#and Thena knows too

[softquietsteadylove]

Hello :D love the thenamesh Doctor au so I would like to make a request. Hope it’s ok :)

Thena hasn’t heard from Gil the whole day and is kinda worried that something happened. She calls him but he doesn’t pick up so she calls Kingo and she can hear the stress in his voice and loud noises in the background. They are helping with a mass crash but 2 towns away and Gil is helping them without a break and because his strength is very useful. Pretty late around 9pm he comes to the ER to visit Thena and bringing her lunch and to apologize to her for not getting in touch with her trough the day, looking very exhausted and looking like he came out from a crash himself.

Some soft and very sweet moment between them? Thena taking care of him this time! With a little kiss? You decide if on his cheek or lips 👀

Gil plunks himself onto the bench seat in the back of the ambulance with a groan/sigh. It's been a hell of a day, and it's not even over yet.

They got the call to help out with a crash outside of town. Massive multi-car pileup on the highway between cities, had multiple casualties, even more injuries. It was chaos, and the ambulances from the town closer to the site already had their hands full, as well as their ER.

Kingo is briefing the nurses on their run, updating their equipment stock and everything. Gil asked for a minute just to catch his breath. He's been dragging people out of cars and pulling doors open and using the jaws of life all afternoon.

He sighs as he pulls out his phone, seeing multiple texts from Thena that have gone unread. At least Kingo managed to communicate to Ajak what had kept them away for so long. But he was sure that she had been worried when she didn't hear from him by lunch.

His eyes drift to the mini-cooler beside him. He packed lunch for him and Thena today. He had been looking forward to enjoying them together.

"Hey."

Gil looks up, and there she is: his Thena. She leans off the door to the ambulance and steps up into the bus with him. Obviously she can read how tired he is. He smiles, "hey."

"Good day, today," she comments lightly as she sits beside him. He's leaning against the wall, slouching, hands in his hoodie pockets and legs stretched out. "Everyone who came in to us made it."

Gil nods. That is a good day, and he shouldn't take that for granted, remembering the panic he and Kingo had arrived to a long thirteen hours ago.

"Kingo was telling us about it," Thena continues to speak in her soft, velvety voice, soothing the aches that are rippling through his whole body. "You pulled more than a dozen people completely by yourself. I'm surprised you could lift your arms enough to drive back."

"Kingo drove the last two runs for us."

Thena smiles, running her hand through his hair. It helps to unwind the tension collecting in his forehead. "Good--you need some rest."

Gil sits up, just to pick up their lunches. Before he unwraps the bentos he looks at her, "tell me you ate something."

"We were busy here too," Thena shrugs, but laughs faintly at Gil's pout. "I'm kidding. We were busy, but I managed to grab a sandwich from the cafeteria between waves."

"Fine," Gil sighs. It's not ideal, but he will have to accept it. He opens up her bento first, "I made your favourites."

Thena lets him set the bento on her lap as he unwraps his own. Her hand runs over his bicep, so tired it practically hurts just to bend his arm. "Have I ever told you that you're too good to me?"

"All the time," Gil answers easily as he stuffs half his katsu into his mouth in one big bite.

Thena rolls her eyes at him, holding back some hair as she much more carefully takes a bite of her katsu sando (he always tries to make her food as handheld as possible).

"I was worried."

She says it between bites, the quiet stretching between them. He digs into his rice, ice cold but at least with a healthy dose of curry sauce on it from sitting under his cutlet all day.

"I know," he sighs, and he knows that she knows he knows. Thena isn't really chatty, and that's no different when it's through text. By the third text gone unread - let alone unanswered - he can imagine she was confused at the very least. "I was worried about you here."

She shrugs and picks up a cherry tomato. "Sometimes you get swamped. I did feel bad for the other boys running around. They have a lot more trouble with the heavy lifting than you do."

Gil chuckles, although his rice is starting to build up in his oesophagus. He's barely put his chopsticks down before a bottle of water appears in his view. "Thanks."

Thena lets him have as much as he wants, watching as he chugs half the bottle. She frowns. "Gil, you were out there way too long, today."

"It's okay," he excuses, and he knows he sounds like a hypocrite given how often he's insisting Thena take more breaks and go home earlier. "They needed me, Thena."

She looks down at her lap, and it's because she doesn't have an argument to that. Her fingers tap the side of the box, "...still."

Gil collects all of his pickled radish in one bite and crunches it loudly. And just like that, his lunch is done. But that's the job; he wraps his box up again, watching Thena pick up the second half of her sandwich. He tucks her hair back for her as she takes a bite. "How much longer, do you think?"

Thena lets out a long sigh through her nose as she chews. "It depends, but I don't think we'll be done any time soon. Even the batch that came in first is just getting moved upstairs for more serious cases. No one is walking away from this one unscathed."

Gil sighs as well. He also isn't off for another few hours, and that's if they don't have to work a sickening amount of overtime.

Thena holds up the sandwich for him. He shakes his head but she pushes it closer until she's practically pressing it into his lips. "I know you're still hungry."

"So I'll go to the machine," Gil pushes her hand back to her. "I made it for you."

"And it's delicious," she quickly concedes. "That's why me sharing it with you is so generous."

Gil's chest loosens in an instant as he lets out a real laugh from his belly. Thena is actually quite funny, even if she doesn't think she is. It's one of his favourite things - of a long, long list - about her.

Thena smiles as he bends his head down, taking a perfectly reasonable sized bite. "You should get to enjoy your own hard work. Especially because I'll never be able to return the favour."

Gil chuckles again as she holds up a piece of broccoli this time. Every time, he packs something green in hopes Thena will eat it. And every time, she finds a way to avoid it, or pretends she was full, or does what she's doing now: pawns it off on him.

Thena lets him take the entire thing from her hand in one bite, like a dog accepting a treat. She just laughs. "Maybe it's a good thing Kingo went to find his own food. He gets so jealous when you make lunch for me."

Gil shrugs, utterly without remorse for not cooking for his driving partner, "Kingo's a big boy, he can make his own lunch."

"Ajak will just give him some of hers," Thena shakes her head. "She spoils him."

Gil picks up a slice of carrot he cut into a heart, offering her half, "that's why I have to spoil you."

Thena accepts the bite from his hand this time, taking it delicately between her teeth.

Gil gives her a sympathetic look as her pager beeps on her hip. She lets out a sound that he thinks would make him wake out of a dead sleep. "They need you."

"It seems," Thena laments, handing him the last bite of her precious sandwich and brushing her hands off on her scrub pants. She turns to him before tearing herself away for who knows how many more hours. "Take care of yourself. If I don't see you before you're off, just text me when you get home?"

"Yes, dear," he promises with a grin, holding onto her last bite.

Thena hesitates, floating around in the threshold of the ambulance. She turns back to him, leaning over the end of the bench.

Gil blinks as Thena leans over, leaving a quick but unforgivably soft kiss on his cheek. Her lips feel like lying down on a soft pillow.

If she's thinking of saying something else, she tries to get it out, then gives up on it. She turns around and opens the back door, hopping out of the ambulance and trotting back into the ER bay.

Gil can't wipe the dopey smile off his face. He looks at the last little bite of sandwich she gave him, sighing as he replays the moment in his head over, and over, and over again.

No matter how hard any of his days are - or have been - they always seem to fade away as soon as he's with her. Today is no exception, and he's going to be thinking about how cute she looks when she's flustered, all night.

"Gil, will you quit making eyes at your sandwich and help me load this?"

Gil stuffs the sandwich back with one bite, dusting his hands off before standing to help Kingo with reloading a new stretcher.

[mygnolia]

to weave my love ⭒ n. riki

⭒ SYNOPSIS -› Riki is good at many things- dancing, making fun of his friends, playing it cool (debatable.), Hell- he’s even good at saving people from falling buildings without getting whiplash. But the things he’s bad at? Well, it’s asking you out to prom, and trying to balance the shared assignment he has with you…while being Spider-man.

⭒ PAIR -› spiderman!nishimura riki x fem-pres!reader

⭒ GENRE -› fluff, banter, action ⭒ TROPES -› classmates to lovers, idiots to lovers ⭒ WC -› 17k (i’m sorry idk why either.)

⭒ INCLUDES -› SPOILERS FOR GREAT GATSBY, cursing, non-graphic injuries (reader discretion advised), yes i made the patching up with first aid kit trope SUE ME!! takes place in a busy city similar to new york never specified, reader is rich, jake and heeseung are seniors and riki’s a junior, is riki stupid? yes… jake reveals stuff because he is also a little silly, reader wears a red dress!

⭒ GREAT GATSBY -› basically jay gatsby has this weird amt of money but no one rlly knows how he got it (nefarious reasons) and hes been in love with this girl daisy for five years but then she got married to tom buchanan but he gets rich so he can get the house across from her and wistfully watch her and he pines after her like CRAZY but he dies at the end

⭒ REN SAYS...special huge fat kiss to thena @sensitively-taken you will be in the will when im a millionaire THANK YOU for helping me with so much of this I WUV U AND I WLL BE WAITING FOR UR HUENING FIC!!! | LIBRARY

NISHIMURA RIKI MIGHT DIE FROM PRE-ADULTHOOD STRESS, IF THAT’S EVEN A THING.

What exactly does Riki have to worry about as a seventeen-year-old junior in high school? Right now, his most daunting responsibility is catching up on the chapters of The Great Gatsby because the only thing Riki’s actually read from the novel is that the main character shares a name with his best friend and senior, Park Jay. His second most daunting responsibility is handling the fact that with the new seating chart in his Literature class, it means he’s sitting next to the object of his very subtle affections, you. 

See, the problem with having a crush on you is that Nishimura Riki’s committed to thinking that you’re way out of his league, and unfortunately, the boy believes that almost too well. Not only are you minted beyond his wildest dreams (having seen your posts on social media), but you’re hardworking, helpful, and dedicated to your role as student body treasurer. He’s already understood that you’d never go for a guy like him. Maybe someone more like Park Sunghoon, whose parents’ salary matches yours. If Riki lived in a rural estate with generational wealth, handling the whole ‘Spider-Man’ thing might be a bit easier for him, considering he wouldn’t have to try so hard in school. It might even change the fact that Riki dealt with some alleyway criminals last night and is currently catching up on lost sleep, as your English Literature teacher goes on and on about a project on the book you’re reading. 

In class, and even sometimes outside of the classroom, your small tendency to not pay attention to your surroundings has landed you in some awkward situations—like now. 

“I don’t really tell anyone this, but I hate Daisy.” And instead of getting a response, you glance over to see Nishimura Riki slumped on the desk. Without trying to make preconceptions about what could land him in a situation like this, you poke his arm, stifling a smile at how his eyes widen when you’ve caught him rubbing the very obvious sleep from his eye. 

“Sorry,” he whispers, still fighting the post-nap grogginess, “Did I miss anything?” 

(Nope.)

Shaking your head, you return your attention to your teacher as he continues to answer questions. The second Mr. Yoo assigned a report, you wanted to die even more considering the work you had to do on top of the impending due dates. But for it to be partnered? And for you to get seated and paired with the one boy who's known for not caring about school? Maybe things are a little stacked against you, but there has to be a reason why Riki’s somehow still passing all his classes…right?

Considering it’s the last assignment about the book, you’re glad that you already read it so many times to know what you want to put into words. And in retrospect, answering a few open-ended questions about it can’t be that hard—the hardest part would be getting your partner to stay awake in class. 

A small tap at your side makes you turn to face Riki, who you see has frantically written a page full of notes about the project in the past three minutes and how he can succeed. “Can you go over the first part? Sorry…I was…y’know.” 

“It’s a partner project. And we’re partners.” You wince at the awkward wording. 

Great! Riki was caught sleeping and that was your first impression of him for your paired assignment? Riki feels so stupid in front of you right now—in front of your meticulous notes with annotations and proper highlighting. He wants to curl up into a ball when he sees you glance over at his haphazard attempt to look like he was paying attention when, in truth, he was trying to remember the dream he had just ten minutes prior. When you offer him a small smile and nod, leaning over with your notebook in hand, he sighs in relief, thanking whoever it was that let him get away with his naps without the consequence of irritating you afterwards. 

The bell rings when Mr. Yoo stops talking, and you pause, startled by the sound. Instead of leaving, however, you pack your bag and shuffle to his side of his desk, continuing to parrot details about your report in hopes that it all makes sense. You need to make sure he knows what he’s doing. 

“I think one of the questions he mentioned was like ‘Is Gatsby a good person?’ and do you remember how in Chapter Eight…” The rest gets zoned out and forgotten in the boy’s head, because he in fact does not know what happened in Chapter Eight. He doesn’t know what happened…in any part of the book. But he agrees anyway, pretending like he understands what scene you’re trying to explain. What he notices is how thorough and dedicated you are towards ensuring he comprehends what you’re explaining, and although it could be because you don’t want him to fail you both, he chooses to believe you’re doing it because you tolerate him. 

You’re so engrossed in covering all the little details and telling him random tidbits regarding the book that you don’t realize your feet have made it all the way to the cafeteria. “But here, let me get your number. I’ll totally explain more over text.” 

Riki is definitely not freaking out when he silently grabs his phone and hands it to you with the contact page, staring a little longer than necessary at the cute smiley face you added to your name. “Thanks,” he mumbles, forcibly tearing his eyes away from the ten digits of your number, “For helping me with this, too.”

“Of course! The Great Gatsby is a fun read for me. A little hard to read sometimes because of some of the characters, but still easy to understand.” And Nishimura RIki realizes that he has to do well. He’ll read the book five times over if it means gaining your approval. 

Jake notices something a little different about the tuft of black and blonde hair when his friend walks in. The first thing is that he’s actually here, and that you’re next to him, smiling. The boy rubs his eye to make sure he’s not dreaming somehow, but when he looks up again, you’re waving goodbye and joining your friends across the room. 

“Did you get hit with something while fighting a villain that makes you more bold? I feel like I just saw you and ____ talking,” Jake starts when Riki finally joins him with his lunch. 

Riki laughs, shoving Jake’s head out of embarrassment and opening his chips. “It’s just school. Got some project in English and she says we’re partnered.” He looks over at his friend chuckling, rolling his eyes at how Jake pokes at his side and wiggles his eyebrows. 

“I better hear you two are dating by next week.” 

“Who’s dating by next week?” Heeseung places his bag of food in front of them and takes a seat, opening the fast food he got last period and stuffing a fry in his mouth. 

“Riki and ____. Let me have one,” Jake answers, reaching inside the bag. 

Heeseung looks over at his junior curiously. “You asked her out?” And the two older students hear a groan from the boy in question. 

“Me and ____ aren’t anything, for your information.” He prods at the vegetables on his tray and takes a bite before a look of displeasure washes over his face. “You’re both way too excited for two guys who do not have girlfriends.” 

“Hey! You know the girl I’m always fighting with is the reason why I’m single. I have to focus on studying to do well in school to do better than her.” Heeseung’s whining falls on deaf ears as Riki smiles victoriously, seeing how defensive the former got. 

Jake offers him a shrug of defeat. “I got nothing.”

The three of them fall into normal conversation and Riki finally explains everything that happened during English.  “So you’re telling me your plan to ask ____ out went down from 18 months to 6?” And with a nod from the younger, they both groan once more. Heeseung exclaims, “We’re both going to graduate, dumbass. Make the plan go down to like…two months? Please?” 

Jake cuts in before Riki has a chance to respond. “Make it one and a half, so we can see you with a prom date before leaving forever.” 

“You act as if you’re going to die after graduation. It’s like you’re begging to be a super senior.” 

And they’re silenced immediately. 

“Do you think the guy I was with earlier hates me?” you ask on the other side of the room. Minjeong stares at you blankly, waiting for your explanation. “I don’t know if you saw when I walked in but I was talking to this really tall guy with blonde hair and black tips. He seemed really out of it, like he kept staring at me and nodding. I think I scared him off by talking about the book too much.” 

Sunghoon, who is also listening in, opens his neatly packed lunchbox and begins mixing his noodles. “I think you did scare him off, ____.”

“Not helping,” Minjeong interjects, “Just talk to him more and maybe he’ll warm up to you. You two sit together in class anyways, so hopefully he’ll talk more?” 

“I know him,” Sunghoon comments, “Well, sort of. I’m friends with Jake who’s friends with Riki, and it seems like all that boy does is sleep.” 

“Maybe he’s really good at subconscious in-class comprehension?” you try, taking a bite of your sandwich. “I just hope it doesn’t interfere too much with treasurer stuff.” 

NISHIMURA RIKI MIGHT DIE IF HE SWINGS INTO ANOTHER WALL AT 100MPH LIKE HOW HE ALMOST DID TONIGHT.

All he’s had on his mind since school ended till now is how he should probably text you, if he really discarded the slimy acid monster from last week properly, and when the prom theme is going to be released, but there’s something amiss that confuses his spidey-senses and makes Riki much more alert. 

He snaps out of whatever train of thought he had before, focusing on the situation at hand and looking around to follow his instinct. Riki cautiously plants himself on the side of a random apartment building to get a sense of what's going on. A tingle of some sort of in the air permeates the material of his suit and leaves him shivering from the cold. 

He doesn't like it one bit. 

Moving to the side of the building to the top, the boy finally catches a glimpse of something when he gets a decent view of the city and highway systems. Riki knows something’s wrong with the bridge the closer he gets. He zips from one side of the tall, metal tower to the other, crawling down on all fours making sure he isn’t caught. He feels the electric feeling once more, only amplified. It runs up his spine and he wants to slap it, almost like a frantic, summertime bug. The air around him is charged with something he has never recognized before. With a puzzled expression under his mask, Riki continues to investigate the surrounding area. 

Riki finds a lone figure with some sort of attachment to his left arm, like a long glove made out of metal. The bulkiness of it seems to have no impact on his body as the man fiddles with the contraption, and the boy watches with bated breath as the machine fizzes and spurts with electricity. It begins to glow as power concentrates on his plated palm and the superhero sees it for the first time. It’s like a fizz, like a match striking at fire only to produce a quick burst of friction, but it almost feels liquid when he watches the person play with the flickering blue ball of electricity. It dances in the dark in a hauntingly beautiful way, with bolts jutting out from the metal as it spurts and buzzes with a life-like manner. 

A spark. 

“Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” The sound of Riki’s voice from the end of the bridge causes the stranger to look up with wide eyes. Although Riki fully expects it to simply enhance strength or block damage, the immediate strike of blue that flies straight towards him is anything but defensive. With a yelp, he jumps away, this time refusing to show himself. 

What the hell was that?

He knows he should go back down there to change things and get the person and the metal pieces away before it escalates, but when he goes back down to watch, it's ten times worse. The bright blue illuminates the scarred face of the villain as he’s picked up the metal arm–but this time, it’s no longer clunky and sparking, but fused into his arm. 

Riki’s face pales at the sudden change before his body acts on its own and he shoots out a web to stop the man. 

The villain is shocked by the intrusion, but quickly yanks free from the webbing and flicks another bolt of electricity, one that flies much faster now that the metal flows into the arm instead of simply resting on the skin. It’s unlike something Riki has ever seen, something that is so controlled in motion and yet so erratic in nature, and it instills a deathly fear when it grazes his arm he hisses in pain. The sharp feeling springs Riki into action as he jumps away. He’s lucky another bolt isn’t sent his way, seeing how the villain’s too busy marveling at the power of his new gadget.

“You know that fucking hurts, right?” He yells out, cupping his wound. “Maybe leave the gadgets to the kids!”

The man scoffs. “It better have hurt. I sacrificed half my body for this to work.”

“But why?” All Riki wants is answers. Some sort of explanation.

The man charges up yet another bolt, almost like a laser gun is built into the machine. “Less talking, more running, Spiderman.” 

That scared the shit out of him. 

The boy doesn’t have time to think as he jumps out from the dark tunnel to the bridge and up the metal towers—he hates having to fight with people right below. The villain follows in pursuit, almost crumbling the metal with his engineered arm as he hoists himself quickly. Riki continues to jump between the structure to avoid the flashes, trying to get out and apprehend the man as quickly as possible. When he reaches the top, however, he feels death is near as he glances down at the villain below who’s quickly gaining on him. He shoots out webs to slow him temporarily, letting himself fall and swing from the side of the tower to escape. 

What he doesn’t see on the way across the bridge is the flash that misses his cheek and hits his thigh instead. It burns, and mid-air, Riki gives the wound a quick assessment before he lands on the metal, immediately forcing his body to climb. While dealing with his wound, he fails to notice the villain swinging from the bridge support lines to meet him. 

He needs to end this fast before he becomes burnt toast.

Riki doesn’t often rely on instinct to carry him, but he can tell that the villain he’s facing isn’t just a criminal. 

“Land another hit, would you?” he tries to say, his voice strained from the pain in his arm and leg. It doesn’t do much to deter the man in front of him as the arm continues to destroy and bend the metal on the way up. “What are you going to do now, Sparky?”

The man says nothing, charging energy into his metal glove again before aiming and focusing on the target: him. 

Riki jumps off, not able to properly land his web in the right spot as he goes from one section of the bridge to the other. The man behind him looks enraged at the boy’s attempt to escape—so much so that he reaches out with his normal hand to try to grasp the suit when Spider-Man swings past him. Instead of the feeling of fabric, the villain feels sticky spider fluid on his fingers. Riki shoots out a web, one that curls around the villain’s wrist and drags him off the tower. Instead of being able to launch him into the surrounding waters, the man slips from the poorly shot-out webs and falls from mid air into the sea of frantic cars, including one semi truck that collides directly with his arm. In the air, the boy winces when he hears honks and shouts from the impact, hoping it’s the last time he’ll have to witness it.

With his gaze trained on the falling figure, the weakly attached web breaks, and Riki all of a sudden starts falling down as well. He curls up defensively before bracing for impact, curling into himself when he feels the metal dent and the truck driver scream from outside of the parked vehicle, the body of the villain right in front of it. 

Riki staggers, holding onto his arm and thigh the best he can before getting up. With wobbly steps and a small jump, he lands near the unconscious man, whose metal arm is cracked and fizzling—something that Riki knows is bound to leave more scars. 

“Call the police. I’ll get rid of the pieces.” Although Riki wants to figure out who the criminal is and make sure he’s properly apprehended, the gashes in the boy's limbs leave him winded and exhausted. With hot metal scraps bound together by webbing in his hands, Riki swings out and dumps it somewhere rural, trying his best to cover the pieces with the pounding headache that 

Riki revisits the secluded spot under the bridge, looking for clues to the man’s identity, and his expression falls when he notices a lanyard dangling near a trash can. 

His name, his position, and the company. FLiGHT Corp. The company name caught the boy’s eye, and he pockets the item before leaving. 

It seemed like he was a normal research scientist, but Riki’s recollection of the scars and tattered skin leaves him retracting his last thought. He heard something about the failure of a time travel machine at FLiGHT, and if the mass of the incident was anything to go by, he was in the center of it. 

No matter how many times Riki tries to get it out of his head, on the way home, all he can think about is the inexperience he displayed and the lack of response he gave Riki during the whole time. But Riki can’t bring himself to really take away someone’s life—and maybe for that, he’s a horrible superhero. 

He knows he should stop the man before it's too late, and especially with how many self-proclaimed villains there have been, it's not easy to see so many innocent people ruin their lives chasing a power that inevitably consumes them. He knows it’ll only get worse if he lets them run free.

And while the superhero has never been fully honest with himself, there are many times where Riki hates his role as Spider-Man, and wishes that he was just some teenage boy who didn't have the lives of others in his palm. He wishes he didn't have to sacrifice so much to stay behind a mask—and he wonders deep down if there’s anyone else who felt the same. 

His swings lead him across the city above hundreds of lives he has to protect, and he tries to find some semblance of peace. He thinks about how he has his homework due despite having just risked his life, he thinks about how your project is going—and about you. 

In the night under the stars, Nishimura Riki wishes for something just a bit normal. He wishes a good night for himself, but also for you, wherever you could be.

NISHIMURA RIKI MIGHT DIE FROM TRYING TO READ THIS BOOK IN ONE NIGHT.

The Great Gatsby is exactly like how you described it; a little hard to get through but fun with the plot’s eccentric characters. He’s pretty sure he could’ve just used a detailed SparkNotes explanation for the book, but having a crush can make someone do weird things. And in Nishimura Riki’s case, his infatuation has got him reading a novel about morally-skewed characters and rich society to impress you. 

When you come into class barely on time, Riki gives you a confused look when you sit down, but doesn’t comment on it any further. Instead, he takes out his book and tries to act like his eyes weren’t closing shut from exhaustion by the time Daisy was finally confessing how she loved Gatsby. 

The moment Mr. Yoo stops talking, however, Riki isn’t asleep—much to your surprise. He has his book out, pages filled with sticky notes and a whole section of his notebook dedicated to characters (written in bright red to keep him awake) and their traits. 

“I got it.” It’s the first thing he says when you two are left to do in-class work. It’s ominous, and maybe a little too enthusiastic in a high school literature class for a boy who doesn’t even care that much for school, but you’ll accept it with open arms if it means you get a helping hand on your project. 

“Continue,” you tell him slowly, leaning back in your chair to listen to him. And you don’t know why, but a small part of you thinks that the boy who sleeps every period the book was discussed wouldn’t have much to say or contribute to such an open-ended prompt, but life is full of surprises. 

What you fail to notice is how Riki is nervous and his stomach does at least twenty flips before he swallows dryly and starts rambling in hopes to impress you and redeem himself from his embarrassing slumber a few days ago. 

“So you know how our prompt is based on one character and basically all their actions?” he asks, and you nod, absentmindedly thumbing a sheet in your journal. “I’m thinking we should talk about Jay Gatsby because so much is revealed to us about him that we might as well use it to our advantage. Y’know, talking about how the theme of exploitation and secrets is veiled under Gatsby’s desire for Daisy.”

“You don’t think Gatsby’s a good character?” Riki wants to tell you that Gatsby is more relatable than good or bad, but he shakes his head. 

“I mean, not really.” He feels like with those four words, he’s completely changed the trajectory of his relationship with you from a positive slope to completely downhill—and a wave of panic washes over him. “Should I? I mean, I could see him as more redeemable if you gave me examp-“

You wave your hand to quell his worries. “To be honest, I don’t like him either. But he’s an interesting main character to write about, so I think we should go with your idea.” 

To win your approval feels like he’s won at least three fights against a villain in a row without getting any bad injuries—it feels good. And for the rest of the period, you are able to finish a detailed outline of your work for the next few weeks, mapping out sections for each other, and he even gets to see a part of prom planning on a word document you had open. He considers your shared productivity a win when he packs up and bids you goodbye before leaving for lunch. 

One wave doesn’t catch Riki’s attention from across the room. Not even two, or three calls of his name could get Nishimura Riki out of his thoughts, and Jake frowns before moving up in the lunch line. 

“Something’s caught your eye again.” Jake feigns innocence and sighs dramatically as he places the food down next to Riki’s plate. “Could it possibly be our school treasurer?” Jake laughs, leaning over to catch a glimpse of what’s got his friend so entranced and non-responsive.

Riki scrunches his nose, annoyed, but never breaking his gaze from where you’re sitting. “We talked in class–like, a lot,” is all he says, paying his friend no mind. “She’s genuinely so understanding.”

“God, I don’t think you can be any more down bad for her than you are right now.” Jake picks at his food, and despite his concentration directed towards the olives on his pizza, he’s able to dodge the flying loaded nacho that goes his way, even if he wasn’t the one with superpowers.

“Can you shut up?” Riki grumbles, laying his head on his arms as he notices you smile and point to something. “I just got pummeled into a semi truck last week. Let me have this before I die tomorrow.” 

“Very grim,” his friend notes, ruffling the younger’s hair, “I think this is exactly what all of those mental health assemblies that we get are for.” And Riki basically tunes him out, too tired to fight and too used to the teasing remarks to come up with anything useful in response. 

Riki sits up a bit, letting his head rest on his propped elbow as he looks at the school food and touches another nacho gingerly. “Y’know, I read the book for English so she wouldn’t think I’m an idiot.” 

His friend snickers, successfully pulling out yet another sliced olive from the cheese, much to the disgust of Riki. “She probably already thinks you’re an idiot.” 

The superhero debates throwing another cheesy nacho in Jake's face, before deciding to eat it instead. “Don’t say that asshole! You make it seem like I have no chance with her.” 

Jake shoots him an exasperated look that makes Riki break eye contact. “That’s because you don’t.” 

“I’ll prove to her that I’m worth her time.” Riki says somewhat wistfully, still stealing glances from a few tables away. “Maybe I’ll ask her out to prom, show up in my suit. Do that cheesy upside down kiss shit people say Spiderman does.” When his friend raises an eyebrow at him, Riki shrugs. “I will! Well-maybe not the Spider-Man thing, but prom definitely.” 

Jake continues to look at him unconvinced as he takes a bite out of a slice of pizza with mangled cheese. “You barely talk to her in class and you think you can ask her out to prom as Nishimura Riki?” And the younger grins, eyes still stuck on how your eyes crinkle and how your shoulders shake with laughter. 

“Yup.” And his fate is sealed, just like that.

“What’s your project about, anyways? Didn’t you tell me last night that she gave you her number? Must be pretty serious if she wants to text you.” Riki furrows his eyebrows and shakes his head. 

“It’s just tying the theme of the book to one character and writing about how they show it. So we did the theme of money and Gatsby, because it’s easy and mentioned so many times.” 

Jake gawks. “You must really like her,”

“I was planning to read it regardless of who I was partnered with.” 

“Okay- that’s debatable.” There goes another one of Riki’s nachos.

“Gross.” 

He thinks things are going pretty well for you two. The report is being written and your quotes are basically finding themselves, so Riki should give himself a pat on the back for pitching the initial idea for how to go about your assignment. Maybe reading the whole book offered him a few useful pointers, and he goes to sleep that night satisfied with your progress. Maybe Heeseung and Jake were right—maybe he could finally ask you out by prom. 

NISHIMURA RIKI MIGHT DIE TRYING TO SAVE THE CITY FROM YET ANOTHER MONSTER TERRORIZING THE STREETS.

He wakes up the next morning, not expecting his alarm to alert his senses to danger. It rings in his head and makes him feel delirious, trying to shake sleep off as he looks out the window for any visible sign of what's wrong. If he could hear the danger in his head then that meant someone could be hurt, and he could go to school without a few hours of sleep if he worked fast enough, right? 

Riki slips into his suit without much thought and goes to crack his window open, only to look back at his clock and read the horrific time of 6:23AM. 

Who the hell picks a fight with a teenager at this ungodly time? 

Then, he shoots from his wrists, once, twice, and suddenly, he's off, covering more ground through the air in just three seconds than he ever could while walking or running for minutes on end.

The source of his tingling spidey-sense is some large metal centipede creature that was setting off car alarms in a neighborhood near the market. Thankfully, no one was really awake to be caught in the crossfire, but he has to figure out how the hell he's going to catch that thing in...he checks his watch…twenty minutes? 

Hopefully, his instinct will help him win this time—again. 

The web he shoots out does nothing to stop the monster, and considering how it connected them both, the threads only drag the superhero to the edge of the building he was initially watching from. With some yelling and pulling, he finally detaches, and realizes that the odd sizzling feeling in his bonds must be from the same source as a few days ago; Spark. 

He had this gut feeling that a villain as strong as him wouldn’t have been destroyed so easily, but his wounds were so deep and the blood loss so bad from a few nights ago that he couldn’t have truly dumped him in the ocean without fainting or suffering something permanent, and although Riki hoped things in the universe would work itself out, the presence of the giant fifty foot insect alone is proof that things were not in his favor. 

He jumps off the building onto another, working quickly as he strings up a few webs between the houses as a wall for the monster, watching it slide and knock over cars in its wild pursuit. The monster spends a few seconds breaking down the wall of webbing and climbing over it, the many legs easily breaking through. As the superhero jumps across buildings and keeps track of the centipede’s movement, he has no idea why it isn’t going for him, and that makes his job much harder without the attention of the monster. One glance at the direction the centipede is headed in sets off another ding in Riki’s head—but this time, it finally clicks why the centipede is headed away from the boy. 

It’s attracted to the power plant. 

Riki immediately jumps and swings off of a lamp post, using the momentum of gravity and the force of his swing to propel him faster than the slithering creature. Squinting, he holds out his fist and points his pointer and pinky out, following the movement of the centipede as he aims. 

Bam. 

He sends clusters of silky white threads down precisely at the first pair of legs to pin it down. The webs stop the creature momentarily, and Riki doesn’t have time to watch how the body shrinks up and fizzes out with blue shocks as it tries to wiggle loose and malfunctions. This fight would be over soon, and the boy smiles when he jumps down to shoot more webs to apprehend the centipede. It wiggles and sends electricity out through parts of its body, trying to pry itself out. He expects it to simply be a robot of sorts following a mission considering its avoidant behavior, but as he approaches the tail, the monster suddenly swings at Riki, and its mass and speed is incomparable to the boy’s reaction speed. 

Riki lands into a tree and someone’s garage, feeling the crumbling wall falling all over him and the sudden pain blooming in his lower back. 

This fight will, in fact, not be over soon. 

With his superhuman abilities, Riki grabs onto the metal of the car beside him to hoist himself up, coughing from the dust, and jumping over the rubble to see how quickly the centipede creature can get out, without regard for his current state. The sound and rumble of the giant monster is all he needs to know that the traps are effective, but not at the previous capacity. 

The plan is simple: apprehend the legs and crush the head, where Riki assumes the decision-making and programming is taking place. But the monster’s angry and erratic actions throw a wrench in his plan. Its legs move faster, digging into the cement and leaving ruin in its wake as it continues down the road. While both the villain and superhero are fast, the distance between the power plant is finite—and only grows smaller and smaller.  

Although Riki can feel the bruises coming, he runs and swings, hearing the wind in his ears as he catches up to the centipede in no time. He tries the same tactics again–aim, shoot, stick, all the while keeping his distance. Although the monster’s body spans incredibly long, and should carry an immense amount of weight, the way it snaps at Riki’s flying body and sends shockwaves through his core leaves him shivering as his body slams into the ground, coughing. It hurts all over, and it feels like there’s weight on his eyes when he tries to open them and get up. His head is spinning as he staggers onto his knees, clutching his chest as he watches the centipede shrivel and crackle. 

It seems like the voltage produced is a double-ended sword, one that burns up the centipede body as much as it deals damage, and with the way the mutant creeps towards the electricity of the plant, Riki gets the feeling there’s a magnetic pull that forces the mutant to continue to crawl even against its instinct to stop. 

Despite his waning strength, however, Riki knows better than to half finish the job like last time. He creates a net from experience, weaving together the thickest and most durable threads to trap the entirety of the slowly approaching creature. It seems to crawl slowly up the makeshift barrier, knocking its head against the white and spreading the bright blue waves of its energy throughout. The boy watches as the thin white mass absorbs all of it and clings to the creature. It works, finally, after his attempts to nullify its movements, and he knows that despite the ache in his every step, the almost mummified centipede that hangs between several roofs for all the neighbors to gawk at is his sure sign of victory. 

All he remembers is hearing a familiar call of his hero name before his legs give out and his head hits Jake’s chest. 

Holy fucking shit is the first thing Riki thinks when he wakes up. 

He’s not out of his tattered suit and he feels grimy all over, but his body has done wonders in reducing the otherwise fatal injuries he got. No human body should be able to withstand two energy-filled blasts, but his suit and superhuman healing are of greater help than ever in alleviating the damage from his wounds. 

He knows why he’s in his bed with bandages thrown over his open wounds. He knows that every time something like this happens, it’s Jake who shoos away the concerned civilians, telling them he’s a medic. Jake is not a medic—rather, he’s a seventeen year-old boy who knows about his friend’s double life and with all the times he’s saved Riki, someone might as well dub him the greatest medic of all time. 

The clock on his bedside table has only served as a bearer of bad news. He looks over to see how it’s practically midday, and he’s missed yet another day of school from fighting crime. He’s in no condition to get up or get his bag, seeing how his hair is frizzy and his cheek has a cut that would warrant questioning. It seems only fair that he stays absent, and before he falls back asleep, he only prays you aren’t too mad at him for leaving the seat next to you empty.

But you aren’t mad, just worried. The soreness in his muscles doesn’t go away though, and he groans when he sits up in his bed, with bandages around his arms and an ice pack discarded next to him. 

He’s most definitely not coming to school like this. 

While you bore holes into the clock hanging off the wall, that doesn’t speed up the time. Two minutes pass, then another minute. As your classmates find their partners and begin discussing, you notice how the room gets louder with the due date looming near. It’s the first time you’re alone without the familiar boy beside you, and something hangs low in your chest when you put in a pair of earphones and open your laptop. 

Riki’s absence should have no effect on you. After all, you’re both just high school students who’ve talked once or twice, and yet you still look over at the empty chair. Staring doesn’t make Riki appear, though, and you return to your edits. It feels empty without his insight, or without him asking you to help him with a passage. Riki was your solution to all things boring. If he wasn’t doing his work, then you two were laughing at something on his phone. And if you agreed to both do something other than the report, then you could ask for an extra opinion when deciding prom details. There was something freeing about working with him that attracted you. Riki knew how to lighten the mood on days that weren’t so good for you, but he also worked hard and let loose at the same time. There was a perfect balance in Riki’s life that you aspired to have; it was a good mix of playful, dedicated, and fun all in the same vein. 

The words blend together on your screen. Jay Gatsby this, Tom Buchanan that, it all looks monotonous the more you keep trying to read and comprehend what exactly you’re talking about. 

Before class is dismissed, Mr. Yoo steps to the front of the classroom to gather everyone’s attention. He introduces your new novel for the next month, explaining yet another large assignment associated with the text. 

Truth be told, you don’t pay attention to any of it. 

The only thing you remember to do is to grab extra copies of the printed graphic organizers, as you get out of your seat and rush out when class ends in pursuit of one specific boy. 

“Sim Jaeyun!” The call of his name diverts Jake’s attention from his phone to your waving arm as you weave through the students and finally reach him. 

“You can just call me Jake,” he explains, “what’s up?” 

You begin to reach into your backpack, trying to feel for your folder, and pull out a few sheets. “These are for Riki.” 

Jake cheers internally for his friend who’s busy recovering at home. “What, you got a crush on him or something?” 

He tries to play it cool by teasing you, but the smile you bite back leaves the boy questioning if there really is anything going on. Jake knows better than to tell you anything about Riki’s feelings, and opts to instead grab the papers and to thank you for looking out for his friend. 

“Is Riki okay?” You have to know, just to make sure he’ll be here tomorrow to cure your boredom. 

What Jake says is much different than the nonchalant wave and half grin he gives you. “He’s just bedridden.” 

“That’s pretty serious! Did he come down with anything?” He seemed fine yesterday, so what’s the catch?

He blurts, “He just got badly hurt.” 

Immediately, Jake knows he’s fucked up. 

Your confusion and silence answers him far more than words ever could–he basically hears the gears turning slowly in your head.

Jake weakly defends, “His parents had a fight with him because he hit his head or something. He’ll be fine by tomorrow. Just bedridden from sadness, y’know?” 

The look you give him is unconvinced, but when Heeseung pats him on the shoulder and waves to you, the boy realizes that maybe staying quiet would’ve been the better decision. 

“I’ll see you later, ____.” And he’s off, waving half-heartedly and dragging a very confused Heeseung out of the cafeteria. 

NISHIMURA RIKI MIGHT DIE TRYING TO WAKE YOU UP AS GENTLY AS HE CAN.

Ever since March started and flowers began to bloom, your energy seemed to do the opposite, dwindling until Riki catches you mirroring his frequent in-class action: sleeping. And it worries him beyond belief, because you’re not the type to fall asleep like… ever. However, Riki does not have the heart to wake you up, even if it’s with a little nudge that you probably barely feel with how light he taps. It breaks his heart to have to ask you to review what he has done, because the bell is about to ring and the teacher might just send you to detention if he catches you off-task. 

The allergies always make Mr. Yoo irritable, and Riki knows not to get on his nerves. 

Your eyes flutter open to the pokes and prodding from none other than Nishimura Riki, who gazes at you softly when you adjust to the bright classroom setting once more. 

Panic settles in. “Wait- how long was I sleeping for?” 

He shrugs and scrunches his nose, not giving you an answer as he finishes scribbling something in his notebook. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” Your hand squeezes into a fist at the frustration that you’ve let your partner down. 

And yet, Riki seems to be unfazed, frowning when he sees you stressing out. “Don’t ever sweat the little things, yeah? If there’s anything you ever need to talk about–trust me, I know what it’s like to have a lot of pressure on your shoulders.”

Smiling at him, you respond with, “Thank you, really.” 

Being treasurer is daunting in the spring. It’s full of requests, forms, and small tasks that leave you spent by the end of the day. “But,” you glance at the clock to see just how much time is left, “how’d you know?” 

He motions to your open computer with a now dark screen. “I saw your document pulled up. ____’s tasks or else she will be kicked out of student government,” he taunts, snickering when your eyes grow wide with embarrassment and you lightly nudge his shin with your foot in warning. 

“It’s not polite to snoop,” and although you say that, you catch something in your peripheral vision. It’s a few drawings of a figure and gadget drawn, shaded from rigid shapes with small descriptions pointing to different places. You weren’t sure what was more surprising; how good the drawings were, or the subject of his imagination. 

Weird. Inherently, there was nothing wrong with Riki drawing a villain, and you chalked it up to him being creative. Nothing more, nothing less. 

He puts his hands up in surrender at your last comment, his grin showing anything but. Just one look at the boy makes you realize that everything you’ve just thought about is foolish. 

There’s no way he’d have time to be a villain and a student. With one final thought, you let your raging thoughts rest and focus on the present; him. You’ve seen his hair messy, especially after his naps, but when Riki tries to style it like how he did today, you pay more attention to the streaks of blonde and how he often hides behind his bangs and scrunches his nose. It’s cute. He’s cute.

The truth is, you enjoy being around him like this, joking around and never worrying too much about your responsibilities and expectations. It’s refreshing. Being around Riki gives you the feeling that things will be okay in the end. 

You snap out of your thoughts to see that his desk is empty, while your’s hasn’t changed one bit.

“You’re going to sell prom tickets now, right?” He makes small talk before leaving for lunch, closing the notebook you were suspiciously eying before slipping it into his bag. 

“Yup,” you answer, popping the ‘p,’ “I’ll see you later,” and you two part ways.

All the long lines and constant distribution of change doesn’t allow much wiggle room for you to daydream. As time goes on, the ticket-selling line grows smaller and smaller, but the only thing you truly care about is eating the lunch your parents packed you. Your sandwich is probably sad and soggy now that there are only a few minutes of lunch left. When you finally sign off one last time after triple checking the forms are all correct, you let out a sigh, leaning back and finally getting a break. 

Then, it hits you that you’re not even sure if the boy you’re fawning over is attending the biggest event of the year, and you feel stupid for forgetting to ask. 

-

Yesterday was a rookie’s mistake–today, you’d make sure you get an answer from him.

“Are you going to prom, Riki?” is the first thing you ask when he sits down, grabbing his book and laptop with a little too much enthusiasm. 

“I’m thinking about it.” Yeah, whatever confidence he had when convincing himself he’d ask you out isn’t serving him well at this moment. Quite frankly, Riki feels lame as ever trying to be nonchalant around you. “You?” 

“I’d have to set up, so I would be there, yes. But whether or not I have a date is another story.” You smile to lighten the mood, but Riki watches you and nods, focusing back on signing into his laptop and getting his notes for the new book you’re reading. 

“Well, you’re not the only single one here.” And he wants to reprimand himself for saying something without thinking. “If someone asked, would you say yes?”

You think about it carefully, really because you don’t have anyone in mind when it comes to prom if Riki’s not planning on going. “It’d have to be someone I know—someone I talk to somewhat regularly. I’d be nice to be with someone who doesn’t make it awkward.”

Nishimura Riki might die from over-thinking if he keeps on wondering whether or not he fits that description to a tee.

RIKI'S TO-DO LIST BEFORE PROM

☐  talk to ____ regularly 

☐  don't make it awkward 

☐  be..cute? 

The boy decides that his superhuman responsibilities might be easier to complete than any of those three things. 

He switches the subject to stop his head from hurting too much. “Did you finish the report?” 

You still, and Riki’s question reminds you of the report looming over your head. In your defense, you two hadn’t brought it up much in the past week, and he didn’t seem to worry over how much of your time was spent emailing teachers or making spreadsheets. Although caught off guard, you’re quick to respond with, “What did we have to finish? I thought we were done since last week, but if there’s anything else-” 

“Sorry,” he rushes out, biting his lip, “I meant, if you finished reading it.” And the answer is no, you haven’t read it since your last edit on it three days ago. 

Within a few clicks, you find the document and scroll to the bottom, seeing the small note that Riki left that said ‘let me know how it looks.’ It’s sweet to know he thought about your input as much as you did his. 

“While some can agree that Gatsby’s rise into high society was sketchy, Gatsby still retains the same reserved character from years ago, and doesn’t manipulate others into success or use his money for nefarious purposes. It’s not like he changed after his wealth, and it could be argued Gatsby loved Daisy until his last breath and was willing to die as long as she was happy, emphasizing the theme of sacrifice. 

So, is Jay Gatsby a good person? The question targets the morality of a character who many can empathize with. Those who are charmed by his overwhelming love for Daisy would say that he’s committed textbook crimes, but focus more on the intent behind it. To pine after someone from a distance isn’t easy, but to pursue her after years of separation is even harder. It’s universally agreed, however, that love as a driving force doesn’t nullify what he’s done to others and the dirty schemes he’s enacted to gain the power he has. Therefore, Gatsby makes for an interesting main character, and highlights just how twisted a system around money can be.” 

The last page is–for the most part–his writing, and your admiration for him grows when you finish reading and scroll to hit your Works Cited page.

“It’s good,” you tell him wholeheartedly, “Didn’t think you had it in you.” 

Riki cracks a smile at your light teasing, soaking up your praise. 

“Now you know.” He shrugs. And he can only hope that you like him as much as you like his literary skills. 

NISHIMURA RIKI MIGHT DIE WHEN HE COMES TO THE REALIZATION THAT HE IS EXACTLY LIKE JAY GATSBY,JUST WITHOUT THE MONEY—DESPERATE FOR THE GIRL OF HIS DREAMS, DYING YOUNG, AND A FRAUD HIDING BEHIND SECRETS.

Nevermind the last one, he has to hide when he has an identity to protect as the city’s only superhero, but Riki feels his heart sink to his heels when he read a few weeks ago how much Gatsby simply adores Daisy. When Gatsby died, he scoffed, closing the book with a sudden disinterest. If he were the male lead, he wouldn’t have been laying in a pool for target practice. Maybe being a superhero teaches you how to avoid being easy bait for all your enemies, or maybe Gatsby was too carried away with love to think straight. 

Fighting crime gives you insurmountable experience with sneaking around, but it wasn’t something he could just teach to anyone. When he gets this horrible gut feeling that something’s happened to you, he just knew something was wrong. He might not be easy to catch, but for anyone else? Definitely.  

For everyone else, prom was a month away, but for you, it was three weeks of talking to your advisor and president, arguing with your other board members, and sitting behind that damn money box for another five days to sell tickets. For you, it was realizing that you were supposed to buy streamers and balloons yesterday on your way home from school. It was the thinly veiled disappointment in your board member’s texts when they told you they were at a loss for words. ‘I’m sorry, and I know you’re busy, but how could you forget? Prom is so important for all of us. What if they don’t have what you need anymore?’ It all repeated in your head as you bit your lip in frustration and slipped on the first pair of shoes you could find. Although it was dark and dangerous, you could care less if it meant avoiding the passive aggressive comments you’d get tomorrow during your meeting.

There it is again: that little tendency to not pay attention to your surroundings. 

You yelp when you feel someone grabbing your wrist and pulling you in, muffling your screams as he pulls you along. To see him on the news was worrying, but to see Spark in person with your life on the line is even worse. 

Tears spring to your eyes as you struggle against the metal to no avail, and you curse every previous moment you spent worrying about balloons rather than your safety.

Spark suddenly stops, shoving you against the wall before his hand grabs a brick with his metal arm, beginning to climb. “Don’t let go.” And you don’t think twice before holding on.

The city view would be beautiful if you weren’t hearing your heartbeat in your ears or if you weren’t dangling from the railing of some company building, trying to wiggle yourself free of the rope around your wrists. 

Spark speaks up, drumming his fingers on the railing next to you. “You wouldn’t happen to know where your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is, would you?” And you furrow your eyebrows, genuinely questioning for a moment if he really knew how the superhero operated. 

A voice from across the street puts a temporary hold on your thoughts, and you glance up to see a flash of blue and red soaring through the air, followed by a groan and a beam of light next to you. Seeing Spark’s powers right in front of you spurs you into action, yanking at the rope and trying to take tiny steps away from where they were fighting.

“From what I’m seeing, you wanted to hold someone hostage because you’re not feeling too good, huh?” Spider-Man shouts as he shoots out webs and blocks hits. You shake your head in partial disbelief of how unserious he is, but also how unbelievable all of this seems. “You tried to take a potion or something? I’m going to tell you this now, but these usually don’t work.” 

Riki’s assumption is right, and considering how Spark now has a leg and arm from metal instead of just the arm, the procedure for the additional limb couldn’t have been easy. The superhero still proceeds with caution, making sure to pay attention to anything new as he dodges and fights back. 

The villain immediately gets back up, stumbling for a moment before he regains his stance and runs towards the boy. You hear the clanging of fist hitting metal from their fight, and considering the difference in height and build, you’d expect Spider-Man to be easily flung to the side, but he holds his weight in battle. 

Riki aims for around the left shoulder, where an abundance of stitches cover the skin and fuse the metal into muscle. He lands a hit, and almost another one, before a punch to the side knocks him from his momentum. The boy wheezes when his back makes instant contact with the ground, rolling and getting up before Spark has time to shoot. 

He notices how quickly the gadget generates electricity now. Before, the beams took longer, and were easily predictable, but now, it glows bright for a moment before it fires directly in Riki’s path. The boy dodges the first, but the second one almost hits the top of his head before he ducks and creates distance. 

From the roof-top, Riki scans his surroundings before making the split-second decision to jump. 

He swings to the other side of the building, keeping you in his peripheral vision as he works on apprehending the villain in front of him. They spring into yet another fist fight, with Riki’s agility easily letting him avoid punches and land precise hits to make the previous injuries even worse. 

You think Spider-Man has the upper hand in this, seeing as how none of Spark’s punches seem to slow down the superhero, but you hear something loud before you can register it. 

You figure out what happened after Riki stumbles and suffers a blow to the stomach, sending him tumbling to the edge of the building. Spark knew that Spider-Man was avoiding his left arm—he knew that one wrong move paired with the tungsten material would have a lasting effect on the superhero’s fist. 

Riki coughs from the impact before his spidey-sense rings, pulling him back into battle as he runs as fast as his body can take him. 

You. He still needs to save you. 

With renewed vigor, he continues to avoid the flying sparks as he ducks between structures and uses the terrain to his advantage. He can tell, though, that the villain is slowing down. The shots are less accurate–a telltale sign that the enhancer Spark tried is working against him. 

Between all of the chaos, Riki finally lands a proper web, yanking as hard as he can to pull Spark to the ground. He stumbles, grasping at thin silk before Riki lets go on his side. The villain’s balance is off, giving the boy an advantage as he closes the distance, hopping over a thrown slab of metal and landing a solid kick into Spark’s ribcage. As he stays down, Riki continues to aim for muscle and flesh, his head spinning as he packs punch after punch to keep the villain apprehended. 

Spark’s body–curled into itself to absorb the hits the best that he can– hides the growing blue flash that he’s slowly charging up with his remaining power. The moment it escapes from under his abdomen, Riki directs his efforts towards avoiding the electric glimmer. The villain rolls over, his body tattered from the consistent injuries, and he fires what seems like an intense bullet of energy. It zips by the boy’s cheek, cutting the mask and leaving blood to run down in its wake. Time slows down as the superhero tries to process the unlocked speed of the burst, and Spark loses focus marveling at his new abilities. Never before had either of them seen power so concentrated, and it inflicts both fear and excitement. 

He lifts his arm, the other holding it up for support, and Spider-Man notices the fizzle of bright blue. Riki’s about to jump out of the way, preparing for yet another high-speed bullet, but before Spark fires, something clicks. The arm doesn’t directly point to Riki–but it skews off to the right.

Except, he’s no longer aiming for Riki in the split second that the boy blinks. He’s suddenly aiming at you, where your hands are tied to the railing and your feet are dangling from the bent metal that holds you precariously over the edge, leaving a fifty foot drop in its wake. When you see the blue energy in the villain’s palm growing slowly bigger, you pull at the rope desperately with zero regard to the tender rawness of your wrists. 

In your attempt to somehow break the rope, your cry of fear snaps Spider-Man into action. 

Riki pushes his sore body to jump as quick as he can, leaping across the rooftop to the building over. He easily avoids the metal railing, grabbing onto your arm as he yanks hard on the rope, the force of it separating a piece of metal from the railing. He immediately jumps, sending out a web to swing him back up. It all happens in a flash–first, you were bound to the edge about to fall to your death, and all of a sudden, you’re tightly pressed against Spider-Man’s chest with your bound wrists still attached to the metal. Shutting your eyes, you trust Spider-Man entirely, closing your eyes to avoid seeing just how far up you were. Wind rushes in your ears and leaves your stomach fluttering with butterflies until the superhero sets you down on a secluded rooftop. 

“Please,” he begs, “don’t leave. I’ll be right back.” 

You’d be a fool to do anything but wait. 

Riki checks on you one last time before diving down, springing himself back up with another web. The damage from the blasts is recognizable even from far away, and yet, he notices the reflective shine of a metal arm on the edge of the building before Spark lets go. 

To Riki, Spark is dead after dropping from a fall having taken that much damage, but he hears no impact. Making haste, the boy fails to find any figure no matter how hard he looks, but Spark’s laboratory has to be here somewhere. The badge from a week ago was stuck on Riki’s mind, and he could only imagine the reasons why he pursued this life. Was he recreating something? If he needs to power some sort of machine, then the heart of the city is a perfect place to harness the electricity for any large scale project. As much as he wants to dedicate the rest of the night to searching the city for some sort of clue, the fact that you’re still stranded on that rooftop after having just experienced a life-changing event blares like an alarm in his mind. 

He quickly leaves, returning to where you’re seated.

Without the fear of falling to your death from earlier, you were able to focus on undoing the knots from the rope. Red scratch marks and irritation bloom on your wrist, and the reality of it all happening still hasn’t settled in. Despite not being harmed once, the fear and incessant pounding of your heart overwhelms your senses, and it leaves you heaving with confusion. 

A pair of footsteps only become apparent as Riki walks closer, taking a seat beside you and letting out a large sigh. He stares at the stars silently as if he doesn’t have a cut on his cheek and bruises waiting to paint his skin purple–as if he isn’t hiding his true self under a facade. 

“You’re not hurt, are you?” You shake your head, grateful that Spider-Man was the reason you got away without a real injury.

“Thank you, really, for saving me. I don’t know how you manage to do it.” 

Riki chuckles under the mask. “Eh, you get used to it,” you hear Spider-Man say. “You fight a couple bad guys, get over a fear of heights and eventually you get the hang of things.” 

Scoffing, you gently rub at your wrists to ease the redness. “Easy for you to say. I haven’t been taught a crash course on how to avoid being supervillain bait just yet.” 

“Maybe you should learn it sometime,” Riki responds absentmindedly, “someone like you shouldn’t have been out so late doing whatever it could’ve been.” 

Sighing, your mind drifts off to think about the balloons and streamers that are not in your hand. “I had stuff for my upcoming events.” 

He knew about all of it when you’d explain your cryptic reminders and notes on your computer, but he still feigns curiosity. “What upcoming events?” 

“Just prom,” and he hears just how strained it makes you. 

Riki tilts his head in faux confusion. “What do you have to do for prom?” 

He notices how you immediately slump, as if the mere mention of prom deflates your happiness. “It’s only a few weeks away, and I was supposed to get decorations for our venue yesterday. I just wanted to slip out before my parents noticed.” 

Despite the fabric over his eyes, Riki’s expression shifts from surprise to pity when he understands your stakes. “You still need to be careful. Is your student council strict?” 

“Not strict necessarily, but judgemental–I ran for the position because I thought I could help my school raise funds and find more opportunities, but it just feels like no one truly wants to try anything new.” You wave it off as if it’s not that important, as if it isn’t the reason why you find yourself stressed so often. “I just don’t want to disappoint or give people something to talk about.” 

Despite not being involved with school the same way you are, the boy next to you resonates with the fear you currently face. The fear of letting people down was a large part of why Riki continued to put on that mask and step into the most dangerous situation of his life; he never wanted to sit down to hear the news that Spider-Man quit. 

So he keeps doing his job, even if some days are harder and some fights aren’t worth winning–just like what you do. 

“Yeah, I get that,” he tries to console, “You must be doing a lot for everyone around you, and I’m sure a lot of people appreciate what you’ve done. Don’t beat yourself up too much, yeah? You’ll always have me.” He smiles, but he knows you don’t see it. You’re looking at the stars, trying to calm your mind and return to your life before everything happened. 

You glance over at Spider-Man, wondering if he’ll truly be around for you when you need it. “If I need to talk to you, should I step out of my house past 8PM again?” 

Riki chuckles, watching clouds slowly dim the moon’s glow in their path. “If I’m not fighting crime, I’ll show up at a moment’s notice.” 

There’s no way he means it, but you grin, feeling a lot of the pressure and stress of earlier slowly wash away. After all, nothing happened to you–Spider-Man made sure of it. Maybe things really were going to be okay. 

“Let’s get you home, yeah? Don’t you have stuff to do anyways?” 

You shrug, nothing really coming to mind. As you get up, you remember having to run a plagiarism check on your work, and how Riki told you to text him when you got home after your student government meeting. 

Riki. Spark. Spider-Man. 

“Wait,” you tell Spider-Man, sitting back down on the cement, “I need to talk to you about something else, too.” 

“It’s not like my dinner’s getting cold,” the superhero mumbles quiet enough that you can’t hear. 

“There’s this guy,” you start, paying no mind to how dirty your clothes are getting when you cross your legs. 

Spider-Man scoffs, looking off into the distance, and it makes you believe he has to be your age or older. “You have a crush on him, or something?” And a whole tidal wave of deja vu hits you in the chest. 

‘He must be badly hurt’ isn’t just something people say. People don’t just draw insanely detailed drawings of Spark’s arm and machines without notes to follow unless they knew. People wouldn't just randomly miss school without any impending signs. You’re sure of it–the tired naps in class, the random drawings of superheroes and superhumans alike, or how awkward he could act–it all makes sense.

Your classmate, aka Nishimura Riki, aka the guy who you’ve questioned if you had a crush on for the past few days, might be a villain. 

The swirling feeling of trepidation in your stomach leaves three words running around your head. 

What. The. Fuck. 

Although you tried so hard to stop thinking about it, Jake’s comment from before rubbed you the wrong way. It was sometime last week where you couldn't get your mind off of the implications of his words, but that feeling was brushed underneath your responsibilities. 

Until now. 

“Yeah, there’s this guy,” you breathe, feeling your chest constrict, “Nishimura Riki. I think he’s Spark.” 

His blood runs cold. 

“You think this…why?” 

You take a deep breath, trying to organize all your thoughts. “Well, first, it was his friend, Jake. He said that Riki was badly hurt, and I was really confused at first, but tried to let it go.” 

Riki was going to strangle his best friend. 

“And then, I was looking at him in class, right? And keep in mind, he’s pretty cute, and we sit next to each other, so I just noticed how good his hair looked that day, but his notebook was out, and I saw all these drawings of Spark. Like, the arms, the metal things, even the projectiles! Who would know the ins and outs of that thing if it wasn’t Spark himself?”

He didn’t know what to think about first; the fact that you gushed about him for the first time, or if he should even tell you that Spider-Man would know those things, too. 

“And sometimes, I notice he’s a little awkward around me. I can’t explain it. It’s like he’s paying attention to me. That must’ve been why he captured me.” He wants to laugh at how damn close you are to figuring it out, but in reality, nothing is funny about the situation. 

Nishimura Riki is actually listening to this, right now, as Spider-Man–not Spark. The awkwardness, though? It was his crush on you, and was not superhuman related in the slightest.  

“I don’t know,” he attempts to divert, pretending to focus, “I saw a badge for FLiGHT. You know the company that’s been making time traveling machines? I saw a glimpse of his name and face. It’s not that guy you mentioned.” 

You raise an eyebrow. “And you haven’t gotten him caught?” 

“Villains aren’t easy to find, y’know. It’s not like playground hide and seek,” Riki defends, crossing his arms. 

You shrink in your spot, feeling sheepish for questioning a superhero so bluntly. 

“Plus,” he continues, “Spark has never had a hostage. Wouldn’t it be pretty mean of that friend of yours to kidnap a girl from his class?” 

“Yeah—that makes sense. Thank god,” you breathe, closing your eyes momentarily. “Then what do you suspect all that evidence leads to? Maybe he’s a secret agent?” 

“I think,” Riki continues to keep up his clueless facade, “Your friend might just be clumsy. Or creative. I mean, maybe he went through a break-up?” Nice one, Riki. 

You shake your head. “No, there’s no way he has a girlfriend. You’d think I like guys who are taken?” Scoffing lightly, you then remembered that Spider-Man really would have no idea who any of you are. 

He shrugs and stands up stretching before motioning for you to follow him. “I have no idea what you high school kids do. Come on, let’s get you home.” 

As you hug him tight, the cold air whips around your body and leaves goosebumps in their wake. You barely open your eyes from the fear of seeing yourself inches from hitting a building or up in the air. Spider-Man only yells his confirmation after asking how to get you home, finally placing you on the ground outside of your large gate. 

“Thank you for saving me tonight.”

“Anytime. Figure things out with that friend of yours, and don’t go out late, okay?” You nod and take his words to heart. 

“Goodnight, Spiderman.” 

—-

Nishimura might die. One, because he has this horrible guilty feeling in his stomach, and two, because of a villain. 

Yesterday, he ignored the salmon and rice bowl that waited for him back at home, choosing to follow the coordinates he saved on his phone after he took you home. It led him to a seemingly harmless auto-shop, with an arrow on his GPS pointing to a garage that was shut down completely with nails and blocked with boxes. The exterior pointed to it being abandoned, but Riki suddenly saw some light coming from a makeshift above.

The boy scaled the wall as quietly as possible, glancing into the source of the whirring. He caught small glimpses of something–metal, glowing, blue. 

Or at least, for a few seconds it was on until the power went out. 

The voice that complained from inside the room sounded identical to the man Riki fought. Spark grumbled, turning on a flashlight and quickly waving it around. Riki ducked from the window and held his breath, waiting for the man to suspect something. 

Nothing. 

One lightbulb slowly flickered back on, and then the other dingy light followed. The space was cramped with the metal equipment in the middle, resembling what Riki had seen in the news. 

He was right–it was the same time travel portal that was ruined from a few months ago. 

Spider-Man continued to observe the man as he worked and drilled, plugging certain wires or pausing momentarily to read from a journal. To anyone, it’d seem peaceful, like some sort of renovation project. But in reality, it was so much more than that. 

Riki searched for any sort of information about the machine, trying to see what exactly was left to do until his gaze landed on something. 

There was some sort of date on a bright pink sticky-note, and Riki’s eyes widened when he finally comprehends it. 

The machine was scheduled to be completed tomorrow. 

-

A street lamp next to Riki dies out—which was a clear sign that something was powering up. From the dark, he hears the metal from the same place as last night moving again, and he knows that Spark has left. His presence sends anyone down the street and immediately running, leaving the area for only them two. 

Riki finally sees the completed metal build. Half of his body is wrapped in or replaced with metal parts as he sets down the metal portal, beginning to push it in the direction of the power plant. 

A truck or car would make things much easier, but whatever.

Riki wants to cry from fear and run away. He wants to leave and pretend he never saw anything from last night. 

He’s going to die fighting Spark and he will quite literally a) never finish highschool and get that stupid diploma, b) finish explaining how Gatsby is not a good person and is naturally selfish, and c) he’s never going to tell you how he’s had a small crush on you ever since he saw your cute campaign video as to why you should vote y/n l/n for student body treasurer last spring. 

“You sure that thing works?” Riki asks, jumping into action as he sends webs to immobilize the machine. 

“You’re annoying, you know that?” Spark sends a projectile in the superhero’s direction, hitting the wall behind him instead as Riki jumps out of the way.

With another duck mid-air and the roof of a flying car dangerously close to his nose, Riki thanks the dance practice he does for his flexibility as he shoots another web and swings away. 

Spark is uncontrollable by now, sucking the light from street lamps and fizzing wires in his wake. He has no idea how he’s supposed to get in contact with the villain like before. The body of his suit fizzes with bright electricity that sizzles and pops. It illuminates Spark’s figure, making him easy to spot, but not so easy to defeat. It’s an overload of power, causing the voltage to escape between the joints and gaps of the metal pieces in his suit. And Riki can feel it; the air is heightened and so are the stakes of this fight—and with how the man that stands in front of him looks upgraded and menacing, he knows only one person can make it out of this fight alive. 

“You injected the city’s ‘Gas and Electric’ into your system or what?” Riki calls out, making light of the situation. If he’s being honest with himself, he’s scared out of his wits seeing the six foot figure with blue and white shooting from every crack, looking like a nightmare to touch.

Riki avoids a few more angrily thrown objects, using the momentum of his jump from the side of the building to zip from the top of a yellow fire hydrant to go from one side of the street to the other. “You’re slow!” He taunts, tucking in his legs to avoid a shot of electricity directed at him. 

The screech of metal from the nearby hydrant can be heard as the top flings off, making Riki lose his anchor/ Before he can process it, instead of smoothly landing on the building, he crashes into it faster than expected, groaning when his back makes contact with the glass and he tumbles into the living room of someone’s apartment. 

“Fuck,” he curses, fighting his aching limbs to get up once more. 

And the solution hits him. Literally. 

When he steps out and quickly attaches a web to the top of the building, he’s met on the way up with a splash of water from the hydrant to his face, and Riki splutters as he wipes his mask, regaining focus as he lands on the concrete and hides behind the ledge. 

Water. If he can get it in contact with Spark and pour enough water on the right spot, the excess of electricity blazing from his mechanical body should work against him. 

“Too scared? You should know better than to run away.” The superhero rolls his eyes, crawling away silently to avoid being seen by Spark. Riki does his best to look around for something, and finds a black flower pot in the corner, using a web to grab it before he scales the side of the building and runs away while Spark is distracted as the villain also climbs the wall to face him there. But when Spark climbs the ledge and scans the premise, Riki is nowhere to be seen. 

Instead, Riki swings across the street and fills the pot with water, heaving the extra weight as he shouts out from the sudden pain in his side. He stumbles on the pavement, crying out from the injury as the pot falls with his whole plan. 

Maybe this is where Spider-Man dies. 

He sucks in a deep breath before rolling from his back onto his knees, ignoring the wound to pick up the flower pot. The hydrant still shoots out water, and the superhero rushes towards it, causing Spark to follow. He narrowly avoids another shot from behind him, reaching the yellow hydrant before dropping the pot on the ground. Spark is th 

While Spark has always been intelligent, Riki could tell that the man didn’t fear the water, believing he’d be invincible to the elements now that his suit was perfected. There was something off, Riki could tell, and he would make sure to use it to his advantage. Spark was uncontrolled, and his powers drastically decreased the more he used them. There’s no way his body isn’t in overdrive with how recklessly he’s been letting himself get hurt. 

Riki uses a web to get himself on higher ground instead of fighting, waiting for the supervillain to follow. If he could get Spark off the edge and fall into the growing puddle of water, it should slow him down. 

Spark scoffs. “Run away, then. Like you always have.” Riki hears the wall crumbling under the villain as he climbs within seconds, immediately preparing to fight when he makes it onto the rooftop. But Spider-Man was also prepared, jumping from his crouched hiding position and attempting to catch Spark off guard. 

All he can focus on now is pushing him off. There’s no way it’d be easy, considering he had to focus on his touching any of the electricity off of his suit. Riki delivers a kick to Spark in the ribcage near his heart, where he’s fused metal into flesh. The villain coughs before taking a step back, his metal arm reaching for Riki’s outstretched leg. He grabs it, twisting with anger before the boy meets the ground in a violent throw. Not only is the slam greater because of the enhanced strength, but the power seeps into Riki’s skin, leaving it hot from the energy radiating off of his palm. 

The boy groans, flipping to his side to avoid a fatal hit to the chest. He reaches for Spark’s normal arm, swinging the villain’s body away with as force as he could to create distance between them. 

Riki has been in enough fights to simply know when to run, even if he doesn’t know what’s coming. He could feel the tingle of the charge as it powered up, and with its energy so unrestrained and its user so unstable, the large attempt to hit Riki sends the villain stumbling back from the force. The more Spark uses his powers, the more likely he’s going to end up dead. 

“Your skin can handle that anymore!” he shouts, getting ready to swing himself closer as a plan manifests itself in his head. “You’ll die like this!” 

Spark seems to know that too as he wipes his mouth and recovers from Riki’s attacks. 

“You think I care?” He shouts, desperately pressing his wounds to stop the bleeding. “You think I have anything else for myself?” The vulnerability of his character shines through as he clutches his bleeding wound without regenerative powers to help. “You think I didn’t know that when I did it to myself--what they did to me?” 

Riki doesn’t respond, grimacing as he continues hand-to-hand combat. Although he takes a solid punch to his jaw that’s forming a deep purple bruise, he manages to trip Spark onto the ground.

The man stumbles back from the head injury, the pounding from earlier not letting him to think straight. Riki doesn’t try to injure him anymore, but he instead blocks an incoming punch and tries to force Spark towards the edge. 

The villain barely notices how much space there is left, and the boy lunges with full force. They tackle each other into the ground, and Riki gets off after apprehending him once more. 

The city's a mess, and Spider-Man’s eyes want to shut down so badly, but he takes a few steps in Spark’s direction, pushing him off the side of the building as quickly as he can. Riki hears the thud before he peeks over the edge, seeing the water erode all of the engineering from the machinery. He slowly descends from the rooftop. 

“You were in the accident, huh?” Riki shouts on top of the plethora of sounds. Pain, buzzing electricity, splashes of water as he lands next to Spark; it all echoes in his ears as he pours the water from the pot on Spark’s body. “Why did you try it? Why did you want to go back so bad?”

“If I could go back,” Spark coughs, trying to get away from the large pool of water, “I could’ve prevented the accident from taking the lives of the people around me. I could’ve saved them.” 

Spider-Man understands loss, and he understands the regret that comes with failure. He understands how the man in front of him feels after having everything taken away from him, but his emotions could never justify his actions. 

“You know you can’t change things,” Riki responds, “You tried your best, Spark.” It’s the last thing Riki tells the villain before his body slumps and police sirens grow louder and louder. It’s the last thing that he continues to think about, even if the medic quickly assesses the severity of his wounds. 

“I’m fine- really,” he pushes away the hands of a concerned woman as she holds a roll of bandages. “There’s something else I need to do.” 

Riki knew he had to tell you about this–he couldn’t just let you confide in him about..well, him, without your knowledge. And Riki wasn’t morally perfect, but he knew an explanation would be the only way to fix things.

Your house looks different when jumping over the fence instead of standing in front of it. When he realizes he has no idea what room belongs to you, he racks his brain, suddenly remembering how yours was the only one with a gray balcony over the pool. And so he climbs, slipping from the exhaustion creeping into his body. 

You’ll understand after he explains everything, right? 

“____, a little help?” And what the fuck is Nishmura Riki doing outside of your door? You go to investigate the muffled sound, inching towards the curtains and pulling them back to expect him there. When you hear a half yelp and a hissing sound that follows right after, without a person anywhere in sight, your heart drops to its stomach. 

Do not say it’s true. 

“Riki, where the fuck are you?” you ask, traversing out when you don’t see him anywhere across the glass. 

“Down here.” You run in the direction of the voice, and your eyes grow comically large and you gasp, staring down at the sight before you. 

“Holy shit.” 

There Nishimura Riki is, with his mask half burned off his face and his blonde and black hair messy and matted to his forehead with sweat. The suit is ripped in multiple locations with gashes and purple replacing the healthy skin underneath. His face is in more of a grimace, as he holds onto the web with both hands and one foot planted on the stone of your balcony—read; the bottom of your balcony. 

“A little help?” And you see his sheepish emotion through the tattered fabric, embarrassed after you had to find him in such a compromising situation. “I’m a little worn out and I think my webs are getting weaker.”

You’re a little frustrated with him for being out so publicly, but more scared and worried for his condition. Your gaze narrows on the mask, tattered and covered with scratches, but clearly visible. It was Spider-Man’s mask. The material gives way to a familiar face, and your mind almost blocks you from putting the pieces together. It’s impossible, almost horrifying to think of the implications of what it means to wear the blue and red suit. 

Instead of being the villain, Riki is, in fact, the savior.

The harsh truth is that your classmate, who you spent the last month working on a project with and suspected was a villain, is the same superhero that went out and risked his life every night fighting crime. It’s jarring to see him like this, breathing heavy and straining against the stone of the balcony, and his cough snaps you out of it. “What the fuck do I do?” 

Riki tries to put his hand up in surrender and shuts his eyes at your harsh tone. “Okay, okay, I get-“ and he cuts himself off with a yelp as his footing slips. 

He holds out his hand, and you immediately bend over the smooth railing to grab it, leaning back on the heels of your feet to help him up the most that you can. You’re filled with confusion when the boy hobbles over the cool surface of the balcony and lets his head rest on the stone, not saying much as he catches his breath. You watch the rise and fall of his chest and how his right arm goes to nurse the left side of his ribcage, wincing and sucking in a pained breath as he assesses the smear of red on his fingers. 

Sitting there with your mouth agape, you’re not really sure what to think about first; to check if RIki’s alright, to think about how your city’s greatest superhero is your English project partner, to yell at him for going to your house instead of his house to fix himself up, or to think about how good his side profile looks in the moonlight. Maybe you should’ve just been relieved that the boy you started to like wasn’t a fear-inducing villain.

“Okay, first of all, we need to have a huge talk. But I’m not a medic Riki- I’m going into accounting for fuck’s sake.” He hears the amount of curses flying from your lips as you ramble, and sees how stressed you look watching him sit against your railing. 

“I don’t know how to help you. And also,” you lower your voice and scoot closer, looking around at the large property to really make sure no one’s listening. “you’re Spider-Man?” 

The information all hitting you at once is worse than when your history teacher told you your essay was horrible. At least then, in her office, you could process everything. But here? You’re about to faint. 

“I’m pretty cool, huh?” And of course Nishimura Riki says such a thing, taking deep breaths as he shallowly presses on the blossoming bruises on his skin and wipes the sweat from his brow. 

“Pretty fucking stupid is what it is, Riki.” You cross your arms and try to take a look at where he’s been hurt, hoping that at least he has some sort of regeneration ability that helps him heal much quicker—because there’s no way he could deal with all of this on top of school. 

“I have my reasons,” he says, his voice quiet. 

You pause. “For being Spider-Man?” 

“No,” he shakes his head. “For coming here.”

“What could possibly make you want to come over to my house instead of the nearest hospital? What’s that important to you?”

“I really want to ask you to prom.” 

You simply stare at him, surprised. 

“You came to my house, even though you’re like, a punch away from passing out, to ask me out? And you couldn’t have, I don’t know, asked me anytime during the classes we have together?”

Riki somehow finds it in himself to frown and shrink from your angry piercing gaze. “I can’t because talking to you makes me nervous–so yeah, I’m sorry I’m half conscious on your balcony in my suit instead of at your door with a poster.” 

You’re conflicted, your mind still reeling from the recent discovery and your flood of emotions. Ever since you questioned his identity on top of your feelings for him, you had a hard time really knowing if you could like Riki if he turned out to be a villain, so to know that he proved both of your theories wrong leaves you quiet as you think. If possible, the color in the boy’s face drains even more when you go back inside, but the door stays open, and he thinks he hasn’t ruined things after all. You emerge with a bottle of isopropyl alcohol, a bowl of warm water, and a pristine white towel. 

“I’m not mad about that, you idiot,” you reprimand him, setting everything down as you examine the cuts on his face. You squeeze the towel and start to dab at his skin, avoiding the cuts as you clean it. “Who does this for you if not me?” 

“Jake.” 

“Seems like a pretty good friend.” Riki nods in response. 

 “I’m sorry,” he sighs, sitting up to properly address you, even if you weren’t able to meet his gaze. 

“For what?”

“For putting this on you–all of it. Not just the whole Spider-Man thing.” He knew he’d have to tell you at some point, or else it’d eat him up inside to know he kept all of it from you. 

“Look at you, saving me mid-air and talking to me as if you didn’t know who I was.”

You notice a flash of regret through his wince as you clean up a cut with antiseptic. “I meant it when I told you I knew what it was like to have a lot of pressure.”

“Guess I wasn’t so far off, then. If we never talked, would you have told me?” Riki shakes his head, and the simple motion leaves you somehow disappointed. 

“How do you ever tell anyone you’re…y’know, Spider-Man?” Even if it’s a hypothetical, you shrug, not being able to answer.

“How’d Jake find out?” 

Riki chuckles and hisses at the same time before trying to remember. “I think I just kicked his window in after a nasty poison got hold of me. He was a little too excited to have Spider-Man on his bedroom floor, and less excited to know it was me. I’m not really supposed to tell anyone, though.”

“Then why’d you tell me? You could’ve just gone back to your friends.” 

“I felt guilty–I know, I know, it sounds stupid. I’d definitely get my identity revealed at this rate.” You shake your head. 

“Not stupid. Keep going.” 

“I didn’t care that you suspected me, or if anyone else did, because I knew it was never true. But I felt so bad knowing you were sharing to me how you felt without even knowing it was me who was listening–like I was holding something from you.” 

You admire his honesty, and when you look at his furrowed brows and his lip that he’s been gnawing from worry, you can’t even imagine what he’s had to hide and do for this. In a way, you look up to him more, for trying his best even if he’s gotten all odds stacked against him. Riki’s commendable in your eyes–he always had been, ever since you woke him up in class. 

“I like those things about you, Riki. That you’re honest with yourself and the people around you as much as you can be, and you try to help others when you can. I’m glad we got to know each other more this past month.” Talking to him feels different than talking to Spider-Man from a few days ago; it feels raw, like you’re not just confessing something to a brick wall anymore. If none of this ever happened, you doubt you’d get the chance to tell Riki any of this properly. 

The boy stays silent, taking deep breaths while processing what you’ve told him. “I’m glad I could help you out.” 

You furrow your eyebrows. “I hope you know I don’t like you because you help me out. I like you because you’re attractive, and because you’re genuine,” you blurt. 

Riki laughs despite his ribcage hurting everytime he does so. Riki nods and mumbles a ‘thank you,’ also glad to truly get to know you. While his crush was more of an infatuation with your hard work and amiability, the past few weeks really opened his eyes to who you were. You never wanted to disappoint, and even if your recklessness left you in some dire situations, Riki could see how much effort you really put into things. 

There wasn’t anything else he needed to tell you–you were smart enough to see how much he cared about you.    

You’re so close, your lips glossy with lip balm as you watch him carefully. You hear and see it all; the heavy, labored breathing from his body healing itself rapidly, and the way his hand is full of rough cuts and calluses as his fingers intertwine with yours. But your eyes catch a glimpse of his mask tossed to the side, the blue shining in the corner of your eyes as you’re reminded of who he is right now, and what role you play. You are still ____ ____, but he’s a superhero.

It makes you momentarily forget whose suit you're peeling away, whose skin you're cleaning. It reminds you that he’s just the boy in your English class that you fell for. “What does that make us?”

“Prom-goers,” he answers with a slight nod. 

You smile, wiping a cut before placing the towel back into the bowl for the last time and getting up. “We can be prom-goers, yeah.” 

You’re not sure if you’re ready for anything, and you’re thankful that he understands that, too. As much as it warmed your heart to see him again and hear his confessions, the blaring truth still hangs over your head. You grab his mask, finally looking at him before handing it back and grabbing your things. His secret identity wasn’t something you could just ignore. 

“Go home, Spider-Man,” you turn your back on him, and time slows when you falter before sparing him one more look. “I want you as Riki, not like this.” 

MAYBE NISHIMURA RIKI DOESN'T NEED TO DIE–OR ALMOST DIE–ANYMORE. 

He went home that night with his scars somewhat cleaned and his bruises miraculous healing on their own, and even if slipping through the window left him clutching his side in pain, Riki silently jumped up to celebrate his multiple victories before slipping out of his suit and finally getting some rest. 

Riki’s scared of how he’s affected your relationship. He’s worried you’ll avoid him in the halls, and he’s worried you’d never want to see him again after putting you through all of it. As much as he'd understand how upset you'd be towards him, he hopes he did the right thing by telling you.

But you see him on your way to English, and you call his name. His eyes search for yours in the crowds, and you two see each other before you crush him in a hug. 

Riki isn’t sure how to feel at first, but eventually wraps his arms around you as relief settles in his stomach. 

“Thank you for saving me, Spider-Man,” you whisper, loud enough for only him to hear. 

He smiles at you, ruffling your hair as you go to English together. “Anytime, ____.” 

NEVERMIND, NISHIMURA RIKI MIGHT DIE WHEN HE SEES YOU IN YOUR RED PROM DRESS.

But first, he has to try something out. 

He curses to himself when silently zipping from a tree outside your family property to the top of your house, staring past the ledge two and luxurious stories to your well decorated porch light and door. He just prays that Google Maps is  right about how secluded the area is, so no one can see him pacing around your rooftop, with flowers elegantly wrapped in his hand (courtesy of your mother’s sleek envelope from a few days ago). 

“Fuck it,” he says to himself, shooting a web and dangling himself down. Riki’s upside down figure watches swirled window frames and meticulously designed accents as he descends, and he wonders what kind of shady business your parents could’ve done to afford something so grand. 

He faces your door—hanging down instead of rightside up, but he’s still here on time like he promised. 

The door opens at 6:00PM like he instructed you to, but what he didn’t tell you what to do was shriek and slam the door. On his nose. With a loud yelp, Riki clutches his nose, rubbing the spot you hit and trying to apply pressure to alleviate the pain. 

When the door slowly creaks open again, you face with the image of Nishimura Riki, aka your boyfriend, aka your English partner, aka Spider-Man, curled upside down in the fetal position as he cradles the sore spot on his face and swings slightly from the breeze. 

“You scared me, dumbass! How was I supposed to know it was you? It was so hard to see!” 

Although muffled, Riki’s able to mumble, “You have a porch light for this reason, _____,” and a jab at his stomach from you follows his sarcastic remark. Finally, his nose feels better, and he straightens out to finally look at you. 

Pretty, pretty, pretty, and the boy wonders how you look even more stunning with a glittering red dress and perfectly done make-up. “I like the red,” he says, trying not to freak out over your beauty. “Reminds me of a certain neighborhood superhero.” 

“I have some blue spider earrings to match.” With a beautiful smile, you turn to show him the little accent, and it melts his heart. “Are you okay, though?”

“I’m fine. I should’ve probably put more thought into that.” 

You snicker, sliding into your heels and closing the door behind you. 

“One of us is better at romantic gestures, it seems.” It warrants a scoff, and Riki brings a gloved hand to poke at your forehead teasingly.

“Let me have a do-over, then?” And the way your lips curl up into a bright smile leaves him quiet and in awe. 

“What, were you going to kiss me? Very original, Spider-Man.” With the way the fabric shifts over his features, you can tell he’s pouting. 

“I thought girls liked this.” 

You shrug, pretending you aren’t swept off his feet by the effort he’s put in. Taking a step in his direction, your hands reach up to gently pull the mask over his chin, ears, and then his nose. 

Whispering quietly, you ask, “You’ve kissed other girls upside down?” 

Riki’s quick to shake his head. “You’re the only girl I’d withstand a head rush for.” And god, you just can’t stop yourself from grinning at his sweet, genuine words.

You lean in, placing a small kiss on his nose as a silent apology. Then, you close your eyes and lean into him once more, feeling his hands carefully holding the side of your head and his lips on yours. Your kiss with Riki is saccharine and slow, making you pull away when the urge to beam at him is too much. Your cheeks definitely hurt by how romantic he’s being, and you can’t resist kissing him once more.

“I’m not gonna lie,” he starts, finally letting himself down, “It feels weird.” 

“You ruined the moment.” And he really didn’t, but you enjoy his subtle reactions to your light digs at him. 

“Whatever.” Riki laughs. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.” 

You nod, sitting down on the porch and dragging a manicured nail over your lips with the ghost of his affections, thinking about how you literally just kissed Spider-Man. 

Riki comes back, dusting off his suit and smoothing out the wrinkles, with a large bouquet of red roses and one blue one snuck in there. Your lips stretch into a grin and you accept the bouquet, keeping a mental note to read the card in there.

“You never cease to amaze me, Riki.” It’s the last thing you mutter to the air before you loop your arms around his neck, urging him to lean down as you kiss him once more—this time rightside up, but still as sickly saccharine as the one before it. Your heart is fuzzy with fondness and your eyes glitter with adoration. 

“So, which kiss was better?” he asks when you pull away, a little breathless and dizzy.

You swat his arm and walk past the gates, seeing the sleek limo waiting by the curb. “I don’t know, Spider-Man. Maybe show up in your suit and we’ll try it again.” 

REBLOGS AND FEEDBACK ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED AND ALWAYS READ!

RIKI FIC DONE!!!! ngl y/n u were right there how did u not know riki was spiderman but whatever idc she's a hard worker not smart LMFOAOAO. my first ever action fic so i hope you enjoy! also i hate the ‘oh he pined after her for 4 years she liked him for 2 months’ bs because I WAS IN IT. and it sucks so i tried to deviate from it :)

꣑ৎ permanent fic taglist (TAGGED IN TEASERS, FICS, HEADCANNONS, DRABBLES, ETC.): @dimplewonie @minleeeknow @heeheesang @mintpjzroll @llvrhee @firstclassjaylee @in-somnias-world @rairaiblog @suneng @mavlogist @sensitively-taken @sumzysworld @simpjay @moons-v @riksaes @txtari @jungwonscatcus @tya0 @sasfransisco @woorcve @shypen @pinkriki @rikisluv @saranghaohoshi @lilifiedeans @wonmyheart @k1ttyluvr @nikisgfff @ramenoil @laurradoesloveu @lvcky-g1rl-syndr0me @ikeulims @missychiefs1404 @qwonyoung23 @yangjungwonnie @onementally-unstabel-kid @microwvdstrawb3rri3s @blooqz @anormieee hi permies hope u enjoy! kith

[peppermintquartz]

Chimney is striding towards a tall, dark-haired man who is currently checking the cockpit of a helicopter. Time is of the essence, but they will still need to wait for Hen.

Tall guy has a nice ass, Buck thinks vaguely, a little distracted by all the activity that's going on around them. He wonders if the choppers get to go out every day. He would, if he were a pilot.

When the guy turns around, it is to reveal a handsome face: chiseled jaw, aristocratic nose, straightforward gaze, generous lips and - oh - a cleft chin. That face breaks into a broad smile, the lines crinkling at the eyes and around the mouth adding to the overall attractiveness of the features.

"Howie, hey!" Tall Handsome Guy hugs Chimney tightly, enveloping the shorter man in a sincere embrace. "Long time."

Wow. Buck blinks at the show of affection. When he gets closer, he sees that Tall Handsome Guy is actually about the same height as he is, but with a more angular face - that jawline is to die for - and he is broader in the shoulders. Even more handsome up close, too, which is totally unfair.

"This is Tommy, Tommy Kinard. He used to be at the 118," Chimney introduces. "Used to have a fat head, but he grew out of that."

"Thanks to you," says Tommy. He holds out a hand to Eddie and Buck.

Eddie shakes Tommy's hand first. "Eddie Diaz."

"Pleasure. And you are...?" Tommy turns to Buck.

Buck takes the proffered hand. Good God his hand is so big and strong. "Uh, Evan. E-Evan Buckley, hi."

"Hi Evan," says Tommy, smiling at Buck, the smile as warm as his hand. The name Evan sounds cozy and welcoming coming from Tommy, and for a second when Buck meets Tommy's eyes, he almost forgets to breathe. No man should be this good-looking, Buck thinks. Tommy clears his throat and his smile turns a little cheeky. "I'm gonna need that hand to fly the chopper, kid."

"Oh! Oh, right, sorry. I was just, um, thinking. About Cap and Thena."

"Yeah, we're gonna need Hen to show soon with some coordinates," Chimney says, looking antsy. "Can't go flying all over the Gulf of Mexico."

Tommy shrugs. "We'll do what we can. Wait, I see a car pulling in. Might be her. Get in the backseat, strap yourselves in. Once I get Hen clear of Melton, we'll dash. Hopefully she has a good cover story..." His cheeks puff out and he lets out an exaggerated exhale. Then he grins at the three. "If we're all arrested, can I blame it on you, Howie?"

"Yeah I really twisted your arm with the 'Please help us save Cap and Athena'." Chimney climbs in after Eddie.

"You know it's because of your irresistibly pretty face," says Tommy dryly, helping Buck get in, a hand on his elbow. "Alright, put those helmets on. Careful, Evan."

Buck manages to catch Tommy's faint frown just before the pilot takes his seat and starts up the engine, go over his checks or whatever pilots do. Tommy's concerned, which isn't a surprise. They're asking a huge favor.

But it's so cool that he is throwing in his lot with them, just like that. Buck doesn't think there are many people who would do this. Tommy Kinard really is pretty cool.

"Alright. She's ready to go when we are," says Tommy. He opens his door and slides out. To the trio, he says, "Don't touch anything. I'm gonna hang out near Melton and run intercept."

"We'll behave," Eddie says, holding up his hand like a Scout.

Tommy only rolls his eyes and chuckles before jogging away to the main hangar. Buck can't help noticing how the flight suit pulls over the man's shoulders and ass as he moves.

Wonder what his workouts are like, Buck muses. Maybe more squats and lifts.

Now, all they have to do is wait for Hen to show.

--

edited on AO3

Tommy's POV

[shadowsndaisies]

the athena-verse

so far, it's just a series of random ficlets and blurbs introducing the world and the top.

let's talk athena:

athena; the preamble - (6.24.24) athena at a glance, basically

hangman meets 'thena - (9.17.24) word is, there's a new pilot on board carrier air wing nine, and she flies for the VFA-14, the Tophatters.

top gun: maverick

the recall

the hard deck:

01: too observant to play dumb - (7.16.24) how the arrival at the hard deck went

02: slow ride - (7.16.24) a glimpse through jake's eyes

03: athena, meet rooster - (7.16.24) I think the title says it all

athena settles debts - (6.21.24) what if Mav’s daughter settled his tab that night in the hard deck

dogfighting 101 (and then some): "so, today we start with what you only think you know."

01: let's make it interesting: (08.29.24) harvard is a good friend (and petty on your behalf)

02: rock and roll: (08.30.24) It's been a long time since I rock and rolled, It's been a long time since I did the stroll, Ooh let me get it back, let me get it back, Let me get it back, baby, where I come from

03: clear mind, clear skies: (09.01.24) tempers are rising

04: 'nix is sick of this shit: (09.03.24) phoenix prides herself on knowing almost everything pertinent, it's the parts she doesn't know that leaves her on edge.

05: sugar and spice: (09.06.24) hangman leaves everyone hanging... right?

06: dead and buried: (09.08.24) if it wouldn't result in a court martial or a dishonorable discharge, you probably would punch that stupid mustache off his face.

canyon runs: take one

iceman's final flight - (7.1.24) ice's funeral, as you can imagine, is painful and heartwrenching

...

athena-verse taglist (currently open. last updated 9/17/24)

@omgbrianab @smoothdogsgirl @bazellawriz @sbrewer21 @inky-sun @djs8891 @rory-cakes @geeksareunique @je6291 @whoismurphyslaw @kee-0-kee @samanddeaninatrenchcoat @thespillingvoid @youdontknowe @burningcoffeecupp @mrsevans90

[mvltisstuff]

hi!! could you possibly do a one-shot where buck and reader are flirting during the dosed episode? like they get high and are handcuffed and are just giggling and flirting and then accidental confession or something and then the next day they’re just like “i’m pretty sure we’re dating now..” thank you so so much!! this idea just made me giggle so <33

you get me so high - e.b

summary: request

evan buckley x reader

gif does not belong to me

a/n: i adore this idea, thank you for sharing <3 i worked on this very sporadically, and i’m not the biggest fan of it but i hope you enjoy!

whoever brought those brownies in was an angel to y/n. yeah, a felony for sure, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t secretly enjoy it.

even though the whole station had been haunted by taylor and her team the entire day, all of the worries of the job seemed to vanish. buck wasn’t sure why, but he just saw everything different than he has before. nature called for him and he was more than excited to be at his job.

he just wanted to laugh at everything, each little girl in front of him was the most adorable thing he’s ever seen. he watched y/n from across the room, sitting on the floor and playing with a girl in a massive dress shaped like a pastry.

“where did you get this dress?” she asks, running her fingers down the satin on the side.

“my mommy bought it for me!”

“can she buy one for me?” y/n asks, turning her head to see the grown firefighter skipping over.

“y/n!” he shoots out quickly, jogging over to lean next to her on the ground.

“hi buck! will you buy me a dress like this?”

“only if you buy me one,” he smiles. “maybe we should put bobby in one.” he starts completely laughing at the thought of bobby in a pretty pink dress, with a sash and a tiara.

“what is going on- buck!” chim shouts. “can someone help us over here?”

“how are we not helping?” buck asks, leading y/n to just shrug. they glance over at eddie in the corner, looking at all the pageant girls like they have 5 heads. he almost looks fearful of them, swaying in his spot.

the next few minutes were a blur, and suddenly they were all handcuffed together against a wall. hen, eddie, buck, and y/n were all connected by their hands, being watched by athena like they misbehaved at school.

“ooh, you made him cry!” buck teases, looking at the tears streaming down eddie’s face. y/n just looks closer to athena’s face.

“you’re a hot cop, thena,” y/n speaks airily, just smiling cheekily at the officer in front of her.

“you guys are high as hell and you’re on duty.”

“what?” hen exclaims. “i didn’t smoke anything-“

“well you ate something! someone brought marijuana brownies into the station, so you’re all off work.”

the team just looks around in shock, not fully caring until y/n and buck start giggling once more. “just- just sit down against this wall, and do not move.” athena demands, walking away to deal with the other emergency in the main room.

y/n and buck sat fine against the wall, comparing hands and very lightly slapping each other on the sides. a few spouts of silence would happen for a few minutes while the group of stoners just watched the world pass in front of them.

“buck,” y/n whispers.

“what?” he asks.

“you’re really cute, like i just figured i’d let you know.”

“thanks, you’re a cutie, too,” she giggles at his words, throwing her head back against the wall as he just glances at her. normal, sober buck would’ve had a racing heart and nerves fluttering all over his body because she told him he was cute. he knows he’s not bad looking, but hearing it from her is when he truly believes it. now, he just figured why not? yolo, anyway.

“no, you’re like cute cute. like hot oiled up firefighter cute.”

“that means so much, y/n,” he says, the sly remark almost making his heart clench.

“i want you under my christmas tree.”

“well, i want you in an easter egg for me.”

“well, i want you-“

“can you just shut up?” eddie asks, still distressed about being handcuffed and drugged. “we get it, you’re into each other. and what happens when you’re not high?”

“i don’t remember talking to you,” buck teases, giving eddie a side eye but keeping his head directed towards the pretty girl next to him.

“alright,” athena comes back into sight. “let’s get you all home, maybe sleep off some of this.”

the next morning, y/n remembered every little thing she said to buck, and he remembered every little thing he said to her. they hoped maybe it was like alcohol, making them forget what they may or may not have said, but nope. it was clear as day. it didn’t feel as awkward, though. it felt easier. like a weight was off their shoulders after being weighed down for so long.

when they both arrived at work, the look from the other just told them everything they had to know. buck meant everything he said, and so did she. her eyes lightly wandered over his, and he didn’t even make her say anything. they both knew that those cookies made a great thing burst open.

[redheadspark]

Hawuu could i request prompts 9. standing up for a loved one and 42.realizing their feelings for Druig (if two prompts aren't allowed you can pick 42) thanks

A/N - Hawuu! Thanks for requesting this, dear friend! I love this for Druig, and I'll do number 42 for you! Thanks again!

Hold

Summary - Druig had a hold on you, whether you knew it or not

Warnings - Just a hint of angst but mostly fluff

“Let’s go for a swim,”

“What about Ajak and her meeting?  And you know I can’t swim!”

“You can still put your feet in and sit near the edge, and that meeting is not for another hour or so, we can slip away for a quick swim at the lake, don’t you think?”

You grabbed your bag and followed Makkari out of the Domo, Makkari wishing to walk since running wouldn’t be as fun.  The weather was nice and too warm for your liking to hide away in the Domo all day long, and since there was going to do with the humans that morning the Eternals were a bit restless.  So Sersi and Ikaris went off together for a walk, Kingo went to the market to shop and mingle with the humans, Gilgamesh took Thena off riding along the riverbanks, Phastos worked on some inventions in his lab, and Sprite stayed behind in her room to read some of the books Makkari got her.  

Druig ventured off earlier that morning before the heat came in, which was coming for him since he was mostly one to be on his own and ponder his thoughts and predictions about the humans.  You knew he liked the solstice most of the time, but not always.  He was more hardwired to think deeper and more sensible when it came to the human race, not that the others didn’t.  But with how he would talk to you about wishing there to be peace, wishing to stop all the hurt that they would inflict on one another, you knew how deep his heart and soul was.  

It was so easy to fall into a friendship with him, yet in the back of your mind you wondered if it would go past that.

Makkari was humming along as you two were talking together along the that you knew would lead to the lake.  With the sun beating down on the back of your neck and the sweet smells of the wildflowers that already bloomed, you were looking forward to unwind. Some of the recent tasks and jobs you had to do for the humans in their city seemed a bit stressful and uneasy, especially with a couple of near death experiences with Deviants.  But thankfully, you were going to leave the city in a few days.  It was both bittersweet and celebrated since you all grew to love the humans there and some of the hidden gems.  

Including the very lake you are going to.  

Once the lake was in sight, you saw Makkari have a pep in her step as the clear blue waters was seen over the little hill.  You were revived too, thinking that a dip in the lake would be the best relief on a warm day.  Yet you never realized that you two would have company, since you froze in your spot on the path from seeing a singular person in the lake.  Instantly you knew who it was: the ivory skin was glistened in the water, the highlighted brown hair against a pale forehead, and bright blue eyes that almost mirrored the same shade of the. Lake water.

Druig.

He was still wearing his dark undergarment pants while he was swimming, his muscular back was on display as he was moving back and forth in the lake and going stroke for stroke.  Of course he was your friend, all the time he was your friend and someone you could rely on with your own troubles and needs.  Then again, you always had the small possibility of liking him as more than a friend.  

Knowing how massive his heart was, now kind he was to the humans that he spoke to, how self assured he was with his beliefs and how he felt about him, that were all great attributes that loved and adored him.  Plus it never helped that you saw him as handsome.  Even now as you were watching him swim, freely and with nothing hindering him, he looked almost heavenly in the blue waters.  

Did you like him?

“Hey!  You two comin’ to join me for a swim?” You were snapped back into reality as you heard Druig call out from his spot in the water.  

Sorry to break up your solo time, Makkari signed as she walked down the path to the edge of the lake Druig waving her off.

“It’s fine!  Come on in, the water’s nice!  Plus it’s the once place Ikkaris honest know about, get the golden boy can’t swim like you ladies can,” Druig joked as Makkari was now to her own undergarments.  You made it to the edge too, slowly getting down to your undergarments wig ease as Makkari was not waddling not the water.  You could hear her sigh in relief as she was getting now calf deep in the water and then to her waist.  Once you are down to your undergarments which included pants and a shirt, you dipped your toes in to feel the sudden chill of the water.  It made you shiver a bit, and you look out to see there was a massive shallow area in the lake before it dips in deep.

Druig was laughing while Makkari was swimming circles around him, her own smile was just as radiant as the lake water while you were going in a bit deeper and deeper, now about knee deep and right at the edge of the shallow area.  The small little dip that dropped off was right in front of it, and although you were an all powerful Eternal who had more strength in your fingers than any human, you were still afraid to attempt to swim.  After one nasty attempt to try and learn, all thanks to Kingo, you decided to wait to learn.  Sure it seemed childish, but you didn’t care, you weren’t ready.  Maybe you’re still not.

“Hey, want me to hold ya?”

Druig swam up to the small edge, hovering a bit in the water as he was looking up at you with his glistened hair against his forehead and his eyes beyond bright.  You blinked, fiddling with your fingers.

“What?” You asked.

“I’ll hold ya if you want,” He explained, sounding calm and gentle with you.  He knew you never swam and you had some fear swimming, he was even mad at Kingo for almost letting you drown when you were trying to learn from him, but Druig himself never pushed you into learning.  It was one of the moments that you never forgot about Druig, his heart for you and making sure you are okay.  This was the same way.

“Here, come sit,” he said, gesturing to the ledge that was under the water.  Carefully you sat, feeling the water now to your waist and your feel dangling over the edge and in front of Druig.  You felt your heart get quick, your hands shaking a bit from being on the top of the water.  Druig sensed it and moved, lacing your fingers together and being palm to palm.  Instantly, you felt his skin along yours, almost like his rhythmic heartbeat that he was pressing against your own hand.

“Look at me,” He said soothingly, your eyes going from his joined hands over him.  He was staring right into your eyes, looking rather calm and sincere with you as he spoke again, “I won’t let ya go, I promise.”

Nodding your head, you took the first moving and slid into the deep water.  Your heart plummeted and you were about to gasp out when an arm was instantly around your waist.  Your arm was along his shoulder, clinging to you for a moment since you were now hovering in the water and Druig was holding you up.  You should feel fear, genuine fear since the last time you tried this, you almost drowned.  But this was different, this was another feeling.

Safe.  You wee safe.

“There.  See?” Druig said as he was still holding you close to him and giving you a warm smile.  That’s when it hit you, in the right moment as you grinned back at him.  All of those fleeting feelings that you were harboring and wondering were true, all of those times you two spent together on the Domo or out with the humans, they were making sense now as Druig was helping you in such a vulnerable moment.  The fear was gone, the worry and wondering was non existent, what you were feeling for Druig was true.

That’s when it hit you: you did like him.  Really liked him.  Oh…

“Thank you,” You replied lightly, seeing him grin get a bit bigger in return.  Yeah, yeah you had it bad for the mind controller. 

A splash got on both you and Druig’s faces, you both looking over to see Makkari grinning as she waved.

“Aye, that’s not fair Makkari!” Druig said in a playful tease as Makkari rolled her eyes.  You had no idea that Druig was thinking that same thing as you were as he held you close, that he too liked you for so long but was trying to figure out his own feelings and where his heart stayed. If he could, Druig would hold you just a close for as long as he could since he knew you felt safe with him.  

And neither of you knew that Makkari already knew of your feelings for one another.  She simply rolled her eyes and swam away, wondering when you two will ever get together. 

The End

@a-lumos-in-the-nox @botanicalbarnes @heartofwritiing

[vanillawurld]

༊*·˚West Coast

✧.* Pair - Miguel O'hara x Fem! Reader

✧.* Tags & Warnings - Smut, a little bit of fluff, swearing, kissing, teasing, fingering, sexual choking, slight spanking, degrading and praising, unprotected sex, Y/N's on the cream team, private sex (you'll see what I mean), crying, and creampie. (let me know if I missed anything)

✧.* Summary - Every spider-person in the building assumed that Miguel had left the building to complete a mission since they were unable find him, but little did they know he was too busy secretly fucking his favorite girl behind closed doors...

✧.* Extra - Reader is hinted to be from the West Coast of the U.S. Reader is hinted to being Latina. Reader is hinted of being a variant of Thena from the eternals. Miguel is a tiny bit out of character (and by that I mean a little bit nicer).

✧.* Word Count - 2,256

Miguel never really saw or thought of himself getting close to anyone. It's canon that every time a spider person gets close to someone, they get put them in an immense amount of danger. That's the sole main reason why he never wanted to get close to someone. Until he met her.

"You know Miguel, you're so negative. Why can't you have fun for once?" Y/N asked.

Miguel just ignored her snarky comment. He always said he didn't have time for stupidities and that he had too much work, he couldn't be distracted. There are some moments that people would think he was absent from the building because he's always locked in doing his multiverse work. and this was one of the times people thought he was away.

"Hey, come on. You need a break. You look like you haven't slept in day-"

"That's because I haven't." Miguel interrupted Y/N in an angry annoyed tone.

Y/N just looked at him and furrowed her eyebrows, " Ay, pero no te 'nojes. I'm just suggesting what's best for your health."

"I don't have time for your dumbass comments, Y/N. If you don't have anything useful to say, then don't say anything at all." Miguel replied and continued looking at different scenes from different dimensions.

Y/N just stayed quiet and sulked in the chair she had set next to Miguel. She hated when Miguel would get mad at her, especially if it was her fault. But oh how she loved how hot he looked. Her stomach would twist in guilt at him yelling at her, but she couldn't deny that she would get a little aroused.

A few minutes went by of pure silence. The only noise being made was the noises Miguel's devices were making. Y/N looked up at Miguel and smiled.

"You know, down on the West Coast, we have this saying... How did it go again? Shit, era como 'Late afternoon on the West Coast ends with the sky doing all its brilliant stuff.' " Y/N said. She missed her home in the West Coast. She missed the beautiful beaches and sunny skies. Miguel just looked at her and smirked just a tiny bit. He had forgotten she was pulled from the West Coast. He pulled a chair behind him and sat down to face her. "The West Coast, huh? Escuché que es muy bonito ahí."

Y/N's eyes went wide at him saying that. "Nunca has ido al West Coast?!"

Miguel only shook his head.

The two sat and talked to each other for quite a while to the point where they ignored anyone who tried calling them form their little watch devices. It was strange. Having a full civil conversation with Miguel without him insulting her or getting mad at her was very peaceful to say the least.

The tall male couldn’t deny that he enjoyed his conversation with Y/N. He always admired how courageous she was on her earth. For the love of Aphrodite, her hero name is inspired by the goddess of war and wisdom herself, Athena!

After the two stopped talking, they just looked at each other. Y/N’s eyes gleaming, attracting Miguel.

“Don’t look at me like that.” He whispered.

"Like what?" she innocently said to him.

Miguel stood up from his chair and got closer to the girl. He grabbed her jaw and leaned in, analyzing her face. She was a pretty girl, no doubt. He saw how some of the spider-people would stutter when speaking to her or how they would find anything to compliment her, whether it was her pretty eyes, funny jokes, or elegant fighting skills. They would do anything to make her smile.

That's what pissed O'hara off the most. He always told himself that he was just angry at other bullshit that was from a mission, but the little voice in the back of his head would be telling him he was angry because he was seeing other people trying to get to Y/N. That little voice was always the loudest. Miguel got tired of just staring at her. Their faces were so close to each other. Both O'hara and L/N closed the gap between them and started kissing like crazy.

It was sloppy.

The kiss was sloppy. They didn't have time for all of that slow lovey dovey bullshit. They needed to taste each other. Y/N stood up from her seat to fully experience the messy kiss. Lips moving aggressively. Tongues being shoved down each other's throats. Hands were wandering on each other's bodies.

Miguel pulled away from the kiss and made Y/N sit on a counter so he could stand in the middle of her legs. He started leaving small pecks on her lips all the way down to her collarbone. He loved hearing her whimper. It turned him on even more.

He started stripping her out of her clothes. He needed to see her in all of her glory. Y/N got a little embarrassed at the fact she was fully naked and he was still in his spider-suit, so she rested both of her hands on her private area to cover up a little bit. But Miguel didn't take that reaction very lightly.

He forcefully took her hands away from in between her thighs and slightly bared his fangs. "Don't try to cover now, slut." Miguel snarled.

"It's not fair that im all naked and you're not..." she said in response.

Miguel smirked and stepped back. He started to take off the top half of his suit. His buff figure was insane to Y/N. It's like he was molded by the gods. Miguel went back to kissing her collarbone, but this time his hands started wandering down to her most sensitive area. His fingers immediately started rubbing up and down on her wet pussy, making Y/N whimper.

Miguel looked at Y/N's face and gave her a smug smile. He needed to see more. He immediately shoved two fingers inside her wet hole and started fingering her, loving the sound of her arousal and moans.

"Te miras muy bonita, moaning for me." he whispered in her ear.

Miguel made Y/N fall into tiny pieces whenever she's with or around him. She couldn't help it. His broad strong shoulders and muscular back made her melt like ice cream and his muscles made her face warm like the morning sun.

Y/N's erotic moans made Miguel solid hard. The more she moaned, the faster his fingers kept going. She kept getting louder and louder. She couldn't take it, she needed him inside her, pounding into her like a crazy man and Miguel knew she needed him. He just loved to tease her.

"Miguel, please. I need you."

"What do you need exactly, princesa.

"I need you to fuck me~ Use me however you want~ I'm all yours..." She moaned out.

Miguel pulled his fingers out and stuck them in Y/N's mouth, making her taste her own arousal. He groaned at the sight of her sucking on his fingers, looking at him with those precious eyes that were begging him to fuck her.

He pulled away from her mouth and started taking off the bottom half of the spider suit, leaving him in his underwear. Letting his pretty girl in front of him drool at the sight of his bulge. He pulled out his hard cock and started stroking it a little bit in front of her, teasing her a bit.

"Get off the fucking table and turn around." He demanded, to which Y/N willingly complied to.

He forcefully grabbed the back of her neck and made her bend over, making her whimper at his strength. He lined the tip of his dick on her pussy and slightly pushed in. He knew what he was doing. Don't get him wrong, he wanted the same she wanted. He wanted nothing more to just pound into her until she forgot her own name, but he loved to see her all worked up.

Y/N started backing up a tiny bit so she could feel more of him inside her, but Miguel didn't like that. He slapped her ass cheek to make her stop, making Y/N moan at the impact. "You can't wait to get fuck, huh chiquita? You want me to fuck you? Yeah?" he teased.

Y/N whimpered and kept telling him yes. "Please fuck me, I need you inside m-" she was cut off by her own pornographic moan since Miguel shoved himself inside with no warning. He groaned at the feeling of her walls hugging his dick so tightly.

He started pounding into her, making her moan loudly. He suddenly remembered that people in the building thought he was absent from the building, and if they hear Y/N's sweet moans from inside his working headroom, they will know something is up and barge in. Miguel leaned forward and grabbed Y/N's throat and pulled her upper body towards his chest.

"Shut the fuck up. I don't need anyone barging in on me fucking you. Unless you want that to happen since you're moaning so fucking loud like a whore." he groaned in her ear. Y/N could only moan in response. The pleasure she was feeling in her body was too good.

"No? You don't want to listen?" Miguel started pounding into her even harder, making her scream in pleasure. The pleasure was starting to become too much for Y/N to the point where she started feeling tears build up in her eyes. Her vision started to become blurred so she closed her eyes and felt the tears fall from her eyes.

"You're such a good girl, baby. Taking me so well like a fucking slut." He praised. He started to leave little kisses on her cheek and had his unoccupied hand travel down to rub her puffy clit. He looked down to watch his cock disappear and reappear with every thrust he made and with every thrust he made, he realized Y/N was creaming more and more. To the point that it started reaching his fingers that were rubbing her clit.

The sight of Y/N creaming made O'hara's thrusts more aggressive. His groans started to become louder and louder. Everything was going smoothly and full of pleasure until Y/N's little watch started ringing, indicating someone was calling her. Miguel's thrusting didn't slow down though, he didn't care.

"Answer it." he demanded.

Y/N's eyes widened, "B-But-"

"But nothing, answer it or I'll stop fucking you."

Y/N's shaky hand pressed the button to answer the call and answered it like how anyone would answer a regular phone call. "Y/N, it's me." A voice called out.

Ben.

Ben fucking Reilly.

The Spiderman that would take his flirting with Y/N a little too far for Miguel. "H-hey Ben! Is there a r- oh fuck - reason why you're calling?" Y/N tried answering without sounding suspicious.

Ben let out a dramatic sigh, "Yes, there is actually." He dramatically said. Ben was a very dramatic Spiderman. Some spider-people would call him a wannabe anime character from how much he exaggerates things.

"Well what is-" "I just wanted to-" they both spoke at the same time. Ben let out another dramatic sigh, "Y/N, please. Don't interrupt."

Y/N brought her hand up to her mouth to try and hide the moans she wanted to let out so badly. "Y/N, I wanted to call you and ask you out on a very amazing date. I think you are the woman of my dreams and I need a strong woman like you by my side." Ben dramatcially said.

That was the final straw for Miguel.

Miguel gripped both of his hands on Y/N plump ass and started pounding into her even harder, making Y/N's tears come down even more. Y/N's grip on her mouth tightened even more, in fear of letting out a moan and ruining everything.

"Is that a yes or a no, princesa," Miguel whispered as he smirked. He forcefully took her hand off her mouth for her to answer. Y/N didn't want Ben to know Miguel was drilling into her. That would be so embarrassing.

"I-I'm sorry, Ben! I can't t-talk right now" she tried her best to say. Ben let out another dramatic sigh, "But why, Y/N?"

"Because she's busy," Miguel said out loud. He pressed the hang-up button and continued his vicious pounding. Y/N began to feel a strange but pleasurable feeling in her abdomen and so did Miguel.

"Fuck, Miguel~ I'm gonna cum~"

"Yeah? You wanna cum, baby?~" Miguel teased. Y/N moaned in response and didn't have time for his teasing. She let out her final erotic moan and came. She came all over his cock. Miguel came shortly after and filled Y/N up with his load.

Miguel groaned and let his upper body softly lay on Y/N's back, giving it little kisses. They stayed like that until their gasps started to slow down. Miguel pulled out and watched as his cum started coming out of her pussy. Running down her thigh and some even dropping to the floor. He smiled at his accomplishment.

"Okay, are you two done now!? I have some very important data I need to run and I've been waiting patiently!" a voice said, making Miguel and Y/N snap their necks to the right to see the iconic female hologram.

"Lyla, you scared the shit out of us, a-and why are you turned around?" Miguel asked confusingly.

"Because I don't want to see both of you naked! Hurry up and get dressed I need your monitor to run some data!"

˖◛. *. ⋆ Vanilla Speaks

Can you tell that i like lana del rey

also me fighting the urge to add Salvadoran slang because I'm salvadoran...

+ Ay, pero no te 'nojes - Oh but don't get mad

+ era como - It was like

+ Escuché que es muy bonito ahí - I heard it's very beautiful over there

+ Nunca has ido al - You've never been to

+ Te miras muy bonita -You look very beautiful

+ princesa - Princess

+ chiquita - little thing/ little one

[iamharryhale]

Captain: I’m your captain tonight, we’ve got a problem.

Captain: I can’t fit this many people on my boat.

Buck: No, no, I was told you could take 30.

Buck: I have exactly 30 guests.

Captain: Plus 6 not gonna help, you gotta drop a few people.

Buck: Come on, there’s must be something we can do here.

Captain: Well, we have bigger boats, but this is the best I can do on 2 hours notice.

Athena, coming over to them: What’s the problem?

Eddie: Apparently Buck started planning my birthday party 2 hours ago.

Buck to Eddie: No! I did not.

Buck to Athena: Apparently, we have too many people for his boat, so…

Athena: That’s crazy, I’ve seen more people clinging to a floating door.

Captain: I’m sorry, ma'am, it’s a safety issue.

Athena, pointing at him: No, you’re going to have a safety issue if you don’t take me away from this well.

Captain: Ok, little too much finger, little too much attitude.

Bobby: What’s all this?

Eddie: 2 hours of Buck's hardwork going down the drain.

Captain: Look, I can’t fit more than 30 people on the boat. I was just explaining to the lady here.

Bobby: First of all, that lady is my son…

Buck: He wasn’t… he wasn’t talking about me, dad.

Captain, pointing at Athena: I was talking about her.

Bobby: Oh, her… oh, it’s her now.

Bobby: Well, her happens to be my wife.

Bobby: You got a problem with her. You got a problem with me.

Athena: No, no, Bobby, calm down.

Captain: I didn’t have a problem before, but now I’m starting to.

Bobby: No, your problem is about to get a lot bigger.

Athena, placing a hand on his arm: No, Bobby. I know you think this is what I want, but it’s not.

Bobby: I got this, Thena.

Athena: No, love, I was just being stupid today.

Athena: I love that you’re calm, that you think first and you act second. I need that in my life.

The 118 family: 🥹

Captain: Yeah. So walk away, grandpa.

Athena turns around and punches him: Nobody call him grandpa!

Christopher: I do.

[writeanythingagency]

Hello Mod thena how are you today ☆ ～('▽^人) I hope you're having a wonderful day, well is if okay of I req for yandere Shi-long-Lang, and Kristoph for a reader who's inlove with someone, Thank you in advance ＼(￣▽￣)／

hi yyxandere! i’m doing good, thank you. sorry this took way way way too long D: i have a very similar request for shi-long lang so this one is just gonna be kristoph. hope that’s okay!

TW: Obsessive behavior, implied kidnapping, stalking

Yandere!Kristoph Gavin with a Smitten!Reader HCs 🗡️

🗡️ Oh no, you’re in for it now.

🗡️ Kristoph, being naturally possessive and the top yandere of the yanderes, does not take well to discovering your secret affections when he first begins to “study” you. However, he also thinks himself to be the master of playing the long game. And so he waits.

🗡️ Oblivious to the extent of his “research,” you consider Kristoph something of a friend/acquaintance, and so it doesn’t startle you when he catches onto your sour mood over breakdown tea.

🗡️ He prods gently, all while knowing exactly what he wants from you, until you forlornly admit that your love life had taken a massive downturn. Your desired beloved, who you’ve loved for years by this point, was on a date at this very moment. Somehow, Kristoph’s seemingly unaffected expression grounded you to the present.

(Nothing I didn’t already know. I would wager I have spent more time following your every move than that low-grade filth has ever spent with you.)

🗡️ But he is nothing if not calculating, so he knows to bide his time until you are at your most vulnerable, when Kristoph will be your best and only option.

🗡️ The wrench to his plans comes, however, when you burst into his office with a grin. You took a chance and told them how you felt. They said yes.

🗡️ Now. Now he sees blood.

🗡️ You blabber his ears off for about three seconds before he slams his desk and straightens. He strides past where you are practically paralyzed by the sudden move. He turns to you and adjusts his glasses, as if to hide his gaze.

🩸 “You chose someone who has done nothing but shove you to the side? Who only chooses you when it’s convenient?”

🗡️ Kristoph reaches for the door and turns the lock with a purposeful click. Cool and confident as ever, Kristoph tuts as condescendingly as you could imagine.

🩸 “No need to worry, my dear. I know exactly how astute you are. Unfortunately, your silly feelings are keeping you from thinking straight.”

🗡️ The attorney thwarts your attempts to reach for the door in one fell swoop, descending upon you like a predator to prey.

🩸 “Y/N, I will show you true devotion.”

[gryffindormarveltwilight]

All We Need - Part 7 - Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x Reader

A/N: Sorry guys for the delay on this part. It is a bit shorter than usual and there will probably be 1 maybe 2 more parts to this series. I hope you enjoy it - as always feel free to send through requests or feedback.

A/N2: I have just reposted this it turns out some of the tags were not working so sorry to those who wanted to be tagged and weren't hopefully that is fixed now!!

MASTERLIST

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Reader

Warnings: angst, fluff, spoilers for the mission in the movie, naval inaccuracies, alot of Rooster x reader giving sibling vibes

Sitting in my cabin on the carrier my leg was bouncing up and down it was only two hours until the mission took place. I hadn’t spoken to Jake since last night when I left him speechless on the couch and I had my dad pick me up early before anyone was awake leaving Daisy with a kiss on the forehead. Flashbacks to my conversation with Jake running through my head when the cabin door cracks open to reveal Bradley with a sad look.

“You okay in here Thena?”

“Brad, come in, yeah i am fine”

“Want to try that again?”

“Who told you?”

“Hangman actually, said something about a disagreement last night then said he hasn’t seen you since.” I nod lowly.

“It wasn’t a disagreement I just told him why I picked you and not him.”

“Ah yes he also mentioned that. You do know you are not replaceable to anyone especially not Jake and Daisy.”

“Did you just call him Jake?” Rooster cringed slightly with a laugh.

“That is beside the point, you aren’t. I know we haven’t spoken much since we got recalled but Athena you have to see what we all see, you are Daisy’s mother and Hangman is so in love with you.”

“And you are in love with Phoenix.” Rooster laughed and looked down at his hands.

“Yes I am, how about we make a deal, we both make it through this we tell Hangman and Phoenix how we feel.”

I laugh slightly “you know what, deal.”

“We are going to make it through this aren’t we?” Bradley ask in a sad voice.

“I am going to try my hardest to make sure you do.”

“I love you Y/N, we will get through this.”

“After all we have a few angels looking out for us, I love you too Bradley.” Bradley pulls me into a tight hug and kisses the top of my head before turning towards the door. 

“Bradley! When we are up there, Don’t think, Just do.” He nods and leaves my cabin. I fix up my uniform before grabbing my helmet and heading towards the flight deck, as I get there i can see everyone else next to their planes doing there checks, at the end i see Jake and Coyote getting there planes ready incase we need back up, Jake and I make eye contact, his eyes hold a sad look, I turn quickly to my plane starting to do the checks when i hear footsteps behind me. I turn to see Ice and Mav and Hondo standing there.

“Sirs, can I help you?” Ice doesn’t respond just give me a tight hug followed by mav and Hondo.

“Be safe and come home. We all love you.” Ice says and Mav nods before they turn around and head back to the control centre. 

“You have some people looking for advice Athena.” Hondo steps aside and I see Payback, Fanboy, Bob, Phoenix, Rooster, Coyote and finally Jake right at the back.

“Daggers, some of you may know but after this we are permanently becoming a squad, therefore whatever happens up there today, we stick together and we have each others backs to make sure everyone comes home. And if by some miracle we pull this off, beers are on me.” They all cheer at the laugh statement and start hugging each other. Phoenix and Bib hug me before we hear the announcement that we are to be taking off in less than 5 mins and that kills that laughter before we all look at each other before heading back to our planes. I climb into my jet Hondo following me up.

“I don’t like that look Athena.”

“Its the only one I have Hondo.”

“Mav only says that when he is about to do something dumb.” I laugh and so does he.

“Look after them Hondo, for me.”

“Always,” i nod it was one of the things i lkked about Hondo, he was a realist and never tried to pull the whole everyone will make it back speech. “you know everyone compares you to Ice but you really do have the best of your Dad, Ice and Mav, so fly like that today okay.” I nod as i start to close the canopy up.

“Dagger Three Up and ready” i hear Phoenix say through coms.

“Dagger Spare Up and ready.” Jake comes through next followed by Payback and Rooster. I take a deep breath.

“Dagger One, up and ready.”

“Daggers ready on catapult awaiting command approval.” I hear control centre thorough the comms, then we hear Cyclone.

“Send them.” With that we are launched off the carrier and get into formation, after descending below radar level, i give the all clear to release the tomahawks looking up as they fly above us. 

“Daggers into attack formation, enter point in Tminus 30secs, 2minute 30 second on the clock - entering now.” I press the timer on my dash as i hear the others confirm they have to as we enter the canyon. As we fly at pace I can hear in the comms that rooster is falling behind.

“Rooster you have to pick up the pace.” I yell into my comms

“Come on Dad talk to me.” As I am about to respond i bear Mav come through the comms.

“Come on kid, dont think just do.” Suddenly Rooster picks up the place as i fly under a bridge speaking into the comms to warn the others.

“You with me Phoenix?”

“Right behind you Athena.”

“Popping up in 10secs be ready on that laser Bob.” 

“All system check, Laser is a go.” Bob responds.

“Popping in 3,,,2,,,,1” i suddenly feel the force on my body as we pop up and level out heading towards the target, as Bob confirms he has a lock to the target  I drop my missiles and pull up on the joy stick, crushing weight of gravity as the G-Force gets stronger, i can hear the heavy breathing of Phoenix and Bob.

“Stay with me Phoenix, Rooster status.” I say through laboured breaths,

“Nearly there Athena. Fanboy have the laser ready.” I hear Bob yell that we had direct contact, simultaneously with Fanboy saying there is something wrong with the laser. He is going back and forth with Rooster until Rooster said he was dropping blind. I levelled out when i saw smoke in the air from the SAMs.

“Here they come guys, SMOKE IN THE AIR.!” I yell. With that chaos ensures everyone screaming at each other where the SAMs were coming from and what direction to break, i saw rooster with two SAMs behind him.

“Deploying counter-measures,,,SHIT I am out of flares.” I hear Roosters panicked voice through the comms.

“Rooster Evade Evade!” I yell back at him as i see he has come up behind me, without hesitation i pulled the throttle back soaring over the top of Roosters jet releasing the flares I had left before i felt an all too familiar jolt of a missile hitting the back of my jet and before i know it I am burning in plummeting towards the snow as I reach down below me and pull the ejection handle, quickly followed by the string to deploy my parachute before blacking out as i land in the snow.

Icemans POV

Everyone let out a sigh of relief when we heard through the radio the Rooster had hit the target. The mission had been successful. I hear Cyclone mutter under his breath now they just all had to get home. I looked at Maverick who look as nervous as i felt listening to our pilots yelling directions at each other in order to avoid the SAMs. I held my breath when I heard Rooster saying he was out of flares with two SAMs on his tail. I looked at Mav as we heard Athena yelling at him to evade, and i felt like i was about to pass out when Roosters voice came through the comms.

“ATHENA NO!!” Rooster screams

“D-dagger one is down” I hear Phoenix say her voice breaking slightly “I repeat dagger one is down”

I stumble backwards sitting down on the chair behind me looking at Maverick who has tears in his eyes, Hondo has his head in his hands and Cyclone and Warlock are speechless, before we can even really process one of the operates reports that there are bandits incoming, and Cyclone is telling them to come back to the carrier, like ringing in my eyes i can hear Rooster argue that they should go back for Athena and cyclone argues that they aren’t losing anyone else. A silent sob leaves my chest when i hear Jake through the comms

“Dagger Spare request permission to fly cover and search and rescue.” Hoarseness in his voice indicating that he too probably has tears streaming down his face like me and Mav who both are yet to say anything outloud.

Cyclone shakes his head at Jakes request. “Negative spare, daggers return to the carrier.”

“Sir, what about Athena.” Hondo says his voice slightly shaky.

“There is nothing we can do for her, not in goddamn F-18s” he shakes his head “I won’t lose anyone else today.” We all look down understanding his position.

“Rooster, don’t do it, she is gone.” We hear Phoenix over the radio.

“I am not loosing her, not today.”

“ROOSTER!!” We look at the screen to see Roosters jet going in another direction before hovering for a few seconds then disappeared on the screen much like Athena’s had done minutes before. Now Mav sat down next to me head in his hands.

“We certainly raised dumb stubborn kids.” I laugh slightly but can’t form a sentence, I pat Mav on the shoulder before walking out of the control room towards the flight deck. 

When I get to the flight deck I can see Jake sitting against the landing gear head in his hand and I go and sit next to him.

“We lost them both.” Jake looks up shocked.

“What do you mean both?”

“Rooster went down as well, I think he went back for her and got shot down.” Jake let out a sob as I wrapped my arms around him.

Y/Ns POV

I jolt awake in the cold snow and unclip my parachute before I turn around and hear the sound of a helicopter approaching. At first I thought that it may have been search and rescue then I saw their guns point towards me, without hesitation I start to run and I dive behind a log, accepting that this may very well be the end of me and I start to think of my parents, my dysfunctional aunts and uncles and finally Jake and Daisy and I smile at the thought they will be my last thought until I hear an explosion and look up to see that the helicopter is spinning out of control and there is one of our jets hovering, then I see smoke in the air and the jet tail is hit, I let go of the breath I was holding when I see a parachute land a few hundred meters away from me in the woods. I start sprinting towards where I saw the parachute land, as I get closer I see Rooster wrapping up his chute.

“Rooster, are you okay?”

“Athena, I am fine.”

“Good” I say as I shove him back into the snow. 

“What the hell Athena?”

“Me what the hell! You are meant to be back on the carrier by now Rooster what the hell were you thinking!”

“Mav taught us not to think, plus I made a promise to make sure you came home!”

“YOU WHAT! Who the hell made you promise that.” Rooster just raised his eyebrow at me “Jake of course, well news flash Rooster now we are both stuck!”

“They will send search and rescue.”

“No Rooster, they won’t, we have landed to far into enemy territory for them to risk it.”

“It is good to see you alive Athena.” “You too Rooster, you too.” I gave him a hug as I pull back I give him a look.

“I don’t like that look.”

“I think I have an idea, follow me.” After a walk we are perched on the top of a hill looking at the demolished airbase that our tomahawks took out earlier that day, I grab a mini telescope looking to see if there is any planes undamaged, “Bingo.”

“You have got to be shitting me Athena, a F-14”

“Hey Mav shot down 3 MIGs I one of those.”

“We don’t even know if that bag of ass can fly.”

“Only one way to find out.” I say as we start walking across the base towards the plane, Rooster pointing out people coming near us so we start to run to the plane. Once we get there I start explaining to Rooster what to do as I climb in the pilot seat, sighing with relief as it starts up and Rooster climbs into the back seat. 

“Do you even know how to fly this thing Athena.” “Rooster I knew how to fly one of these before I knew how to drive a car.” He just nodded as we got onto the taxi way, I look over to see the runway is completely destroyed, I start putting the wings out when I hear a panicked voice from behind.

“Why are the wings coming out Thena?” I ignore him as I push down on the throttle the plane speeding up as I do. I can hear Rooster stressing behind me. We gain speed quickly and just before the end of the taxi way i pull up of the throttle the plane jolting up along with it the landing clipping the ruin of a building snapping off.

“Get us in touch with the ship Rooster.”

“Any clue how to do that Athena?”

“Uhhh circuit breaker 2 I think.” 

“Thena there is over 300 switches back here”

“Figure it out Rooster it is in you blood.” I hear him mumble a complaint before his panicked voice breaks through again “tally two low Athena”

I tell Rooster to put down his visor and pull his mask up as the other planes pilot starts to make hand signals I barely recognise.

“What is your plan here Athena?”

“I don’t know yet, have you turned your beacon on?”

“Yeah I turned it on as soon as we were airborne.”

“I want you to punch out Rooster and then the ship will send search and rescue for you”

“And what about you huh? What are you going to do?”

“Rooster…”

“No Athena, if you think for one second that I am going to punch out and leave you to draw them away with a dog fight you are extremely wrong.”

“Rooster, you have to make it back.”

“Then do some of that pilot shit Athena, cause I am not leaving my sister to die up here.” I sigh heavily.

“Alright then, its a dogfight.”

Taglist:

@dory-98 @djs8891 @brooke-stinson @emma8895eb @a-court-of-roscoe-and-baby @itsdesiree86 @dempy @kmc1989

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

I'll never get over how Athena's trauma is written in Dual Destinies. I never will. It's one of few areas I have absolutely no complaints about.

At a surface-level, it's a very effective tool to evoke discomfort, fear, pity, and intrugue from the player. We get glimpses as to what's causing these nervous breakdowns of hers in 5-1 and it's nothing comforting (a courtroom with bloodied-out faces staring judgementally at a crying child is... distrubing). Those breakdowns are accompanied by near silence, letting us drink in the raw emotions of the moment. Her breakdown in 5-3 is a standout example; there's nothing but hollow wind and a shivering, broken Athena to lend the moment its deserved gravitas as she fruitlessly tries to calm herself.

Repeating the trauma of having to defend a dear friend from being accused for killing their tutor, in spite of nobody listening to you, is going to do that to you.

Come the revelations in 5-5, we get compelling body language with her covering her ears in distress - the most sensitive part of her & source of a lot of pain in her childhood. Shaking her head in denial at the revelation of what Simon saw when he walked in the robotics lab, how rarely she comes out of her sad pose during the first half of 5-5 (reminiscent of Edgeworth's own brooding pose in the Wright Trilogy, most often seen when he's reliving his own traumas). Even after things come to light and the truth is revealed, she struggles to even say what happened while locked in that Edgeworth arm-grab pose. It's fantastically handled each time it rears its ugly head.

Going deeper, it also explains a lot about her behaviour; her reflexive throwing of the police officer in 5-2 and her furious outbursts being some good examples. Her emotional state is pretty wild throughout Dual Destinies - partially because she's just like that - but partially because she's trying to keep the more uncomfortable feelings down. She goes quiet when the Blackquills first arrive, being avoidant around the topic of Simon and unable to confront Aura for just how cynical and loathing she's become. She's very iffy around blood and is noticably uncomfortable and perturbed during 5-3 (for reasons I have already mentioned). Her main motivation for keeping this pain to herself is a tragically relatable one; not wanting the drag others down in her sorrow. That's the reason she gives Phoenix when he tells him to back down and stop fighting (a stark contrast to when she objected on his behalf in 5-DLC, sensing he still had some fire left in him).

Despite having others help bring her back from a dark state of mind before, her pushing others away to carry the sufferage alone when it's too much for her feels painfully real.

But one of my favourite parts is how other characters handle it. Specifically, how Phoenix handles himself around Athena. Even if he doesn't know the full extent of her traumas, he knows she's nervous and perhaps not in the best of spirits. He's a LOT more gentle with her than Apollo, is for damn sure; guiding her through examining Courte's body and praising her for getting through it despite going pale. He does still tease in 5-DLC, 5-3, and 5-4, but it's more playful than what he does with Apollo. He also keeps it to a minimum in 5-1 after just barely making it before she has another shutdown, prioritising his role as a reliable presence over anything else. A very good example of this is 5-5; when the big revelation finally comes and Athena's ready to confess to what really happened during UR-1, Phoenix is there to reassure her that she's safe and prevents the Judge from butting in to give her room to disclose what happened.

When push comes to shove and Athena can't quite make it out of that terrible mental space on her own, it's her friends and allies that ultimately help pull her out. Juniper Woods re-assures Athena of her faith, something that had appeared to waver over this case until the truth of what she saw the day of the murder came out. Simon Blackquill reminds her why she's even here to begin with, indirectly stating that he so desperately wishes her to succeed and bring them both out of this mess. Apollo Justice - on top of the usual "your're fine!" bit - reminds her of the skills she has to turn 5-3 around. Phoenix Wright, having dealt with many a client and friend burdened by trauma, gives Athena the stable footing she needs to get back up and carry on. Even if he needs to step in now and then, it's not to belittle or infantalise her - it's to be supportive.

I've said before in a past essay I don't really think too highly of anymore that I don't really mind the fact that Athena needs so much help throughout the game. This is the main reason why; her PTSD from the events of UR-1 have a believable impact on her character and ability to perform normally, with characters helping to pull her back out in ways unique to them and their respective relationship to her. As I said, she gets all that support because she genuinely NEEDS it. The game does a good job proving that much.

And that's alright.

Part of the reason it took so long to solve this is that Athena constantly pushed people away from her problems. She didn't want anyone else to become another psychological casualty of something that otherwise only affects her. It's when she finally sees that Phoenix can and does help her that she can finally let him do so, and help him in return by digging into that dark place and letting the memories of that day come back to her.

Trauma in Ace Attorney doesn't often get this level of focus. It can and has been depicted rather well in the past - see Edgeworth for a good example - but Athena, being the heart-on-your-sleeve type and a protagonist, offers a unique opportunity to witness how it affects her on a more personal, sometimes first-person level. Between a gut-wrenching and haunting presentation, stellar characterisation, and fairly grounded consequences and reactions to it from her and others... it's a rare part of Dual Destinies that I have no complaints about.

Happy Thena Thursday!.....?

[softquietsteadylove]

can we have submissive Thena and Dominant Gil? (Ten things I hate about you AU) 🫶🏼

Her head was tilted to the side as she laughed at what he said. Her stance was relaxed, leaning against the doorway. Her hand floated in the air, swirling around the last of her fruity low-percentage cooler. He was continuing his story, soaking up her laughter, gesticulating and posing. He flexed his arms in his tight purple t-shirt.

Gil didn't know who the fuck this guy was, but he was way too close to his Thena.

His girl--his woman! And she had even agreed to it! She wasn't calling herself his girlfriend, sure, but they were hanging out together more, she let him pick her up from practise and drive her home. He was allowed to hold her hand sometimes and she'd even kiss him in public if no one was blatantly watching them.

Gil thought that counted as being an official couple! It was pretty big to him, at least. And yet here she was, chatting up some guy he'd never seen before. He was tall, handsome, obviously worked out. Maybe he was older--maybe he was some college jock. If that was the case, Gil was going to march right over there and call him a creep for coming to a high school party.

Thena laughed again, and the guy laughed too, even putting his hand on her shoulder.

That was more than enough. Gil tossed down his empty solo cup. All he'd had in it was soda anyway. He had to drive his princess home, after all. Someone bumped into him in the crowded kitchen but he shoved the younger student out of his way.

"Gil," she smiled at him like everything was peachy. She extended her hand, just about ready to pat her new friend on the chest, "this is-"

"C'mere," Gil rumbled, grabbing her hand before she could feel up the beefcake in front of her. He swept her sharply around the corner and into the bathroom. "Look at me."

"What?" she gave him a look for his manhandling of her. Her eyes were clear though, so she wasn't drunk. "I was trying to-"

He pulled her to him, searing their lips together. She moaned into him, her hands already under his hoodie and squeezing the material of his t-shirt. His tongue demanded entrance, and she granted it.

"Gil," she whimpered as he wrapped his arm around her waist. She fit against him so perfectly, it never ceased to amaze him. She tugged at his shirt, guiding him away from the door.

He put his hand against the wall beside the mirror. Fuck, this was a tiny room! The sink was behind them, him keeping the porcelain edge from digging into her back.

"What are you doing?" she whispered, although she was the one still kissing him.

"What am I doing?" he growled, sliding his hand up her back. "I'm watching some beefcake chat up my girlfriend."

"Oh," she made a cute but also infuriating little sound. "Your girlfriend, am I?"

Little minx--his little shrew, rather. He pressed closer. He was getting a little too worked up over all this, and he didn't give a fuck. "Didn't you say you were mine?"

He felt her shiver in his arms. Their hips kept bumping together from the sheer lack of space. His jeans were getting tight, and she just had on some pretty white skirt and a cardigan she liked.

He had never believed cardigans could be the sexiest article of clothing in the world before this enchantress, and yet here he was dying to get a peek of her bra clasp in the back of it.

"Did I?"

He kept himself close, his breathing was heavy and loud. But it wasn't the only heavy breathing in their little chamber. "Tell me now."

Thena liked getting him a little worked up. She bit into her lower lip, grinning like they were playing a game. Such a wicked woman he'd chosen to fall in love with. "Why should I?"

He breathed out so roughly it made a sound. She pressed closer to him, letting him feel her boobs against his chest and rubbing her thigh against his crotch. He grunted.

"What will you do?"

He reached beside him, fumbling for the door's lock. It clicked, and he held Thena's eyes as he reached down for his belt. "Whose bed were we in last night?"

"Yours," she whispered, her eyes going from their bright green to a dark forest colour. She bit her lip again as she watched him pull himself out.

He moved his hand around her waist and in front of her, only to flip her position, making her brace herself against the sink. "Who do you kiss after practice?"

"You," she repeated, her voice growing higher and thinner as he inched her skirt up her legs.

"Whose girl are you?" he groaned as he finally got her skirt up around her hips. He hooked his finger in the back of her thong and delicately pulled it out of his way.

"Yours," she gasped as he touched himself to her completely bare.

"Whose?" he repeated, running himself along her wetness first. She arched her back and pushed her hips more towards him. He grasped her buttocks, spreading her more.

"Yours, Gil, fuck."

He pushed into her slowly. His head tipped back and his eyes slid closed. This was the most anything he had ever felt ever. He held Thena's hips, barely able to register that he was still living and breathing.

She trembled, but he gripped her tighter, refusing to let her fall. She leaned heavily over the sink, her shoes scraping on the tile floor.

"Shit," he cursed, his hips beginning to move without any need to be told. He had never acted so purely on instinct in his life. He kept his hands on his hips. "Thena."

"Gil, yes, more," she panted as he moved. She wasn't in the best position, but she did what she could to match his thrusts. She kept her head down, not up to the task of seeing her expression in the mirror. He had gotten just a glimpse of it.

Her mouth was dropped open with pleasure.

"Tell me," he grunted, picking up speed. This was not what one did with the girl they loved--fucking in a bathroom at a party. But they would only be young once, and this felt nothing if not...urgent. He gripped one of her thighs and lifted it, letting him get closer (deeper). "Tell me!"

"Yours, I'm all yours," she offered, her body responding completely differently as he held her leg. She made a new sound as he lifted it even higher, holding it close to him. "Shit, Gil, I'm so yours, fuck!"

That was what he wanted to hear. He wanted to hear that he was the only man for her, that he was the only one privy to this side of her, this feeling of being with her.

"Fuck," he growled, "I-I'm so close, I gotta--I-I gotta-!"

Thena moaned directly into the bowl of the sink, it even echoed faintly as he came in the blink of an eye. His hips were still moving, and she followed, her muscles tightening around him. Her leg spasmed.

"Okay, okay, I got'cha," he panted for breath as he lowered her leg, gripping her hips against his as she shook. She all but melted into the sink, her hair spilling like the faucet was the one letting her golden curls get everywhere.

He leaned forward, pulling her hair away and nuzzling the back of her neck. "Babe?"

She made some kind of noise in response. He wasn't sure if it was a grunt or a moan or a whimper, but it sounded somewhat displeased.

"Princess?" he tried again, more sweetly. Things might have gone...too far. "You okay?"

She definitely groaned this time, pointing at the towels against the hand rack on the back of the door.

"R-Right," Gil blinked, he grabbed the softest one, pressing it into her hand gently. He stepped away only slightly, worried she would collapse onto the ground. He stuffed himself back into his pants sheepishly. More laundry to do. Gramps was gonna start getting suspicious.

Thena quickly brought the towel between her legs, moaning faintly as she pressed her thighs together. She pulled it away and tugged her skirt down again, finally picking herself up from the edge of the sink.

Gil cleared his throat, "uh, honey?"

She turned, glaring at him, although there was a distinct flush in her cheeks and down her neck. "You are unbelievable."

He really couldn't help but feel a little proud of that, even if she didn't mean it as a good thing. He grinned, although she slapped him on the chest for it. He chuckled, "sorry."

She rolled her eyes at him, fluffing out her hair again and making sure she looked like they hadn't been fucking. She raised her eyebrows at him, asking in not so many words.

He held his thumbs up and smiled at her; back to being a dork, great. "Looks great!"

She jabbed the towel into the center of his chest. "I thought you would be above feelings of possessiveness."

He grasped her hand, refusing to let her pull away. He wrapped his arm around her again, and she did let him. "I don't need to possess you."

She eyed him, but it was a sign to continue.

And she did seem to appreciate when he said things he really meant. So he leaned in close again, hovering just short of a kiss away. "You're the one who possesses me, Thena. All the time, every waking moment."

Her breath caught, and her skin was still flushed a pretty shade of pink.

"I just need to know you're mine," he finished in a whisper before kissing her. It was a proper kiss this time, soft and tender, the way he preferred to kiss her perfect lips.

Her hands slid up his chest, although it reminded him of the beefcake probably still lurking around. She pulled away and put her hands on his cheeks, "then consider it done."

It wasn't a 'I am yours', but he would take it with gratitude. He smiled and she offered a faint one back. She kicked the towel that had fallen to the floor out of the way. "All this over an old friend."

He bristled, all of his pent up frustration rising again in a flash. "Old friend?"

But Thena gave him that smug look that she got any time she was talking circles around someone. He had fallen for that look at the movies the first time he met her. "Kingo dropped out last year to pursue acting. He's in a film coming out next year. That's why he's so pleased with all his personal training results."

That was why he was flexing in her face, she meant.

Gil pursed his lips. "So he's a childhood friend who's all hot and cool?--that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"Gil," she rolled her eyes, laughing.

"You were laughing!"

"Gil," she said a little more affectionately, leaning on him completely now. "Kingo is a dear friend. One who has absolutely no interest in matters of the flesh, or the heart, for that matter."

"Oh," he blinked, taking in the look she had for him. It wasn't even that they were friends, but he didn't consider her like that apparently--he didn't think of anyone like that, rather. "Uh, well, that's-"

She threw her head back in a full and complete belly laugh.

His cheeks burned as the last embers of his jealousy ate themselves to death. "Okay, okay, yeah, get it all out."

She did. She laughed for a long time. Maybe she was having a little too much fun with it, he thought, but she did eventually quiet again. She lifted her head from his chest and kissed him. "You have nothing to fear from him...nor anyone."

She reached through his arms to flick the door unlocked again. This was the end of the conversation for her ladyship. Gil sighed, "if you say so."

"He is a very good friend, Gil," she made a point of telling him again as they both prepared to show their faces again. She pulled the door open a crack, "exemplified by his loyalty."

As soon as the door was open Gil could hear the guy's voice, louder than even the blaring music that would definitely drown them out unless ears were pressed to the door. And even if they had been, as soon as the door was open, all he saw was his back.

"Sorry, my friend isn't feeling well. But there's another bathroom upstairs!"

"Kingo," Thena raised her voice to be heard. It was easy to forget how loud it was in the mix of things. She patted his shoulder, "thanks for guarding the door. I'm feeling better."

"Oh good!" he beamed at her as if nothing at all had taken place. He waved off those he had been holding off. Once without an audience, he leaned down closer to her face again. "What the hell, T?!"

"Sorry, sorry!" she giggled at his exaggerated expression. "But thank you."

He gave Gil a completely unreadable look before turning back to Thena, his thick arms crossed at her. "He was holding back your hair, huh?"

Gil blushed, since he obviously knew what they were doing in there. But Thena just slapped his chest, which he guessed was fine, now that he knew more about the guy.

"Shut it!" she hissed at him, a full scarlet red, now.

But Kingo ruffled her hair, like he would a young sister. She only hissed at him more, but he laughed. "Relax, T, my mouth is shut and I didn't see anything!"

Gil blinked as a heavy - heavy - hand was slapped onto his shoulder. "Uh-"

"I've heard a lot about you, Gil," he said with a smile, but it sounded an awful lot like a threat. When he opened his eyes again, Gil could swear they could glow like a demon's. "Nice to meet T's boyfriend."

He didn't sound like he meant that.

"Leave him alone," Thena defused him, tugging at his t-shirt, only for him to immediately scold her for creasing its expensive material.

It was a t-shirt.

"You go, be with your precious Gilgamesh," Kingo waved her off like he was dismissing a student. "I'll come find you tomorrow."

"Fine," she sighed as if exasperated, but their familiarity and affection for each other shone through. She waved as he made his way into the other room. "Find me after practice!"

"Not right after though, right?" Kingo winked at her. "You'll be busy kissing a certain someone?"

"Kingo!!!"

[gareleia]

THE KNITTING SAGA CONTINUES

update: my co-writer friend FINALLY got a tumblr account, so I can tag them now!!

previously: part 1

next: part 3 part 4 part 5

a continuation because I have no impulse control and am in dire need of more Aeolus content

first of all, let's establish one thing - and I think we can all agree on that - Aeolus loves to fuck with people. they are a benevolent(-ish?) trickster deity, and they revel in harmless pranks

as a consequence, they are on pretty good terms with Hermes. while Hermes doesn't care much for the 'small fry' and doesn't pay that much attention to the wind god most of the time, Aeolus has their winions follow the messenger god religiously (pun intended), because? where Hermes goes, shenanigans always follow.

so when they get the tea that he's apparently hanging out on that one random Greek island, playing nanny? oh, they know it's gotta be good. so naturally, they go to check it out.

well, turns out that Athena is also there, and both of them are sooo bad with babies, it's hilarious

Athena, holding baby!Telemachus: Ehhh, shouldn't it be eating more meat? it's body is so weak, it can't even hold a spear! Hermes, exasperated: oh my me, 'thena, that's not how humans work!! babies eat liquids first!! how can you not know that!! here you go, champ, drink some wine!! Aeolus, hiding in the leaves: holy shit these guys are dumb

so now they can't just leave Telemachus alone with Athena and Hermes! they might not be an expert on child rearing, but surely they can do better than those two dorks! and the baby is adorable.

so they decide to stick around. just for a little bit. a week tops.

fast forward a few years, and they have been raising the prince of Ithaca

Aeolus: *shocked pikachu face*

and Aeolus is the much needed chaotic good influence to Hermes' chaotic neutral and Athena's lawful neutral.

the thing is, Aeolus is really good at hiding. so good, in fact, that no one but Telemachus had even realized they are here. everyone else just thinks that the prince has an invisible friend which, well… they're not wrong?.. and it's not like other kids are exactly lining up to be his friends anyway, cause everyone thinks he's weird (or their parents don't want to catch the attention of the suitors)

and the gods think that it's because they hang around too much and Telemachus can't make friends because of them. so maybe they try to spend less time in Ithaca, for his own good. which only makes things worse, because now the boy is upset, and Aeolus and winions have to try extra hard to cheer him up, which pisses them off.

Athena & Hermes: oh, goodness us, we shall try not to interfere too much with the mortal affairs, so that the young prince grows up healthy and happy ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Telemachus: (T⌓T) Aeolus: ヾ( ･`⌓´･)ﾉﾞ

and then they have to subtle bully the two dumb fucks to come back.

on a less serious note, Aeolus also has a sweet tooth, especially for marshmallows (idgaf there weren't any marshmallows in Mycenaean Greece, they're a god. they can make all the damn marshmallows they want)

and of course, since they are sooo generous, they always share with Telemachus.

what they don't know(?) is that winions, who all get their own treats, also collectively share them with the baby, because they are secretly evil adorable little freaks.

which results in a very hyper prince sugar rushing seemingly out of nowhere.

Telemachus, running all around the palace and crackling madly: I AM SPEED- Penelope, unimpressed: and who, pray tell, had given my son sweets right before dinner? Athena, equally unimpressed: yes, I would also like to know. Hermes, sweating nervously: heyyyy, why are you all looking at me like that???? ( ಠ‿ಠ ) Aeolus, from behind a tree, unseen by anyone: (｡•̀U-)┘

Hermes always gets blamed.

It's the only time he doesn't do the thing

and he's seething, because nobody believes him.

[peppermintquartz]

(Tommy's pov of this)

He's in the process of making sure the bird is ready to go when he turns and sees Howie, as well as two unfamiliar young guys following him.

Good-looking faces too. Maybe they should do the calendar next year. The shorter one has large, soulful eyes and a confident stride that speaks of military experience; the other is a tall, leggy man with a boyish smile and seems to be visibly thrumming with energy.

Of course they bring in the studs after I'm gone, Tommy thinks, half-exasperated that he's missed out on eye candy and half-amused at his own shallowness.

"Howie, hey!" Tommy says and embraces his former colleague and current friend. It's not always possible for them to meet up, but a life debt is not something Tommy will forget. "Long time."

Howie claps him on the back. It feels like a silent thank you, which, given the enormity of what they're going to do, the less said aloud the better.

Can't risk someone overhearing that they're going to steal a helicopter on a mere hunch.

Tommy knows he has a good poker face, and it's proven to be effective because no one seems to realize how nervous he is. They may cause an international incident if anything goes "pear-shaped", as his old instructor Winslow used to say, but Tommy isn't about to back out now.

"This is Tommy, Tommy Kinard," says Howie to the other two, telling them about him being a former member of the 118 and also about his being a fathead. At least Howie acknowledges that Tommy's grown out of it.

"Thanks to you," Tommy says. He sticks out his hand to the new faces.

Soulful Eyes grins when he grasps Tommy's hand. A firm grip, almost challenging. "Eddie Diaz."

Tommy smiles, feeling like he's found a kindred spirit. "Pleasure. And you are...?" He extends the hand to the other young guy.

"Uh, Evan," he says, eyes wide and curious like a puppy in a new environment. His hand is warm and dry. "E-Evan Buckley."

"Hi Evan." The splotch just over Evan's left eye is a birthmark, Tommy discovers. To his amusement, Evan doesn't let go of his hand, as if he's completely forgotten that they were just shaking hands in introduction. Tommy doesn't want to embarrass the guy, but he doesn't want to rudely snatch his hand away either. He opts for a slight tease. "I'm gonna need that hand to fly the chopper, kid."

"Oh! Oh, right. Sorry." Evan drops Tommy's hand like it's hot. His ears go red. Tommy thinks, That's so cute, and then sternly warns himself not to read too much into anything. He's not falling for a straight guy again, just because they're cute. And he's glad that he doesn't read too much into Evan's fluster because Evan says, "I was just, um, thinking, about Cap and Thena."

Bobby Nash must mean a great deal to Evan, judging by the way his gaze skitters from Tommy's face to the chopper and bounces lightly on his heels. For some reason, he reminds Tommy of Bambi.

Howie sticks his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, we're gonna need Hen to show soon with some coordinates. Can't go flying all over the Gulf of Mexico."

Tommy makes a mental note to re-check fuel levels. It's definitely topped up, but ninety minutes one way and ninety minutes back in what will definitely be rough conditions is not a walk in the park. Nevertheless, he keeps his tone light. "We'll do what we can."

A pair of headlights slide along the road that leads to harbor. Tommy doesn't really know if it's Hen, but his nerve is starting to give, so he says quickly, "Wait, I see a car pulling in. Might be her. Get in the backseat, strap yourselves in. Once I get Hen clear of Melton, we'll dash. Hopefully she has a good cover story..."

Eddie doesn't hesitate as he scrambles in, nearly knocking his head on the roof of the chopper.

Seeing that they aren't about to call him out on his fake calm demeanor, Tommy blows out his cheeks to center himself. Then he smiles, asking, "If we're all arrested, can I blame it on you, Howie?"

Howie snorts as he gets in next to Eddie. "Yeah I really twisted your arm with the 'Please help us save Cap and Athena'."

(In fact, Howie actually said, "Hen has a hunch, she won't let us help, but she''ll need a chopper. So I'm gonna need you to steal one for us to save Captain Nash and his wife." And Tommy agreed instantly. He trusted Hen Wilson's hunches too.)

"You know it's because of your irresistibly pretty face," Tommy quips as he helps guide Evan - the tallest of the three - in without hitting his head. "Alright, put those helmets on. Careful, Evan," he says when Evan nearly bounces the helmet off the bridge of his sharp nose.

It's a very nice nose. Be a shame to bruise it.

Fuel. And preflight. Tommy inhales sharply and gets into his seat as the three firefighters strap themselves in. It's a calming ritual by now, and he feels ready. He knows he is ready.

And Hen should be here by now.

"Alright. She's ready to go when we are," Tommy announces, patting the stick fondly. As he opens the door to get to the hangar, he says to the three men, "Don't touch anything. I'm gonna hang out near Melton and run intercept."

Howie rolls his eyes. Eddie holds up three fingers of his right hand, like a Scout's promise. "We'll behave."

Evan beams a dazzling smile at Tommy, like they're not actually about to commit a crime.

It's a good thing Tommy has to focus on flying into a hurricane, because otherwise his heart will be tripping all over itself to get Evan to smile like that once more.

Nope. No crushing on a straight guy, Kinard, we've been through this.

Instead, Tommy jogs towards the hangar where he sees Hen approaching Melton, holding a form that Tommy knows will not stand up to scrutiny.

Boy, if you can't convince someone, confuse them, Winslow used to say over drinks after their flying lessons. Act like you know exactly what you're doing and seventy percent of the time they'll let you get away with it.

Tommy takes a deep breath, puts on a smile, and walks into the light of the hangar.

--

edited on AO3

[shadowsndaisies]

the hard deck: athena settles debts (pt 4)

WC: 898

synopsis: what if Mav's daughter settled his tab that night in the hard deck

main masterlist

athena-verse masterlist

a/n: this was brought on as i rewatched top gun maverick again, because i love it. and even though i should be finishing the last update of season 1 for codename: nightingale (which is only missing the final fight btw its almost done!!!) i took a little brain rot break. also top gun's been officially added to my masterlist!

You'd heard the jukebox get pulled and then the piano, and you couldn't move. Even when Phoenix tried to convince you to join her by the piano. You watched as Hangman and Coyote stayed with a few others by the pool tables at first, but even they started wandering over eventually.

Hangman, however, moved slow. He lingered by you first, saddling up beside the table. And ehen he realized your gaze was going to stay focused on your beer's label, where your fingers were slowly peeling it off the bottle, he knocked on the table. A look far more gentle than you'd anticipate in such a public place crossed his face as your eyes met his.

" 'Thena?" he calls your callsign with a softness that you know is real, and your lips tug down at the thought of having to lie to him when he's being so open with you.

Before you can say anything else before he can ask more, Penny rings the bell again, and chants of "overboard" can be heard. Saved by the bell, literally.

"Go," you nod. "Penny beckons," you tease softly, forcing your lips to turn up.

He nods, and both Payback and Coyote go with him.

When you follow them with your gaze, you meet your dad's eyes, and when the three younger pilots take up positions, boxing him in, a small quirk of a smirk curls at your lips, because it would be him. He seems to catch your eye just in time and offers up a half smile in response. You watch as Penny gives a nod, her head jerking toward the door. Then the three hoist your dad up in their arms and carry him, before throwing him out, a small amused smile now on your lips, as you make a note to stop by the Kazansky house tomorrow, Ice would love to hear about this.

You're so focused that you miss the first few notes. It's not until a familiar voice fills the space with lyrics that you learned as a baby that there's a sickening twist in your stomach and a renewed need to leave as you push out of your seat, leaving the half empty beer behind.

You move to the bar as Bradley begins to sing and have to force yourself not to look at him. You know what you'd see, aviators perched low on his nose, still slightly crooked from when he'd caught a fastball to the face as a teenager. Curls that are almost golden in the light but had to be matted somewhat by the heat and sweat inside the bar. He had that stupid mustache just like his father's, that was just borderline within regs. You know his dog tags were visible on top of his tank top, with some stupid Hawaiian shirt hanging open. You know what you'd see, so you do your beat to avoid looking.

If you had caved, what you would've also seen is how he searched for you while he sang. A slow scan of the bar, for the girl he learned the lyrics beside, propped on an old piano as a toddler as your father's and his mother sang along, holding little you in her arms. In the mass of people surrounding the piano though, he's having a hard time finding you, why did he pick this song?

"Hey, Penny," you call her name, and her head snaps to you, from where she'd been watching your dad get tossed out.

Your lips quirk on end a bit. Years have gone by, and her relationship with your father, volatile as it can be, still has been the most steadfast of your life. She was your mom in all the ways that mattered.

"I didn't realize they called you back too," she says, talking a bit loud over the music.

"Best of the Best, Miss Penny," you muse, though there's a hollowness in your chest as you say it, she seems to catch it.

"What can I get you, sweetheart?" she asks, grabbing a glass and you shake your head.

"No, I, uh… I'll settle for the old man," you tell her, head tilting as you slide your card across the bar.

"No, he'd—"

You cut her off, though, before she can argue. "No, let me. I, uh, I was heading out anyways. You know him, he'd hate to have an open tab," you admit, throwing in a joke to add some levity.

"Sweetheart-" she tries again, and you know she can read you. Despite all the years and gaps in your relationship with her. This was the woman who took you to buy pads for the first time, you knew that she knew you.

"Please, Pen, I… I can't be here, not with this. It's so much worse for him, too. Let me settle it," you admit to her rawly, and her gaze moves to where there's a live performance.

"History's a fickle thing, isn't it?" she offers instead, taking your card. "The ones we truly care about, they always seem to come back in the end, though."

"You'd know better than me, Pen," you shoot back, your tones got a bit defensive but she doesn't even flinch.

She hands you your card with a bittersweet smile, "I guess I would," she nods.

You let out a sigh, and look back at her, "Tell Amelia I'm back?" you ask, and she nods. "At the end of this, whatever it is, tell her I'll take her for ice cream?" you tag on, signing the receipt.

"I will, she'll hold you to it though (Y/n)," Penny confirms.

"I'd expect nothing less as a woman of the Navy," you muse, tucking your card away and turning from the bar.

Rooster's still singing, his voice as pretty as ever. And you can't help your self. You cave.

sue me, you think as you look over at him just once as you pause by the door.

"Well, kiss me baby! Ooh! That feel's good!" he sings, and you smile to yourself despite the ache, shaking your head as you push the doors and walk out. He had a smile on his face, and maybe, maybe you could learn to be okay.

Maybe.

(Probably not.)

You're unlocking your truck when you hear your name. "Athena!" You pause and turn, surprised to see both Phoenix and Hangman; after all, they always seem to be at ends.

"Where are you going?" Phoenix is the one to ask, her cheeks are flushed and her chests heaving a bit from how she'd all but been screaming the lyrics from beside Rooster.

"Home, gotta get some beauty rest before tomorrow," you tell them. "Make sure I'm ready to show you all up," you cover.

"Are you sure?" Phoenix asks, hesitating by the door.

"Yeah, I'll see you bright and early," you reassure her.

She seems to take your word as she nods once at you before heading back into the bar. Hangman, on the other hand, has stayed outside.

"Bravado was never your strong suit, 'Thena, it's mine," he drawls, and though the words are cocky, you understand the question hidden there.

"Go inside, Jake. I'll see you tomorrow," you say softly before getting in your truck. "I gotta keep both my feet on the ground," you add, willing him to understand, before shutting the door.

You notice he stays, watching as you pull out. It's only once you pull out on the road that he turns to go back in.

He be-lines straight to Coyote, missing the look that Rooster sends him as struts back in. The one that lingers on the door, waiting for you to walk back in as well, not that you do.

...

a/n: come talk with me about this athena idea if you want, it's been a while since i've posted anything not DC, so it was kind of fun. I have a longer non-related top gun fic in my drafts too, but that'll come after cnng probably

everything tags: @butterfly-skinnylegend

[mvltisstuff]

hello!! i hope you’re doing well, how have finals been going/gone??

i saw your post asking for requests, and i know the last thing i sent you you said it was fine to send more but i didn’t wanna overwhelm you with finals and everything going on, but since you’re asking, ofc i have more 😂 i was thinking something with reader being athena’s apprentice again and this time the reader gets hurt on a case and buck as to be called and goes full blown protective and everyone’s like “where did this come from considering how reckless you are” and that’s when everyone realizes how real things are with them and that reader is end game for buck. ofc if you don’t get to it, don’t worry. if you do, thank you a thousand. i hope you have a lovely day and things go well, just in general ❤️

-🚒

must be love - e.b

summary: request from above :)

evan buckley x reader

a/n: finals are going well!! i just finished my state testing 😿 but luckily it wasn’t too bad. i have like a week left of school and then i’ll be writing a ton, and i love love love seeing people leave requests <33 hope you enjoy love

y/n roamed through the halls of the dark house, with her gun up, flashlight on, and her eyes focused on her surroundings. she had gone in without backup, but athena was on her way to the scene as well as a few more units. the call had been sent into dispatch for an armed robbery, so clearly y/n had to be armed too. she had turned her radio off, not to make the intruder more threatened by the police presence.

she had been searching the bedrooms, the kitchen, and other rooms that had been marked off with valuables this person might be interested in. the homeowner had already made his escape out, so now it was just a matter of time for them to find the person who caused this. the last room y/n had entered, she was hoping to find someone, but alas, there hadn’t been any traces.

in the hallway, the man tracing her steps had been following her throughout the house, strategically hiding behind her in ways that she would never have noticed. she had been pointing her gun and light at the walls and under the furniture when she felt a massive blow to the head.

her vision was faded and blurred as she whipped around with her gun. disoriented, he was able to swing it out of her grip and across the floor. the robber landed clean punches to her abdomen and scratches to her face. she heard a crack to her shoulder, but she knew it hadn’t been broken. it still hurt like a bitch, for sure.

y/n’s strong, but vulnerable body had been thrown against the wall and slid down. the criminal wasn’t done, but the shiny pocketknife on his side did not pass by y/n’s smart eyes. she grabbed his side and opened it swiftly, jamming it into his thigh. he screamed out in pain, and y/n twisted the knife before pulling it out.

out of the corner of her blurry eyes, y/n had spotted a figure making her way toward the two of them. her eyes were squinted from the pounding headache she had been facing. the faint, familiar voice came in as the woman bent down with a jangling pair of cuffs. “dispatch, this is 727-L30, suspect in custody, we’re going to need an additional ambulance at 1873 Garden Street,” says athena into her radio.

“thena…” y/n whispers.

“hey, y/l/n,” she responds. “you got this guy good.” another officer comes in and hauls the man away and it is just athena and y/n in the room. “are you alright, y/n?” athena says sternly.

“i’m fine, i just-“ y/n starts to stand up, and athena grabs onto her. her legs wobbly a bit and she words get mushed together.

“ok well, i don’t think so. we have an ambulance on the way.”

y/n sits back down and nods, looking at her with tired eyes, still fighting to stay away. successfully, she is able to make it until the two paramedics come into the house. she sees hen and chimney walk in with their medical bags.

“what do we got he- y/n?” chimney asks, bending down and observing his friend. hen shines a light to her eyes.

“probable concussion,” she touches her shoulder, making her hiss and cry out a bit. “and maybe a shoulder dislocation, posterior.”

“let’s get her en route to hollywood presbyterian,” chimney says, getting ready for transport.

after y/n was dropped off the at hospital, she was placed in her own, quiet room. hen and chim and arrived back at the station, prepared to face bucks wrath. they walked upstairs to the kitchen, meeting bobby who had already been informed on the incident by athena.

buck had been sitting at the table with eddie and ravi, hanging out and snacking at a bowl of popcorn. they had been bickering over some silly thing when bucks eyes landed on the partners. he immediately knew something was wrong, and his brain landed to y/n. their upset faces gave it away.

“what happened?” buck asks, hesitantly, not wanting a bad answer. “is y/n ok?”

“she… she was hurt, buck,” hen begins to state. “one of her calls took a bad turn-“

buck shoots out of his chair, stepping closer to her. “what do you mean went wrong?” he raises his voice. “where is she?”

“she’s at the hospital buck, but she is alright,” chimney says. “you don’t have to panic-“

“what hospital?”

“buck, slow down…”

“i asked what hospital?!”

the two exchange a sad glance, and tell him, “hollywood presbyterian.”

buck immediately is ready to leave, preparing to speed to the hospital. he always gets scared when he gets a call or text from her. because buck doesn’t know what he would do if she got hurt, or worse. she was his lifeline. every day she was there for him with a smile, forcing him to paint his own. she was brighter than the sun to him, and without her, the clouds had rolled in. even thinking about losing her sent him into a spiral of negative thoughts.

he had met her at a dinner with athena and bobby, and he was smitten for her ever since. the months and months of them seeing each other and blossomed into a stronger love than they could’ve imagined. buck can’t see himself with anyone but her.

“hey, kid,” bobby says. “i’m going too, i’ll drive you over.”

the ride to the hospital was eerily silent. bucks thoughts were flooding his mind about how hurt she could be. he had been prepared to finally leave and end his shift at work, but instead was bombarded with fear. if there was a phobia of losing her, buck definitely has it.

he sprinted into the entrance of the hospital, bobby was trailing behind. he stormed up to the front desk and spat out her name rapidly. the nurse said, “i’m sorry sir, but only family can see loved ones at this time.”

buck shook his head, and looked at bobby. he didn’t want to have to lie, but it’s nothing he hasn’t done before. “fiancé, i’m her fiancé.” the nurse looks at bobby.

“uh, uncle?” he says unsure, but the nurse still accepts it and gives them a room number.

buck pounds on the elevator buttons, stepping into it his with his heart pounding. his shaking hands are pressed together to stop his anxiety, but it ultimately fails. bobby watches buck quietly, observing his frazzled state.

the doors slide open, and buck runs through the hallways passing by the nurses and other people. he looks at all the room numbers that mean nothing to him until he finds the next. the one with the love of his life inside.

his features soften as he looks at y/n’s sleeping body. her arm was wrapped up with a few bandages on her face. she looked oddly peaceful, which scared buck. however, the calm beeping of the machine helped him slow down. he walked further in to see athena sitting across from the bed. he walked up to y/n and saw her eyes lightly fluttering in her sleep. he sat down on the bed next to her, grabbing her hand and kissing it lightly.

“the doctor said she’s going to be perfectly fine,” athena reassures him. “she’s just sleeping now. she’ll be going home tomorrow.”

buck let out a breath that had been weighing his shoulders down. he looks at his girlfriends fragile form and observes the injuries to her face. he runs his fingers over a few of the cuts and bruises, but he finds comfort in knowing that they’ll heal. when athena mentions that she’ll be home, he smiles a bit. he knows that she’ll come home to her, and he swears there is no better feeling. “i’m just… i’m really happy she’s ok,” he looks over to athena. “thank you.”

she nods lightly before saying, “she’s a real fighter, wasn’t going to let that guy take her down with him.”

“this was so dangerous. give me five minutes with this guy.”

“buck, you know you’re the most reckless person i know. you two will be a good match, protecting each other.”

the night rolls into the hospital, breaking the day and releasing the moon. outside had become darker, and athena and bobby had been watching buck gently handle y/n. she had woken up for a bit, and had been talking to buck and had a bright smile on her face. bucks was almost identical out of relief and happiness.

the couple had been watching buck all night. they’d never seen him so in love with someone. they knew they were perfect together and that she was the center of his universe. buck needed her, and she saved him and pulled him out of some of his lowest times. it reminded them of themselves. athena saved bobby, and y/n was doing the same to buck.

“you got the guy, right?”

“of course we did, thanks to you and that little knife,” athena says.

“how did they let you all in? it’s not visiting hours, is it?”

“oh you know,” buck starts. “just told them a white lie.”

they all know that they aren’t engaged, but there’s no use in pretending that it won’t be a reality in time. at the end of the day, buck knows he told the truth to that nurse.

“i told them i was an uncle, but i think i could’ve gotten away with brother, no?”

“oh, bobby, bless your soul,” athena laughs, placing a loving hand on bobby’s shoulder. “you should get some more rest, you’ll be back in no time, sweetie.” the pair leaves, and y/n and buck remain in the room.

“go back to sleep, baby,” buck says, planting a kiss on her cheek. “i’m not going anywhere, i don’t know what i’d do without you. you bring out the best in me.”

“i love you, too, buck. so much,” she says and he places his hands on the sides of her face. holding her hand throughout the night, she dozes back off. a safe sleep, because buck is always there next to her.