rough divorce. Keith speaking about how he was an orphan that now lived with Shiro since he was technically a year behind in age and would be turning 19 that year. Keith had moved in during the summer and couldn't be happier to be out of the dingy foster home he was stuck in. They were nice people and all, but he was ready to get out and not have someone nagging him all the time. Lance, as it turned out, would be turning 18 that year, as he was a year ahead of his age. "Part of being born in the summer I suppose?" was all he commented about it. Conversation flowed through them casually, naturally as if they had been talking all their lives. He found out that most of his siblings were staying with his father back in Cuba, his mother and him having moved to the United States for a fresh start. They had been living there since last May, and Lance's English was so good that if he hadn't been told so Keith would have never guessed his first language was actually Spanish. All throughout the day Lance received looks, and sneers from peers though he seemed to ignore them all and instead focused on making a social group for him and Keith. It was hard to find the right people, or at least to find people that Lance considered good enough to keep. Though Lance also seemed to be a social media expert as he Chatted and Snapped, and Twittered his way through mobs of curious girls and boys alike. In the end, Keith would prefer to just have Lance to himself, but, that was a conversation for... well actually now seemed to be a good time to consider it, Keith thought. Lance seemed to be perfectly built for Keith, and sure as hell had a personality to match, but he already had Shiro. Why would he feel the need to have another boyfriend? Sure Keith had heard of poly amorous relationships before, but he never considered the thought too much. It never stuck out to him as something that needed to be thought about so seriously before. He didn't have a problem with it or anything, so long as the people involved knew about the other partners and were okay with it. However, Keith never considered him to be one to find himself in this position. Shiro had always provided him with everything he needed. Love, comfort, a source of relief after a hard day, hell he even helped Keith provide a house and food for them both. But Lance... Lance provided social interaction that he craved. The danger of being new, the intoxicating scent of something fresh that Keith wanted to stain and mark as his. Lance was a breathe of new air in Keith's slowly dulling life. Shiro provided him with stability, Lance with flexibility. Both were needed and in the right parts, but the hard part came as to when to get them together. Hell Keith was thinking to fast, he had to find out if Lance even liked him back first! Fantasizing could come later! And thus the day went on. Boring classes that Keith barely paid attention too, syllabus that he would have to sign later, and the sense of emotional exhaustion settling deep into his bones. Keith's day was far from over though, he had his shift down at a local bar still, hired as one of the bouncers since he knew the young faces of the town. So he trudged on. Dumping his bag in the back of the bar after a short walk to down town from school, still thinking about Lance all while he worked. The way the other's brown hair seemed to glow gold when caught right, lean muscles, bright blue eyes, and enthusiasm that made even a shy loner like Keith smile. Needless to say, Keith couldn't wait to get home and find out more about the teen. Heading back home around 1 AM, he was greeted to his usual sight of Shiro's attempt at cooking, failure from cooking, and resulting pizza box on the counter, along with the older passed out on the couch with the TV droning on. Shaking his head lovingly, Keith dropped his bags, grabbed some pizza and shoved it down quickly before nudging Shiro awake. Shiro half awake and half asleep will continue to be the best part of dating the taller male, he was like a child in this state, mumbling nonsense and stumbling around as Keith lead him to bed. The bedroom was a small thing, as their house was a simple one story affair, in a decently safe neighbor hood. Shiro's parents had helped put down the deposit, but Shiro and him kept on time with their own payments, giving it the sense of truly being theirs. Down the hall from the living room was their bedroom, where a giant bed took up almost all the space inside of it. Shiro insisted on getting the large mattress, as he rolled around a lot and was a fairly large man. Keith was thankful for it, as it meant fewer steps for the sleep drunken young adult to walk and get to bed. With Shiro tucked in soundly, Keith even gave him a kiss for good measure, he worked on getting ready for bed himself and found that only one thing was out of place. The neighbors light was still on, casting a fake yellow shadow across the spot where Keith was to rest his head. Grumbling annoyed by the lack of darkness in his spot, he tried to get the blinds to close further and failed horribly, somehow making them open wider instead of closing. Mentally cursing himself Keith tried to fix the matter before a figure appeared in the light of the opposite room. It was Lance. Keith felt his heart drop right then and there. Lance was almost completely exposed in his outfit. Only wearing a pair of panties, and a long sweater over his top half. That's not what made Keith's heart drop however. All across Lance's legs were scars and bandages. And all of them looked to be self inflicted.

[fortheloveofeos]

Tattoos - Nyx Ulric

Had some fun with Nyx’s tattoos and character design here. The large cat I mention here was part of his actual character design, which I mention here, and is a really beautiful piece of concept art that was never actually used in the game/movie. I added a few tats for…research purposes. Hope you like it.

Tagging Nyx friends: @chocobopuffs @daemonchocobo  - and @opalandowl for the inspiration

xxx

Sitting back against the cracked leather booth of the worn out bar, Nyx sipped is warming beer. His head rested against the once white wall, which was now more of a dirty grey, and one arm was slung over the back of the booth. Crowe was seated beside him with enough room between them for Nyx’s knee to rest in the booth as well. Libertus was already maintaining a pretty good buzz and was rattling on about the love of his life he had apparently seen on his way out of the Citadel after his shift that day. Pelna was pretending to listen, but it was clear he was more focused on his phone than anything else.

“Are you just going to stare all night, or are you actually going to say something to her?” Crowe jabbed an elbow into his stomach playfully and jerked her head towards the bar. “Don’t tell me you’re scared, Hero.” She raised an eyebrow and laughed around her own beer as a few strands of her coffee-colored hair fell into her hazel eyes.

Pelna perked up, his dark eyes looking you over as you served up a round of shots to a loud group of probably college students. “Might have some competition,” he tilted his beer towards the bar just in time for one of the young men to make a rude gesture in your direction once you had turned your back.

Sighing, Nyx finished his drink before slamming the empty bottle down onto the chipped wooden table with considerable force. He managed to climb over Crowe without asking her to get up and landed gracefully in his heavy boots. “Is anyone listening?” Libertus whined before Nyx left his friends and made for the bar.

Your high-waisted, dark wash jeans might as well have been painted on and gave a perfect picture of your ass as you stretched onto your toes to fetch a bottle from the top shelf. Your long hair was swept up into bandana and your crop top allowed for a glimpse of the smooth skin just above the waistband of your jeans as you raised your arms. Nyx thought he caught a glimpse of a spiraling tattoo but you moved before he could focus on it. You had just brought the bottle down from the shelf when the young man that had made the rude gesture made a move to smack your ass over the bar.

Using his reflexes to his advantage, Nyx caught the would be offender’s arm and held it tightly enough to leave marks. “That’s not how you should treat a lady,” he spoke lowly and his blue eyes turned to icy steel as he clenched his jaw. The threat was clear in every part of his body as he glanced over at the rest of the group the kid had come into the bar with, almost begging one of them to make a move.

“Think you’d like to try that with me?” Crowe smirked and crossed her arms over her chest as she took up a position flanking Nyx. For her slender build, there wasn’t a Glaive alive that would willingly tango with the young woman once she had made up her mind.

Shuffling was heard before Pelna managed to get Libertus situated with his crutch against the bar. Although he was drunk, he was still a man of considerable size and the stone mask he slid into place over his flushed features was intimidating enough on its own. Pelna clapped Nyx on the shoulder, a teasing smile on his lips. “Can’t let you have all the fun now,” he turned to the young man still held in the Glaive’s grasp. “Do you need as escort out of the bar?”

Nyx loosened his grip enough to allow him to pull his arm free before he stumbled back a step. For all their show, the group of students dashed out of the bar pretty quickly before everyone turned their attention back to their drinks and their company.

“Could’ve handled myself,” you smiled as a you placed another round onto the counter in front of the four Glaives, “but I appreciate the help. This round’s on me.” You cracked the tops off each of the bottles before handing them out.

The others dispersed back to their claimed booth leaving Nyx in a barstool in front of you. You eyed him carefully, impressed by his rugged good looks and how well he could pull off the black leather pants and matching cotton shirt. Of course, you knew all about the Hero and the Glaives that frequented your little bar. However, you’d never spoken directly to Nyx Ulric, nor had you had the opportunity to observe him. The sides of his head had been recently shaved but his stubble made it clear he hadn’t bothered with his face. His eyes were crystal clear and glinted with something you thought might have been a mix of desire and mischief. What caught your eye the most, however, were the subtle tattoos that were placed on his skin to resemble birthmarks. Without thought, you looked at him and offered your name along with your outstretched hand.

“Nyx Ulric,” he smiled and he shocked you when he grasped your hand in his only to turn it over so that he could kiss your knuckles instead. “Nice to meet you.”

Laughing, you withdrew your hand and went back to tending the bar. Nyx, however, wouldn’t let that deter him and you found his smooth voice traveling down the bar to where you were. “Did I see a tattoo on your hip?” He questioned after several minutes of banter.

Rolling your eyes you motioned towards his cheek. “Looks like you’ve got your own,” you pointed out as you washed a glass.

Shooting you a wink as he tipped back his beer, he smirked. “More where that came from.”

You had taken that as an invitation in its own right. Your fingers tangled into the hemline of his shirt as Nyx kissed you roughly on his couch. The little teasing game the two of you had started had gone on for weeks. You knew he was hiding ink under his clothes and somehow finding them only made you more breathless as you ripped the shirt over his head. Your fingers immediately danced over the outline of Galahad that was placed just over his heart, loving that he shivered beneath your delicate touch. A tribal pattern traced over his collarbone and around his shoulder before ending just above his bicep. You ran your tongue over one of the twisting bands and he grunted before pushing you back.

“You’re turn,” he growled as he ripped your own shirt over your head. The skirt you’d picked out just to rile him up hung lowly on your hips and gave a much clearer view of your own marking. You let him trace a calloused finger over the vines and petals before standing up and shimmying the skirt down your legs. Standing in your underwear in front of him, he could see your own collection and made an appreciative grunt at the sight.

Nyx leaned forward, making a grab for you, but you danced just out of his reach with a giggle as you retreated towards his bedroom. Laughing, he followed close behind and once he turned to shut the door to his room, you caught the beautiful tattoo on the back of his shoulder. “Nyx,” you breathed in awe as you walked closer to study the work of art.

Easily the most beautiful piece you had ever seen, the tattoo took up his shoulder and part of his upper back. The image seemed to shimmer slightly with the white ink mixed amongst his tanned skin. Black and grey worked together to form the large coeurl-like feline that stared straight ahead. Something akin to horns seemed to grow from its cheeks and its blue eyes were strong and fierce. Before you could stop yourself, you traced a finger along the outline of its face.

“It’s beautiful,” you breathed with a smile.

Spinning around, Nyx caught your wrist, placing a kiss against your palm. “Thank you. It’s…very special to me.”

“What is it?”

Chuckling, Nyx led you over to the bed and pulled you down beside him. “It’s a feline species only seen on Galahad. They’re fierce creatures - incredible hunters, very loyal to those that earn their trust, and quite deadly if you cross their path.”

As you traced a finger absentmindedly over the ink, you sucked in a quick breath as realization dawned on you. “Your uniform. It’s based on this?” You had seen the patch of fur on the sleeve of Nyx’s uniform and you knew it wasn’t part of the standard issue appearance. He also wore the horned hood and you thought the intricate metalwork may have been meant to resemble the face of the cat.

“It is,” he confessed with a grin.

Somehow, it suited him. The wildness and strength of this obviously large predator seemed to resonate with the soul of the intoxicating man half-naked beneath your fingers. As he looked up at you where you sat beside him, you couldn’t help comparing his strong, bright blue eyes with those tattooed on his shoulder.

Still lost in your thoughts, you were shocked when Nyx pounced on you, pinning you playfully to the bed with a lighthearted chuckle. “Weren’t we in the middle of something?” He laughed before stealing a quick kiss, his fingers going back to tracing the ink over your hip.

“I guess I’m your prey?” You couldn’t help giggling as he rubbed his stubble against your face similar to how a cat might nuzzle its head to show affection. He was clearly having fun with your comparison.

Laughing at the gasp he earned after nipping at your neck, Nyx sat back with you still pinned beneath him. “I’ve had you in my sights for a while.” His mouth descended upon yours in a searing kiss that had you all but surrendering in his arms.

[mikey027-blog1]

Character bios for The Undesirables

Just as the title says this will be basically all the characters I have for my series so far.

1.Cole Sanders- 25 year old male with red hair that is normally spiked and hazel eyes that turn amber color when transforming into his supernatural form. About 5 feet and 10 inches in height and around 150 pounds. Caucasian with a body build meant for speed over strength. Main protagonist of the story and best friends with Cayden Graham(Avian).Both homeless on the streets of Santa Monica with both not having memory of certain parts of there past for whatever reason. With Cole it is mainly how he was born and came to be, not remembering any parents and being alone his whole life before meeting Cayden and Wyatt on his travels and jumping from foster home to foster home and shelters. Due to Wyatt's unbelievable hacking and techno skills or so Cole thinks, they all often live in luxury in the present rather then on the streets, often taking shelter in homes of others who are away on vocation or business for a long period of time. Cole is in fact something known as a infiniti, the only one of his kind as well. He can be every type of supernatural being in existence at will, giving him infinite possibilities, hence the name for what he is given by the people of Haven after finding out what he is capable of. The mark of Evervee that appears on all supernatural beings only suddenly appears on him near when the story starts and he is out with his friend Cayden who sees it and is astonished. A tattoo forms on his left arm that is the infinity symbol except it appears as such with tree roots. It is way later known that God himself created Cole as a way to take on the Everbeing, the only being to be at the same level of power as God himself. However, during a epic battle with God and the Everbeing they could not finish one another off for whatever reason but only diminish one anothers power drastically. But during the fight, God loses memory of what he did or the battle or who he even is and falls from Heaven down to Earth.

2. Cayden Graham(, Dracula)- A vampire from the mid 1400's who is actually Dracula and one of the first vampires. Every century or so his personality and physical appearance and persona changes and he goes by a different name with his current name being Cayden. Later in the book it is explained that vampires have a ability where they can push back unwanted memories from there minds or even recreate them into something false. Vampires often do this if they feel guilt of something they did in there past. Apparently in every generation that Cayden lives he erases his memories of his past lives. He does this because in all of his past lives he was under the influence of the mark which made him into a uncontrollable killing machine. But at some point in the story he meets a witch who is aware of what he is and what he is capable of and knows that he has tampered with his mind and lets Cayden know who is unaware of his own actions.He then becomes aware that the mark of Evervee is actually a reoccurring thing that has happened multiple times in previous generations pretty much going back to the beginning. A back and forth tug of war match between God and the Everbeing that resorts in using that mark each time to make his army and wreak havoc. He himself has had the mark before in one of his past lives and been controlled and slaughtered many creating a name for himself feared by most known as Night-Reaper. But with this knowledge he comes to understand that there must be a way to end the mark as its happened before and been dealt with somehow if only temporary but try to find a permanent solution this time.Even though hundreds of years old, his current persona and physical form resembles that of a young man with a mix of goth and punk style clothing. His mind set is also that of a young man even though he carries knowledge from hundreds of years. Cayden meets Cole one day while protecting him and Wyatt against a mug attack, forced to use hiss full on vamp abilities to fight them all off. But with his ability of mind compulsion he makes Cole forget what he saw and to remember him as just a badass martial arts fighter who kicked all the muggers butts without breaking a sweat. After this, Cayden became good friends with Cole and Wyatt and became there protector. 

3. Wyatt Ellnacks- A 20 year old male often seen as a techno geek and major nerd in most things such as Marvel and DC stuff. He is actually a supernatural being known as a Zelick. Spectral beings of energy and light that cackle and sizzle dangerously like electricity but they can also maintain human form. Friends with Cole and Cayden who all met in the past in a shelter. His ability to hack is usually him actually using his supernatural abilities to control anything electronic, making bypassing most security a piece of cake. When in his spectral form his voice often has a echoing sound. Wyatt has spent most his life hiding his true self from the world and was pretty much born without parents or at least from what he can remember much like Cole making them become fast friends when meeting in a shelter. However Wyatt hides is true nature from Cole but not Cayden as he is afraid of how Cole would take it and possibly jeopardizing there friendship. Wyatt does not know exactly what he is until showing up in Haven but he does know of his abilities and that he can transform into something. Both Cayden and Wyatt already have there marks although for both the mark appeared at different times. 

4. Paige Lopinski- A young witch of around 23 in training of her magical abilities to hopefully one day join the Shroud Coven aka The Whisperers. For whatever reason she has a strong dislike for vampires making her and Cayden often clash with one another when they meet in Haven. She has a familiar that helps channel her magic that takes the form of a wolf that becomes a fur cloak that provides protection that can stop bullets and is heat and cold resistant.

5.Piper Hughes- 14 year old young girl known as a miracle in the supernatural world. Granted good luck and fortune since birth due to a priests holy prayer that a angel granted and answered. It is rare, but on occasion angels are allowed to leave Heaven almost like being granted vocation time and able to visit Earth to do as they wish as long as concealed from humans of there true form which is actually harmful to human eyes. Sometimes angels take this time to grant certain newborn babes a special blessing that will protect the child for there whole lifetime and give them good fortune. It is to be believed angels do this only for those they believe will impact the world in some huge epic way so it rarely happens.However there is a catch to a miracle having this blessing, if any were to give into dark temptations of any kind even once in there lifetime or lose there innocence(virginity), there blessing would vanish and instead turn into a curse where they receive misfortune instead. A miracle's blessing effects others around her as well for a limited time. Same is said if a miracle becomes a misfit and is cursed.

6.Riley Mackenzie- The sexy devil every Haven resident drools over and she has wrapped around her fingers. Despite her having a pale ghost like appearance she is still considered beyond gorgeous and captivates most with just a single glance. Age 24 and a demon particularly a Succubus. Often because of her being known as a demon by most, she is always judged as being evil or a agent of chaos. They are all only half right. When around other Supernatural beings she has a tail with a sharp point that could gut a stomach easily and she of course has horns. Cool thing about her wings is they are only noticeable as shadows on the wall behind her, otherwise they never cannot be seen and her wings look like black tentacles sprouting from her back. When disguising as a full on human her horns retract and her tail wraps around her and becomes a belt for her current pants attire. She often likes to pick on newbies at Haven.

7.Abigail Saline(Trinity)- A young 14 year old girl close to being 15 who when just a little girl was abused severely by her father and never new her mother. One day she ran away from home without telling anyone and never looked back. Just as a girl she was terrified of how she would survive on her own but shortly after running away she was ambushed by thugs who threatened her life and she took shelter in a old abandoned building that looked to be on the brink of collapsing where the unspeakable happened to her. A spirit possessed her body and gave her immense strength for her age and physique. The spirit protected her through her own body and took down the thugs and then asked her if she would be willing to be a vessel for a number of spirits trapped to that place in return for protection to her from any threats such as the thugs. The spirit explains they just long to leave the sad place they are trapped to but with a vessel they could all leave and see the world once more, seeing as they are unable to ascend to Heaven or descend to Hell. The girl agreed almost instantly, wanting friends and a family of her own and therefore being a walking home for fourty four different spirits all with there own unique abilities with the exception of a few, however not all residents are what you would call "friendly" spirits but they all are still tied to the pact made with Abigail to protect her. Normally Abigail maintains control of her body but sometimes at certain times of the day she must allow the spirits to control her body, having to fight among themselves as to who exactly gets to have her body at the current time. Apart from that the spirits only appear when she is in need of aid. She is often seen as having severe multi personality disorder.

8.Elijah Parrish- 35 years old with snowy white hair and eyes as black as onyx. His skin color is close to a milky white color and when he moves the area around him tends to shimmer slightly along with him, making it hard to clearly focus on him and his appearance. Unable to control his shimmers he must wear a ring when around humans to keep them at bay as to not attract unwanted attention. Elijah is a Droga, a being who can enter pocket dimensions at will to reappear pretty much anywhere else he wants. Not only that but he can also send objects or other people through these pocket dimensions. His eyes also see things in slow motion constantly making it easy for him to defend himself among attackers when it comes to mainly hand to hand combat. His eyes normally see attacks coming before they even actually do making blocking or countering them simple. Elijah runs Haven and is seen as the leader of the place and even a father like figure to some of the residents such as Trinity. Even though he has a rather scary appearance to most, this is overlooked by almost everyone when they realize he has a heart of gold and does all he can for those he cares about.

9-10. Ari and Arias Gwenzel

Twin sirens who are caretakers and also teachers of Haven. A siren is often seen as vicious creatures to lure there victims with majestic and mesmerizing and soothing music so that they can pray on them. Most sirens are however the total opposite of this and in fact use there amazing voices to rather heal people of any pain they feel physical or mental and emotional. If a siren is really powerful they can sometimes briefly control a person putting them in some kind of trance. Sirens have unbelievable flexible and agile bodies and are unusually quick, matching the speed of vampires. Ari and Arias teach the young supernatural beings of Haven who were unable to teach themselves things such as math or science. Both being beautiful and such gentle beings when it comes to the young ones, they are most favorite teachers.

11.Oran Berathian- Looking in his mid twenties but actually around 150 years old or so, he is a mixture of vampire, werewolf and a witch. Being considered one of the most powerful of The Whisperers he is a member of the counsel of Nine and also one of the founders of Vermillion and a number of other supernatural homes. Known as a Tribrid in the supernatural world and very rare. Originally just a witch in his youth, he was turned by the love of his life who was a vampire who unfortunately was killed by a werewolf. The very same werewolf ends up turning him, forcing him to at least partially become what he hates which is werewolfs due to the one turning him killing his beloved. In anger he kills the one who turned him and shortly after his eyes glow a flame red color before he enters transformation. Despite his hatred of werewolfs and Lycans he still feels a bond among them now that he is one of them to a extent. Once creating Vermillion with the help of others he only usually allows werewolfs and lycans in his underground city with the exception of a few other supernatural beings. Some werewolfs and lycans resent him due to his vampire blood in him as well but due to fear of him and his power none challenge him.

12. Paxton Arcata- Warlock and leader of the Shroud Coven. Age being unknown but has the appearance of someone around there mid 40's. Uses a rare and old type of magic not known by many to keep his appearance young and maintain fit as well as stop him from aging. Due to this, it makes him pretty much immortal and a insanely powerful user of magic. His familiar is a dragon but that can have a human physical form as well. His familiar is a very rare type of familiar's and able to leave his masters side and be his own individual and think for himself. However if Paxton was in ever need of his familiar all he would have to do is call is familiar's name and no matter how far he was he would appear in a instant due to his familiar's flight ability which is more like him using teleportation. Due to his long time spent in the world he is very knowledgeable and respected by most in the Shroud Coven and is one of the counsel of Nine.

13.  Ka'el- Paxton's familiar, who can take the form of a almighty dragon or maintain a human form and has ability of freewill and allowed to be his own individual. When in human form his wings become tattoos on his back and his horns retract to barely anything, barely visible in his hair. He often wears beanies as a means to conceal them although normally its not necessary as his hair is long and lengthy blonde colored giving him a appearance of a surfer dude most at Haven often joking of his appearance.

14.  Esla Woods- In her mid 20's and a member of the Shroud Coven for 3 years and becomes fast friends with Paige when she later attempts to be accepted into Cloud Nine and the Shroud Coven. Although only being at Cloud Nine for a few years, she is already granted the title of a teacher there and teaches the younger witches and warlocks as she feels sorry for most who were abandoned by there parents or other such horrible stories. Her familiar is a white cobra snake that usually stays wrapped around her left arm and becomes a bracelet and gauntlet like accessory.

15.  God(Avis)- Creator of all life or so it is told and takes form of multiple faces and bodies. Literally being able to appear as anything or anyone at anytime. His power has been greatly diminished however due to a epic battle in the past with the Everbeing, someone so powerful and ancient that he is as old as God himself and how he came to be is unknown to anyone including God himself. Even Satan fears this being. During a past fight against the Everbeing Satan and God were forced to team up to attempt to stop him from destroying all creation even Heaven and Hell and Purgatory and Limbo. But among the chaos of the fight Satan was cast aside to a dimension known nothing but as Oblivion. A place where there is nothing, no life, no sound, no scenery, just nothing. God was greatly weakened and his memory of who he is erased and fallen from Heaven onto earth as what humans saw as a comet or meteor. Wandering the world as a lost individual looking much like Liiam Niesson in appearance, he is trying to remember who he is. When he first falls and nearly takes out a home in Miami Florida, he chooses the name Avis after seeing it on a sign nearby for Avis Industries.

16.  Mr.Evervee(The Everbeing)- All of creation's biggest threat. This being is of many mysteries. Nobody knows how he came to be or where he came from or how he is as old as God himself and without even God knowing where he came to be. With God being the creator of all things, how then did the Everbeing come to be of existence? This unknown creature or entity is so powerful that even God can't handle him and Satan himself fears the being even when Satan himself is the embodiment of evil and chaos. Currently conceals himself as a human male wearing attire that makes him look like a corporate businessman and is always having a attitude and personality that seems too perfect to where its eerie. He is one of the antagonists of the series.He is the result for the mark that appears on all supernatural life later on to be known because he is trying to build a army. Apparently the mark has appeared in past generations but is not remembered as its Evervee's usual tactic to fight against God.

17. Gavin Braxton- mid twenties male who is part of a large group of hunters known as The Harbingers who goal is similar to that of The Whisperers in the Shroud Coven however both groups often collide with one another. The Harbingers with Gavin being one of the first members, go after supernatural threats when they believe that the supernatural entity is beyond saving and to far gone often due to the mark. Gavin is a unusual type of hunter as he does not use any actual weapons but instead his partner Nora Harper who is a special and rare type of supernatural beings known as Therianthropes or just Therians for short. She is capable of morphing into any kind of object she can see with her eyes so therefore using his phone or magazines he keeps on him or books he will have her look at whatever picture and turn into that particular weapon or anything else he may need even if its car, making him literally be driving her. 

18. Nora Harper- Similar age to Gavin and having a close partnership with him making her the only supernatural entity that is part of The Harbingers. Always being by Gavin’s side for most missions they go on, she is whatever Gavin needs her to be quite literally as she is a Therian capable of morphing into any object or tool by simply seeing it with her eyes and then undergoing the transformation. Nora has romantic feelings for Gavin while Gavin mainly thinks of only work and the current job at hand although deep down he to truly values having Nora by his side for nearly everything. 

19. Helena Prowl- The woman who is unknowingly the caretaker of God. Residing in Miami Florida, she slowly attempts to heal and make God recover from his injuries. Finding him in a home nearby that is totally wrecked as if smashed by a meteor, she quickly rushes him away from the scene and attempts to heal him, and hopes to get answers on what in the world he is. Meanwhile, police in the area and other government officials attempt to figure out what happened with the home and how it exploded with the residents of the place luckily not home at the time. 

[mvssmallow]

Cloudy With A Chance

Part 15: …of skin.

Masterlist

When Hanbin asks him to stay the night, he knows he shouldn’t think anything beyond the actual literal interpretation of the statement.

He’s just going to stay the night.

Like a sleepover, he guesses.

Hanbin takes their jackets to hang on the designated hooks by the door before shuffling past into the apartment. When did he even get a designated hook? Has there always been two?

There’s no answers though because he’s alone, standing in the dim hallway by the front door and only vaguely registering Hanbin moving around on the other side of the wall. He toes off his Nikes and pushes them next to the Winnie The Pooh slippers that are neatly lined up next to all their other pairs of shoes. He’s been absentmindedly jamming his feet into them for weeks but it suddenly dawns on him: Hanbin never actually wears them.

Because they’re not his.

They’re mine.

He got them for me.

Why haven’t I noticed this until now?

Maybe he’s had a lot of experience in dating and fucking around but This? He’s never experienced whatever the hell This actually is. It’s completely foreign territory. Do regular people buy each other house slippers? The last (and only other) person to do that was his mum and that was way back when he was eight years old.

There’s a quiet cough to his left. Hanbin is looking at him with a mixture of shy curiosity and concern. He knows he must look crazy, standing in a dark hallway and staring at a pair of Winnie The Pooh slippers on the floor but if Hanbin thinks it’s weird, he doesn’t say anything about it.

“So um, do you want the first shower? I’ll get some things for you.”

He nods as he slides his feet into the familiar red and yellow fabric. “Uh, yeah okay. I can go first.”

He follows Hanbin down the corridor until they reach the entrance to the one and only bedroom in the apartment. He’s been sent in there once or twice, mainly to grab a phone charger or jacket, but he’s never stayed long enough. Something always stops him at the threshold, like he’s still waiting for the formal invitation, so he just leans on the doorframe and watches Hanbin potter around the room pulling towels and t-shirts out of drawers and setting them down into two neat piles on the bed.

He gets the thought that this is probably the real Hanbin; at home, in a safe familiar environment and doing random domestic things that don’t have any stress or pressure attached to them. It makes him feel weirdly happy and ridiculous at the same time.

“Jiwon?”

“Huh?”

“I said: which one did you want?” Hanbin gives him a frustrated look as he holds out two pairs of pyjama pants. “Dogs or Spaceships?”

“Um, which one are you wearing?”

“Whichever one you won’t. So pick.” Hanbin says impatiently.

“Spaceships.”

There’s relief on Hanbin’s face, even if he’ll never admit to it. “Lucky you, just dodged a bullet there.”

“Why did you even ask?” He laughs.

He knows the Dog pair are Hanbin’s favourite but he’ll play along, not wanting the mood to get awkward and tense because Hanbin has figured out that someone knows a lot of personal things about him now.

“I was trying to be polite.” Hanbin shrugs and folds the Spaceship pair to add to the ‘Jiwon’ pile on the bed. “Do you realise how much stuff you leave here? I found two shirts and a hoodie in my laundry last week. Oh and those jeans with like 20 engine grease stains on them. I don’t even know how they got in there.”

He hmmms in reply, somewhat mesmerised by the way Hanbin just seems to know what he needs without asking, like he’s done this a million times before.

T-shirt. The thinest one possible.

Pyjama pants. The most worn in pair.

Boxers. Not too small.

Towel. The largest one.

Toothbrush. The softest one.

The whole thing grabs at his heart, like a warm fist squeezing with just enough force to leave a mark but not a scar. Enough to remind him that he’s truly alive but not enough to kill him (yet).

“Sorry about the Disney toothbrush, my sister likes them. She’s going through a phase.”

“Yeah because what would a grown man be doing with all this Disney?” He says, pretending to be serious.

Hanbin rolls his eyes and walks over to shove the pile of clothes into his hands. “Go shower, you’re all gross and sweaty.”

“You act it like you don’t love it.” He says with a smirk, closing the bathroom door just as Hanbin thinks of a retort.

“I don’t!” Comes the indignant voice from the other side of the door.

There’s apple shampoo and body wash that reminds him of the ocean. His towel has Hanbin’s name on the tag and the toothbrush has The Little Mermaid’s face on it. It’s only a shower but it’s overwhelming in a way; being in Hanbin’s apartment, smelling like him, wearing his clothes, it’s all just Hanbin Hanbin Hanbin all over his skin and everywhere he looks. He doesn’t really know how to feel about it but figures cold water will fix whatever thoughts his stupid mind is about to give him.

When he’s done, he stands in front of the bathroom mirror and wonders if the way he feels on the inside translates to a change that can be seen on the outside. He hopes not. There’s no way he’s got enough energy to deal with Hanbin freaking out tonight, even if it’s in a good way.

The bathroom door is barely open when he feels Hanbin brushing past him. “If you used up all my hot water, I’m making you sleep on the couch without a blanket.”

Wait. What? He wasn’t sleeping on the couch in the first place?

The door to the bathroom clicks shut and once again, he’s alone in a dim corridor, this time staring at a closed door, still trying to answer impossible questions and definitely not thinking about what Hanbin is doing on the other side. But right on cue, the fog creeps back in, it’s the one that gives him flashes of Hanbin’s mouth and neck and….

Oh My God, stop it Jiwon.

He shakes his head violently, as if it’ll somehow dislodge all the unhelpful thoughts (it really doesn’t).

At least he’s got something new to distract himself with now: what to do about Hanbin’s bedroom. He leans against the doorframe again, feeling vaguely apprehensive about just walking into a place that’s so private and so protected. Though, he reasons, the door was left wide open and Hanbin never actually told him to wait anywhere else.

Letting out an uncertain breath, he crosses the threshold into the room. There’s no rushing in and out this time. He can just stop and look.

It’s neat, like the rest of the apartment, and the beige walls are punctuated by the odd photograph and old art reprints (he recognises the water lily one). There are pockets of chaos where Hanbin has left notebooks, pens and research papers in a small piles on the ground, like crumbs leading to his desk-a big solid wooden black structure with Hanbin’s silver MacBook laying across it. There’s also a phone plugged into it’s charger. A battered copy of Murakami. A small potted fern by the window that overlooks the street between the apartment blocks. And a diary with meeting times and phone numbers of people to call on Monday. On first appearances, it’s a table that belongs to a responsible working adult but it’s all the little things he notices that say the most about Hanbin:

Like the faded Mickey Mouse stickers on the desk lamp. And how Evangelionnights are always highlighted in his diary. And how Thursdays always get a small “J-Late Shift” noted in the corner. Or how there are photo frames on the desk but all the photos are of his little sister and the family dog. There’s a black Batman notebook laying open on the table, the flyer for tonights Mic Night is already stuck on one of the pages, that makes him smile. He picks up the copy of Murakami and flips through it, stopping only when he gets to the crumple movie ticket that was being used as the bookmark.

The Secret Life Of Pets.

He can’t believe Hanbin would save something like that. Especially when it was from the same night that they had their first big fight. He’s surprised by how sentimental it makes him feel. Like someone just came out of nowhere and pushed him off a cliff. He doesn’t want to get dramatic about it but he feels like he’s in the deep end of the ocean, so deep that his feet don’t even touch the ground anymore.

Oh My God, what the hell is wrong with you? You turn into a poet? Get a grip, loser.

But there’s nowhere else to look, it’s either the table or the bed. And that bed isn’t just a bed. It isn’t really just a place to sleep. He knows it means trust and safety and it’s the one place where he will wait for an actual invitation. The plain cotton sheets aren’t exactly what he was expecting (or are they? he’s not sure) but they look soft, lived-in and comfortable. There are three pillows, two white ones to match the sheets and one with the Bat symbol all over it, squashed underneath the other two, like a puppy hiding at a dog convention.

You’re going crazy Jiwon. You’ve actually lost your damm mind.

Okay. Okay. The safest bet is to just avoid looking at anything else in the room so he wanders over to sit on the window sill and scroll through the rest of the unread messages on his phone. A lot of congratulations texts but there’s one message from a number he doesn’t really recognise….asking him about Hanbin. He doesn’t realise how hard he’s frowning until a voice startles him back to reality.

“What’s wrong?”

He looks up, taking in how young Hanbin looks when he’s not at work or dressed up to go out. Just wet hair, t-shirt and old dog pyjamas. It’s his favourite version. He’s just decided.

“No nothing, just checking my messages. A whole bunch of drunk ones I can’t read.”

“Oh yeah? You should let me read them for you. I get badly written texts every morning.”

“Hey! I skip vowels to save time, there’s a difference.” He points out.

“And yet you’re always late.” Hanbin says with that damm dimple smile.

There’s a pause then. He thinks about asking which side of the bed he gets to sleep on but instead, he just watches Hanbin go from drawer to drawer, folding shirts that are already folded. It goes on for few minutes until he’s sure that yep, Hanbin is definitely stalling and avoiding getting anywhere near the bed.

“Hey, you wanna sleep now? I’m kinda tired.” He says it as casually as he can, not knowing how far things might go, if they go anywhere at all.

Hanbin doesn’t meet his eyes. Not really. Just looks up once…twice….then stares out the window behind him. “Oh. Yeah. Okay.”

They both get to the edge of the bed and if he thought they had awkward moments before, they’ve definitely broken the world record now.

“Um. So. Which side do you sleep on?” Hanbin asks, staring at the pillows the entire time.

“The one closest to the door. That okay?”

“Yeah, it’s okay. You can have it. If we get attacked, you can die first.”

“Is that why you keep me around?”

“Obviously.”

They both chuckle to themselves before gingerly climbing into the bed. He waits for Hanbin to settle in before turning off the lamp on the bedside table. The darkness seems to put Hanbin at ease because his voice suddenly floats into the empty air above them.

“Are you disappointed by how tonight turned out?”

“No, not really. I kinda knew Mino would win. I’ve been out of the game for too long.”

He feels Hanbin rolling over. “No I mean like, are you disappointed by how we turned out?”

He turns to face the direction of Hanbin’s voice, he can’t see much but he feels those eyes on him. “No. Why would I be disappointed? Got into your bed didn’t I?” He laughs, trying to relieve some of the tension in the air.

“You know what I mean. Are you disappointed? And don’t lie. Just tell me.”

“I’m not! I’m not here for that. I mean, okay, if you wanna do that then I’m definitely not going to say no but it’s fine if you don’t. Seriously. I’m not disappointed. I never even thought I’d get this far to be honest.”

“Really?”

“Yeah really. It took me, what, three months to kiss you? We’re not exactly going for a land speed record here.”

“But does it annoy you? Waiting? I’m not doing it to piss you off. I just….I don’t know. I’m just waiting I guess. I don’t even know what for.”

There’s a heavy sigh that follows. One that he’s used to hearing and used to staying quiet for.

“It’s not you okay? It’s not that. It just doesn’t feel like the right time. It sounds so stupid out loud. Like I’m waiting for this cliche perfect time. I’m not. There’s no such thing as the perfect time. I’m know that. So….basically, I’m just sorry okay? I’m so bad at this. I don’t even know what I’m saying. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”

He finds the edges of Hanbin’s t-shirt under the sheets and uses it to pull the other body into his chest. “Come here. I am completely fine with it, okay? God. Give me some credit. I do actually have other thoughts in my head apart from that.”

“That sounds like a lie.” Hanbin says with a sad laugh but shifts closer against him. “But thanks for lying.”

“I’m not lying!” He exclaims. “Okay…..I’m lying a little bit. But you’re really really, unfairly, hot. It’s not normal Hanbin. Some idiot at the club actually asked me if I could hook you guys up and I swear to god, I almost punched him in the face.”

“What?” Hanbin asks with a laugh. “Did you?”

“No, of course not. I wanted to though.” He groans after that, realising how stupid the story is. “Ahh, can we just blame everything I just said on alcohol?”

“It’s okay. I kinda had a bit too much at the club too.”

“Next time you get wasted make sure I’m around okay? You shouldn’t trust these rapper guys, they’re all kinda shady and probably just out to get you.”

“Bit late with the warning aren’t you? I’m already in bed with one.”

He buries his face into Hanbin’s neck. “Yeah and he’s really fucking happy to be here.”

“He sure about that?”

“Yeah he’s sure.”

There’s plenty of things he loves about this crazy guy in his arms; the unpredictability, the almost crippling shyness juxtaposed with the occasional sharp burst of confidence, how surprisingly practical and smart he is….the list goes on and on but if he’s going to be shallow about it, he really loves how Hanbin is just that tiny bit smaller than he is. Like someone just photocopied the original version and made it 5% shorter and thinner so he could fit neatly into Kim Jiwon’s body.

It’s one of the first things he notices after Hanbin falls asleep first, face pressed right up against his chest and one fist bunch up in his t-shirt. He’s sure that June and Yoyo are laughing about how sappy and lame he’s gotten with age but he’d take this over meaningless faces any day.

*****

He rolls over slowly, the hand that was on his back doesn’t move, just drags against his skin and settles against the left hip bone that juts out because his pyjamas pants are so low slung and a size too big.

It tickles and makes him squirm against Jiwon’s shoulder.

“Ah!”

There’s a low pitched chuckle as Jiwon’s hand leaves his hip to rest on his chest. There are lips pressed against the back of his neck and he feels the words more than he hears them.

“Sorry baby. Go back to sleep.”

It comes out even deeper and rougher than it did at the club last night, making his hair stand on end and all the blood in his head drain south.

He tries, he tries really hard, to sleep again but it’s impossible, especially because Jiwon’s hand never leaves him alone.

It starts off just resting on his chest, keeping him anchored in place, but soon enough, he feels it’s heavy weight dragging down the front of his body, fingers catching every rib and bump along the way until they finally stop at his right hip bone.

There they stay, the warm fingertips just softly drawing circles against his skin and every so often, working their way up under his t-shirt.

It’d be fine, comforting even, if he wasn’t already completely worked up inside. His breathing is erratic, suddenly too loud, and he panics when he realises that Jiwon is definitely not asleep at all.

It’s at the 9th or 10th rib when Jiwon suddenly shifts closer and he feels it. The unmistakable, unavoidable and completely insistent hard pressure of a cock against the back of his thigh.

The accidental contact has him gasping out in surprise but his body grinds back on it, completely out of his control. The deep raw groan that comes out of Jiwon’s mouth will probably haunt him forever.

“FUCK.”

It wasn’t really a word but a long drawn out sentence, pressed right into his skin, so thick and heavy with want that he thinks he can actually feel the letters sinking in like a tattoo.

“Sorry. It kinda just…”

“It’s okay. I….I don’t mind.” He interjects, not wanting to hear an apology right now. He’s not sure if Jiwon is surprised or asleep because there’s no response for a few seconds. He gets anxious in the silence and ends up rolling onto his back until he’s half caged under Jiwon’s right arm and staring up at the most endearingly confused and conflicted face he’s ever seen.

He reaches out to touch it. “Hey? It’s okay. Umm, you can keep going if you want?”

Jiwon looks down at him and either Hanbin’s mind has lost itself or he’s having a stroke because he swears he can see the moment those eyes change from confusion into dark hunger.

“Do you…want me to?”

“Yeah I want you to.”

The kiss that comes completely overwhelms, overpowers and immobilizes him. He’s pressed into the mattress, drowning in the warm depths of Jiwon’s mouth, completely powerless and not even caring. His fingers dig painfully into Jiwon’s tattooed forearms. There’s a grunt or groan in his ear but he’s not sure if it’s from pleasure, pain or both.

He’s glad they’re already in bed because he’s getting dizzy from either hyperventilating or not breathing fast enough. By the time Jiwon’s hot mouth sucks at his neck, he’s ready to just black out and go to Hell.

“Fuck babe….fuck…”

He can hear Jiwon muttering to himself like a madman who has lost all sense of control. This will be the most important thing he learns about Jiwon today: that he has no filter or restraint in the mornings. And right on cue, that hard cock grinds against his ass.

There’s a deep guttural groan mixed in with his desperate cries. It doesn’t even sound human. Maybe because it’s not.

“You sound so good.” Jiwon murmurs into his ear. “I wanna touch you. Can I touch you?”

“Yeah…okay…” He breathes out, not entirely sure what’s really coming but wanting it either way.

Jiwon sits up abruptly, taking off his t-shirt and throwing it on the floor before just kneeling over him. He wants to say something, like how they always seem to in a movie, but he can’t think of anything so he just stares at all the dark lines etched across miles of perfect golden skin.

Jiwon smiles at him, reaching down to brush the hair out of his eyes before tugging at the hem of his t-shirt.

“Do you want this off? You’re gonna get too hot.”

He nods but holds onto the shirt. “I’m not…I don’t….”

Look anything like you.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Jiwon says gently, coaxing the t-shirt out of his fingers before pulling it over his head and throwing it on the floor.

He drags his arm over his eyes, not really wanting to know what Jiwon’s face looks like right now, seeing him half-naked for the first time. He half expected Jiwon to pull his arm away, demanding eye contact before saying something lame and cliche.

But he doesn’t. There’s just a kiss against his arm and a soft, “You are fucking amazing…”

A warm hand runs slowly down his chest again, every centimetre lower causing his heart rate to spike faster and faster until all the blood is thundering in his ears.

There’s a pause as the fingers reach the band of his pyjamas. “You want this off too?”

He bites his bottom lip, blushes hot but nods anyway.

It’s suddenly cold as Jiwon’s pulls the pants off him and for a few seconds, nothing happens. He doesn’t have to see to know that eyes are raking over his body. He definitely doesn’t want to know what Jiwon thinks now. He feels completely naked- literally, figuratively, emotionally…whatever else there is left to feel.

That warm mouth is at his neck again, fingers now rubbing roughly at his overly sensitive nipples.

“Ahh…..fuck. Jiwon! I need to-”

His left hand goes to grip the base of his hard cock but Jiwon catches his wrist.

“No. Don’t do that baby.”

“But I want to!” He whines loudly, without caring how desperate he sounds.

“I know you do.” His hand is replaced by Jiwon’s firm grip, it’s solid and possessive, confident even it the way it holds him. For the second time, he feels powerless under the intense gaze that burns into his skin and the strong hands that can break him apart if they wanted to. He thought he’d be scared but the fear……the fear comes hand in hand with the danger and that just gets him even harder.

He’s leaking in Jiwon’s hand as it works up and down, tight but slow. The entire room is filled with wet obscene sounds mixed with his desperate cries and Jiwon’s sympathetic murmurs.

“Jiwon….Jiwon…..I need to I need to…”

“I know baby. Just a bit longer. I want to watch you like this….”

He groans loudly in frustration. “No! I can’t!”

The hand grips him tighter then and starts a faster, rougher and altogether ruthless pace that has him gasping for air.

“So…good….” He half sighs-half moans. “You’re so good.”

The heat builds up inside his belly way too suddenly, causing him dig bruises into Jiwon’s arms and cry out again. “Jiwon! I’m going to-”

“You want to cum?”

“YES”

Jiwon sucks at his neck even harder. “Cum for me baby.”

The release tears a disgustingly depraved moan out of him as he cums all over Jiwon’s fingers and gets swallowed back into that hot mouth again.

When he’s come back down to earth, he’s completely spent and heavy but light at the same time. There’s not a single thought inside his head that doesn’t start and end with Jiwon’s name.

****

He watches Hanbin cum all over his fingers, loud and unrestrained. Lips bitten raw, so red and swollen that he can’t help drawing them back into his mouth.

When he’s done, there’s a long blissful sigh as Hanbin collapses against the mattress, breathing heavily and letting his eyes adjust to the light again.

Despite everything that just happened and the fact that his hand is coated in cum, all he really wants to do is gather Hanbin in a blanket and take him somewhere where they can be exactly like this forever.

Hard as fuck and you’re getting sentimental again. What the hell, Jiwon?

He grabs tissues from the bedside table and cleans his hand to distract himself.

It’s quiet for a few minutes and he’s wondering if Hanbin’s fallen back asleep. But he hasn’t.

“Jiwon?”

“Yeah?”

Hanbin is snuggled against his side, hand idly inching towards the hard cock straining in his pyjamas.

“Do you want me to-”

“Only if you want to.” He says, trying to keep his voice even when it’s anything but.

“I want to. But….can you close your eyes too?”

There’s a million protests inside his head because if there’s one kink he’s already discovered, it’s that he loves to watch and watching Hanbin cum is better than watching porn. But at the same time, he’d be stupid to fuck this up now. “Yeah okay.”

He pulls off the spaceship pyjamas and lays back against the pillows, eyes closed but feeling Hanbin’s heavy gaze on him.

The hand that grips the base of his cock is maybe experimental at first but the longer it’s there, the firmer the grip gets. And what comes next has him swearing so loudly that the neighbours probably heard it.

Wet, soft and heavy. It’s the unmistakable feeling of a tongue dragging across the head of his cock.

“AHH FUCK! What the fuck….”

His hands find Hanbin’s hair, pulling at it with rough desperation that he’ll apologise for later but if he was expecting protests, he wasn’t getting any. All it does is makes Hanbin swallow down more of him, inch by aggravating inch.

“I knew it. I knew it. I fucking knew it.”

The hand at the base of his cock starts moving as the hot tongue glides and swirls around him, filling the room the sound of wet hunger.

He thought he’d be able to hold on for longer without the visuals but Hanbin’s mouth is either the gateway to Heaven or Hell because the climax builds up way too fast and way too unexpectedly.

“Babe…babe! Fuck…..” He tugs at Hanbin’s hair in warning but another hand reaches up to push it away.

He cums in Hanbin’s mouth with a loud string of fucks and 5 months worth of frustrated groans before falling back against the pillows, vision hazy and dark as he sees bursts of stars behind his eyes.

When he’s vaguely coherent, he watches as Hanbin sits up, eyes still heavy and dark, lips red and swollen, hair a mess, and wiping his mouth like the cat that got all the cream.

It’s almost enough to get him hard again.

“What the hell…..you could’ve done that the whole time?”

Hanbin has the audacity to blush faintly as he lays back down against his chest. “I don’t know. Was it okay?”

“Was it okay?” He asks in disbelief. “Yeah babe, it was okay. If you call making me black out okay.”

“Is that good or bad?”

He hugs Hanbin against him and kisses the top of his head, thanking whichever God let him have this whole ridiculous thing. “It’s good baby. It’s all good. Everything about you is good.”

“Thanks for staying.”

“Thanks for letting me.”

****

The next time he wakes up there’s still a birdsong in the air. The sheets are still warm. Jiwon’s skin is smooth and soft under his fingers. The afternoon sun casts a golden light into his bedroom.

He lays there, just listening to Jiwon breathing as his fingers trace across the tiger and rose tattoo. He finds the crooked one, the one Jiwon never wanted to get fixed because it reminded him of them.

He gets it now. He gets it.  

He doesn’t believe in perfection, true happiness might be a myth and contentment might not even exist but right there and then, he’s pretty sure he’s laying in the middle of all three.