#and I have so much to read for looming book groups that I somehow got roped into

[isfjmel-phleg]

It has not been a productive day, but I did get my homework done before tomorrow's session and didn't lose my composure while writing it (not that there would have been anyone here to see but still), so there's that.

[talentswaphavoc]

Talent-swap Havoc [Chapter 3 daily life: Wolf in sheep's clothing]

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Aoi's execution ended and everyone is ready to go. Junko was about to leave and noticed Sakura still standing there, Leon was already being comforted by Sayaka. Junko decided to comfort her friend Sakura, she went closer and tried helping her understand what she's going through. Sayaka was trying to calm Leon down, they were both doing their best. Leon and Sakura however were missing their now gone friends... Their memories live forever with them.

Everyone heads back to their dorms but no one speaks a word, no one dares to. Everyone is split off into even small groups then before, there are only 2 groups of 3. Junko thinks to herself if her actions were wrong, just like before but before she can develop further, Monokuma appears.

"Since Yasuhiro's secret was boring and no one else's secrets got revealed there wasn't much drama as I hoped. So as your headmaster I decided I'll reveal mine! I know, I'm so kind. Ok ok, here it goes!

There's a traitor among you."

Everyone froze in their tracks and stared at the screen showing Monokuma before it faded to black. Their was fear, panic and interest in people's eyes. No one knew what to say, except Kyoko. She immediately accused Byakuya of being the traitor, saying he has yet to share his talent and somehow knew all the answers.

Junko jumps into to defending, stating that it's dumb to assume so soon. Kyoko continues to back up her argument, explaining that he said he couldn't say his talent but may just be a stupid lie so his real talent isn't revealed. Toko ran up and argues back yelling she hasn't done anything to help the group. Kyoko responds back by explaining everyone knows her talent and who she is, but no one knows. His talent could be the Ultimate Killing Game Maker for all they know.

Mondo yells at her to stop the crap, explaining all she'll have left is enemies if she continues. Byakuya stops him, saying he can explain himself. Byakuya continues by stating he can't say his talent or the reason why he can't say his talent. Kyoko starts to get annoyed, she wants an answer. She smiles like she has a plan and continues arguing, but now Toko steps in instead.

Junko starts to think and focus her attention on Byakuya. wondering if Kyoko's suspicions may be true, however her doubting is discouraged by how much Byakuya has actually helped. He may be mysterious but is that any reason to think he's the mastermind?

Kyoko leaves to her dorm sharing some final yet chilling words. Celestia stands there awkwardly watching her leave while others stand near their friends. Taka asks if Celestia is really her friend and Celestia explains that she agrees with Kyoko and that they should also think it thru, she may be right after all. Celestia leaves and everyone starts to separate back to their dorms, no one feels safe but they'll act like it.

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The morning announcement runs off again and Junko groans but gets up, she always hated mornings. Junko wondered if what happened last night really affected everyone, she thinks it did but who knows. Junko went to the gym because she heard singing, Leon was singing and Sayaka was praising his work. Chihiro was trying to break up another petty argument Taka and Mondo were having again. Junko smiled, she was glad nothing to serious went on especially with Leon. He really needs this.

Junko worried about Sakura instead, thinking that the 2nd floor pool is where she'd be. She was, Sakura was looming over the area Yasuhiro was found dead in, the place Aoi always brought them to. Junko and Sakura share some worrying and cheerful words to each other. Junko tried cheering her up and Sakura brought up how this pain she feels must be what Junko felt, it was. they hug and cry all their pain out before talking about moments they loved with their now dead friends.

Junko remembers and old book she and Mukuro read together and wants to look for it in the library, so they go. Sakura asks what the book was and she describes it in great detail on their way there. They don't hear screaming or yelling till they open the door, it was chaos. Junko and Sakura stare at the scene before them. Byakuya had a large cut on his head being taken care of by Kiyotaka, Chihiro was taking care of the cuts on Toko while Mondo was yelling at Kyoko and Celestia.

Sakura rushed over to stop Mondo and Kyoko's bickering while Junko ran to ask Byakuya what happened. Byakuya explains he was reading when Kyoko tried slicing open his head but he threw a book at her instead. He noted she wasn't trying to kill him, just harm him. Celestia was also there attacking him to, but Toko ran in front and got those cuts. Apparently, Toko's scream alerted Mondo, Taka and Chihiro who were walking by which resulted in this.

Sakura took away the knife Kyoko had and told them their all going to the gym to talk. Sakura and Mondo both go away with Kyoko and Celestia, Kyoko was angry while Celestia was rather reserved but pissed. Kiyotaka and Chihiro help Byakuya and Toko go who both resist any other help or questions. Junko is tasked with finding Leon and Sayaka, so she runs around and realizes there's a 3rd floor opened.

Sayaka and Leon were heading up those stairs, they asked where everyone went so Junko explains what happened briefly. They rush over to the gym and Leon asks what the fuck happened to Byakuya and Toko, also why Sakura has a knife. Mondo explains it was Kyoko and Kyoko sticks her tongue at him. Celestia coughs before explaining the story from scratch; Kyoko had planned to make Byakuya reveal his talent by force but she didn't think Toko stalked him enough to know he was in danger.

Mondo scolded her for dragging Celestia into this mess and that what she did was horrible, Kyoko ignores him. Sakura sighs and as Junko is about to ask something- Monokuma bursts in angry. He demanded to know why no one has went up to check the 3rd floor after he announced the new rooms, Sakura reexplains. Monokuma points at Celestia and Kyoko, stating they will be punished for their actions by having their secrets revealed from last chapter instead of just dying.

Kyoko isn't worried at all but Celestia is.

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Kyoko's secret: Kyoko has done illegal gambling, some being young for her to do.

Celestia's secret: Celestia Ludenberg is a fake name, her real name is Taeko Yasuhiro.

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Celestia yells freezes, having no idea what to do and Kyoko watches her. Chihiro asks if it's true and Taeko looks down in shame, soon nodding. Junko sighs and asks what they should call her, Celestia said she'll decide soon, for now the name Celestia was fine. Byakuya gets up and starts leaving, suggesting they can skip this for another time. Kiyotaka asks how he could push something like this aside but gets ignored. Toko follows and soon everyone does.

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During the investigation, Junko finds a strange photo on the floor. It shows a picture of Aoi attacking Yasuhiro while Hifumi is watching, there was another figure in the corner but it was hard to make out- only there arm was out after all, it looked covered bandages. Just as Junko was going to show the others- Monokuma snatched it which resulted in them arguing. Junko decided she knew she couldn't win but kept note of this discovery and continued the investigation as normal. Junko decided to tag along with Sakura and Kyoko, who were fine with it.

Once they found the nurse's office, they treated Byakuya and Toko's wounds more carefully.

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Nighttime rolled around and before everyone went to bed, Mondo made a suggestion. Explaining that they couldn't let an attack like this happen again, Kyoko and Celestia had to be watched. Sakura agreed to watch over Kyoko but Sayaka argued that would be to much, they need to split times up. Mondo, Sakura, Sayaka, Taka and Leon were the strongest so they could easily watch over any of them with not much problem. Byakuya, Junko, Toko and Chihiro were left without any tasks which Junko was very grateful for. They would decide times after.

Kyoko sighed but agreed and Celestia agreed as well, saying it is what they deserve after all. Then, they all went back to their dorms to sleep again...

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Junko woke up feeling somewhat better then last night despite what happened yesterday. She decided to stay in her room and worry about that photo. Wondering if she should tell anyone, she thinks if anyone would believe her, it'd be him. So she ran to find Byakuya but stumbled into Kiyotaka who was carrying a book, Junko asked what it was. Kiyotaka quickly covered the title and stated it was a book she used to read as a kid, Junko was hesitate but nodded. Junko asked if she's seen Byakuya and Kiyotaka points where, Junko runs off yell a thank you to Kiyotaka.

Junko finally finds Byakuya in the laundry room and asks why he's here. Byakuya asks her if she remembers what happened here, Junko gets defensive and asks why he's asking. Byakuya looks at her and sighs, saying now isn't the time. He asks her what she wants, Junko explains the photo she found before but Monokuma took away. Byakuya ponders for a moment, saying he's not sure what it means but that she shouldn't say things that may be used against the mastermind so easily.

Before leaving, he explains that the bath house does have no cameras and it's the only place they have where Monokuma can't watch them. Junko decides to check for herself but agrees to say everything else there. They both separate and Junko heads straight to the bath house. On her way, she passes Mondo and Kyoko heading upstairs to either the 1st or 2nd floor, no one else. Junko checks the bath house, finding no cameras she smiles in relief and starts to feel anxious. Should just one person be trusted with Kyoko? Especially someone like Mondo?

Junko ponders and decides to check on them- then she ran straight into Chihiro which threw them both on the ground. Chihiro sniffles and Junko yells in pain. Sayaka- who was talking to Chihiro helps Junko up then Chihiro. Junko apologizes for disturbing them and slamming Chihiro into the floor, Sayaka says it was alright. Junko tries comforting Chihiro who was starting to calm down, Sayaka gave Chihiro also. Soon later, she calmed down and thanked them both. Sayaka said it was alright again and Junko said she had to help. Junko soon brushes them off and leaves again, Chihiro also left Sayaka and followed Junko to the second floor, then left on that floor...

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[shepherds-of-haven]

In an alternate Blest where the Endarkened never returned thus there was never a need for the shepherds to form, what would the main cast be doing?🧐 Would any of their paths have crossed otherwise? For those who are not from Haven would they have any other reason to travel there?

Holy shit anon, this is such a great question that I've literally sat on it for six weeks thinking about it... Let's give this a try! 🤔💭

Beware! Heavy alpha build and overall spoilers below! Read at your own risk, or do not read if you haven't played the alpha fully!

Blade: well, if things had gone exactly the way they had, just without the need for the Shepherds in the mix, he'd be dead! But if we ignore that particular detail, he'd still be working as an assassin for the Ket Rebellion, and he'd probably be a colder, crueler person as a result of it. He would still be a frequent visitor to Haven, plotting you-know-what and taking on various jobs and assignments in the meantime; and he and Trouble were friends before the Shepherds were formed, so they'd still be merc buddies and occasional partners on bigger jobs where they'd need someone to watch their back! But they probably wouldn't be as close. He'd probably spend the rest of his life working as the tip of the spear for the Ket rebellion, the left hand and living weapon of his brother. It'd be an okay life, but he'd never truly be independent!

Trouble: he'd likely still be a mercenary or soldier-for-hire, sort of wandering around the Continent with Haven as his home base. For some reason, I could see him being talked into joining the Army of the Sun and becoming a military man once he was older and tired of the merc life; he'd probably like the order and structure and camaraderie of it for a time, but he'd clash with his superiors and the culture so much that he'd probably eventually wind up discharged! At that point, he'd probably leave it all behind and go West to start a new life... maybe he'd become the sheriff of some small town out there, or a farmer, or an airship mechanic in Lindell!

Tallys: she'd probably work as a hunter for hire, usually working for the farms out in the Sun's Embrace or guarding their livestock from wolves and predators, or possibly as a 'van guard for Elvish caravans. She volunteered at poorhouses and Elvish clinics in Ashtown before joining the Shepherds, so she'd probably still be doing that. I think her life would be a sort of haze of just... existing, looking for a purpose or some way to help people but feeling like it's all a bit futile. She'd probably do some self-destructive things to make her forget the emptiness inside of her, and if things reached a boiling point, perhaps she'd simply disappear into the wind one day...

Shery: hmmmm, this is an interesting question! Shery met up with the Shepherds because her parents sold her into an apprenticeship that she didn't want and she ran away, and by coincidence she happened to come across the group and Blade offered her a job as quartermaster because she was good at book-keeping. If that didn't happen, I don't know what would have happened to her?! She alludes in the game that she saw how prostitutes by the docks were living and was scared that that was the only option open to her if no one would hire her, but I like to think she would have found a job as like, a librarian or a bookshop clerk or a merchant's assistant. I almost feel like she could have somehow run into Riel and joined Merchants Guild as one of his assistants alongside Aerin! So I feel like she would have been okay, though her life would have been very quiet and domestic and humble, and unless she worked for Riel, she likely would have never earned enough to have more than a little dingy apartment all to herself (and some cats).

If things hadn't worked out so well, she likely would have returned home and faced her terrible parents, and probably would have lived under their thumbs for the rest of her life as atonement! :(

Riel: he'd still be master of Merchants Guild, and doing just fine! I think he'd just continue to garner wealth, power, and influence, and likely would have been made a minister or some sort of politician within the Consortium when he was older! Not sure yet if he would have taken that offer, though! If the Endarkened didn't exist, I wonder if Merchants Guild and Thieves Guild would have had any particular bone to pick with each other, as they largely ignored each other's existence... Chase's thieves typically targeted the aristocracy and the obscenely wealthy before the whole Black Sun thing, so they might never have crossed paths!

Chase: he'd still be master of Thieves Guild, also doing just fine! I can't really imagine anything about his life changing that much; he would have continued to steal, nettle, and harangue the denizens and criminal underworld of Haven until the ecosystem could no longer sustain it and the Thieves Guild would have to pack up and move elsewhere to elude capture (probably to Conte); or he would have developed such a monopoly on crime in Haven that he would have gotten bored of the power, handed control off to Ari and Kato, and peaced out to parts unknown... realistically, in that scenario, his luck would have to run out at some point, and he'd probably sleep with or double-cross the wrong person (probably both) and get himself into a corner he couldn't back out of alone...

Red: he'd still be Archmage of the Veiled Circle, and they probably would have remained at Capra for longer, since there wouldn't have been the Endarkened to draw attention to their activities as pointedly as Quiial did. Still, they would have had to leave to evade the Inquisitors eventually, and probably would have settled somewhere else; and Red probably would have passed off leadership of the Circle to someone else, maybe a promising instructor who joined later or Pan or someone. Basically when he'd felt he'd put in the time and wasn't abandoning the Circle to its fate, he'd leave and go off and do his Traveler stuff he'd always wanted to. But it'd be a lonelier, more solitary life, and his letters home or his jaunts back to the Circle would drop off as he became more and more engrossed in his research, and people would worry about him or his health, not having anyone to watch his back on the road. He has a 50/50 chance of marrying someone nice that his family set him up with after like a concerned intervention on their part, or he'd probably drop off the face of the earth and no one would know where he went!

Ayla: she'd still be working as a wilderness guide, taking rich people around on tours and guiding parties and caravans through dangerous stretches of wilderness. She would have gone to Haven to visit as a tourist, but probably wouldn't have stayed long; a handful of weeks, at the most. She'd spend her life scrapping, fighting to stay alive, and watching her own back, but it would be an empty life, pretty much devoid of meaningful connection or meaning. At some point she'd probably get fed up, return to Jalis, and launch a single-woman campaign against the warlords there, just because she could!

Briony: hmmm... okay, she'd still be in that shipwreck, but would slavers have found her if there was no gladiator arena, since there would be no Endarkened to have created it?? I feel like she would have woken up, still an amnesiac, and staggered to the nearest town eventually (which I think would have been Courtshore or one of its outlying, smaller towns/villages). After recovering a little, she probably would have put herself to work as a mercenary or as a street-fighter working for bets (so like a gladiator... but on the street!). She probably would have been taken in by a kind innkeeper or family and allowed to rent a small room with her bizarre story of not having a memory. Or she could have taken up something simpler, like working as a barmaid in the inn or something like that! She probably would have had a relatively happy, peaceful life once she got used to things and it all settled down... but given her proximity to the shipwreck, her past would have caught up to her way faster, and the fallout would have been... intense...

Lavinet: she'd still be in Lockwood, and the Elementals would still be an issue, since that wasn't tied to demonwork! What probably would have happened: things would have deteriorated, and the families of the besieged nobles in Lockwood would have grown impatient and would sent in their personal armies to deal with the situation, most likely without Lavinet's consent. The ensuing conflict would have been devastating, with the Elementals most likely winning. In response, the Autarchy would have mobilized the Army of the Sun and absolutely annihilated the Elementals--but Lockwood would have likely burned, caught in the crossfire. Lavinet would have to spend the rest of her life with that shadow looming over her, and while she'd still harbor ambitions to attend the Sun Court and rise in the ranks as a Sun Courtier, there would always be that stain on her reputation, or she wouldn't have been able to leave Lockwood, having to help it rebuild after its destruction. Or she would have gotten kidnapped by the Elementals far earlier and might have been killed then!

Halek: he would have stayed sol of the Reach, and I have no idea what would have happened... he probably would have married Moonsilk and just have been absolutely miserable... probably would have popped out a few kids and just... existed! Or maybe he might have run away and left Naolin holding the bag and become like a guilty drunkard in some random town, though it's hard to believe they wouldn't have tracked him down eventually...

[soupthatistohot]

Sk8 headcannons because brainrot pt. 2

- everything Reki has ever taught himself has been because of the wonderful world of YouTube tutorials

- Kojiro wanted to get his ears pierced in highschool like Kaoru, but he didn't do it because he was afraid of tarnishing his image (which is ironic when he gets a massive tattoo later in life)

- Langa doesn't like cats because he thinks they're mean

- there’s a stray cat that lives near Langa’s house and even though he doesn’t like cats, he leaves out milk and some fish for it sometimes because he feels bad

- Langa has never had a pet except a goldfish he won at a carnival once that he managed to keep alive for four years somehow.

- Kaoru technically needed glasses in high school, but he didn't wear them because he just didn't care at the time (until his vision grew poor enough that it affected his skating)

- Miya gets called a furry by Reki on the daily

- Reki has some knowledge in video editing and has considered starting a YouTube channel

- Langa has a diary, something he started after his father died. At first he didn't really know what to write, so he would just talk about his day, but eventually he got to the emotions part. The diary was especially useful during his fight with Reki in which he was trying to figure out his emotions (it was also useful when he realized he might have an itty bitty crush on his best friend)

- Joe is the biggest dad friend of the group in terms of doting on the kids and giving advice and stuff. Both Reki and Langa come to him often for advice, and Miya hangs around his restaurant a lot.

- Langa has one (1) succulent that he has managed to keep alive for three years. Its name is Gary, and it may not be the prettiest, but it is not dead yet!

- Reki never tells his mother when Langa is coming over and she's trained herself to just expect a lanky Canadian to be wandering around her house at any time.

- It took Kojiro a really long time to figure out his sexuality (and that's valid!!)

- Hiromi has been hopelessly in love with his manager for three years and has tried on multiple occasions to confess to her, but either something interrupts them or there's some sort of misunderstanding about it. Those are his more violent nights at "S".

- After befriending Reki, Langa and Miya, Hiromi is a little more careful about his tools of sabotage during beefs (and he lowkey feels guilty for injuring Reki in the beginning)

- Kaoru and Reki are actually closer than one might think. Reki ends up asking him for advice just as much as he asks Kojiro.

- Reki can't do something mundane without his ears being occupied. He ends up listening to music or podcasts a lot when he does chores or is working on a board alone (but if Langa is there with him, he'll talk his ear off instead).

- Miya's family isn't particularly bad, they're just a little distant. They assume everything is okay because Miya's so successful with school and skating, and they trust his integrity (which makes it very easy for him to sneak out to "S"). He doesn't really talk to them (or anyone, really) about his struggles.

- When Miya and Koyomi meet, he shows her all his video games and suddenly Reki's little sister is a gamer girl

- Langa almost wore a long-sleeved top to the beach and Reki had to go make him change before they left ("you'll melt in that, are you crazy?!")

- Kojiro knew damn well that Kaoru had a business trip and that the gang was going to the beach, but all other parties were unaware. He just decided to tag along as to not be left out.

- Kaoru trims his own hair, as he finds salons to be ridiculously overpriced for those with long hair

- Reki dogsits for his next door neighbor sometimes, they have a shiba named Onigiri (rice ball).

- Kojiro’s pennant was a gift from Kaoru and he wears it literally all the time except in water (so it doesn’t get ruined)

- Reki’s father is pretty absent, so Oka takes it upon himself to look after him

- Langa occasionally picks up odd jobs in order to help his mom out with finances

- Langa’s favorite animal is dolphins. He had a phase as a child where he read like fifty dolphin books and it was his entire personality for a few months. Despite this, he has never actually seen a dolphin irl

- Reki takes really good care of his nails and Langa… does not. He bites them and it annoys the shit out of Reki to the point where he’s just like “please… just let me file them for you” and Langa relents despite the fact that he hates the sensation of getting his nails filed

- Reki sometimes talks to Langa about getting depressed and one time Langa is like “yeah I getchu” and Reki is just like “heh?” And Langa says “I mean my dad died and I was in counseling for like months after that before I came here” and Reki is just like “oh”

- Langa is Reki’s bi awakening and it takes him a hot second to figure that out

- sometimes Langa pretends to be more oblivious than he is, either for shits and giggles, or to obtain information

- Kaoru knows exactly how to seduce women, and occasionally uses this to his advantage. It just sucks because he’s not into women.

- Reki is super observant, but whenever Langa does something that’s an indication that he likes Reki, he’s just like “WELL MAYBE IM OVERANALYZING THIS CANT BE REAL-”

- Langa (in general) doesn’t feel the need to be super secretive about anything. He’s honest (sometimes brutally so) and doesn’t always think twice before he says something. This can be both good and bad depending on the context.

- Reki doesn’t sleep a lot. He literally has to go to bed past midnight, he absolutely cannot fall asleep earlier. He gets up at 6:30am every day of the week, even weekends. It’s just how he’s programmed.

- Kojiro used to go to the public gym before Kaoru commented about how unsanitary that was. Ever since then he got freaked out about going to public gyms (especially as someone who works in food services) and cancelled his membership. He bought his own equipment and works out on his own now

- Reki knows how to do rainbow loom. His sisters had a phase with it.

- Kojiro drew on himself with pen when he was bored in school.

- Miya has a habit of eavesdropping on conversations he’s not meant to hear

[utterlyinevitable]

Hey would you be able to write a follow on fic from your hurricane series where Mc gives in and gives Ethan a lap dance infront of her friends? ☺️

Hurricane (Part 6): Alternate Scene

Pairing: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Rebecca Lao) Rating: M to be safe Warning: lap dance and alcohol and lewd thoughts (kinda)  Summary: A hurricane is falling over Boston. Edenbrook has been evacuated and some very different doctor’s end up seeking shelter together.  

a/n: For @panda9584 💞

_____________________

As the day went on, the trio of residents progressively got more and more inebriated by the hour. Sienna ended up running around the couch as many times as she could in 15 seconds, Elijah was dared to make a cocktail with his eyes closed, and Becca refused to do a dare.

Becca picked a card for her turn.

“Dare.” She announced, a sweat breaking on her forehead in anticipation.

Sienna let out a drunk giggle. “I dare you to go give Ethan a lap dance.”

Ethan’s head perked out of his book at his name in conjunction with the word “lap dance”;

“What are you doing?”

“Truth or Dare,” Sienna informed through her giggle. “Ethan, come play!”

The man pushing forty was quick to repudiate, “Absolutely not. I’m not a child.”

“Suit yourself, fun police.”  

“Go play, son. I’m going to make some calls.” Naveen chuckled with a wink. He had spent the whole day watching his residents’ charades, now it was time to go to work and let them enjoy the rare time together. Naveen also hoped his departure would give Ethan the space to lighten up.

Taking the hint his oldest friend so graciously smacked him with, Ethan stood and moved to sit closer to the group of friends.  

“I’m not playing,” he huffed as he perched on the cold cushion closest to Becca.

Everyone ignored him.

Elijah brought back the attention to Becca, “Dance or chug, Bec?”

She briefly glanced over her shoulder at Ethan. His features were his signature stoic, yet she could see the glimmer of playfulness hiding within the depths of his irises.

Turning back to her friends, she took a long, dramatic breath. Eventually she proclaimed, “Oh, fuck it!”

Ethan’s eyes went wide and he instinctively leaned back into the cushions. As swiftly as possible, he mentally prepared himself for what was about to happen, what her friends were about to witness. He told himself he had to keep his hands put. Now was not the time to get excited. But, man, he can’t wait to have her so close. The thought itself had his eyes shutting with pleasure. Ethan unfolded his hands from where they hung in the space between his legs and gingerly placed his palms against the paisley cushion.  

She eyed her friends, a look Ethan couldn’t see but could feel - the icy daggers soaring their way. 

Then she stood, turned towards him with the most impassive of expressions. He couldn’t read her mind nor her features in the dim fireside lighting. Somehow her uncertainty had his leg jittering with wanton anticipation. 

A tight smirk rested on Ethan’s lips, so smug and only for her. He was challenging her. And Becca was determined to prove champion.

In the background Sienna and Elijah were huddled over the former’s phone. “No - that one. It has to be.” 

A second later Pony started to play.

Becca freed her hair, letting the chestnut locks cascade down her shoulders. Running a hand to mess it up more - unwittingly making sure the signature scent of her shampoo reached his nostrils even from this distance. 

Standing in front of him she started to sway her hips to the music. One step, and she’s closer. Another, and her legs are an inch from his. Third step, and she’s within reach, looming over him and his heart is starting to race. He knows there’s at least two other people in this room, but he doesn’t care. The room isn’t lit all that well and anyway all he can see - all he can feel surrounding him and gripping at his being - is her. She doesn’t need to touch him to have him unraveling. 

Another half step and Becca’s nudging his legs open with her knee to stand perfectly in between them. She’s still dancing - swaying, rather - in small, reserved motions. Ethan’s midnight eyes are on her intently - roving from her face, to her hips, trailing back up to her hands that he knows can cause so much damage with one simple touch. He’s watching her hands roam her torso and she moves so close - till her legs are pressed firmly against the sofa. Her fingers playing with the hem of her top, giving him just the slightest of glimpses at the pale skin beneath before its gone all too soon.  

Ethan swallows past the lump in his throat. 

The music picks up. So she did as well; throwing one leg over his, her knees resting on the couch. Becca was hovering over his lap now and Ethan could smell the perfume she wears as she dips with the music, her inner hips all but meeting his thigh. Oh how he wished it did. She’s not touching him and it’s killing him -- Becca hasn’t said a word to him since earlier, either. Now here she was, in one of the places she would tell him she loves most, ignoring the pull of inevitability between them. 

Her knee so close to his hand he dared to creep closer - dared to break the cardinal rule of things like this. His thumb and forefinger brushing at the fabric at her knee. 

Becca hadn’t looked him in the eyes since the challenge began. Purposefully, he’s sure. His eyes followed her hands as they drew nonsensical patterns, hooded in embarrassment. For a fraction his mind jumps to the strokes of the last work of art she mapped on the canvas of his back. 

He felt his jeans become uncomfortably tight. 

She dipped her hips again like she knows what lays beneath - the sweet bit of torture she could inflict by just grazing his lap. Her torso rolling forwards with the movement, and now he can smell the peony and apple soap she uses. Her eyes are closed and she’s just moving - moving and keeping her distance. 

And if there was a single saint in hell Ethan begins to call on them all. How long left? Not long enough, that’s for sure. 

Ethan dared some more, unwritten rules be damned. His hand gingerly trailed up the back of her calf, around to the front of her knee and up her thigh. Stopping just before reaching her hip as she rolled into the three inches of space between their laps. He took a risk. And if she didn’t like it she didn’t give any inclination but a turn of her head. He could see the faint love bite he left last night at the base of her neck - so faint no one but the two of them would know it’s a bruise of passion.  

Both her knees found their way to the cushion and now Becca was fully on top of him. So many times she’s been like this. It took everything in Ethan not to lift her into his arms and carry her upstairs that second. It also took a lot of self control not to audibly groan - her friends didn’t need to bear witness to his primitive side. 

The strength she used to keep herself upright dwindled away with the new closeness. One hand on his chest, the other digging into the top of the cushion behind his back, his hands still anchored on her thighs. Ethan could hear the lowering beats of the music over the thumping in his ears. Could feel her labored breaths passing across his cheeks. 

His thumbs began rubbing circles at her hips. Becca moves back - as upright as she can get. Her hand running through her hair and over her face and Ethan just wants her to look at him. So he doesn’t what you aren’t supposed to do - he trails a hand up her body and cups her cheek. The electricity between them vibrates. Ignites into flames when her entire being leans into him. Runs rampant as his fingers tangle in her hair. His eyes close as Ethan pulls her to him, lips parted and intent on satiating this spurring in his abdomen. 

And just when they should have collided his eyes dart open. Becca’s gone. Not within reach anymore. He chances a glance to where her friends must still be loitering. 

They’re there. Like they haven’t moved.

So is Becca.  

The only move she made was lifting the glass to her lips. And it dawns on him...

Becca chose to chug.

It was all just a daydream of a rakish man. 

And Ethan couldn’t believe he was more disappointed than relieved.

_______________________

a/n: potentially garbage? yeah. sensuality isn't my strong suit, i prefer making people’s hearts hurt 😅

@openheartfanfics  @choicesficwriterscreations

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[needtherapy]

The Necromancer’s Apprentice

Xue Yang has seen The Dark House and he’s heard the rumors that a zombie, a witch, and a necromancer live there. It’s stupid, obviously, but...well...maybe he’ll just sneak in one night and find out.

It’s better than doing nothing. It’s better than going back to the group home. It’s better than sleeping on the street.

Aka, three mildly feral twentysomethings are forcibly adopted by one (1) very feral thirteen-year-old Xue Yang.

Read on AO3

Many thanks to @coslyons for co-writing this with me (all the funniest parts belong to them) and @kevinkevinson for beta.

There is a Dark House in Ballard, and people say to avoid it.

It is probably not called the Dark House because evil lurks inside, although there is some debate about that. It is called the Dark House because it is black from threshold to cupola, from shutters to frames, and it looms on a block where whimsical shops of brick and steel are far more common. Unlike the thrift store and the record shop, the hiking outfitter and the vegan patissiere, no ivy reaches toward the roof of the Dark House. Unlike the local yarn store, no dogs sniff the Dark House’s gate, although at least two cats—also black, naturally—are always sitting on the porch.

It may not be fair to judge a house by its color, but the local legends are clear. If you step on the cracks in the sidewalk, the Dark House will steal your soul. The wrought iron gate of twining snakes comes alive under the light of the full moon to snap at unwary joggers. Children who walk alone after dark get eaten, and the yard is full of bones that wail songs of their murders.

Xue Yang sits on a bench, across the street, eating ice cream and admiring the house. He wonders about the sanity of people who mow the lawn and trim the roses, yet painted their pretty little house black, until it occurs to him that he could just go inside and find out.

He waits until dark, not to stay hidden, but because it’s a more terrible idea, and Xue Yang always gives himself permission to do more terrible things whenever he gets the chance. The high iron fence buzzes with a strange kind of energy that crackles in his palms, so Xue Yang wraps his hands tightly in his flannel shirt as he climbs over. His mother always said he was a practical boy, back when she was still around to say things.

Xue Yang lands in the backyard with a quiet thump onto thin and scraggly grass. The center of the yard is dark under the watery moonlight, with the dirt churned up and loose, and for the first time, a tiny twinge of warning pings in the back of his mind.

He ignores it.

With a flick of his wrist, he summons his knife, a long black switchblade that is seven kinds of illegal and which he loves more than anything else he has ever had, not that there is much competition. With nimble and practiced hands, he slides the knife between the door and the frame, twisting just right when he reaches the lock. With a grin of triumph, he turns the handle, shaped like a gaping mouth, and opens the door.

In the center of the room, there is a long sort of table that seems somehow to pull all the darkness of the room toward it. The shadows gather most thickly around a large, human-shaped lump laid out stiffly on top of it. Xue Yang reaches out to poke it and feels something unexpectedly warm give slightly under his finger.

The shadowy lump on the table sits upright with a sudden jerk.

The shadowy lump on the table sits upright with a sudden jerk.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Xue Yang shrieks.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the shadowy lump shrieks back.

“Why the fuck is everyone yelling?” a voice says, and the room is suddenly filled with light.

The shadowy lump rips off the sheet and turns into a guy in his early twenties with a scraggly little beard and wicked bedhead. The voice belongs to a grumpy-looking woman wearing a fluffy pink bathrobe. She squints at him in the oppressive brightness, glaring for a long moment before apparently deciding to deal with the man on the table first.  

“Wei Wuxian, I’ve told you a thousand times that the workshop is not a place for sleeping.”

“Technically—” the man begins, before being abruptly cut off by the woman.

“If the next words out of your mouth aren’t ‘yes, Wen Qing,’ then I don’t care. Go to bed.” She rounds on Xue Yang and he takes a tiny, involuntary step back. “You. What are you doing here?”

Before Xue Yang can answer, another guy—this one with long hair, killer tats, and a dedication to the goth look Xue Yang has to admire—runs in with a baseball bat held in his hands like a club.

“Jiejie! Is there something wrong?”

The woman—Wen Qing, she’d said—pinches the bridge of her nose and says, “It’s fine, A-Ning. I’m just trying to figure out what this little hooliganthinks he’s doing breaking into my house and tripping all of my wards while I’m trying to fucking sleep .”

Xue Yang is now convinced that what he’s broken into is some kind of madhouse, and he pastes a charming smile on his face, the one he uses when fists are clenched and the smell of alcohol burns in his nose. The smile whispers words like “anger issues” and “prone to destruction,” and it’s usually weapon enough, but he holds his knife a little tighter too, just in case.

The woman snaps around like she’s felt his fingers grip the handle of the blade and holds out her hand. “Give it to me.”

No. He will not. His chin tips dangerously, his smile grows icy spikes.

Her eyes narrow. “I could just take it.”

They face off for a minute, the tension almost palpable. Actually, Xue Yang thinks, it’s not tension after all. There’s something else in the air. It reminds him of the buzzing fence, and he doesn’t like the way it confuses him.

“Ah, Wen-jie, let him keep her. Can’t you tell? The kid is scared, they’re both scared, and it’s not like he can hurt us.”

Xue Yang is offended. He is not scared, but he’s relieved that Wei Wuxian spoke up all the same, because even though Wen Qing purses her lips and looks annoyed, she drops her hand.

“Fine.” She crosses her arms again. “Wei Wuxian, make sure our little guest leaves. I’m resetting the wards in five minutes and going back to sleep.”

“Yeah, sure.” Wei Wuxian grins and shoots finger guns at Wen Qing. “Sleep well and dream of me.”

Wen Qing rolls her eyes. “Yes, because I love having nightmares.”

“Oh shoo.” Wei Wuxian flicks his hand at the goth man and Wen Qing. “To bed with you both. I can handle it.”

Their footsteps creak on the wooden floors as they walk further into the house. Xue Yang and Wei Wuxian wait in silence until the footsteps quiet, and then Wei Wuxian turns to Xue Yang. The grin he’d been wearing drops off his face and he looks serious, his eyes shaded and dark.

“Look kid, you should know better than to piss off powerful witches. It tends to be bad for the health.” The side of his mouth just barely tilts upwards, more wry than mirthful, and he looks old now. Old and grey and tired. “So, we’ll just call this a learning experience, and you’ll never come here again, right?”

Xue Yang snorts. “Are you kidding? If you’ve got real magic why the fuck would I leave now?”

“Toddlers shouldn’t swear.”

“I’m almost fourteen, fuck you very much.”

“Ah yes, I am now so convinced you are an adult.” Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. “It’s two in the morning. You want to go home and go to bed. There’s nothing here for you to be curious about at all.”

Something sibilant and musical weaves its way through the words, and Xue Yang has his hand on the door knob before he fights off the slithering compulsion.

Holy fuck that was cool.

“Nah, I think I’ll stay,” he says, sauntering back casually, pausing to look at a weird painting of a monster facing off with an axe-wielding guy in front of a lighthouse. He feels a very strong sense of camaraderie with it right now.

Wei Wuxian sighs. “Sure, maybe you’ve got a little gift. But you’re a kid. Don’t you have parents who are going to, you know, notice you’re missing?”

Xue Yang stares him in the eyes, willing himself not to flinch. Something tells him this is a chance he’s never going to have again, a chance that requires honesty.

“No.” Xue Yang lifts his chin stubbornly. “I don’t.”

Wei Wuxian stares back, and Xue Yang gets the feeling that he sees all the years and all the disappointments that fit into that no. He doesn’t care. No one gives you what you want unless you take it.

This standoff lasts forever, or maybe it’s only a few seconds.

“She’s going to kill me,” Wei Wuxian mutters, and a little louder, “You can sleep on the couch tonight, but I’m locking you in the room and if you touch anything, I will turn you into a mannequin.”

He turns to leave, but looks back with a frown. “Wen Qing builds beautiful, elegant wards that you’ll never feel, never even notice if she doesn’t want you to. Mine will hurt. Don’t. Touch. Anything.”

Xue Yang decides, in the principle of magnanimity, to agree. “Whatever.”

Wei Wuxian shakes his head and points a finger at Xue Yang. “Go to sleep, kiddo.”

The words hold Xue Yang’s hand and lead him to the couch, make him lay down, and within minutes, he is asleep.

He opens his eyes to piercing sunlight and a pale face inches from his.

“What the fuck!” he yelps, instinctively grabbing for his knife and snapping it open.

“Mr. Wei, he’s awake and noisy,” the face says, and Xue Yang focuses on its features.

It’s the goth guy. His arms have full-sleeve tattoos, matching patterns of stark black geometric lines and circles, but his neck has weird black veins tattooed on it. His eyes, which are still way too close to Xue Yang’s, are so dark they’re practically black.

“Where’s the witch?” Xue Yang asks, sufficiently recovered to be an asshole.

“Boiling children,” Wei Wuxian retorts. He’s leaning over the table and taking notes in a tattered book, poking something with a tiny screwdriver. “It’s the only reason we let you stay.”

“Really?” Xue Yang can’t decide if that’s cool or terrifying.

“He’s always like that in the morning,” Goth Guy says conspiratorially. “By ten, he’s pretty nice again.”

“I’m never nice,” Wei Wuxian grumbles. “A-Ning, can you take our miscreant home, please? The last thing I need is cops knocking on The House door asking if we’re kidnapping children. Again.” “Okay, Mr. Wei.”

Xue Yang panics. He can’t go back there. Not since they found him alone with the fire. He knows what they’ll do, and he can’t go back. He won’t . He ducks under Goth Guy’s arm and has his knife angled under Wei Wuxian’s chin before he’s even processed the motor function commands “get up” and “don’t let him send you away.”

“No! You have to…” He scrambles though thoughts, desperate ideas, each one crazier than the last before he hits on words that work themselves loose from his mouth. “You said I had a gift, you have to teach me to use it.”

Wei Wuxian frowns, but instead of being afraid or angry, he tips his head and whistles, two notes that almost sound like a name. To his great shock and horror, Xue Yang’s knife vibrates in his hand, and his fingers snap open like a broken trap, dropping the knife onto Wei Wuxian’s waiting palm. He carefully folds the blade back into the handle.

“Jiangzai,” he says, almost affectionately.

It doesn’t mean anything, but then it does , and it hits Xue Yang so hard he collapses to the ground. The knife has a name, and he knows it’s right as soon as Wei Wuxian says it. Xue Yang’s heart pounds, and he hates it. He hates this motherfucker who just took his knife away and he hates the Goth Guy who is helping him back to his feet. He doesn’t want to stay anymore, and he shakes off Goth Guy, wishing he could throw his kindness on the floor and stomp on it.

Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. “Okay, maybe you have a little bit more than a little bit of a gift. But you still can’t stay, and I’m not teaching you anything.”

Xue Yang snatches his knife— his Jiangzai—out of Wei Wuxian’s hand and stomps to the door. “Fine. Fuck you.”

He gets as far as yanking the door open and slamming it against the wall before he realizes that there is a person in the way, and she doesn’t look inclined to move.

“Here you go, kiddo,” she says, handing him a bag. “I bought you some clean clothes and a toothbrush. A-Ning will show you where the bathroom is. Come back down for breakfast when you’ve changed.”

This is somehow more terrifying than when she was yelling at him. Yelling he understands. Now she’s just being...creepy. He stares at her belligerently, and she sighs.

“Listen, you little shit,” she says, bending over to look him dead in the eye. She doesn’t have to bend very far, he realizes. She’s actually tiny, even though she seems as big as the Fremont troll. “You will either go willingly with A-Ning, who is very nice, or you can test my patience and get buried in the yard with all the rest of the naughty children who break into my house. Your choice.”

Yeah, that’s more solid ground.

“Fine.” He grabs the bag from her and waves at the Goth Guy. “Lead the way, A-Ning .” He means it to be an insult, but Goth Guy just grins.

Xue Yang hears Wei Wuxian ask, “Wen Qing, what the fuck,” before Goth Guy herds him up the wide staircase, and he doesn’t hear any more of her answer than, “A-Xian, I can’t let him leave. You don’t understand, I did a location…”

This close to the Goth Guy, Xue Yang decides to acknowledge that the pale translucence of his skin is probably not makeup.

“I’m Wen Ning, by the way. I doubt Mr. Wei or jiejie introduced me,” Goth Guy—Wen Ning—says in a casual tone.

“So are you actually dead or what?” he asks Wen Ning, and Wen Ning grins.

“Or what,” he answers enigmatically, and gently shoves Xue Yang in a bathroom with pink tiles and a claw-foot tub.

Once he’s bathed and changed, Xue Yang heads back downstairs. Breakfast is bacon, eggs, and toast, and he doesn’t even pretend it isn’t the best food he’s eaten in a week. It is, in fact, the first food he hasn’t stolen in a week, and that alone is a novelty.

He’s halfway done with his food when Wei Wuxian, who hasn’t touched a bit of his and looks as sullen as an orange, says, “I have been informed that there is some arcane rule about teaching a gift you discover, and my...how did you put it, dear Wen Qing? My immortal soul and earthly being will be in danger if I don’t capitulate to the inevitable?”

He glares at Wen Qing, and she smiles sweetly at him.

“Whatever,” Xue Yang says around a mouthful of eggs. “Are you going to eat that?”

Wei Wuxian passes him the plate of food, and Xue Yang closes his eyes in bliss. Food is amazing.

“There are conditions—don’t look at me like that, Wen-jie. I agreed, okay? I get to set conditions. First of all, you do whatever I tell you. If I tell you to sell turnips on the street corner, you better sell some goddamn turnips. Second, you don’t touch anything unless I say it’s okay. A lot of this stuff,” he waves his hand around the white and yellow room, which looks surprisingly cheerful for a kitchen in a black house, “is priceless and dangerous, so…”

Wen Qing clears her throat and glares at Wei Wuxian.

“Uh...don’t touch anything.” Wei Wuxian finishes, snaking a piece of bacon from Xue Yang’s plate and shoving it into his mouth before disappearing back into his workroom.

Wen Qing rolls her eyes. “I promise he’ll actually teach you stuff once he pulls his head—” She visibly checks herself. “Once he stops being an idiot. More bacon?”

The rest is on AO3

[hidden-otaku-stuff]

Knowledge and Ambition

tw: Cursing, anxiety, insecurities, bullying/gossiping

Word count: 6.75k

Genre: Fluff, mild angst

Pairing: Ravenclaw Kuroo x Slytherin Female Reader

AN: It’s September 1st, aka the first day of school at Hogwarts! I’ve been procrastinating on this fic for like a month or so, so I forced myself to finish this at 3 AM LMAO.

The sound of turned pages stuttered by scratching quills clung to the darkness as flames flickered around the room. You kept blinking, eyes drying from how long you’ve been focused. A sigh, and you slumped against the back of the chair. You had been sitting in this dark corner for the past three hours, pouring over text after text as you tried to wrap your head around the contents. Another sigh left you as you re-read what you wrote, dipping your black quill into the blue ink to make corrections. “It’s almost curfew, wrap it up.” Madam Pince poked her head around the bookshelf, peering over her spectacles at the tower of books you had surrounding you. 

You pulled a note from your bag, standing up to give it to her. “I’m sorry Madam Pince, Professor Snape gave me permission to stay here past curfew.” She gingerly took the note from you, a scowl shadowing her face as she scrutinized it for legitimacy before turning on her heel with a huff to head back to her desk. Since you were already standing, you decided to stretch your legs and go look for that last text that should help push your claims about alternative ingredient usage and the degree of change to the potion. 

Snape had always liked you as a student, especially after third year. He had caught you switching out certain roots for other herbs which still ended up with perfect potions every time. Since then, you had to be honest with your professor. You wanted to impact the Potions community, whether as someone who created a new Potion or as someone who wrote the new standard textbook. You were fortunate enough that Snape preferred Slytherins, otherwise you might not have been afforded the same opportunity that he had granted. 

You sighed, (e/c) eyes scanning the shelves. Snape had recommended a very specific one. Its maroon binding caught your attention. With fingers reaching for it, they brushed against another hand. “Sorry!” You yanked your hand back, eyes following the hand up to the person. Looming over you was a familiar sight. Quidditch Captain, Prefect, and heart-throb of the school Kuroo Tetsurou stood over you. 

“Sorry, I should have paid more attention.” Kuroo pulled the book out, offering it to you. 

You shook your head, glancing back at your table. “It’s ok, you can use it.”

His hazel eyes followed yours, “are you sure? It must be important if you need this specifically amongst all the other ones.” 

You flushed, avoiding his eyes. “It’s not that important.” 

Kuroo’s finger dragged down the maroon binding. “I was just planning on doing some light reading.” He hands it to you, clearing his throat. “What are you working on?”

You offer him a small smile. “I’m working on a research paper.”

“On what?” He looked down at the book. “I’m assuming it’s something Potions-related.”

A soft giggle left you. “Yeah, I’m conducting research on alternative ingredients use in potions and the effects of using such alternatives.” Kuroo’s eyes widened. As he opened his mouth, Madam Pince hissed another demand for silence. A loud yawn overtook your features, eyes squeezing shut. Glancing at your watch, you clicked your tongue. “It’s getting late. I’ll probably finish whatever else I can in the common room.”  Kuroo frowned, he had just been about to ask if he could study with you. “Nice to meet you, Kuroo.” You scooped your books into your arms, cramming whatever would fit into your bag before sending him a wave. The maroon book felt heavy in his hands.  

****

“Are you looking at (Name)?” 

Kuroo flushed, whipping his head to face his best friend. Kenma just continued eating, not looking at Kuroo. “No.”

“Yes he is.” Yaku slid into the seat across from Kuroo.

“No I’m not!” 

“You’re blushing.” Kai sat across from the trio, smiling pleasantly at them. Akaashi sat beside him, flipping through one of his books as he ignored them. 

“Ok, maybe just a little bit.” Kuroo angrily stabbed a potato, chewing on it as he avoided his friends’ eyes. He couldn’t stop himself from peeking over at you every few seconds though. You were seated at the Slytherin table, throwing your head back in laughter as you teased your housemates. 

“Isn’t she known as the Cold Princess?” Akaashi inquired, still not looking up.

Kuroo glanced over at Akaashi then to the rest of the group when he heard them all agreeing. “‘Cold Princess’?”

“Yeah, heard she’s like super mean to everyone outside of her house.” Yaku commented, sipping his pumpkin juice. “Even some of her house-mates are scared of her.” 

Kuroo frowned, not seeing why they thought that. “She seemed pretty nice to me.” 

“Is that why you can’t keep your eyes off of her?”

“That’s besides the point.” Kuroo scowled, elbowing Akaashi. 

“Who knew we’d find a day where Kuroo Tetsurou would be smitten with a girl.” Yaku’s eyes sparkled with humour. “Let alone the Cold Princess herself.” Yaku and Kai laughed. 

“I’m not smitten!” Kuroo insisted. “She’s just...different.” 

“Didn’t think you’d go for a Slytherin though, Kuroo,” Kai remarked, eating some eggs.

Kuroo shrugged. “Y’know I don’t care about all those house rivalries outside of the Quidditch field.” 

Kenma snorted, “yeah cause all you care about is Quidditch.”

“And my education!” Kuroo argued. 

“How’d you meet her anyways?” 

He looked up to Kai. “I met her a few weeks ago in the library.” Kuroo pushed his food around on the plate, glancing between it and you. This time, you were patting a blonde male on the head. He didn’t recognize him, figuring that it was probably someone from your year. Was that your boyfriend? Kuroo wondered to himself. 

Kai hummed. “I see her in the library often. She always sits by herself.”

“Seriously?” Yaku glanced over at you. “I never see her.”

“She sits in the corner,” Kai replied. 

As the conversation changed to their homework, Kuroo blanked out. It had been a few weeks since that chance meeting between the two of you. He’d gone into the library most days since in an effort to talk to you, but he always found you buried in your books. Kuroo hated when people interrupted him in his readings, so he would just find a table where he could observe you - in the most nonchalant and least creepy way possible - to see if he could catch you before you left. Unfortunately, he hadn’t had much luck with that. He’d accidentally immerse himself in his own work, and by the time he took a break, you were either already gone or headed out the door. Hey, he was a Ravenclaw for a reason. Once he got into his reading, he was gone to the world. With a deep sigh, he resigned himself. If you guys were meant to be friends, it’ll happen. He should worry about his own work instead of a pretty Slytherin kouhai that he had only talked to for a few minutes.

****

“Miss (L.Name).” You look up at your professor’s voice.

“Yes, Professor Snape?” 

“Come to my desk at the end of class.” 

“Yes, sir.” Snape’s robes billowed as he turned, slinking back towards his desk. You turned back to your cauldron, waiting for your potion to change to orange. Carefully, you added powdered porcupine quills until your potion turned white. Today, Snape had your class brewing the Draught of Peace since it was one of the potions that would commonly come up during O.W.Ls. You sat back, stirring slightly before letting the potion simmer. It was a difficult potion only because getting it wrong would be dangerous. The wrong mix of ingredients, being heavy-handed with the porcupine quills or powdered moonstone could lead to irreversible sleep. The bell rang just as you added the 7 drops of hellebore. You observed your potion, satisfied. It had come out perfectly. Bottling two samples in a glass flask for Snape, you quickly cleaned up your cauldron and the area around it.

“Ugh, you’re so lucky (Name)!” 

You turned to your classmate, eyebrows furrowed. “And why’s that?” 

“You’re so gifted in potions.” Nishinoya, a Gryffindor in your class, glared at his potion. You stifled a laugh. His potion had somehow turned out an ugly chartreuse color. Even the fumes looked toxic as orange smoke billowed from it.

“What the hell did you do wrong this time, Nishi?” 

He threw his hands up in exasperation. “Fuck if I knew, to be honest.” He bottled it, wincing at the repulsive smell of his potion. 

You patted his back. “Well good luck with remedial potions.”

“Can’t you help me before it gets to that?” He whined. You and Nishinoya had been partnered in the third year of potions. Though you were typically more frosty, he had weaseled his way into your heart and became a close friend. Mostly by sheer persistence on his part. After all, who would willingly want to be friends with the Cold Princess of Slytherin? 

“You know I’m busy.” You dead-panned, waving your wand over the cauldrons so that the contents disappeared. Together, you and Nishinoya walked up to Snape’s desk. By now, the majority of your classmates had left. Snape glanced at your potions, his gaze sliding over to Nishinoya’s and his face contorted in disgust.

“Another T, Mr. Nishinoya.” Nishinoya’s cheeks flushed pink, grimacing. 

“I know, Professor.” His head hung low as he shuffled towards the door. “See you later, (Name).” 

You offered the Gryffindor a wave that he didn’t see before turning back to your professor. “You asked to see me, Professor?”

Snape cleared his throat. “Yes. As you know, I rarely offer remedial classes to students.” A sneer made its way on his face. “However, Professor Dumbledore has...implored me..to be kinder this term. So, I have offered remedial classes and tutoring for struggling students this semester. As one of the more competent potioneers in my classes, I would like to request your assistance as a tutor.”

“Me?” The door opened, his next class filing in. 

“That’s what I said, Miss (L.Name). Don’t make me take that back.” Snape’s eyes flashed dangerously as he began to put the flasks from your class away. “By taking on this task, I will be able to review the work you’ve assembled so far.” He cleared his throat, “and this would be a perfect opportunity for you to practice your teaching skills.” 

Your eyes sparkled. Being able to dabble in academia seemed like a perfect opportunity for you to figure out where you wanted your future to go. “Of course Professor. Thank you for the opportunity!” Snape gave you a stiff nod. 

“Now hurry up and get to class.” With a short bow, you spun on your heel to sprint out of the room. Your next class was Charms and you were most definitely going to be late if you didn’t hurry. Just as you reached the doorway, you collided into something tall and firm. 

You yelped, stumbling back only for arms to dart around and steady you. “Oh, it’s you!” You glanced up, recognising him. “Sorry, I’m in a rush!” With a blinding smile, you patted his arms before dashing out under his arms and down the corridor. 

“Get to your seat, Mr. Kuroo.” Kuroo’s head shot up, “and get that ridiculous look off of your face.” Pink crept up Kuroo’s face as he snapped his jaw shut, slinking towards his seat.

Snape began class, writing the instructions for the Potion for Dreamless Sleep onto the chalkboard. Yaku leaned over towards his housemate nudging him playfully, “you were staring again.” Pink turned to scarlet as Kuroo whipped around, shushing him. Yaku grinned, sitting back as he rewrote the instructions onto a piece of parchment. “She’s pretty.” Kuroo grunted in response, pulling out his ingredients. “Think she’s single?”

“Why are you so interested?” Kuroo snapped, glaring at the Keeper. “I thought you were scared of the Cold Princess.” Yaku just laughed, patting his back. 

“No reason, Kuroo. No reason at all.”      

****

“You’re late, Mr. Kuroo.”

“Sorry Professor,” Kuroo dipped his head. “Quidditch practice ran late today.”

Snape turned his nose, sneering. “Excuses do not belong in this classroom.” Snape turned on his heels, robes sweeping with the motion. “Hurry up then, or I will not grant you the extra credit.” Kuroo hurries into the classroom, glancing around at the dingy dungeon. He was glad that there were only eleven students. He froze, recognizing a familiar sight. Kuroo slips into the seat beside you, muttering a greeting to which you nodded in response. “With the exception of two students, you are all here because you have failed miserably to prove your worth in my class. However, this is your opportunity to redeem yourself.” Snape glowered at each and every one of the remedial students, sending chills down their spines. “Don’t squander it.” 

With that, he turned and walked to the blackboard, writing down the recipe for the Shrinking Potion. Placing the chalk down, he sends one final glare to the students before going to his desk. You step in front of the blackboard, smirking at the students. “This is a simple potion that any third-year should be able to do. Follow these instructions, and Kuroo and I will be walking around to provide you help should you need it.” More chills ran up the students’ back at your last words. It was obvious that you weren’t keen on helping them should they need it.

Kuroo pinched his nose, looking around the room. As he walked around, a tall grey-haired fourth-year Slytherin caught his attention. “Can you please help me, Kuroo?” He begged. 

“What seems to be the problem?”

The male winced as the potion billowed up green gas. “That,” he replied lamely. 

“You added the Shrivelfig too early,” Kuroo’s eyes widened, casting a charm to dispel the gas. “You’re going to have to start all over.”

“What?! I don’t want to,” he whined. The slamming of a book caused them both to flinch, both sets of eyes darting to Snape who glared at them. “Aren’t you a Ravenclaw? Help me fix this!” 

“You literally created poison gas,” Kuroo responded, pinching his nose.

Raising his wand to vanish the potion, a hand grabbed his wrist. “Lev, what did you do this time?” You pinched your nose with one hand as you stared at the potion.

“Something about Shrivelfig,” Lev muttered, crossing his arms. “I don’t see why I need to start over though!” 

Your face softened. “Look, Lev, this potion has become dangerous. Do you want to fail this class and potentially hurt your fellow classmates?” You glanced at Kuroo who pulled his arm away and tucked his wand back into his robe pocket. “If it wasn’t for Kuroo’s quick-thinking, the fumes would have overtaken the class and we would be in some serious danger.” You patted the male’s head. “Here, I’ll stay with you and make sure you do it right, ok? That way you don’t have to stay extra long.”

Lev perked up. “Okay! Thanks, (Name).” 

You grinned, before glancing back at Kuroo. “You can help the others now, Kuroo. Thank you for your quick-thinking.”

Heat crept up his neck as he shook his head. “It was nothing,” he replied dismissively. 

You raised an eyebrow but nodded. “Whatever you say.” You turned back to Lev, vanishing the potion. “Let’s get started then, shall we Lev?” Kuroo stood there for a few moments, watching with slight amazement as you carefully guided Lev through the procedures. You looked in your element as you sliced the caterpillars and showed the younger student the best way to peel Shrivelfig. Another student called for Kuroo’s attention, snapping him out of his stupor. As Kuroo proceeded to help the others, he couldn’t help but survey you in the corner of his eyes. Perhaps there was a softer side to the Cold Princess after all. 

****

Kuroo breathed a sigh of relief, stretching his shoulders. Due to the raging thunderstorm outside, he’d made the executive decision to cancel Quidditch classes. Exam season was coming up, and there was no reason to put his players’ health at risk if they could avoid it. Besides, they were doing pretty well this season. He walked up the stone stairs, following them to the library. As he entered, he couldn’t help the grimace that slid onto his face. It appeared that everyone thought to study today as the library was completely packed. He poked around, searching for an empty table only to find none. Kuroo sighed, contemplating whether or not he should go back to the dorms in order to study when he spotted you at your usual table. Luckily enough, nobody else had joined you at the table. 

Steeling his nerves, Kuroo began walking towards you. As he made his journey, he picked up some whispers as people threw dark looks in your direction. 

“Of course the Cold Princess would monetize an entire table.” A younger Ravenclaw scoffed.

“She threatened to hex me when I came too close,” a Hufflepuff whimpered. 

“Me too!” Another Hufflepuff whispered in response.

“She said that people ruin her concentration,” a Gryffindor sneered to his housemates.

Kuroo stopped by your table, waiting anxiously for you to acknowledge him. Your nose was firmly buried into your parchment, and after a few awkward minutes of waiting, it was obvious that you weren’t going to say anything. Clearing his throat, Kuroo said, “hi.” Internally, Kuroo was screaming. ‘Hi’? Is that really all he was going to say?

You jolted, looking up at him and blinking rapidly with weary eyes. “K-Kuroo?” You stammer, rubbing one of your eyes.

Kuroo adjusted his bag awkwardly. “Yeah.” He cleared his throat, gesturing to the other tables. “Everywhere else is full. Do you mind if I join you?”

You stare at him with sharp (e/c) eyes. Seconds dragged on, a cold sweat swept through his body and he was regretting every decision he had made since entering the library until you gave him a stiff nod. “Sure, I don’t see why not.”

Relief washed over him as he grinned. “Thank you so much, I promise I won’t be a bother.” You only gave him another stiff nod before you moved your books around to give him more space. Sliding into the chair beside you, Kuroo pulled out his Transfiguration homework.

The pair of you work in silence for an hour before you get up, stretching. Students flinched as you make your way down the shelves, burying themselves into their books or ducking behind empty aisles in order to avoid you. Just as quickly as you had gotten up, you had already plopped back into your seat. “Y’know, you’re a lot quieter than I expected,” you comment, flicking through the latest volumes you had pulled.

Kuroo glanced up, tilting his head. “What do you mean?”

Clearing your throat, your eyes met his. “I mean that for someone as popular as you are, you sure are quiet.” 

A red glow warmed his features. “I wouldn’t say that I’m popular.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Ya sure about that? Because I’m pretty sure being a Quidditch Captain, Prefect, and a top-ranking student are all qualities of popular students.” 

At your comment, he raised his eyebrows. “Didn’t know you paid so much attention to me, kitten,” he teased. 

You glowered at the nickname. “Don’t call me kitten.”

“Ok….kitten.” 

****

It became routine for you and Kuroo to meet at the library now. It was very rare that either of you missed a session. Your dark corner was brightened by his presence. Once the clock rang a certain hour, you were already moving the stacks of books to the side to make room for the rooster-head captain as he slunk in after Quidditch practice. He’d used to come directly after, only for you to yell at him to go to his dorm and shower, which would end up delaying him by twenty minutes. With that extra time, you’d sneak into the kitchen and snag some food for you both. 

Your quill scratched the parchment as you took down more notes from the text. The wooden chair besides you creaked, but your eyes remained on the book. “Hello, Kuroo.” You flipped a page, scanning the text for more information.

“Hey kitten.” The soft thump of his bag falling onto the ground had you looking up.

“You look tired,” you noted, surveying his face. Eye-bags darkened his face, not helped by the shadows of the flickering flames. “Maybe you should sleep early today.”

Kuroo shook his head. “No, I really have to finish this paper.” He pulled out his Transfiguration book.

“Do you have patrol later?” You chewed on your bottom lip, brows furrowed. Kuroo nodded glumly. “Alright, skip it.”

“I can’t just skip patrol,” Kuroo laughed, sipping at the pumpkin juice that you’d smuggle in.

“You can if someone takes it for you.” You looked back down at your books. “I’ll do your patrol for you.”

Kuroo choked, coughing. “W-what?” Madam Pince threw him a disgusted look as she hmph’d at her desk. “You can’t do that.” You shrugged, leaning forward to ruffle his hair. Kuroo let out a soft yelp. “What was that for?” 

You pulled back your hand, carefully examining the hair. “For the polyjuice potion.” A few months ago, you’d decided to try your hand at brewing polyjuice potion on a whim. You hadn’t had a chance to use it yet, so this was the perfect opportunity. 

“What?!” 

“Shh!” Madam Pince hissed, looking up over her books at you both. You folded the hair into a napkin, carefully tucking it into your robes.

Kuroo lowered his voice. “What do you mean polyjuice potion? Isn’t that against the rules?”

“Well it’s not exactly like I have a time-turner,” you rolled your eyes. “Nor am I a Metamorphmagus.”

“You don’t have to do that for me.” Kuroo surveyed you. For someone who was advertised as just another ‘big bad Slytherin’, you had such an incredibly soft side. 

You shrugged, pushing a sandwich in his direction. “Eat up.” You took a bite out of your own sandwich.

As you pulled your hand back, a warm weight dropped onto it. You swallowed, looking up. “Thank you.” His eyes sparkled. “I really appreciate you.”

Averting your eyes, your cheeks glowed. You hoped that the candle-light would hide it. “Just take care of yourself, rooster-head.” 

****

“I heard what happened.” 

You glanced up, grimacing. During potions, you had been helping Nishinoya only for his potion to explode everywhere. Snape ended up assigning him detention for the next month as well as remedial classes three times a week. You really weren’t sure how Nishinoya had fucked up his Wit-raising potion. But you’d walked away laughing, with admittedly terrible burns. You’d ended up teasing the boy saying that he needed to drink your wit-raising potion before he was allowed to speak to you again. 

“How are you doing?” Kuroo pressed. 

You let the utensils slip out of your fingers as you displayed your heavily bandaged hands up. “Miserable.” 

Kuroo’s eyes widened. “Madam Pomfrey couldn’t help?” You shook your head, frowning. There was still a residual stinging in your fingers. “Scoot over.”

“What?” 

“Only your hands are messed up, I’m sure you heard me just fine.” Kuroo waved his hands, forcing you aside. He took your seat, pulling your plate towards him.

“Kuroo, this is the Slytherin table, what the hell are you doing?” He shushed you, cutting up the meat on your plate. “Kuroo, I can take care of myself.” 

He fixed you with a hard stare, pushing the plate towards you. “Prove it then.” You glared at him, as you picked up the fork and knife. Pain coursed through your fingers but you simply bit your tongue, not wanting him to win. You focused on keeping your face blank, breathing deeper than you wanted. With sluggish movements, you sawed through the meat. Hazel eyes surveyed you, flicking between your hands and your face. 

“See?” You proclaimed, stabbing the meat and waving it in his face. He shrugged, holding his hands up.

“Whatever you say, Princess.” You glared at him, ice creeping through your heart. Eating it, you attempted to cut more meat only to drop the fork with a violent curse. It felt like someone had poured molten lava over your hands. Glaring at your fingers, you aggressively shoved the plate towards Kuroo who raised an eyebrow at you. “I thought you could do it yourself?”

“Help.” 

“I didn’t quite hear that, kitten.” 

You rolled your eyes at the pet-name. “Just help me, Kuroo.” 

“I didn’t hear the magic word,” he teased, pulling the plate towards himself.

“Please,” you muttered, tears pricking at your eyes. Kuroo paused, taking a moment to pat you on the head.

“Of course, silly. I’m always here to help you.” You offered him a small smile, before whispers from the Ravenclaw table caught your attention.

“What’s Kuroo doing with her?” 

“Doesn’t he know that she’s a cold-hearted bitch?” 

“He’s gonna get his heart broken.” 

“Bet you she’s going to curse him behind his back.” 

“Or poison him.” They snickered.

More tears welled up in your eyes. “Are you sure you want to do this?” You asked, turning your face away from him. 

The clinks of cutlery stopped. “Do what?”

“Help me.” 

A hand grasped your chin, tilting your face up. He leaned forward, warm breath humming against your ear. “Keep your chin up, Princess, your crown is falling,” he whispered before he pulled back, brushing your hair aside. Scarlet roses bloomed in your cheeks. Cold Princess echoed in your mind. Kuroo cleared his throat, turning back to the plate, hiding his own pink flush. “Besides, you saved my ass the other week. This is the least that I can do for you.” 

 You chewed on your lip. Of course. He was returning a favor. Just a favor. Nothing more, nothing less. 

**** 

“I won’t be here tomorrow.” You looked up from the Honeydukes chocolate that he had brought you, tilting your head. “I have to patrol early, so I won’t be able to make this.” He gestured to the table. Your tower of books had slowly diminished in size, only a small stack remained. In between your rolls of parchment and his own books was an abundance of candies. You’d miss the Hogsmeade trip earlier that day due to another remedial lesson with Lev. Kuroo leaned forward, wiping away a bit of chocolate from the corner of your mouth.

“Don’t do that.” You whipped your face away, hoping that the darkness would hide the crimson glow. You cleared your throat. “That’s fine. It’s not like you’re of any help, you always distract me.”

“So I guess I should take back all this candy then,” Kuroo teased, reaching for it. You snatched it up, pulling it close to your chest. Kuroo let out a disgustingly loud bark of laughter causing you to cringe. Madam Pince snarled in annoyance at you both. 

“Keep laughing like that and I’ll use a Silencing charm on you,” you threatened, tucking the chocolates away into your bag. 

Kuroo reclined in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. “You say that, but you know you like it.” 

“Keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night, Kuroo.” 

The next day, you couldn’t stop fidgeting. It was...too quiet. Of course, being in a library meant that it should be quiet. But you couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. The bell chimed, and like clock-work, you began shifting your books to the side. Mid-motion, you froze, eyebrows creasing as you frowned. Why were you moving your stuff? It’s not like anyone was joining you tonight. You cursed silently. Of course you’d gotten used to him. You vaguely remembered a Muggle psychology term: mere exposure effect. The more you became familiar with something or were exposed to it, the more you’d have a preference for it. You violently slammed the books back to where they were, earning another reprimand from Madam Pince. Studying by yourself just became excruciatingly difficult.

Meanwhile, Kuroo was absent-mindedly flying down the corridors. His long legs allowed him to stride down the halls in a dozen steps or so, forcing his partner to sprint in order to keep up. “Jesus, Kuroo, what’s got you in a hurry?” Bokuto, the Hufflepuff Prefect, puffed. 

“Huh?” Kuroo paused, only to have Bokuto slam into his back. “Oh lord, I am so sorry Bokuto.” 

The Hufflepuff winced, prying himself off of Kuroo’s back, rubbing his nose. “It’s fine.” Kuroo continued down the hall, slower this time. “What’s got you all distracted?” Kuroo shrugged, opening one of the classrooms and looking around. He shut the door with a sigh, before rushing down the hall once more, the slower pace already forgotten. Bokuto scurried after him. “Or should I say, who is on your mind?” 

At this, Kuroo whirled around. “What do you mean?” 

Bokuto bellowed with laughter. “I heard that you were talking to someone, but I didn’t know it was this serious.”  

“Shut up.” The dark halls did nothing to save Kuroo as he stepped into a pool of moonlight. 

“Aw, you’re blushing!” Bokuto cackled, bending over as his rambunctious laughter echoed in the halls.

“Shut up!” 

Bokuto wiped a tear away from his eyes. “You really like this girl, don’t you?”  

Kuroo huffed, blowing his hair up. “Maybe.”

The Hufflepuff clapped a hand over his back. “I’m rooting for ya.” 

“I’ll need it,” Kuroo muttered. He pulled himself out of Bokuto’s grip. “C’mon, let’s just finish this patrol.” 

****

“Alright, I’m off.” You waved to your housemates, picking up your books as you left the Great Hall. 

“Make sure you come watch me play, sweetheart!” Atsumu shouted after you, waving eagerly. You rolled your eyes, ignoring him. You rarely ever went to Quidditch matches, let alone to support someone. That’s something you’d reserve for romantic partners, not house-mates. The few times you’d gone were because Snape offered extra points to everyone who attended. You shook your head, taking a deep breath. 

It was just any other Saturday morning and you would be headed back to your sanctuary: the library. A voice called out behind you, thundering footsteps following. You turned, stopping in the middle of the doorway. “Good morning, Kuroo.” You offered him a small smile that he returned.

“Hey (Name)!” He hugged you, pulling you into his chest; your heart pounded against your own. He’s never hugged you before. “Will you be going to the match later?” Kuroo released you and you took a few steps back. 

Holding up the book, you shook your head hoping that he didn’t see your flushed face. “No, Professor Snape gave me this book so I was going to work on it.”

“Aw that’s too bad, I was really hoping you’d come cheer for me.” Kuroo grinned before he draped a blue and bronze scarf around your neck. 

Your cheeks glowed like ripe apples, eyes wide. “Kuroo!” Your jaw dropped. 

“See you there!” With a cheeky smile, he waved running back towards his friends. 

An hour later, you found yourself walking down towards the Quidditch pitch. “Thought you didn’t go to Quidditch matches?” You crossed your arms, unamused. “And you’re wearing a Ravenclaw scarf? Talk about a traitor!” Osamu pinched your cheeks, tugging on it.

“Shut up, ‘Samu,” you scowled, shoving him away. “Are you finished yet?”

He shrugged. “Dunno why you even bothered to come.” He led you up the stands towards the Slytherin section. “Or why you’re sitting with us.”

“I’m a Slytherin!” You pouted, glaring at his back. Osamu just laughed.

“Yer still wearin’ a Ravenclaw scarf though. Don’t think I missed that display in the Great Hall.” He cackled as you slapped his back. “Didn’t know ya had a thing for the Captain.” 

You cleared your throat as you guys arrived at your destination. You greeted your house-mates, settling besides Osamu. “Why aren’t you playing, ‘Samu?” 

Osamu scowled, glaring at you. “Shaddup.” You chuckled, leaning back in your seat. Osamu was also on the team, but this year, the captain had decided to let more of the sixth and seventh years play. Atsumu was the only fifth-year on the team at the moment. You were grateful for the twins who had rapidly become your best friends since you’d started at Hogwarts. Both of them were ‘no-nonsense’ and didn’t care that you were plagued with nasty nicknames due to your ‘cold-hearted’ demeanor. 

“Ooh, look they’re starting.” As the match goes on, you can’t help but let your eyes trail the Ravenclaw captain. To say the least, you were impressed. He radiated a different energy from what he normally did during your late-night study sessions in the library. During those, he just seemed goofy and studious. But here, you could see the whole other side to him. The way he communicated with his team-mates, how happy he looked everytime one of their plays worked out, the satisfaction that seemed to completely fill him after he scored. He simply exuded a different type of confidence that you’ve never seen from him before. Your eyes widened with awe as he shuffled between the other Chasers, throwing the Quaffle to each other and thoroughly confusing the Slytherin chasers. As Kuroo scored, you couldn’t help the, “Whoooo, go Kuroo!” that escaped your lips.

Osamu jabbed you in the side, muttering, “traitor” but even that couldn’t wipe away the smile from your face. You were never interested in Quidditch, but maybe now you had a reason to be. 

The game quickly ended with Kenma snagging the Snitch out from Oikawa’s nose, leading to Atsumu flying towards the stands where you and Osamu were sitting. “Hey, ya made it sweetcheeks!” Atsumu cheered, hovering above your head in front of you. 

You cleared your throat. “Nice job out there, ‘Tsumu.” 

“I know right? I was definitely the star, wasn’t I?” He grinned. 

You pulled your cloak closer; it was getting late and cold. You desperately wanted to be back in the castle already. “If you were the real star, you would’ve won,” you shrugged. Osamu chuckled besides you as Atsumu squawked indignantly.  

“Oi, Atsumu!” Oikawa called, flying over. “C’mon, hit the showers. You can try to impress your girl later.” Oikawa patted your head, “hey there, (Name).”

“Hey Oikawa.” You offered him a small smile. “Sorry about the game. You did great out there though.”

“Thank you~!” He sang, flying lower so that he could pull you into a hug. You yelped at the sudden intrusion. “Lemme just have this moment of comfort,” he whined as you clawed at his arms in an attempt to struggle out of his grip. Defeated, you let the captain hang onto you, awkwardly patting his back. 

“You guys reek,” you muttered, looking away from the pair. “Go shower.”  

Finally escaping from the clingy twins and Oikawa, you let out a sigh of relief. You tugged your bag higher onto your shoulder as you made your way down the familiar path. Just as you were about to enter the library, a familiar voice called after you. Turning, your eyes widened. “Kuroo?” 

He slowed to a stop in front of you, winded slightly before he offered you a wide cheeky grin. “Hey there Princess!”

“What are you doing here, shouldn’t you be celebrating with your team?”

He shrugged, “I had to see my girl first.” 

Heat crawled up through your body. You cleared your throat. “Your girl?”

“Well yeah! Especially after how loudly you were cheering for me,” he teased. 

“And it’s Kuroo Tetsurou with the quaffle after a successful Sabryn steal from Miya Atsumu. He passes it to Sugawara Koushi, who passes it right back over Iwaizumi Hajime’s head. And Kuroo scores! Right through Matsukawa Issei’s finger-tips!” 

Kuroo did a loop, whooping before he soared beside Suga, giving the male a high-five. Mattsun grabbed the quaffle, putting it back into play. Kuroo smirked, darting off towards Atsumu who had the quaffle. They end up on the Ravenclaw side, with Iwaizumi attempting to score. Yaku successfully receives the ball, throwing it at Kuroo. “You’re playing better than ever today, Kuroo,” Yaku grins. “Better keep on impressing your girlfriend.” Kuroo scowled at the keeper. He hadn’t even seen you in the audience, who was to say that you were there at all?

Kuroo rolled his eyes, glancing over at Suga and Akaashi. Giving the males a curt nod, they enter the Hawkshead Attacking Formation. “Another Thimblerig Shuffle by the Ravenclaws! The Quaffle is bouncing around. Akaashi. Kuroo. Suga. Akaashi. Kuroo. And Kuroo takes the quaffle and scores once again! Slytherin does not look happy folks.” Loud cheers fill the stadium from the Ravenclaw, but as Kuroo flies back around the field, a lone cheer from the Slytherin section catches his attention. His head whips around, eyes widening at the sight. There you were, bundled up in his Ravenclaw scarf and actually cheering for him. Emotions flood his body, he hadn’t expected you to actually come or to actually wear his scarf. He couldn’t help the grin that slipped onto his face. Kuroo let out another loud whoop, before doing a heart-shaped loop in the air. A Bludger zoomed past him, drawing his attention back to the game. He’d have to deal with his emotions later. He had a game to win, and a girl to impress after all. 

You choked on air, averting your eyes. “Yeah well, you looked cool.” 

Kuroo grinned, “thanks kitten.”

You stared down at your book, fingers tracing the binding. “Anyways, your girl? I didn’t know you were serious.” 

It was his turn to avoid your eyes. “I mean! You were wearing my scarf,” he stammered. 

“You gave it to me,” you fired back, amusement flickering in your eyes as you observed him. Kuroo turns completely red at this, kicking at the stone floors awkwardly. You clear your throat, eyes softening. “Take me to Hogsmeade next weekend and we’ll talk about our relationship status then.” 

Relief floods his system as he eagerly nods. “I can make that happen.”

“Well good.” You smile, heading into the library only for Kuroo to follow you. “Again, don’t you have a party to get to?”

He shrugged, “rather spend time with you to be honest.” 

“Don’t let your team-mates hear you,” you grin as you guys make your way to your usual table. Kuroo just ruffled your hair, smiling as you both took a seat. After an hour or so of studying, you snapped your book shut. “Actually, let’s do something.”

He looked up at you, raising an eyebrow. “Like what?” 

You shrugged. “Find Hogwarts’ mysteries?”

Kuroo leaned back in his chair, a sly smile making its way onto his face. “Y’know, I hear there are some cursed chambers hidden in Hogwarts.”

“Breaking curses, treasure hunting? Sounds like my kind of date,” you smirk, packing your stuff away. Kuroo throws his head back in a boisterous laugh, only to be scolded by Madam Pince. You stood up, standing beside him before making your way out. “Y’know, you could have easily been a Slytherin,” you teased, bumping your hip into his as you held the textbooks to your chest. 

He smirked, slinging his arm over your shoulder as you both walked out of the library. “Why’s that?”

“You have more ambition than I do.” You shrugged his arm off of your shoulder. “You leave the library just as late as I do after coming here after your Quidditch practices and then heading straight to your Prefect duties. Hard-work goes hand-in-hand with ambition, Kuroo.” He plucked one of the books out of your hand. “Hey!”

“Well, Little Miss Slytherin, you could definitely have been a Ravenclaw.” Kuroo held the book over your head, flicking through the pages. “Your thirst for knowledge is never quite quenched.” 

You flush. “Well, a quest for knowledge is an ambitious one, isn’t it?”

He hummed, pulling the rest of your books out of your hands while ignoring your cries of protest. He tucks them into his right side, slipping his left hand into yours. “I guess us together makes the perfect Slytherin and Ravenclaw, doesn’t it?” Kuroo squeezed your hand, looking down at you. You grinned, giving him a light squeeze. Being together just felt right. He brought out your inner Ravenclaw, and you brought out his inner Slytherin. Knowledge and ambition went hand-in-hand, just like you and Kuroo.

[bootleg-sara]

Thinking about old an Tboi au concept

Okay so, I’ve been thinking about this old Tboi au I had that I want to revamp and give a new coat of paint. I haven’t given this concept much thought in a good year or so but I was scrolling through some art and got reminded of it.

((Au info in undercut, it’s really long))

It’s a lot more simple than my main big project for the basement, as it’s like the more common goal-orientated story structure rather than the less traditional setting of the former.

The story of this au follows Isaac, a young teen boy living with his mother. As per usual his dad left a long time ago and his mom is very religious. Though with his dad out of the picture, his mom now works a lot more, leaving Isaac with a lot more free time to himself. While he can’t really do much anyhow given his mother’s very strict life style, there are a few things Isaac loves to do. Some of those activities being playing with his cat Guppy and reading.

During one of his boring days Isaac hears some shuffling coming from his attic, a place his mother forbidden him from entering. While investing, he comes across a bunch of old items stores away messily in an old box. Most of it doesn’t have any immediately noticeable use, stuff like old keys, used containers and the like. Though what caught Isaac’s interesting were a few books that laid at the very bottom of the box. A small pocket Bible, and two older looking books with nothing but strange symbols on the covers. Further investigation from Isaac lead him to discover said books where known as the Book of Shadows and the Satanic Bible. With nothing better to do, he figured might as well read them and see if there’s anything interesting to pass the time on.

Some time passes, Isaac has a less than ideal encounter with a ghost, his mom is getting more and more irritable with every passing moment, and before you know it the poor kid is running for his life away from a maniac mother wielding a knife. Through unknown means Isaac finds himself knocked out and wakes up in an unfamiliar place along with Guppy who doesn’t look quite right anymore. Before he can give it much thought however, he’s being dragged away by some guy named Cain before he can get killed by a big scary monster with coins for eyes.

More stuff happens, and Cain and his “friend” keeper deduce that Isaac had somehow ended up in hell despite not being dead. Cain brings Isaac over to where he stays with Lilith. At first she’s pretty apprehensive to having to hide yet another person in her home, but her soft spot for Isaac’s plight wins her over. Together Cain and Lilith of them watch Isaac while trying to help him find a way back home. Which would be hard enough but of course the rulers of the citadel they live in are slowly catching on to this and absolutely hate Isaac for seemingly no real reason. And with rumors of heaven and hell going through some dramatic changes in the near future, time of the essence.

Feel like I did a bad job explaining it but whatever there’s a not-quite-a-plot-synopsis-but-story-descriptor.

The au itself follows 3 core aspects:

Isaac’s normal life, how life on earth stands > Isaac’s journeys through hell and a bit of heaven > the aforementioned looming “apocalypse”

There’s a lot of details that need working out. Like, haven’t decided why exactly Isaac ends up here without dying, if Isaac will at one point gain access to travel freely through the afterlife and earth, how heaven operates, character designs (though that one is least priority atm), and a bunch of other story details and what exactly happens

I have a pretty sizable chunk of the cast role’s made and decided. Isaac, Cain, Lilith are the mains, Judas and Eve are the main antagonists, the Lost plays an important role but mostly via the side lines, and Apollyon has their own role in stone (hehe).

You got some characters like Samson, Keeper, Bethany, Eden, and Magdalene who I have general ideas for but still need to flesh out.

Blue baby/??? is… there. Oh boy is he there.

Azazel, Lazarus, and Jacob/Esau have alignments but currently no I have clue as to how to use them.

And I have no ideas for Forgotten. Absolutely none.

I do plan on having tainted forms show up in some capacity because they are fun concept to play around with, but in all honesty don’t know how’d they’d fit yet.

There’s just, a lot that needs to be worked on before I can say anything for sure. Because really in its current state all this au is is a concept with set pieces. The citadel the main group lives in is rather large and run by Judas/Eve, with the sins as second in commands. Everywhere outside the citadel is overrun by the horsemen who are constantly fighting for territory. The only reason the citadel is safer than most of hell is because of Judas/Eve. Satan is around but rarely does anything other than observe.

There’s more I can get into, but that would be mostly looking into random story beats, character stuff, and setting, which would probably be confusing given the information I have given now.

On that note that’s all I have about that for now.

I’ll probably work more in this later in between my main Isaac story.

Sorry if the grammar is worse than usual I wrote this at 5 in the morning pft

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

Hello! I’m new here. I’d like to request the boys, separately, with a cuddly girlfriend. Or just how they are with being affectionate/cuddling

Oh this has so much fluff potential! I hope you enjoy!!

The Lost Boys x Cuddly/Affectionate Fem!S/O

David

David doesn’t look like a cuddly guy. He wears all black, has an earring, and a bleached mullet. He, also, leads a biker gang and kills people nightly. There’s just something about that that doesn’t necessarily scream ‘cuddle me’! But when he met you for the first time and you enwrapped him in a big, tight hug, he knew he was going to keep you. You weren’t afraid of him, and, most importantly, you weren’t afraid to show how much you liked him. Even if you’d only just met him.

The attention. The worship. He absolutely lives for it. He loves how much attention you pay him, even if he doesn’t give anything back. It makes him feel like a king to be showered in so much love. 

Honestly, at the boardwalk, the most he’ll give you is an arm around the waist and he’ll purposely tease you by basically ignoring you otherwise. He loves how many lengths you’ll go just to get a smile from him. Just as you're about to give up, he’ll grace you with one of his irresistible smiles and ask, “Need something, sweets?” And you’re right back to showering him in attention. If you really, really give up, he’ll give you a kiss. That’ll usually get you back to your cuddly self

He’ll tease you for how much attention you give him. He’ll call you clingy and needy, but he never means it in a bad way. He thinks it’s cute, and god knows this boy is attention starved. Between Max and the nightly killings for however many years, it’s been a long time since someone has seen him and seen someone worth giving some genuine loving to. Not just sexual loving.

If you take it as a bad thing, he’ll make sure to keep you from becoming too insecure by kissing your knuckles or caressing your cheek. It’s more than his usual amount of attention, so you must be doing something right.

David doesn’t really give you attention back until you’re back at the cave. He has a reputation to uphold, but not in front of his boys. He’ll sit on his wheelchair and drape you over his lap. It’s the first time that night where he’ll be the one that’s holding you. He’ll hold your knee, rub your thigh, and smooth his hand down your side. He’ll use the close proximity to have easy access to your neck, where he’ll pepper kisses and whisper sweet words. He’ll tell you how cute you are, and hold you tight against him as the boys around him amuse themselves with their own shenanigans. 

The only time that you two will really, truly cuddle is in the nest he’s made you inside the cave. The wheelchair is great, but it’s hard to sit there for hours. Usually, the two of you will cuddle after one of your trysts. David will have a cigarette dangling from his lips as he reads, and he’ll have you lay your head on his chest. He’ll comb his fingers through your hair, almost as if he’s petting you. It’s why he calls you his kitten. To him, that’s exactly what you remind him of. When you fall asleep for the night, he’ll smile down at you and kiss the top of your head. He’ll set his book down so he can pull you closer, snuffing out the cigarette so he can bury his face into your hair and inhale your scent instead.

Dwayne

Dwayne is the definition of intimidating. He’s so tall that he looms over people most of the time, and it doesn’t help that he’s got a permanently stoic expression on his face whenever he’s talking to people that aren’t the boys. Sometimes, he’ll grace cute girls with a some smiles, but those are usually only the girls he wants to eat. When you two met and you immediately brought him into a hug, he had no idea what to do. He just kind of stood there.

Dwayne didn’t really understand what being touch starved was until he met you. He’s been murdering people for decades, the only parental figure he has is Max, and the boys aren’t exactly cuddling eachother twenty-four seven. They’ll rough-house and push eachother, but they don’t necessarily hug one another. The second you pulled away from your hug (it was like hugging a brick wall) his mind just kind of went wait, come back. He practically followed you around like a confused puppy after that. He hadn’t realized that he’d been missing anything until you gave it to him, and, as far as he was concerned, that was directly tied with you

He lets you touch him as much as you please. You can touch his face, hair, hands, and even his chest. Though, when you do the latter he may give you an arched brow and a small smirk. He doesn’t return the affection nearly as much, mainly because he doesn’t even know where to start. Once you two have been dating for awhile, he’ll start to get the hang of it. He’ll usually add on to whatever you give him or return it

You hold his hand? He’ll intertwine your fingers. You hug him? He’ll hold you so tight you think he might break you. You give him a kiss on the cheek? He’ll give you a forehead kiss. It’s the most affectionate the boys have ever seen him and they’ll definitely give him shit for it.

It’s why, even when back at the cave, he still won’t wander too far out of his comfort zone. He’ll let you do whatever you want, but he’ll really only reciprocate whatever you give him. The two of you will sit on the couch and he’ll hold your legs in his lap. Just the act of him touching your legs is considered more than normal, and he’ll lean his head against the back of the couch as you ramble to him.

When you two are back at your house, that’s when his walls truly fall down. The second you’re in bed with him, you’re not allowed to leave. This is when you really get to explore all of his boundaries, and he’ll truly just melt under your fingertips. You can braid his hair or give him a scalp massage, caress his face, and hold him as close as you want. He’ll practically be purring under your touch and you are not allowed to stop. He likes to face you while cuddling so he can kiss you as much as he wants. It’s a type of affection that he’s more familiar with. If you ever give this boy a massage, he’ll be clingy for days. He’ll look at you with so much love in his eyes and he won’t even care where you are when he pulls you in for kisses. The other boys be damned.

Marko

Markos the token wild card of the group. With a face like that and eyes as wide as his, you’d expect him to be an angel! Instead, he regularly murders people and gets into fights on the boardwalk. Seriously, he’s had to have his fellow vampires hold him back from destroying surf-punks right on the boardwalk. With a reputation like that, most people would avoid him. But not you. Upon meeting him, you gave him a big hug as a greeting. And, surprisingly, Marko hugged you right back.

Marko is the most affectionate of the boys. He even stands closer to the other boys and is always down for rough housing. But that doesn’t mean he gets a lot of positive touch. Most of the touching he gets is either play-fighting, actual fighting, or sexual touches from a cutie on the boardwalk before he sinks his fangs into them. To have someone walk up to him, see him, and decide “Must cuddle!” is not what he’s used to.

He openly welcomes it though. He uses physical affection to get his meals nightly. But you? You weren’t just flirting with him. You were just a cuddly person. He saw that in how you treated the others as well, and he quickly decided that you were going to be more than a meal.

He’s one of the only boys that will initiate a touch first. He’ll hold your hand, kiss your cheeks, and boop your nose. He thinks that you are too cute, and he’s not afraid to tell you. And when you match his energy, maybe even return the nose boop, he’s got heart eyes for days amd a smile so wide it’s almost concerning

He tunes out the boys teasing and dishes them back the cruelest revenge. He is so disgustingly cute with the PDA he gives you that the others have to look away. There, that’s better. Just because they’re no longer paying attention doesn’t mean it stops though. He wants kisses, cuddles, and pretty much everything you can give him. He doesn’t care if you’re in public! The public can frick off and he’ll pummel the first person that tries to get you two to pull away! You learn fairly quickly that that’s not an empty threat either

Somehow, he’s even more affectionate when you two are at the cave. This boy will straight up just lay on you. Whether that’s on the couch or in your nest, he doesn’t care. The two of you will giggle in-between kisses, and this boy will nuzzle your cheeks, hair, or neck. He likes to bury his face into your neck and inhale your scent as you play with his hair. He’ll wrap his arms under you and let out a content sigh when you kiss his ear, and he’ll reciprocate by pressing a kiss to your neck

He wants to cuddle all the time and as much as possible, and he’s happy he’s found someone willing to be as cuddly as he is. He’ll hold you all the time, even when you sleep. He may even try to find a way for him to sleep with you in the main room. If he succeeds, you two will effectively never have to be apart. Just how he likes it.

Paul

Paul is easily the friendliest of the boys. He’s got a care-free laid back attitude and he’s the chattiest of the four. He’ll strike up conversations with random people on the boardwalk, and he’s known to be a huge flirt. No one would expect him to be a murderer, especially one that commits utter atrocities nightly. They see him, and they think he’s just a regular, flirty teenage boy. When you hug him as a greeting, he’s overjoyed that someone was willing to make the first move. That’s exactly what he thinks it is. He reciprocates it with a flirty one-liner, and some touches of his own. However, they may not be as nearly as innocent.

When he realizes that you’re just a touchy person in general, he’s ecstatic. Finally, easy prey! He doesn’t need to worry about you slapping him because he got a little too handsy in public. He totally just sees you as a meal at first, even if the boys comment that the two of you seem to be getting pretty close. So what if he’s gonna eat you later? You can totally play with his hair! So what if you’re holding hands? He swears that he won’t get attached! No, he did not just give you his jacket as a completely romantic gesture. It’s just because he thought it would look cool and you were cold! Not because he’s scent marking you! Okay, he’s totally into you and totally attached. By the end of the night, you two are practically dating already.

Like Marko, he doesn’t care if you two are on the boardwalk or not. He wants affection and he wants it now. If it’s not given to him, he’s not afraid to whine, pout, and act like the biggest baby on the planet. Luckily, you’re super affectionate even with just your friends. With him, he gets to enjoy a whole onslaught of attention. He’ll grin and smile as you caress his face and play with his hair, and he’ll give you kisses every time he thinks you’re acting too adorable for him to handle

His brand of affection is far more flirty. He likes to pinch and grope, but it’s just how he shows that he thinks you look hot. He’ll reach down and fondle your butt, squeezing it like it’s a stress ball. He’ll totally makeout with you in public, and you have to be careful with this boy. He’s not afraid to pick you up, plop you on the railing, and totally stick his tongue down your throat in front of the Santa Carla locals.

If you go back to the cave, it’s hard to keep his hands off you. He’ll do his absolute best to climb on top of you, and the moment you’re under him his lips are on yours. Sit in his lap? Babe, you’re just asking to end up scarring the others. You’ll be in the middle of having some time with the boys, sitting in his lap and innocently playing with his hair. All it takes is for you to scratch one little sweet spot, and then he’s grabbing you and pining you down on the couch. What? What’d he do? Is exactly what he’d ask when he gets a chorus of “Jesus, Paul”

If you two lay in your nest, you’re asking for a couple of rounds to take place. Why else would you be on a bed? He likes to hold you from behind for more reasons than one. First, he gets to have your butt pressed up right against his special place. Second, he loves how he can completely envelope you in his arms. He gets to pull you close and kiss the back of your neck. Maybe even your cheek. Was that a non-sexual form of affection? Good thing you were asleep so you couldn’t notice.

[thrillridesz]

[ to start from the prologue - click here ]

n/a: unedited!

“Oh, you’re here! I don’t think they are here yet so you can just make yourself comfortable first.”

As you stepped into the classroom after your classes, Younghoon immediately leapt up from his seat and removed his bag and his books from the table to make space for you with an embarrassed expression on his face. The overhead fan was whirring away gently while the curtains by the windows of the classroom were undrawn which the afternoon sunlight to stream in, giving the room a bright, warm glow. The room was quiet, save for the faint sound of laughter and yelling coming from the courtyard outside as a group of boys indulged in an after school game of soccer. As the two of you stood in the classroom, the clock above the whiteboard ticked by idly and you frowned.

“Didn’t you say the tutoring session starts at 3pm?”

“I think they might be late…” Younghoon trailed off and you scoffed.

“As a tutor, shouldn’t you be making sure they arrive on time?”

“Well, I tried to call them but they didn’t pick up,” he replied softly, deflating a little and you felt a pang of guilt. Was that too harsh?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so aggressive. I- I was just wondering.” You clarified with a smile in an attempt to ease the tension and uplift Younghoon’s mood. Sure, the two of you may be rivals albeit unofficially but it doesn’t mean you cannot be cordial. What kind of person would you be? You were competitive but you were no bully.

“It’s ok.” He reassured, shooting you a kind smile that only made the guilt a little worse.

Just then, the door burst open with a loud bang, nearly scaring the life out of you as you jumped. Somehow as you did, your hip bumped into a nearby table and before you knew it you were falling backwards. Closing your eyes, you braced yourself for the impact but only found yourself falling against something soft yet firm. You cracked open an eyelid to realise that there were a pair of strong arms enveloped around you and as you looked up, you noticed Younghoon looking down at you with concern in his eyes.

How did you never notice he had such big eyes behind those glasses?

“Changmin, you sure this is the right room? It feels like we’re intruding in a very personal moment here.”

Immediately, you pushed Younghoon away, trying to fight the pounding of your heart. Younghoon must have noticed the close proximity between the two of you as well because his eyes were looking anywhere but at you. Soothing out your skirt self-consciously, you turned to the doorway where two figures stood, observing the scene before them with amusement.

“Changmin, Haknyeon.” You greeted. You should have known it would be the two of them coming for the tutoring session today.

Just a mere week ago, Changmin had just came back from the hospital recently after an unfortunate incident a couple weeks ago that left him with a fracture in his left leg. Though much better than he was then, he was still wearing a cast around his leg and limping slightly with each step though as they both ambled in. You don’t remember being told the exact details but apparently it had been the result of a rather harsh fall.

On the other hand, as one of the school’s competition players for the softball team, Haknyeon had mostly been missing from classes for the past weeks as he attended and participated in nationals. Though the school had clinched first overall, his grades had taken a drastic dip and with the final exams looming in a month’s time, things weren’t great for him either. If there was anyone in the class who needed extra tutoring, it would be them.

“Y/n? What are you doing here?” Changmin asked, surprised.

“Y/n had some time so she offered to give me a hand in tutoring you guys.” Younghoon replied and Haknyeon frowned.

“Dude, we know we can be annoying and sometimes frustrating to teach but surely you don’t think we are THAT hopeless?”

“Well, we have a lot to go over today so I thought I might need some help…”

“Sure, Younghoon. Sure.” Changmin laughed, shooting him a discreet wink before throwing his knapsack on the nearest table. “Well, what would it be today?”

“Uh…” Younghoon held up a hand as he hurried over to his own desk and drew out a book. “We stopped at Chapter 8 of ‘The Outsiders’ last week so let’s try to finish the whole book today.”

“The whole book?!” Haknyeon exclaimed, his head snapping up.

“Yeah, we’ve got y/n here with us today. Did you really think I was joking about us going through a lot of content today?” Younghoon replied chuckling and you couldn’t help but smile along. You didn’t know he had this side to him and frankly, it was quite enjoyable to see.

“I want to go home…” The latter pouted as he reluctantly drew out his notebook.

For the next hour, the four of you were hard at work, poring over the literature text and notes. There was barely any talking at certain points when you were all deeply engrossed in the material, with only the sound of pens and pencils scribbling against crisp, white foolscap paper. Though you still saw Younghoon as a rival, you had to admit that the man really knew what he was doing. Even as the two of you helped to tutor Changmin and Haknyeon, you couldn’t help but notice how patient yet precise he was in his teachings. At certain points, you even learned a thing or two from him. You should be feeling jealous since he was after all your competition but instead, all you felt was admiration.

Maybe you ought to revise your own opinions on him.

“Hey, y/n. Do you know what Hinton meant by this line right here?” Changmin inquired, pointing at a highlighted text in his copy of the book as you shook out of your daze. Feeling a little embarrassed, you figured you had better concentrate on the tutoring session rather than let your thoughts drift over to Younghoon.

“Ah, which line is it?” You asked, clearing your throat and leaning in. You stared at the text that Changmin had pointed out, scrutinising it as you did. There was a pause before you smiled to yourself.

“This one’s easy! So as you can see over here when Johnny says ‘stay gold’ to Ponyboy, he meant to ask Ponyboy to retain his innocence. It’s actually a reference to one of Robert Frost’s poems that was recited earlier in the book by Ponyboy to Johnny.”

“Wait, really?” Changmin’s eyes widened as he practically pressed his face down against the text, reading it through under his breath again. You pressed your lips into a thin line in an attempt to keep from giggling at his puppy-like reaction to this new tidbit of information. If he went any closer, his nose would definitely be buried in the book.

“Yeah! Don’t you remember? Hold on.” You grabbed the book from him and flipped through the pages, your eyes darting to and fro across the text to scope out the paragraph you had in mind. Finally, you pressed your finger down on a particular page, breaking out into a triumphant grin as you did.

“Here it is!” Handing the book back to Changmin who squinted at the text, scrunching his nose as he did, you watched when the realisation began to dawn on his face. It started with the widened eyes then his mouth formed an ‘o’ shape, before he flipped frantically back to the original highlight text. It wasn’t difficult to pinpoint when exactly his eureka moment came because as soon as it happened, he slapped his hand on the table, a wide dimpled grin forming on his face.

“Oh wow, this is sick. That reference was spot on!”

“Literature works in amazing ways.” You shrugged, giving him a sideway smile and his grin grew even wider, his dimples deepening.

“You’re a genius.” He mumbled under his breath without looking at you as he stared at the text in awe. A little thrown off by his compliment, you could only give him a tight smile.

“I… Thanks.”

“It’s true.” He merely smiled before he turned back to his book, not noticing the bashful expression on your face. You observed as he gleefully highlighted the remaining text, engrossed in his work and you couldn’t help but let the smile on your face linger for a little longer as you gently fiddled with the pen in your hands. Sure, it might just be a compliment but it made you feel validated. It’s honestly surprising how far a simple compliment could go. Turning around, you realised Younghoon was looking at you and when he caught your gaze, he whipped his head away so fast you thought he might get whiplash.

You tried to stifle the snicker that threatened to bubble up from within. Maybe he had heard what Changmin said and got jealous that he didn’t say it to him instead. This ought to show him who was the better literature student.

“Which is me, of course.” You thought to yourself with a soft smile on your face, turning back to your own work.

After what felt like ages of studying, Haknyeon finally threw his head back as he set his pen down, stretching as he did.

“Time out! I’m sorry, I don’t think I can absorb any more information for today. My brain cells are properly fried.”

“Same here, I don’t know how you guys do it.” Changmin quipped, rubbing his eyes as Younghoon set his pen down, a sheepish look on his face.

“Can we just continue some other day? I mean, we are only left with a single chapter.” Haknyeon asked and you exchanged a look with Younghoon. The look he gave you was questioning as though awaiting your response and you nodded, sighing.

“Fine, we can stop here for today.”

“Alright, we’ll just continue this next week then.” Younghoon smiled and the latter threw his hands up in the air in celebration as Changmin pumped a fist.

“Yes! Thanks guys, I don’t think I could mentally take another page.”

You rolled your eyes, chuckling as you did at Haknyeon’s words and his lips lifted upwards into a smile at the sound of your laughter.

“What a sweet laugh.” He thought to himself. Despite himself, Haknyeon couldn’t help but blurt out, “You should let us hear you laugh more often.”

“Is that a jab?” You raised an eyebrow questioningly though you knew he meant no harm.

“Nope. I just think you have a really sweet and cute laugh.”

At his words, you grew slightly flustered and bashful as you tried to ignore the fluttery feeling in your heart at his compliment. You didn’t get complimented very often and even if you did, they definitely didn’t happen twice in one sitting. First, it was Changmin and now Haknyeon. What was going on today?

“... Thanks.” You simply said.

Noticing the very brief yet subtle exchange the two of you were having, there was a weird look on Changmin’s face though he kept silent while Younghoon looked away.

“Anyone wanna go get some snacks?” Haknyeon asked as the four of you approached the gates.

Checking his watch, Younghoon let out a sigh, his brows furrowing together.

“I don’t think I can. I have to go pick up my little sister from kindergarten.”

“Changmin? Y/n?”

Changmin pursed his lips and shot him an apologetic look, shaking his head as he did.

“I can’t either. My mom texted me earlier to get some groceries. Maybe next time?”

Haknyeon pouted, looking a little sad but he turned to you with an expectant look in those puppy dog eyes of his.

“Y/n? I’ve been raring to go to this new ice cream cafe for ages and I’d love to go with someone.”

“Ah, I’d love to but- Wait.” You stopped, frowning as you rummaged through your skirt pockets frantically. The dread began to set in, followed by just plain disappointment and frustration at yourself. How could you have forgotten?

The keys were right there at your bedside table and almost near impossible to miss. You must have been so caught up in your haste that you completely overlooked it on your way out of the house. With a start, you realised that your grandmother had mentioned yesterday that she would be visiting a friend so there was no one at home who could open the door for you. Until she makes her way back, you would be locked out of the house and judging by the time, it wasn’t for another hour or two before she was expected to arrive home.

“What’s wrong?” Younghoon asked, noticing the defeated look on your face.

“I forgot my keys.” You replied, sighing. “Can’t even go home now.”

“Oh,” Changmin said softly, “Why don’t you come with me to the grocery store then? You know, to spend the time?”

At his suggestion, Younghoon’s eyes hardened ever so slightly before he too offered, “If you want, you can come with me to fetch my little sister from the kindergarten as well. Only if you want, of course.”

“Are you guys being serious right now? I asked y/n first!” Haknyeon pouted before turning to you with a wide smile on his face, “ We can go get ice cream together, y/n. How does that sound?”

You stood unmoving, unsure of what to do as you surveyed the three guys in front of you, all awaiting a response. It was most definitely a harrowing and awkward situation and to be fair, you would have gladly taken up any of their offers… had they asked on separate occasions.

What will you do?

➳  Visit the kindergarten with Younghoon

➳  Go grocery shopping with Changmin

➳  Get ice cream with Haknyeon

[sephirothisaslut]

Hypocratic Oath

(Featuring doctor/researcher!Cloud)

Cloud was 8 when he first found the library in the Nibelheim Mansion.

Through his childhood, Cloud often stayed in the mansion. Hiding from bullies, staying the day to pass time, or just simply to explore. No one would bother him here. All the kids think the place haunted, and all the adults fear it just as much. It made the perfect place to relax or hide.

Cloud thought he had already seen every nook and crany in the mansion. But was surprised when he found a library full of scientific text. It's doors made to look like any other wall, making it hard to spot.

There arent much books in Nibelheim. There's a library in the school, but it can more accurately be described as a classroom full of books instead of a proper library. And it's not like the custodian would let him in.

So as soon as Cloud entered, he immediately started reading.

At first, Cloud was very confused. He had a very limited understanding and comprehension of the text. But even from the little information he was able to gather, he was able to piece together the horrifying things ShinRa has done.

It spooked him so much, it took him a full week till he decided to read more.

He read them all. Project S, Jenova, and Sephiroth.

At that time, Cloud didn't know who this Sephiroth is. All he knows is that he must have led a painfull life.

-------

Cloud was 10 when he first saw Sephiroth on the television.

A general leading a war.... A fourteen year old general.

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Cloud's mother immediately noticed this.

"Cloudy you look pale, are you ok?" Claudia stroked her son's forehead, looking for any sign of fever.

"Y-yeah I'm good" Cloud managed to hide his shock.

"Really?"

"Yes ma. Really"

That night, Cloud thought of how it must have felt. His mother is warm and kind, he'd feel lonely without her. He wondered if Sephiroth felt any semblance of kindness or tenderness in his life.

The very next morning, he immediately raced to the mansion to find more. To find answers.

He found his answers in the form of Vincent Valentine.

He almost quite literally fell on him.

The man loomed over Cloud. His glowing red eyes and equally blood red cape screamed 'vampire'. And Cloud was rightly frightened so.

"What are you doing here child?" The man said with a glare.

"T-the library! Sephiroth- I mean-"

"What do you know about Sephiroth?" The man demanded.

Cloud stiffened both in fear and surprise. His face draining of color. The tall man seemed to notice this, and slowly crouched down to Cloud's level, now attempting to look non threatening.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, but can you tell me about Sephiroth?" The man asked kindly.

Cloud only nodded, his fear slowly evaporating. "I can show you the library" he said quietly.

"Take me there? Please?" The man asked almost desperately.

Cloud just nodded again, and took the stranger by his hand and led him to the hole he fell in.

Vincent looked at the child. How curious that this kid would choose to guide him by his misshapen hand.

"I'm Cloud. Cloud Strife" the child said in a shy tone.

"Vincent Valentine"

The child's small smile made him think there's hope for him yet.

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

Years passed and Cloud and Vincent's friendship grew.

Vincent was able to teach Cloud a number of things. He helped him comprehend the numerous scientific texts in the library, and even taught him about science and self-defence.

Vincent also helped distinguish truth from lie.

Cloud learned the truth of Sephiroth's true mother. How a scientist named Hojo betrayed them, and what he did to Vincent. In turn, Cloud told Vincent about Sephiroth's role as general, frequently updating him on the situation in Wutai. And sometimes bringing him home cooked meals.

With Vincent's tutoring and the library's numerous texts, Cloud grew smarter. He read because of curiousity. But now read to learn. This brought him to the top of his class, sparking an interest in biology and science. Though this didn't change the town's view on the Strifes.

His Ma, on the other hand, felt proud. And so did he.

-----

Cloud was 14 when he decided to go to Midgar.

Not to be a SOLDIER, no. But to be a Doctor.

After learning all those things about how SOLDIER was made, he couldn't stomach possibly being one.

It was a week after his birthday that he decided he'd help Vincent in any way he can. At first, Vincent disagreed. Saying it'll be dangerous, and that he'd be safer away from him. But Cloud is stubborn and fierce. There's a reason they're called Strife.

So, after some reluctance, Vincent eventually agreed.

Cloud is but a child. He's abysmal at fighting, and his aim with a gun is barely passable. The Turks wont suit him, and neither will SOLDIER. The only thing he has is his intelligence.

So Cloud steeled himself, and made the decision to join ShinRa's Science Department. Bringing him closer to Hojo, and by extension, Sephiroth.

"Oh my little raincloud, I'm going to miss you!" Claudia hugged her son. Silently praying to Odin for a safe journey, and thanking him for blessing her with Cloud.

"I'll miss you too ma." Cloud said, hugging back. Who would have thought that his grades would be enough to grant him a ShinRa Science Program Scholarship.

With a wave goodbye to his mother, Cloud Strife set out into the harsh world.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

"Professor Hojo, the President want's to see you" Cloud said behind the man.

The greasy scientist only tisked. And angrily dumped his clip board on Cloud.

"Keep track of the the data. Do not take your eyes off the specimen" Hojo snapped.

Cloud held back a snarky remark and politely nodded instead.

He looked down into the enclosure. The creature thrashing around in it's own blood. Choking on the mako gas.

He only continued to record data.

-----

"I'm Zack Fair! SOLDIER extroidinaire!" The newest SOLDIER First Class saluted at Cloud. His cheery smile a stark contrast to the rubble behind him.

Cloud had headed out in civilian clothing hoping to meet up with Vincent and Aerith. (Aerith was scared of him at first, learning that he apparently worked for Hojo).But instead somehow got caught in an AVALANCHE explosion.

"Name's Cloud. Cloud Strife" He somehow was reminded of a puppy as he studied Zack.

"Oh! You're Aerith's friend!" Zack shook his hand enthusiastically.

"And you're her boyfriend"

"Yup."

"You know as her friend, I'm obligated to say: if you break her heart, I will break you"

"Yeah yeah I know the drill"

Cloud only smiled at the raven-haired puppy's antics.

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

Two dark figures walked through the dark alleyways of the slums.

The smaller one knocked on the door of a closed bar.

"It's me"

The door opened and the pair walked in.

Both of them shedding their cloaks revealing two SOLDIER First Class.

"Ok he's here now explain" Zack sat on a stool facing the rest of the room.

Angeal and Genesis are there. So is Aerith and Vincent.

"Yes, do explain. As I recall, you two told me that you'd 'never show you faces' to me ever again." Sephritoh said, clearly hurt from Genesis and Angeal's defection.

"Seph, please wait-"

"I did my waiting Genesis! Now explain before I leave."

"They were dying" Vincent said from the corner of the room. "The J-cells they had were degrading"

"And how did you cure this? Even Hollander couldn't save them." Sephiroth asked suspiciously, still mad from the previous interaction. "Unless you asked Hojo"

"Before we do, we need to talk about Jenova-" Angeal was cut off by Sephiroth.

"We can do that later. Now answer my question."

Both Zack and Sephiroth looked at the group expectantly. There is weight to Sephiroth's words.

"I cured them" a voice from the door suddenly said.

"You" Sephiroth hissed.

"Cloud?" Zack gasped.

"I work for Hojo. I'm his primary assistant"

"What?" Zack tensed

"And you trust this man?" Sephiroth turned to Genesis and Angeal, gesturing to Cloud.

"Will you stop and listen!" Cloud snapped. "Listen here you pompous asshole, I risked my ass making you three that cure in Hojo's lab!"

"Wait three-"

"Yes, three. As in even Sephiroth needed one. So you better sit down and listen to what we have to say" Cloud growled, staring Sephiroth down. Daring him to say something.

As the silence permeated, Angeal cleared his throat, as if to ask permittion to continue.

"It started with Jenova"

------

They burned the Nibelheim reactor to the ground.

Sephiroth and Zack defected with Genesis, taking with them the rest of SOLDIER and a bulk of the infantry division.

They recruited Tifa on the way. Along with Yuffie -a Wutainese ninja, Cid - a pilot with a penchant for tea, and Nanaki -one of Hojo's specimens that Cloud helped escape, and AVALANCHE.

Cloud stayed in ShinRa as their spy.

But ever so often, he'd still meet with his friends just to chat or drink.

"Strife"

Cloud looked at Sephiroth questioningly. "What can I do for you?"

Sephiroth almost looked bashfull. His body language looked shy.

"I would-... I would like to thank you"

"For what"

"For...everything, I suppose" If the Silver General could blush, then he might have been now.

Cloud's breath hitched. "You're Welcome, General"

"Please, call me Sephiroth"

"Well then, call me Cloud. Sephiroth"

That day, Zack endlessly teased Sephiroth about his tiny smile.

---------

Cloud tended to Sephiroth's wounds. Careful to make sure it didn't hurt the man any more than necessary.

"You really need to take care of yourself"

"I'm fine"

Cloud sighed, "Sephiroth, you're still human. You need rest."

"After what Hojo did, I'm surprised you can still call me human" Sephiroth said bitterly.

Cloud grasped the man's shoulder, turning the general to face him.

"Sephiroth. Look at me" Cloud asked sternly. "You're as human as everyone as us"

"But-"

"Humanity isn't determined by your genetics, you know that" Cloud gently insisted.

"I-...Thank you" Sephiroth whispered, sounding broken.

That made Cloud realize how much Sephiroth must have wanted to hear that.

To hear confirmation of his humanity.

--------

It took several aching years till they finally took over ShinRa.

SOLDIER readily supported their generals, and the Turks soon defected after Veld and Vincent told them everything.

It didn't take long for Hojo to fall, and ShinRa to be taken over by Rufus.

Scarlett, Heidegger, Palmer, and even Hollander died. All of them officially coincidentally died of heart attacks. Confirmed by the new head of the Science Department himself.

"We finally did it huh?" Cloud leaned against Sephiroth's shoulders.

"Hmm, you think this will work?" Sephiroth moved to wrap his hands around Cloud.

"Well me and Reeve are working on alternate energy sources right now. It should be fine"

Sephiroth nuzzled Cloud's neck. "For now we should rest"

Cloud sighed into their embrace. "Yeah...we should"

(Loosely based on Professor Strife)

[e-vasong]

What's the five-doesn’t-get-stuck-in-the-future-but-things-turn-out-the-same AU like??

:D I waited until I’d watched season 2 to answer this because I wanted to see if it gave me more ideas (which it did...but I’ll put those in another post if people want so I don’t have to spoiler tag this one).  This AU was brainstormed with @smallerthanzer0​ a while back, and they deserve extra credit because they are the one who listened to me going “lmfao what if Five didn’t get stuck in the future and decided to try and get rid of their dad” and said: wait. eva.  THIS COULD BE GOOD.  

so basically.  in this verse:

 Five does not time travel at age 13 and leave his family behind. he considers it, just as in canon, but something stops him.  Outside interference, maybe, or just a niggling voice in his head that cautions him that the risk isn’t worth it.

What Five does do is snoop.  And what he finds is a journal in their father's study with damning notes on Vanya.

He confronts their father about it.  Reginald doesn’t take the challenge to his authority well.

Five is tired and hurting and at some point he realizes: their dad is never going to stop.  And then he thinks: but I could make him.

So Five starts making a plan.

A plan that, should it come to fruition, would knock the Apocalypse off-course entirely.  The Commission, already interested in Five for his abilities, decides that Five needs to be removed from the equation. 

 Notes start arriving for Five in strange places.  Telling him things no one could possibly know, making promises no one could possibly keep.  Warning of the end of all things.  

Five is no fool.  He crumples them up and throws them in the trash.

Then Ben dies on a mission

They’re 15, going on 16, and something goes wrong.  A mission gets all fucked up.  They think things are over, and then a gun goes off.  Ben’s body jerks.  There’s a spray of blood.  He stumbles, and then the beast comes tearing out.

 Run, Ben begs, and his siblings do, because there’s nothing else for them to do.  Not unless they want to die too.

 But Five can’t.  He promised.  He promised that he’d protect them.   And if he leaves Ben here…that means he’s already failed.  Blood is pouring from the bullet wound in Ben’s shoulder, dribbling down the corner of Ben’s mouth.  He’s hovering in the air, limp and unconscious.

Someone, Klaus maybe, makes a sickened noise and lunges for Ben.  But Luther stops him, catches him around the waist and bodily carries him out.

 Go, Five says, as his siblings make it to the door.  Allison is the last one out.  

Come on, come on, Five, she says, holding a hand out to him.  There’s tears trickling down her face, but she’s trying so hard to keep it together, and Five hates to break her heart any more.  He smiles at her.  

Sorry sis, he says, and slams the door in her face.

Ben’s tentacles are still violently attacking anything within reach; the only reason why Five is still in one piece is because Ben is unconscious and without Ben, the tentacles don’t seem to have eyes or any idea what to aim for.

 But it’s too late.  Five’s been doing this long enough to know when someone is fatally injured.

 But Five has one last trick to try.  And if it doesn’t work…well then.  At least he died giving it his best shot.

 Are you watching? He snarls at the ceiling.  Are you watching?  This is me saying yes.  The deal.  I’ll take your fucking deal, god damn it.

 His world goes hazy, and he doesn’t register the pinprick of pain until the drug is already rushing through his system.

 Huh, he thinks, and then passes out.

From outside, all that’s distinguishable is the sound of Ben’s body tearing itself apart.  Five yells, something inaudible, words swallowed by the din.  There’s a flash of light.  And all is quiet.  

 Ben's body disappears along with Five’s and no one knows what happened to them, except for the fact that they must certainly be dead.

OK I’m putting the rest under a read more because this is long and I don’t want to be rude lmfao.

The Commission wants Five to kill people, just like in canon.  And Ben is...well, the Commission works with time and reality.  They have uses for a boy who can open portals between dimensions, though none of them are very pleasant. 

 In return...Ben gets to live, and at the end of it all the Commission will let them retire with time, money, and the resources to do whatever they want to Reginald Hargreeves.  

(Neither of them buys that, of course.  They're both too valuable.  Five is habitually suspicious, and they both have their doubts about where that mystery bullet that hit Ben came from.  And of course, though Ben and Five don't know it yet, the Commission is killing two birds with one stone with this trick, because taking both of them out of the picture is key for making sure the scheduled apocalypse happens).

So Five kills people for the Commission; Ben becomes a test subject

And things are different, and in many ways they are the same

Five and the Commission are using each other—Five to save Ben and his siblings.  The Commission want to use Five’s powers, and they want to keep him from knocking the Apocalypse off track 

Five has to go hard and fast in this verse: he’s young, the Commission has less patience for his mistakes, and his coworkers are gunning for him because it is embarrassing to be out done by a 16-year old.  There’s no room for weakness or error.

He only ever allows himself moments of softness with Ben, because Ben…Ben needs it.  And isn’t that why Five is doing this?  Isn’t it why he does everything? To be what his siblings need and more?

Hazel hears about this new test subject they got in the labs.  sibling to the new recruit.  powers like they never saw before.  and Hazel meets Five, and...doesn't like the kid, really, but a kid is a kid and that already sits poorly with Hazel.  

But he has got to get a look at what they're cooking up in the labs, so he drops by the medical wing at one point.

And there's this kid laying in a hospital bed.  bandages wrapped around his chest--not as scrawny as Five, but somehow he just seems smaller. Warm eyes, a bright, real smile--so different from his brother already.  And so they get to talking

And Hazel talks to Ben, and Ben is...fuck, he's such a good kid.  And Five must be too, because Ben is always reading some book or another that he says Five snuck in for him. (Please don't tell, Ben says, wide-eyed.  Hazel crosses his heart, and starts bringing books by the dozen.  They trust him much more than they do Five, and they don't mind that Ben is reading, really.  They just worry that Five is scheming.)   

And at first, Hazel tries to convince himself that he's not going to do anything stupid (though--some part of him knows from day one that if Ben asked, really really asked for his help...Hazel would say yes).  But it gets harder.  The surgeries get more invasive, Five gets more desperate, Ben's skin gets sallower and his smiles get weaker.

Hazel spends a bunch of his free time in the medical wing, keeping Ben company when Five can't.  Reading to him, discussing theoretical physics with him.  Until one day he overhears something he shouldn't--plans for Ben.  Idk what.  Maybe they aren't fatal, maybe they're just painful.  Maybe it's the same as normal, but hearing about this child talked about like a science experiment to pull apart and discard is just too much.  And the next time Hazel and Five brush shoulders in the hall, Hazel grabs Five by the wrist.  Makes a big show of seeming mad.

And Five is watching him with cold, dangerous eyes. He's barely resisting the urge to break Hazel's arm and Hazel knows it.  But something must hold him back; Hazel hopes that Five knows that Hazel isn't faking caring about Ben.  That Hazel wouldn't just attack Five in the middle of a hallway.  He must, because he snaps back a couple times, leans into the banter with witty retorts rather than violence.  And then after all that posturing and threatening, Hazel says: "So I know you think you're hot shit around here, but you listen here.  If you ever talk that way to me again I'll...well," and then he leans down, whispers in Five's ear: "the Handler is going to be out of her office in two hours.  Get the key.  East hallway.  There's a collection of spare briefcases, last room on the left."

 And then he keeps walking.  Ben and Five are gone by that night, and the Commission launches a search mission right away.

They aim for October 1, 2008—the day their siblings are supposed to turn 19, which is the age Ben and Five are now.  They fuck up.  Five is distracted, maybe a patrol bursts through the door and opens fire.

They arrive on October 1, 2018, on their siblings’ 29th birthday.  The briefcase is smoking and sparking, a dozen bullets buried in the side of it.  It’s useless.  Five throws it in the trash.

The family is scattered and ten years older than they planned for.  Reginald Hargreeves is still alive.  The Commission is coming for Five and Ben.  The Apocalypse is looming.

Things are so very different than in canon, but in many ways they’re exactly the same.

Five and Ben take off on a quest to reunite their separated siblings.  Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, and Vanya now have two traumatized adolescent brothers to take care of.  It does wonders for group cohesion.

And there’s so much more, but this is ridiculously long already lmfao so I’ll leave off here unless people ask for more deets.  I just have a lot of feelings about this AU.

[bulkyphrase]

Everybody & the Avengers Team

I've got a new fic rec list for you!

The stories in the "X & the Avengers Team" tags focus on one person's relationship to the Avengers team as a whole. Courtesy of AO3's tag browse and Excel, here's a ranked list of the top 20 most popular pairings:

Tony Stark | 2470 total, 240 OTP

Peter Parker | 2255 total, 85 OTP

Steve Rogers | 602 total, 56 OTP

Loki | 387 total, 26 OTP

Natasha Romanov | 308 total, 35 OTP

Clint Barton | 268 total, 46 OTP

Bruce Banner | 244 total, 15 OTP

Thor | 209 total, 7 OTP

Avengers Team | 174 total, 24 OTP

James "Bucky" Barnes | 156 total, 7 OTP

Wanda Maximoff | 143 total, 4 OTP

Phil Coulson | 105 total, 9 OTP

Darcy Lewis | 91 total, 6 OTP

Matt Murdock | 60 total, 8 OTP

Sam Wilson | 53 total, 5 OTP

Nick Fury | 41 total, 5 OTP

Harry Potter | 40 total, 0 OTP

Pepper Potts | 31 total, 1 OTP

Vision | 29 total, 2 OTP

Stiles Stilinski | 25 total, 0 OTP

In chart form, if you like charts:

Notes:

The numbers after the names are the number of stories tagged with that ship. OTP means the number of stories where that is the only relationship tagged on the story. Numbers are accurate as of July 2021.

Story Recommendations

For your reading pleasure, included below is at least one fic rec for each pairing except the crossovers from non-Marvel fandoms (apologies to Mr. Potter & Mr. Stilinski). Most are gen fic, and even in the ones with a romantic pairing, romance is not the focus.

Tony Stark

As Subtle As Cognitive Recalibration by petroltogo (Teen, 8949) tumblr: @tonystarktogo

Standing inside his penthouse, listening to Rogers, Barton and Banner explain to Fury how they just happened to stumble over the Tesseract on a routine security check of Stark Tower’s roof and wouldn’t you know, they’ve managed to fight off the looming alien invasion before it could really start and secure the missing overpowered nightlight is one of the most surreal situations Tony has ever had the displeasure of experiencing.

Peter Parker

the worst field trip ever by shrill_fangirl_screaming (Teen, 3420) tumblr: @i-am-having-an-emotion

"We're on a field trip," Peter said. "To here. And Tony decided to be our tour guide and absolutely embarrass me, so can you please help get him under control?"

Which is how Peter Parker, architect of his own destruction, ended up with not one but two superhero pseudo-dads being annoying on his school field trip.

Steve Rogers

Do You Remember Being Happy? ('Cause I Sure Don't) by GalaxyThreads (Teen, 11022) tumblr: @galaxythreads

That seems about right. He doesn't know how he knows that, though. He does have vague memories of an annoyed fondness at finding peanut butter in some sort of jam. Thor's doing, because he doesn't see the point of using two knives when one works just as fine. He knows that. How does he know that? He knows all those little details, though, almost innately. How can he know these strangers so deeply?

Everyone else below the cut!

Loki

Proprietary by TheThirdMarauder (Teen, 7639)

No, Loki simply wants the Avengers conquered. The details of whom, how, and when matter not. Unless, of course, said details interfere with Loki's plans. Then, well, then none can fault him for protecting his own interests.

Loki has always been exceptionally good at lying to himself.

Natasha Romanov

What Girls Are Made Of by enigma731 (Teen, 4613) tumblr: @enigma731

She rolls her eyes but does as he’s indicated, using his shoulders to leverage herself up onto his back, her arms around his neck and her legs hugging his waist.

“You know,” he says blithely, “this isn’t really what I tend to picture when I think of a hot girl riding me.”

Natasha groans, deciding that if his sense of humor gets them arrested, she’ll kill him herself. “Just go.”

Clint Barton

Dear Clint Barton (circa age 7) by pollyrepeat (Teen, 4221)

With a normal person, this might count as blackmail material, but a) this is a case of mutually assured destruction if ever there was one, and b) Fury is immune to embarrassment. Not just in the regular, Tony Stark way, either, oh no. Things that could possibly end up being embarrassing to Fury get somehow warped and changed until they go from mortifying all the way over into useful and/or good for his image. It’s like a superpower.

Carrying Clint’s small child self around on his shoulders more than once has probably already hit the interagency rumour mill as an example of Fury’s innate awesomeness: good with rocket launchers and small children.

Also available as a podfic!

Bruce Banner

They're Not Wrong by Trumpeteer34 (Teen, 10163)

As Tony began to pace around the hole in the road to keep himself from shooting repulsors at the nearby buildings in a fit of rage, Thor began to study the nearby area. There was no sign of either the Hulk or Bruce Banner beyond the crater. The surrounding area, aside from the rubble of the fight, held no clue as to their friend’s location.

“Guys, he’s gone,” Tony growled into the communicator on their private line, drawing Thor out of his darkening thoughts. “Someone tranqed him and took him. He’s gone.”

Honorary mention goes to the Responsible Science series by @letteredlettered - the stories don’t have the "Avengers Team & Bruce Banner" tag, but they could, and they are amazing. The best Bruce Banner writing I've ever come across.

Thor

Fortunately, I Am Mighty by onward_came_the_meteors (General, 3062)

Steve was the first one to speak. “Are you okay?”

Thor nodded. Which was a bad idea, as it turned out, because now there were little gray lights flashing in front of his eyes. “I’m fine.” Absolutely everyone narrowed their eyes, and he added, “But, uh. Could we possibly not get back in the car just yet?”

Avengers Team

Civil Wasn't by onward_came_the_meteors (General, 7123)

"We're having an ideological conflict here," Tony stated with disbelief. "Are you telling me you still want to go out to dinner?"

"It's a standing engagement, Tony," Rhodey reminded him.

"Not you too—"

"We already had to reschedule from Friday when Natasha was..." Rhodey frowned. "What were you doing?"

The question was directed toward Natasha, who shrugged and said, "Spy stuff."

James "Bucky" Barnes

You Know How I Feel, aka, The Adventures of Bucky and Muffy the Dinosaur by ifeelbetter (Not Rated, 4511) tumblr: @ifeelbetterer

“As you may have heard, Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. The Winter Soldier, recently rescued a tiny part-robot dinosaur during the Avengers’ battle with Dr. Doom in Antarctica,” the other newscaster explained. “Pictures of Barnes and the dinosaur were posted on twitter by fellow Avenger, Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, and immediately made Barnes’s new pet America’s sweetheart.”

“Her name’s Muffy,” said Steve."

Wanda Maximoff

and the woman was young again by Mira_Jade (General, 3669)

Tony Stark called them the Cap's Kooky Quintet, and sometimes the term amused her – causing her to lift a sardonic brow where someday a smile would truly smile. She enjoyed the presence of comrades – true comrades – and she enjoyed the way their minds wove and bound together about each other to fluctuate against her senses as one. There was something soothing about being in their midst, and even when their loud and brash ways – their painful Americaness - rubbed her raw and drained on her, it was ever the knitting of their minds that soothed those moments over, and made them inconsequential.

Phil Coulson

Coulson's First Day of School by storiesfortravellers (Teen, 3055)

Coulson looked up at him. “I like drawing pictures with Mr. Rogers. I like having tea parties with Ms. Potts. I like it when Dr. Banner reads me books, and I like it when Natasha teaches me things. And I like when you play with me. You do really good voices when we play action figures. And you’re the only one who lets me do stuff like jump off the high diving board at the pool or eat three cupcakes or play tackle with kids at the park.”

Clint didn’t realize that. He was pretty sure that meant that he was doing something wrong.

Darcy Lewis

Beginner Yoga for Dummies (Darcys) and Sad Hobos by chailover (Teen, 3434)

Darcy had a theory: crazy attracted crazy, working kind of like gravity. It was pretty much her explanation for her life after Thor. And if she had thought the type of crazy Thor attracted was bad, be it Loki or the Warrior Three and Sif, or the dark elves and the Convergence, it was still nothing against what the Avengers manage en masse.

Matt Murdock

Double Blind by smilebackwards (Teen, 2381) tumblr: @smilebackwards

Stark snaps his fingers. “You can’t see half of my inventions. This explains so much about you and why you’ve never been properly impressed by me.”

“Does it?” Matt says, ambiguously.

Sam Wilson

Bystander by scribblemetimbers (Teen, 52029)

“I just want you to know,” Sam says loudly, cautiously raising his hands, “That I’m very poor and very sleep-deprived and literally the only thing you can kill me for right now are my notes.” He pauses. Wait. On second thought: “Please don’t steal my notes.”

“I’m not—I’m not a mugger,” Not Mugger rasps out, and for all that he looks about to keel over and die, the man actually manages to sound offended.

Nick Fury

Bedtime Story by dixiehellcat (Teen, 2532) tumblr: @deehellcat

Fury snorted. “I have to check in with the duty officer. I’ll be back in, let’s say twenty minutes. I expect all of you to have whatever your pre-bedtime routines are completed, and be in here pajama’ed and ready to be read to.”

He tapped the book under his arm, then left with the usual dramatic swish of his long coat. Bruce scratched his head. “Did…he just say be ready to be read to?”

Pepper Potts

Pepper and the Avengers (Which She Knows Nothing About) by rebelmeg (General, 6696) tumblr: @rebelmeg

The Avengers, that mismatched group of hurt and heroism, was one of the most important things in Tony Stark’s life. So, naturally, Pepper had made them an important part of her life too.

Vision

039. Intoxicated by aimmyarrowshigh (Teen, 100) tumblr: @aimmyarrowshigh

It might be nice to fit in, just this once. To lose a bit of composure.

Vision floated over to the refrigerator and, with some timidity, pulled off a magnet. He stuck it to his forehead.

[kurlyfrasier]

Terrified: Part 1

Raph x Reader

Synopsis: Raph saves you from ruffians one night in an alley after watching out for you for weeks without you knowing. Which leads you to getting to know the guys and becoming part of the family. But Raph keeps a distance and you don’t understand why. 

Word Count: 1928

Warnings: Violence. Also, this is not my best writing. Definitely still readable though lol and I have no idea where this came from. It was supposed to be a one shot, but morphed into this. ENJOY

He had been following you for weeks. For your protection, he told himself. Especially since you always walked alone, your headphones covered your ears with music blaring so loud he could hear it on the top of a five-story building. Deep down though, he knew he was being a creep. And it disgusted him. But there was no way he was going to just make his way down off the rooftops and casually introduce himself.

No, he could only imagine your disgust. Your fear. He’d much rather continue fantasizing that you two would be the best of friends, at the very least. Rarely did he let his fantasies get beyond that of friendship, but when they did he made sure to let it out in an extra workout or two. Or stay out to catch a few more thugs than usual; the kind with trigger fingers. The kind Master Splinter hated for him and his brothers to go after. They weren’t completely bulletproof, after all. But what his father didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt him.

Or so he continued to tell himself.

A bell dinged, signifying the last customer was leaving the used book store you worked at, a bag filled with books hanging at their side. Raph could swear it was the only book store in the city that stayed open until midnight. He thought it was crazy book nerds would want to buy books late in the night. He thought they were the hermit, early riser types who preferred to go to bed early. That is, until he started “protecting” you.

You’ve proved him wrong on countless occasions. Not that you knew this. Nor would you ever know if he had any say about it. You’ve even convinced him to start reading without a single conversation. In secret, that is. He had a reputation to protect and didn’t want to hear any crap from his brothers, especially Leo. If Mikey found out, he could always beat it out of his memory. As for Donnie...he’d probably get excited and shove all his sciencey books at him. He shivered in disgust. Science wasn’t his forte, but he had discovered he enjoyed history. The thought brought a small smile to his face that grew when he noticed you were about to walk out the glass door.

“Night, Lori! I’ll see you in a couple of days,” you waved your co-worker goodbye before earnestly looking for your headphones in the red backpack you seemed to always have with you, attaching them to your phone, and setting them on your head. The red headphones were stark against your hair and seemed too big on your small head. Then again, everything about you was small compared to him.

He moved closer, following you on the ground through the alleys instead of hopping rooftop to rooftop. Your head bobbed to the music as you stepped to the beat. He found that to be cute and doubted you did that consciously. He chuckled at the scene, wishing desperately he could walk you home in front everyone, maybe hold your hand.

Raph growled, fisting his hands, frustrated he let his thoughts wander- again. It didn’t help that his least favorite part of the night was looming before him. 

~~~~~~~~~~

You walked down the stairs into the subway station, smiling wide, excited about the new book you bought at the end of your shift. You planned on starting it in the morning and not stopping until it was finished. You had two days off, and you were going to enjoy it to the fullest. It helped that your roommate was gone for the week to visit family. Not that you didn’t absolutely adore her, but it would be nice to be completely alone for a couple of days. Her energy was literally off the wall and it could get exhausting, to say the least. Just thinking about your childhood best friend had you smiling even wider- something you didn’t realize was possible. You two had always been the complete opposite. She was always talking to strangers, dragging you to parties when you hadn’t gone anywhere but work for weeks, and inviting friends over for game nights. Whereas you preferred the quiet of your own bedroom, listening to music, and reading a good book. Without her, you would’ve never moved from your small-town home to New York. Somehow, your introverted self had fallen in love with the big city and you wouldn’t change it for the world. 

Your music blasted in your ears, just the way you liked it when walking home at night. It kept thoughts of muggers, The Foot Clan, and perverts out of your mind as you found a seat on the almost empty train. You sighed, feeling safe in the moving vehicle. You could swear you were being followed the past few weeks, but nothing ever happened so you always shrugged it off when you got home, thinking you were being more paranoid than usual.

Not ten minutes later, you got off the train and trudged up the stairs on heavy legs, feeling exhausted. The day had been busier than usual at work and you were ready for pajamas and bed, but it would be another three blocks before you got to your apartment building. Taking in a deep, calming breath, you clung tightly to the shoulder straps of the backpack you wore and stepped onto the sidewalk. Once again, you felt as if someone was watching you. Once again, you ignored it, focusing on the music as you turned into a wider than usual alley that allowed the moonlight to shine through. Which is why it was the only one you were brave enough to walk through.

~~~~~~~~~~

Raph let out the breath he had been holding when you stepped out of the subway station in one piece. He never dared to follow you into the station for fear of you seeing him, but he hated having you out of his sight. Those ten minutes were the worst of his life as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, his imagination going wild with the possibility of you getting hurt, or worse.

The alley you turned into, on the other hand, was his favorite part of the night because he almost always allowed himself to walk on the pavement in the shadows close behind you. Tonight was different, though. He could see shadows of several people ahead of you, so he stayed above, trying to figure out what band you were listening to.

“Hey!” Raph heard a gruff shout as you walked by a group of guys, snapping his focus on them, searching for any danger they could pose, but he saw nothing of note from where he was and you didn’t seem to have heard him. “You!” The same guy said, marching toward you. 

Raph started climbing down with a quiet growl, adrenaline pulsed through his veins, prepared for something to happen.

You squealed, causing Raph’s heart to skip a beat as he saw the guy roughly yank you backward by the handle of your backpack.

“S-sorry,” you mumbled, taking your headphones off. “I- uh- I d-didn’t hear you.”

“What do’ya think you’re doin’ all alone out here?” The man spoke, his friends started standing behind him.

“J-just walking h-home, that’s all. I-”

“Hmm,” he nodded, still not letting go of your backpack. “Wanna drink, lil lady?”

This close Raph could hear your quick, anxious breaths. It made his blood boil. 

“N-no, thanks,” you tried stepping away when he finally let go, but his friends had you surrounded at this point.

“Aw, come on sweetheart,” a tall, thin guy sneered, resting a hand on your shoulder. “We aren’t gonna hurt ya. Just wanna have a drink with ya, is all.”

“Uh-”

Raph had seen enough at this point. You were scared, and the idiots surrounding you obviously had no plans of letting you through without causing trouble. Instead of climbing stealthily the rest of the way down, he jumped, landing with a loud thud in the shadows. All heads snapped in his direction at the sound.

“Let her go,” Raph demanded, attempting to stay calm, but it was hard when some jerk had his hand on you.

“Who says?” The guy with the gruff voice asked, seemingly the only one with enough liquid courage to speak.

“Nobody special,” Raph replied with a shrug, unsheathing a sai with a pleasant hiss. He knew they could see his outline, so he wanted to look as nonchalant as possible. He knew he was an intimidating size and it was times like these that he appreciated it. Deep down, a part of him was relieved you were finally going to see him, but a much larger part of him knew that he was probably about to scare you more than the ten or so guys surrounding you ever could.

“If that’s so, then why dontcha move along and mind yer own bis’ness.”

“I thought I’d give ya guys a chance ta run before it got bloody is all,” Raph grinned, his teeth glinting in the tiny streak of moonlight that touched his face. He refused to look at you. He didn’t want to watch your reaction to his words, just like he didn’t want to see your reaction when you set eyes on him for the first time.

All the men chuckled, each lifting their shirts to show him what was tucked in the waist of their pants. A few pulled their pistols out.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Raph stepped forward out of the shadows. “But if a fight is what yer lookin’ for, then I won’t stop ya.” 

The rest of the men rushed to get their guns out, eyes wide as they stepped back and pointed them at his shell covered torso. A few swayed with the action, but you were still in the middle of their little circle and that infuriated Raph even more.

“So?” Raph said low, voice gravelly. “What’s it gonna be, guys? Ya gonna let the-”

A shot rang out, hitting him squarely in the center of his shell-hardened chest. He barely felt it, but it got him moving forward, punching the first guy he could reach in the nose, knocking him out cold. The rest followed suit, shooting without a care as Raph shoved the men out of the way between you and him with a growl. 

When he finally met your wide-eyed, frantic stare Raph shoved you none-too-gently down to the pavement as he hovered above you, allowing his shell to cover you both until they ran out of ammo. He hissed out sharply when he felt a couple of bullets graze his limbs, but those would heal. He couldn’t let you get hurt. He couldn’t live if you got hurt.

“Stay down,” he shouted into your ear before he stood up once silence reigned, both sais in hand and kicked the closest two guys hard in the chest, knocking them against the brick building. The others started for him, but he quickly spun before slicing deep cuts into their arms and legs, causing most to collapse to the ground. Only the guys who talked to you remained, standing frozen in place as they watched Raph, teeth bared, march to them over their groaning comrades. By the time they realized what happened, it was too late. Raph simultaneously straight punched them both in the nose, knocking their heads back so far the rest of their bodies followed with it, landing hard on the ground- out cold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 2

[ceealaina]

Title: Who Do You Want Me to Be? Collaborator Name: ceealaina Card: TSB - 4008 IHB - 2007 Link: AO3 Square Filled: TSB A1 - Tony Stark/James Rhodes IHB G3 - Guilt Ship: IronHusbands Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Friends to Lovers, Pining, Pre-Iron Man 1 Summary: It's the early 90s and Rhodey's just returned stateside with a shiny new promotion. So of course Tony turns up like a one-man USO troupe to help him celebrate. And all of a sudden Rhodey's seeing Tony in a whole new light. Word Count: 7908

Rhodey sighed and rolled his neck, trying to stave off the headache he could feel building in his skull as he listened to the hold music. After he’d come back from Kuwait there had been medals, and ceremonies, and promotions, and now he was halfway through his extended leave. He’d been excited about having three straight weeks off when they’d first offered it to him, but his family had only been able to get time off for about a week, leaving him to entertain himself for the rest of the time. Some of his Air Force buddies were here too, and the hotel they’d been put up in was really nice, and he wasn’t… not having fun, exactly. But he’d been feeling antsy and unsettled and maybe a little lonely -- especially when all his friends had brought their girlfriends along to stay. 

The hold music clicked off then and a moment later there was a soft, feminine voice on the line. “Stark Industries, Tony Stark’s office. How may I direct your call?” 

Rhodey rolled his eyes a little -- not at her, just at the idea of his dumbass former roommate having a personal assistant. “I’m calling for Tony, please.” (Obviously, he resisted the urge to add. Why else would he be calling Tony Stark’s office.)

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid Mr. Stane has asked that all Mr. Stark’s calls be held today. May I take a message?” 

“Oh, uh…” Rhodey fought back a sigh. “It’s Captain Rhodes, calling for Tony please.” 

“Oh, of course!” she said, her tone changing. “I’ll put you right through. And if I may, congratulations on your promotion, Captain.” 

“Thanks,” Rhodey told her genuinely, grinning despite himself as he imagined Tony going around telling everybody in the office, down to his damn secretary. The hold music came back on but it was just a few seconds before it clicked off again. 

“Hey handsome,” Tony’s voice drawled down the line. “How’s your leave going? Partying it up? Knock anyone up yet??”

“Jesus,” Rhodey muttered, laughing a little as he flopped back on his bed and scrubbed a hand over his hair. “You never stop, do you?” 

“Don’t lie, you love it.” 

Maybe it was Rhodey’s imagination, or maybe he was projecting, but he thought Tony sounded tired. 

“Yeah, I do,” he agreed, unable to keep back a little sigh at the admission. 

“Hey, you alright?” Tony’s tone was teasing. “You’re sounding awfully maudlin for somehow who just got about a metric shit ton of commendations from the Air Force.”

Rhodey huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, I’m good,” he promised, scratching at his chin; he’d skipped shaving the last few days. And then, because he’d had just enough beer with dinner to keep him honest, “It feels weird celebrating without you here, man.” 

“Hey, you know I’d be there if I could, right?” Tony sounded agonized, and Rhodey felt his stomach sour with guilt. Tony’s parents had barely died a year ago, and he had a ton on his plate. Rhodey should have been checking in on him more, not making him feel guilty for not dropping everything to fly across the country and keep Rhodey company. “I’m really sorry.” Tony gave a little laugh but it sounded forced and even more exhausted than before. “I’d much, much rather be there, believe me. This is… Well it’s just that there are these deadlines looming, and Obie’s been really pushing me to come up with the next great thing, and since my parents--,” He choked on the word, cleared his throat, tried again. “Since dad died the board’s been on my ass, and everyone’s got ideas about what I should be doing and saying and how I should be behaving. I just couldn’t get away.” 

“Hey, no, come on.” Rhodey shook his head, even though Tony couldn’t see him. The other man still sounded pained, like he was letting Rhodey down and it killed him, and Rhodey was gonna shut that idea down fast. “It’s totally fine, Tones, I promise. I miss you, but I can still survive without you, you twerp.” 

Tony snorted. “You sure about that?” 

“I’ll get by. And hey, when things settle down I’m sure I can get a couple days off. We’ll live it up like it’s 1985.” 

“So… Cheap beer and terrible videos?” 

“You know it baby.” 

“Yeah, alright.” Tony hummed. “I miss that,” he admitted quietly. “No stakes. And I miss you too, Honeybear.” 

“Obviously,” Rhodey told him. “I’m a goddamn gift, Stark.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony told him. And then his voice shifted, obviously talking to someone. “Yeah, I know. No, I didn’t forget Obie, I just had something come up. I’ll be right there, I promise… Just let me finish this call.” 

There was a long moment of silence, long enough that Rhodey wondered if Obie hadn’t let it go, if Tony had had to hang up on him. 

“Sorry,” Tony finally said, just as Rhodey was wondering if he should hang up too. He sounded completely deflated, all traces of good mood evaporated. “Board meeting. Guess I better go.” 

“Man, I thought CEO meant you’d have more freedom,” Rhodey teased, trying to make Tony a little brighter. But there was no trace of humour in Tony’s voice when he replied. 

“Yeah. Me too.” There was a shuffling of papers. “Shit, okay, I really better go. Obie’s gonna be pissed if he has to come back to get me again. Have, like, an entire bottle of champagne for me, yeah?” 

Rhodey smiled despite himself. “Sure, Tones,” he agreed. “Don’t work too hard.”

The line was dead before he finished the words. 

***

Despite everything, Rhodey woke up feeling better the next morning; talking to Tony always seemed to have that effect, even if he was a chaotic disaster child. He was still lonely -- especially after watching Mikey literally feeding his girlfriend waffles at brunch the next morning -- but it felt more tolerable after that. 

And then, just as a group of them were making plans to do something for the afternoon, he heard a low whistle from behind him. “Hey sailors,” an extremely familiar voice drawled. “Enjoying your leave?” 

Rhodey whipped around so fast it was a miracle he didn’t injure himself, watching as Tony sauntered into the room, wearing his sunglasses inside like a complete asshole. “I know you know it's the Air Force, you absolute jackass,” he told him, grinning wide. 

Tony just shrugged, his smile just as bright, and Rhodey got up to give him a huge hug -- no delicate ‘bro’ hugs for them. He could feel Tony sink into it the way he always did when he got a proper hug and Rhodey squeezed him a little tighter, letting go just before it got weird. 

“What are you doing here, man? I thought you were in LA.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Dude, I’ve got like a fleet of private jets. What’s the point of being CEO if I don’t get to fly them at my whim.” 

Rhodey just gave him a pointed look and Tony shrugged again.

“I don’t know, you sounded bummed on the phone, and I don’t trust the US of Army to be showing you boys a proper good time, so I snuck out.” 

“Again, it’s Air Force, and you know that.” Rhodey was still grinning. “It’s good to see you, Tones.” He cleared his throat then, realizing he’d been staring at Tony, and steered him towards his friends. “Come on, come meet everyone.” 

Tony, of course, immediately charmed everyone, making the rounds and introducing himself and laughing like they were all old friends before pulling up a chair at the table and stealing the rest of Rhodey’s waffles like he couldn’t afford his own. It felt nice, right, the way things were supposed to be. He was maybe a little worried about the sudden decision to just take off, but it wasn’t like Tony’s relationship to spontaneity was a new one. It was probably his version of sticking it to the man, or just his best friend being his normal over-the-top self when it came to showing his affection for their friendship. 

Or maybe, Rhodey reconsidered when he saw the activities Tony had booked for them, he was working out his 'I'm-as-good-as-Captain-America-right-Dad?' issues. 

“Jesus man,” he said, laughing as he read over a copy of itinerary that Tony’d had his secretary print out and fucking laminate for everyone. “You’ve got helicopter tours of the city on here. What are you, the one-man USO girl troupe?” 

Tony just looked over from where he’d been writing down the contact info for some exclusive wedding venue for Matt’s fiancée. “That’s for later, baby,” he purred with a ridiculous, lascivious wink that had Rhodey busting out laughing. The whole thing was insane and over-the-top and ninety million percent Tony, and everyone seemed onboard so Rhodey figured, why not?

And the day was a blast. Overdone it might have been, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a great time. Tony had won everyone over in about five seconds flat, and the more ridiculous his antics the more they seemed to like him -- not that Rhodey was surprised, since that described their entire relationship. And he loved having Tony there with him, hadn’t even realized just how much he’d missed having him by his side. 

Tony had, apparently, planned some big dinner and party for them all at the hotel, so after a packed day everyone had gone back to their rooms to rest and get ready. Rhodey had had just enough time to dump his wallet and keys and strip off his shirt before there was a knock on his door. He wasn’t even surprised when he opened it and found Tony on the other side, leaning coquettishly against the frame. Rhodey snorted but didn’t acknowledge his positioning further, just left the door open and turned back into the room. He could practically hear Tony pouting at his lack of response, but he followed him in anyway, flinging himself across Rhodey’s bed. 

“Hey handsome,” he purred, dragging his eyes up and down Rhodey’s bare chest. 

“You’re hopeless,” Rhodey told him, throwing his t-shirt at Tony’s face. 

“Wow,” Tony mumbled, words muffled from underneath the fabric. “Rude.” 

Rhodey laughed, grabbing a dress shirt from the closest. “Hey,” he said, sitting on the side of the bed and smacking Tony’s leg. “How’re you doing, man? Like really. Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you even doing here? You okay?” 

“Huh?” Tony pulled the shirt off his face, giving Rhodey a borderline-manic smile. “Fine, great, excellent.” He sat up fluttering his eyelashes at Rhodey. “Why do you ask?” 

Rhodey rolled his eyes at him. “Don’t do that, Tones. Come on.” 

Tony shrugged, suddenly fascinated by an invisible stray thread on his pants. “I don’t know,” he mumbled, like he was five. He looked back up at Rhodey, his eyes suddenly tired. “I’m running the company. It’s busy.”

“Busy,” Rhodey replied dryly. 

Tony rolled his eyes at him. “There’s… It’s a lot. And Obie’s, I don’t know… Different, I guess, when I’m the CEO, and… I don’t know. It’s weird not having you around, and you know me, I don’t think things through so I just figured, why not? And now I’m here.”

“Mmm,” Rhodey considered this a moment and then turned to Tony with a bright grin. “Are you saying I’m your happy place, Stark?” 

“You know it, Honeybear,” Tony retorted, and he was obviously going for dry and sarcastic, but there was something a little too sincere in his voice, a shy little smile unwillingly teasing across his lips. 

“Hey, it’s okay, baby,” Rhodey told him. “I’ll be your happy place. I make you feel all warm and safe and squishy inside, that’s totally fine with me, man. I’m very comfortable in my masculinity.” 

“You’re very stupid, is what you are,” Tony retorted, but that little smile had turned into a full-fledged grin, and the stress lines around his eyes were fading a little. 

Rhodey flicked Tony’s nipple, just for the strangled wheezing noise he made and the way he clapped his hand to his chest, staring at Rhodes like he had some kind of virtue to protect. “Takes one to know one,” Rhodey informed him childishly before sobering a little. “Seriously, Tones, don’t overdo it though, alright?”

Tony blinked back at him innocently. “Overdo it? Me?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know, that’s your middle name or whatever. I mean it, though. You need a break, take it. Not that I don’t appreciate it, but this is a lot. We’ll survive without a round of helicopter paintball or whatever you have planned next.” He rolled his eyes at the look on Tony's face. “No, that’s not a suggestion.” 

Tony pouted a little before he relented. “Rhodey, honey, I promise, this is a break for me. I’m having a blast.” 

“Yeah, alright.” Rhodey smacked his leg. “Come on then, Captain Overdo It. Somebody said something about a party downstairs. You wanna borrow my shower? Maybe a fresh shirt? You stink, dude.” 

“I don’t stink,” Tony scoffed. “I’ll have you know my cologne is imported, and very expensive.” He made a show of sniffling his own armpit and then wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, okay, maybe I’ll grab a quick shower,” he said before suddenly sitting upright so fast he nearly gave Rhodey whiplash. “Oh, no wait, I just remembered! I, uh… Left something in my room. I’ll shower there. Meet you downstairs?”  

He was gone before Rhodey could actually give him an answer, leaving him shaking his head as the door fell shut behind him. “Whatever, weirdo.” 

***

Rhodey occupied himself with his Air Force buddies, drinking and shooting the shit while he waited for whatever crazy surprise Tony had cooked up now. He was upstairs long enough that Rhodey was just considering going up to make sure he hadn’t gotten trapped in the shower curtain or something when Mikey’s jaw dropped, eyes going wide. “Oh my god,” he muttered as the room erupted into jeers and catcalls. 

Rhodey spun around and nearly fell off his stool as Tony sauntered into the room in a vintage Captain America USO girl costume, complete with halter top, red and white flared miniskirt, and a pair of ridiculous starry blue heels. “Oh my god,” Rhodey echoed, completely able to look away. 

Tony stopped a few feet away and cocked his hip, the heels and the angle making his ass even more gorgeous than usual. “Hey sailor,” he purred with a ridiculous, over-the-top wink, and Rhodey couldn’t even find it in himself to remind Tony once again that they were Air Force, not Navy. Tony just smirked at him. “Told you I was going to show you boys a good time.” He stilled then, waiting for some kind of a reaction, and there was the slightest bit of hesitation creeping into his smile. 

“Jesus Christ,” Rhodey finally managed, shaking his head and laughing, and Tony relaxed again. “You are an absolute idiot.” 

Tony shrugged. “That’s not what the shareholders say,” he answered, and without skipping a beat he closed the distance between them and plopped himself in Rhodey’s lap, sitting sideways and stealing Rhodey’s beer. 

“Yeah, sure, help yourself,” Rhodey grumbled, signalling the laughing waitress for another. He let his hand settle on Tony’s leg since there wasn’t much room anywhere else, especially now that Tony had gotten past his skinny twink phase. The fabric was a little stiff beneath his fingers, and he peered more closely at Tony’s costume. “Wait, is this an actual USO costume?” 

Tony shrugged, unphased as he stole Jake’s fries. “Dad had some weird shit in his Captain America collection. ‘S mine now.” He shot Rhodey a bright smile over his shoulder as he popped another fry in his mouth, winking at him in the process. 

“Jesus,” Rhodey muttered. He shifted his legs a little, the left one starting to go to sleep. “You’re fucking heavy, man. Is there something wrong with the chairs?” 

Tony just squirmed his ass a little harder on Rhodey’s thighs. “Well, you know. You’re the only one here without a girlfriend, so I figured I’d step in.” 

“Just helpin’ out, huh?” Rhodey asked dryly. 

“Exactly.” Tony agreed. “Just helping out.” 

Rhodey shrugged and resigned himself to spending the evening like this, shifting into a slightly more comfortable position and then pinching Tony’s side hard for good measure. He yelped, loudly, and Rhodey cracked up, nearly dumping Tony on the floor in the process. He looked up a second later in time to catch the end of a look shared between Mikey and Jake and frowned a little. “What?” 

“Nothing!” Mikey said quickly, Jake holding up his hands innocently. “Just, you know… This explains so much.” 

“Explains what?” Rhodey asked suspiciously. 

“Well, I mean… You’re very…” He trailed off, looking for the right word, and Jake snickered. 

“Uptight?” he offered. 

“And this explains that,” Mikey said.

Rhodey blinked back at them, not following, and Jake gestured toward Tony, distracted with talking to somebody else. 

“You left all your stupid at home.” 

Immediately Tony whipped around to face them. “You calling me stupid?” he asked, face lighting up. “Awesome.” 

“You are stupid,” Rhodey told him.

“Awww. Love you too, Honeybear.” 

The thing was, Rhodey was so used to Tony being Tony that he didn’t even give his behaviour a second thought. The constant flirting, the sexual innuendos, the way he strutted around in those ridiculous heels like he wore them every day, arching his back in ways that seemed strategically designed to draw Rhodey’s eyes to his ass… It was all the same Tony he’d known every day since he met him. And sure, as the night went on and the booze flowed his eyes drifted to Tony’s ass even without Tony’s doing everything he could to draw attention to it, but that was nothing new either. It was just… How they were. 

Tony was back in his lap again, his weight oddly comforting. Rhodey hadn’t even noticed his hand snaking around Tony’s waist until it was suddenly vibrating beneath him. 

“What the hell?” Rhodey yelped, voice way too high. He snatched his hand back like something had bit him and Tony nearly laughed himself sick. 

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, pulling out a monster of a cell phone. He wiggled the ringing device. “Top of the line,” he told him before he glanced down at the caller id and his face fell a little. Rhodey felt his heart clench sympathetically as Tony blew out a deep sigh. “It’s Obie,” he said. “I, uh… I should take this.” He gave Rhodey a smile, but even in his half drunk state, Rhodey could tell it was a little forced. “Back in a flash.” 

With Tony gone, Rhodey leaned back and let the voices and music and laughter and general sounds of the party wash over him as he sipped at his beer. He was vaguely aware of Jake wandering off too, and Mikey sliding over to the seat beside him, and he grinned when Mikey clapped him on the shoulder. 

“Having a good time?” 

“Uh, yeah,” Mikey agreed, gazing around at the light show and DJ that Tony had brought in from somewhere. “This is insane.” 

Rhodey shrugged, vaguely aware that he was grinning. “That’s Tony.” 

“Yeah…” Mikey glanced around and shifted a little closer. “Hey, Captain?” 

“Mmm?” 

“I’m not asking, and you’re not telling, but please god, kiss your boyfriend he explodes.” He grinned then, and while Rhodey was left blinking back at him, he gave him a wink and wandered off after Jake. 

“No,” Rhodey said weakly, even though Mikey was far enough away that he never would have heard him even without the noise of the party. “He’s… I’m… We’re not…” 

But the thing was, why weren’t they? If he was really, truly honest with himself, in the way that only came with a bit of a buzz, there’d always been something there, an extra side to their friendship that they’d never quite touched on. The flirting, the grand gestures… They’d been dancing around each other for years, really, and apparently hadn’t even been that subtle about it. 

Abruptly, Rhodey shoved his chair back from the table he was sitting at, looking around the room for Tony. He had no idea what he was going to do or say to him, but now that it had been pointed out, he couldn’t stand another second of letting this hang over them without doing something about it. 

There was no sign of Tony in the bar, probably still on the phone, but Rhodey noticed a promising looking side door, half propped open. Slipping through found him in a concrete back hallway of the hotel where, more importantly, he could hear Tony’s voice bouncing off the walls. He followed the sound, and found him around a corner further down the hall. He was still on the phone with Obie, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and a pinched, tired look on his face that Rhodey didn’t like at all. He didn’t appear to have heard Rhodey, though through some trick of acoustics Rhodey could hear Obie’s voice filtering through the tinny speakers of the phone, demanding to know when Tony was going to be back from his distraction of a vacation. 

Rhodey wasn’t wasted by any means, but he was just drunk enough for it to seem like a good idea to step forward and take the phone out of Tony’s hand. Tony’s eyes snapped open, and Rhodey had the brief thought that they really were gorgeous, even when looking confused, before he held the phone up to his own ear. 

“Hey Obadiah?” he said down the line, not even stumbling over the name as he cut off whatever the other man was saying. “Fuck off.” 

Tony’s eyes went even wider as Rhodey punched the off button. “Rhodey… What?” His tongue flicked out against his lower lip, a nervous tic that he’d had for years, but Rhodey’s eyes focused on his lips with the motion.

Rather than speaking, he let his arm drop to his side and stepped forward, closing the distance between them. His other hand came up, curling around the back of Tony’s neck, and Tony inhaled sharply, lips parting. Rhodey couldn’t resist then, leaning in to kiss him. 

It was soft and sweet at first; he’d meant it to just be soft and sweet. But then Tony made a soft noise, his hands curling in Rhodey’s shirt, and without quite meaning to Rhodey deepened the kiss. The phone dropped to the floor with a loud clatter as he pushed Tony up against the wall, having just enough presence of mind to cradle his head so it didn’t smash into the concrete. His other hand dropped to Tony’s thigh and he moaned softly into his mouth at the brush of bare skin beneath the fabric of the short skirt, pressing his own thick thigh up between Tony’s legs. 

And then the press of Tony’s hands against his chest changed and he was shoving instead, enough force behind it that Rhodey staggered backwards. His balance was off and when he regained his footing Tony was staring at him, a slightly shaking hand clapped over his mouth. Rhodey couldn’t quite find the words to ask what was going on and Tony regained his composure, drawing in a deep breath before he lowered his hand again. 

“What the fuck are you doing, Rhodes?” he asked, and his voice was low and cold but there was hurt in his expression, not anger. 

“I mean…” Rhodey shrugged helplessly because he’d thought it was kind of obvious, but that didn’t seem to make Tony feel better, hiding his face as he stooped to pick up his phone. 

“I’m not your drunk, pity, gay experiment, Rhodey,” he said quietly, before turning and striding off down the long corridor. 

Rhodey sighed, and thumped his head against the wall.

His first instinct was to take off after Tony, to try and explain what he’d been thinking. But while he wasn’t drunk drunk, he clearly wasn’t sober enough to not be a total moron, and the truth was that he hadn’t been thinking, he’d just… Wanted. So instead of going after Tony, or going back to the party, he wandered through the confusing back halls until he found an exit, slipping outside into the night air. 

It was cold out, but it was refreshing after the sweltering heat of the party and Rhodey’s head felt clearer almost as soon as he was outside. Still, he wandered around for a while, trying to get his thoughts together before he ambushed Tony again. Suddenly kissing him after years of supposedly being straight probably hadn’t been the best way to handle this.

He was shivering in his shirtsleeves by the time he made it back into the lobby. The party still seemed to be going strong, but he ignored it in favour of the elevators, heading up to Tony’s room on the top floor -- penthouse, of course. He drew a deep breath before knocking, and there was a long moment of silence on the other side of the door, long enough that he was worried Tony was going to ignore him entirely, before his voice finally filtered through the thick wooden door. 

“It’s open.” 

Rhodey let himself in, locking the door behind him, and followed the faint sounds of splashing water to the bathroom. He found Tony stretched out in the bathtub, up to his neck in a thick layer of bubbles. He was focused intently on the faucet, although his eyes flicked briefly over to Rhodey at his appearance. Not wanting to corner him, Rhodey leaned against the bathroom door frame, hands in his pockets.

“Rich guy like you leaving your hotel room unlocked while you’re in the tub? Doesn’t seem like the safest idea.”

Tony just shrugged, still not meeting his eyes, and flicked at some bubbles. “Think I’m safe. They’re supposed to have pretty good security here. Although I guess they’re letting just anyone up here now,” he added, the words void of their usual snark. Rhodey sighed. 

“Hey, so, I’m an idiot.”

Tony snorted. 

“First of all, are you okay? Second of all, I think I’m missing something here. Third of all, why are you hanging out in this whirlpool. You have something approaching Olympic-sized at home, I know you do.” 

Tony finally looked over at him then. His hair was soft and curling from the steam and he shoved a stray strand impatiently out of his eye. “Well, you’re definitely missing something. But I guess I like this tub because it’s here.” 

“Right. That makes sense.” 

“... Where you are.” 

“Oh.” Rhodey felt his stomach swoop. “Oh.” 

“Yeah.” Tony let his eyes cut away again. “Guess we’re both idiots, huh?” 

Rhodey huffed out a laugh. Tony’s cheeks were flushed, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t just because of the heat of the water. “So all of this was…?” 

“For you? Yep,” Tony confirmed dryly. “You know how I am with self control.” 

“So why’d you run away when I kissed you, then?” 

Tony looked over at him with an arched eyebrow. “Because you were drunk.”

“Not that drunk.”

“And I didn’t want you to regret it when you sobered up,” Tony continued, ignoring Rhodey’s interruption. “And… And… Maybe I was panicking a little. Like sure, I guess I did all this to show you I liked you but then I started thinking what if you only like me because I did all this? I wanna bang you like a screen door in a hurricane, but I never expected you to know about it, you know?” 

Rhodey couldn’t help it, he started to laugh, and Tony groaned, burying his face in his wet hands, soap suds dripping down his arms. 

“You wanna bang me like a screen door in a hurricane, huh?” 

Tony groaned louder. “Shut up,” he grumbled, words muffled by his hands. 

Rhodey ignored him, moving across the room to sit on the side of the tub and pull Tony’s hands away from his face. “That all you wanna do?” he asked softly. 

Tony blinked up at him with those ridiculously wide, beautiful eyes before he shook his head. “No,” he admitted hoarsely. “I want to take you out to nice dinners, and galas, and watch movies like we used to but with cuddling and making out and… I want to be the one you come home to when you’re on leave, I want to be your home and… And…” He faltered, trailing off, and shrugged. “I want it all.”

Rhodey grinned down at him. “Definitely both idiots,” he agreed. “Because I want all of that, too. I just didn’t realize how much until now.” 

Tony’s breath caught and he shifted a little closer. “Yeah?” he asked, licking his lower lip. “You promise you’re not drunk?” 

Rhodey planted a hand over his chest. “I swear it.” 

“Good,” Tony breathed and then his wet hands were fisting in Rhodey’s dress shirt, yanking him in for a rough kiss. Rhodey yelped against his mouth as he nearly lost his balance, felt Tony’s lips curl into a smile against his before they found their rhythm, the kiss even better than the one in the hallway downstairs. 

 “Shit,” Rhodey breathed when they pulled back again, lips brushing against Tony’s with the motion. Tony laughed softly in return. 

“Shit,” he agreed. “Is this even real?” he added, sounding absolutely delighted by the fact. Rhodey immediately reached up to pinch him hard in the arm, and Tony cried out, swatting at him in return. “What the fuck, Rhodes?”

“You asked!” Rhodey said, grinning, and got a faceful of water splashed in his face for his trouble. He had to splash Tony back in turn and the two of them ended up splashing and smacking at each other until Rhodey did lose his balance, slipping into the tub with his legs still hooked over the side. Tony nearly drowned himself, he was laughing so hard, slipping under the water and sloshing it all up over the side and onto the bathroom floor. “Stop laughing,” Rhodey grumbled, although he was laughing too. He smacked Tony’s leg under the water as he bumped up against him. 

“Sorry,” Tony said, not sounding it at all. His eyes were sparkling as he pulled himself upright a little, leaning into Rhodey’s shoulder. “Guess we should get you out of those wet clothes, honey,” he added, barely getting the words out before he was snorting with laughter again, draping himself across Rhodey. 

“You’re hopeless,” Rhodey told him, snaking his arm around Tony’s waist. “Don’t know what I see in you.”

“Too late,” Tony told him. “You already said you like me. Can’t take it back now.” He stilled then, suddenly very interested in the button on Rhodey’s cuff. “Uhh, you do, right? Like me, I mean? I mean, I know you’re my best friend but… This isn’t just a sex thing for you, right?” 

“Tony…” Rhodey just shook his head. “You're hopeless,” he repeated, waiting for Tony to look up at him again. “It’s not just a sex thing,” he promised. “I like you, Tony. I really like you. Even more than as my best friend. I might actually be a little bit in love with you, I just haven’t had enough time to process it yet, but…” He trailed off, pretending to consider. “Yep, I’m definitely at least a little bit in love with you.” 

Tony’s eyes were shining, and he cleared his throat. “I’m maybe a little in love with you too, Honeybear.” 

Rhodey gazed at him a few minutes longer, his own throat feeling a little thick before he patted Tony’s leg again. “Well, if we’re all on the same page then I think that demands a celebration party.”

Tony’s nose wrinkled. “You want to go back downstairs?” 

“I was thinking more along the lines of room service? Pizza, champagne, movies on TV… I think I was promised cuddles and making out?”

Tony gave him a slow, sweet smile, leaning forward to kiss him again. “Yeah,” he said, grinning against Rhodey’s lips. “That sounds perfect.” 

It was a little longer before they managed to extricate themselves from the cooling water of the tub, and get dried off and dressed -- since naked cuddling seemed a little weird, when they hadn’t done anything more than kiss. Rhodey borrowed some sweats while Tony ordered the room service, which meant they ended up with the most expensive champagne the hotel had on offer. 

By the time Tony was pouring a second glass for them, Rhodey was feeling loose and bubbly, partly from the champagne but mostly just from how right everything felt. They hadn’t done anything, were just sitting side by side, watching Lethal Weapon like any number of nights at MIT, but it still felt like he’d found something he hadn't even known he was missing. So when Tony passed him the refilled glass, he set it on the nightstand instead, turning back to Tony and curling a hand around his neck, drawing him in for a slow kiss. 

“Oh.” Tony hummed happily against his lips, squirming closer as he kissed him back, and when they pulled apart again that flush was back on his cheeks, along with a pleased smile. “Hey.” 

Rhodey snorted, kissed him again. “Hey.” 

Stretched out and reclining against the pillows as they were, it wasn’t long before they shifted lower, until they were lying on their sides, facing each other. Their kissing picked up, less exploring and more intent, and Rhodey was hyper aware of everything about Tony, the way he was panting into his mouth, the soft, needy little whines that occasionally slipped past his lips, the way his ankle was rubbing between Rhodey’s own, a poor replica of what he really wanted. Tony’s ratty old t-shirt had rucked up and Rhodey’s free hand had settled on his hip, stroking over the warm skin until Tony was shivering against him. 

Tony pulled back suddenly, his hair even more fluffed up and falling into his eyes. Rhodey couldn’t resist brushing it out of his face and Tony’s nose wrinkled, like he thought he could hide how pleased he was by the action. 

“You’re such a sap,” he whispered, leaning in to suck at Rhodey’s lower lip. It was Rhodey’s turn to shiver, doubly so when Tony slid a hand up under his t-shirt and dragged short nails down his chest. Tony smirked and moved closer until they were pressed together head to toe. Rhodey could feel him hot and hard against his hip, and Tony moaned when the sensation had him twitching against Tony’s tip in turn. “Are we, um…” His voice was hoarse and he gave Rhodey a crooked grin. “Are we doing this?” 

“Are we doing this?” Rhodey repeated, laughing when Tony groaned and ducked his head against his neck. “Is that the famous Stark charm you’re always bragging about? Christ, how do you ever get laid?” 

“I hate you,” Tony grumbled, but Rhodey could feel him shaking with laughter against him. He took advantage of Tony being distracted to roll them, easily flipping Tony onto his back so he could straddle his waist and lean over him. Tony stopped laughing, staring up at him with wide, soft eyes, and swallowed hard. 

Rhodey grinned, grinding down against Tony a little and grinning at the near-gasp that slipped past his lips at the sensation. “So what do you want to do?”

Tony groaned and his hands slipped down, clutching and squeezing at Rhodey’s sides. “Christ, Rhodes,” he grumbled. “You’re gonna fucking melt my brain here. I want… I want…” Suddenly his mouth dropped open, expression changing into one of disbelief. “Oh, fuck me.” 

“I mean, that was what I was getting at,” Rhodey teased, laughing when Tony swatted at his shoulder blade. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry, come on. What’s wrong? You’re in a hotel room with a gorgeous man between your thighs. What more could you want?” 

“Lube,” Tony muttered, sounding distraught, and Rhodey blinked. 

“What?” 

“I don’t have any lube,” Tony whined, his cheeks flushed again. Rhodey had never seen him blush this much in his life, and he was kind of enjoying it. This may have been an unfortunate turn, but he couldn’t help laughing anyway. 

“Are you sure you’re really Tony Stark? Aren’t you some kind of self-proclaimed sex god?”

Tony huffed and squirmed. “It’s not… I didn’t… I had some, but then I… I came here to see you, asshole. I wasn’t planning to hook up.”

“I’m sorry, didn’t I just see you in a vintage USO costume with the express intent of hooking up with me?” 

“I didn’t expect that to work!” Tony wailed, burying his face in his hands. “Please hand me a pillow. I need to smother myself.” 

“Hey, no, come on.” Since Tony was still hiding his face, Rhodey ducked down to kiss over his neck, tonguing at a tendon that had Tony moaning. “I’m sure we can figure out something to do instead.” 

“Yeah?” Tony asked, voice coming out breathy. His hand moved to scratch over the back of Rhodey’s head, and his hips rocked up against him. “You want me to put the skirt back on?” 

Rhodey laughed into his skin. “Maybe later,” he hummed, lifting his head again to give Tony a wink. “Besides, it was the heels that really did it for me. Your ass is incredible, man.” 

“Finally,” Tony huffed. “You know how many squats I’ve been doing, waiting for you to notice?” 

Rhodey rolled his eyes. “Of course you have,” he muttered, kissing him again. Tony melted against him -- so easy -- and Rhodey took advantage to wrangle his arm between their bodies, cupping Tony’s cock through his pants. He was hot and thick even under the fabric and Tony moaned at the touch, legs falling a little further open. 

“Christ,” he gasped. “Little warning.” 

“Aww. Where’s the fun in that?” Rhodey asked, squeezing and then stroking up his length with his thumb.

“Fuck,” Tony choked out. “You’re a goddamn menace.” He squirmed and wriggled underneath Rhodey, hauling on his t-shirt. “Come on, I wanna see you.” 

Rhodey grinned and sat back on Tony’s thighs, pulling his t-shirt off over his head. Tony made a soft, pleased, humming sound at the sight, eyes fixated somewhere around Rhodey pecs before dragging over to his biceps, and Rhodey preened at his obvious appreciation. He waited a moment before arching an eyebrow at Tony. “You gonna reciprocate there, hot shot?” he asked, flicking Tony’s nipple again. Tony made the same, hilarious sound, but this time it was followed by his eyelashes fluttering and a low moan, his hips arching up. 

“Every time,” he muttered, sounding breathless. His eyes were heavy lidded and he grinned up at Rhodey from under thick eyelashes. “Every time you do that it goes right to my cock, jackass.” 

Rhodey felt his cock twitch at the thought, at the idea of Tony, trying to hide how affected he was. He pulled Tony up off the mattress to kiss him again, wrestling with his shirt in the process. It took a few tries but he got it off, letting Tony fall back against the mattress again before following him down. Tony whined when their bare chests pressed together, wriggling around until he could get a leg on either side of Rhodey’s, grinding up against his hip. 

“Shit, Rhodey,” he gasped. “You’re killing me. I’m gonna lose it here.” 

“Yeah?” Rhodey ground down against him, doing his best to ignore the way his own cock was throbbing in his pants in favour of teasing Tony. “You that close already?” 

Tony shrugged, utterly shameless. “You’re hitting all my buttons here, Honeybear. And, you know… I’ve been thinking about this for awhile. Fantasies come true. You…” His eyes fluttered again when Rhodey rubbed over his nipple. “You know how it is.” 

“Mmm,” Rhodey hummed, groaning softly when Tony’s fingers scraped over a sensitive spot on his hip. “Yeah, I do.” 

He kissed Tony again and wriggled his hand further down between them, shifting and pressing at the waistband of Tony’s sweats until they were sliding down over his hips, his cock popping free. Rhodey rocked back on his elbows far enough to get a look at him. He’d never really thought about men like this before, but Tony was gorgeous. 

“What?” he asked, teasing him instead of saying it outloud. “No thong?” 

Tony was panting, but he still managed to give Rhodey a smirk. “Maybe next time. Let’s see how good you are first.” 

Rhodey narrowed his eyes and then he was curling his hand around Tony’s cock, turning whatever he’d been going to say next into a low whine. Tony rocked his hips up into Rhodey’s grip, and his hands moved to grip tightly at his biceps, hard enough that Rhodey was pretty sure he’d have little fingerprint bruises left behind. The thought turned him on more than he expected and he squeezed around Tony’s cock again, rocking down against him. There was precome beading at the tip and Rhodey dragged his thumb through it, using it to slick Tony up more and filing away the noise he made at the touch for future reference. 

“Christ,” he groaned, out of breath himself now as he buried his face in Tony’s shoulder, teasing his skin with his teeth. Tony groaned. “You’re so fucking hot.” 

“Could… Say the same to you,” Tony gasped, fingers squeezing harder at his arms. “Fucking come on, Rhodes.” 

Rhodey pried his spare hand away from where he’d been clutching Tony’s side, reaching down to shove lopsidedly at the waist of his own pants. Tony picked up on what Rhodey was doing, sliding his hands down over his ass until they’d gotten his sweats pushed down too. He pulled his hand away briefly, ignoring Tony’s petulant whine at the loss, and spit in his hand, curling his hand around both their cocks, pressing them tight together. Tony gave a full body shudder at the feeling, one hand gripping hard at Rhodey’s ass, the other scrabbling over the back of his neck. Rhodey could feel him twitch against him, the feeling almost setting him off, and he closed his fist a little tighter, jerking them off hard and fast. He’d thought it might be a little weird, being with a guy -- he’d never touched a dick that wasn’t his own before. But it wasn’t weird at all, it was just… Tony. They’d always done their best to help each other feel good. This was just taking that to another level. 

And it felt really good. 

Tony’s body was hot against his, wound tight as he arched into Rhodey’s grip. They’d given up kissing, panting against each other’s mouth as everything spiralled higher, and Tony was making occasional little high-pitched whines that made Rhodey want to lay him out, pin him down and take his time exploring his entire body, finding every little spot that made him make that sound again. 

Later, though. For all his teasing of Tony, he wasn’t going to last that much longer himself. He could feel his balls drawing up tight, Tony’s thighs tensing on either side of his hips. He moved his free hand back to Tony’s chest, more of a rough drag than the sensual slide he’d been going for, but Tony didn’t seem to mind when he pinched his nipple again, making him cry out. 

“Come on, baby,” Rhodey panted against his lips. “Wanna see you come.” 

Tony moaned loudly and then his back was arching, mouth falling open as he spilled over their cocks. One of his hands moved to close over Rhodey’s, squeezing tight around the two of them, and Rhodey nearly choked as he came too, the force of it taking him by surprise. 

It was a long moment before he felt like he could breathe again, before he became aware of Tony panting and cursing softly beneath him. Pushing himself up on shaking arms, Rhodey pulled back far enough to collapse on his back beside Tony, sprawled out and panting. He wasn’t even surprised when Tony immediately squirmed around to cuddle up against him, head pillowed under his shoulder. Grinning, Rhodey let his arm curl around Tony, running his fingers absently over his skin.

“Shit,” Tony muttered, turning his head to place an absent kiss on Rhodey’s pec. “That was fucking…” 

He trailed off, apparently out of words for the first time, and Rhodey snorted. “Technically, I haven’t fucked you yet.” 

Tony made a pained noise. “Do you think there’s a 24-hour pharmacy around here somewhere?” he asked, moving like he was going to sit up, though he settled right back in when Rhodey’s hand closed over his arm.

“Jesus, Tones. Give me a chance to catch my breath, huh?” 

“What, are you old?” Tony teased, though he seemed happy enough to just stay there, snuggling. They’d never turned the TV off, and whatever movie was on now was a comforting buzz in the background. 

“Yup,” Rhodey agreed. “So ancient. Anyway, I think I’ve got a better idea.” 

Tony shifted a little more, turning enough that he could see Rhodey’s face. “Yeah? What’s that?” 

Rhodey cleared his throat, feeling absurdly nervous despite everything they’d just done. “You’re going back to California tomorrow, right?” 

Tony sighed, long and tired. “Yeah,” he admitted. 

“Well, I’ve got another week’s vacation left…” 

He trailed off, leaving it hanging, but Tony knew exactly where he was going, pushing himself up on his elbow to grin down at him. “Yeah? Really? You wanna come with me?” 

“I mean, if you’ll have me…” 

“If I’ll have you, he says,” Tony was still beaming, even as he rolled his eyes, then put on his best affected ‘East Coast Wealthy’ accent. “Yes, Captain Rhodes, I would love to have you join me at the California home for the next week.” Then he waggled his eyebrows at him. “You’re on vacation? You can be my kept man.” 

“I’m regretting this already.”

Tony ignored that, flopping back down onto the pillow. “I’ll get you a silk robe, you can spend your days lounging around, making yourself pretty, sunbathing in the nude… Have dinner waiting for me when I get home from the office.”

He was giggling now, and Rhodey smacked him without looking, catching him somewhere around his stomach. “I ain’t cooking for you, man.” 

“That’s fine!” Tony assured him, rolling up onto his side to flutter his eyelashes. “We can order in. I am very rich. Just as long as you’re in your best heels and pearls.” He gave Rhodey a ridiculous, over-the-top wink. “Other clothing is optional.” 

He looked ridiculous, and so absolutely pleased with himself, and Rhodey couldn’t believe it had taken him this long to realize he was in love with the man. 

But he hadn’t gone this long without knowing that if he encouraged Tony he’d never stopped, so instead of telling him how in love with him he was, Rhodey shoved him onto his back again and kissed him until he stopped giggling. 

(In retrospect, that probably didn’t have quite the dissuading effect he was going for, but Rhodey couldn’t find it in him to mind all that much.)

@tonystarkbingo @ironhusbandsbingo

[captcas]

hoax

exile by capthamm

your faithless love’s the only hoax i believe in

part five of capthamm’s captain swan’s folklore read on ao3 / read the ao3 series

Grounding herself, Emma fists her hands until her fingers irritate the road burn coating her palms. Regina just got off the phone with Cruella DeVil and Ursula. Cruella and Ursula.

What the fuck?  

Killian arrives and she immediately feels the cool touch of his hook rest on her slightly exposed hip. She’s not sure when this became second nature but she’s glad it has— the consistency grounding her further.

Storybrooke. Chernabog. Town line. Cruella. Ursula. Killian. Hook.

Captain Hook.

She’s dating Captain Hook while co-parenting with the Evil Queen who's trying to decide if she should give Cruella DeVil and Ursula a chance at redemption.

What. the. fuck.

She doesn’t have to deal with these looming realizations as often as she did when the curse broke (the first time), but every once in a while something throws her into a tailspin and she has a hard time finding her way out.

If it weren’t for Killian she’d bet her life savings that Storybrooke was all a delusion and she was sitting in a hospital somewhere compensating for years of home hopping and abandonment.

But then there’s Killian.

There’s been three moments in which Emma knew she wasn’t living a lie.

The first was when Henry came back to her after biting the poisoned turnover. The moment he hugged her… that moment was so visceral, she knew it had to be real.

The second was when Neal died, when she felt a wave of feeling wash over her too great to comprehend. More sobering than any event in her life before, it was a direct reminder nothing is permanent.

The third is every moment she’s spent with Killian since the moment she’s met him. Maybe that’s cheating, shoving hundreds of moments into one, but since she’s met Killian everything has changed.

She was standing in the middle of Cora’s attack, heartless corpses scattered at her feet and she felt another loop setting in, then there was Killian. And so their story goes. Every moment of what the fuck and you’ve got to be kidding me, Killian’s been there— whether on the right side or not is here nor there.

She grasps his hand tightly, drawing a small “x” with her thumb near his wrist and she notices him nod slightly before addressing their ragtag fairytale army, “Emma and I are going to head to Granny’s for some food and then we’ll meet Belle at the library to research our new winged friend.” Everyone nods enthusiastically and leaps into action, David delegating the rest of the group out as Killian squeezes Emma’s hand and leads her away from the chaos.

Once they’re out of ear shot, Killian speaks, “Are you alright, love?”

She loves him. It’s weird, the moment you realize something so profound, but she guesses the small moments are as good as any. “I will be. It’s just… a lot.”

“Aye, Swan. I’m sure it would be for anyone not of our land, but you’ve made great strides in making your own place in this world.” He pulls her in tighter and Emma breathes in his welcoming scent. She always envisioned pirates smelling awful, but Killian is probably the cleanest person she knows. Pirates. She takes a deep breath before diving too deep into that thought.

“Thanks.” She smiles up at him, and she can tell Killian knows how much she means it despite her lack of flowery sentiments he is so versed in. He kisses her temple and she welcomes the silence.

She could handle Elsa making her way into town. Emma was on a level playing field with everyone else, backstories practically nonexistent until Anna entered the picture, but with the arrival of Cruella and Ursula, something shifted in everyone.

There’s history there Emma isn’t a part of and no one is being very forward when it comes to clueing her in. Killian’s holding something back, but she assumes it’s out of shame and knows he’ll tell her on his own time– she didn’t fall in love with a man unscathed; dismal pasts are just part of the package. What’s killing her are her parents, both clearly hiding some dark past with these villains. It’s resurfacing all the anxiety she felt the day the first curse broke. Everyone was so elated, families reunited and memories restored, but Emma felt exactly the same– her relief Henry was going to be alright aside. Snow White hugged her daughter for the first time while Emma hugged her friend Mary Margaret for what felt like the hundredth time.

The playing field was anything but level.

The Enchanted Forest was only a further extension of that, Emma constantly on edge yet feeling 6 steps behind. When she got back to Storybrooke, she felt herself level out— at least she knew how to use the restroom here.

Emma hates to say it, but besides the fact Henry was kidnapped, Neverland was a welcome challenge. Killian warned them the island was greatly unknown even to those who reside there permanently. The playing field leveled itself out completely as everyone seemed just as clueless as she was.

Don’t even get her started on her magic.

Henry has had that book memorized since she met him, the stories practically his now despite him not being alive for the majority of them. He’s always on pace with the rest of the group, knowing references to past dalliances and squabbles without so much as turning a page. She’s glad he’s not feeling this level of anxiousness, but wishes beyond all belief that she could take some of that photographic fairytale memory for herself.

It’s the squeeze of Killian’s hand that brings her back to the present and allows her to walk up the steps to Granny’s without tripping and making an ass of herself. Killian places their order and leans in close to tell Ruby something privately. Before Emma can wonder what he’s said, Killian is leading her up the back steps towards his room and unlocking the door.

“I thought you could use some familiar territory to decompress, love.”

Emma loves him. It’s the only thing that’s convinced her this isn’t some dream that is only minutes from being over. It’s what keeps her fighting tooth and nail for some semblance of normal in her new life which is decidedly anything but. It’s what grounds her when there are literal flying demons from hell trying to take her into the sky.

It’s the only thing that’s made perfect sense.

“Thank you, Killian.” He smiles and begins to turn away, not picking up the true gravity of her appreciation. Emma grabs his wrist and he turns back towards her, worry etched into his brow.

“Are you sure you’re alright, love?” She should answer, but finds herself too busy searching his eyes for any hint that this is a dream.

Emma’s known she loves him for a while now, since the moment they returned from the past– the monumental nature of his trade for her family’s safety winning her heart completely. She doesn’t dare tell him that though– she fears the moment she does is the moment she wakes up back in Boston… alone. Emma hasn’t been alone since the moment Henry found her, and while there are moments she wishes for time to sort out her thoughts, she relishes every moment with her family. At this point, she’s not sure she’d know how to be alone anymore and the thought of leaving this reality for the truth scares her everyday.

Killian’s the only one who seems to remind her this is as real as it gets.

His thumb brushes softly across her wrist where he’s slowly taken control. As though he could read her mind, Killian nods ever-so-slightly, a comforting smile breaking across his face. She squeezes his hand, purposely placing one of his rings in an uncomfortable position on her hand in a futile attempt to wake herself up before she jumps to the point of no return.

Emma finds his eyes again– somehow her anchor even though they’re as blue as the sea. She used to drown in them, the emotions she felt overtaking her as they acted as x-rays into her soul, but as time moved on all she found was comfort. Taking a deep breath, she decides she doesn’t want to live on this edge anymore. If this is all a hoax, she wants to know now before the pain of waking would be more excruciating than she already imagines it would be, but also before he tells her first, and the fear of the unknown stops her from returning the sentiment. Emma aches to tell him, so that she can finally know if the fairytale (literally) she’s been living is truly her life.

So she does.

“I love you.”

As Emma expected, he surges in for a kiss, his actions speaking louder than her three words -even long ago. He comes up for air, and for a moment, Emma refuses to open her eyes, sure the dream will have changed, or worse she’ll have woken up all together, but then that moment passes. Killian’s forehead is hot against hers as she feels the smiles lines grow across it. He breathes out and his breath graces her lips softly. In a seemingly impossible task, Killian closes what little distance remains between them. Emma moves in to kiss him once more, but he leans back slightly to stop her. It’s then, on instinct alone, that Emma finally opens her eyes. As she gazes into an endless expanse of blue, a weight lifts from her chest– a weight left long ago when she turned to find cops in that alleyway instead of Neal. She never realized how heavy it was, not until the moment it was gone– or if not gone, shared.

“I love you too, Swan.”

He brings her back to the here and now in an instant and she’s home.

His voice– light and full of the kind of happiness she truly thought was reserved for the best of dreams– buries itself deep into her mind, creating a sort of tattoo on the memories that lived there. Sure, she’d been told I love you many times, by many people, but the words that leave Killian’s mouth feel permanent.

They feel real.

She rushes forward to kiss him, once again. The electricity radiating through her body, the feel of his hands laced along her lower back, and the smile forming  against her lips finally convince her that, while her life may be part fairytale, it’s undoubtedly as real as any of the others in Henry’s ancient book.

. . . 

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